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...Friday nights and Saturday nights |
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St
Ives Corn Exchange
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St
Ives Corn Exchange always live bands no discos back then
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Press
advertisment for the Gaiety Ramsey
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...St Ives Corn Exchange Top Twenty Club |
Dances
were held on Friday nights in St Ives Corn Exchange. The dances were
organised by promoter from Bedford known by the unlikely name of Rocky.
Rocky was always accompanied by a woman that used to wear a fur coat
draped across her shoulders. There was a licensed bar upstairs on the
first floor. There is an interesting report in the local press published
on December 1st 1962 about Rocky Rivers. This
is what it said: "A
pop singer who trades as Rocky Rivers of the Rocky Rivers Top Twenty
Club, Corn Exchange, St Ives was fined for displaying advertising posters
in Cambridge without permission. The City Council were concerned with
the spread of such unauthorised posters. Rocky Rivers claimed
theyd been put up by rival groups to get him into trouble. Hed
given posters to people at the club but did not know where they had
been stuck." I do not think that the description
pop singer is quite right. Impressario would have been a more accurate
description. Rocky was always walking about keeping an eye on things
but he certainly did not get up on to the stage and perform. The groups
that were hired to play were often local semi pro groups. The Drifting
Strangers played at the Corn Exchange on at least one ocassion for example.
On other occassions the groups were full time professionals.
Neil Christian and
The Crusaders is one such group that I remember.Also Screaming Lord
Sutch and Savages, Joe Brown and the Bruvvers, and many more.
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Neil
Christian and the Crusaders
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...The Gaiety Ramsey |
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I
never got round to going to the Gaiety, but it was a popular venue.
Unlike the St Ives Corn Exchange the Gaiety was a dedicated entertainment
centre. The Gaiety for example was also used for bingo sessions and
roller skating amongst other things. Pictured on the right is a group
that played at the Gaiety in April 1964: Jeff Curtiss and the Flames.
In the sixties there were many similar groups that played all over the
country. These groups were often had quite a big following, but for
some reason never really made the big time. Later on in the sixties
the Gaiety hosted some of the big names from the 1960's. The Who played
there on three occasions. Other groups that played the Gaiety at that
time included The Troggs, Peter Jay and The Jaywalkers, Led Zepplin,
and many others. The Gaiety no longer exists it burnt down in the 1970's.
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Jeff
Curtiss and the Flames
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Please choose