Dance hall days

“Two recent articles in the Courier stirred distant memories of not only schooldays at the Morgan Academy but also progressive dancing days in the 1950s and 60s with the Palais featuring among Dundee’s best,” writes Frank Galloway.

“Our first dancing experience was at Kidd’s Ballroom in Lindsay Street, dressed to the nines in school blazer and tie. Each corner of the ballroom was occupied by a different secondary school, but I can’t remember any trouble except a possible argument about who was taking a certain girl home. Compare dancing to a real dance band with the head-thumping discos of today.

“We outgrew Kidd’s and ventured into the JM Ballroom, run by Murdie Wallace, the Dundee businessman. Being recently-opened, it was very popular and well run. A pint of beer at one of the West Port hostelries before the dancing gave us Dutch courage to widen our choice of partner. Once again, the dance band was great at keeping the right tempo and at a volume that let us serenade our partner as we danced.

“The real graduation in our dancing nights came when we ventured in to the Palais de Danse for the first time. The unmistakable sound of Andy Lothian made the atmosphere just magic.

“A few of us saved up to go to the Empress Ballroom, near the Royal Arch, to see and hear the great Ted Heath and his orchestra. The ballroom was packedout but listening to this special sound was fantastic. That was until I went home and had to tell Mum and Dad. Mum asked all about Ted Heath, Dad said nothing much.

“Nothing compared to dancing to a good dance band. Our dancing days ended at The Star Ballroom in Lochee with Ken Stewart’s accordion playing the strict tempo and Betty and Bob Barty keeping an eye on the dance steps.”