When I began researching the early beat music scene in north-east Scotland, Fit Like New York and Blue Suede Brogans were the only publications covering the subject matter. It was a drawn out process gathering and recording information and images related to the music scene for Scotbeat but rewarding. Several have since contacted me over in furthering their own research including Aberdeen musician/writer Hugh Falconer.

Having read Hugh’s new book, Aberdeen And North-East Bands Through The Decades, I am pleased to announce the new publication, full of formerly unpublished images of Scottish pop bands with interesting notes about their perspective careers. The book also gives an insight about the behind the scenes aspects with an overview of the promoters who offered employment and encouragement.

Although it wasn’t easy to gain access to the London recording industry in mid-twentieth century, especially for those working outside the hub, dozens of young Scottish musicians gained steady employment touring Scotland as support bands. Local promoters offered the musicians a small income while developing unique styles of music and in some cases, in composing their own tunes. Upon request, Hugh put together this brief overview, highlighting his working career as a musician and artist, besides his work in commercial radio.

Notes gleaned from Hugh Falconer memoirs:

Inspired by friend Robbie Benzies who transitioned from Aberdeen to
London in 1968, Hugh decided to pursue a career in the music industry in
London. He had been playing in bands around north-east Scotland while
Robbie was working at a Musical equipment company and doing gigs with
London band, The Storm. Another friend, John Burns had given up a DJ
slot at Aberdeen’s Beach Ballroom and moved to London to work as an
assistant recording engineer and Hugh was looking for his opening.  
“Late in 1968, we had a visit from my father’s cousin Robert Small and his
daughter Sandra, who lived in Streatham in London. After a chat with them,
they offered me the possibility of a short-term place to stay if I went looking
for work in London.” This led to employment as a Tape Machine Operator
at Decca Record Co at West Hamstead Recording Studios [Broadhurst
Gardens] after receiving a telegram from John Burns about a job interview.
“With the invaluable help of John, I had managed to secure my first-ever
real job, so within two weeks of arriving in London, I had a place to live and
a job!” “John, who he knew from their time doing gigs in Scotland, showed
Hugh around the studios besides introducing him to others in the business
and the studios canteen where he frequented. 
The recording studios had already produced recordings for several
musicians who became internationally successful and during Hugh’s time in
London, he had the opportunity to work on some exciting projects. Hugh
worked on tracks for the Bluesbreakers featuring John Mayall and Eric
Clapton besides one of my favourite bands, The Moody Blues when
producing “To Our Childrens Childrens Children”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j0y71bx2K8 [May and July 1969].

In 1972, his friend, John Burns, was recognized for the best recorded single
of the year, “Hallelujah Freedom” by Junior Campbell. Hugh Falconer
remembers his experiences with Decca Records fondly though it was short
lived. In August 1969, he was offered the opportunity to pursue a four year
course at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen which meant giving up his job in London.

Hugh graduated from art college in 1975, after having taken time out to serve
as a pilot in the Royal Air Force.

Used with permission: Copyright Hugh Falconer [notes from personal memoirs]

Today I was reading about Charlie Watt and how he never left his jazz roots though developed a unique style with the Rolling Stones. It’s interesting that dozens of rock musicians in the ’60s got their start with jazz music though not the case with The Beatles [who started with a skiffle band]. Here’s a few paragraph I wrote years back and just posted with a few extra lines: Several jazz groups disbanded during the advent of “beat” music though the jazz scene never disappeared [popular groups like Kenny Ball and the Jazzmen carried on]. While musicians and vocalists adapted to the changing styles of music, there were those like Charlie Watt [Rolling Stones drummer] who continued performing jazz bands besides rock groups.
Before the beat music scene took hold in the UK, there was a popular music show on British television called Oh Boy! who brought crossover tunes like “Hoots Mon!” before the British youth when “rhythm & blues” and “rock N roll” were popular in the States. While Elvis and Buddy Holly were popular in the USA, Cliff Richard and The Shadows caught the ear of pop music lovers in the UK.
While music scene in the UK was experiencing the evolution of beat at the end of the jazz era, the BBC recognized that new styles of beat music were selling records. Although the BBC television and radio were slow to recognize the new era of music, opting to play classical and jazz on the radio, there were changes brewing.
In 1957, the new style of music was showcased on BBC’s “Six-Five Special” when “rock & roll” was brought to the small screen. However, producer Jack Good had a strained relationship with the BBC as his vision for the program didn’t jive with executives who didn’t support an exclusively pop music show. Still, it was better than nothing considering people had to seek out pirate radio to hear new pop music.
After dissatisfaction with the earlier BBC format, producer Jack Good with assistance of music director, Harry Robinson, caught the attention of the nation with the new ITV program called “Oh Boy” featuring Cliff Richard and the Shadows besides music director Robinson’s, Lord Rockingham 11…
By 1962, the social-cultural experience had gone through a shift when beat music came into it’s own. Young people were filling the clubs around London to dance to new styles from American and British bands who were on the rise.
The Beatles made their recording debut with Love Love Me Do and Please Please Me which quickly rose in the British charts in the beginning of 1963… https://scotbeat.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/early-music-television-uk/

Turning forty is a milestone for many who come to realise that “there’s is no time like the present” to accomplish personal goals. My challenge was to take up photo-collage to express thoughts and emotions besides a way of visual storytelling. For impresario Albert Bonici, besides becoming a successful, self employed business man wasn’t enough for “uncle Albert” who had a notion to throw dances in north-east Scotland. Just as he was celebrating 40, his abition to open a dance hall with concessions became a reality after a few years of planning… The Two Red Shoes Ballroom opened in the summer of 1960.

In 1956, Albert began promoting though, according to him, it was something that he wanted to do since his late teens. Three years early, with the help of a young friend, Henry M Robertson and London booking agent, Tito Burns, he was successful in bringing the Ray Ellington Quartet to the north of Scotland for a short tour.

Albert who was well travelled in western Europe, likely visited clubs during a visit to New York, having booking ship passage from the UK after having completed his degree as an electrical engineer in 1948. The trip was largely to perform business, having launched a struggling perfume line that went bust two years later. In the early 1950’s after working as an electrical engineer, he was asked to manage the Bonici family businesses, under the family’s PC Holding Company including the Park Cafe, ice cream business, and frozen foods.

When visiting clubs and coffee shops in London’s Soho area in the mid – 1950’s, Albert noted the popularity of the 2ii’s Coffee Bar which has come to be known as the “birthplace of British rock ‘n roll”. With the family’s blessing, Mr. Bonici employed aspects of the coffee shop including a stage area for new acts. Elgin, Scotland’s Park Cafe became decked out with vinyl benches, a jukebox, art on the walls, and a small stage, in 1956. Local talent like Alex. Sutherland and Henry Robertson [later known as Harry Robinson in London] would fill the cafe on weekends for live entertainment.

Though Mr. B had already developed plans for the infamous Two Red Shoes Ballroom “the glitter ball of the north” located near Elgin Cathedral, it took him four years to realise his further ambition to to run his own dance hall. One year after Albert Bonici introduced the first Elgin Jazz Festival, the dance hall opened on the 28th of July, 1960. It was an instant hit, and a popular spot for a fun night of dancing and entertainment from the beginning which featured a talented house-band led by Alex Sutherland. The business continued to gain momentum and a highly thought of reputation for years. It wasn’t until 1977 when the dance hall was shut due to a changing scene, that forced small halls to close across the UK by the 1970s. In 1977, the space became the Flamingo Room featuring cabaret acts though short lived. Unable to secure an alcohol licence and attract enough business, the venue closed in 1978.

Hope you enjoy the historical notes and documentation gathered for SCOTBEAT, highlighting a special time in Scotland’s music history…

https://www.northern-scot.co.uk/news/100th-party-for-albert-the-beatles-bonici-183949/

In 2007, I first met former promoter, John Ruggeri, nephew of Albert A Bonici, one of Scotland’s most successful promoter and impresario with important links in London. John, who worked in the office of his uncle’s LCB Agency along with Bill Dalgarno in the early 1970’s, has shared antidotes and reflections about his Uncle Albert besides allowing me to access documents, photos, flyers, and news clippings [circa 1960’s-70’s] featured in the scotbeat music blog. My research that began in 2007, has been a fascinating study that continues to intrigue and inspire me and hope that this cultural history study of Scotland in the 1960’s will both inspire and educate readers besides refreshing fond memories for those who lived through it.

Though dances and various entertainment venues were already popular in largely rural areas of the north of Scotland when Albert Bonici began promoting, he quickly became the most respected promoter in the region, enlisting local Scottish promoters between Inverness and Aberdeen organizing dances and entertainment venues in 1960’s and 70’s Scotland. Mr. Bonici, who had the idea to organize dances with live bands as a teenager, was able to achieved his goal until after the a post-war economic recovery though for many Scots, earning a comfortable livelihood was still a struggle.

Having managed various businesses for the Bonici family including the Park Cafe, Albert realized that there was still room for dances featuring live music and set up a promotion business. By 1960, the Two Red Shoes Ballroom* was opened as a new Elgin Town Hall was under construction. By 1963, the promoter was managing Scottish musicians and established the Norco Records Ltd. In 1965, he was also managing the family owned Eight Acres Hotel [Elgin] featuring the Straight Eight disco. In 1968, he purchased the Ballerina Ballroom [Nairn] and continued to build his promotion business LCB Agency. https://scotbeat.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/17/

Having organized a successful tour for the Ray Ellington’s Quartet in 1953, Mr. Bonici first began promoting musicians regularly in the north of Scotland in 1956. During the 1950’s, he brought up popular acts through London musician and booking agent Tito Burns though also relied on Scottish musicians to fill local dance halls. In 1956, he drew up plans to build a family owned dance hall though it did not materialize until 1960. The building earmarked to the hall was to be built in a section of the Little Cross Buildings at the top of Elgin, Scotland’s High Street. The family had put the project on hold until former college housing was vacated and demolished.

During the interim, Albert Bonici renovated family owned “Park Cafe” [part of the building complex facing Cooper Park]. Inspired by the 2 i’s Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Albert jazzed up the already popular cafe with a juke box, vinyl booths, and a small stage for those who came to perform during the weekends. Some of the local talent included pianist/composer Henry Robertson [AKA Harry Robinson], musician/composer, Alex. Sutherland, violinist Peter Zandre, and others who performed to a full house. Meanwhile, he was managing shows at various locations including Elgin’s Assembly Rooms and The Drill Hall as the original Elgin town hall had been burned down in 1939.

After a successful launch of his Two Red Shoes Ballroom in July 1960, Tito Burns introduced him to Jack Fallon of Cana Variety – London as he stepped up the volume of acts to tour Scotland which created a viable business to the benefit of music lovers.

The pages of Scotbeat and http://bonici.wordpress.com offer a glimpse of an exciting time in the 20th century music scene besides a tribute to AA Bonici, who organised the first jazz festival in NE Scotland [1959], was a generous man who loved his community and had the ability to “think outsides the box”. In 2020, his legacy will be remembered with an exhibit at Elgin Museum as well as a gala event at Elgin Town Hall [July 2020] on the anniversary of his 100th birthday and 60th year from the opening of the Two Red Shoes Ballroom.

* Albert was a fan of the popular film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Shoes_(1948_film) and likely called it “Two” Red Shoes playing off London’s popular “2 i’s Coffee Bar”