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Regent Dance Hall (no longer exists)

Photo:Interior of the Regent Ballroom

Interior of the Regent Ballroom

Image from the 'My Brighton' exhibit

Notes and queries: Syd Dean

Submitted by Carol de Rose on 3 August, 2002
"I'm afraid I can't add any information about the place I've chosen - on the contrary, I'm seeking information and hope that there is someone connected with the site who can oblige.

I grew up in Hove in the 1950s and 60s, and my mother, who died earlier this year aged 96, spent much of her life in Brighton and Hove. She often used to talk of her times dancing at the Regent Ballroom where Syd Dean and his Band were particular favourites and I can remember hearing this band on the radio ('Music While You Work') when I was young. My partner has a relation (now in his 80s) who played in the band and I am trying to locate some archive material if there is anything available. I'm particularly interested in the era of the 40s and 50s, but would also like to know something of the ballroom before and since.

My name is Carol de Rose, I'm now in my mid fifties and I'm a secondary school teacher in East Kent.ยจ

Response by Pat Benham, 3 August, 2002
"My neighbour in Addison Road, Hove, Fred Haith, used to play tenor sax with Syd Dean at the Regent Ballroom. He would blow through a few scales and phrases to warm up before going out of an evening. I remember him taking me down to Tommy Barton the local Musicians' Union secretary, to sign on in 1957 (I am a guitarist). Another man I knew slightly was a kindly old gentleman called Lionel who had been an MC at the ballroom.

In the late 1970s I heard Marc Bolan with his T-Rex group and Status Quo on the same billing at the ballroom, so the place was moving with the times.

There were always advertisements for Syd Dean in the Argus and Brighton and Hove Herald, so a visit to the archives in Brighton would be worthwhile."

This page was added on 22/03/2006.

Comments:

My uncle, Fred Craig, played the double bass with Syd Dean in the Regent Dance Hall in Brighton in the 50s. He was one of three brothers and a sister. One of the other brothers was also a musician and played with the Squadronaires during and after the War.
By Craig (02/04/2003)
I worked at the Regent cinema in the late 60s: saw the musical 'Oliver' about 90 times and, unfortunately, 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' about 120 times. My band (Lodestone) had a practice room in the basement. The manager was a band member's father. The Regent Dance Hall hosted some very big pop/rock bands, including the Rolling Stones. The venue was called the 'Big Apple'.
By Joe Crew (05/04/2003)
Tony Hill says that 'Lionel', the kindly old gentleman that Pat Benham remembers from the Regent, was Lionel Preager, brother of Lou Preager, the bandleader. I don't think so, as Lou Preager didn't have a brother called Lionel. They were Alf, Len and Ronnie - my two uncles and father Len. Lionel sounds too old to be any of them, so if his name was Preager or Prager he was not related to Lou. My father, Len Preager, incidentally, did manage the Brighton Aquarium Ballroom but I don't think he had anything to do with the Regent. I remember it as a cinema and a first outing there to see 'The Sound of Music'. I also remember the Essoldo cinema and a small cinema that showed cartoons, both around the corner in North Street.
By Paul Preager (17/04/2003)
I saw the Rolling Stones at the Big Apple on, I believe, 10 March 1971. I was 15 at the time, and had travelled down to Brighton from Crawley in the back of a friend-of-an-older-friend's van. My friend, who knew I was a fan, sold me a spare ticket at face value for 18 shillings (90p). We were clearly above a cinema, but it did not become obvious that we were also in a former dance hall until the Stones went off stage and the chanting for an encore began. That was when the jumping in time with the hand-claps started, and the floor, being sprung, must have flexed by at least a few inches as the whole audience jumped up and down in unison. I thought we were going to end up in the cinema! A lot of cushion-throwing took place, but I've no idea where they came from. I'm pretty sure there was a seperate Pink Floyd show (or some similar band) on immediately after the Stones.
By Steve Mayne (25/04/2003)
Ref: Tony Hill's comment of 4.3.2003 re Syd Dean's Band: he lists Johnny Woodersen as lead trumpeter. Should read Johnny WOOLLASTON - he is my uncle, now living in East Wittering, Chichester.
By David Pearce (02/11/2003)
I've only just revisited this site, hence the delay. I'm sorry, Paul, to have mis-identified Lionel at the Regent