THERE were some brilliant Island pop bands in the 60s, but none could quite topple the legendary Cherokees, who quickly became the most popular and successful local group of those heady times. Their classic fab four line-up of Graham Betchley, Brian Sharpe, Crann Davies and Ken Young, who came together in 1962, has gone down in Island folklore. To be fair, none of them were original members of the group first formed in 1957. I d like to highlight some of their predecessors, who had their own initial following at Newport s Queens Hall, now the Boots store. These included Mick Horne, Gil Palmer, Chick Leal, Dave Head, Bill Wills, Codge Atkinson and Floss Ford. They helped bring a new dimension to the Island s live music scene, which had been mainly dance bands.