TIMES Past readers are great at solving mysteries – but this one is more perplexing than most.

Reader John Macdonald is trying to track down a long-lost friend from his 1960s dancehall days in Glasgow.

His search has taken him from Dennistoun to Jersey and the USA, and even uncovered a tragic tale of a young city singer shot dead on a train.

But despite online searches, countless emails and conversations with archivists and record-keepers aplenty, he has drawn a blank.

Can anyone out there help?

Glasgow Times:

John, who now lives in Canada, wrote to us to ask if we could help him track down a singer and drummer called George.

He said: “George was the lead singer in one of the larger dance halls in Glasgow, close to where we lived in Kinning Park.

“My wife and I loved to go to the dancing, but we cannot remember the name of this particular hall. It was a bus ride away, but not far. We went to the Flamingo, F&F’s, The Plaza - but the name of this one escapes me.

Glasgow Times:

“It was between 1960 and 1962. We got to know George very well – he was smart and a really nice guy. He spoke with a slight stammer.”

John has very little information to go on, but when he left Glasgow for Canada, he lost touch with George and would love to find out where he is now and how his career unfolded.

“He gave us this promotional picture, which was taken at a studio in Renfrew – maybe he lived in that area?” says John. “And I remember he told us a very dramatic story about one of the other singers in the band who was shot and killed.”

Glasgow Times:

A trawl through our archives revealed a story in September 1962 about the murder of a dancehall singer in 1962, a young man called Tommy McBain who was shot and murdered on a train. Tommy sang at the Dennistoun Palais de Danse, where the resident band was Lauri Blandford and his orchestra.

“It seems unbelievable that there would be two singers killed in Glasgow, but the timing of this story doesn’t match up,” says John. “We left Glasgow in January 1962, so George had to have told us the story before then, but this shooting did not take place until many months later. Maybe George was part of the Lauri Blandford band, but my attempts to find out have come to nothing. It is very strange – despite the fame of the Glasgow dancehalls, nothing has been recorded about who the bands and singers were, apart from the very famous ones.

“Why are there so few documented records of the most popular dancehalls, bands and singers when dancing was at its height between 1959 to 1965? After that, many shut down or were converted to shopping centres and skating rinks…

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“I was able to find an advert in one newspaper of Jan 4 1960 for the Flamingo Dancehall which mentioned the band, Ronnie Caryl, by name. All the bands knew each other so I wanted to find this band and traced them moving to Jersey then they disappeared.

“It seems the Glasgow dance band era, which was one of the best in the country, was sadly not considered worth recording.”

Do you know George? Can you help John? Get in touch with Times Past by emailing ann.fotheringham@glasgowtimes.co.uk or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.