{"id":104,"date":"2015-12-14T15:49:10","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T15:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/spike_wordpress\/?page_id=104"},"modified":"2022-12-09T15:42:45","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T15:42:45","slug":"butlins-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dct.spikeh.co.uk\/?page_id=104","title":{"rendered":"Butlins and Beyond…"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"1961_3\"

Lineup mid-1962<\/p><\/div>\n

We turned pro mid-62 for our first summer season at Butlins Clacton in the \u2018Rock and Twist Ballroom\u2019 as it was called, but Vic did not want to turn pro (he was a local\u00a0estate agent and went on to\u00a0run his own Estate Agent business in Clacton), so we\u00a0found a another local drummer – Roy Williams – who had played on cruise liners and previous seasons at the Imperial Hotel, Torquay with the Billy Munn Band \u2013\u00a0and so our line-up then was Dave, Jack, Barry, Roy and myself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our agents were Starlite Artistes, who also managed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, Marmalade, Long John Baldry\u00a0and other well-known acts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That season, in the South Seas Bar\u00a0below the ballroom where we worked, was Manfred Mann (before they made it big). I can remember Manfred as a brilliant pianist with a wicked sense of musical humour \u2013 he would sit down alone at the piano in the afternoon session and play a concerto version of Lets Twist Again, and the punters really thought it was a classical piece\u2026<\/strong>
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