Then, in the mid-60s, the burgeoning Mod movement came to the fore and the exclusive band of stylish kids with their love of soul music soon influenced the mass market. This new culture directly gave birth to Derby’s Clouds club, and the club scene began

 

Magical memories of Derby's 1960s dance halls

A new book is set to dive into the golden era of dance venues in Derby

It was the era when the "teenage revolution" really took off.

The dance halls of the 1960s saw young people really begin to assert their own identity rather than being clones of their parents, when high employment meant disposable income – money to spend on enjoying themselves.

And that was nowhere more so than in Derby.

Roger Smith already has a hit to his name – “When The Stars Came To Town: Pop Package Tours at Derby’s Gaumont Cinema 1959-1966”, his 96-page book packed full of nostalgia-inducing photographs, recollections and memorabilia which chronicle more than 40 shows that visited Derby’s largest cinema during that period.

Now Roger is writing a new book: “We Danced In Derby: Dance Halls, Discos, Clubs and Pubs In The 1960s.” And he is asking Derbyshire Live readers for their memories – and photographs – of the town’s dance venues of that magical decade.

In Derby, the old venues – the Assembly Rooms (before it burned down in 1963), the Trocadero, the Albert Ballroom, the Churchill Hall – were still providing music for dancing with their own resident bands. But in December 1959, just two weeks before the start of the new decade, in the old Grand Theatre building in Babington Lane, Mecca opened the Locarno ballroom.

It was a revelation. Mecca used its own stable of bands and the occasional local group – but it was the resident DJ, spinning 45-rpm vinyl, that was favoured by dance-crazy young people, as what would become known as the Swinging Sixties got under way.

Then, in the mid-60s, the burgeoning Mod movement came to the fore and the exclusive band of stylish kids with their love of soul music soon influenced the mass market. This new culture directly gave birth to Derby’s Clouds club, and the club scene began to flourish with new venues popping up around town.

Says Roger: “I want people to take their minds back to those magical, some might say innocent, virus-free days and share their thoughts with me. And if they can help me with photos or memorabilia that would be a bonus.

“There will be an ‘I Was There’ feature linked to each venue which will share the memories of anyone who was a regular. You may have met your husband or wife on the dance floor, experienced a drama there, won a dance competition or have a humorous anecdote.

“Did you Waltz, Bop, Jive, Twist, do the Locomotion or the Block? Tell me about your favourite music, band or DJ. And what did you wear? You may have even worked or performed at one of these iconic venues, whether it be a dance hall, club or pub.”

To jog memories, the venues – and, of course, there will be many more – that will be featured in the book include the Locarno, Assembly Rooms, Trocadero, King's Hall, Albert Ballroom, Victor Silvester Dance Studio, Corporation Hotel, Ritz Ballroom, Rialto, Black Cat Club, Stork Club, Discovery Discotheque, Clouds, Shotgun Discotheque, Magic of Ju Ju, Havana Club, Polish Club, Club Italia, Carib Club, and the Sherwood Hotel.

Rogers says: “The book will document a piece of social history – the dances people did, the music they danced to, even the clothes they wore in those Derby dance venues of a truly remarkable, exciting decade.”

Anyone with memories or photographs that they would like to appear in Roger’s new book should contact him on roger@thetapmarketing.com