Memories of ‘Jiggin’ in Glasgow’s Highstreets
By Bryan Weir
The picture of the ‘Locarno’ sign brought back memories to me. That was the first Glesca jiggin’ I visited, back about 1967. I lived in the Vale of Leven, and on Friday and Saturday evening many people from the Vale caught the Glasgow train to go to the Locarno or their chosen Glasgow dance hall. There was often a wee ‘Kerry Oot’ involved to sustain us during the 50-minute journey. I remember my first visits and being overawed by the size of the ‘Loc’, as we called it. Before this my only experience of the jiggin’ was at local church hall dances.
About 1968, ‘Joanna’s Room’, a disco in Bath Street opened. I understand that this was the first disco in Glasgow, and rather than the large dance hall we were used to, it would be more akin to the ‘clubbing’ that the young people now do. It was in the basement of the Albert Ballroom. To us it was the coolest place to be seen at that time. I actually met my wife there in 1969. She was from Rutherglen. We are still together 54 years later, with two children and five grandchildren.
Joanna’s was also one of the first discos to be granted a licence. They actually got a restaurant licence at first, meaning that they had to serve food. They got round this by serving everyone a wee burger with some salad half way through the evening. It was also one of the first late-night spots. It stayed open until about 1am. The last dance was known as a ‘moonie’, a slow dance. In Joanna’s, they always played Joanna, by the Walker Brothers. We would then head down to George Square and catch a late-night corporation bus to Drumchapel. The roundabout there (on the A82 Boulevard), was as close as we could get to the Vale of Leven using public transport at that time of night. It was then a case of finding two or three others going our way and splitting a taxi fare. If we hadn’t enough money, we would try to thumb a lift, sometimes unsuccessfully. I remember on a few occasions walking all the way home, a distance of more than ten miles for me.
Below is a flyer from that time when they were advertising a Wednesday evening disco with a live band. (Please note the then widely accepted term to describe the featured band as a ‘coloured group’.)
