'At The Dance'

by Kevin Austin


A Saturday night in October 1962. There's a buzz of teenage excitement around Barney's Saturday Night Jive Club, the nightspot named after nearby St. Barnabas Church. There's no alcohol, the clientale are too young, but there is the prospect of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, The Searchers, or Gerry Marsden complete with the Pacemakers. Which group, (these are the days before 'bands'), is unloading its kit outside the back door tonight? And look at what the lads are wearing. Donkey jackets, leathers and jeans are not allowed inside Barneys, and Teddy Boy get-up went out with the ark, so we're all togged up in 'Itie' suits or, cavalry twill 'taken in kecks' and prized winklepickers, the whole ensemble topped off with a white or navy blue mac. Many girls wear pink, coats and shoes were 'all ago' and they’ve all got individual handbags. As for their hair, there's much peroxide and beehives everywhere. And look, there's the painter on his bike.