Early days of the Mecca dance hall , Stevenage, and my beat group

Len Crawley

My group, the Sinners, played at the Mecca on the opening night (see photo) along with Davey Jones & his Lockermen. His pianist was an unknown (then), but I remember talking to Davey backstage and he told me he had this fantastic piano player named Georgie Fame.

The SInners frequently played at the Mecca, mainly on a Wednesday night. Once we (Linda Laine & the Sinners) had a recording contract with EMI, we  were very much in demand and must have played there several times in the space of 2 years,

I also saw the Rolling Stones there. They just ambled on stage and played for 30 minutes, then another 30-minute set half an hour later. I also saw Heinz Burt play there, who had recently left the Tornados to go solo.

[Note:- this post was udated on 4 August 2023 by the addition of Len’s text, above. Ed]

This page was added on 19/06/2018.

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