An old hangar-like building on the outskirts of Bradford – which used to house a cinema – was converted in late 1963 to the Lyceum Rainbow Club to provide entertainment of the sort that proved increasingly popular in the North of England, especially in Yorkshire.
There was food and drink served by attractive waitresses, there was dancing and gambling, and there was cabaret. Now, with the rows of cinema seats replaced by chairs and tables, with a stage and a big bar installed, the inside of the building was seen by millions of viewers – for it was from here that the BBC televised the Club Night series.
Artists trekked to Bradford to bask in applause just as ecstatic as in the heyday of Variety theatres.
Club Night‘s regular host was Donald Peers who, sixteen years previously (when he was 39), became Britain’s first singer to experience teenage squeals of adulation.
