Residents from a Birmingham suburb are planning to turn its pavements into a glitzy Walk of Fame to rival Broad Street’s.
Ken Whittaker and his supporters are to insert star-shaped plaques celebrating a host of great showbiz names and singers at the site of the old Ritz Ballroom, in York Road, Kings Heath.
An array of stars including The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Helen Shapiro, Gene Vincent, the Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin, Cliff Richard, The Kinks and Pink Floyd, all played at the Ritz Ballroom and nightclub back in the 1960s.
The club was owned by Joe and Mary Regan and closed in the 1970s. The building is now a Cash Converters.
Mr Whittaker, a retired horticulturist, aged 68, and his colleague Bob Prew, wanted to share the Ritz’s heritage and asked shopkeepers for their permission to insert the plaques, made from perspex covered in clear resin, just outside their premises.
They plan to put in a dozen names and hope to increase this number to 20 over the years. Mr Whittaker is also asking people to send in their memories for a Hall of Memories, which will also be located on York Road.
He said: “The idea came out during a conversation between us. We realised how much music heritage Kings Heath has got and it snowballed.
“It’s just amazing who has appeared there, The Beatles, The Kinks and so on.
“We have got 12 names although we would like to put in 20 providing we get more information. It will be better than Broad Street’s.
“We are hoping that lots of readers will have photographs, memorabilia and memories from their visits to The Ritz and that they would like to share those with others, in the Hall of Memories that will also be on York Road.
"We are hoping that there will be lots of ‘oh I met my husband or wife there’, or ‘I had my birthday there’.”
The residents are planning to insert the plaques in June.
* If you can help, contact Mr Whittaker on tkwexpuk@hotmail.co.uk
