IN the autumn of 1980 the Island was in the grip of disco fever…
More than 800 people gathered at Behan’s, West Park, on 11 September for the final of the Channel Islands Disco Dancing Championships.
Whoever won would not only shimmy off with £100 in cash and a Ferguson hi-fi unit, they would go on to compete in the UK final in London and, if successful there, represent Britain against 31 other countries in the global contest run by EMI.
The nine contestants competing for glory that day represented discos in Jersey and Guernsey but for much of the partisan local crowd there could be only one winner – 22-year-old Jimmy MacMahon. The Island resident, originally from Glasgow, was a dancer at Behan’s’ Blimpers disco and had come a close second in 1979. 1980 would surely be his year.
He was up against professional Guernsey dancers Samantha Hughes (19) and Paul Skipton (18) and another Sarnian, Tracey Mellor (18), along with Jersey-based talent Marlon Springer (21) and Cheryl Miles (18), who also danced at Blimpers, Paul “Sir Dancealot” Davis (23) and Mark La Bouchardière, who both danced at the Skyline disco at the Hotel de France and Ronnie “the Red Devil” Watson (24), who was on holiday from Hull.
Their efforts would be judged by a panel featuring reigning world disco dancing champion Julie Brown and John Webster of EMI in London, scrutinised by international dancing judge Wilf Cochrane.
The judges whittled the hopefuls down to five for the second round and, to the delight of the crowd, home favourite Jimmy was through and first back on to dance. But second up was Guernsey’s Samantha and it was clear from her polished, technical performance that hotel porter Jimmy was facing tough competition.
And so it proved. The results were announced in reverse order and in third was Marlon, whose outfit consisted of silver and gold body paint and very little else.
The cheers continued for second-placed dancer Paul Skipton, even though he was from Guernsey. First place was still to be awarded and surely it would go to Jimmy…
When Samantha’s name was called out and the awful truth dawned that not only had their favourite not won but he had not even placed, a large section of the crowd went mad. Boos rang out around the venue as the Guernsey contestant stepped up to collect her trophy and continued – interspersed with shouts of “Jimmy” – while she reprised her winning routine. The booing could still be heard as ever-smiling host brought proceedings to a close for the TV cameras.
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Did you take part in this contest? We’d love to track down Jimmy, Marlon, Paul “Sir Dancealot” Davis, Samantha and the other dancers. Please email news@jerseyeveningpost.com or call our newsdesk on 01534 611640 or 611865.
