For the three years they existed, The Vagabonds were without doubt the ambassadors of musical goodwill for the sleepy market town of Grantham.
Roy Clark - Roy Taylor (Vince Eager) & Brian "Liquorice" Locking THE HARMONICA VAGABONDS |
 John Holt & Roy Taylor (Vince Eager) |
 John, Roy, VE & "Liquorice" Locking in their first pantomime |
From their humble beginnings as a harmonica trio to the pinnacle of their televised appearance in the 1958 World Skiffle Championship, the Vagabonds could do no wrong. Their enthusiasm was boundless. It was apparent they were destined for big things. The following they accumulated in the East Midlands was evident by the 500 dancers they would attract every Wednesday evening in a local dance hall. The Wednesday night hop ran for 2 years.
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 The Wednesday Night Hop! |
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With Brian "Liquorice" Locking, (named Liquorice by Vince due to Brian's love of playing a toy clarinet for fun) on the Bass, Roy Clark on guitar and vocals, Mick Fretwell on washboard and drums and Roy Taylor on guitar and lead vocal, the Vagabonds gained second place in the World Skiffle Championships. It was a disappointment but proved to be the springboard to musical success for two of the group. Following their appearance in the televised skiffle final, they were invited to play at the famous 2 I's Coffee Bar in London's Soho. The coffee bar being a mecca to budding pop stars as it was here that Tommy Steele, Adam Faith, Terry Dene, Wee Willie Harris and Cliff Richard were discovered. The response from the audience to their show prompted the owners of the 2 I's Coffee Bar to offer the boys a residency.
 Heading for London and the World Skiffle Championships |
 The Championships live on BBC TV''s "Come Dancing" From the Streatham Lacarno |
 The cherished first recording Re-released on CD & Vynil |
Before returning to Grantham to discuss the residency offer with their families, the boys used part of their second place prize money of £150 to rent the HMV recording studio on Oxford Street and lay down four tracks. The recordings were taken back to Grantham where they became part of the London memory.
 On stage at the 2 I's Coffee Bar |
 The Mecca for all budding pop stars |
 Perhaps the world's smallest stage? |
The boys decided to take up the residency offer at the 2 I's Coffee Bar and it wasn't long before they were offered a Sunday Night concert in Coventry by Tommy Steele's manager, Larry Parnes. Following the concert Parnes offered Roy Taylor a deal. It involved Roy changing his name. Parnes considered that Roy was very eager to get on and decided on Eager as his last name. The first name choice was offered to Roy. One of his favorite performers was Gene Vincent. Roy chose Vince. Little did he realize that a year later he would work with Gene Vincent and they would become good friends.
The Vagabonds soon parted company. Roy and Mick returned to Grantham where they were both successful in continuing their chosen professions. Brian Liquorice Locking joined Marty Wilde and then Cliff Richard and the Shadows. Liquorice remained with Cliff for nearly three years then left to follow his new found theological calling.
 The Vagabonds charity reunion in 1983 |
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In January 2000 and again in 2003 the original Vagabonds performed reunion shows at the Guildhall Arts Centre in Grantham. On both occasions the shows were originally booked for two nights but third shows had to be added when the tickets for the first two nights sold out within three hours of the box office opening.
The shows were greeted with standing ovations for all the performances. Proof indeed that the Vagabonds are still the Daddies (or Granddaddies) of Grantham music.
To celebrate the 43 years since the boys recorded at HMV, Rollercoaster Records have digitally re-mastered the tracks and released them on a 7" vinyl extended play record. The title track is MONEY HONEY with three other tracks making up the record, My Dixie Darling, Cotton fields and Be Bop A Lu La.
In December 2003 Rollercoaster released "Yea Yea", an album covering every aspect of Vince's career from the 1957 recording of Money Honey through to the show stopping 2003 recording of "No Other Baby". The album has received rave reviews for it's content and awesome trifold packaging.