Question: Where do you live these days?

Answer: I'm lucky enough to live in the coolest town with the coolest people: Glenside, PA, a rockin' oasis, home to the East Coast's most famous live music bar, ''The Blue Comet''.

Question: Are the Rockats still together?

Answer: Yes the Rockats are definately still together. Problem is that since we all live so far away from each other, gigs and recording are incredibly difficult. We are all still mates though. Who knows what the future holds?

Question: When can we expect to hear a new CD?

Answer: The Detonators debut CD will be released on 16 November 2007. Get the T-shirt as well! 

Question: Tell us about Dibbs Preston and the Detonators?

Answer: It's my new band featuring the great Joe Gallo on guitar and Wally Wollet on drums. We all live in the same area so it's easy to get stuff together even if it's just a pint down the Elbow Room. We're doing some real good gigs in PA now so look out for us. We're also touring the United States with the Brian Setzer Orchestra from 17 November until 31 December 2007. Can't wait for that! Brian is a mate of mine from years back.

Question: How was the Japanese tour?

Answer: Everytime is wild, the fans are into it big time. I see kids comin' back for 15 years. I love taking a look around the rockin' stores like 'Pink Dragon' and 'Love Me Tender' in Tokyo and the whole central shopping area of Osaka, it's a sight to see. I went this time to play with Conny and her real cool band. Check out the pix on the Photo Pages. 

Question: Do you still talk to Levi Dexter?

Answer: I last saw Levi in England just over a year ago. He was there doing a tour of the U.K. and I went to see him at the' Ace Cafe in London. I didn't quite know what to expect as I hadn't seen him perform for a few years. Anyway he 'rocked' just like he always did and the show was great. We kept in contact and decided to do a one off show with the original Levi and the Rockats at Greenbay 2007. Be there or be square May 19th in the 3 Clans Ballroom at 11pm. 

Question: What was Jerry Nolan like?

Answer: Wow! That could be difficult to answer in a short amount of time. He was a complex character and being the age I was when we played together in Levi and the Rockats and later The Rockats I might not have understood him all that well at the time. Now of course, I do and look back on the time we spent together with great fondness. I loved the way he ate ice cream. He'd sit watching T.V. eating scoops of Hagendaaz straight out of the tub. Sooner or later he'd turn to Smutty or me and say "hey man you finish this". Then he would hand you the tub and inside would be a perfectly fashioned small ball of vanilla. It tasted better that way! Another time he'd say in his old time Brooklyn accent, "Guys, take a look at me and Peter." Jerry would be pointing to an old black and white photo of himself with Peter Criss from Kiss when they were both 14 years old holding drum sticks standing next to Gene Kruper at the Brooklyn Paramount theater! Being older and more experienced than us at the time he did have quite an influence on us but to his credit he never tried to push any thing on us if you know what I mean. The best thing about Jerry as far as I was concerned was his drumming. He sure made it swing! Such an easy danceable beat yet when needed to could really rock the house with a heavy punk rock style. I'm lucky to have played with and known one of the great rock and roll drummers. 

Question: Is it true Johnny Thunders taught you how to play Chuck Berry riffs?

Answer: Yes it sure is! I was just getting the basics down picking up Johnny Cash riffs, Scotty Moore when I met Leee Childers who was managing Johnny and Jerry with the Heartbreakers in London. One time I was over at the band headquarters in Islington when Johnny walks in the room with this crazy looking guitar shaped like a colt 45' the trigger was the volume control and the hammer was pickup selection, real weird, I think it was a Japanese made Epiphone. He said "Hey man try this". The first thing I noticed was how easy the action was so I started doing my Scotty Moore and Johnny said it was cool. He then started playing on my Gibson copy all this nifty Chuck stuff in keys I didn't think guitars played in. I was in awe, Johnny was in rare form and I received a 1 hour free lesson from one of rock and roll's greats. 

Question: What was it like when The Rockats shot their part in the movie''Where the Boys Are''?

Answer: It was spring 1983 and we were just finishing a U.S. tour promoting our R.C.A. album "Make That Move''. We got a call from our lawyer Paul Schindler and he said "Do you want go to Fort Laurdadale for a month and stay in a luxury hotel get paid alot and do very little''? We of course said 'yes' so we ended up writing and recording 4 songs in a top studio in Miami. I remember Julio Inglesias was recording next door.The cast of the movie were all very nice and we had a great time just relaxing after coming off a two month tour. 

Question: What do you remember from your appearance on the Merv Griffin Show and American Bandstand?

Answer: We all lived in one room at The Tropicana Hotel in West Hollywood CA at the time and this seemed like a big break for us. I was still a teenager so jumping into a limo headed towards Universal film studios was very exciting. I remember Leee handing out sandwiches and sewing buttons on Levis shirt. When we got there the first people we saw was the 'Merv' house band. They were all great jazz musicians including bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Pat Kelley and were all genuinley interested in us. I remember they were impressed that we wanted to play live as most bands on the show mimed to their "latest hit". Smutty and Ray traded basses and I traded guitars with Pat. Mine was a Ventura copy of a Gibson ES175  his was the real thing. The way he played my Ventura you would never know the difference.

After our soundcheck we met Merv. I thought he was cool for having an unsigned rockabilly band on his show play live. He was a big charmer and made us all feel relaxed. In the green room we met Don Maclean who sang a great version of Buddy Holly's "Guess It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and also on the show was the latest' Bond girl 'actress Maud Adams. We went on to the screams of our fanclub and a southern flag behind us. I must admit I was very nervous about breaking a string or bum notes on live TV. I thought we all did a great job. Rockabilly is back! And that's exactly what Dick Clark said when he introduced The Rockats on American Bandstand a few years later. Dick was sitting there with a crowd of kids around him holding up our L.P., "Make That Move" telling a brief history of rockabilly .He then says ''And boy is rockabilly back, its The Rockats!''

Dick was real nice to us and gave us each a much coveted AB keyring (key chain). After the show he let us sign the wall of fame and told us stories about the famous acts that had appeared there over the years. Doing something like American Bandstand was hard to take in at the time. The only time we would ever see it in England was when early black and white footage of the late 50's and early 60's was shown so to actually be on it was such a thrill for Smutty and me. I've still got my keyring!