Veteran still has the spark to conduct the band

At 87, Wally MacKenzie is the oldest dance orchestra leader for miles around. But neither he nor his team of pensioner players are ready to throw in the towel just yet. Geoff Wood caught up with the Mossley maestro . . .

THE great dances of the 1940s and 50s thrilled a generation. At the core of it was the band, smartly attired and note-perfect.

Dance orchestras are still on the go — but only just, as venues jib at the cost of employing a dozen or more performers at a time.

Oldham is fortunate in that it still hosts a traditional dance orchestra, headed by the diminutive but irrepressible Wally MacKenzie. At 87, Wally is the oldest dance orchestra leader for miles around.

And Oldhamers can see Wally and the band in action this Sunday when they play before the big Christmas lights switch-on beside the war memorial in Oldham town centre.

But there’s more to come. The orchestra will star at a blue ball at the civic hall, Uppermill, on November 21 and at a civic ball at the same venue on January 29, 2009.

But Wally, who lives in Stockport Road, Mossley, and stands 4ft 71/2ins in his stocking feet, admits that demand has dropped sharply for full scale dance orchestras.

He said: “We are the last of the traditional dance orchestras in Oldham. These days we get fewer than one booking a month.”

Strains of “In the Mood” from the music of Glenn Miller would never be the same without a proper orchestra.

But there were days of big hits for Wally and his band. For 10 years they were the resident orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

And for 10 years before that, Wally was musical director with his orchestra at Belle Vue. He even remembers a certain fledgling Jimmy Savile.

There are many more household names with whom Wally has worked. There was Harry Secombe and Gracie Fields. While Ken Dodd is still an old time friend.

Originally a drummer, Wally first went on stage as a professional musician in 1935. Then there was war service.

He worked as a cook but was involved in the Normandy landings of 1944. In the weeks leading up to Remembrance Sunday, Wally was out selling poppies and later laid a wreath on the memorial in Mossley town centre.

Most people might think a well-earned retirement was now the order of the day. But Wally doesn’t see it that way.

He said: “I still enjoy what I do so I hope to go on for some time yet. It is a pity, though, that there is not quite the same level of interest in the music.”

Wally says he has made countless friends through his music and that his son and daughter followed in his footsteps for a while before pursuing other careers.

He certainly doesn’t sound like a man ready to hang up his baton — at least not anytime soon.