Rock Around the Clock: Memories of Torquay’s 1960s rock’n’roll and jazz era

Well, a happy New Year to everyone.

In the early 1960s when American artists were dominating the British charts with the likes of Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochrane, Little Richard and Gene Vincent to name a few, British rock artists in the top 20 were mostly solo singers recorded with session musicians the likes of Ricky Valance, Tommy Bruce, Michael Cox, Rolly Daniels and Nelson Keen.

With the local Co-Op Hall closing on a Saturday night due to a fire there, the Saturday night dances were moved to the 400 ballroom. I did a deal with the 400 management who were having poor attendance with the usual dance bands, so I booked in artists who were having chart success at the time; such as Ricky Valance with Tell Laura I love her, a number one top 20 hit, and Tommy Bruce, Bert Weedon, and others with top 20 hits.

These Saturday night dances became very popular.

I later moved to the Torquay Town Hall to accommodate bigger crowds when I started putting on 'bigger name' attractions. At the time, jazz bands were still the main attraction, with artists like Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band, famed for their 1961 Top 20 hit, Stranger on the Shore, which reached number two. It stayed in the British charts for 50 weeks and went to number one in the USA.

The first American rock ‘n’ roll star to appear in Torquay was Gene Vincent of “Be Bop a Lula” fame, having appeared in the rock ‘n’ roll film 'The Girl Can’t Help It.' He topped the bill on the 8th of July 1961 at the Princess Theatre Sunday concert, presented by Bernard Delfont.

I later, in 1963, put Gene Vincent on at Torquay Town Hall when we were having regular rock dancers there. I have fond memories of time spent with Acker and the rest of the band in the Grand Hotel billiards room. We played all night till dawn, regularly supplied with beer by the night Porter, until Acker - the last man standing - retired to bed.

Well, that’s Rock'n'Roll for you.

That’s all till the next time.