A new book chronicles some of Yorkshire’s pop pioneers, one-hit wonders and unsung heroes.

Stuart Arnold takes a look.

WHEN the history of pop music is written, it’s fair to say that Yorkshire won’t feature in the first few pages. That’s not to say the county hasn’t produced some talented musicians, it’s just that it hasn’t often punched above its weight.

In his book I’ll Go To T’Foot Of Our Stage: The Story Of Yorkshire Pop Music, author Craig Ferguson wends his way through various musical styles, skiffle, rock ‘n’ roll, punk, electronic, goth, grunge, indie, and dance, taking in the past 50 years.

And he asks why, at least until recent times, the county has often lagged behind other areas more often seen as hotbeds for music. Times are-a-changing however with the likes of the Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys, The Cribs and Pigeon Detectives now blazing a trail for the white rose county.

Ferguson, a former NME journalist-turned television scriptwriter, also rightly points out some past success stories, including the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Mel B, Human League, Heaven 17, Wedding Present, Utah Saints and Def Leppard, all of whom have played their part in putting Yorkshire on the music map.

He says his aim wasn’t to produce a pop encyclopaedia, but merely to “sketch a landscape”

illustrating the contribution made by the county to popular music. Setting the tone for what at times is a light-hearted musical journey, Ferguson opens the book by revealing that David Bowie’s backing band, Spiders From Mars, were from Hull and his dad originally from the North Yorkshire town of Tadcaster.

He also strays at times over the county’s border, claiming rockers David Coverdale, from Saltburn, and Free frontman Paul Rodgers, originally from Middlesbrough, for the purposes of the book. Ferguson describes how Coverdale never misses an opportunity to publicly flag up his “Yorkshire roots”.

He explains that Coverdale was a complete unknown when he was approached to become the lead singer with rock titans Deep Purple, previous singer Ian Gillan having departed.

He had previously appeared in local rock combo Magdalene, who coincidentally later recruited Chris Rea, and his appointment is said to have been greeted in the Teesside area with “some amazement”. Coverdale was quickly propelled to rock god status and capitalised on this when Deep Purple split up in 1976, forming Whitesnake.

However it took a few years before Coverdale and his ever changing backing band went globally colossal, thanks mainly to the onset of “MTV and the law of any rock video having to feature a scantily clad rock chick or five”. Ferguson praises Coverdale as “less than precious, possessing a self-effacing sense of humour” and describes how he came frustratingly close to securing an interview with him for the book.

Of Rodgers, he suggests his recent touring duties with a Freddie Mercury-less Queen appeared to be a “blatant flog-adead horse exercise”, although he does have the good grace to describe him as one of the great British singers of blues and rock.

Others featured include Whitby-born Arthur Brown who under his stage act name of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown achieved a number one hit with Fire after being spotted by the management of The Who. Brown went on to tour with Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix.

No stone is left unturned in the book with the likes of Leeds born, but Darlington raised comic Jim Moir – aka Vic Reeves – getting a name check for his and The Wonder Stuff’s cover of Dizzy –a number one record in 1991.

York, meanwhile gets a decent mention, as the home of indierock bands Shed Seven and The Seahorses, whose lead singer Chris Helme was recruited by former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire after he was spotted busking outside Woolworths in the town.

Meanwhile, despite finding themselves in the shadow of the likes of Oasis, Blur and Pulp, Shed Seven built up a loyal fan base and steadily churned out the hits, scoring no less than five top 20 singles in 1996, making them the most successful chart act of the year.

In the book singer Rick Witter says: “We had a lot of hits but could walk down the street and people still wouldn’t know us.”

The band recently reformed after splitting up in 2003, and are now touring again.

Young quintet One Night Only, from Helmsley, are also mentioned for their recent success, having been propelled by the phenomenon of social networking websites.

■ I’ll Go To T’Foot Of Our Stage: The Story Of Yorkshire Pop Music is published by yfppublishing.com, £9.99. It is available to buy from HMV stores, Amazon and via yorkshirepopmusic.co.uk