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Birmingham Nightclubs of the Past - Memories

  • Thread starter Thread starter mazbeth
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The West End was the best dance floor in the Midlands, it had a spring to it. We Mods loved it for the crazy dances that we had come up with or copied off Ready Steady Go.
Yes Terence. The old West End was the best dance floor due to the massive springs underneath. My late farther helped demolish it & took me up there when the dance floor was ripped out. I was shocked to see the size of those springs.
 
I am a new member and have been reading this thread. maybe I am a lot older than most of you, but I remember the Bermuda in Navigtion Street. I worked there for Eddie and Frank Fewtrell in 1960/61. I was off the night of a raids and turned up the next day to find a new door being fitted because the police had attacked the other with an axe. There was a gambling room upstairs.
I also recall another illegal club , the Key Club. It was behind and above a coffee bar near the Hippodrome. I used to go to the Moat House in 1962, I saw Gerry and the Pacemakers there. Regulars were Aston Villa and Birmingham footballers, Johnny Prescott and Eddie Fewtrell. Eddie often bought me a bowl of scampi - delicious. There were also a few musicians who had just finished work at the Locarno. The Locarno singer who died in a car accident was Mavis - can't recall her last name.
Love the stories, Dilly. Thanks
 
Stories are great . Love the membership card and the address on it. Does anyone have any memories of clubs that had membership cards. I had a Bloomers membership card from the mid 70s and a Faces night club car sticker. Happy times.
Yes, most places had membership cards in the late 60's, even some of the pub venues - I had one from the Bulls Head on the Coventry Road.
I'm not sure but I think it might have been a requirement back in those days?
 
I don't remember the name of the club. At the bottom of Broad Street, but I certainly remember Cryer, whose set ended with fireworks exploding a polystyrene head which blazed until the fire was put out. About 1980 as they had a single out.
https://nwobhm.com/cryer/
There was the Rum Runner , Chaplins , Peppermint Place, Faces , Barbarellas closed in 1979 so thats one off the list.
 
Bands often play live before they record. I think Barbarellas in 1979 is possible. The club was on the Bingley Hall side.
I think so back in the day! Today, at.least in Nashville which is country & pop many bands and singers record digitally for promotional purposes. I have a former colleague who is a Six Sigma Black Belt on music row. The sounds can be digitally adjusted to suit the venue without anyone playing anything! Apparently this makes it easier and better for everyone.
 
In those days it was jokingly known as bumfluff.
One word and here comes a memory flood of teasing and counter teasing amongst mates. Thanks for that.

Julie hates me to have any sort of facial hair, so I have never really got past the bumfluff stage.

At the very beginning of my career, I was visiting a company that made die cast medals and other bits out of 'monkey metal'. They were close to the city centre, the name Dynacast comes to mind but maybe a faulty memory. Very close by was a club that I popped into at lunchtime. That was an eye opener. Sign in (false name), Date of Birth (random number) and an ink stamp on the back of the hand. Drinks at an eye watering price. It must have been hot in there judging by what the girls were(n't) wearing. Oh to be young.

Andrew.
 
One word and here comes a memory flood of teasing and counter teasing amongst mates. Thanks for that.

Julie hates me to have any sort of facial hair, so I have never really got past the bumfluff stage.

At the very beginning of my career, I was visiting a company that made die cast medals and other bits out of 'monkey metal'. They were close to the city centre, the name Dynacast comes to mind but maybe a faulty memory. Very close by was a club that I popped into at lunchtime. That was an eye opener. Sign in (false name), Date of Birth (random number) and an ink stamp on the back of the hand. Drinks at an eye watering price. It must have been hot in there judging by what the girls were(n't) wearing. Oh to be young.

Andrew.
Yes Oh to be young again my sentiments exactly . But sounds like your memory and recall are bang on . The Dolls Club springs to mind i might be way out. Great times would not change them.
 
One word and here comes a memory flood of teasing and counter teasing amongst mates. Thanks for that.

Julie hates me to have any sort of facial hair, so I have never really got past the bumfluff stage.

At the very beginning of my career, I was visiting a company that made die cast medals and other bits out of 'monkey metal'. They were close to the city centre, the name Dynacast comes to mind but maybe a faulty memory. Very close by was a club that I popped into at lunchtime. That was an eye opener. Sign in (false name), Date of Birth (random number) and an ink stamp on the back of the hand. Drinks at an eye watering price. It must have been hot in there judging by what the girls were(n't) wearing. Oh to be young.

Andrew.
Andrew, at least we had that experience/fantasy!
 
One word and here comes a memory flood of teasing and counter teasing amongst mates. Thanks for that.

Julie hates me to have any sort of facial hair, so I have never really got past the bumfluff stage.

At the very beginning of my career, I was visiting a company that made die cast medals and other bits out of 'monkey metal'. They were close to the city centre, the name Dynacast comes to mind but maybe a faulty memory. Very close by was a club that I popped into at lunchtime. That was an eye opener. Sign in (false name), Date of Birth (random number) and an ink stamp on the back of the hand. Drinks at an eye watering price. It must have been hot in there judging by what the girls were(n't) wearing. Oh to be young.

Andrew.
Don't think it was the Dolls Club but probably The Hot Spot off Holloway Head... was called the Odd Spot before it became a strip club with hostess's
 
Bands often play live before they record. I think Barbarellas in 1979 is possible. The club was on the Bingley Hall side.
I frequented the Rum Runner, Rebeccas and Barbarellas in the early '70s. The RR casino entrance was down at the left side of the alley. You had to look back to see it from the club entrance. I never did go into the Casino, but shuffled around on the dance floor, leaned up the pillars and made many new friends there. I should still have a Rum Runner card in my memorabilia (stuff shoved in a box somewhere, never to be found when searched for). I am pretty sure that it has a black footprint on it. No, I'm on a quest!

My friend (wife's cousin) Derek (RIP) and I used to escort his girfriend Anna (RIP) into Barbarellas, where she worked behind the upper bar up beyond the dance floor. We spent may hours there drinking and on the crowded dance floor strutting some pretty embarrassing moves in a "sartorial nightmare" of clothes that I wouldn't be seen dead in today!

We saw many big name groups play. One of the most memorable and completely different to the mainstream acts of the day, was the Drifters. They put on a great show with a drum solo during the act lasting several minutes while the performers took an off stage break. I still can't get "down at the boardwalk out of my head"! Immediate visions of those nights at Barbarellas spring to mind, the moment I hear that tune.

One evening as Dek and I were entering Barbarellas, a ruckus broke out with two bouncers just inside the front entrance, Barry and ?, who were outnumbered. Other club goers were just walking past into the club, but we stepped to assist with the ejection of the undesirables. We were never allowed to pay for anything again after that night.

In '73-'74 I worked on vehicles by day and for Star Taxi in York Road Erdington by night, so frequenting all of the pubs and clubs around Brum was the norm. I have no idea what fares would be today, but private hire car far from Erdington into town was £1 for the approximate 4.6 mile trip up the Aston Expressway and it was pretty lucrative going back and forth after the pubs closed and the clubs filled up and closed again. We also encountered the IRA bombings in the city, which were scary times for all.

Politically incorrect in these times, but perhaps the only way to describe one very well-known character, known as "Barry the Queer", who hung out on Broad street. If you frequented "town" in those days, you will most certainly remember Barry as being flamboyant and larger than life, in times where society wasn't at all accepting.

So, for those of us who grew up and became adults during those times, there were many firsts as dare I say, "trendsetters" much to the disdain of our parents from their more staid old ways. To their defence, they had missed out on a chunk of life due to WWII interrupting their young adulthood antics. If the kids today think that they are doing something new, they would do well to use their cell phones to search and check where it happened first and the dates.

Despite having immigrated to Canada back in late '74 and having traveled across many countries, the most fun that I ever had was in those days as a young adult in Birmingham and I do use the term "adult" rather loosely, because there are accounts for many antics of those times, that I am bound never to post anywhere!
 
I frequented the Rum Runner, Rebeccas and Barbarellas in the early '70s. The RR casino entrance was down at the left side of the alley. You had to look back to see it from the club entrance. I never did go into the Casino, but shuffled around on the dance floor, leaned up the pillars and made many new friends there. I should still have a Rum Runner card in my memorabilia (stuff shoved in a box somewhere, never to be found when searched for). I am pretty sure that it has a black footprint on it. No, I'm on a quest!

My friend (wife's cousin) Derek (RIP) and I used to escort his girfriend Anna (RIP) into Barbarellas, where she worked behind the upper bar up beyond the dance floor. We spent may hours there drinking and on the crowded dance floor strutting some pretty embarrassing moves in a "sartorial nightmare" of clothes that I wouldn't be seen dead in today!

We saw many big name groups play. One of the most memorable and completely different to the mainstream acts of the day, was the Drifters. They put on a great show with a drum solo during the act lasting several minutes while the performers took an off stage break. I still can't get "down at the boardwalk out of my head"! Immediate visions of those nights at Barbarellas spring to mind, the moment I hear that tune.

One evening as Dek and I were entering Barbarellas, a ruckus broke out with two bouncers just inside the front entrance, Barry and ?, who were outnumbered. Other club goers were just walking past into the club, but we stepped to assist with the ejection of the undesirables. We were never allowed to pay for anything again after that night.

In '73-'74 I worked on vehicles by day and for Star Taxi in York Road Erdington by night, so frequenting all of the pubs and clubs around Brum was the norm. I have no idea what fares would be today, but private hire car far from Erdington into town was £1 for the approximate 4.6 mile trip up the Aston Expressway and it was pretty lucrative going back and forth after the pubs closed and the clubs filled up and closed again. We also encountered the IRA bombings in the city, which were scary times for all.

Politically incorrect in these times, but perhaps the only way to describe one very well-known character, known as "Barry the Queer", who hung out on Broad street. If you frequented "town" in those days, you will most certainly remember Barry as being flamboyant and larger than life, in times where society wasn't at all accepting.

So, for those of us who grew up and became adults during those times, there were many firsts as dare I say, "trendsetters" much to the disdain of our parents from their more staid old ways. To their defence, they had missed out on a chunk of life due to WWII interrupting their young adulthood antics. If the kids today think that they are doing something new, they would do well to use their cell phones to search and check where it happened first and the dates.

Despite having immigrated to Canada back in late '74 and having traveled across many countries, the most fun that I ever had was in those days as a young adult in Birmingham and I do use the term "adult" rather loosely, because there are accounts for many antics of those times, that I am bound never to post anywhere!
Martin, that's a wonderful story/montage! Not sure if it should be a Carry On movie or a social workers training documentary.
Thank you for that. :cool:
 
Great memories well told. Nice to have our memories jogged to our younger days and these forums can put a smile on your face.
I only wish my body was as good as my memories! While I love where I am with my family but yearn to visit a5 least one more time. Beer by the pint, cheddar cheese and the wonderful countryside. I want take my wife and show her what I remember! Our daughter a lawyer just spent a week 8n London and except for the train strike replayed everything over and over.
Thanks for the memories!
 
Martin, that's a wonderful story/montage! Not sure if it should be a Carry On movie or a social workers training documentary.
Thank you for that. :cool:
LOL Richard. Yeah, life was like that in the late '60s to early '70s. "Free as a bird" and being a confirmed bachelor was my motto. Not a care in the world.

Then, I fell in love with a local gal I never knew before, whose family had immigrated here during the '60s and I immigrated to be with her. She "tamed the beast" and still pushes all the right buttons 48 years later!

It's quite satisfying when someone posts in the forums and it rings a bell on fond memories of yore!
 
LOL Richard. Yeah, life was like that in the late '60s to early '70s. "Free as a bird" and being a confirmed bachelor was my motto. Not a care in the world.

Then, I fell in love with a local gal I never knew before, whose family had immigrated here during the '60s and I immigrated to be with her. She "tamed the beast" and still pushes all the right buttons 48 years later!

It's quite satisfying when someone posts in the forums and it rings a bell on fond memories of yore!
Yes congrats of 48 years together. Sometimes one persons recollection starts the ball rolling long may it continue.
 
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