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I worked at the Palais in the late 70's,mostly on the bar and once in a while dj'ing. My abiding memories of the house bands are 2-4-6-8- motorway and Float On. Other memorbale events were the European Elvis convention taking place a couple of weeks after he died. The Bali Hai was filled with middle aged guys in batwing costumes sobbing their hearts out. They had planned to show 'Love me tender' but realised that, as the only film Elvis died in, they'd have a riot on their hands so had to delay the film for an hour or so as a replacement film was sent from Germany I think. The other big event was the showmans booking after goose fair. They would keep putting £20 notes on the bra and you poured pints as fast as you could while they had a massive beer fight. The place would take a weeks worth of bar money on that one day. I also remembert how, on grab a granny night, all the women turned right into the ladies as soon as they arrived to soap their wedding rings off.

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Palais like Locarno started going early 60s.........i'm 73 now but still get that ''same old Feeling'' (carni) when i think about walking in the places,,Band playing,,lovely lasses dancing round their

Ay up me duck - new guy here. Used to play sax and sing in the Mike Miller Band at Nottingham Palais in the 70s.  Our 2nd band there was Tristram Shandy - it still had the revolving floor in the Bali

Dear All   Just woke up with a brain-wave, so straight to the keyboard!!   During my last visit to my neighbour, I commented on a photograph that I spotted on her dining room wall

Thanks Mick for that link .

My brother sent me this this pic of another Palais house band in the 70s called Red Sun that I believe were an offshoot of the Mike Miller band , here pictured in the Bali Hi (?) .

9315154719_85aa9a8a80_b.jpg

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As regards Mick Knight and djing. When the music upstairs came from the small lighting cubicle on the balcony, if no-one was dancing, he'd rush in, put 'Hi Ho Silver Lining' on and rush out again as the dance floor immediately filled.

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Bumping this thread as its allied to the other Palais thread .

When I was googling about the Mike Miller band , extracts from this book came up about a West Bridgford lad that was a success in the adult gay film industry in the USA . He was a dancer at the Palais

He mentions the female dancer mentioned above and there is some other stuff of Nottingham people and places , (if you flick backwards and through the example pages) .

WARNING : DOES CONTAIN CONTENT OF AN ADULT NATURE !

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gWv7bOVPh9kC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&ots=1sFYj3P2el&dq=mike+miller,+nottingham+palais&output=html_text

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Crikey, that's a difficult one. A Maudsley maybe or a Bristol? Rear entrance too, quite unusual. I reckon Stephen Ford is the man for this. 

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I would say that it is East Midland (in the old colour scheme of chrome yellow, chocolate and cream, used until the mid 50s when they adopted all-over red - boring!). My guess is that it is a Leyland, from the days before the deep radiator was developed. Rear entrance single deckers weren't all that rare, and East Midland certainly had plenty of them over the years. What is more unusual is the outward opening swing door, which probably indicates that it's a coach, rather than a bus. Opening a sliding door as the bus came to a stop was fine, but you didn't want enthusiastic passengers (or conductors) throwing open a swing door, and clobbering unsuspecting folk on the pavement !

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StephenFord - do you think it IS a Leyland - the name on the radiator looks strange, almost lozenge-shaped. But I'm far from sure it's a Gilford - there were so many manufacturers in those days!

 

I wonder if Cliff Ton can make out the registration on the original photo.

 

Studying the photo - is that a roof rack towards the rear, with cases piled on it, or is it part of the building behind it?

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Just seen a picture of 1929 Guy double decker in Derby on facebook East Midlands Transport Remembered. The radiator looks rather similar. I wonder if this was a Guy? (We'd better finish this private discussion soon, or they'll start throwing things at us!)

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Before you do Stephen here's my ha'porth, I'm no bus enthusiast but I think it's the bands transport with the 'emergency exit' door open while the instruments are unloaded, are the 'roadies' carrying a drum?

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Can't agree with you Albert. The bus is right-hand drive, and usually pulls up at kerbs on the left side of the road. The door shown is the only one on that side, (no other door handles) so must be a rear-entry bus; which didn't matter if there was a conductor.

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Ay up me duck - new guy here. Used to play sax and sing in the Mike Miller Band at Nottingham Palais in the 70s.  Our 2nd band there was Tristram Shandy - it still had the revolving floor in the Bali Hai then haha. Also worked at Banner Agency Nottingham, where we looked after Sons & Lovers, Clockwork Toys, Colours of Love, WhichWhat, Gingerbread, Rainbow Cottage, Jaffa Band et al. We also handled Mud, Sweet, Shakin' Stevens, and I "discovered" a group called the Elizabethans, playing in a Working Mens' Club in Leeds in the early 70s, who we signed up. They became Smokey, and we handed them over to Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, and the rest, as they say...

What a fantastic site this is -  so many memories have been revived here for me....I also ran the Thurland with my wife Maria in the 80s, Old Vic Music Hall in the Lace Market in the 90s, and then had 11 years as mine host at the Coach & Horses (Broach and Handbag) on Parliament Street.

Just looking through the posts about old clubs and pubs on here brought back so many memories. At Banner, we used to book groups for the Dancing Slipper, Boat Club, Brit, and lots of other clubs. One time I booked the Rolling Stones for Nottingham Uni Rag Ball for £2000....then they cancelled out two weeks before the gig. I booked Roxy Music for £125 at the 76 Club Burton on Trent, also Suzie Quattro for £75 there....those were the days....we used to promote concerts too at Banner - Phil Smith had Hermans Hermits at the Elizabethan Rooms over the Co-op, and I put Uriah Heep and Shanana on at the Albert Hall in the 70s. I also played tenor sax with Edwin Starr in the 80s, with Rod Lee (Gino Washington, Amen Corner and others) and Bob Wilson (Wizzard, Humphrey Lyttleton and others) and we did a couple of tours with him, Kim Weston and Major Lance - all the Northern Soul venues....now happily retired in Sawley. Anyone remember me??

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Hi Mick  welcome !

Met you briefly once in the Thurland ,  on a rare trip to Nottingham when I went in with my brother Bob (who you mention above) . 

My wifes mum had worked in the Thurland for many years up until the 70s so it was a nostalgic trip for her .

Trust you have seen some of the photos of the Palais bands posted in previous pages of this thread .

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On 9/26/2012 at 10:20 AM, mick2me said:

Wasnt Mick Knight DJ for a while before he became manager.

Tony Rainbow would be there about 1969, when I saw Troggs and Love Affair Live.

Mick Knight started off as light boy when he left school. He worked his way up, and became Mecca's top manager. He was also a brilliant DJ - you remember "Stars on 45"? Well, Knighty used to do a mix like that in his DJ spot, looong before the Stars on 45 came out. He had a great patter on the mic too

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On 4/1/2011 at 11:19 PM, stiggymills said:

Well I can remember introducing the Mike Miller Band. I was a DJ there in the late 70's. Mick Knight the manager, Edwin Starr was on one night. Great times. What was the other band that alternated with Tristrum Shandy. I remember playing records for only 15 mins whilst the guys changed the kit over. They were brilliant.

I had to think hard to fill the floor without playing records the bands did live, Motown always worked.

I remember running in one night at 7.30(opened at 80) with anew KC and the Sunshine band record only to find the band practising it, they played it and played it very well that night.

I joined Mike Miller in May 1976 and stayed with him a few years, then went up to Bradford Locarno with "Flyer". The Yorkshire Ripper struck in the Locarno carpark, so we got closed down and I came back to Mike at the Palais in 1980. Tristram were still there then. We got moved to Leicester Palais and then the Towers in Birmningham, so I cannot remember who took over from us. Tristram were there for years.

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Is this Tristram Shandy ?  If not who ?

Comes up on a Google search for that name + Nottstalgia but can't see it on the actual thread on here called Pedigree of Pop .

 

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