20 scenes of Blackpool dance centre Locarno Mecca through Ballroom, Northern Soul and 1990s Rave
By Claire Lark
Published 22nd May 2023, 15:45 BST
Updated 22nd May 2023, 16:05 BST
It was at the heart of dancing for generations.
With its revolving stage, the Mecca Ballroom opened in 1965 as the Locarno and through the following 30 or 40 years it reinvented itself to reflect the ever changing music scene. Remember The Highland Room? It was one of Northern Soul’s top venues in the whole of the North West. DJs included Tony Jebb, Stuart Freeman and during the week, Billy the Kid. Other DJ were Ian Levine and Colin Curtis. At the end of the 1970s it was renamed Tiffany’s and in the later years became Rhythm Dome Nightclub, home to Federation. It was a pivotal moment in the music scene as influential house and rave music took hold in the 90s. It was the end of an era, however, when it was demolished in 2009.
Roy Castle and Cilla Black, were appearing in Holiday Startime at the ABC Theatre in 1969 and attended an annual charity dance, organised by Blackpool and Fylde journalists - at the Locarno Ballroom Photo: library
The caption on the back of this photo says - 'The New World Ballroom under construction in 1964, with it's revolving stage, at the Mecca Locarno, Central Drive'. It was 1964 Photo: staff
Steve Quan-Soon (right), Chris Tyler (fourth from right) and Carla Tottoh (second from left), with colleagues outside the Rhythm Dome in Blackpool, 2000 Photo: Bill Johnson