1978
After a lapse the following advert appeared in the Highland News on Thursday 6th January 1978.
The Pavilion Ballroom, Strathpeffer. Dancing every Friday. Free transport leaves Farraline Park at 9 p.m.
Returning after dance.
Jan 20 Disco at the Pavilion Ballroom, Strathpeffer. Non stop dancing with our Resident Disc Jockey Jimmy Clyde. Win LPs. JIMMY WILL FIX IT!
Dancing 10.00 – 1.30. Admission £1.25
This week’s special attraction free glass of sparkling wine to everyone.
Pass outs are available.
No admittance to Under 18 years
The management reserve the right to refuse admission.
Feb 10 The Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer offers you a spectacular night of entertainment.
On Friday 10th February with the Great Blue Moon Disco (Ron and Sue, the Great show lighting and Mr A Dunbar)
Refreshments served in the Snack Bar Area.
The return of free transport.
Competitions such as Name the Tune – win a bottle of whisky and an Album Token.
Lucky seat prizes win one of our 50 singles. Dress optional;
One of the Great Nights of Entertainment. Don’t miss it!
Mar 10 Pavilion Ballroom, Strathpeffer The Nite Spot of the North 10.00 – 1.30
Dancing to Sophisticate Disco Save money admission now £1
No person under 18 Usual free transport after dance
Rights of admission reserved.
Mar 24 Good Friday Dance 10.00 – 1.30
Sophisticate and Blue Moon Double Disco
Hens are laying well so come and collect your free chocolate Easter egg.
May 5 Strathpeffer Young Wives Club in conjunction with Strathpeffer Hall Committee
A Village May Dance in the Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer.
Music by the Strathpeffer Dance Band 9.30 Admission £1.
Late licence applied for No transport Refreshments
May 19 Strathpeffer Spa Pavilion
Every Thursday starting 25th May. For all the over 25s – music for all tastes
Dancing to the Melotones 8.30 – midnight Late Bar £1.25
(Note – this appears to have been postponed for a week)
Strathpeffer Spa Pavilion presents a Highland Cabaret featuring
The Tain Broadcasting Band (Scotland’s best)
Christine Pirie (Scottish Songstress)
The Ben Wyvis Highland Dancers (Medal winning Highland Dance Team)
Pipe Major Seorais Innes (The skirl of the pipes)
Frank Thomson (Accordion Ace)
Every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Doors open 8.30. Commences 9.00 p.m.
Don’t miss Scotland’s longest running show.
Admission £1.50 Children half price Bus parties welcome
May 19 Don’t miss the start of the season’s dancing starting on 19th May 8.30 – 12.30
This week Recording Artistes Backline Band (7 piece with brass)
Plus Jimmy Clyde’s Super Disco £1.50 After 11 £1.80
No one under 21 LATE BAR LATE TRANSPORT
May 27 Police Benevolent Fund
Grand Concert in the Pavilion Ballroom, Strathpeffer at 7.30. Doors open 7.00 p.m.
Artistes Alison Rapson, Mod Gold Medallist
Stuart Anderson, star accordionist of Grampian TV
Johnny Bogan, Master of Mirth
Pipe Major John D. Burgess, Champion Piper
The Marlettes, Popular Highland Duo
Catherine Hendry, Folk Singer
John Mackerlich, Accordion and Jimmy Forbes, Violin
Highland Dancers
Compère Mr Jock Watt
Jun 1 Don’t miss the first dance for all you over 25s. Thursday 1st June 8.30 – 12.00
Dancing to Black Knights £1.25
Jun 2 Dancing Friday 2nd June 8.30 –12.30 £1.25
This week The Other Band plus the Jimmy Clyde Super Disco
Jun 6 Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer Special C+W Dance
Dancing to the Duo Gelco one of Scotland’s top C+W bands.
8.30 – 12.00 £1.25
Jun 9 Pavilion Ballroom, Strathpeffer Dancing 8.30 – 12.30
This week from Glasgow the unbelievable Motels plus Jimmy Clyde Disco.
Owing to the astounding success of the last three dances we have been able to reduce
our admission to only £1. Please come early to avoid the crush.
Jun 16 Pavilion Ballroom, Strathpeffer the Nite Spot of the North
Dancing to the Zones (Ex Slik – Arista Recording Artiste) plus Jimmy Clyde Disco.
Zones were a Scottish power pop and new wave band founded in late 1977, following the demise of PVC2 (formerly the bubbleglam and soft rock band Slik).
PVC2 comprised Midge Ure (future Ultravox frontman) on guitar, Russell Webb on bass, Billy McIsaac on keyboards and Kenny Hyslop on drums. In late 1977, Ure left PVC2 to join Rich Kids with Glen Matlock. Then, Webb, Hyslop and McIsaac called in Alex Harvey's cousin Willie Gardner to replace Ure on guitar and vocals, and Zones were formed.
In February 1978, Zones released a single "Stuck with you" which attracted the attention of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, leading to the band recording a session for his show, and Arista Records, who signed them and released the rest of their discography. Their next single was "Sign of the Times" released in July. They returned for a second date at the Pavilion on 29th September.
sourced from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zones_(band) on 13th November 2015
Jun 23 Strathpeffer Amateur Operatic Society presents
Songs from the Shows in the Pavilion, Strathpeffer at 8.30
Bring and Buy Stall £1 and 50p
Jun 30 Pavilion Ballroom, Strathpeffer.
Dancing to PARIS (Melody Maker National Rock Band Championship Winners)
Plus Disco Admission £1 Cheap at half the price. Strictly over 18s.
Jul 14 Nite Spot of the North
The Tools plus Disco Don’t miss this one 8.30 – 12.30
Cheap at half the price Admission £1 Late Bar Late transport
Strictly over 18s Management reserve the right to refuse admission.
Spa Pavilion presents a Highland Cabaret starring
Johnny Bogan (Scotland’s top comedian)
Tain Broadcasting Band (One of Scotland’s best Country Dance Bands)
Christine Pirie (Scottish Songstress)
Ben Wyvis Highland Dancers (Medal winning team)
Pipe Major Seorais Innes (A skirl o’ the pipes)
Doors open 8.30 p.m. Concert commences 9 p.m.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Admission £1.50 Children 50p
Don’t miss Scotland’s longest running Highland Cabaret.
The following extract is taken from a thoroughly entertaining book entitled “The Life and Times
of THE BOGAN” by John Urquhart ©. It is available locally from good booksellers and in libraries.
A review on the back cover says it all.
“Johnny Bogan is a comedian of a vanishing breed, the experienced front-cloth men of the great
variety era. He comes on in grossly baggy suit or in ridiculously short kilt and delivers gag routines
of topical Highland hue in a perfectly timed slow and gentle way and the lilting accent of the Highlander,
one of the purest English speech forms. He is marvellously effective and funny and so easily understood”.
In his book he talks with affection about the Highland Cabaret.
“I joined a show called the Highland Cabaret which was every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
from May till the end of September. The manager of the Strathpeffer pavilion at that time was Steve
Shepherd and he was the one who came up with the idea to put a show on for the tourist. To begin with
the audiences were quite small and depended on the people staying in the hotels but gradually the locals
got to hear about it and started to bring their friends along who were on holiday. In the beginning we had
a catwalk stage which I loved, it brought you right in amongst the audience but as more people came
crowding in the catwalk had to go to make room for more seats. The show was pure undiluted Highland
entertainment, bright and colourful and fast moving, good Scottish songs, the best of Scottish Dance
music, Highland dancing accompanied by the piper, it had everything for the tourist. Was it a success?
I was there eighteen years. I’ve been asked many times if the same style of show would be successful
today, yes it would, what’s wrong with singing our own Scottish songs, dancing our own dances, playing
our own Scottish dance music, having a laugh at good Highland humour, and what’s wrong with wearing the
Highland dress, after all we are Scots, and should be proud of it”.
John goes on to add a comment, or two, about the dances on Friday and Saturday nights.
“At that time the Strathpeffer Pavilion was the mecca of entertainment in the north, buses brought
people from all over the north to the dances in the Pavilion on a Friday night. You either danced or got
drunk, getting drunk wasn’t too difficult, the drams were all poured out ready in those small glasses
leaving no room for water or lemonade. What kind of whisky? I don’t think anyone knew or cared.
It wasn’t unusual to meet somebody next day who was limping or with an arm in a sling, only to be told they
fell down the steps in front of the Pavilion. Finding your bus to take you home at the end of the dance
could be tricky if you have a few drams, for all the buses look the same when you have a drink in, and
there were plenty to choose from. There could be up to ten buses waiting to take the dancers home, it was
not unusual for somebody going to Inverness to end up in Tain.
There was one bus that everyone went on at some time, and that was Archie’s bus. His bus did the run to
the Black-Isle and as his bus was the last to leave every straggler in the place climbed on board the
already crowded bus. If you happened to be going to Dingwall and you were buried amongst the bodies
in the back of the bus, you would be lucky if you got off the bus four miles past your stop. With people
hanging out the door and with very little room for Archie to change gear, he would set off down the
Strath road occasionally stopping not to let people off but to pick someone up who was thumbing a lift.
Packed in like herring in a barrel there was never any trouble, the only fighting was the lassies fighting
off the boys.
The big attraction of the dances in Strathpeffer were all the well known Scottish Dance bands who
played there, Jack Forsyth’s Band, Hawthorn Accordion Band, Jim Cameron’s Scottish Dance Band,
just three of the many bands that attracted up to a thousand dancers to the Strath on a Friday night.
When their popularity started to fade the Irish Show Bands took their place, and they were every bit
as popular as the Scottish dance bands”.
Jul 21 Quicksilver (One of the best on the road bands around) plus Disco
Jul 27 From Thursday 27th July to Tuesday 1st August and Thursday 3rd August
At The Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer Your worthy chairman
Jack Linden (From Crossroads on Thames TV)
Proudly presents at enormous expense
The Golden Days of Music Hall An excellent cast
Nola Golding (a girl with a golden voice)
Jeanette Day (from the Roaring Twenties)
John Boycott (Music Hall memories)
Syd Griffiths (Mr Music)
Admission £1.50 Doors open 8.30 Commences 9.00 Refreshments available
Jul 28 The one and only MONOS plus Super Disco.
Aug 4 Sirroco + Disco plus Super Disco
Aug 11 The Valves (Zoom Recording Artistes) plus the Black Knight Disco
Aug17 The Tools 8.30 – 1.00
Aug 18 Hot Toddy plus the Black Knight Disco 8.30 – 1.00
Aug 25 The Valves
Aug 31 The Tools plus The Mormons plus Black Knight Disco
Sep 1 Skeets Bolivar Recording artistes. Latest single “Brick House Door”
Plus Black Knight Disco.
Sep 7 The Tools plus The Hormones plus Black Knight Disco
Be Stiff at the Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer on Friday 20th October.
Sep 8 The return of Dusty (One of Scotland’s Top Pop Groups)
Plus The Black Knight Disco
Coming soon Gyro Ignatz Skids
Sep 15 Gyro plus Black Knight Disco
Sep 22 The Best of Funk Ignatz (The Live Band) plus Black Knight Disco.
Sep 28 Freebird plus Black Knight Disco tonight Thursday
Sep 29 The Zones (Ex Slick) plus Black Knight Disco
Oct 5 Sitting on the Fence tonight Thursday plus Black Knight Disco
Oct 6 Sitting on the Fence tonight Friday plus Black Knight Disco
Oct 10 East Ross Film Society presents “Steelyard Blues” in the Ben Wyvis Hotel at 8.30 p.m.
Oct 13 Hot Toddy plus Black Knight Disco
Oct 19 Spa Pavilion Strathpeffer presents the One and Only
Alexander Brothers at 8 p.m. Thursday 19th October. Admission £1
Oct 20 SPA PAVILION STRATHPEFFER
BE STIFF ROUTE ’78 TOUR
Friday 20th October
Dury Costello Lowe Jupp
Wreckless Eric
Micky Jupp’s Legend
Lorne Lovich
Jona Louie
Rachel Sweet
Plus at least one Big Stiff
£2 at door. £1.75 in advance from Chris Records, The Other record Shop, Inverness, or direct from Drew Larg or £2 at the door on the night.
S.a.e. Postal order or cheque only please.
Cheques made out to “Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer”. Late Bar
Late Transport for Dingwall, Muir of Ord, Beauly, Inverness, Tain, Alness and Invergordon.
BE STIFF ROUTE ’78 TOUR
Friday 20th October
Dury Costello Lowe Jupp
Wreckless Eric
Micky Jupp’s Legend
Lorne Lovich
Jona Louie
Rachel Sweet
Plus at least one Big Stiff
£2 at door. £1.75 in advance from Chris Records, The Other record Shop, Inverness, or direct from Drew Larg or £2 at the door on the night.
S.a.e. Postal order or cheque only please.
Cheques made out to “Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer”. Late Bar
Late Transport for Dingwall, Muir of Ord, Beauly, Inverness, Tain, Alness and Invergordon.
The Be Stiff Route 78 Tour ran from 10th of October to 19th of November 1978 and was designed to promote a new
clutch of artists on the emerging Stiff record label. It was a follow up to a successful tour the previous year which had made stars of Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and Ian Dury but this time all the artists travelled round Britain by train to the venues as a publicity stunt.
On the 1978 tour each act was very different - there was the new wave sound of Wreckless Eric, the rock and roll of Mickey Jupp, the country pop of Rachel Sweet, and Jona Lewie and Lene (not Lorne) Lovich who weren't easy to categorise.
clutch of artists on the emerging Stiff record label. It was a follow up to a successful tour the previous year which had made stars of Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and Ian Dury but this time all the artists travelled round Britain by train to the venues as a publicity stunt.
On the 1978 tour each act was very different - there was the new wave sound of Wreckless Eric, the rock and roll of Mickey Jupp, the country pop of Rachel Sweet, and Jona Lewie and Lene (not Lorne) Lovich who weren't easy to categorise.
Some copies of the promo records came with a "Be Stiff" tour promo booklet and some were packaged in plain black sleeves. One label states: "Not For Resale - You're extremely lucky to get this - you probably don't deserve it".
There was also a train version marked "Not For Resale". These records were only available from Stiff Records by mail order after the tour.
A group called The Records www.therecords.com joined the Be Stiff tour as backing group for Rachel Sweet and went on to record the single 'Starry Eyes' for Virgin Records. Some sources also quote Micky Jupp's Band as being called The Cable Layer. One of the 'big' stiffs was billed to play but no one is sure which one. It is said that the personnel and equipment were ferried from Dingwall Station to the Pavilion in vans, though this has not been confirmed.
Oct 27 The Mighty Valves and the Hormones 8.30 – 1.00 No price
Nov 3 Sirocco plus The Hormones plus Black Knight Disco No price
This appears to have been the last of the Friday night dances, though there are no press
adverts or announcements to say so.
Nov 17 The Melotones Silver Jubilee
This year the popular music group the Melotones celebrates its Silver Jubilee. The band was formed 25 years ago by the late Mr James Wilson, who died tragically following a motoring accident. Sole survivor of the original Melotones is trumpeter Fergie Brown, Dingwall. Members of the band at the start were Messrs Jimmy Stewart, Willie and Eck Wilson and the late Paddy Brown. They played throughout the North and still do. During the past few summers they have been resident orchestra at the Ben Wyvis and Highland Hotel in Strathpeffer. Today’s lineup includes Dodo Ross, Bob Hunter and Jackie Cameron. The Melotones are noted for their strict tempo for dancing and as all round musicians and vocalists. Congratulations!
Dec 2 Caberfeidh Shinty Club
Sale of Work in the Pavilion Ballroom, Strathpeffer
On Saturday 2nd December at 2 p.m. Admission 5p
Dec 16 Caberfeidh Shinty Club
Dance in the Strathpeffer Hotel
Dec 29 Charity Ball at the Highland Hotel at 8.30 £5
