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Johnny Coleclough (1933-2020), Blackpool - UKby Rob Howard |
Veteran accordion entertainer Johnny Coleclough (picture left) passed away on October 7th in Blackpool, Lancashire, at the age of 87. Johnny played the accordion from a young age and often joked that during the Blitz in WW2 others would leave the air raid shelters, preferring to listen to the bombs dropping to his accordion playing! He went on to play in bands, and eventually became a solo entertainer using electronic accordions and also singing. In the 1970s Johnny Coleclough was resident at Blackpool Tower, performed in holiday resorts in Spain, and in the 1980s and 90s was resident at the Piccadilly Bierkeller in Manchester. He also played accordion as a dep in concerts with Mantovani and Count Basie, and later played Tyros keyboards in social clubs. A popular and charismatic figure at accordion festivals in England during the 1980s and 1990s, Johnny ran buskers and stage presentation workshops, and also did compering. He performed at several accordion clubs, and was the President of Stockport Accordion Club from 1996 to 2011, after which he and his family moved to Catalonia, Spain. Picture below left to right: Dermot O'Brien, Gary Blair and Johnny Coleclough. |