On 27 June we are unveiling a blue plaque on Tooting Granada! What an occasion this will be! Everyone down SW17-way loves the Bingo Hall but they don’t all know about the immensely famous roll-call of names who once performed there when it was Sidney Bernstein’s flagship Tooting Granada Theatre. From now on they will – Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and The Stones… we could go on, but there’s only room on one plaque for so many names. This is your invitation to join us on the steps of Buzz Bingo Hall and witness a truly historic moment. We’ll kick off with an entertaining and informative commentary on the most memorable occasions here, interspersed with a selection of some of the finest bangers that once rang out, back in the day when Tooting was ‘The Vegas of South London’. After our special guests have said a few words, we will reveal the plaque!
Its been such a blast, indeed a massive honour to talk this up over the past few years. A huge big thank you to all who have helped, but give it up extra-especially for research-wiz Lynda who dug up so many stories to tell and lead the storming of the planning portal. Fred made the noise, pumping out those crooner tunes and bringing Frankie back to life to campaign on instagram. On front of house duty, Commissionaire Morris Hardcastle of the Cinema Theatre Association was always immaculate and kept the best of order at all times.
And all this is happening on National Bingo Day, so let’s hear it for Jeeva and the team at Buzz Bingo who backed us all the way and memorably let us loose in the Hall of Mirrors. But the show must go on and we’ll be coming together one more time on Saturday 27 June to see our beautiful plaque unveiled, paid for by donations so generously given by YOU, lovers of this exquisite indefinably magical place that for 95 years has captivated so many of our imaginations. Please join us, no need to book – you know where to come, the curtain goes up at 2pm.
Its just over 70 years since Frank Sinatra alighted here on the opening date of his first UK Tour. But even before Frankie, the brightest stars in the firmament were lighting up Mitcham Road, a conveyer belt from the London Palladium organised by whizzkid Granada manager John Roberts, brought to Tooting the likes of Danny Kaye, Carmen Miranda, Lena Horne, The Ink Spots and The Andrews Sisters. Two Frankie Laine shows sold 6,000 tickets in 36 hours. Crooner-mania descended on Tooting as a chisel-jawed procession including Eddie Fisher, Pat Boone, Max Bygraves and Johnny Ray rolled into town.
By the mid-50s it wasn’t only the teddy boys causing mayhem – Dickie Valentine was almost strangled by his own tie trying to escape the attentions of over-enthusiastic fans. After that the front doors had to be strengthened. Why so? The finger of suspicion points at you, Dickie. This was an essential measure, the age of rock and roll had dawned and the bad boys were coming. Jerry Lee Lewis was jeered off stage when news of his teen bride was revealed. Walking on through an arch of guitars, Gene Vincent made the first of at least four appearances at Tooting on the UK’s ‘First Ever Total Rock and Roll Tour’.
Elvis never showed up but a procession of bright young newly-monikered rockers off the Larry Parnes conveyor belt more than compensated; Marti Wilde, Billy Fury, Vince Eager and Johnny Gentle. Dickie Pride ‘The Sheik of Shake’ AKA Richard Kneller from Thornton Heath was discovered across the road in The Castle. On 28 Feb 1959, as the world mourned Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard, The Shadows (then known as The Drifters) and Wee Willie Harris gave us ‘The Enormous Teen Show – Let’s Move It!’ Bobby Vee, Dion, Helen Shapiro, Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry and Ricky Valance were amongst the top hitmakers of the era, all taking centre-stage at ‘The Vegas Of South London’. A craze for boy-girl double acts saw 17 year old Brenda Lee ‘Rockin Around the Christmas Tree’ with Gene Vincent in April 1962. Bryan Hyland and Little Eva did the locomotion and sealed it with a kiss.
It sounds incredulous, but on 27 October 1962, Tooting youth fortunate enough to get their hands on a ticket witnessed ‘The Man Who Invented Rock and Roll’ appear on the same bill as ‘The King of Soul’. With a young Billy Preston on keyboards, Little Richard and Sam Cooke blew the house down and silenced the doubting teds. The following day they all headed for Liverpool to be supported that evening by an exciting new band known as The Beatles.
Perhaps no single date resonates more than 1 June 1963, the night The Beatles, accompanied by Roy Orbison and Gerry and The Pacemakers with an astonishing six other acts on the bill, kicked off the swinging sixties when they came to play Tooting Granada. One of 18 dates on the legendary ‘Roy Orbison Tour’ when Beatlemania kicked in and a graphic designer had to change the pecking order on the poster. Between them the line-up had about six Number Ones that year including the Fab Four’s first chart-topper ‘From Me to You’. For 24 hours it seemed Tooting Broadway was the centre of the pop universe. Word spread that they were crashing out in nearby Trevelyan Road where a number of sightings are still gleefully recollected to this day. A ticket to see that lot cost the kids about the same as the price of a pint today.
The following year, new Summerstown arrival Mark Feld (soon to become Bolan) took time out from flipping burgers across the road in Wimpy to see The Ronettes, supported by the fledgling Rolling Stones. In November Millie Small was on the same bill as Lulu – ‘My Boy Lollipop’ was a huge hit and the first Jamaican superstar had arrived. As the mods took over from the rockers, we welcomed The Kinks, Spencer Davis and The Hollies. The Small Faces had to cancel when Steve Marriott picked up gastroenteritis, Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band stepped in to replace them on stage but not on the poster.
As the sixties swung even faster, Tooting Convent girl Cathy McGowan landed the gig of a lifetime on the new ‘Ready, Steady, Go’ TV show. Marianne Faithfull, Dusty Springfield and Lulu were iconic much-loved female performers illuminating this extraordinary era, their wall of sound accompanied by a flash of peroxide.
The Beach Boys might have brought their Californian Good Vibrations but The Walker Brothers broke teenage Tooting hearts when they announced their break up here on 30 April 1967. Jimi Hendrix, soon to be powered by the mighty WEM sound originated by Charlie Watkins from Tooting Market helped heal the wounds on the last night of his spellbinding first UK Tour. Also on what must surely be the most eclectic line-up in popular music history was Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck, keeping the crooner dream alive at the height of the summer of love. The Bee Gees were here in the spring of 1968, their drummer Colin Smiley Peterson hopefully reliving an earlier visit as a child movie star. Supporting them were Grapefruit, featuring George Alexander Young whose family had emigrated to Australia where his younger brothers formed AC/DC.
A few months later Scott Walker and The Love Affair brought the curtain down on this golden age. Amazingly their drummer attended one of our ‘Show Time’ events – we wondered who the geezer was who knew the words to ‘Everlasting Love’. As cinema audiences dwindled, Sidney Bernstein’s TV-focus intensified. In November 1973 The Granada closed its doors for a couple of years and contemplated its next move. Grade II listed and saved from any idea of major re-development or even would you believe demolition, on 14 October 1976, ‘Granada Bingo and Social Club’ swung into action and a new era began.
Whist people went mad for bingo and rammed the venue, other acts did sporadically appear either side of closure. Bizarrely, just a few months after defeating Muhammed Ali at Madison Square Garden, World Heavyweight Boxing Champ, ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier stepped out here with his band The Knockouts. The reviews were most certainly not. The New Seekers were also on that bill, soon to cash in by buying the world a Coke. Showaddywaddy, The Stylistics, Brotherhood of Man, The Batchelors, Chas and Dave, Bucks Fizz all carried the flag in the bingo era.
It was in the summer of 2023 that Tim and I did a music heritage tour. ‘All You Need is Peace Love and Flower to the People’ included a four number stop on the steps of the Granada. Our Bluetooth connectivity wasn’t great but the vibe was special. As we transported ourselves back to the Beatles/Roy Orbison/Gerry concert in June 1963 swaying to‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, a councillor told me it was the most fun they’d ever had on a Friday night. We kicked off in earnest the following year, beefing up the sound and attempting to project poster images on the street.
A Valentine’s Day special was the ultimate show of love, we were serenaded by roses and so much affection for what we were doing. On a roll, we moved inside to The Hall of Mirrors. Lynda was ekeing out all sorts of fantastic new nuggets about live animals in the foyer to promote a Tarzan film, cowboys with loaded guns riding horses on stage and giant birthday cakes. There was so much to tell. But we always came back to the music and were soon back on the street pumping out the tunes.
We met Roland who told us how his policeman Dad had rescued The Beatles after hordes of screaming fans blocked Mitcham Road after the Roy Orbison gig. In return they plied him with fanzines and a mug thats still good for a cuppa 60 years later. Robert and John turned up at a Friday night ‘Show Time’ and were inspired to make a short animated film about Jimi Hendrix coming to Tooting. Robert grew up around here and walked past the Granada every day, only finding out recently that his lifelong hero had performed here.
We met countless people who had been to a concert; Bobby Vee, The Beach Boys, Dickie Valentine, Millie, The Bee Gees or Little Richard. Sheila from Putney recalled being there as a 13 year old swooning over Frank Sinatra. We met Shirley, daughter of the manager John Roberts who ate sponge cake in the cafeteria perched on the knee of Carmen Miranda. We heard how the secretary of the Cat Stevens fan club invited him and Jimi Hendrix back home for an after show party only to be sent packing by her pyjama-clad Dad. We met one naughty person who broke into The Searchers tour bus, pilfered some of their merch and tried to sell it in Tooting Market.
It is no easy task to get a plaque on a Grade One listed building but what fun we’ve had along the way demonstrating to people how it will make such a difference. A simple plaque can do so much to uplift somewhere and touching so many people, this one feels extra-special. We are so very proud its happening and hope this will lead to even more interest in this incredible building, the events that took place there and the magical memories created. There’s always a lot of talk about showing a film and wheels appear to be turning. Lee and Ariana, we look forward to seeing the beautiful ghost sign mural you’ve designed. And finally there’s that ‘Roll of Fame’ in a dark corner of the foyer at the foot of the staircase – a little tatty and in desperate need of some tlc from The Repair Shop. Instigated by John Roberts and once on the wall in his office, there are loads of names on there, many indistinguisable. We’d love to see Shirley take that in and see if they can find Frank Sinatra’s signature. Wouldn’t that be another lovely story to add to all the others provided in ‘The Vegas of South London’?
