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The Moat House Club

ethanedwards

Brummie Muso
The Moat House Club

Moat Lane, Birmingham


The Moat House was a club,
that was very important to the development of Brum Beat in the 60's.
In June of 1963, Cliff Richard & Shadows producer
Norrie Paramour came up to Birmingham
to audition local beat groups at the Moat House Club in the Bull Ring.
Of the 13 bands that had been recommended,
five of them were signed-up by Paramour to the Columbia Records label.
Amongst them were previously mentioned.
Carl Barron and The Cheetahs.
Mike Sheridan & The Nightriders,
Keith Powell and The Valets,
were two others.

Also a significant part in the history of The Moody Blues
From Brum Beat
A chance meeting with Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder at the Moat House Club resulted in the formation of a new group, although Danny King had by this time lost interest. A plan was put in place to gain sponsorship from the Mitchells & Butlers brewery, so the name M&B Five was adopted, but the company was not interested so the initials were adapted to represent "Moody" and "Blues
Unfortunately, little or no images remain of this club,
but below are some wonderful recollections from,
members of the Birmingham History Forum

Lencops
The Moat House, Moat Lane almost opposite the outdoor market, was run by Rob Pryke of Banana fame and was at the top of a very steep wooden staircase the width of 1 person if you looked dodgy, drunk etc no way would you be admitted, i saw the M&B`circa 1964/5 s later to be named The Moody Blues, i was`nt impressed but Rob was sure that they would become very good, was i wrong YES!. Len.
Lencops
Sorry no photos you did not carry cameras they were to big, not like the digital ones of now, we would go there after dancing else were and the bar closed, i saw other groups Denny Laine & The Diplomats, ? & The Pirates and others i can`t remember, it was always wall 2 wall with clubbers, beer price was reasonable you could have 2 pint jug to share with your friends, gambling went on in a back room illegal of course, i saw obvious bookies from the dog track racing on a Sat night pull out rolls of banknotes big enough to choke a horse!, Rob had a 2 am bar licence unless you got locked in, ooOPs! very pleased, any trouble was soon snuffed out nobody wanted to end up at the bottom of the stairs in a heap, the decoration was pop posters and beer adverts stuck on the walls, i will try and remember more but it was 46 yrs ago + or - a year or 2, hope a senior citizens memories are of help to you. Len.
Judy39
Len, I also used to go to the Moat House Club in Moat Lane, and remember very well the steep staircase up to it. I particularly remember this as my sister tripped up the stairs one night and landed in an embarrassing position. I still remind her of it to this day!
Stircher
I have never been a card player but was paid good dough to look after a man who plyed Chemi De Fer in The Moathouse twice a week. He played Blackjack in the Rainbow on another two night per week.
Judy39
I used to go to the Moat House around 1962.
I can't remember what music was being played,
or who was playing there, but it was often live music,
but just enjoyed the club. Used to go on there from other places,
often after the Locarno had finished.
We used to meet up with many pals there,
often players from Aston Villa and Birmingham City Football Clubs
who we knew well.
It was the 'In Place' to be in those days.
Thanks particularly,
Bob Summers, Lencops, Judy39 and Stircher,
for their invaluable memories
 
The Moat House was my first 'up town with grown-ups' experience at 17. One of us had a ticket, he would go upstairs and throw same out of toilet window to waiting idiot outside downstairs. Well it worked for a while...

Saw Denny Laine and the Diplomats...what an experience for a young aspiring Teddy Boy.
 
Hi to all who are reading this post . My name is John Stone born at number 3 back of 213 great king street Birmingham on June 25th 1950 . I remember the Moat house club because my dad worked there for a few years on fri sat and sun night as a cloak room attendant . I used to go there to help him as I found it a very exciting atmosphere to be in , rather than playing in the streets with my mates (I did that in the week) . Im sure it was actually called Ye old moat house club though ? . I eventually got a job in the kitchens doing general stuff like making the French fried onions etc , but became very proficient as a 13 year old cook . The head waiters name was John and an Irish lady who was a waitress was called Alma . The head chef was named Stanley Smailtice (unusual sir name) who I remember lived in wordsworth rd , small heath . It was owned by rob pryke (the banana king) who trait was to wear a bowler hat and a carnation in his buttonhole . I could talk extensively about my days there as a teenager and I guess doing the amount of hours there would be frowned upon these days , but they were the happiest days of my life . I remember seeing the rotunda gradually growing out of the ground as we walked to bull street to catch the bus back to 166 Anglesly street, hockley in the early hours of the morning . I bet ..... in fact im confident that im the only living person who actually remembers the phone number of the club It was Victoria 2176 , but you just dialled V.I.C 2176 . the reason I remember is because I was there one Saturday afternoon doing preparation work and had the occasion to be in the main club area . I was in the bar when the phone rang , and I was asked to answer it . I did so by saying V.I.C 2176 instead if saying Victoria 2176 . That memory has stayed with me to this very day . this message was posted on 9th jan 2017 .
 
Thanks for posting John. Very interesting to hear your memories of the club from 'behind the scenes'! So please feel free to tell us more if you want to. Viv.
 
Thank you for noticing my thread Viv , I have no way of knowing if anyone read it . A spin off from working as a lad in the kitchens of Ye old moat house club in the 60's , was that rob pryke and his family (his sons being robin and Christopher) lived in fulford hall Earswood , and he used to put on a large jazz festival every year in his grounds . I went there the one year with one of the chefs who's name was dave doke , we both ran the hot dog stall , that was a fabulous thing for me to do , considering living in Anglesley st Hockley , I never saw a blade of grass, so being catapulted into that environment was out of this word to me . I remember seeing a local news report many years later (when I was married) on ITV or BBC, showing one of his sons patrolling the grounds with a shotgun under his arm in the grounds of fulford hall in preparation for another festival , clearly , the jazz festival was still alive and kicking all them years later . I was 13/14 at the time that I went there and I saw the report roughly in the 80's so I was mid 30's then . I said in my last post , that anyone wanting to contact me is free to do so on my email , which is ..... [email protected] . I will happily share mine and your memories about the moat house or harry lucas school and hockley in general . Hope I haven't given you all an ear bashing !
 
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