Mersey Hotel (West Didsbury)

This Is a forgotten fabulous venue for music in the late 50s and through to the early seventies.

It saw many big names perform there including Rock and Roll artists Johny Kidd and the Pirates,  Marty Wilde, Shane Fenton who was re invented as Alvin Stardust who I became to know very well as we were both doing gigs for a wonderful top agent in the U K who lived just around the corner called Harry Gunn. He was a massive influence on so many big names of the day Including myself.

Also performing there was the great Jimmy Ruffin who I had the pleasure to see his show and meet he was amazing, but very aloof backstage.

It was also a major draw for all the great jazz names of the day including Humphrey Littleton Kenny Ball and my very good friend Acker Bilk. I first met Acker as a seventeen year old when I was a semi pro singer through a friend of my Fathers who took me to Wakefield Theatre Cub where he was topping the bill, we met backstage and became good friends.

When I turned professional as a singer he would come and see my act on many occasions and there was one song I used to do in my act and loved that Acker Had recorded which was a taste of honey. Although my arrangement was more of the Beatles style, one night when Acker was on stage at the Mersey Hotel and I was in the audience he asked me to come up on stage and perform the song with him. To my amazement he played my arrangement which I later found out he had obtained from my guitar player.

What a great guy he was and the Mersey Hotel was a very good venue and sadly overlooked.

Info courtesy: Ian Kinsey June 2025