Peter Millington….Eric behind the counter at the Pam Dor Early 1960’s.
Mick Knights….That’s the ever popular Eric, the owner, serving. I, along with just about every teenage lad, was banned by him at one time or another!! The Pam Dor had the first Discotec in Hastings, which was on the second floor, a place I never entered, nor did very many, as it soon closed. its second incarnation was the Astral club, which morfed into Toff’s.
Peter Pursglove….i did the door up there for a few years until it closed Alan ,Mollly Russell ran it ,busy little club
Tom Boyer….Great times, we loved it, a fabulous place to meet. Tom & Lin Boyer (nee White)
Sue Bartholomew (Nee Finch)… I remember the Pam Dor, it was the best place to go, we paid a shilling entrance and that also got you a coffee or a frothy hot chocolate, and sit in there for as long as you wanted, it was always busy and behind in Middle Street was a long line of Lambrettas or Vespas belonging to some young lad who was in the Pam Dor.
Colin Bell… Love this photo Pete, met my first ‘proper’ girlfriend there…happy days…
Mick Mepham… Who were your ‘improper’ ones Colin and are you still in touch with them?
Nicola Dobson… Spent a lot of time in there…I remember that seating area..they should have coffee bars again Im sure they would be popular!
Teresa Arnold… Hastings of my childhood at night. 1960s
Eric Harmer… What have they done to our country
Steve Cooke… Eric, Fracked it up, sadly!
Steve Hamilton… I miss those streetlight decorations and the 14p underground swimming baths!
Michael Linskey… Stunning then now dull and dingy and looking totally rundown as a seaside town or tourist attraction clearly not everything improves for or better in the future
Patricia Burgess… How I remember it
David Martin… They should have kept the old lights up
Tracy Birrell… How I remember it. Beautiful!
Peter Brazier… Loved it back then our seafront is now a joke!
Graham Sherrington… yep those lights were FAB!!!!!!!
Hastings CC Archive… probably very early 1960s. I don’t know the rider or event (it could be the Catford Hastings and return event run by the Catford CC).
Jane Hartley… Seeboard York Buildings where Millets is now.
Andrew Freeman… I worked in the Seeboard shop in the early 1970’s.
Thanks to Lloyd Johnson for finding this. How Tony Powell became manager of the Witchdoctor.
Also a classic photo of ‘The Animals’ read the sign!
Andre Palfrey-Martin Collection
The Who at the Witchdoctor 4th August 1965
Mick Knights….The only face I can put a possitive ID to is still Colin Gilcrest (Mr. G) I recognise the first bloke looking mean and moody, but can’t think of a name. I’m pretty sure the girl dancing alone is Lill, but it was almost 50 years ago!!!!!
Gary Kinch….Alas, too young to see them in the 60’s although I do have a tenuous second hand link with the Witch Doctor during that period. My Dad was a Bouncer there, whether he was at this gig I don’t know without asking him. He would of hated the music though. He also worked at the Fiesta in a similar capacity during the 60’s…Anyway, one of my favourite bands and I’ve seen them a few times since. Sundowner in London, December 73 being a good ‘un. Mainly Quadrophenia (top 20 all time great albums IMO) with the odd Tommy track plus a couple of the older classics. The trip to this gig was organised by Hastings Students Union, at least one coach full of young reprobates went. Anyone else remember this outing?
Pete Fisher….saw them on the Pier, July 1969, and at the front it was so loud my vision started to blur, and I had to go out and grab some sea air, returning to stand further back. Moon threw out drumsticks at the end, and a mate from school won the scrum to get it, only because he was small and agile, and ran for his life out of the ballroom clutching his trophy, which he brought into school the next day! Only time rugby ever came in useful!
Mick O’Dowd….Thankfully most of us didn’t “Die before we get old!”
Iain Cobby… Hey Pete, I was there too in 69, July, the same evening man walked on the Moon (no pun intended).It was a Sunday Club gig, the first real gig I was allowed to go to. They were loud with an army of WEM and Marshall cabs all around the stage. They did the whole of Tommy if I recall,I then fell in love with wanting to play bass (what went wrong?) As waited for my dad to pick me up outside the entrance, Daltrey breezed past me. I cried out ” nice one Rog”…………….. he never even blinked. oh well.
Nick Prince… The Who video – wow!!
Ian Middleton… The day the Animals played, I think it was a Tuesday was the day that House of the Rising Sun topped the record charts and Eric Burdon complained during the gig that they were contracted to play there for £50 when they could have easily got £100 in London
Jackie Hersee… This is where I spent my time in the 60’s
Stephanie Blackledge… me too! Geno Washington. 1966?
Diane Leigh… Enjoyed listening
Gerry Fortsch… A great venue with some great memories apart from the dandruff highlighter as you went in.
Caz Simpson… This real took me back, thank you for posting! I remember him so well, a really lovely man. The Witchdoctor was my second home
Pete Fisher… Several sources quote 9 July 1964 as the day the Animals hit number one, but I found a list of gigs at the Witch Doctor which said this one was 12 August which was indeed a Wednesday. It also says admission was 8s/6d Mick, quite expensive as I’ve read that the price of a pint was around 2s/0d back then. BTW the BBC charts were a combination of the Record Retailer, Melody Maker, NME and other music magazine charts until 1969.
Richard Brimms… I remember it but I thought it was a Wednesday
David Edwards… And I thought Alan Price was the whinged in the band !
Mick Knights… I remember it being too expensive to go to on an apprentice’s weekly pittance!
Steve Maxted… So interesting, the Manchester man that Tony met with the American car would have been Paddy Mckiernan, a great character. I did a lot of shows for him, including at rhe Witch Doctor and Cobweb
Mark Mackenzie… Played drums for The New Breed three times in 67, great gigs
Andy Ives… That was very interesting thanks for posting. Tony used to be my neighbour
Judith Monk… Not only was I there but two of them including Eric stayed overnight at my house after the gig and I had breakfast with them!
John Warner… The second group to appear at the Witchdoctor. First one was the Nashville Teens!
Robert Valentine… Played there many times in my band The Clockwork Oranges in the sixties nice venue.
Lynda Whatley… What an interesting watch ! Remember dancing up the Witchdoctor in my youth
Nick Bloomfield… Great story from the man who was there. I didn’t get down until after this period but I know Steve Marriott played here a few times.
Chris Baker… Wow! I am not sure I remember that gig. Weird that gigs had to finish 15 mins before we all turned into Pumpkins! Not sure I remember the Nerve! Anyone know the lineup?
SMART COFFEE MEET 25. The next SMART coffee meet is Friday 15th January 2016 – 3.30pm till 6.00pm in The Seafront Room, White Rock Hotel, Hastings.
Please bring any photos, cuttings, records etc that would be interesting for others to see or just bring yourself and please mention it to other like minded people.
Mick O’Dowd… Thanx for all the birthday wishes from all my fabulous fans. Without you I would be nothing. I’d also like to thank my manager and hair stylist without whom I could not appear in public.I shal be making a rare public appearance at The SMART Meet on Jan 15th and will be willing to sign autographs for you for a small consideration. No seriously folks all best wishes have been gratefully received. Thank You. xx
Jim Breeds… The hair stylist deserves an award!
Andre Martin… Colin, Alan -I think that we will have to check the small print on this character, age can have a profound impact on their state of mind
Jim Breeds… photo above of the The next SMART meet up?
Andre Martin… This is a very acurate image of ” the Gangs All Here” so lets make it a great first for 2016 as a thanks to Alan for his preception and perserverance over the years, and even if the weather is cruel then we must all remember that rule ” THE SHOW GOES ON…..”
Thank you for visiting our site and hopefully you are finding it interesting. We are always looking for more photos, cuttings etc from the 60’s onwards with a connection to the Hastings area. Especially groups we have not featured before. If you have anything please email it over with as much information as possible.
Richard Houghton… 50 years ago this month the Rolling Stones played a show at the Pier Ballroom in Hastings. I’m compiling a people’s history of the Stones and if any of your readers would like to share their memories of the concert I’d love to hear from them. I can be contacted via email at richardmhoughton@gmail.com or by writing to me at 32 Manor Avenue, Preston, PR2 8DN.
The big question everyone was asking is Where’s Andre! Good crowd again and excellent afternoon. Chat was about… Beatles first 10 albums coming out on Mono vinyl, Cliff Richard, pirate radio, local bands reforming, Factory rehearsals, beach concert, bare-faced blues festival, what direction we are taking SMART in, Osibisa, how to get more people involved and how to get them to go into the attic to find these photos that they keep promising. Very grateful to Phil Little for bringing along copies of his magazine Music Files from the 1990s. Some wonderful reviews and cuttings which will be scanned and posted in due course. Lol Cooksey has found some amazing photos of the band ‘The Mone’ and ‘Rock Museum’. Look out for these soon. Among the new people were Roy Brigden from Hastings Pier Charity looking for high resolution photos, posters etc from bands that have played the pier and these could be used when it reopens in 2015. Good to see Graham & Wendy Weaver talking about Hastings Rock Radio and another first timer was Eric Cawthraw who bought some rare albums to show us, including ‘Man’. Mick O’Dowd has updated his folder on the Pier gigs with lots of interesting photos and a number I have not seen before. A few cd’s were changing hands and a great time was had by all. This is only a small part of what was talked about. Anyone else that had interesting chats that I missed, please feel free to post details here.
Barry Taylor….This is what Barry Taylor, Phil John, Andy Gunton & Pete Prescott were talking about. Mott The Hoople, Steamhammer, Sergeant and the fesitval scene in Europe in late 60’s early 70’s. How Rod Stewart came to record Maggie May, the song that made him a megastar. Barry was involved in the circumstances surrounding that song.
The darker side of Led Zeppelin was touched on, specifically the management characters involved in the band and their road fever antics in America. Uriah Heep, Foreigner, King Crimson… who Barry recalls playing a support spot at the old Marquee right at the start of their career.
Andy Qunta… Would like to hear Barry’s story about Maggie May. Big fan of Steamhammer, and especially their 2nd guitarist & songwriter, Martin Quittenton, who I believe co-wrote that song.
Yvonne Cleland… Breaking news! Will Thomson has promised to come to the next SMART meeting as long as I remind him! Perhaps you could all help me with this? 🙂
Tony Qunta… Excellent news!
Alan Esdaile… Just been chatting to Kevin Hoad, so Daisy reunion?
Yvonne Cleland… I know that Moff is up for it! I mentioned it to Will last night. It would be a good addition to the Factory reunion!
Mick O’Dowd… Another great afternoon. Well done Alan,I don’t know how you keep it up. Sad not to see the omni-presence that is Andre and I wish him speedy recovery.
