I can still remember the feeling of excitement I experienced walking down the open wooden staircase into the Iron Door Club in Temple Street, Liverpool in 1962. The club was packed out, the music loud, the atmosphere buzzing and I was hooked.

The scene was the same all over the city, clubs were housed in rooms, cellars and dance halls, the Beatles were just becoming famous and Liverpool, with its Mersey sound was the place to be. In those days there were no disco's, although records were played to fill in. It was all live music, two or three bands would play on an average club night, but up to eight bands could play through an 'all-nighter.'

The Iron Door remained our favourite club until it was altered in 1963 and in the process lost all its atmosphere, so we decamped along with other regulars to the Cavern Club. We hadn't been impressed on previous occasions when we had visited the Cavern, probably because it had been a Jazz Club and Sunday night was retained as jazz night. Jazz was out and definitely for squares. However, there was one jazz number called 'Creole Jazz' which everyone loved because they could do the 'Cavern Stomp' to it. Holding right hands with your partner, you virtually skipped around in a circle from foot to foot and taking up lots of space. A good way of showing off in front of the opposite sex!

The Cavern Stomp involved holding right hands (sometimes both hands were used but only the right hand was held) and moving from one foot to another (sometimes with a hop), shoulders hunched. The shoulders became more hunched if someone approached with whom you didn't wish to dance! The Stomp was ideal for the Cavern which was generally packed out and meant that you had little room to maneuver and had to get up really close to your partner.

The dance varied according to the amount of space available at the time, when squashed together tightly as was usually the case it became almost a smooch, but when there was more space, as on jazz night, it became almost frenetic; partners held hands and moved from side to side describing a circle.

The Shake was fashionable too as it evolved from the song 'Hippy Hippy Shake' by the Swinging Bluejeans. It could be danced alone or with a partner. You simply stood and shook (no foot movement at all) but it looked better if you could synchronize your head too (something like head banging today) which wasn't too easy. I felt I had one over on my friend Joy who couldn't master this. The Shake didn't last as long as the Stomp did in popularity.

I must tell you about the Cavern Club as there was nowhere else like it. The club itself was in the cellar of a warehouse, down a flight of stone steps, whereas the Iron Door club was just a large sized cellar. The Cavern had been a wine vault and consisted of three vaults separated by brick archways. The centre vault accommodated a small stage at one end and contained wooden chairs for the seated audience. The two side vaults were for dancing or watching or just hanging about! At one time the brickwork had been painted white, but when the club was full both member and the walls sweated and a sprinkling of white flakes floated down to bespeckle the inevitable black garments. This was aptly named 'Cavern dandruff.'

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