Of additional interest to dance band musicians was the opening that month [November 1935] of an extension to Manchester’s largest musical instrument store, Mameloks on Oxford Road. The store had a ballroom, café, lounge, and teaching rooms. The Dance Band and Variety booking agencies on its premises made it a center for ‘gigsters’.

a crackling fire

There are white, black, Asian and Chinese Britons

“Then, when I throw my voice, when I speak as someone who's quite different from me, it starts to feel very authentic.”