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Screaming Lord Sutch

Early 1961 at the Gaumont Ballroom. Best known for his many standings for Parliament representing the 'Monster Raving Loony Party'. Being the disc jockey I was on hand to meet him on a Sunday afternoon for his Sunday evening appearance. After the greeting and formalities, he asked me "Where he could get a meal'?" I informed him of the Alassio across the road, and he said "Would I like to join him?".

Yes, I replied. So over to the Alassio we went and ordered steaks and chips followed by sweets. 

Over the meal he was chatty and I was a good listener. I was fascinated by his reminiscences of the show business scene in London. Now remember he asked me if I would join him, so when the bill was presented he picked it up, perused it and passed it to me, and said "Thanks a lot", got up, and walked out. 17/6' that meal cost me! 

Later when we met up neither of us mentioned a thing about the meals. I told  Ray Moore the manager about this, and he gave £1 to cover it, rather than a fracas! 

Dickie Pride, now there's a name to conjure with, was a product of Larry Parnes' stable of artists. Sometimes when the television is showing old rock 'n' roll clips, they include Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, and Dickie Pride singing Three  Cool Cats with the three Vernon girls,

Dickie Pride came to the Gaumont's 'Big Beat Night'  in early 1961 and everyone stopped to listen to him. Suddenly the audience erupted when he sang 'Slippin' and Slidin'. 

Now everyone was on their feet and jiving to this fast number.

I always thought he was of the best stars I saw that night, and offstage very polite and chatty. One of his other numbers that became popular and did well in the hit parade was 'Primrose Lane'. 

Dickie Pride, with his backing group The Lucky Strikes, appeared at the Gaumont Sunday 12 March 1961 

Sadly, his early success faded and he died in 1967 aged just 27.

My first meeting with Billy Fury was at the Larry Parne's Stars Show in 1962 at the Gaumont Theatre, also in the show were Marty Wilde, Mike Sarne, Joe Brown, Mark Wynter, and many others.

In my capacity as Bradford's Top Rank disc jockey, I had easy access to these shows.

At this show, I wanted to meet Billy Fury and I did, sitting in the balcony seats and drinking Coke from the bottle. Some say that he had a sad face with a James Dean look. However, during our half-hour chat, he told me that he had been told to 'moderate' his Elvis Presley gyrations!

He also told me he had an uncle who lived in Idle and would be visiting him the day after. 

Billy was easy to talk to and was interested in my DJ status with Top Rank. I enjoyed his company until Mark Wynter came bounding up the steps of the balcony to tell Billy he was required in the changing rooms to be ready for his time on stage.

His last words to me were "Don't forget Dal to play my discs on your shows".

When he died some years ago, Yorkshire Television's local news programme 'Calendar' paid a lovely tribute to him by ending the programme with him singing "Maybe Tomorrow".

I wouldn't have been surprised if a few of the old Gaumont and Majestic girls weren't reduced to tears when they heard and saw it.

Billy Fury in my book was one of the 'best'.

It was to be Joe Brown's first appearance to Bradford, and as well as frequently being seen on television, he was having a string of hits that were equally good for dancing to. A  particular one is 'A Picture of You'.

A Monday night was fixed for this star. When I arrived in the afternoon Joe's group The Bruvvers and I clarified the time they would appear 8.30 to 9.30 pm. Joe arrived later and was very amiable and chatty, asking if I knew where they could get something to eat so  I directed them to  Seabrook Fisheries. Using the back door they all sidled off,  and it being early, no queue had formed outside so they were safe.

I returned early and found Joe asleep on the settee in the dressing room. Back then we started the records at 7.30 in the usual style and at 8 o'clock generally wished everyone a good evening. The crowd was definitely at its capacity a thousand teenagers plus gyrating around the floor. Towards 8.30 the crowd began to drift closer to the stage, now behind a barrier of settees. First of all, play the intro as I introduced the Bruvvers  to warm up and halfway through as arranged I introduced Joe, who was on the stage in a flash.

It was the start of a great show. For the next hour, Joe progressed magically through his repertoire which included all his hits, and finished with A 'Picture of You'  which brought the house down. I closed the show with a big thank you as they all raced off the stage through a gap in the crowd, made by four burly doormen. I had an hour to play out and was bombarded with autograph books.  At 10:30 there were few people still around, and almost empty by 11 o clock and I had missed my last bus home!

Joe asked me for directions out of Bradford to the A1 for his journey to London. I said where I lived in Wyke which was en route to the A1, and I could show him on the way. Saying goodbye to the Bruvvers still packing up we made our way to his car across the road where Joe had parked his car. The car was a mid-fifties red sports car, not particularly flashy, but as Joe said, she was a goer. Off we sped through Bradford up Manchester Rd. A few minutes later we reached my destination in Wyke.

Joe politely refused a cup of tea because of the long journey that lay ahead, which made it possible that Huddersfield Road was not quite the direction to take for the A1 in those days. I vaguely pointed to Brighouse and watched him drive away. Well  I thought, he has £200 in his back pocket, and I've made 30/-, surely I qualify for a free ride home -needs must. Sorry, Joe........a great guy.

Note. Mitchell the manager told to me that it was the most money paid at the Majestic for Joe Brown.

'My Boy Lollipop', the star of this number which reached No 2  in the Top Twenty was a young West Indian girl called Millie. She was appearing on a package show at the Gaumont and as I was the local Top  Rank  DJ at the Majestic, I  could always attend these and go backstage and had the privilege of meeting this delightful young lady in 1964.

While being chaperoned by both her manager and family, she also had an amount of freedom in as much as she asked me to lunch the next day, as it was a two-day stopover. 

During our conversation that evening she was particularly proud of a gold bracelet in which was mounted a rather large pearl that had been given to her by the President of Jamaica.

The next day I joined her at the Victoria Hotel for lunch with her, plus her manager and chaperone. Later with the chaperone, I took her to Lister Park in my Mini, and as it was a hot day spending most of the time sitting on a park bench eating ice creams, which was my treat.

Later when we returned to the hotel a dainty kiss on the  cheek brought this rather sweet episode to a close, but a few weeks later  I received a huge envelope containing six photographs all autographed  'With all my love Millie'  x

It was, always to me,  a nice day to remember. R I P Millie.

Video of 'My Boy Lollipop'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSNdPlSKfV0

It was at the Package Show at the Gaumont Theatre that  I was lucky to spend about five minutes with the Everly Brothers asking questions of which they both were really kind and chatty. As for the autograph they kindly signed it to Diana as she was a fan, who would later become my wife.

Eden Kane made a rather mediocre performance at the Majestic in 1962, however, it was not actually his fault. Just before he was due to sing his number one hit 'Well I ask you', the PA system went on the blink. For a while, Terry (Dadio) had to hold the mic for him which was plugged into one of his backing group's (The Downbeats) amplifiers. Later when the PA system was sorted, he sang all his numbers again. However, I think the girls mainly remembered him for his good looks that evening. Later he did make other Top Ten hits that proved popular, namely, 'Get Lost', 'Forget me not', and 'I Don't Know Why'.

Video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WI1WsMP42g

Billie Davis was actually the only female vocalist we booked for an evening. She had some success in 1962 with the voice-off  Mike Sarne's  'Will I What?' which reached number eighteen in the hit parade. She went on to make the odd pop record, and in 1963 had her own Top Twenty hit a Lulu-type bouncy number called 'Tell Him', so quite a change,  her appearance was one for the boys! She had a backing group whose name evades me, but left a pleasant memory of a nice girl, and still only eighteen. 

Her teenage peers were not too complimentary. The mutterings under their breath, and behind cupped hands, were not very polite coming from our teenage ladies, but she was definitely appreciated by the lads.

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2hUS7EBTUA

After performing at the Majestic and after Gene had finished signing autographs it was 11.30 pm before the area was cleared enough for him to leave.  

Thinking he would be accommodated at the Midland or Victoria Hotels we were surprised to find out that him and ‘Sounds Incorporated’ were booked into the Castle Hotel at the top of Albion Street, off Westgate.  Dadio and I were asked if we would like to join them for a drink, so we all went up to the Castle.  With glasses charged we passed the time away exchanging experiences of the Pop Scene Around 2.30am the little group was down to Gene, Barry Cameron, Alan Holmes, of Sounds Inc, with Dadio and me. 

For sometime I entertained Gene with one of my old party tricks which consisted of breaking a pencil in half with an old one pound note.  Many pencils were broken during the early hours of that morning. This had Gene fascinated just how could a folded paper pound note hit a pencil held by someone and break it clean in half.  I performed this trick many times with him pleading with me to explain how it was done, however, somehow I never got round to telling him.

It was in the dawn of that morning when I said farewell to the great star. We did meet again a few times later however the last time was in 1970 when he was in a package show of which he was just one of the many stars in the lower order.  I was talking to Cliff Bennett who was on the same show with the ‘Rebel Rousers’ when suddenly a door opened behind me and I was grabbed around the neck and a voice shouted ‘Hey Dal, you never did show me how to do that pencil trick’, and then Gene Vincent was gone overwhelmed by screaming fans.

Ravages of time, car and motorcycle accidents all took their toil.  After a few years of sliding down the scale he was just climbing back up when Mr ‘Be- Bop- A- Lula’ Gene Vincent died in 1971 of heart failure at the age of 36.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQL_Bv8nbDo

On Thursday the 10th May 1962 at St George's Hall Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Kidd and the Pirates appeared on the same Show. Being the DJ for Top Rank influenced my ability to actually meet them. I watched the show from the balcony, which contained about every local group I knew. I was with my ex-group bass player member Michael Farrell and Spike of the Dingos. During the interval of a fantastic show, we made our way to the stage rear, complete with security people. My contact met us and shuffled the three of us into a dressing room.

Jerry had just returned to his dressing room and sat drinking Coke and welcomed us in, at the same time offering us a drink of Coke or a whisky. We all had a whisky. His conversation was enlightening and exhilarating asking more about us than we did him. However, It was a joy to watch Spike with his hero drinking whisky as Jerry was very interested in a fellow rock 'n' roll pianist as the two talked 'shop'. As other people were now converging outside as a matter of courtesy, and with autographs we said our goodbye, and Spike even got a hug.

Spike O Brien see profile pages 327-8 'When Bradford Rocked'

Video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXQLfrPEV4w

My contact took us through to another dressing room where we were all introduced to Johnny Kidd. Here again, was another of my favourites who chatted quite freely as he sat down, saying it was good to get the pirate costume off and relax. Johnny Kidd in costume was a remarkable act to see. Dressed in a leather-type pirate costume, large thigh-high boots, and a shirt with frills and lace. Also as a gimmick, he wore a black eye patch, I still have the one he wore that night. Like his idol Gene Vincent, Kidd would perform a sweaty intensity, rarely experienced in British pop before 1962. 

He was also one of the home-grown rockers who didn't go smoothly at a time when the UK charts were riddled with 'Brilliantine Bobbies' and 'Regular Rickies' from across the Atlantic. The fifteen minutes with him that evening, his courtesy and answering questions was a night to remember, plus his autograph. Though his impact took place at the beginning of the sixties, Johnny Kidd and his Pirates managed to stay afloat until his untimely death in a road accident near Preston in Lancashire in 1966.

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UHOf6-7JKQ

From the 1960s the heavyweight of pop comedy was Freddie and the Dreamers. 

In 1963, after a smattering of TV appearances, and then a 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' spot featuring 'If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody', he was up to number three, followed by 'I'm Telling You  Now', which went to Number Two. With that, Freddie and the Dreamers were established. With all this behind him, frantic Freddie appeared at the Majestic in 1963. His night was a Friday.

The usual arrangements were made regarding introductions. This was my turn to introduce the onstage, Dadio would thank them and bring them off. We all met and chatted."How do you wish to be introduced?" etc. No problems were created by Freddie, we all got on well together, as he had the professional sense to leave it to us for the show.

At  9 o'clock, everything was ready for Freddie's one-hour spot. My so-called introduction was drowned out by a thousand screaming voices. With a leap and a bound Freddie jumped onto the stage with his Top Twenty hit, 'I'm Telling You Now'  inserting his catchphrase "Just a minute"  here and there. The show itself was a television copy. Most groups when seen live, are completely different from their television performance. Not so Freddie and The Dreamers as they had the packed Majestic enthralled for sixty minutes of non-stop entertainment. For one incredible moment, The Beatles apart, Freddie Garrity ruled British pop. A good night was had by all.

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mu7MPJRNHU

They appeared a couple of times at the Gaumont Theatre Package shows, one Friday evening in 1964 came to the Majestic Ballroom although, the next day in the Telegraph and Argus of the write up the headline said the "Pop group had no instruments", an understatement of what had could have been a chaotic night!

As they were a top group I made my usual late afternoon call to see if they had arrived. This time no group, nothing. I set the DJ  equipment out on stage and went home to change. Later on our arrival at 6: 30 Dadio and I were welcomed by the manager. He said he was glad to see us and fussed to the point of being embarrassed. The reason for this approach was when he informed us that Gerry and the Pacemakers had arrived, but with no equipment, Instruments etc. Was there anything we could do to solve the problem?

Dadio (Terry Moran) and I went down to the dressing room and encountered Gerry Marsden and his group.'Had he any ideas' we said, he answered us with some really bad language so, this was an ex-choir boy swearing at two ex-solders.  When he calmed down he said that the van bringing all the equipment from Torquay had broken down near Manchester and no hope of getting here for the show. We asked him what equipment he would need. He then furnished us with details and with Gerry's brother (drummer) Freddie behind us we headed back to the manager's office to see what we could do.

Thanks to our relationships with the local groups, we were able to contact two local groups,  Bradford's Terry Sexton and the Telecasters, Geoff and the Fairlanes from Shipley. Typically both groups responded to this SOS and, like the troopers they were, and in their own time supplied Gerry and his Pacemakers with their own equipment, instruments, and amplifiers.

In the meantime, Dadio and I got the show on the road. We controlled the bewildered crowd of over a thousand teenagers that night as they could see there was no equipment on the stage' They were also running late as when the replacement instruments arrived they had to practice a while on them down in the dressing room, so it was 9:15 when Gerry and the Pacemakers took to the stage making up for it by playing a full hour until 10:15.

Looking at the piece in the Telegraph and Argus below.

The next day Dal and Dadio did not exist thanks to the manager's observations he was the hero and saved what he called "nearly a riot", rubbish! 

When we left Gerry really was apologetic and did thank us and gave Terry and me each a fiver (this was a first) and the local groups who helped, it was really them who saved them.

Video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQD-m2AQoXc

'Pop group had no instruments'

 from the T&A.