Just needed a little push

In January 1961 we had just played twice at the Gaumont's Sunday Big Beat Nights, and the following Saturday night I had obtained a good booking at the popular rock' n' roll venue Christie's in Selby. We hired a Dormobile for the journey. However, a couple of our groups girlfriends had joined us, which was a first.

The night at Christie's was a success, however the next day  one member of the group accused another on 'chatting up' his girlfriend on the away home after he had been dropped off! 

There was no truth in this, but it caused so much animosity that within a week 'Dal Stevens and the Four Dukes' were no more. After all the trials and tribulations of the past twelve months  which could caused us to disband  it was an argument over a girlfriend. If we had been in a stronger, more successful position, we would have probably survived. As it was we just needed a little push. 

As it was It did me a favour. A week  a later I  visited the Gaumont on Sunday  Rock n Roll night, chatting to people I knew and some group members. At the soft drinks bar the manager, Ray Moore came over for a chat and asking  if wanted booking for the group. I told him  that I had no group as we had broken up, he was surprised ,but then said "would I like to be the disc jockey here at the Gaumont" . The rest is history.   

Ricky Valance (Tell Laura I Love Her) 

 He was a very unassuming and amiable person. I remember some two hours  in his company

 after his  Gaumont performance. He was a little down and going through some problems with his latest girlfriend. 

It was hard to contemplate this guy being upset by a girl when at that time  he could have his pick with hundreds.

He smoked all my cigarettes and told me I had  made him feel a little better. 

I had consequently my last bus home, but  manager Ray Moore got me a taxi. About two weeks  later, arriving at the ballroom

Ray gave me a parcel with a London postmark "London" .Inside were 200 hundred cigarettes, and a £ 5 note.

On  a card was written "Many Thanks Dal, All the best, Ricky. I had the impression that, like most pop stars of the 'One Night Stands', living out of a suitcase, he lacked company. I supposed he was back with his girlfriend, I did hope so, however the parcel was a nice surprise.

On the same show that night was Screaming Lord Sutch, leader of the 'Monster Raving Loony Party', who I had met earlier that day.

Sutch was what would be known now as ' a bit of a 'wide-boy' and I was the 'mug'.

Once I had done the formalities he asked if there was somewhere he could eat. I suggested the The Alassio restaurant and coffee bar just over the road, to which he asked if I would like to join him.

We ate well as we both ordered steak and chips. An expensive meal in those days at 7/6. Followed by a sweet and tea. We chatted throughout the meal. I was fascinated with his tales of the 'show biz' world'. Another world to a DJ living in Bradford.

Now remember he had asked me to join him for lunch and when presented with the bill he had a look - and then passed it to me saying as he got up to leave 'thanks a lot'. The bill was 19/6 - £28.00 in today's money!

I set there a little stunned for a while but eventually left the retaurant and went back to the Gaumont where I bumped in to Ray Moore the manager and  told him what had happened. Ray could see I was angry and was kind enough to cover the cost from petty-cash.

When it was time for Sutch to go on stage I gave him a good introduction. When he came off stage he shook my hand - but said nothing about the lunch bill he had landed me with.

I had to maintain being professional as I wanted to keep my job as a Top Rank disc jockey.

Competitions had become a feature of Ray Moore' time. These usually took place as jive contests. Most times it was either myself or Dadio who did the judging, but as other features were introduced, we sometime had a local celebrity. One such evening  was a female hair style competition to be judged during the course of the evening by top TV personality Raymond otherwise known as  "Mr Teasy-Weasy". How Ray managed to arrange it, I never knew. 

However, Raymond had no hesitation in selecting the winner - Miss Diana Winnard from Bankfoot, who collected the prize of a years supply of Bellair hair spray or Lacquer, an absolute must for the hairstyles of the day. Bellair is the company promoting the product. 

The lucky winner's photograph appeared in the Telegraph and Argus the next day. 

Dal's note  Remember, this is a rock 'n roll evening for jiving and a group to perform, however all the teenagers  enjoyed these usual breaks and always joined in the fun during these evenings. Thanks to Ray Moore disc jockey.

At the Gaumont ballroom one evening as I left the stage after introducing the group, I noticed at the back of the dance hall by the soft drinks bar, a rather well dressed gentleman. He was speaking to the manager of the cinema which was incorporated in the same building. I knew the manager, Dave Wilmott well as he used to let me in the Gaumont cinema during my break times with my girlfriend.

As I was passing the bar during my break Dave Wilmott called me over and introduced me to Peter Arne, the actor, who asked me if I was American as I spoke with an American accent on stage. An accent I had adopted for my DJ spots!

It only took a couple of sentences from me for Peter to realise I was pure West Riding!

I did not give our conversation a second thought until years later that I realised the Peter Arne I was introduced to was for a short time the 'perfect' villain in many British films. Peter was sadly murdered in his flat in 1983 at the age of 63 which shocked the entertainment world and cut short a notable career.

No one has ever been charged with Peter's murder.

Only one time at the Gaumont was I physically threatened, and he was drunk. During a break I was at the soft drinks bar when this stocky Scots guy came up and threatened me, because he said, I had not played his girlfriends request record. At this point the two doormen Aubrey and Ken arrived picked up my aggressor, and literally threw him out. I thought no more about it until 10. 30pm. 

As we were closing Ray came and told me that my friend was hanging about outside, promising to get me on my way out. Ray said not to worry as he was getting a taxi and would see me home. The minute the taxi pulled outside I was rushed down the steps surrounded  by Ray, Aubrey  and Ken. They literally threw me into the .It resembled a scene from the TV programmed  of the time The Untouchables. As we sped away I noticed my Scots friend cowering in a doorway  looking the other way.

I had visions of another confrontation on my next  visit, but found out later he was in town on holiday.  

Living at Delph Hill estate  Wyke  meant that I had to catch the bus for trips to and from both the Gaumont and Majestic during my  five years of attending as the disc jockey. On leavings the dance hall after the show  for  the last Wyke bus at 10:55.

As you can imagine 75% of the teenagers were on the bus who had been to the ballroom  that night. Earlier in the evening when I had been introducing the Pop Star of the day to them, I could control, advise or ridicule any one of the hundreds of teenagers in the ballroom. 

However, on leaving the ballroom at 10 45 pm, walking for the bus, queuing at the stop and the on the bus, it was my turn to be controlled and ridiculed all the way home. Mostly though, it was good humoured, I think!

"Dal, why didn't you play this or that Dal, whose on next week?" "Dal, your a rotten disc Jockey", and so on.Still if you can dish it out you should be able to take it back,as they say it went with the job. 

In early 1962 and Joe Brown was to appear at the Majestic on Monday evening. It was his first visit to Bradford, well advertised and a capacity crowd.I was told by the then manager Bob Mitchell that Joe was paid £200 , the most paid to a star at that time. I had met Joe in the afternoon on his arrival and sorted his time on stage with his group The Bruvvers 8 30 until 9 30.The show on stage was tremendous success as I thanked him on leaving the stage a t 9 30.  

Then I had to finish off the last hour with records. There was still lots of people, mostly girls still there as he was still in the dressing room signing autographs the the doormen brought down. It was chaos for a while, but had dispersed by 11 0 clock. I had missed my last bus home.  However as I was chatting to Joe he asked. "How to to get to the A1 from here . I said  "Where I live is on the way to the A1, and I would show him better on the way home. 

Saying good bye to the  Bruvvers who were still packing up, we then departed the Majestic to the car park across the road.  The car was a mid- fifties red sports model not particular flashy,  but as Joe said 'she was a goer' Off we  sped through Bradford and up Manchester Road, Bankfoot,Odsal, Low Moor, and along Woodside Road where I lived on Delph Hill Estate. I stopped him while still on Woodside Road and said to travel on this road to Brighouse and there are directions to the A1. 

Joe drove off after many thanks, for his long journey home , made possible  longer by, yes. you've guessed, Huddersfield Road  was not quite in the direction to take the A1 in those days. I had 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 .

A TRIBUTE TO OUR GAUMONT AND MAJESTIC TEENAGERS

I must put on record that all the teenagers of both our venues were great. They were all our friends, and we knew most of their names with many hello's and greetings. 

Both Dadio and I looking back  could never remember any real  problems, fall-outs or misbehaving over our time with them.

We were very  lucky and remember that most of them had gone through the war as  children and then working at 15,and some lads would be off doing their National Service.  

 It was hard some days for  them, but were always compensated with their laughter, smiles, joy, and happiness for those few hours at the Gaumont and Majestic ballroom.

When I started at the Gaumont in 1961 I was payed £1 10 shillings per night,  which would be around £42  pounds in 2025. It was quite good really, as this would continue into my Majestic days, especially when it was three nights Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Terry (Dadio) was paid the same.

When Carl Glass was the manager at the Majestic he was great, as we ran the show.

This all changed when Carl left and a new manager arrived, Mr Harry Radly from Nottingham, who made it clear that Bingo was his main interest.  It was along story, as he cut record purchases, local groups appearing, and finally loosing two  rock 'n' roll nights, Wednesday and Friday. He got his wish when in late 1965  the  Majestic was closed for Bingo. It was during this time that Terry and myself asked Radley  for a  wage rise. This exercise got us nowhere only a curt inquiry as to whether one of us could manage each show. 

We were each still being paid £1  10 shillings a night. However this rebounded back on us as, withing a week we ha both been contacted by the Inland Revenue. The conclusion was we had not been paying tax on our DJ earnings back also to our Gaumont days. We would have to repay 2/6 per week. I remember paying that  sum over two years. Yes" IT WAS A MEAN OLD SCENE".

In 1964, Terry (Dadio) called it a day at the Majestic and left Dal on his own. In early 1965, Dal also left the Majestic, which became bingo orientated. Soon afterwards it closed, reopening in May 1965 as a bingo hall. In 1965 Dal was a DJ for Peter Pugh Entertainments at the Victoria Hall in Keighley. The highlight of his time there was compèring the show with Screaming J. Hawkins. Dal was DJ for the Top Twenty Club in Idle and at summer fairs for Garth Cawood in 1966, and in 1967 he was DJ for guest spots at the Locarno Mecca. After this his show business life ceased.

 In the 1990s he did a few DJ and singing spots at the Pile Bar, Midland Hotel, as part of the Bradford rock ’n’ roll reunions organised by Garth Cawood. In 1991 a Rock ’n’ Roll Reunion CD (produced by Emile Ford) was made of eight of Bradford’s original groups, on which Dal sang Cliff Richard’s ‘Move It’. In 1997 he recorded Johnny Kidd’s ‘Shaking All Over’, which was produced by Richard Harding. . After four decades in sales he retired in 2003, after the full fifty years. Derek now lives in Harrogate.

From the mid-1950s well into the ’60s Radio Luxembourg’s Top Twenty Show each Sunday evening between 11pm and midnight was listened to by thousands of teenagers. Although boasting one of the most powerful transmitters in the world, it needed much re-tuning – but this did not detract from listening to the full Top Twenty, finishing just before midnight with the week’s number one. There was always something in that hour that you would enjoy. It seems that almost everyone listened to and enjoyed Radio Luxembourg’s Top Twenty Show.

It was perhaps Australian-born Barry Alldis (1930–1982) who more than any other radio DJ is remembered for hosting the Top Twenty Show between 1958 and 1966. With a pleasant voice that always sounded enthusiastic, he built up a considerable following in Britain. For many listeners, Barry Alldis was Radio Luxembourg. His two well-known catchphrases were ‘Your DJ, BA,’ and ‘Whether at home or on the highway, thanks for tuning my way.’ During my six years as a DJ with Top Rank I tried many times to emulate Barry Alldis, all to no avail!