WHEN the BBC’s Antique’s Roadshow visited Cardiff recently, a Cowbridge man was picked out to be the first man on screen.
Mike Wilcock went along to Alexander Gardens with a collection of photos that he had taken more than 60 years ago, and the production team decided they were such a rarity that they used them at the very start of the show.
What was so special about the black and white pictures? Well, they captured one of the first times the Rolling Stones had played outside London. Mike said: “It was 1963 and I was 20 and working in the textile industry – which was huge in Lancashire at that time.
“I was booking acts for the Nelson Sports and Social Club and we started to stage ‘Teen Beat Nights’ in the Morecombe Floral Hall. Morecombe was the social centre and young people would head there from all the neighbouring towns and villages – not just Nelson. Dozens of buses would arrive in the seaside town. The hall had a capacity of 2,000.
“I had a call from a London agent who said he had a band that were releasing their first single. He was confident that if I booked them, that record would be in the charts by the time they came to us. I booked them for £95.
“He was right and that first single – a cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Come On’ – was in the charts, although it didn’t get higher than 21. I booked four bands. The Stones had top billing, followed by The Merseybeats, Dave Berry and the Cruisers, and a local band called the Doodlebugs. The evening sold out – 2,000 tickets at five shillings each so we took £500.
“Our arrangement with the Floral Hall was that we kept the ticket money while they kept the bar takings. This meant that every band went on stage late so the punters had more time to drink!”
Mike continued: “The Stones turned up squeezed into a Bedford van. Their manager Andrew Loog Oldham was with them. The one thing I do remember is that the first three bands played music the audience were used to. Plenty of people were dancing but when the Stones played, they were doing American R and B numbers and no one in Morecombe knew how to dance to them!”
When Mike’s photos were assessed for the Antiques Roadshow, he was told he could expect to get £2,000 for the negatives – not that Mike has any intention of selling. They would have been worth more – except for a bit of bad luck.
After all, Mike had no idea that The Rolling Stones would go on to be such a big deal. Also, how could he have known the combination of Jagger/Richards would go on to be iconic? (One of those few occasions that ‘iconic’ is appropriate).
Mike had his usual vantage point, which gave him a good view of bass guitarist Bill Wyman and guitarist/ harmonica player Brian Jones. Jones, of course, left the band six years later. At least Bill had settled on his ‘poker face’ look. Unfortunately, Bill and Brian did rather obscure the performers on the other side of the stage!
Mike was also the DJ for the evening, playing records between the bands, so he could hardly go walkabout and take pictures from all angles. Hindsight, of course, is a wonderful thing but Mike went on to have a lifelong interest in photography. He was much valued by The Cowbridge GEM, and supplied pictures from a wide range of local events.
He looks back on his time as a showbiz impresario with great affection. Things worked out pretty well for Mike as he met his wife Averil then. They were both working in the textile trade and Mike went on to join a management training programme for C&A – travelling around the UK working in various stores before settling in Cowbridge.
It means that he and Averil are happily settled in the Vale – with more than a few memories!
By PHILIP IRWIN – Senior Reporter
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