Submitted by Hazel Lintott, Purley Heath u3a
RAY McVAY’S BIG BAND AT THE ORCHID BALLROOM, PURLEY
The Orchid Ballroom, ’64,
Saturday night and dressed to kill.
That handsome lad from down the road
Had asked me out, oh what a thrill!
Dancing with this nice new boy
Who bought me Babycham and crisps,
Who danced and jived in Chelsea boots
And had a car; what heaven was this?
The coloured lights and flashing globes,
The excitement at his soft caress,
As Ray McVay beat out the tunes
And UV lights shone on my dress.
Mid-evening came and Ray McVay
Would play whichever hit was top,
And ‘Glad all Over’, Dave Clark Five,
Was this night’s top song of the pops.
You may remember how it went
With stamping foot on beat precise.
The Orchid Ballroom’s special floor
Was sprung, which made it rather nice,
For when five hundred people stamped
On such a floor with heavy tread,
Stilettos and said Chelsea boots
Created waves which round us spread.
And all the time we sang the song:
“Yes, I’m” stamp stamp
“Glad all Over”
“Yes, I’m” stamp stamp
“Glad all Over”
In a kaleidoscope of lights
We laughed and danced and sang along
And stamped our feet and felt the beat
As Ray McVay thumped out that song!
So vital was each tender touch,
Each look said ‘Yes, I like you too’.
The floor shook underneath our feet
And everything seemed bright and new.
The heat, the taste of Babycham,
The beat, the warmth of his strong hand,
The UV light that shone so bright,
And Ray McVay and his big band –
This memory I’ve kept so long,
When Glad all Over was the song
That landed up as Number One
And we were having so much fun.