There was the Pavlova in Canton that was on Leckwith Road. That is no longer there, it is part of the Tesco's site is now. It was a bit of a rough house and there were fights there almost every night. I think I went there about once and thought this is not for me. Then there was the STAR ballroom which was on Stacey road. I think it is just a storeroom for the BBC now, after it was a ballroom it was a studio for the BBC. There were also lots of youth clubs attached to churches. There was also the Marina on Penarth Pier, That was the place that carried on along with the city hall to be a ballroom. They would occasionally have a night where there would be a guest Rock n Roll band and this kind of thing as audiences started to drop for ball room music.
I learnt to drive when I was 17 and past my test within weeks of my 18 birthday. My mother had also learnt to drive so she bought a car. It was the second triumph Herald in Cardiff. State of the art, but just a small family car, you know. My Mother took two years to pass her test so quite simply I had the car. My girlfriend then, now my wife, she lived the other side of Cardiff off Albany Road and I lived off Romily road so I would use the car to get to dances and that sort of thing. One week there was a Rock and Roll show on in the New Theatre all week. Top of the bill was Billy Furry then there was Joe Brown and a lot of these people that were on regular television shows. Another fascinating place was this place at Cold Nap and it was a sort of caf�/ club. It didn't sell drink just pop but it was open until 12 sometimes One. It was called the 77 club which was named after an American TV show. That was he place to go after anything. So there was one night- either the Friday or the Saturday after this show in the New Theatre and a couple of the people invited them all the 77 club. Having a car I said I can give a couple of people a lift. I had seen Joe Brown on TV and he looked like a little guy and Billy Furry a lift down. They can come in my car with Pat my Girlfriend. Of course when Joe Brown came he was about 6'4 and he was sat in the back of this triumph herald with his knees almost knocking his teeth out, You just didn't realise that these people were different sizes when you saw them on a 12' screen. It was also quite sad. Billy Furry was just on his own all night. We thought he was just arrogant and didn't want to mix with us. In later years, it came out from the people that were close to him, that he was incredibly shy.