As a youngster every time I passed the local ballroom I noticed how different and vastly superior the bands sounded to the old scratchy 78rpm discs which my Grandma played.

Although I didn't know then that Dance Band records were made in a studio under controlled conditions and not the Ballrooms, I knew the records were only pale imitations of the real thing. By the time I was 14, my hobby of collecting old records and trying to improve the sound reproduction had born fruit.

I worked out that by fixing an extra pickup arm onto the record turntable and placing both needles or styli in the same groove, I got the realistic echo sound that records did not have - and the wonderful ambience and presence of the Ballroom and with my reel to reel tape recorder I had the best sounding selection of anyone I know.

Using the technique I developed all of those years ago and the latest technology available to me to remove the gritty bubble surface noise and restore the original sound of the record - I am now re-creating the sound of the Dance Hall.

You can hear the re-created sound (The Time Warp Series) and take a trip down memory lane on a Sunday Night 7-10pm (on BBC Radios Newcastle and North Yorkshire or listen via the internet world wide). Every track is restored for your listening pleasure.

The last half hour in the programme I recreate the sound of the Dance Hall so why not lie back and imagine you have arrived and are walking down the corridor leading to the ballroom. You can hear the chatter and muffled sound of the Band - on approaching the door the band becomes louder, then the thrill of opening the door to the ballroom and hearing the Band, the ambience and the presence. - You're there.

Time Warp

Relive the Dance Hall/Ballroom experience in the comfort of your own home.

Including The Pipedreamers, Billy Ternent and his Orchestra, Victor Silvester and his Orchestra and JoeLoss and his Orchestra and many more .......