The Moontrekkers

As the Raiders, Gary Le Port (lead guitar), Jimmy Rayther (rhythm guitar), Pete Johnson (bass) and Tony White (drums) were fronted originally by singer Robert Farrent (stage name: Bobby Shafto) but in 1960 it was with Rod Stewart that they were auditioned in a north London church hall by Joe Meek who was seeking an instrumental act to record an opus entitled ‘Night Of the Vampire’. Submitting to Meek’s masterplan, they cast Stewart aside and, as the Moontrekkers, were rewarded with one week at number 50 in the UK Top 50 and a BBC ban because of this Parlophone Records single’s sound effects (creaking coffin lid, wailing wind). When a second single, ‘There’s Something At The Bottom Of The Well’, did not emulate this achievement, Johnson and White joined the Aristocats and, minus Rayther too, Le Port with new Moontrekkers went out in a blaze of glory when a 1963 Decca Records single, ‘Moondust’, entered Sweden’s Top 10. The original personnel regrouped in 1991 for some Joe Meek memorial concerts and later semi-professional bookings. © TiVo