South Shields woman who was a 1970s music superfan and this was the chart-hitting Scottish duo she loved

A South Shields woman made the headlines 60 years ago when she was a superfan of one of the era’s favourite acts.

The Alexander Brothers outsold The Beatles in their native Scotland when their first single, Nobody’s Child, was released in 1964.

The kilted duo, brothers Jack and Tom, grew up in Cambusnethan, near Wishaw, Lanarkshire, where they learned to perform at family ceilidhs around the piano.

Many years later they were introduced to songwriter Tony Hatch, who took them to London and recording fame.

They had their own TV series for many years and appeared on the legendary Sunday Night at the Palladium, even co-starring with Dame Shirley Bassey.

In 1979 they were bringing their show, A Touch of Tartan, to the Whitley Bay Playhouse.

That was proving an exciting prospect for their ‘No1 fan’ – Vera Barnett, of Quarry Lane, South Shields.

The grandmother had followed the career of the duo she affectionately called “the boys” for several years.

And whenever they played locally, she would catch their shows and pop backstage for a chat.

On one occasion, Vera jokingly told the duo they needed some new songs – and they invited her to write them.

She said: “The words poured out and I couldn’t get them down quick enough”. Vera went onto write more than 40 songs and sent them all to the brother’s management team.

Sadly, despite positive feedback, they were ranked “unsuitable” for the duo to record or perform.

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