The incredible voices of Dame Vera Lynn, Josef Locke and Joe Longthorne were adored in Blackpool theatres for a generation

Alphabetically they are Locke, Longthorne and Lynn. But vocalising was their profession.

Joe Longthorne (1957-2019) gets the top spot because he is the only artist to have a Blackpool theatre named after him.

It's the theatre on the resort's North Pier and it was actually the venue of his first Blackpool summer season show, in 1987.

Joe, who came from Hull and settled in Blackpool, was unique in his ability to present a vocal act in the voices of stars as varied as Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey and Neil Diamond, to name but three.

For 30 years he played seasons and concerts at Blackpool's three main theatres - the Opera House, the Grand and the North Pier.

In 2007 he received the Variety Club's Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2012 the MBE in the Birthday Honours List.

Joe died in 2019 after a long battle with cancer and tribute shows by star colleagues, supported by his army of fans, continue this summer.

Long before Joe made his entrance another vocalist attracted similar adoration.

Dame Vera Lynn (1917-2020), to many the most admired singer of her generation, had a 50-year span of Blackpool stage appearances but her first visit was unnoticed.

She was 17 when she was not named as the vocalist with the Billy Cotton Band on a week's variety bill at the old Palace Theatre, in 1934.

It was, perhaps, an audition week and she made her name as a band singer before she became the Forces' Sweetheart in WW2 with songs like We'll Meet Again, The White Cliffs of Dover and Wishing.

Vera's first Blackpool visit as a name was for a week at the old Palace Theatre in August, 1944.

She starred several times at the Palace in the '40s and also did several Sundays at the Opera House before her only Blackpool summer season, at that big theatre, in 1951.

Her last Blackpool stage visits were in concerts at the Grand in 1983 and 84, when The Gazette noted: "Her voice seems to have lost nothing through age."

The Blackpool story of Josef Locke (1917-99) has been well documented on these pages.

Big personality, great voice, lots of dubious pals and a remarkable run of six consecutive summer seasons, 1946-51.

He hopped it back to Ireland ahead of the Inland Revenue, in 1958, but returned to face the music at Blackpool Bankruptcy Court in September, 1967.

Ten weeks later he turned up at the ABC Theatre to sing at the pensioners' Christmas party. His first song was Pack Up Your Troubles (In Your Old Kit Bag).

Two more seasons ensued but a third, in 1970, saw the boyo return to Ireland after a punch-up with his co-star.

Josef's star shone again in the Mayor's Command Performance to mark the resort's centenary, in 1976.

Finally, Blackpool film director Peter Chelsom wrapped up the story in semi-fictional mode in 1992's Hear My Song.

The title, of course, of one of Josef's many hits.