The Russell Club

[aidanorourke]

Ah yes, The Skids - 'Into the Valley' - a real Scottish rock sounds. More here: The Skids - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

I only went to the Russell Club a few times as I was only in Manchester during my vacation periods from Trinity College Dublin.

Here are a few more venues and clubs, famous and infamous, that I went to in the latter part of the 1970s:

The Ranch - This was a small sectioned off part of Foo Foo's Palace, on Dale Street, round the corner from Piccadilly. The Ranch was Manchester's first punk rock club. It was a rough place, and I got punched in the face more than once there.

It was non-stop cutting edge punk records played at a deafening volume until 2am every night. The toilets were absolutely disgusting. There were 'punkettes' in their fish net stockings, big hair, heavy make-up a la Siouxsie Sioux and ripped shirts.

The Electric Circus - This was a former cinema in Collyhurst that was used as a music venue for a short period until it was demolished. I made the trek up Rochdale Rd for the last night of the Electric Circus, and bought the 10 inch LP with sleeve notes by Paul Morley. Don't know what happened to it.

These venues were a world away from the Golden Garter, which although I never went there, I knew was the epitome of... as mentioned above... cheesy cabaret acts on a Saturday night.

There was another place you ended up in rather than consciously chose to go to - that was the Continental Club or 'Conteh' off Princess Street. The admission and beer prices were cheap and there were lots of nurses there. I didn't like it but the 'lads' I was out with made a habit of going there.

The Wigan Casino - If only I had had the opportunity to go there. It was a legend in its own time and still is today. There is a commemorative display at the new shopping centre in Wigan. Northern Soul still captures the atmosphere of Manchester and northern England from the mid-60s to the mid-70s.

And just in passing, a place that seems to retain the cheesiness of the 70s ... The Press Club, just off Deansgate. I haven't been for a few years, but enjoyed the glittery, imitation wood decor, karaoke sessions and general atmosphere from another era.

[Mamucium Son]

Originally Posted by aidanorourke

And just in passing, a place that seems to retain the cheesiness of the 70s ... The Press Club, just off Deansgate. I haven't been for a few years, but enjoyed the glittery, imitation wood decor, karaoke sessions and general atmosphere from another era.

... You forgot The Mayflower club. Opposite Belle Vue. A GREAT punk venue where all the top acts played. (Including my band I should add).

As for the Press club, its still going strong. I know a couple of Corrie actors so I've been in a few times, always good fun spotting drunken tv personalities. Last time I was in a certain Rovers barmaid - who has just split up from her hubby - was lying flat out drunk on the dance floor. People were steppin over her.

.. oh and they STILL don't serve beer in glasses. It's over priced bottles or cans only. Hmph,

[aidanorourke]

I never went to the Mayflower Club and only heard of it vaguely. It was only those two venues - the Ranch and the Russell Club that I went to during the punk era in the late 70s.

And incidentally, my one and only live appearance in a group I had put together mysef was in 1985 at the Gallery on Pater St, the basement venue. The buildings were knocked down in the late 90s to make the Great Northern Piazza and Bar 38.

I never was able to get it together playing live, but did lots in the studio - Cavalier in Stockport mainly. I wish we'd had the equipment and opportunities available today, it would have made my creative life a lot easier.

[Phil Blinkhorn]

I used to visit the Press Club in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

My father in law and my wife's aunt's father in law (Sid) were members and it was always the haunt of "celebrities". I met Sid for lunch one day and he started playing the fruit machine. As a private members' club it had a no limit accumulator jackpot but to win the jackpot you had to select 50p per go. Sid put a pound in and landed £500 on his first go.

Three weeks later we met up again and he repeated the feat, this time landing £300.

The Golden Garter got a bad reputation amongst Belle Vue staff. One of my sales team had transferred there and decided the way to pad out the poor audience figures was to give freebies to Belle Vue staff for Friday and Saturday nights. A dictat came down from Head Office in London saying any management given freebies MUST attend and, like lambs to the slaughter, we started to go in ones and twos.

Some of the main acts weren't too bad but the support - particularly the comedians - were dire and it rapidly became apparent that BV staff were being placed on tables at the front and the comedians were being fed with "information" to enable them to have a go at the BV staff.

Add to this the absolutely dire food "crap in a basket" and the place soon was known around BV as The Golden Grot.

There were many cheesy clubs around in the 1970s. Most towns around Manchester had at least one and Bolton had more than its share.

Some fairly poor performers made it big as the demand for entertainment was vast with only 3 TV channels pumping out a constantly dire diet of poor mass market bilge (compared to the documentaries and serious drama which were excellent) and every club had its resident Bee Gee take offs , macho medallion men with big hair, hairy chests and tight white trousers with a tan gained and topped up weekly on the sun bed - though they many claimed to have a "pad" in Spain - more like a grotty bed sit in Farnworth!

[Rocles]

Originally Posted by Mamucium Son

... You forgot The Mayflower club. Opposite Belle Vue. A GREAT punk venue where all the top acts played. (Including my band I should add).

Here's a photo of the Mayflower from 1985Mayflower85.jpg

[aidanorourke]

Well I am very ignorant of my own city and the history of its music scene. I never went to the Mayflower Club, though I saw it mentioned on posters and in gig listings. I'll add that to my list of regrets in life - along with not taking up photography earlier and capturing early Joy Divisition and U2 on film. Thanks also for that photograph. On what exact site was it located?

On the matter of the Press Club, the cheesiness is in this case a compliment, not a criticism. It's just great the way it is. The day they give it a makeover and lose that 1970s quality will be a sad day.

[Rocles]

Originally Posted by aidanorourke

Thanks also for that photograph. On what exact site was it located?

Aidan, its "Artefact of the Month" on the Manchester Music Archive at THIS PAGE

[Etch]

Ah, The Russell Club, I'm sure it was originally spelt with one 'l' though. Maybe the ravages of time have mangled my memory.

I can talk at great length about this place as I was a regular all the time it was open as the Factory but I'll keep it short(ish). Scary neighbourhood, wonderful venue, just about sums it up. I was lucky in the fact that the bus stop going (from Urmston) was outside the Grant's Arms and coming back was outside the Church of Ascension, last all night bus was around 02:30 iirc, never did manage to climb up and ring that bloody bell though! Stretford Road now runs right over where the stop was.

Many, many great nights, Slaughter & the Dogs, Joy Division, Magazine, Gen X, Damned, PIL etc. The best night ever though just has to be the night Iggy played, it was mental and is the main memory I have of the place other than the goat curry up stairs and Tex the huge West Indian bouncer who I've read recent has died.

Met Joe Strummer here actually, top bloke, as the Clash were playing at the Apollo and the night before David Johansen (ex New York Dolls at the time) was playing the Russell, Topper spent most of the night in the big armchair that was on the left just as you walked in through the door from the kiosk.

It's just a shame I don't have many memories of the Electric Circus, only ever went 3 or 4 times as it was a pig to get to from Urmston on buses and practically impossible to get home from late at night. One of the visits though was for one of the Pistols "Anarchy tour" gigs.

I hated the Ranch with a passion. "Welcome to Manchester's Punk clique." Went a couple of times that I remember of, never went again, despised the place. The Oaks in Charlton was fun though.

Honorable mentions go out to..

Squat - First saw Warsaw here. [Joy Division]
Pips.
Rafters.
The Poly - Cavendish House, All Saints. Soon drove the hippies out
Mayflower - My god was this place a shithole! Made the squat seem posh
John The Postman.

We didn't exactly rip the rulebook up, as history seems to remember, but we did rip a few pages out and make people question things. It's a crying shame that the legacy we left seems to have been forgotten.

This very day, on my mp3 player, I'm listening to "Midnight Special At Screen On The Green 29th August 1976." Buzzcocks (With Devoto), Clash and the Pistols, wonderful stuff. It's a bootleg but If you know where to look.........

[aidanorourke]

Thanks for that brilliant post! I obviously missed out on a lot! Would have seen a lot more if I'd stayed in Manchester and not gone to Dublin. It was a remarkable time, I'm glad to have witnessed it. I was listening to Terry Christian interviewing Terry Hall of the Specials, who spoke about those times and how today, his kids don't seem to have anything to be rebellious about any more!

[Etch]

Thanks for that brilliant post!

No thanks needed, I was speaking from my heart so I may seem to ramble, my memories are hazy but f**k me was it fun

By way of a follow up.

I was working for an ISP at the time in Manchester Science Park when word came through that the bulldozers had moved in and the PSV (Russell) was being knocked down. I went out at dinner and grabbed a brick. I kid you not, it's sat here next to my PC as I type, sad or what?

I was listening to Terry Christian interviewing Terry Hall of the Specials, who spoke about those times and how today, his kids don't seem to have anything to be rebellious about any more!

I have the same issue with my son.