The author explores the Irish showbands. He includes stories of the ballrooms of romance, the Royal, the Miami, the Melody Aces, the Freshmen, the Clipper Carlton and the Cadets. The heyday of the showbands was from 1961-66, although the stirrings of the popular music movement can be dated back as the early 1950s, but by the early 1970s, the showband era was in decline. This book opens a window on a period in Irish life, when showbands epitomized glamour and generated the kind of hysteria that is now, in the 21st century, reserved for international superstars like Madonna. It is also a social history of the period when the showbands were in their heyday. The ballrooms and the showbands that were their main attraction played an important role in the social life of rural and small-town Ireland at a time when there were few alternative venues for young people to meet and enjoy themselves. The book evokes nostalgia for the excitement, the euphoria and the innocence of these ballroom days.