Legendary Liverpool Clubs Of Yesteryear.

[Paul D]

They used to be known as 'Pick up joints' ! .. two other places for 'pick ups' where The Montrose and Pickwicks !

I hated them kind of clubs - real naff !

I went to the Cavern early 70s. Also Erics later on - but only when reggae bands were playing ! Wasn't into anything else - only black music.
There were some great live bands and singers on clubs like The Mardi and the Victoriana. (The likes of Ike & Tina Turner, Wilson Picket, Edwin Star, etc)

We used to go to Soul music clubs and Reggae blues dances

... God, this thread makes me feel old !! ... and I am !!

You must have been a fan of our very own black band "the real thing" then?

[Kev]

Pickwicks on a Tuesday night -

[Howie]

The Gladray (well Gloria was legendary)

[lindylou]

You must have been a fan of our very own black band "the real thing" then?

I remember them when they were starting out and they were playing in the L'pool clubs. Their original name - if I'm not mistaken, was 'Vocal Perfection' .... (or was that the 'Christians' - my memory is getting rusty !! ..
.. yes, It was Vocal Perfection - and the Christians were originally called 'Natural High' )

There were lots of other brilliant singers and bands - sadly never getting a foothold in the music world. There was another L'pool Soul group called 'The Gems' ..
.. and so many more, especially in the 1970s, too many to mention. The local music scene was great up until the late 1980s or thereabouts .. I reckon Karaoke has a lot to answer to !! It more or less killed the local band circuit.
Loads of acts started out doing the local pubs.
I mean - hardly any pubs & clubs hire singers and bands now. It's all Karaoke. UGH !
There was a time when there would be a different variety of live acts on every week. You would look in the Echo to see who was playing where, and what was on at any number of places.

Still, things change I suppose.

[lindylou]

The Gladray (well Gloria was legendary)

oh yeah - The Gladray ... and Gloria !! ( wonder where she is now ! ?? )

[Howie]

oh yeah - The Gladray ... and Gloria !! ( wonder where she is now ! ?? )

I remember she had a book published (quite some years ago) titled 'Nice Girl Like Me'.

[sweetpatooti]

I heard that Gloria sadly passed away - but that could be urban myth - who remembers Dutch Eddies???

[matt]

I used to go to Voodoo at Le Bateaux

Cream at Nation, and also Medication there on a Monday night.

And Planet X on Hanover Street.

Used to go to Macs which was under Waterstones on Bold Street.
Gone now, but probably my ever fave Liverpool club.

[victorialush]

I used to go to Voodoo at Le Bateaux

Cream at Nation, and also Medication there on a Monday night.

And Planet X on Hanover Street.

Used to go to Macs which was under Waterstones on Bold Street.
Gone now, but probably my ever fave Liverpool club.

My uncle worked on the door at Voodoo.... I loved the Sonic nights held at Nation too.... fave ever club, prob the Quad followed by Garlands

[lindylou]

I heard that Gloria sadly passed away - but that could be urban myth - who remembers Dutch Eddies???

Yes, Dutch Eddies. Very small dance floor and tiny stage where the band would play. I always remember the time an over enthusiasic dance partner spun me around too fast and I fell into the band

[victorialush]

Images

[Paul D]

I used to go to Voodoo at Le Bateaux

Cream at Nation, and also Medication there on a Monday night.

And Planet X on Hanover Street.

Used to go to Macs which was under Waterstones on Bold Street.
Gone now, but probably my ever fave Liverpool club.

I went to Planet X once and was freaked out by all the punks and some crazy band they had on there.

[Paul D]

LIVERPOOL ERIC’S
all the best clubs are downstairs,

everyone knows that…

by Paul Whelan & Jaki Florek, published by Feedback due out December 2006.
It will be available in shops and by mail order from www.feedbackmagazine.org.

At last: A great big fat book about Eric’s – starring the people who went there as regulars, worked there, formed bands and played there: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, Wah! Heat, The Spitfire Boys with Budgie on drums and Paul Rutherford on vocals, Pete Burns… and of course Jayne Casey in Big In Japan, whose line up included Bill Drummond, Dave Balfe, Holly Johnson, Ian Broudie, Clive Langer.

Roger Eagle started Eric’s club in Mathew Street with Ken Testi in October 1976, soon joined by Pete Fulwell, but the book goes back in time before Eric’s to include Deaf School, Supercharge, The Liverpool Stadium, and the days of the original Cavern Club…


In 1976 Eric’s regular Pete Wylie was sitting in a café in Mathew Street, making a mug of tea last all afternoon while he fantasised about becoming a rock star…. August 2006 he opened Liverpool’s Mathew Street Festival on the main stage, singing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

It is now Europe’s biggest free festival, with stages across the city of Liverpool attracting crows of 350,000 people. Back in ’76 the festival held in Mathew Street involved a few local bands, a statue of Carl Jung, and a skip full of custard for people to jump into!!

Paul Whelan was too young to have gone to Eric's, but was a big fan of early 80s music. As a teenager, one of his favourite bands was The Teardrop Explodes.

Fast forward to 2000. At a low point in his life, he revisited all the music that had happy memories for him, and started a website. A couple of years later, it was pointed out to him that a lot of those bands were linked to Eric’s club… and what he then heard about Eric’s gave him the idea that a book should be written about it. He started doing taped interviews: anybody, everybody, no-one was safe!

He even got an interview with Mick Hucknall, who played Eric’s with his band Frantic Elevators. Roger Eagle nurtured and encouraged Mick, and crucially put him together with Liverpool bluesman Al Peters, in a band called The Lawnmower.

Eventually, Paul ended up with a big box of taped interviews…


Jaki Florek did go to Eric’s to see the bands, and also played there a few times in her first band. She typed up the tapes, and over the next three years added more interviews, research, and pulled the book together so it almost makes sense...

Having seen 'Bridge Over Muddy Water', published by Feeedback, a collection of stories from Halton musicians going back 70 years, Paul decided his idea for a book about Eric’s was in good hands.

Here at Feedback it was agreed it would be an interesting and worthwhile project to get involved with. Many Widnes and Runcorn folk made a regular pilgrimage to Eric's, and prior to that, The Liverpool Stadium - where Roger Eagle promoted bands before starting the Eric's Club. Meet up again with Paul and Terry from The Fetch, and Clive from The Pond Dwellers!


So many people have been involved in the book, we’ve lost count – Big Thanks are due to everyone who has helped out, especially Alan Peters and Hilary Steele who have provide loads of crucial photographs, and Paul Simpson. And Doreen Allen. And Geoff Davies. And… the list goes on!


Gary Gleavey, who was responsible for the brilliant artwork that made ‘Bridge Over Muddy Water’ more than ‘just a book’ has already started on the arduous task of design and layout, and Awards For All have come up trumps by part-funding the printing of the first run of the book.

We do believe that the heritage of Eric's, Probe Records, and the Matthew Street scene in the 70's rivals that of the now acknowledged heritage of the '60's - The Beatles and The Cavern Club - which was also in Matthew Street!

Email: Erics@feedback.org

[scouserdave]

(more of a pub than a club)
The Moonstone in St John's Precinct was where I first saw Supercharge. The place started to attract black clientele and in those unenlightened early/mid '70s years, it earned the pathetic nickname "Coonstone"

[lindylou]

Yeah, I remember it very well. The Moonstone had some good live bands on.
We always went there to see Supercharge.