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Birmingham Nightclubs of the Past - Memories

I worked for black & white taxis and spent a bit of time in the Jug & Alberts wine bar:)

Was Black and White Taxis run by Pete Hurst, originally Kim Cabs ? I worked with Pete a Keith in the late sixties then moved to Z cars in Aston (owners name was Danny). If it was Pete he had a fleet of almost new Vauxhall 101's all sprayed Black and White.
 
Anybody else remember the no hats rule at Barbarellas ?

Nobody, and I mean nobody could get in with a hat, even if it was raining and they took it off at the door.

I didnt often queue to get in there, but I saw people turned away before they even got to the door.

Wonder what that was all about. Red green & gold tea cosies ?
 
Interesting - I don't ever remember that rule but then I don't think anyone I knew wore a hat then so I suppose I wouldn't have noticed.
 
Was a rule there in the 70s.

Dont think it was really anything to do woth the rasta's wooly hats though, there was a Reggae room in there as well as the cabaret and rock rooms.
 
Bit before my time ,was there early 80's & the owners name evades me .I also worked for Bee line & Falcon..Charlie.. ? was the owner of falcon
 
Fantastic pic Stitcher, Jonny Moore RIP was Mr Drifter to me, i saw them a few times at The Night Out. Max
 
I posted a long time back that some of them called occasionally at our house.
 
Re: Birmingham Nighclubs of the Past- Memories

What about sloopys and rebeccas millionaires and romeo and juliets but you really cant beat the old locarno and the gay tower ballroom ha ha good old days
 
Hi katy;
yes it was in the latter years before the big fold of the tower
it became the gay meeting place ; before it closed down for good
but before that it was a clipp joint ; or if you like ,it became a meat market
for picking up ladies , mind you i have been there myself doing the excact thing
dancing ;and drinking and walking away with a little charmermer on my arm
at the end of the night, astonion ;;
 
HI MAX ;
Hope you are well as i myself is ; ?.
yes tha is a thought now ; but we are going back quite afew years now since that time
i knew it had reopenend as i know liam personaly and the family
on that night in the occasion i took a close friend with me whom had only heard of the tower
but never had been .so when i took him that evening he was taken back in more ways than one
and we made a hit with two ladies from tamworth whom was going through a divorce ;as we were
to beleive they was in the legal proffession ,
my friend was going through a rough time with his marriage and he was a good worker never unemployed
and worked at the mem in tysley ; he had a good manager whom he was over him ;
and he knew the situtaion he was in
but getting back on track he did score with this pretty lady ; her friend whom i walked off with was just an
evening affair wine dance and the evening meal but my friend she made arrangements
to come from tamworth to pick him up from work andtake him to tamworth to her home
they got on like an house on fire but sadly after a six months affair he died of cancer
as i was already got a girl and whom have known from child hood and marrid for the last forty years
have not or would consider straying off on that track again and we have three grown up kids and grand kids
but like yousaid in a question i wonder if she still goes there
but as i have said she was a truly proffessional person in the legal system , but as katyboo said
and mentioned there was alot of the local guys and gals from the area in those days
we all knew each other or was friends of some-one
and its true many years before close down it became a gays paadise , just like the talk f the town did
at hollow way head did way back then this i know for a fact as of my involment
of running pubs and clubs for years of yester day ;
did youknow they used to call public toilets ; cottage homes for gays around birmingham
before it became legal and brought out of the cubbard so to speak ;
i have nothink about problems with gays by the way i have lots of friends whom are gay and for many years known them in fact three weeks ago a long life friend of mind held and got a gay cermony at birmingham registrary
office three weeks ago his mother and father was both involved in the birmingh thearter
his mother was a stage dancer along with my mother and grand motherthere and his father was the chief electrician from boy to man until he died
so yes its a great place now liam as done wonders for him self the boy from rag to riches from small heath
and built a empire ;
max it was nice to hear fom you again ;have a nice day best wishes astonion ;;
 
yes, I know I went to the Cedar Club....I can't remember where it was (is?) though...

- oh yes, Sue...thanks for the reminder...went there quite a bit...it was a sort of 'progression' after the Locarno for some reason (maybe the crowd were older there...can't remember)

yes, went there...again...can't remember where it was

that's the name I was trying to think of...near where Bingley Hall was?

It's not B'ham, but we used to go to King's nightclub in West Brom. too...
saw Frankie Vaughn there on my 21st 8)


yes, I had a boyfriend (lived in Aston) in the 70's who knew him, and the family, too, I think...

the cedar club was at the bottom of constitution hill by the hen and chickens pub as you approached snow hill
 
i apologise i yhink i put my post reply in wrong box der ! as tou came down constitution hill from hoclkley fly over the cedar club was on the left hand side before you approached snow hill and was at the red palace building bt the hen and chickens pub
 
i apologise i yhink i put my post reply in wrong box der ! as tou came down constitution hill from hoclkley fly over the cedar club was on the left hand side before you approached snow hill and was at the red palace building bt the hen and chickens pub

The Cedar was further up the road Katyboo, the red palace/building was The Surfside Stop, it was an all nighter in the 60s, i was only 15 years old in 65/66 and would look in envy at the older people who could afford to go into The Cedar.Mind you the Surfside had its moments. Max
 
clubs i used to go to in the '70s/80s were:the cedar club, club tropicanas,peppermint place,rebbecas,rum runners,and a couple of others in birmingham town. In handsworth was the monte carlos,the f.c.f club where my dad Fanco worked,and there was one facing the f.c.f that i used to frequent but cant remember the name of
 
Shazzzaaaa what does f.c.f stand for....and yes my avatar is me playing my late brothers guitar it is a ''Zakk Wylde Eyeball''


Mau-reeeeeeecccccceeeeee
 
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Sorry Mos i can't rightly remember what F.C.F stands for but it was like a members club and it was mainly frequented by black people but there was also other nationalities that went in.
 
I had many a late night drink at the Monte Carlo, back in my nightclub days.
I also used to go to the FCF and The Rialto club (previously the Santa Rosa). All the clubs were along Soho Hill/Soho Road.
By the way, FCF stood for Faith and Confidence Finance Ltd - it was the initials of the company that owned it.
It opened in 1971, you had to be nominated by a couple of members before you could join, membership was £2.00 for the year!
Great atmosphere, great music, good times...
My favourite club though was Rebecca's in the town centre.
 
they were good times Angela.Remember paying a pound to get in the Monte and that also included chicken and chips in a basket.
 
my favourite was the powerhouse(the lacarno) but there was also millionaires, pagoda park plus all the pubs and this was in the late eighties
 
Hi Shazza,
Yes, I remember the chicken and chips - a meal in a basket - it was considered quite fancy then.
We often used to go over there after we had been into town for a few drinks.
I think I only earned about £10 per week back then so a pound sounds reasonable!
 
my favourite was the powerhouse(the lacarno) but there was also millionaires, pagoda park plus all the pubs and this was in the late eighties

What about that club situated under railway arches? Was it called the Zoo club? Where the heck was that? Exact locations of night clubs after many drinks and many years is always gonna be a challenge. Was it owned by Andy Gray?
 
THE Club across the road from the montee was the continental club and it was a basement club
for west indians and mixture which played only west indian and reggae music only
right through till 6 in the morning i spent many a nights in there after doing the boozer run from spring hill down to
hockley and up to west brom ; and then we would go into the conti ; around twelve and be there till six ;
there was three of us names i will not mention we had a good skin full but out of the three of us i was in the worst state so i ended up sipping aq barly wine until six and get my self sober and then straight into work for 7- 30
at avery scales where i worked long side my uncle bill smart in the electro plating department
and after tat hard days work sniffing acids i was ready for another session
when you went to the contii you went down the steps and banged on the big iron door with a huge knocker and a little iron window would open and they would heck whom you as and and charge you a big five pound note to get in
i said a huge five pound note ecause in those days the fiver note was huge
keep on dancing girls ; astonion ;;;
 
The club up constitution hill,was called the holy city zoo.Run by ex villa players i beleive.I went to the opening night,opened by a Sun page 3 model,you can imagine what was being shouted,anyway,we all got clattered for next to nothing,buy one drink,get four free!!!Those were the days.
 
Oh, the days of going to work on a Friday, dashing home to change and then hopping back on the bus to town.
Meet with a mate about 8ish, into a pub or two, or three, then on to a nightclub - maybe Rebecca's - about 11 o'clock.
After that, over to Handsworth or Small Heath to a late-night drinking club, somewhere dark and noisy. Bit of a dance, bit of food, few more drinks...
Home for about 5 or 6 am, then a Saturday lie-in, and ready to do it all again Saturday night.
Fantastic!!
Wish I'd got half the energy now!
 
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