SO it wasn't the 'N Sync experience, but relative fame came at an early age for Bermudian singer Andy Robinson. He was front man for the Panics, a teen band which enjoyed a cult following in the 60s covering the great artists of that era.

Some 30-odd years later, he's put out a collection of his own songs, Ten Dreams of the Firedark Heads, as part of a duo known as The Glassblowers. "Teenagers on the local music scene in the mid-60s will remember that the Beatles boom spawned a number of local bands," said Mr. Robinson, who now lives in England, but visited the island over the Cup Match holiday.

"The foremost of these was The Savages, but amongst the others who were active in the 1964-67 period were The Panics."

Lawyer David Kessaram was lead guitarist for the original group which also included Bill Byron - also known as Billy Watlington - and Jock Stewart. Michael Hollis and David Robinson later joined as did Michael Spencer Arscott, who remains heavily involved in local entertainment today.

"I was about 12 when we formed the Panics," Mr. Robinson said. "We covered a lot of the popular stuff at the time - the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding.

"We were almost semi-professional. We performed mainly during the summers; at the Bermudiana Beach Club, at private parties. We were out every week as a performing band and made what was a reasonable amount of money for kids."

After Mr. Robinson left the island for school in England in 1967, the band reformed for a while as Lemmings One Way Ticket, but folded as members left for college. True to his love of music, Mr. Robinson continued in various bands while in the UK and, on return to Bermuda for a spell, played the flute in a band called Siam. He now resides near Crewe in Cheshire with his wife Nova and their four children but has remained active as a semi-professional singer and musician.

Highly critical of his own work, had he not shown his music to Steve Lazzari, a bassist and music technologist, it would have forever remained private. "I work for a big community college, Stoke-on-Trent College, with a huge music department and I occasionally perform with some of the people at work," he explained. "But for years, I created my own songs, all of which remained unperformed and unrecorded until Steve and I formed The Glassblowers.

"I'd written music for 30 years but only performed one or two of my pieces in that time and certainly never put them on an album. But I am very pleased with how it has come out. People always ask what kind of music it is, and we find it hard to answer in terms of ascribing it to a genre. It's not party music but I wouldn't describe it as sombre in tone. It's certainly in a rock vein. Much of it was done in minor keys and it's slightly ethnic sounding in places with lyrics designed to conjure images of strange themes and landscapes; all of which sounds awfully pretentious but it doesn't come across that way. Steve calls the songs 'word paintings', so maybe we'll go with that."

The duo have sold 50 copies of the album so far, mainly to people already familiar with their musical talents, and are now in search of a record deal.

"People that have bought it did so initially because they knew us," Mr. Robinson said. "They didn't have to come back to us raving about how good it was, but they have, which is encouraging. Steve and I are intensely self-critical but we believe if we can get it heard, it will be successful. We're trying to see what deal we can get, if any, before we start performing although certain people have pointed out that's not necessarily the best way to go. (But) I do stand by the artistic nature of the music. It's very good."

n For a copy of The Glassblowers' album, e-mail Mr. Robinson at robboscrowsound.freeserve.co.uk. The album is ?12 sterling or US$17 including air mail postage.