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Leeds man invents Rock and Roll Bingo
A Leeds man has come up with a new version of the retro classic – Rock and Roll Bingo.
Instead of listening to a caller shouting out bingo nicknames such as "legs eleven" and "two fat ladies", players get to listen to clips of classic tunes and mark off song titles and artists on their cards, instead of numbers.
Mark Walsh, of Morley, has even struck up a deal with bingo giants Mecca which will see his musical game played by hundreds in its Nottingham bingo hall next month – and potentially rolled out to its venues around the UK.
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Mr Walsh, 31, said: "We thought we had something and we thought it would take off but now we're just over the moon.
"We just started playing it in a few places and it just went through the roof."
Like many innovative business ventures, it was conceived over a pint and scribbled on a beer mat.
Mr Walsh was inspired by the fun of the pub quiz but wanted to devise a game with an element of luck to make it more accessible.
A self-confessed "music geek" with family who are keen bingo players, he simply merged the two.
Just like traditional bingo, each player has a card and a dabber – except the card has band names and songs on.
Short clips of pop songs are played from a 90-track CD – ranging from Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice, to Prince Charming by Adam and the Ants, and Ruby by Kaiser Chiefs – and players who have that song and artist on their card simply cross it off as they would in normal bingo.
Just like the age-old game, winners are those with the first complete line and the first full house.
Mr Walsh tried out the concept at his local, JD Sports Bar in Morley, and it was such a hit it is now played there every Thursday.
He then embarked on a test run in September, touring universities around the country and seeing his game played by more than 50,000 people. The next stage is to get the game into other pubs around Leeds.
Mr Walsh, who runs Mark Walsh PR and Marketing, Morley, said he was also in talks about turning it into a game that could be played at home, as well as producing an online version and possibly adapting it for TV.
Two Rock and Roll Bingo sessions are being held at Chilli White, Leeds, on Thursday April 30, starting at 8pm.
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
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