Heart of the Midlands - Who did you see there?


Recommended Posts

On 29/06/2014 at 9:22 AM, Chulla said:

I saw Frankie Laine there in July 1975, or 1976, can't remember which year. Who was the compere/singer in the first half of thei

It was Alan Roper, I believe he only had one leg.............

 

On 12/04/2015 at 6:06 PM, Karlton said:

I'm not sure if it was the heart of the midlands where I saw Tony Hatch And Jackie Trent.

It was, cos I saw them there too, they were good......Jacky had a great voice......

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
  • Replies 88
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

Hello. My name is Jason ROPER. My father is ALAN ROPER and I can tell you that he his ALIVE & doing VERY WELL!! hehe. After THOTM, he actually moved to work for the Nottingham Evening Post w

Always thought Lamcote Coaches (or Motors back in the 50s-60s) got its name from the Lamcote House and Farm, encompassing most of that end of RoT in the 20s-30s. Most of Lamcote Farm was later deve

It’s with deep sadness that I let you all know that Alan Roper, my father, passed away yesterday 2nd November 2020, aged 84 from pneumonia and covid-19.   I’m, to say the least, Devastated.

Posted Images

We organised a street party for the queens jubilee & the manager from the heart of the midlands Lovely man but cant think of his name) came along & judged the childrens fancy dress. The late Dennis McCarthy (radio Nottingham)& Parrot Face Davis also came. We won the competition! Happy Days.

Link to post
Share on other sites

There is a topic/post on this site with pictures of parrot face at some street party or something,not sure whereabouts though at the moment,perhaps cliff ton may know

Rog

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

I saw Gene Pitney who was the opening act at the HOM, I was one of the first people to become a member, I had a table right in front of the stage.

That was the first of many nights going there, saw Peter Gordino, Grumbleweeds, Frankie Howard and many more, loved it, because we used to dress up in evening dresses.

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

My sister worked there, when Gene Pitney was on he pulled her onto the stage and sang 'Princess in Rags' to her. She said Freddie Starr refused to let the bar serve drinks while he was on, and matt Monroe also wanted complete silence while he performed.

I saw the Nolan Sisters, and an unknown Cannon and Ball were one of the support acts. They were on tv a few weeks later and did exactly the same routine, I was naive enough to be surprised! And it was lovely I agree liedbetter because ladies were expected to wear evening dresses. I bought some material off Central Market and my mum ran a dress up for that evening. Everything is so casual now!

I loved the Commodore, again a dressy up night, saw Showaddywaddy, David Whitfield and the New Seekers. They used to hold Christmas party nights.

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 28/07/2015 at 0:56 PM, dat47 said:

We organised a street party for the queens jubilee & the manager from the heart of the midlands Lovely man but cant think of his name) came along & judged the childrens fancy dress. The late Dennis McCarthy (radio Nottingham)& Parrot Face Davis also came. We won the competition! Happy Days.

the manager of the Heart of the Midlands was called Alan Roper, he went downhill after the place closed and played the piano in a pub somewhere near Clifton Estate.....

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I saw Ronnie Dukes and Rickie Lee. When he came on he sat at the front of the stage and helped himself to customers beer. I believe their sons were also part of the group.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Hello.

My name is Jason ROPER. My father is ALAN ROPER and I can tell you that he his ALIVE & doing VERY WELL!! hehe.

After THOTM, he actually moved to work for the Nottingham Evening Post when it was based on Foreman Street for about 12 years, where he started out as 'Promotions Manager'. He spent a few years involved in promoting the paper. A couple of things I remember doing with him was sponsoring various local fetes and fairs. He used to take 'games' such as the 'Slow Bike Challenge' where we set up an obstacle course and competitors tried to ride a 'TOMOS' Moped as slow as possible without putting their feet down, the slowest or furthest at the end of the day won a moped!' We had a lot of fun doing those. He then moved on to 'Circulation & Sales Manager', having responsibility for distribution of the paper across the east midlands, including all the delivery drivers and the kiosk sellers in town. He took early retirement before 60 and has been living HAPPILY with his wife Audrey since. The 'Piano Jobs' he has been spotted doing have all been purely for fun and with friends/social and as for his 'false leg', I can assure you its not false...apart from the metal joints that he was one of the first in the world to have!!

In fact, he is celebrating his 80th Birthday this Monday 25th Jan!!!

I'd REALLY like to gather some information and comments from people who knew / saw him at the Heart Of The Midlands and am especially interested in ANY photo's or even video if there is any??

IF anyone would like to send a message to him, I'd love to collect them and share them with him on his Birthday.

Please let others not on their forum, share on Facebook and Twitter. You can contact me on my Facebook page, search for GADGET MAN JAY LTD.

Hope to hear from you all and thanks.

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...
On 05/08/2015 at 9:05 PM, Blondie said:

the manager of the Heart of the Midlands was called Alan Roper, he went downhill after the place closed and played the piano in a pub somewhere near Clifton Estate.....

 

He was called Gary, was at the Commodore, Rob Barnes compared there too sometimes, he was a great drummer, now lives in New Zealand........

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 11 months later...

Saw the BDO World Darts Final (known as the Embassy WDF) at the HOTM with Leighton Rees and John Lowe in 1978.  Rees won and received £3000 whilst Lowe pocketed £1700.

 

It was only there for one year, moving to Jollees in Stoke On Trent in 1979 for several years.

 

Managed to talk with both players in the dressing rooms after and get their autographs in my programme which I still have!

 

Also saw the comedian Tom O'Connor who had everyone crying with laughter even though he didn't swear, tell a blue or racist joke.  He just talked about life and i have never hurt so much from laughing.

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 months later...
  • 3 years later...

We say "Brother Hood of Man"  not sure spelt right but the best thing about Heart of The Midlands was you could buy

Chicken n' chips in  a Basket  I sure this was the only food they sold and it cost an arm n a leg 2/6. I 'm sure we still were in £ s d.

Link to post
Share on other sites

We've seen, on different occasions, Howard Keel, Robert Goulet (spelling?) and pretty sure that's where we saw Norman Wisdom, in the show, "Roar of the Greasepaint and smell of the crowd". Also I believe, Des O'connor, Freddie and the dreamers. Had chicken in a basket too!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Only saw Tony Christie there .  We went with my husbands cousins from Italy and the wife asked why so many men got up during the show.!! ( visits to loo)

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 5 weeks later...

Who was the compere at the Heart of the Midlands ?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...