When Stockport Rocked
Beryl Lomas

Neil Richardson. Manchester. 2001. A4. 44 pages. illus.

Fashion in music, as in most other things, is liable to change, usually as a spin off from unconnected causes. Readers who have reached what I prefer to refer to as late middle age will remember the phenomenal popularity of the dance music of the late 20s and 30s. The Golden Age of British Dance Bands, as it has come to be known, ended with the outbreak of the last war when its star exponents were called up for military service. Before this, however, a poll carried out by a national newspaper suggested that over eighty percent of shop, office and factory workers regarded dancing as their favourite pastime. Thousands of dance halls nationwide catered for their pleasure while the wireless relayed the performances of the top name bands six evenings a week from ten-thirty to midnight. In addition these bands produced an annual average of around 65 records each. The arrival of the long playing record heralded a spate of re-issues of these recordings, an activity which is being repeated at the present day with thousands appearing for the third time round in CD format. Whether the popular music of succeeding years will prove to be as long lived remains to be seen but Beryl Lomas has ensured that the scene in her neck of the woods will not go unrecorded for the benefit of future generations. Indeed, as far as the social history content of her book is concerned, similar events would have been repeated in every town and city in the country - probably in many village halls as well. Beryl begins her story with a description of the many dance halls and clubs existing in the town in the late 1950s with details of their activities - usually dancing either to records or local live groups. We hear of the first appearance of the Beatles on television and its immediate effect on the popular musical outlook of her generation, resulting in a sudden spate of groups playing and singing in the new style. A significant difference between this generation and the previous one can be noticed by the greater extent to which changes of style in dress reflected changes in the music and its performers. Thus the girls could choose between the 'Cathie McGowan' or 'Sandie Shaw'

styles together with their matching cosmetic accompaniments, but what on earth were 'bumble bee socks'? Presumably this had become possible as a result of the increase in affluence over the period because the earlier generation had been poorly paid even if working while, as the author points out, not only were wages considerably higher in the 60s but it was easy to get part time employment in the evenings. The demand for the new styles was catered for by the establishment of specialist clothes shops for both sexes, some of which are described in the book. The music explosion, to use the author's words, saw the formation of several cafe bars in the town and the booking of local groups at the many existing youth clubs. We are given details of some of these venues and the artists who appeared, some of the latter becoming well enough known to be invited to make recordings. By this time also many of the nationally famous groups were appearing in the provinces and several local performers forsook playing and singing to become booking agents or managers, some of whom remained in the business for many years. All in all this book provides the general reader with an excellent insight into the social and musical scene of the period while Stopfordians past and present have the added advantage of details of the local scene. (Walter Bee)