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Behind the Savoy Ballroom's glittering image was the managerial flair of Mr. George
Turner, who brought many famous names to the venue between 1948 and 1965. George had an
in-built antenna which kept him a step ahead of musical trends, enabling him to book top
names when they were on the way up and when they could be hired for a price the Savoy
management could afford.
He is already well documented as the man who booked the Beatles for £50 - they brought
2,600 fans into the Savoy and another 2,000 who couldn't get in - but earlier he
regularly booked the top British dance bands and the traditional jazz groups when they
were all the rage. George (82) and Edna, his wife of 56 years, still live in Southsea,
where he talked about the Savoy and played his piano for our reporter.
A Newcastle man, he settled in Portsmouth after leaving the Army in 1929. After 14 years
in nursing he switched careers and previous part-time interests - dancing and music -
became his working life. In four and a half years he built up a regular business at the
Empress Ballroom, North End, where he vividly remembers VE Night. He decided to stay
open at the usual price, Is. 6d., and 1,600 revellers came in.
He was recruited by Mr. Barney Shine and Mr. Harry Pearl to run the Savoy, later adding
Kimbells to his responsibilities and doing the bookings for Sherry's ballroom in
Brighton.
At the Savoy, where business had slumped, he went for the big names for revival, and
this soon paid off. Mick Mitchell had formed a ten-piece band at the Empress and moved
with him, much to the delight of dancers. Soon attendances, which had plummeted to 180,
started to rise. He booked the Tito Burns band for £60, kept the tickets at three
shillings, and 837 people came to "Radio Band Night" that Friday. The Ray Ellington Trio
with vocalist Barbara Windsor attracted 900, and Harry Gold and his Pieces of Eight
brought in more than 1,400 swingers.
A week's booking of the Ted Heath Band with vocalists Lita Rosa, Dennis Lotis and Dickie
Valentine put ticket prices up to four shillings but the Savoy's reputation was made,
and the relaid, sprung, Canadian maple dance floor felt the soft kiss of patent leather
pumps of top-class competitors as well as the uncertain tread of novice dancers. Ted
Heath's band was so popular that it played there more than 100 times in the following
years.
Savoy bookings read like a history of British dance, swing and show bands - Billy
Ternant, Eric Winstone, Ken Macintosh, Cyril Stapleton, Oscar Rabin, Geraldo, Roy Fox,
Nat Gonella, Edmundo Ros. In the first crossAtlantic exchange to be agreed by the
Musicians Union, Stan Kenton and his band let rip at the Savoy and some folk swore the
band could be heard on the Isle of Wight!
The Savoy rode the crest of the dance band revival, but George catered for other tastes,
too. He went to a jazz festival in the Edgware Road and booked a clutch of "tradesmen,"
George Webb and his Dixielanders, Chris Barber, Mick Mulligan's band with "blues shouter"
George Melly, Humphrey Lyttelton, and Graham Bell from Australia. Then came Johnnie
Dankworth and Cleo Laine, their pianist a little chap called Dudley Moore.
In his first year George never took even a day off, but his wife Edna gave every support
to his declared aim of putting the Savoy on the map, and the ballroom was established as
a major venue on the South Coast. "We saw the heyday of the big bands. There was a
marvellous atmosphere at the Savoy and we had very little trouble. I used to ban anybody
who caused trouble and lads would knock on my door at home pleading with me to let them
in. My policy was always to say `No' the first time they asked. One of the things that
still gives me joy is to be stopped in the street by people who talk about how much they
enjoyed those nights at the Savoy - those really were THE days, and I would do it all
again if I had the chance."
George revived tea dances, later switching them to Kimbells, started Saturday morning
sessions for young dancers, and was quick to take part in film promotional activity with
personal appearances, including a shy young rising star by the name of Joan Collins.
The
Savoy rode the short-lived skiffle craze before Rhythm and Blues, then Rock and Roll
began to make an impact as the popularity of big bands waned. He gave Lulu her first
professional booking (fee £10), the Beatles were a massive success, the still-rolling
Stones let rip from the Savoy stage, and such acts as Manfred Mann, Long John Baldry,
Vince Hill, Joe Brown and his Bruvvers, the Who and the Shadows went down well.
George believes in helping others and has promoted many entertainments for charity, by
his efforts raising well over £75,000. His charity work continues and he is the man who
managed to persuade Joe Loss to play in concert for The News, Portsmouth, Scanner
Appeal, raising £8,500, his biggest total from an individual event.
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