Lionel Digby: Rock around the Bay

The birth of rock'n'roll in the UK was at the 2'i's coffee bar in London in the mid 1950s where the early rock'n'roll artists appeared and some went on to become stars.  

To name a few, Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Adam Faith, Joe Brown. Screaming Lord such, and We Willie Harris.

Live rock'n'roll came to Torbay in 1957 when on leaving the army having served in the Lifeguards in London and witnesing the early rock'n'roll music in London coffee bars, then on coming home to Torquay where there were not any live rock and roll clubs.  I met up with Johnny Aris from Brixham who had just formed a band with friends featuring himself on the Vibraphone, with Brian Waldron piano and saxophone, John Hawkins on double bass, Derek Dembo drums and Ken Buridge the vocalist. 

They had been rehearsing American rock'n'roll numbers, but had nowhere to play.  So I went and found the Co-op Hall at the rear of Union Street Torquay.   It held about 200 people and I booked it for the only night it was available which was a Tuesday.   This wasn't a recognised dance night and we opened on the 1st Tuesday in February 1957.   As the Tuesday Rock Club.  It was the first live rock'n'roll club in the Southwest all other dance venues featured dance bands that didn't play rock'n'roll, so this was the first  and the opening night it was packed was packed with eager rockers and well received. 

Later in the same month I booked the Badminton hall in Paignton which was also successful, then later the Scalla Hall in Brixham.  This marked the beginning of dance halls I started to run all over Devon and Cornwall.  When the Saturday nights at the Co-op hall became available I booked those as well so it ran for two nights a week and  this ran till early 1960's  when it closed due to a fire.  I moved to Tuesday nights at the 400 Ballroom on the harbour side.

Within a few months of starting the Co op hall Rock club news of its popularity was spreading far and wide and I was getting requests from newly formed bands in Exeter and Plymouth that were looking for somewhere to play, so I started booking them into the co-op hall.   The first one was the Tornadoes from Exeter who were a skiffle band, and then the Hepcats and the Blackjacks who played pure American rock and roll and they came from Plymouth.

As the popularity of rock'n'roll spread, more and more dance halls In Devon and Cornwall changed to the new teenage popular rock and roll music so more and more bands were forming to meet the demand.   This is when I started acting as their manager/agent and started booking them into new  venues all over the West Country.   I also started booking up more halls and running dances with local bands in Devon and Cornwall.

In future articles I will be telling you all about local bands and musicians, some of whom went on to make a career in rock music. And brought named artists to the bay...So until next time enjoy your music and long live rock and roll.