STILL rolling in are readers' memories of the heady era of more than 30 years ago when beat groups boomed in East Lancashire and youngsters grabbed guitars as they clutched at dreams of becoming rock 'n' roll stars.

And sent in by Blackburn reader Mr Ian Duckworth is this studio photograph of long-ago Burnley rocker Kris Ryan, the mention of whose fleeting career as vocalist with The Strangers and The Questions groups in Looking Back a couple of months ago, started the recollections rolling.

The picture was taken to go with the five-track EP On The Right Track that the group released on the Mercury label in 1965 and shows former art student Kris -- real name Tony Holgate -- sporting a shirt with a frilled front and cuffs and chiffon neckerchief as well as a black-ribbon bow in his hair. This was the 18th-century "Tom Jones" look which the group copied from the successful 1963 film of the same name.

The blurb on the EP's cover told how in October, 1963, well-known Blackburn record dealer Marie Reidy had recommended the town's Four Pennies group to Mercury -- after which their "dynamic rise to pop stardom commenced." But as the Pennies, led by singer Lionel Morton, shot to No.1 in the charts six months later with their ballad Juliet, the Penny Street record shop proprietor became a target for lots of others seeking fame and disc deals. For the blurb adds: "Marie was deluged by practically a tidal wave of groups of all shapes and sizes begging her to audition them. Unfortunately, with one exception, their enthusiasm outshone their talent. The exception was Kris Ryan and the Questions who, because of their great sound and the fine singing of Kris, were immediately signed to a recording contract." Sixties pop enthusiast Ian, of Ballantrae Road, Blackburn, says The Questions also recorded four singles for Mercury but none made a great impact in the hit parade -- though, as Looking Back told last month, the group's lead guitarist Alan Kendall hit the big time and the big money after he joined the Bee Gees' band five years later.

But 56-year-old Ian also has eye-witness recollections of the biggest of them all appearing in East Lancashire at the now-vanished Co-op Hall in School Street, Darwen, in January, 1963, when they were on the first rungs of a rise to international fame...none other than the Beatles.

Then the group's second hit Please, Please Me, which rocketed to No 2, had been in the charts less than a week.

And, though described as "TV stars" in the headline of of the local weekly newspaper's report of that famous Friday night when they made the first of their appearances in East Lancashire, they were still not too big for Darwen's Baptist Youth Club to be able to afford them for their hop at the Co-op.

Ian says it was an unforgettable night and the old Darwen News agreed, saying: "Delayed by fog, the group went on stage five minutes after arriving to give a rip-roaring 60-minute performance such as Darwen youths have never heard before.

"Right from the first minute of their appearance, the audience showed their delight in more ways than one."

That night, The Beatles topped a bill that included three local groups -- The Mustangs, The Electones and The Mike Taylor Combo. Says Ian: "The lead singer with The Mustangs was Sammy St Care, who went on to be a popular solo artist in local pubs and clubs. Other local groups at the time were The Boneshakers and The Beethovens, both from Darwen, The Dappers from Accrington and The Atlantics and The Victors." And from veteran Blackburn music teacher Geoffrey Taylor comes details of his former brother-in-law, ex-Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School pupil John Thomas, who gave up selling carpets in the 1960s to go professional and on the road -- including tours in Europe and the Middle East -- as a guitarist with the soul band Buster Somers Express.

When he was pictured in January, 1970, the group was releasing its first record -- Princess Rowina -- on CBS in the United States.

Says Geoffrey: "John's family lived in a detached house overlooking Queen's Park lake in Blackburn and when the group used to congregate there it seems like the walls of the house were expanding with the noise they made."

Now living in South Wales, John is a senior executive with Stoddart's Carpets.