Tomorrow, Somerset Brigade bandmaster Alan Tucker will hand over the baton to his successor.

It will be the end of a 31-year tenure for the athletic 63-year old.

Yesterday, Mr. Tucker recalled that he was the typical teenager -- complaining that there was nothing to do -- until he met a friend who was not carrying his usual musical instrument.

Mr. Tucker followed the friend to the small band room on Scott's Hill Road and began a journey in music that is only turning to a new page.

"I went to the band room which back then was only eight feet by eight feet and I've been going ever since,'' Mr. Tucker told The Royal Gazette . "Back then there was nothing to do except go to the movies and sit on a wall, which I did.

"I had a job, but I went to the wall after hours. I eventually broke away from my friends.'' Mr. Tucker said there was not much difference between teens then and now, but added that there are now more avenues and outlets.

By the time he joined the Somerset Brigade, the band had been operating for 23 years.

The band was formed when members of the Oddfellows, a friendly society, needed accompaniment for their yearly "Shepherds March'' to St. James' Church in Somerset.

The Grand United Order of Oddfellows of Manchester Street approached two orchestra leaders, Cecil Gilbert and Clifton Keith Robinson, who formed the new band on February 12, 1930.

The Shepherds March, which started at 3.30 p.m. on what used to be known as Manchester Street (now Somerset Road), would end at 4 a.m., and eventually became so popular that people from outside the Sandys community would line the streets to watch the procession.

"They would be drinking and carousing and it eventually had to be stopped,'' Mr. Tucker noted.

He also recalled the man he replaced, Bandmaster Cecil (Pot) Gilbert, as a great teacher.

The community had strong reservations about him after Mr. Gilbert's strong leadership, Mr. Tucker admitted. But he said: "I couldn't be Pot Gilbert, I could only be myself.'' Bandleader of the Bermuda Militia Artillery Band Wilfred Furbert was a taskmaster who also taught young Alan Tucker how to lead a band.

"You were almost afraid to play for him,'' Mr. Tucker said with a wry smile.

"He was like superman, he trained you in footwork, music theory and practice, and military tradition.

"I spent ten years in that band and I eventually made sergeant because I was so well qualified the Adjutant, a Captain, had no choice but to give it to me,'' Mr. Tucker said.

"I had completed a course through the Royal School of Music, tutored by Major Lawrence Dunn,'' he continued.

Major Dunn was a British bandmaster who served the two segregated military units of the time, the Bermuda Rifles and Bermuda Militia Artillery.

"It wasn't by accident that I got the bandmaster's job, Major Dunn taught arranging, conducting, and drilling.'' Mr. Tucker linked that experience to his belief that the Somerset Brigade Band and other organisations in Bermuda are products of the military experience.

"Many of the young people today show they have not been exposed to military training,'' he said. "Our people are on time, they look sharp, and they have a military bearing.'' Mr. Tucker is pleased with the integration of women into the band, which began 30 years ago.

"We now have eight women and have had as many as ten,'' he added. "The treasurer is a woman.'' "We do please the Director of the Bermuda Regiment Band,'' he continued. "He invited us to take part in two Retreats last year.'' After handing over the bandmaster's baton, Mr. Tucker will remain a member of the executive committee and return to the bass section of the band "where I came out of'' he said.

The next bandleader, Major Leslie Lowe, is an old friend of Mr. Tucker. He said it was with Major Lowe's assurance that he decided to step down.