(remember him?) 1. I never got to playground, when bloomers closed we all migrated to la dolce vita for a while but was never quite the same yes, loved dancing but fortunately my best mate Lesley was the same and we both hardly ever sat down ! Just stumbled across this great website. Couldnt believe my luck. Great site look forward to any info. Vogue. During the mid/late 1960s I was half of the singing duo, Shirley and Johnny. Hello, this has been a great read. Ziggy's 19 Bars & Clubs By jacquelinesQ1680QF Apparently thats where John first spotted me when I was dancing and that was all I was interested in at the time! Does anyone remember the Kontors band; Alan price, Chas Chandler, Bernie Maguian, Gordon Cleghorn, Nick Brandon, Chunky Bourne, Barry Preston? I used to work at the Oxford with Don Smith and Jims 2 room as singer with the trio. The Marimba Coffee House on High Bridge, Newcastle (off Grey Street) was another venue opened by Mike Jeffery. Big hair and big eyes and John with his shoes wouldve been 65 We married in 1976 and continued to go out to Scamps and are still married now. I later joined the Gamblers backing Billy Fury. Geoff Wonfor became famous as a music video producer. I met John there in March of 1974 and we were there several times a week. We still went to Bloomers perhaps once a week. I have a photo from The Viewer (the forefunner of the TV Times) showing a line-up of pianists and singers, Dad is on there but the only other pianist I recognise is (the much-admired, not least by my Dad) Billy Hutchinson. I live in France now,so dont get many chances to visit the old stomping grounds. Sydney Australia. 69 Club Westgate Street plus MANY social clubs all around the North East. Bars & Clubs By 688iang The range of beers and ciders is magnificent, all superbly kept by Kath and the staff. Does anyone remember Joe and Pat McBeth,fab dancers, Does anyone know of any Italian restaurant where someone called Frank Calzini or Franco Calzini worked in 1967 it was in Pink Lane. The only place in South Shields at the time that charged an entry fee. How embarrassing. Venues were St.Georges Drill Hall by Northumberland Rd. Hi Does anybody remember the Dolce Vita house band, a guy named Robbie was the bass player and I cannot remember the names of the drummer, organist and lead Guitarist. I went to a few with Billys Mills bonzo.. remember Trevor Chance practising above a pub in Clayton Street,.. My dad used to service the fruit machines in lots of these clubs for my uncle in the 60s. Its said the owner of a Newcastle night club they visited instructed staff he was out and he retired to the cellar in order to escape an offer he couldnt refuse. I worked at La Strada with your Dad in the early 70s. I remember early 70s nightlife which began for me in the Dive Bar underneath the Swallow hotel. Is it true? ___________________________________________________________________________. Nice to see the Dolce vita, too. Can anyone remember my dad, who was the manager of Change is nightclub in late 60s early 70s James/Jimmy Cowie a Scottish chappie from Aberdeen. Ive lost touch with my dad who was the bouncer with Tommy at the go go club. Also played at Ray Grehans Cub in Roker Avenue Sunderland with Little Eva and the Fortunes. Used to tell my mam I was going to the one at Whitley Bay as I wasnt allowed to go to the Newcastle one. Initially the Downbeat was a jazz venue but towards the end of its life it featured mainly Rhythm & Blues bands. re comment by margaret duz comment no. I was with the MARTELLES, we played at Club Eleven every Thursday, it was a blues night gig, great from the basement blues music. The event is free to enter, with collection buckets out for those who wish to donate and will run from an early time of. Please see cornell . old now and remember the Change Is days like they were yesterday. I found a photograph of my great-great-grandmother Mary Jane Fergusons public house, the Station Hotel, in Laygate Lane, South Shields. [Just stumbled across this, I am the son of David Finlay please put all your stories from the hay days so I can get some sort of history to pass on to my kids as my mother jackie and davey split up when I was a baby and I only have his reputation to talk of and dont know if what I am told is true. In the late 1950s it was converted to a ballroom and became the Majestic. I would like to think so. We went often and went for the great music and danced all night. Eileen said: As we get older, we look back with nostalgia at the things we remember from our youth, places we visited, had once passed or had been told about. Sharing the ladies toilets with the staff from the bus company in the same building. Would be good to have a reunion.. sorry to hear of joe lisles death the 69 club owner. It closed in 2015. The club closed as Change Is and reopened as Bloomers. In 1967 I spent a short time singing with the Don Smith orchestra of the Oxford Galleries after we finished we always used the Cavendish club or Billy Bottos in Byker. Theres also a poster from the 60s of The Seaburn Hall when the Crusaders supported the Moody Blues. 2 inch thick marine ply shells with heavy duty internal struts and mounting frames but man the sound was awesome, power, punch and clarity. The sixties may have belonged to London but in the seventies The NE was the place to be for the clubs! didnt Bob Monkhouse have something to do with Change Is? My boyfriend was working and was 15. Marcus now lives in Leeds and is a professional artist. I lived there from when it opened in late1973 or early 1974. Thank you. He played a vital role in its history and the history of Newcastles night life in the 60s. There is a good photo of the group playing in Wetheralls. He also played at The Cavendish and LA Dolce Vita. The last couple of times I've been in the beer has been very poor, I tried the Landlords bitter and old speckled hen but both were tasting dodgy. Hi Anna #156. old nightclubs in south shields. But you'll always have your memories. I have tried to find photos of places frequented for such a short time but at the time felt like it would last forever. Happy days. I briefly played guitar with the George Ricco Band, rotating between Wetherals, La Dolce Vita and the Cavendish, 1965/66, what a great club. Does anyone have memories of seeing the singer Dick Haymes at any of the following in Newcastle. The club was opened by the very Famous radio DJ Simon Dee. I have tried unsuccessfully to find photos but no one took photos way back then and so all of those precious moments and memories were never captured. If anyone knows how to get info on the bands that played there I would be most grateful. Just been reading a comment from Pete Wallis from May 2015. Then when I went to work at the Ministry in Longbenton the next day people were coming up to me saying they saw me onstage with Wilson Pickett. Just spent a couple of hours wallowing in nostalgia. The Greg Burman Sound was resident at the Quay Club and I will never forget Greg showing me the proper way to play James Browns I Feel Good top bloke. After the refurb of the Crescendo I carried on working for Ray firstly on his new house in Forest Hall and then on his new project which was amusement arcades in Sheffield and Nottingham I think he was talked into these by his brother in law I dont think his heart was in this part of the business as he loved the buzz of music and clubs when the Crescendo burned down he went on to buy The Deleval Arms on Scotswood road but it never opened.The last time I saw him was around 1977 but he seemed to have lost his sparkle definitely not the man I knew.As I had moved away from the area shortly after this I was shocked to learn years later that he had passed away he had been one of the best bosses I ever had. Cheers Some of the guests hadnt seen each other for decades so there was a lot of catching up to do. When the Grey Street premises closed in the mid-seventies, the New Cavendish opened at the site previously occupied by Change Is and Bloomers on Bath Lane. Shields there was no late licence and it shut around 10-30. I have never heard of Tom Oxley, but would love to know more. Fantastic read! ha ha ha. Bounce Back 2 the Old Skool . AJS 170. I remember you Chic Reid if you see this please get in touch. Magnum Is now Unit, but was known as one of Southsampton's main gay clubs in its heyday. I was the only doorman for over one year. & Mel Torme At The Cresendo L/Palso also opened a casino upstairs had chemmy games until the early hours later sold it to Ray Grehan.mussoes used to Gig all night in the club into the early hours. Whatever happened to them ? Also when I used go to the Dolce there used to be a DJ called Jimmy Walker. The Club AGogo was situated on Percy Street, Newcastle on the top floor of a building which was also above the famous Handyside Arcade (or Arcadia as it was sometimes called). Good Luck, Hi Jill, Sadly Bob and Alf are no longer with us R.I.P. ANNE MILLAR (TAYLOR) I DONT REMEMBER THE VENUE ANNE, BUT WE WORKED ALL OF THE AREA IN THE SIXTIES. While, the 1860s-built Criterion, on Ocean Road, closed in 2012 to become a Ladbrokes bookmaker, before reopening in 2018 after enjoying a major refurbishment recreating how it originally looked in Victorian times. how about that for happenstance. I also have a photograph of myself and Irish Comedian Dave Allan.It opened at a time when the casino had to be moved out of the nightclub and have a separate entrance.They housed the Casino upstairs next to sloopys. I went there quite a few times in the late 60s. My social life started at the Cellar Club in South Shields, moved on to the GoGo whilst it was at its height, back to the Cellar (renamed the New Cellar and then the Chelsea Cat), with a few detours along the way via the Latino, Dolce Vita, Greys Club, Change Is and finally Julies. My Dad also played on on the early ITV programme One oclock Show, does that ring any bells with people out there? Id listen to the bands, be dazzled by the girls! My dad played with him in a band before the war as a lad in Newcastle. Greys club is one of the few Newcastle Clubs that has been running since the sixties. Lived in Heaton as I remember. Today, the pub is called Kennedy's, The Water's Edge pub, South Shields, 1998, The Steamboat, Mill Dam, South Shields, 1998, The New Ferry Tavern, South Shields, 1993, The Dolly Peel, Commercial Road, South Shields, 1998, The Horsley Hill Hotel, Horsley Hill, South Shields, 1998, The Criterion, Ocean Road, South Shields, 1970s, BBC's Call the Midwife 'replacement' confirmed and it's an old favourite, The BBC has announced what will go into Call The Midwife's Sunday night slot after the end of its latest series, ITV's Lorraine Kelly issues Twitter apology after 'horrifying' Kate Garraway blunder, ITV presenter Lorraine Kelly rushed to Twitter to apologise after things took a turn with Kate Garraway on Good Morning Britain, Northumberland mum jailed for 'managerial role' in crack-cocaine dealing family, Nichola Davison, 44, played a "significant role" in producing and supplying the class A drug, Gateshead gardener's fury as garage roof plants itself in her flower beds, Couple tell of their anger at 'ruined' garden after they claim they waited a year for council to attend to storm damage, Loose Women's Denise Welch a grandmother for the first time as she breaks baby news on ITV show, Denise Welch announced some big baby news right at the very start of Friday's episode of Loose Women, Eurovision host Alesha Dixon accused of dropping 'clue' on who is UK act with BBC outfit choice, Alesha Dixon, one of the hosts of Eurovision 2023 drew attention from fans during an appearance on Saturday Kitchen, Online calculator shows how long it would take different professions to own a dream home in the UK.