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RONNIE HANCOX |
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'THE DANCE BAND FOR DANCERS'
RONNIE HANCOX BAND HISTORY
RONNIE HANCOX - THE DANCE BAND FOR DANCERS - 1940 TO 1967
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Ronnie first became involved in the 'Band Business' when he picked up a pair of drumsticks and accompanied his pianist during a band break at the Roadhouse that he owned - 'The Happy Hour' near Lichfield, in 1939 He was not a trained Musician, but he had an innate sense of Rhythm and Dance due to his expertise on Ballroom Dancing, in which he had reached a Semi Professional standard. |
Following the outbreak of the second World War, he was conscripted to work at the Coventry Climax aero engine factory as the Works Canteen manager, due to his experience as a Caterer and Restaurateur
Whilst still running the 'Happy Hour' roadhouse, he was approached by the House musicians who had had the idea of forming a Big Band to tender for work from all of the local Dance Halls as there were a wealth of musicians 'trapped' in uniform at the local Royal Air force
Base in nearby Lichfield - Being a good businessman and excellent publicist. Ronnie knew a good idea when it hit him! - 'Reluctantly' he soon agreed to 'take up the baton' - The rest is history - The idea of calling it 'The Dance Band for Dancers' was a masterstroke, as in those days, most Bands seemed unable to play at the correct tempo for Ballroom Dancers - That problem was about to end, as Ronnie knew all about tempo, as he had just won the Midlands Charleston Championship (after seeing it danced only ONCE !) - He was a perfectionist with a flamboyant sense of presentation - very rare in those austere post-war days
Ronnie was a natural publicist - he once told me that there was 'no such thing as bad publicity' even though he would have been upset if that had ever happened to him (which it never did).
As war ended, the band members were all semi-professional musicians who also held down 'Proper Jobs' in the day time - That was about to end when VE Day hit us by surprise - Ronnie leapt on to the publicity bandwagon by setting up the Band in the middle of the main road on the Parade in Sutton Coldfield, outside his second restaurant - The Snackery - and the local population danced the day and night away to the sounds of 'The Dance Band' for Dancers' - The Band played until they dropped!
Needless to say, that particular Gig received Nationwide publicity - There was no going back from then onwards - Every Dance Hall wanted THAT Band......
Ronnie now turned his hand to perfecting the Band - The musicians were put on to a full time/fully employed basis, fitted out in tailor made Cream battledress jackets with the RH symbol on the pocket - The Music Stands were colour-coded to match and they were ordered to have all their cars sprayed Cream, to match Ronnies' Cream Jaguar 'so that they would all look smart arriving in Convoy outside the Ballroom - Naturally Ronnie headed the convoy with the Female Vocalist of the day, in his Jaguar!
Next came the Band Coach - Not your ordinary bus for the Ronnie Hancox Band - Designed to be state of the art in those days, that Coach had everything including a Toilet, Card Tables etc etc - The body was designed to take the special Sound Equipment that was always accompanied by Ronnies full time Sound Engineer to take care of the Amplifiers,Microphones, Mixing Desks etc - All State of the Art and mostly unheard of in those days, albeit commonplace for the poorest Pop Group these days! - All of this equipment was carried in specially designed metal coated boxes on wheels, made to fit in the luggage compartment of the Coach, that was finished in Cream and Signwritten ; RONNIE HANCOX - The Dance Band For Dancers
Then, there was the Publicity Van - A full mobile Public Address vehicle with massive sound output, that matched the Coach in colours and signwriting - The sole purpose of the Publicity Van, was to ' Hit The Town' where the band were playing, for the whole day of the performance, brainwashing the public to "COME DANCING TONIGHT TO THE RONNIE HANCOX BAND AT THE TOWN HALL"
It worked - The locals flooded to the Venue and gladly parted with 10/- (50p) for a good night out!
Ronnie was always known as 'The Governor' as he was a very strict disciplinarian who would not allow the musicians to invite Wives or Girlfriends onto the Coach, or to even attend the functions - And the consumption of Alcohol during an engagement merited instant dismissal - A far cry from the Bands of Today! - His Musicians were paid about £20.00 per week ! - Ronnie charged £20.00 just to appear ! (In those days, a Bank Manager earned £20.00 a week)
The Performing Artists Association (THE WATER RATS) soon made him a member, as he made many donations to that Association - He was very proud of that prestigious honour - Another source of pride with Ronnie, was HIS Band playing for `COME DANCING on the BBC Television, which of course meant loads more bookings for the 'Dance Band For Dancers"
The Band played away most Summers, for a` Season at the `Seaside - Notably at Torquay, Eastbourne and Weston Super Mare, which gave the boys in the band a 10 week Summer Holiday - Even though they had to play for a 'Tea Dance' in the afternoons and . later, a dance in the evening.
One Summer,(1953) Ronnie auditioned and signed up a young Girl who asked if she could sing a number with the Band - That Girl was SUSAN MAUGHAN, of 'Bobbies Girl' fame ----- She was paid a grand wage of £7.00 per week !
Before Susan finally made the charts, she had spent 3 years as the singer with Ronnies' Band before leaving to join the great Ray Ellington Quartet for a short while - She later signed her recording contract. All surviving members of 'The Dance Band For Dancers' remember Ronnie mostly for his strict discipline - BUT - Fondly, for helping them into full time employment when they were struggling, semi professional and hungry! - They mostly all went on to play for bigger name Bands and to make a sucessful career in the Music Business - And we would like to thank them for helping us to compile these memories of Ronnie.
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Website research by Jean (Hancox) McIntosh (Daughter) and Mike Hancox (Son) with assistance from former members of the Band
Regd © 2008 (copyright)