AS FRANK Sinatra always reminded me whenever we were playing golf together, it’s never good form to name drop.

But if you were mates with Steve Marriott, on nodding terms with The Beatles and a young David Bowie, played guitar for or worked with artists as diverse as The Walker Brothers, Chuck Berry, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Page and even stood in with Pink Floyd when Syd Barrett was, er,somewhere else, you’d find it hard to take the advice of Ol’ Blue Eyes, wouldn’t you?

The remarkable Graham Dee was one of the pivotal figures of the London music scene of the 1960s, as an in-demand session guitarist, song-writer, producer, arranger and as a solo recording artist in his own right.

And those ultra-cool hipsters at Acid Jazz Rare Mod records have been trawling through the extensive archives to release this week The Graham Dee Connection: The 60s Collection, both on fabulous black shiny vinyl and that new-fangled CD thing.

You can listen to a couple of tracks online at dorsetecho.co.uk/ leisure/music and if you like it, and I know you will, you’ll be thrilled to hear that Graham will be headlining the opening night of the three-day Lupus Festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October, 7, 8 and 9 at the King’s Club, King Street, Weymouth.

Graham will be on the bill on Friday with the Mutter Slater Band and Ian Sedwell, while Saturday’s highlights include The Dolmen, Pressgang and The Devil’s Rejects.

The Amy Mayes Band, Million Dollar Bash and Garfield’s Birthday are among the artists performing on the Sunday at this fabulous event which raises both awareness and funds for the auto-immune disorder Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus and the associated blood-clotting disorder Anti-phospholipid or Hughes Syndrome.

There’ll be a full list of all the bands and artists taking part on this page nearer the time.

Moving on, I’m sure everyone can remember the first single they bought and it’s 40 years since a 10-year-old me, inspired by Marc Bolan’s appearance on Top of the Pops that week, popped into the old Woolworths in St Mary Street, Weymouth, clutching a new decimal 50p in my little hand and emerging, all excited, with a copy of Get It On by T Rex.

This milestone (the 40th anniversary of the release of Get It On, not of me going to a shop) is celebrated by T Rextasy, arguably THE top T Rex tribute band out there, at the Regent Centre, Christchurch, on Sunday, September 25 (Tickets £17 from the box office on 01202 499199).

Lead singer Danilez bears such an uncanny resemblance to Marc that Bolan’s former drummer Bill Legend remarked: “It’s the closest you’ll ever get to the real thing.”

I wonder if today’s youngsters will remember the first track they downloaded in 40 years’ time.

Meanwhile, last Sunday’s all-day bash at Finn’s in Weymouth raised £1,200 for the family of Spencer Bates and event organiser Barbara Whiteside would like to thank all the scores of people who came along, all the musicians who gave their time completely free and also Steve at Finn’s for letting them use their pub.

A fantastic day indeed. And finally, Ricky Stevenson is playing at The Lugger in Chickerell tonight and at the King’s Arms in Weymouth on Saturday.

At least, he thinks he is as some ne’er-do-well has made off with his laptop, which contains not only his gig diary but essential backing music and films used for his work with The Crack and the UK Pink Floyd tribute act.

As you may have read in yesterday’s Echo, Ricky is anxious to have the laptop back so if you have any information, please contact Dorset Police on their new phone number: 101.

Well, that’s it from this week’s Crimewatch. Stay safe and don’t have nightmares.

Listen to Two Can Make It Together, featuring Graham Dee

listen to ‘featuring Graham Dee talk about Two Can Make It Together’ on Audioboom