1978

Almost Complete

Confirmed events are indicated by a ♫
Events are only confirmed if printed evidence is available, i.e.. Magazine, Advert, Ticket, Poster etc. or if verified by two independent sources. Internet sourced dates are not classed as evidence due to errors being copied from site to site.
All acts are listed exactly as they appeared in the advert.
Items in yellow are from Mick Ilka's bookings diary and require confirmation.
Additional information and corrections to this list are more than welcomed.

All the gigs and events at the California Ballroom during 1978
Date		Valid	Event	Comments
Jan	01	♫	Over 25s Disco Night	DJ Paul Gray. Dance + Dine + Wine the night away. Adm. Free
	02	♫	Disco	DJ Paul Gray for current music trends £1.10/£1.50
	03	♫	Soul + Funk	DJ Brother Louie + Kev Steed. Disco the USA way £1.10/£1.50
	04	♫	Disco	DJ Shossey playing the hits of today with disco your way Adm. £1.10/£1.50
	05	♫	Soul + Funk	DJ Brother Louie + Kev Steed. Disco the USA way £1.10/£1.50
	14	♫	Phase 1 of California Skateboard Scene opening
	19	♫	Black Rose	Heavy Rock Night
	26	♫	Risky Business	Heavy Rock Night
Feb	01	♫	Warm Sands	Adm. Free
	02	♫	Closed	Closed every Thursday until further notice
	03	♫	Robbie Vincent	Direct from BBC Radio London 11-12. £165 + £45 expenses
	08	♫	Over 25s Disco Night
	10	♫	Soul-Funk Club	Brother Louie + Kev Steed
	16	♫	The Alabama Hayriders	Country Music Night
	21		Slade	This date comes from a Slade web site and Mick's diary. There is no other record of them appearing. It may have been switched to the Queensway or cancelled altogether
	22	♫	Hogarth's World	Over 25s Disco Night Adm. Free
	23	♫	The Sidewinders	Country Music Night
	24	♫	Soul - Funk Club
	25		The Jam	Fee for performance £1000 we are told by Paul Baker that the support act was the Sex Pistols DJ Paul Gray in Didoz with Pop Chart Sounds
	26	♫	Soul - Funk Club
Mar	01	♫	August	Over 25s Disco Night
	02	♫	Five Star Stud	Country Music Night
	03	♫	Soul Funk
	04	♫	Tweenage Disco	7.30-11pm
	04	♫	Pop Chart Sounds	DJ Paul Gray
	04		Subway Sect + The Lous	£150 + 55% gross. If this went ahead it is likely to have been part of the Tweenage Disco and held in the Ballroom
	05	♫	Soul Funk Club
	08	♫	Silver Coin	Over 25s Disco Night
	09	♫	Closed	Private Party
	10	♫	Soul Funk
	11	♫	Pop Chart Sounds	DJ Paul Gray
	11		Slade or Subway Sect + The Lous (not clear)	May have been a booking in the Queensway Hall as by this time Mick was booking for both venues
	12	♫	Soul Funk Club
	15	♫	Over 25s Disco Night
	16	♫	Closed	Private Party
	17	♫	Soul Funk	DJ Brother Louie
	18	♫	Pop Chart Sounds	DJ Paul Gray
	19	♫	Soul Funk Club
	22	♫	Hogarth's World	Over 25s Disco Night
	24	♫	Closed	Good Friday
	25	♫	Disco for everyone	DJ Paul Gray
	25	♫	Junior Disco for under 17s	7.30-11pm Adm. 50p Ballroom?
	26	♫	Soul Funk Club	DJ Brother Louie + Kev Steed
	27	♫	Soul Funk Night	Easter Monday
	28		Electrolux Disco in Didoz	DJ Louie
	29	♫	August	Over 25s Disco Night
Apr	1	♫	Tavares	Ballroom Adm. £2
	8		Showaddywaddy
	15		Real Thing
	20	♫	Danny's Clan	A whistle and flute do in Didoz. Special Buffet included Adm. £2.50
	22	♫	Suzi Quattro	Admission £2/£2.50 7.30pm Ballroom
	23	♫	East Anglian Soul Club ALL-DAYER	Chris Hill and Chris Brown plus other DJ's 2pm - Midnight Admission £1.50p Members only
	27	♫	Suzi QuattroAnd the DD Roadshow in Didoz	See Paul Gray comments re mid-weeker
	29	♫	Hi Tension	Hottest new funk band. Adm £2
May	11	♫	Out of the Blue	Admission 75p Didoz
	13	♫	Showaddywaddy	Admission £3.00/£3.50 7.30pm Ballroom
	18		The Crusaders
	18	♫	Nuts in May Free bubbly/Lager	with DJ Tony Brennan in Didoz Adm. £1
	20	♫	Steel Pulse	DJ Steve Barnard Admission £2.00 7.30pm
	25	♫	Gregory Isaacs with special guests 15/16/17	Didoz Adm. £2
	27	♫	Brass Construction supported by Rokotto	Admission £3.50 7.30pm
	29	♫	Devil's Den Phase IV	Brother Louie + Kev Steed Didoz By this time the Devil's Den had been in the basement, in the Vista Bar and had now shifted to Didoz
Jun	1	♫	Free Bubbly/Lager	DJ Ding
	2		Robbie Vincent
	3	♫	Black Slate	Admission £1.50 7.30pm Ballroom
	10	♫	Heatwave	Admission £3.00 7.30pm Ballroom
	22	♫	DJ Tony Brennan
	24		? Festival (handwriting not clear)
	29	♫	The Howard Neil Roadshow	Free Dubonnet
Jul	8	♫	Emperor Rosko + Legs & Co	Ballroom 9-10 Didoz 11-12 £1.50 till 10pm £2.00 after
	8		Ramsey Lewis	plus 6 piece
	20	♫	DJ John Doulton
	22		Hi Tension supported by Rokotto
Aug	03	♫	Mark Phillips	Adm. Free/£1 Didoz
	10	♫	DJ Dave Bolton	Adm. Free/£1 Didoz
	14	♫	Dates Club	Members only
	17	♫	DJ Tony Brennan	Adm. Free/£1 Didoz
	24	♫	DJ Mark Jeffries	Adm. Free/£1 Didoz
	26		Rokotto	Gig listed in Sounds Magazine. Sent in by Phil. Thanks.
	31	♫	DJ John James	Adm. Free/£1 Didoz
Sep	07	♫	DJ Dave Bolton	Adm. Free/£1 Didoz
	08	♫	TGIF Teenage Disco	8-11pm Ballroom
	09		Eddie Kendricks
	16	♫	Olympic Runners + Kandidate	DJ Robbie Vincent Admission £2.50 7.30pm
	22		T-Connection
	23		Donald & the Blackbyrds
	28	♫	DJ Mark Phillips	Adm. £1
	30	♫	The Crusaders	Admission £3.50 7.30pm Ballroom
Oct	1	♫	Official opening of Didoz	8 hours of solid funk with DJs Brother Louie, Kev Steed, Robbie Burns and Stavros Adm. £1 inc. Sunday lunch, Sandwiches etc.
	5	♫	DJ Andy Anderson	Adm. £1 Didoz
	7	♫	Crown Heights Affair	Admission £3.00 7.30pm Ballroom
	7		Rose Royce
	12	♫	DJ John Doulton	Adm. £1 Didoz
	14		Lenny Williams
	19	♫	DJ Tony Brennan	Adm. £1 Didoz
	21		Third World
	26	♫	DJ Ding	Adm. £1 Didoz
	28	♫	Four Tops	Adm. £3.50p Diary has "cancelled" pencilled in but it definitely went ahead. We have a newspaper cutting and the ad.
Nov	2	♫	Isaac Hayes + Edwin Starr With 20 piece orchestra, 8 piece rhythm section and 3 backup singers.	Adm. £3.50p in advance, £4 on the door.
	2	♫	DJ John James	Adm. £1 Didoz
	3	♫	National Soul Festival Road Show	DJs Greg Edwards, Robbie Vincent & Chris Brown Admission £1.50 8.00pm
	4	♫	Steel Pulse	Adm. £2.50p Ballroom
	9	♫	The Howard Neil Roadshow	Special price Vodka & Russian
	11		Third World Platinum Hook	Adm. £2
	12	♫	California Rollers	Roller skating on a maple floor. Adm. 50p Ballroom
	16	♫	DJ Tony Brennan	Adm. £1 Didoz
	18		Sylvester
	23	♫	Grand opening of Roller Disco	With Radio DJ Peter Powell Adm. £1 including hire of skates
	23	♫	DJ Mark Phillips and his Royal Roadshow	Adm. £1 Didoz
	30	♫	DJ Ding	Adm. £1 Didoz
	30	♫	Roller Disco with DJ Al Burnet	Adm. £1 Ballroom
Dec		♫	Didoz in December Mon - Dates Club Thu - Roadshow Night Fri - Soul and Funk Sat - Disco for everyone Sun - Soul and Funk Club
	5	♫	Generation X plus support (The Cure) Disco by David 'Kid' Jensen	Admission £2 The Cure get kicked from the Generation X Tour after eight performances. Possible reasons for their departure vary from The Cure getting too much attention, to a drunk Lol urinating on Billy Idol's leg
	7	♫	DJ Andy Anderson and his Zodiac Roadshow	Adm. £1 Didoz
	9	♫	Tapper Zukie	Admission £2.50 Ballroom
	14	♫	DJ Tony Brennan	Adm. £1 Didoz with free Snowball and Pina Colada
	20	♫	Grand Christmas Buffet featuring Sonya Montego	Admission £4.50 Didoz
	21	♫	DJ Wally King's Roadshow	Didoz
	23	♫	J.A.L.N Band	Disco with Brother Louie & Kev Steed Admission £2.00 7.30pm
	26	♫	Boxing Night Christmas Party	Disco with Al Burnet in Didoz
	28	♫	DJ John Doulton	Didoz
	31	♫	Hi Tension	Admission £3.00 7.30pm Only 200 people turned up due to the really bad weather that had hit the region. (Gazette)