There was a time when every dance hall up and down the country had a resident band and in Scotland one of the best known was The Andy Ross Orchestra, formed in 1962 just as the Merseybeat boom changed the face of music for ever.
A classically trained pianist Andy Ross had spent some time in a local group The Kimbos before becoming the leader of the resident band at The Raith Ballroom in Kirkaldy where they played three nights a week and supported the visiting headline acts.
They also played at The Carlton in Kirkaldy 1963 as support to The Beatles at a gig that had been originally scheduled for The Raith Ballroom, but The Beatles manager Brian Epstein had just made a ruling that the group should only appear in theatres so the show was moved to the bigger venue. 1,500 kids packaged out the venue for each of the two shows.
By 1967 Andy had moved south, along with most of the thirteen strong members of the band, to take up a residency at The Locarno in Birmingham. There he developed the James Last-style of medleys which was so popular he was soon moved to London to lead the house band at The Lyceum in The Strand.
It was then that Andy and his band became part of the BBC TV “Come Dancing” show, eventually retiring after thirty years as Music Director of the show.
In the 1970s Andy recorded for CBS and President.
