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47 Beatles Locations in Liverpool and Wirral –

2021-01-09 By Aidan O'Rourke

INTRODUCTION
In this feature, we go on a tour of 47 Beatles locations in Liverpool and Wirral. In 2018 I created a video featuring 38 locations, with English and Japanese subtitles and no voiceover. I decided to make a new version of the video using the format of my AVZINE channel, launched in September 2020.

I was inspired by the Beatles in my childhood and loved Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields. Through my research, I’ve learned a lot about the Beatles and the places they are associated with. I intend to do a feature about the Beatles in Hamburg. I’ve also created an audio-only podcast version of the feature in German, with original Beatles songs. It’s available exclusively to my students.

I have included a few of the photos in this article but to see all the pictures, please watch the video. As I always request, please click the ‘like’ button, subscribe to the channel and click the ‘bell’ button for notifications.

A tour of 47 Beatles locations in Liverpool and Wirral

Script of the video by Aidan O’Rourke

The familiar double decker open top tour buses will take you around most of the important sights in Liverpool.

The Magical Mystery Tour is a specialised two hour Beatles tour.

And for a personalised Beatles tour you can take one of the Fab Four Taxis. The driver will share lots of knowledge and there’s a recorded commentary in several different languages.

Our tour begins at the airport, 7.5 miles or 12 kilometres south of the city centre. In 2001 it was named Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport statue

1. John Lennon Statue, Liverpool John Lennon Airport terminal
The new terminal opened in 2002. Inside the terminal, there’s a statue of John Lennon by Tom Murphy. The nearby plaque reminds us EU funding helped to finance the terminal and the nearby business park.

Yellow Submarine, Liverpool John Lennon Airport

2. The Yellow Submarine
The Yellow Submarine stands in front of the terminal. It used to be on the waterfront and was originally constructed by shipbuilding apprentices from Cammell Laird for the International Garden Festival that was held in 1984. The song ‘Yellow Submarine’ was released in 1966, the film came out in 1968.

3. The old airport terminal
The old airport terminal was opened in 1938. In 1964 thousands of fans welcomed the Beatles after their US tour. Today, you can stay here, as it’s the Crowne Plaza Liverpool John Lennon Airport Hotel.

4. The 85 bus
We are now at Liverpool South Parkway station. The 86 is a local bus operated by private company Stagecoach. In the 1950s Liverpool had its own municipal buses. They were painted in a distinctive green livery that was part of the character of the city. The 86 passes close to Paul’s house. He took the 86 to school every day. It’s said that riding on the bus influenced his songwriting.

There were adverts on buses for the ‘Double Fantasy’ exhibition which was on at the Museum of Liverpool during 2018 and19. We’ll take the 86 along Mather Avenue. Paul’s house is to the left. We’ll go there later.

5. The Sergeant Pepper Bistro
We get off near the Sergeant Pepper Bistro. This building was the ‘shelter in the middle of the roundabout’ in the song ‘Penny Lane’. An extra floor was added when it became the Bistro. Unfortunately, it’s been closed for a few years. Paul, John and George often met at this former bus shelter.

Paul McCartney signature Penny Lane

6. Penny Lane
‘Penny Lane’ was released in February 1967 as a double A-side single with ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’. There was controversy in 2020 when the sign was spray painted and the word ‘racist’ was written above it. The graffiti artist should have checked his facts. The name has no connection with slave-ship owner James Penny. A muddy lane out in the countryside would in any case not be named after a prominent trader in the city.
The song was written as a tribute to Penny Lane, but now Penny Lane is famous because of the song, which captivated me as a child.
In June 2018, Paul returned to Penny Lane for the Late Late Show with James Corden and wrote his autograph on the sign painted on the wall further down Penny Lane.

7. Strawberry Field gates
We’ll stop at the Strawberry Field gates, on Beaconsfield Road, not far from the house where John Lennon lived with his aunt Mimi. Fans from all over the world visit the gates and write messages. The gates are actually replica of the real ones. In the song, John remembers his childhood and this song too inspired me very much as a child.
Since 2020 it’s possible to step through the red gates and into the famous site. The visitors centre has an exhibition and many other attractions. It’s owned and run by the Salvation Army.

8. Calderstones Park
Not many people know that in Calderstones Park, there is a Japanese garden. Calderstones Park has many associations with the Beatles in their early years. I wonder if John ever imagined that one day he would marry a woman from Japan.

9. The Eleanor Rigby gravestone
We continue to St Peter’s Church the village of Woolton. Here we find the famous gravestone inscribed with the name ‘Eleanor Rigby’. The name may have inspired the famous song. Paul McCartney explains more in an interesting and spooky story. Try Googling it.

St Peter's Church, Woolton, Liverpool

10. St Peter’s Church, Woolton.
In 1957, John and Paul met for the first time at a village fête behind St Peter’s Church.

11. Number 9 Madryn Street
We’ll head into the city centre and on the way, we’ll visit the Welsh Streets area. Ringo Starr was born at 9 Madryn Street. The house, as well as most of the Welsh Streets district, was to have been demolished. Beatles fans came here and wrote messages on the façade. But there was a change of plan. The Welsh Streets district was renovated and today the house looks almost new.

12. Number 10 Admiral Grove
Ringo Starr’s family moved to number 10 Admiral Grove, just a short distance from 9 Madryn Street. Ringo lived here until he became famous in 1963.

13. Number 12 Arnold Grove
In 1943, George Harrison was born at 12 Arnold Grove, a small terraced house in Wavertree. His family later moved to a house in Speke.

Beatles plaque Liverpool town hall

14. Liverpool town hall
Next, we return to the city centre. In 1964, the Beatles stood on the balcony of the town hall in front of thousands of screaming fans. 20 years later they were awarded the Freedom of the City. Inside the lobby, you’ll find a plaque bearing the names of the Fab Four. Sadly John wasn’t there to experience the honour.

Now we’ll walk up through Liverpool’s Creative Quarter not far from the University.

15. Number 3 Gambier Terrace
John Lennon lived at 3 Gambier Terrace in 1960 with former Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe and others including artist Margaret Chapman. They were all students at the nearby Liverpool College of Art.

16. Falkner Street
Historic Falkner Street was built in the early to mid 19th century and it often features in historical dramas. Beatles manager Brian Epstein lived on Falkner Street and he owned the ground floor flat at 36 Falkner Street. He offered it to John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia. They lived here from 1962 to 1963.

17. The Liverpool Institute
A short distance away is Mount Street where we come across a distinctive Roman-style portico. On it are the words ‘Liverpool Institute and School of Art 1825’. Paul McCartney and George Harrison went to the Liverpool Institute when it was a boys’ grammar school. Today it’s the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts, co-founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty. Initial funding for the Institute was provided through Liverpool City Challenge, The European Union and the private sector.

18. The Cracke Pub
The Beatles often visited Ye Cracke pub on Rice Street. It’s filled with Beatles memorabilia and has a quaint, homely atmosphere inside.

19. The Philharmonic Dining Rooms
The Philharmonic Hall is on Hope Street. Diagonally opposite is the Philharmonic pub and it’s one of the biggest and most magnificent pubs in the city. In June 2018 Paul gave a surprise concert inside the pub for the Late Late Show with James Corden. I wish I’d been there!

Liverpool Maternity Hospital photo by Phil Nash CC by SA 4.0

20. Former Liverpool Maternity Hospital
John Lennon was born on the 9th of October 1940 in the former Liverpool Maternity Hospital. There’s an interesting plaque next to the entrance. It’s now a university residence.

21. 4 Rodney Street
Brian Epstein was born at 4 Rodney Street. A beautifully designed plaque provides information about his life and tragic death at the age of 32.

22. The Blue Angel Night Club
In the 1960s the Beatles and other famous bands played at the Blue Angel Night Club. It’s on Seel Street in Chinatown.

23. The Jacaranda
The Jacaranda is a legendary music venue closely associated with the rise of Merseybeat in the 1960s. It was opened by The Beatles’ first manager Allan Williams in 1958. The Jacaranda Twitter profile says that it’s “A re-imagining of the first place The Beatles ever played. Gig venue, Bar, Club and Vinyl Record store.”

From here, we’ll walk down to the Pier Head. It should take about 15 minutes.

24. The Museum of Liverpool
In the Museum of Liverpool, you can learn about the city where the Beatles grew up. The Double Fantasy exhibition was on here from 2018 to 2019. The Museum of Liverpool tells the story of Liverpool and it’s a major attraction in the city. It received funding from various sources, including the EU’s European Regional Development Fund and opened in 2011.

25. The British Music Experience
At the British Music Experience, you can find out all about British pop music including many other famous Liverpool bands who are perhaps overshadowed by the omnipresent Beatles.

The Beatles Statue Liverpool Pier Head

26. The Beatles Statue
The Beatles Statue was designed by Andrew Edwards and is probably Liverpool’s number one selfie opportunity. The four larger than life figures were unveiled in December 2015, fifty years after the Beatles’ final show in the city

27. The site of The Tower Ballroom
On the other side of the Mersey in New Brighton, we visit the site of the Tower Ballroom. On top of the building once stood the tallest tower in Britain. It was taken down around 1919 and in 1969, the building was damaged by fire and pulled down. The Beatles played here 27 times between 1961 and 1963.

28. New Brighton Pier
The Beatles gave just one concert on New Brighton Pier, which was built in the mid-19th century and sadly demolished in the early 1970s.

MV Royal Iris Johnragla,-CC-BY-SA-3.0,-via-Wikimedia-Commons-

29. The MV Royal Iris
The MV Royal Iris was built in 1950 and served as one of the Mersey ferries. In the 1960s, the Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers played on Cavern cruises on the Mersey. Plans to turn it into a floating night club came to nothing and in 2019 she lay by the Thames in Woolwich, London, taking in water.

30. The Grosvenor Ballroom
The Beatles played at many venues on the Wirral, including the Grosvenor Ballroom in Liscard, not far from New Brighton. The hall looks the same as it did in the early sixties. It’s used for dances and community events.

31. The Apollo Roller Rink
The Beatles made one appearance at the Apollo Roller Rink in Moreton, not far from the sea. It was in 1962 and promoted by the Beatles’ poster artist Tony Booth. It’s now a dancing school.

32. The Majestic Ballroom
The Majestic Ballroom, Birkenhead played an important role in the Merseyside music scene during the 1960s. The Beatles played here on 17 occasions between 1961 and 1963. The building was later used as a Chinese restaurant.

33. The Victoria Hall
Paul often came to the area near The Victoria Hall, Higher Bebington visiting relatives.The Beatles played here on the 4th of August 1962.

Hulme Hall Port Sunlight

34. Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight
Many tourists come to the model village of Port Sunlight for its art gallery and beautiful houses. Port Sunlight was built in the late 19th century by the wealthy soap manufacturer Lord Leverhulme for his employees. In Hulme Hall on the 18th of August 1962, the Beatles played their first concert with Ringo Starr as drummer.

We’ll take the train back to Liverpool city centre and we’ll go to the Cavern Quarter.

35. The Eleanor Rigby Statue
The Eleanor Rigby statue is in Stanley Street not far from Mathew Street. It was created by singer and artist Tommy Steele and presented to Liverpool in 1982.

36. Mathew Street
Mathew Street is dedicated to the Beatles, as well as other famous Liverpool stars including Cilla Black. In the evening and at weekends the street is full of people.

37. The Hard Day’s Night Hotel
The Hard Days Night Hotel is a Beatles theme hotel. The £8 million project was awarded an EU grant of £2.3 million and opened in 2004. High up on the façade, there are some slightly comical statues of the Beatles. The John Lennon statue is the best one.

Liverpool John Lennon Statue Mathew Street38. The John Lennon Statue, Mathew Street
The statue of John Lennon on Mathew Street portrays him as a young man wearing a leather jacket. Many people from all over the world stop to have their photo taken next to John.

39. The Cavern Club
Between 1961 and 1963, the Beatles played in the Cavern Club 292 times. This isn’t the original Cavern Club. The building it was in was unfortunately demolished. This new Cavern Club is a very good reproduction of the original.

40. The Grapes Pub, Mathew Street
Before they went on stage, the Beatles often went to the Grapes Pub further down Mathew Street.

41. Four Lads Who Shook the World’
Mounted high on a wall on Mathew Street is the artwork named ‘Four Lads Who Shook the World’. It was created by Arthur Dooley. John Lennon is represented as a baby.

The Magical History Museum, Liverpool

42. The Magical History Museum
The Magical History Museum contains a gigantic collection of Beatles memorabilia on three floors. It commemorates not just the Fab Four but drummer Pete Best who was replaced by Ringo Starr and bass guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe who died in Hamburg at the age of 21.

The Casbah Coffee Club, Liverpool

43. The Casbah Coffee Club
Now we’ll travel three and a half miles or five and a half kilometres from the city centre to the suburb of West Derby. In the cellar of a large house on the road named Haymans Green is the Casbah Coffee Club. Here, Paul, John, George and Pete Best played their first concerts. It’s full of fascinating photographs and memorabilia that transport you back to the late 1950s and early 1960s.The Casbah Coffee Club was owned and run by Pete Best’s mother Mona. It’s back to the city centre now for the final section of the tour.

44. The Beatles Story 
The Beatles Story in the Albert Dock is about the remarkable success story of the Fab Four and it’s an award-winning attraction. The White Room is striking and memorable.

LIverpool John Lennon Peace Monument

45. The European Peace Monument or The John Lennon Peace Monument
The European Peace Monument or The John Lennon Peace Monument was given to the people of Europe on the occasion of John Lennon’s 70th birthday. It was commissioned by the Global Peace Initiative and designed by artist Lauren Voiers when she was only 19. It was unveiled in Chevasse Park near the Hilton Hotel on the 9th of October 2010. Later it was moved to its present site in front of Jury’s Inn Hotel.

We’re going to take the National Trust minibus to visit the Beatles’ childhood homes. To get your ticket to ride, you’ll need to book in advance.

20 Forthlin Rd Liverpool

46. Number 20 Forthlin Road
Paul McCartney lived with his family at 20 Forthlin Road, Allerton from 1955 till 1964. The interior of the small terraced house is decorated with furniture and memorabilia from the 1950s. It’s easy to imagine Paul and his family sitting in the front room having a sing-song. Photos of the interior are not allowed.

251 Menlove Avenue

47. Number 251 Menlove Avenue
We continue to the last Beatles location on the tour, number 251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton, where John Lennon lived with his Aunt Mimi. It’s quite a large semi-detached house with gardens front and rear. The house is a time capsule of the early 1960s and please note photography is not permitted.

 

John Lennon plaque 251 Menlove Avenue Liverpool

CONCLUSION
On our long and winding tour of 47 Beatles locations in Liverpool and Wirral, we’ve coincidentally covered a distance of around 47 miles as the crow flies. and that’s about or 75 kilometres,

If you’re interested in a shorter tour, you can come on one of my Liverpool Photo Walks.

Please watch the video, click the ‘like’ button, post a comment and subscribe to my AVZINE channel for more on the subject of cities and journeys, including a feature on the Beatles in Hamburg.

So it’s Auf Wiedersehen from me and I’ll leave you with these words by an unnamed writer on the John Lennon Peace Movement website:

“John Lennon taught us to stand up for what we believe in and dream big. He protested for peace, and many people listened. This is why John Lennon will be remembered as a peace activist. His legendary ideas will be remembered forever as long as we all shall live.”

Filed Under: AVZINE-EN, Liverpool, Music, Video Tagged With: beatlemania, Beatles childhood homes, Beatles Liverpool, Beatles photograph, Beatles tour, History of the Beatles, Visit Liverpool Beatles, Where to visit Liverpool

CP Lee interview on the history of music in Manchester

2020-08-02 By Aidan O'Rourke

Interview, transcript & photos, Multimedia Presentation


I recorded this interview with CP Lee on Friday the 28th of July 2006 and the recording has been available on my aidan.co.uk site ever since. For some time, I’d been planning to do an improved version with better sound quality and with a transcript.

And then on the 25th of July, 2020 came the terrible news about Chris so I decided to move ahead and complete this improved version and here it is. It’s presented using my ‘talking book’ or ‘visual podcast’ style or it could be described as Audio Visual Magazine style. Words and images are presented side by side on screen. Most of the photographs are by me. A few are from public domain sources.

Please check the subtitles for foreign language translations, and also please like the video and subscribe to the channel.

Published by Aidan O’Rourke | Sunday the 2nd of August, 2020

Told you I was missing, but I wasn’t lost

and I was walking through streets in the cold and frost of Manchester.

Looking for the place that I used to know

and then I saw some people and it started to snow on Manchester.

Manchester Anthem by James Herring

What is it about Manchester that makes it such a pre-eminent city of music?
Well that’s the question that’s bothered musicologists for quite some time. It is a city that seems to be uniquely placed in the history of popular music, because it repeatedly jumps in feet-first into great music, great scenes, and on an international level. And we can look at places like Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, we see groups come from there, but it’s never as consistent as it has been from Manchester. And I think that that’s because Manchester, if you look very closely, you can see the tracer bullets being fired throughout history.

There’s always been a tremendous musicians’ infrastructure here in Manchester that’s enabled the different movements or genres or waves of music to happen and to continue and carry on so that one builds on the other. And we can look right back into the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. Mancunians demanded and devoured music at an incredible rate.

We’ve got the birth of the Hallé Orchestra, one of the great international classical orchestras. It’s here in 1855, but you go back in 1780 the Gentleman’s Concerts is the beginning of the Hallé. They would get audiences of two and a half, sometimes five thousand people wanting to hear the latest classical music, which if you think about it is very punk. This stuff, it wasn’t classical then it was contemporary but they wanted to hear it.

Also mixed in with that you’ve got the Jewish elements, you’ve got Celtic elements, you’ve got folk elements, all of them pouring into the city, devouringpeople at an astonishing rate, but also producing culture at an astonishing rate. So if you look at say The Making of the English Working Class by EP Thompson, he writes at length about the creation of working class culture, and music was an essential part of that. It’s not particularly radicalised or political. It’s there as a release mechanism, it’s there as a carriage system to take you away for an evening into a transport of delight.

So by the 20th century, we’ve got the dance bands, we’ve got working-class unemployed jazz bands, groups of people playing kazoos, wearing costumes, trying to outdo each other. They’d go to a football pitch or a recreation ground, then you’d get different jazz bands. Each street would have one, neighbourhoods would have them, cities would have one and by the 1930s they’d have competitions against each other. Who were the best marching jazz bands?

By the 1950s, because of the Second World War we’ve got Burtonwood Aerodrome, Burtonwood American base, which is 25 miles away Manchester and it means that every weekend we get an influx of American musicians who are based there coming into Manchester, also going into Liverpool at the same time, and feeding into the groups that exist, principally, at that time, jazz bands. And the jazz bands were not your kind of Acker Bilk trad, these were modernists, these were people who were influenced by Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, and they wanted authentic black American players if they could get them, but they’d settle for white ones if they had the chops.

A great interest began in Manchester to trace jazz back to its roots and those roots come from folk blues, from whatever. And this led to an interest in people like Muddy Waters, Chicago R&B. So that at the end of the 1950’s, you’ve got a lot of groups who’ve come up watching the emerging rock and roll scene on television or at the cinema. They’ve come through skiffle, so they’ve got instruments, they can play them, but the music that’s being developed is beat music, which essentially a kind of white English version of R&B. But it’s music with a beat, it’s music for dancing to.

And we get by 1964, we can find over 200 beat clubs in the Greater Manchester area. Some have come, some have gone, some are there for the whole period, but it’s an astonishing amount of beat clubs.
Now this mirrors what’s going on in Liverpool at the same time with what is known as Merseybeat, again the word ‘

beat’ races up there. But we get this strange separation. At one time both scenes were mutually symbiotic. It’s only 30 miles away (along) the East Lancs Road. In the early 60s groups from each city would be passing one another on the East Lancs, waving to one another, playing each other’s gigs, going backwards and forwards. People like Epstein, the promoters at Wooler at the Cavern, Danny Petacchi in Manchester, the Abadi brothers would book bands from Liverpool, Manchester, as I say, mutually symbiotic.

But then came The Beatles and The Beatles, for better or for worse, kind of destroyed that amicable relationship, because internationally, people only saw Liverpool and the Mersey poets, the Mersey scene, the Mersey beats, or whatever and Manchester, kind of, became the poor neighbour in musicological terms, so that even though Herman and the Hermit’s, (Herman’s Hermits) who were the second biggest selling English group in America after the Beatles, were from Manchester, if you asked an American, they would say that they were from Liverpool, because they thought there was only Liverpool.

Manchester began to emerge from under that shadow I would say with 10cc at the end of the 1960s, early 1970s, because they brought a studio to Stockport, and this is a major studio, and I think a very under-sung achievement. They put Manchester, Stockport on the map in terms of… “Oh yeah!”, I mean, people came from America to record there. Fascinating place.

So the next wave is created by the musicians themselves. It was in 1972 because there were so few gigs because, not a lot of people know this, Manchester is the only city that I’ve come across that had an Act of Parliament passed to stop beat clubs. They were so, I don’t know, morally outraged at the beat clubs that the 1965 Corporation Act which came into force oddly enough on the first of January in 1966, was designed specifically to stop beat clubs and crush teenage rebellion. Not that it was particularly rebellious, but there you go.

So there were very very few venues for musicians. And when I started playing in the mid-60s, I could play every night of the week in the Greater Manchester area. By 1970 you were lucky if there was one gig a week. So in 1972 Victor Brocks organised a meeting at the Bierkeller off Piccadilly and the Music Force was founded, which was a musician’s cooperative. And it was a socialist organisation which was going to be, and indeed was musicians taking control of their own destinies.

Now that meant that they had an office where they would ring up, create venues, force venues into taking Mancunian groups. They would provide the transport if it was needed, they rent out PAs, they’d do the posters. Now, all this infrastructure, they even had a newspaper called Hot Flash, a music paper, all of this infrastructure was in place when Howard Trafford, who becomes Howard Devoto, turns up in 1976 at the Music Force offices asking where he might put on the Sex Pistols. And they direct him to the Lesser Free Trade Hall and the rest, as they say, is history. Because we then get with Buzzcocks and Spiral Scratch, which set a template for the punk DIY ethos.

This is the first kind of internationally recognised Manchester music scene, which by 1983 we can lump in The Smiths, the Haçienda has opened, by 1988 we’ve got the whole Madchester scene, by 1996 we’ve got the international recognition of Oasis, by 2000 we’ve got Badly Drawn Boy, we’ve had M People, and it continues to roll. It goes on and on and on.

Manchester is a place that musicians now gravitate to. It’s a place which produces again and again consistently good acts which are capable of breaking it on an international scale.

I can’t remember who actually said this so my apologies, but it’s impossible to talk about Manchester without talking about music and it’s impossible to talk about music without talking about Manchester. I think it’s Haslam.

So it’s not just the fact that we have lots of different nationalities and it’s a place where people come to live, migrate, the point you’re making is also that there is an infrastructure there, going back a long time, that laid the foundation to organising bands and organising music and performances, that that’s also an important reason, which I wasn’t aware of.

I think that it’s definitely my take on it, that infrastructure has always enabled musicians to operate to their maximum ability. It encourages them and it doesn’t necessarily facilitate them in getting a van. I mean, nowadays we’ve got the Manchester Musicians Online, which is a kind of self-help agency. North West Arts are now very interested in… Why are all these musicians in Manchester? They’re also… North West Arts now interested in facilitating recording studios and that kind of thing, which I suppose is good.

We’ve got the Manchester District Music Archive, which I’m one of the trustees of. Even Urbis is very supportive of local musicians and the local music scene, in terms of looking at the graphic design, the posters, album covers, t-shirts, wellington boots. But, no, for me it was the I would argue it’s the fact that there was always an infrastructure there. The cultural influences, I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of that, it’s fascinating. Yes, the Irish and the Jews have a lot to answer for.

And maybe something in the water, who was it said that there was something in the water?

Peter Hook said to me, he thought that it was definitely something in the water, when I put the question to him, and we both decided that we would agree on that, which would have been a much shorter answer for you.

What about the American influence and the Northern Soul thing. First of all, maybe you could explain what Northern Soul is. You recently did an excellent BBC radio programme about Northern Soul but for people who don’t know what it is, what is Northern Soul and why was it so popular in Manchester in the north of England?

Um, gosh, that’s like asking what is it about Manchester that makes musicians? Northern Soul is a genre, it’s a musical genre and it applies specifically to a kind of urban Black, urban American dance music that’s still being produced today, but over the sixties let’s say. So a grotesque example would be Tamla, though I know that that’s anathema to most Northern Soul… People would understand that. Black dance music, good good poppy, catchy dance music.

The phrase Northern Soul was originated by writer and promoter and all round genius Dave Godin in an article in 1971, where he’d come to Manchester and seen what was happening at the Twisted Wheel, and said “If this has to have a name, let’s call it Northern Soul” because Mancunian DJs had chosen a specific avenue of Black American music that was very popular in the North West of England.

Now it goes back to 1845 when the first blackface minstrel troupe, the Christy Minstrels appeared in Manchester. Now this might sound quite bizarre but it began a fascination with Black American music. The Blackface Minstrels were playing an approximation of black American music. That strangely enough filtered into Irish traditional music in the shape of the banjo and the bones. They saw them in Dublin and within 10 years people were playing banjos in pubs in Dublin and Galway and what have you, and the bones, which are free, if you’ve killed a cow. So the people in Manchester developed it, they loved it. They couldn’t get enough of this kind of entertainment and they came back again and again throughout the 19th century.

Now in the middle of the 19th century the American Civil War was a period of a great hardship in the North West of England. We’ve survived on cotton and cotton couldn’t get through, because the Union fleets were blockading the Southern ports. Now the cotton workers of the Greater Manchester area were starving, but they marched in their thousands to support President Lincoln for the emancipation of slaves, even if it meant that they would starve.
So it there had always been this very very close affinity between… or a recognition of African Americans and the struggle for freedom, for equality, which carries through into an appreciation of the music, up to a point in the mid 20th century where it becomes almost obsessive.

I think because there was a kind of a recognition or an empathy, a feeling that if you were a white working class kid in the great Industrial North, you in your own way were oppressed and you could look towards Black American music either providing you with a voice, in terms of Blues, or an articulation of your plight, or as a point of release. Within Northern Soul dance music it’s a release. It’s an effective system for carrying you out of your physical body for three minute bursts. As long as the song lasts, you’re dancing and you’re away.

And it also, to go out in another direction, there’s a kind of exclusivity with Northern Soul where people, I think, felt that they were onto something that nobody else was aware of, and that forms a very very tight bond with all the other people who had gathered there with you. So it’s very tribal and I think in the North, whether we’ve been one generation in Manchester or twenty generations, we are very tribal about being Mancunians.

What other influences do you think or connections are between America and Manchester? You mentioned about the cotton industry and how much of an effect…?

Well the River Mersey finishes, it flows down the Pennines and it finishes in New York. So you’ve got that direct straight line across the Atlantic, and will leapfrog over Liverpool. I mean Liverpool must have been so fed up when the Manchester Ship Canal said “Well, we’ll just bring the cotton to Manchester up this big river.”
Do you know it was supposed to end in Didsbury? The original Ship Canal Company had their first meeting at Fletcher Moss and the guy lived there, and he envisaged it being like on his doorstep, so you just step onto the ship and go to America whenever he wanted to. So it would have carried on through Northenden up to Didsbury Village, which… Imagine what it would have been like!

The affinities with America, that direct line, emigration, immigration, a two-way street. Lots and lots of business was with America, particularly Cottonopolis, which we’ve already talked about. Entertainment, musicians, Stan Laurel is from here, Charlie Chaplin was in the seven Lancashire Lads clog dancing troupe, before going with Fred Karno to America.

So the Mancunian Film Studios existed in the 1920s doing silents and then gave up when sound came along. But a guy called Burt Tracy who was from Droylsden had gone to Hollywood with Stan Laurel and had worked for Mack Sennett came back to Manchester and Laurel and Hardy were coming to visit at the Midland Hotel, and he said to Johnny Blakeley from Mancunian film company: “Oh, come along and meet the lads”. And they got there and Stan Laurel said “Well why aren’t you making films any more,” and he said “Wow, it’s too expensive,” and he said, “Well just hire a studio.” So they did and they made the first George Formby movie, which is a massive hit.

All because Laurel and Hardy came to Manchester and Burt Tracy knew them, Mancunian knew them, and we get the birth of the proper Mancunian Film Company, which feeds into Granada Television and the BBC in a direct bloodline in the same way that music is feeding in, in that Steve… I can’t remember his second name… sadly he’s been dead for a long time, if you look at the logo for Band On The Wall, there’s a man with glasses and a little beard and a beret, and that was Steve who revitalised the Band on the Wall in the 1970s.

Now in the thirties he’d been in the schoolboy jazz team in Ancoats, the Little Rascals jazz band and they played at the Cotton Club in Harlem. So he’d gone from Ancoats to Harlem, as a kind of novelty act, played there, came back obsessed with jazz and we get that whole thing in the 1950s, which feeds back into a desire to discover the roots of jazz, which takes them to see people like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, who were all regular performers in Manchester. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, all these people loved playing in Manchester, and they also they used to say things like it reminded of America, probably just being nice. But Alexis Korner who’s one of the founders of the British Blues had a flat in Manchester because he played up here so much because kids wanted R&B, they wanted Blues.

Elton John when he was in Steampacket with Rod Stewart said that the greatest place on the planet to play in terms of audience reaction was The Twisted Wheel. If they liked you, that was it, you were made, you were back there every other week and you know, people had permanent residencies then, and Spencer Davis, Steampacket etcetera.

People like Neville who’s in one of my books about Bob Dylan, the first book I wrote, Like the Night, Neville worked at ABC television in Didsbury and every penny he had went on collecting Blues records. And he couldn’t believe it one night when Spencer Davis said:

“Oh, we need somewhere to stay for the night.”

He said: “You can stay at my ’ouse,”

and he lived in a council house in Wythenshawe with his mum. He took Spencer Davis group back. And he had a reel-to-reel tape recorder and they just sat in his front room all night and played Blues for him.

And you hear stories about kids in back-to-back terraced houses in the 1970s with lino on the floor paying fifty quid for a single because they’re that obsessed with the ownership, of that authenticity, of that belonging.

I’m out of the loop in a way now, but I don’t know if there’s still quite that same obsession with the authenticity and how House music pans out into Black dance music. Is Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez a black New York DJ or a white New York DJ? I wouldn’t know. But for years and years and years the white working-class kids in the north west of England were very very obsessive and very very possessive about Blues music because they had an affinity for it and they had a recognition of it.

I think I understand a bit more now actually from what you’ve been saying about why it is that Manchester has just got this magic, what I call magic about it, in terms of music. But you’ve really just scratched the surface. You’ve written… how many books have you written on music?

Specifically I’ve written, had published three books, one on Bob Dylan’s films, which we’ll forget about, even though it’s very good, but the first one is about Bob Dylan playing at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1966, which is a very pivotal moment for music generally.

What’s the book called?

That’s called Like the Night and in a sense it was the pivotal moment of the documentary last year, the Scorsese documentary, the ‘Judas’ shout, and it’s one of the great climactic moments in music history.

Now the most important book relevant to this is Shake Rattle and Rain, which is a history of popular music in Manchester from 1955 to 95, and if I only have the wherewithal, I would write Shake Rattle and Rain 2, which would be the history of popular music 1855 to 1995, because I just keep discovering more and more about it all the time, and how they all interlink.

And just as a little aside, tell me about a few of the famous musicians that you’ve interviewed, maybe Manchester ones, maybe other ones.

Well, met or interviewed in my time, I met Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townsend, it’s very hard to remember … Everybody! Because I was a professional musician for years and years.

And the name of the band that you played in?

Well, the first band was Greasy Bear then the next band was The Albertos or Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, and we played our way around Europe and did the obligatory bit of America.

But in terms of interviews for the book, I got hold of as many people as I possibly could. So Peter Hook, Clint Boon, Pete Farrow, an old beat group member, yes he is old, so he’s an old beat group member.

Basically anybody I could get hold of. Bruce Mitchell, who’s been playing since 1955 and is still playing with the Durutti Column, Vini Reilly, Ed Banger, Howard Devoto, Pete Shelley, but then also other people like Richard Boon, who is essential to the history of Manchester music. He ran New Hormones, which was Buzzcocks’ management company, but they also facilitated Linda Sterling and John Savage. At the moment I’m compiling a list of people who are to do with Manchester music. Not musicians per se, because they get neglected.

And many of them are still around

Many, yeah.

But most people wouldn’t know they were.

No, no.

And yet they’re enormously influential.

Very very influential.
Can you give me an example of one of these influential people that you would see around?
Um, well, if you were in Stoke Newington, you’d see Richard. In Manchester you generally can find…

Tosh Ryan.

Tosh. Now what would we say about Tosh? I mean, the founder of Rabid Records, he was a jazz saxophonist in the 1950s. In the 1960s played with Victor Brock’s Blues Train. He’d also played with John Mayall, was a founder member of Music Force in 1972, founded Rabid Records in 1977, has been creating a massive kind of digital video archive of Manchester musicians, which we don’t currently know the whereabouts of! He’s misplaced it, but he was trying to interview every single musician he could get hold of. So there have been people trying to chronicle it and hold it together. That’s now being carried out by the (Manchester) District Archive, Music Archive.

That’s what I also wanted to ask you about, because if people are interested in finding out more about Manchester music in general, where can they find the information?

It’s on our website, which is just undergoing reconstruction, but if you do a Google for Manchester District Music Archive, you’ll find it. And it’s being relaunched at the end of September in an interactive way.

So what we want people to do, is… it’s a bit like Wikipedia, in that you can access the information we have and you can add your own information to it. And we don’t just want Jeff Davis, who played bass guitar in the Rattlesnakes, or The Denton Boomerangs, we want people who went to gigs who would say: “Yeah I used to go to Rafters and I thought it was fantastic, and I can remember Rob Gretton deejaying,” or what have you?

So we want the memories, because music can’t exist without the audience and we want their reaction just as much as we want the input from musicians. So this is the new website, which is launched at the end of this coming September, will be the springboard, it’ll be kind of virtual museum which is the springboard towards us hopefully opening up the actual physical premises.

Okay, well that was a fascinating little session there, scratching the surface…

…haha!

…of a fascinating subject so thank you very much.

Thank you very much!

Filed Under: AVZINE-EN, Manchester, Music, Salford, Stockport Tagged With: 10cc, Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, Chris P Lee, history of Manchester, Howard Devoto, Manchester concert venues, Manchester music, Manchester music scene, Manchester Ship Canal, Merseybeat, music in Manchester, music scene Manchester, Northern Soul, Oasis, Strawberry Studios Stockport, The Beatles, the Hallé Orchestra, Tosh Ryan, Victor Brox and the Blues Train

38 Beatles locations in Liverpool & Wirral – Slide show video & English and Japanese subtitles

2020-07-14 By Aidan O'Rourke

A Beatles journey

With this video I wanted to create a work of art, combining my photography with a wonderful contemporary-oriental musical backdrop and subtitles in English and Japanese, paying tribute to the band whose music dominated my early childhood. I wanted to portray a side of Liverpool that’s different to the clichés, a magical side, a place of hidden corners, nostalgic views and special places, each one with connections to the Beatles. I wanted to reach out to another culture, and overlay Liverpool with an Oriental quality.

Written and produced by Aidan O’Rourke | Tuesday the 14th of July 2020

So what’s the connection between Liverpool and Japan? It’s because John Lennon married Yoko Ono of course. There are many Beatles fans in Japan who visit Liverpool to find out more about their heroes, where they grew up and the story of how they became famous. Even before the Beatles arrived, Liverpool had a connection with the Orient: It is home to the oldest Chinese community in the UK.

I’ve chosen music that mixes genres – an Oriental sound blended with Classical-style violins, set above contemporary synthesisers with a strong beat. The strings at the start of the track named ‘Shibuya’ have overtones of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and towards the conclusion of our journey, the piano has a quality of ‘Hey Jude’.

The young artist who created this music is called Bad Snacks and is she is based in Los Angeles though I understand she’s originally from Boston. Her YouTube channel is called Bad Snacks and she contributes to the YouTube Audio Library. That’s where I found the six wonderful tracks I used in this video.

All the photos are by me except two: The photo of the New Brighton Tower taken possibly around 1910 and the one of Ringo Starr’s birth house, 9 Madryn Street, taken in 2020. I hope that this video will be appreciated by people from Japan and those who are learning Japanese.

I spent many hours placing the Japanese subtitles into the video. They were translated from English into Japanese by teacher and translator Maya Shimizu, who did a fantastic job.

So here is English text of the video. You can read it as an article and you can play the video. I would

The story as told through the English subtitlesMusic: Mizuki

Liverpool and Japan are linked through the marriage of John and Yoko. The Beatles are very popular in Japan and many Japanese fans come to Liverpool. For this reason I wanted to make use of Japanese language. I’ve chosen music with overtones of Japan and of the violins in ‘Eleanor Rigby’.

These city tour buses will take you to the main tourist attractions in Liverpool.

The Magical Mystery Tour will show you many of the most important Beatles locations. For a personalised Beatles tour you can take one of the Fab Four taxis. There’s a transcript of the commentary in eight languages including Japanese.

John Lennon statue Liverpool Airport

John Lennon statue Liverpool Airport

Location number one: In 2002 Liverpool Airport was named Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Inside the terminal is a statue of John Lennon by the artist Tom Murphy.

02-Liverpool Airport Yellow Submarine

Number 2. This Yellow Submarine stands outside the terminal. The film ‘Yellow Submarine’ was released in 1968.

3. Third location: The old airport terminal is not far away. Here, in 1964, thousands of fans welcomed the Beatles home after their US tour. Today it’s the Crowne Plaza hotel.

4. The 86 bus runs between south Liverpool and Liverpool city centre. It’s not a tour bus but it travels through many of the places the Beatles knew in their childhood. This advert is for the 2018 Double Fantasy exhibition which was on at the Museum of Liverpool from May 2018 to April 2019

5. The Sgt Pepper Bistro stands on a traffic island at the top of Penny Lane. Unfortunately it has been closed for a few years.

Penny Lane sign 31 Dec 2005
Penny Lane sign with Paul McCartney signature

6. Penny Lane is famous for the song released in 1967 about Paul’s childhood memories of this place. This sign was new in 2006. This is how it looked in 2018.The council painted this sign on the wall to prevent people from stealing it. In June 2018 Paul returned to Penny Lane with James Corden for the Late Late Show and wrote his autograph on the sign

7. The song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ is about John’s childhood memories of a children’s home called Strawberry Field. It’s not far from the house where he lived with his Aunt Mimi. Beatles fans from all over the world write messages on the gates.

Music: Shibuya

8. Not many people know that there is a Japanese garden not far from the childhood homes of John and Paul. It’s in Calderstones Park. Calderstone Park has many associations with the Beatles in their early years.

Eleanor Rigby gravestone

Eleanor Rigby gravestone

9. In the churchyard of St Peters Church in Woolton you will find the gravestone inscribed with the name Eleanor Rigby. It is possible that this gravestone inspired the famous song.

10. John and Paul first met at St Peter’s Church in 1957. They played at a garden fete on a stage in the field behind the church.

Location number 11 is 10 Admiral Grove, the house where Ringo Starr lived until he became famous in 1963. Today it’s a private home.

12. In 1943 George Harrison was born at 12 Arnold Grove. He lived here until 1950.

9 Madryn Street 6 May 2018

9 Madryn Street 6 May 2018

13. In 1940 Ringo Starr was born in this house, 9 Madryn Street. The house has been saved from demolition.

Music: Summer in the neighborhood

14. In 1964 at the height of Beatlemania, the Beatles stood on the balcony of Liverpool town hall in front of thousands of screaming fans. Twenty years later they were awarded the Freedom of the City . Their names are written on this plaque, which you can see in the foyer of the town hall.

15. The Liverpool Institute was a boys’ grammar school. Paul McCartney went to this school. Today it’s LIPA, co-founded by Paul McCartney and opened in 1996.

16. The Blue Angel Night Club a music venue. In the 1960s, the Beatles and other famous bands played here. It’s on Seel Street in Chinatown.

17. Falkner Street is a historic street with houses from the 18th century. John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia lived for a while at 36 Falkner Street.

18. The Philharmonic is the most magnificent pub in Liverpool. John Lennon liked to come here and in June 2018, Paul gave a surprise performance herefor the Late Late Show with James Corden.

19. The Beatles often went to Ye Cracke pub on Rice Street. Inside the pub there are photos and memorabilia.

John Lennon Peace Monument

John Lennon Peace Monument

20. The John Lennon Peace Monument was unveiled in 2010. It was designed by the American artist Lauren Voiers when she was only 19 years old. It stands next to the Echo Arena.

21. The Museum of Liverpool is about the history of Liverpool and there are some exhibits about the Beatles. It’s situated on the Pier Head.

22. You can learn about British pop music including the Beatles at the British Music Experience. Here on the Pier Head you will also find the most popular photo opportunity in Liverpool…

Beatles Statues – Paul McCartney
Beatles Statues – George Harrison
Beatles Statues – Ringo Starr
Beatles Statues – John Lennon

 

23. …the Beatles Statues, unveiled in 2015 and designed by sculptor Andy Edwards.

Music: Shibuya

And now we take the train under the River Mersey to the seaside town of New Brighton.

24. This is where the Tower Ballroom used to be. It once had the tallest tower in Britain. The tower was taken down over 100 years ago. The Beatles played here from 1961 to 1963. The Tower Ballroom was destroyed by fire in 1969.

The Grosvenor Ballroom interior

The Grosvenor Ballroom interior

Music: Wallflowers

25. This is the Grosvenor Ballroom in Liscard, not far from New Brighton. The hall looks almost the same as it did when the Beatles played here.

Many tourists come to Port Sunlight to visit Lady Lever Art Gallery and to see the beautiful English traditional-style houses

26. At Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight on 18 August 1962, the Beatles played their first concert with Ringo Starr as drummer.

Now we return to Liverpool.

Music: A Caring Friend

27. The Eleanor Rigby statue near Mathew St was inspired by the song Eleanor Rigby and was created by the singer and artist Tommy Steele.

28. The Hard Day’s Night Hotel on North John Street is a Beatles-themed hotel. On the exterior there are statues of
of the four Beatles.

29. Mathew Street is dedicated to the Beatles and to other famous Liverpool stars.

John Lennon Statue profile (black and white film photo)

John Lennon Statue profile (black and white film photo)

30. The John Lennon statue depicts John as a young man before the Beatles were famous. Lots of people have their picture taken next to him.

31. The Cavern Club is the most famous club in Liverpool. The Beatles played here 292 times between 1961 and 1963. This is not the original Cavern Club but a reconstruction that is very similar to the original.

32. The Beatles often went to the Grapes Pub before playing at the Cavern.

33.Four Lads Who Shook The Worldis an artwork on Mathew Street. John Lennon was added as a baby after his death in 1980.

34. The Magical History Museum opened in 2018 and presents a huge collection of Beatles memorabilia on three floors.

Music: Honey

Casbah Coffee Club piano and speakers
Casbah Coffee Club photos and memorabilia
Casbah Coffee Club house, home of Mona Best
The Casbah Coffee club performance area
The Casbah Coffee Club sign and signatures

35. Three miles from the city centre in the cellar of a house in West Derby is The Casbah Coffee Club. Here Paul, John, George and drummer Pete Best played their first concerts. Today the club looks almost the same as it did in 1960.

36. The Beatles Story is about the amazing career of the Fab Four from childhood to worldwide fame.
.
Our 37th location is number 20 Forthlin Road, where Paul McCartney lived with his family from 1955 to 1963. Inside, the house looks the same as it did in the early 1960s. You can visit the house by booking on the National Trust tour.

252 Menlove Avenue, Mendips childhood home of John Lennon

38. Not far away is 251 Menlove Avenue, where John Lennon lived with his Aunt Mimi. You can visit the house on the National Trust tour. The house is a time capsule of the early 1960s, but I can’t show you what the interior looks like as photography is not allowed. You’ll just have to come and see it with your own eyes!

Music: Mizuki

My name’s Aidan O’Rourke. Thank you very much for watching and I’ll see you again soon in Liverpool.

Filed Under: Liverpool, Music Tagged With: 20 Forthlin road Liverpool, George Harrison childhood home, Imagine, John and Yoko, John Lennon Aunt mimi, Liverpool Beatles, LIverpool Beatles tour, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Liverpool music, Liverpool Welsh Streets, Magical Mystery Tour, Museum of Liverpool, Paul McCartney's house, Penny Lane, Ringo Starr Arnold Grove, Strawberry Field, Strawberry Fields Forever, The Beatles, The Beatles childhood homes, the Beatles Come Together, Where the Beatles grew up

Photographing the Dublin Bowie Festival 2020 using an iPhone 8 Plus

2020-01-15 By Aidan O'Rourke

DublinBowieFest-Tony Visconti Woody Woodmansey

Dublin Bowie Festival – Tony Visconti and Woody Woodmansey in conversation

In Jan 2020 I went to the Dublin Bowie Festival and I was capturing the people, sights and sounds of the event imusing my iPhone 8 Plus.

I had planned to bring my Panasonic TZ70 travel zoom compact but a few days before departure, it developed a fault (for the second time). I didn’t want to bring either of my DSLRs so I headed for the airport on 6 Jan with just the iPhone in my trouser pocket.

I wondered how I would get on with only a smartphone. All in all I wasn’t disappointed, despite the limitations, which I already knew about.

Here are the plus points of the iPhone, which will also apply to other types of smartphone.

It’s extremely compact. It slips into your pocket and is always available.

Its picture quality is extremely good, in some respects superior to most DSLRs

It handles contrasty scenes better than most conventional digital cameras, as it can adjust exposure in different areas of the image.

The Live View feature is revolutionary, as you can choose the moment of capture after you have taken the picture. This is great for photographing live music.

Its portrait mode can work very well indeed when photographing people. In fact I got to take several portraits of David Bowie, though sadly not the real David.

It can also shoot high quality video, rendering colours very well indeed.

The quality of the microphone is remarkably good, and it’s also possible to connect an even better quality microphone.

There are of course some disadvantages:

The lens on the 8 Plus is a standard iPhone lens with a wide field of view. If you want to zoom in you have to use digital zoom. It’s possible to use clip-on telephoto lenses, which I intend to try soon.The picture quality is of course not as good as the DSLR camera like the one used by the official photographer of the event, and you don’t get the benefit of a variety of high quality lenses.

Still the iPhone is very versatile and the most recent iPhones are even better.

So let’s take a look at what I did with the iPhone at the festival.

This video presents a short sample of the in conversation event with Bowie associates Tony Visconti and Woody Woodmansey. I shot the video from the front of the auditorium about 6 metres or 20 feet away from them. The sound and picture quality are good and it’s possible to zoom in by a moderate amount without loss of picture quality.

The London Boys in concert at the Dublin Bowie Festival 2020

The London Boys performing Bowie songs from the 1960s at the Dublin Bowie Festival 2020

The London Boys are a Dublin band who play David Bowie’s early music, from around the mid-sixties. By chance I got a seat directly in front of the band and was able to take some great close up images with the iPhone. Red light often poses a problem for cameras but the iPhone has coped well. They are a great band, by the way, giving an Irish spin on David Bowie’s very London-centric songs from this period.

The London Boys performing at BowieFest 2020

Panoramic photo of the London Boys made of 5 iPhone images merged in Photoshop

Another shot of The London Boys is a panorama. I took a series of overlapping shots from left to right and then combined them by hand using Photoshop. If you look closely you can see the joins.

I recorded this interview with Sara Captain, London-based artist who specialises in producing paintings and illustrations of David Bowie. I was so impressed with her work that I wanted to interview her to find out more about the paintings. I recorded this short interview on the iPhone 8 Plus, and edited it on the phone using iMovie. I used still photographs I took of her paintings and used the Ken Burns feature to zoom in on each picture. It took me about 10 minutes to edit the entire video and another 5 minutes or so to upload. It’s liberating to be able to produce videos without having to use a computer.

DavidBowie by MariaPrimolan-2-K111

David Bowie sculpture by Maria Primolan, iPhone 8 Plus Portrait Mode

The images above and below are of sculptures of David Bowie, both made by Italian artist Maria Primolan. They’re incredibly lifelike and capture the subject perfectly. Though they don’t depict a real person, it’s possible to used the iPhone 8 Plus Portrait Mode to great effect.

DavidBowie by MariaPrimolan-2-K111

Sculpture of David Bowie by Maria Primolan photographed using the iPhone 8 Plus

By the use of software it finds the areas of the picture behind the subject which are slightly out of focus and defocuses them further, simulating the effect of a prime lens at a wide aperture. The effect is not quite as good as a real lens but it’s still effective. The iPhone was able to cope well with the different types of light source.

The Dublin Bowie Festival was an amazing experience and I was glad to be able to capture it using the amazing iPhone 8 Plus. I’m already looking forward to next year’s festival and hope by then to have the newest available iPhone.

For more information go to www.dublinbowiefestival.ie

Dublin BowieFest-Sara Rena-Hine

Portrait of Sara Rena-Hine, close friend of David Bowie, taken with the iPhone 8 Plus

Filed Under: Music

Review of Kraftwerk live in Brighton, 07.06.2017

2017-06-08 By Aidan O'Rourke

Kraftwerk live in Brighton 07.06.2017Kraftwerk are a contradiction. They use synthesisers and computers yet their music is full of expressiveness. They deal with complex themes of modernity and technology, yet their lyrics are often slogans or single words, often in multiple languages. On stage the four band members barely tap their feet to the music, and yet their electronic beat is so infectious, it has been the inspiration for dance genres including Hip-Hop, Techno and House.

I saw Kraftwerk at the Brighton Centre on 7 June, 2017. I travelled 260 miles from Manchester by Megabus and Southern Railway, and it was well worth the journey.

There were queues in front of the hall, which overlooks the sea, and after a long wait while the audience took their seats, the lights went down, the electronic beat started, four men walked onto the stage, each wearing a body suit stamped with a wireframe design. They stood behind four electronic musical instruments, futuristic  lecterns, lit up from inside.

On a huge screen behind them, shapes, patterns and words danced in 3D. We viewed them through stereoscopic glasses provided on entry. Each band member operated his electronic control centre – or was it a keyboard – gently tapping a foot or pressing a hand on a button or key.

The show progressed with dazzling and pulsating beats, patterns and slogans: “Eins zwei drei vier fünf sechs sieben acht.” For people, like me, who understand German, it was great. Kraftwerk make German sound cool.

They performed many of their greatest hits, some instrumental, others with words, sung by co-founder Ralf Hütter, who stood on the left. It was clear that he was actually playing the keyboard and singing live. The versions were quite different from the records and had an improvised feel.

I loved their live version of Autobahn with its computer-generated images of a VW Beetle and classic Mercedes driving on an imagined motorway in Germany some time in the seventies.

Radioaktivität has gained new significance since the seventies. The place names flashed up on screen told their own story: “HIROSHIMA – HARRISBURG – TSCHERNOBYL – SELLAFIELD – FUKUSHIMA”.

Each song and its accompanying graphics was an exploration in sound and graphics. Tour de France, Trans Europe Express show Kraftwerk are not just a German but European phenomenon.

The time went quickly and sadly the curtains closed. But there was a surprise in store, I won’t say what it is because it would be a spoiler! Suffice to say it was intriguing, humorous and typically Kraftwerk!

They returned for an encore, and played long, mesmerising tracks with that infectious, groundbreaking electro beat. Abstract waveforms and patterns flashed hypnotically on the screen above. A few people got up and danced at the front enjoying a mini-rave.

Finally each member went off separately, taking the final bow. Ralf Hütter was the last to depart, and that was the end of the Kraftwerk concert, an experience I won’t forget for a long time.

 

Save

Filed Under: German, Music Tagged With: concerts, electronic, German, gigs, Krautrock

Review of the Strawberry Studios exhibition at Stockport Museum

2017-02-27 By Aidan O'Rourke

Stockport Market Hall and St Mary's Church What’s Stockport famous for? It’s the last stop on the West Coast line from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly, it’s seven miles south east of the city centre and it’s my home town! But what else is it famous for? Oh yes, it’s the home of a groundbreaking recording studio that existed from 1967 to 1993, Strawberry Studios.

So what made Strawberry Studios different? The first thing is that it wasn’t in London. The music industry has been mostly based in London – it still is. But in the mid-sixties, a visionary group of people wanted to set up a studio in the north.

The driving force was Peter Tattersall and Eric Stewart. It was named after Eric’s favourite song, Strawberry Field, which was released in 1967.

It originally started in another location but moved to an industrial building on Waterloo Road in 1968. Incidentally this is just by the location of the Stockport air disaster of 1967.

They wanted to provide a recording facility to match those in London, but close to Manchester. They offered cheaper rates at night so that local bands could afford to record there. They made full use of the latest recording technology.

Strawberry Studios exhibition

The band 10cc were closely involved in the studios and they recorded many classic songs there, the most famous of which is “I’m Not In Love”, which featured groundbreaking use of tape loops to create rich layered vocals. It was a number one UK hit in 1975 and reached number two in the US. Many other artists recorded at Strawberry, including Paul McCartney, Neil Sedaka, the Bay City Rollers and most notably, Joy Division.

Despite the success of I’m Not In Love, 10cc split in 1976, continuing as two separate entities. The studio sadly closed in 1993, but the name survives both as a legend of music and as the name of the building.

In the seventies I lived just 10 minutes from Strawberry Studios and though I was active in music in the eighties, I never had any involvement there. The achievements of 10cc and Strawberry Studios are a source of local pride in Stockport and so in the year of the 50th anniversary of the setting up of the studio, it was natural that there should be a commemoration and exhibition.

It opened on 27 January, 2017 and though I couldn’t make the opening, I attended in late February. It’s housed in Staircase House in Stockport’s historic Market Place. The house contains exhibits about the history of Stockport on five levels and I can highly recommend it.

For me, the high point of my visit was entering the 10cc exhibition in the basement exhibition area. The two adjoining rooms are packed with many fascinating objects, musical instruments, photographs, videos and audio recordings.

Strawberry Studios exhibition Eric Stewart's Semi acoustic guitar

Eric Stewart’s Gibson ES 335 semi-acoustic guitar is proudly placed in a display cabinet. The guitar was used on all four 10cc albums.

The exhibition is packed with lots more artifacts, including 45 rpm discs, badges, amplifiers, music cassettes, brochures, post cards and the original sound equipment used by producer Martin Hannett.

Strawberry Studios exhibition

I was intrigued to see an original Marshall Time Modulator, and another piece of equipment which had the name ‘Martin Hannett’ inside the case. There was also an example of the ‘gizmo’ a device invented by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. An electronic copy of the studio bookings diary from 1980 to 1981 contains many famous names.

I was overwhelmed by just how many fascinating items of memorabilia have been crammed into such a relatively small space. I found it all fascinating and absorbing.

I was lucky enough to meet the curator of the exhibition, music historian Peter Wadsworth. He told me that the exhibition was an extension of his PhD thesis, which is on the subject of Strawberry Studios.

For anyone who is interested in the history of music in the Manchester area, this exhibition is a must-see. And if like me, you lived through the Strawberry Studios era, and remember the artists and songs of that time, it will bring back many happy musical memories.

I am in Love – runs from 27th January 2017 until 29th January 2018. Stockport Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 11am-5pm. Entry to the exhibition is free. Stockport Museum is located at 30 Market Place, Stockport, SK1 1ES.  

Stockport Story / Stockport Museum

StoStrawberryExhib

Filed Under: Manchester, Music, Stockport Tagged With: Joy Division, Manchester music, recording studios, Stockport Cheshire

Early U2 Dublin Music Memories

2015-01-09 By Aidan O'Rourke

Bands from the late 70s Dublin music scene

Bands venues from late 70s Dublin music scene

My earliest memory of U2 is from 1978 when they played at a 24 hour music festival at the Project Arts Centre, which had recently opened in what’s now known as the Temple Bar district. The performance wasn’t very polished, but the band had lots of energy.

A new band named U2 had appeared on Dublin’s music scene. I first saw them at the Project Arts Centre duing 1978. They stormed onto a very high stage – I seem to remember staring at lead singer Paul Hewson’s pointed cowboy boots – and delivered a frenetic and bewildering set.

They had something, though I wasn’t quite sure what. The youthful lead singer with his ruddy cheeks, unfashionable medium length hair and tight trousers pranced around the stage yelling into the microphone. The vocals were haphazard – frequently out of tune and croaking in the upper registers. Each of the band members seemed to be pushing the pace of the music.

In the following year, U2 would go on to carve out a respectable following on the Dublin music scene. They often did lunchtime concerts at Trinity College, where I was a modern languages undergruate (1976 – 1981). At that time I’d taken to carrying a portable tape recorder around with me – the precursor of the walkman or boombox – and taped a lunchtime concert they did on the cricket field. I have since lost the tape recorder but I still have the tape. The sound is barely containable, the vocals still croaky in the upper registers, but there was an unmistakable energy there that just needed some channeling.

U2 up through the floorboards

U2 had common origins with the Virgin Prunes. I had also witnessed their concerts, recording the sound with my portable tape recorder, so that I knew their entire set by heart. In some respects I preferred them to U2 as they were very edgy and experimental.

Having seen the Virgin Prunes live several times and familiarised myself with their material, I had strong views about them. One day in the post office near Essex Street, not far from Trinity, I saw their lead singer Gavin Friday in his characteristic pale raincoat and white face powder. I seized the chance to talk to him and after introducing myself, I gave a full and frank appraisal of the music. He seemed to appreciate my interest and nodded attentively.

I was also acquainted with the Virgin Prunes bassist Dik, brother of the Edge. During 1979, Dik lived in the room directly below mine, 28.2.2. Trinity College, overlooking Front Square. I often used to hear the latest U2 and Virgin Prunes demo tapes coming up through the floor.

“Most people think it’s a song about a girl but actually it’s about his mammy”

I chatted to Dik a few times and occasionally went downstairs for a cup of tea and a chat. He also appreciated my interest in the Virgin Prunes. He told me a lot about U2 and Bono, including the fact that the song ‘I will follow’ was about Bono’s mother: “Most people think it’s a song about a girl but actually it’s about his mammy!”.

In bed at night, listening on headphones plugged into my portable tape recorder, I used to listen to Dave Fanning’s show on the fm pirate station Radio Dublin. The reception was hissy, but the music was great. He often played demo tapes by U2 and other bands. That was my third year at Trinity.

My second year at Trinity College – from October 1977 to June 1978 was an exciting and formative time. Punk rock had brought new energ to the Dublin music scene, which was stagnant when I arrived from Manchester in late 1976. Two years later, seemingly everyone seemed to be going to gigs and was in a band, either a real or supposed one.

The late Bill Graham Irish music journalist

An influential contact that time was the Irish music journalist Bill Graham. I often used to bump into him at various gigs, always dressed in a scruffy polo neck sweater, clutching a note pad and a packet of 20 Silk Cut cigarettes. Bill would enthuse about the lowliest and most obscure of Dublin bands as if he was giving a lecture on Jean Paul Sartre or W B Yeats. He had a genuine and passionate interest in music and local musicians. I felt lucky to have him as a friend. He would talk to me, stare at me with those wide, probing eyes set in a wide face, and listen intently to what I had to say about various bands.

Bill Graham is credited as being an early champion of U2. He introduced them to their manager Paul McGuinness and so helped to make rock history. Bill Graham went on to write many influential articles on music and other subjects for the Irish music magazine Hot Press. I was very sad to learn of his untimely death. He gave me confidence and inspiration which remain with me to this day.

Bewleys cafe Grafton Street

Playing as one of ‘The Sinners’

At this time I was experimenting with songwriting and played in a band. We did some Buzzcocks covers, plus a few of my embryonic songwriting attempts. The bass player was Fergus Nolan, a guy who seemed permanently half-asleep, but he was okay, we got on fine. I was on vocals and lead guitar. Two guys from north Dublin were on rhythm guitar and drums. The drummer’s name was Bernard, I can’t remember the guitarist’s name. We rehearsed in a ground floor room opposite the church on Westland Row, hence the name, chosen by Fergus, ‘The Sinners’.

We played a total of about three or four gigs, one of them at the Magnet, Pearse Street – Bill Graham came to see us – another in a rough club in the town of Banbridge north of the border. Our biggest and final gig was supporting the Buzzcocks at a venue I’ve forgotten the name of on Mary Street, off O’Connell Street on the north side of the river.

It was some time in 1979. Just before our final song, Fergus broke a bass string and I had to somehow keep the audience entertained until he returned with a new string, though the bass was badly out of tune. With the last song finished, I jumped back into the audience for the Buzzcocks gig, which was very enjoyable.

Playing with the Sinners was not the most satisfying creative experience, though it was good to spend time with people from outside Trinity. To be honest, as an arts undergraduate, I felt I didn’t have too much in common with them, but they were good guys and I wouldn’t have met them if it wasn’t for the vibrant music scene in Dublin at that time.

We once advertised for a lead singer, as I felt my vocals weren’t good enough. The ad mentioned Bowie as a musical influence, and a Bowie lookalike with crazed eyes – and from the town of Monasterevin – turned up at our meeting place, Bewleys on Grafton Street. We invited him to sing, but he didn’t stay with the band for long.

How I nearly joined ‘The Vipers’

In 1979 an opportunity to join a more successful band came up. One of the bands I regularly used to go and see was the Vipers, founded by Paul Boyle, a very talented songwriter and performer. I knew all their songs by heart, so when I auditioned to be bassist, they offered me the job on the spot.

But I had a dilemma. Should I quit university and go to London to seek fame and fortune with one of the most promising bands on the Dublin music scene, or should I stay at Trinity? I was lucky to have a generous grant from my home town Stockport and I was determined to finish my Modern Languages degree. I decided to stay.

The Vipers took on another bassist and I continued to enjoy their gigs and had no regrets. Then they went to London and I tuned into their session on John Peel’s radio programme. To think that could have been me helping to record it at the BBC studios in London. But then they disappeared and I never heard anything about them again.

Around six months later, in 1979, I bumped into the drummer on Griffith Avenue in north Dublin. The band had gone to London to seek fame and fortune on the music scene there, but things had not gone well. The band eventually split up and the various members returned to Dublin separately.

It seemed making it in the music business was a very dodgy and unpredictable affair. Many bands and artists desperately wanted to make it, yet very few of them ever did. DC Nien, Some Kind of Wonderful, U2, and from Cork, Micro Disney. I enjoyed all of them and got to know their songs very well, but which one of them was going to make it, if any?

One of the places I rehearsed with the Sinners was a room in a run down Georgian terraced house on the south east corner of Parnell Square, north of the river. I was friendly with the guy who ran the rehearsal room – John Breen (thanks to Peter Breen for contacting me in Nov 2007 to remind me of his name).

He was bright and had some very definite ideas about bands he thought were going to make it. He rated a new British band very highly. They were called ‘The Police’ and thought they’d go far. Another band he was keen on was one who also practiced in his rehearsal room.

The name of that band was U2. I said I’d heard a lot of their stuff and thought they were very talented, but, and these are the ‘famous last words’ I tell everyone – I didn’t think the lead singer was good enough for them to be successful. They had some good songs, but I felt he was very shaky in the high notes, and I reckoned that sadly they would find it difficult to get a recording contract. John Breen thought differently, predicting they would be very successful. The rest is history.

In Summer 1979 I left Dublin and the Sinners. They continued without me and achieved some success. There is a reference to the Sinners on the Discogs website. Do a search for ‘Aidan O’Rourke The Sinners band’.

From September 1979 to August 1980 I was in Berlin on my year abroad, and lost all contact with the Dublin music scene. By the time I was back, U2 were well on the way to success. They had secured a recording contract in early 1980. I had their first album ‘Boy’ on tape, in addition to earlier versions of the songs recorded off air from Radio Dublin. It was about this time I used to visit Dik in the room underneath me.

Liverpool to Dublin ferry Leinster arriving at Dublin Port

Very early one Sunday morning in around April 1981 I went out on my very first photographic expedition. I had with me an Olympus Trip which my friend Kieran Sheridan had kindly lent me.

I walked down from Trinity into the then undeveloped Docklands area by the River Liffey. In my head was the album ‘Boy’, the track ‘In the Eyes of a Child’ and the glowing, golden sound of the Edge’s guitar became fused with the sunrise over the Dublin docks and reflected on the side of the Liverpool ferry which had just arrived. A new decade was well underway, my university days were nearly over, a new era had dawned.

This is just a brief summary of my early U2 Dublin memories, many of which lie forgotten in my latent memory banks. Here are some of my other Irish music highlights:

  • Seeing the Clash play in the TCD exam Hall in 1978, where I later did my final examinations
  • Seeing the Damned play in a venue off Grafton Street the name of which I’ve forgotten.
  • Seeing the Boomtown Rats play the Trinity Freshers Ball in September 1976.
  • Recording the Virgin Prunes at a forgotten venue on Stephens Green, and other venues.
  • Travelling to Dun Laoghaire to see The Jam play at a dance hall venue, also unnamed.
  • Witnessing Eric Bell, the genius guitarist of early Thin Lizzy – the three piece – play a lunchtime gig at Trinity College during 1976.
  • Earlier in 1976 I also saw the Thin Lizzy – the four piece – play at the National Stadium on South Circular Road
  • Earlier in the 70s, my favourite Irish band was Horslips with their haunting and visually evocative album The Táin
    On summer holidays, at dances down the country where Irish showbands played, I used to go up and chat with the guitarist.

I’d just like to add my very earliest Irish music memory: Bringing home to Stockport and playing on the old Dansette record player a copy of ‘Folk Songs of Ireland’ by Irish traditional singer, musician and storyteller Seamus Ennis.

Regrets

U2 changed the way the world thought about Irish music. I’m glad that what is now my most vivid musical memory is the one of U2 playing the Project Arts Centre in 1978, and also three years later, taking photographs of the Dublin cityscape to a mental backdrop of U2’s music.

This was a groundbreaking, though not especially happy time for me. I had frustrated creative ambitions, and wasn’t lucky enough to find others who could help me achieve them. Musically I wanted to do something bigger, broader, more all encompassing than traditional rock music.

The fact is that U2 went on to do what I would like to have done. And what if they’d needed a bass player, auditioned me and invited me to join? Would I have turned them down to finish my degree?

I have one regret, and that is that I wasn’t taking photos of bands. At the time I wanted to be up there, playing the music myself, not on the sidelines. In any case there seemed to be very few people around me with a camera, still fewer taking photos at gigs. If I had been capturing my experiences on film, I would now have a prime collection, both from the Dublin scene and from the equally vibrant music scene in Manchester, my home city. But there’s no point in going on about regrets. My early U2 Dublin music memories will stay with me always, and I can at least share them here.

If anyone can provide the names of people or venues mentioned in this account, or have any corrections, comments or additions, please contact.

Thanks to Matt McGee for spurring me on to write this account.

Thanks to Kieran for lending me that camera.

Thanks to Bill Graham for providing me with some early encouragement and for helping to discover U2.


Responses to “Early U2 Dublin memories”

Aidan loved your site, brings back lot of memories, Dublin in the late 70s music-wise was a great place to be.

Me and my friends saw this guy walk into Advance records one HOT
summer day in a long trench coat once inside he took it off to reveal a leopoard skin jump suit. We gave him a laugh and left, only to see him on the Late Late Show a couple of months later ..it was Bono .

Been to McGonagles more times than I can remember but I do recall that
awful white wine Black Tower, that was where the Damned played.

Saw DC Nien support the Ian Gillan band back in 78 at UCD and Sonny
Condell supported them, best concert I ever went to, show started at midnight,
and all for the princely sum of 1 pound 50 p .

I was a neighbour of Sean Hines who played bass in the Strougers. Good
local band from the Navan Rd

Great site will refer my friends

Dotsy

Thanks very much for your great comments – they brought that time back to me as well. I was there when the Damned played McGonagles! I think I was probably drinking flat Harp lager! Very best wishes!


Sean Kenny

October 14th, 2006 01:26 e

Brilliant account Aidan. I must have been your shadow, having been at all the concerts you were at. Wish it could all happen again mate!


Dave

December 18th, 2006 17:21 e

http://punkmodpop.free.fr/vipers_pic.htm

for the rest of the vipers story


Bernard Walsh

February 16th, 2007 22:01

Hi Aidan, just stumbled onto your site, I am one of those northside blokes your played with in The Sinners the other was Tony Pugh.

Wow it’s great to hear from you, and as it turns out, Bernard has a site with his stills photography from various films, and the RTE soap opera Bachelor’s Walk. Go to www.albumen.net


europhile

March 20th, 2007 18:50

I think the venue on Wolfe Tone Street where you went to see The Buzzcocks might have been called Dingwall’s. It was pretty short-lived anyway.


bitzy

April 8th, 2007 19:18

Hi Aidan I was also at a lot of those gigs and my band the Strougers (Crap name, did ramones covers etc) played a half dozen gigs in the Dandelion Market way back then. In fact I reckon we supported the Sinners there too. I also think the Sinners played in The Ivy Rooms on Parnell st on the North side of Dublin. The Damned played in McGonagles on South Anne Street, The Jam played the Top Hat Dun Laoghaire, The Prunes played the Dandelion. Unfortunately i dont share your enthusiasm for U2 who we had the misfortune of playing with in the Dandelion in 1978. I know Tony Pugh your guitar player, last time I met him he was a DJ (a few years ago). The Count Bishops supported the Clash in Trinity and just like the GPO everybody was there ha ha. They were great days man.


The Strougers? My memory must be failing me but I don’t remember that name. I remember the Dandelion Market. The Ivy Rooms on Parnell Street? Any connection with the rehearsal room on Parnell Square? Yes, I remember the Damed at McGonagles, with the white faced lead singer prancing around from stage to speakers. Also remember the trek out to Dun Laoghaire to see The Jam – I would never have remembered the name the Top Hat. I saw the Prunes at McGonagles and also at a venue on Stephens Green, not Dandelion Market, but a big hall on the south side. Well, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about U2 in the early days! The Count Bishops – another name that has almost disappeared from my memory. I remember the Clash in the Exam Hall quite clearly. I was standing quite near the band at the top. I was standing very close to Joe Strummer. Damn, if only I’d been taking photos then. I just wish I could turn back the clock!
Thanks very much for contacting.


bitzy

April 9th, 2007 14:53

Hi again just to let you know that there is a guy in Dublin that is putting a book together about the punk/new wave scene in Dublin plus other cultural/musical phenomenon eg, skins/mods/hippies etc. from way back when. He has spoken with me and other geezers who were active on the punk scene in Dublin in the 70’s. He is still looking for photos/anecdotes/stories etc. His name is Gary and his e-mail address is cru71@hotmail.com
PS. There is a website that features most of the irish punk/new wave bands from that era plus the 80’s. The strougers and the sinners are included. Its a step down memory lane
The website is www.angelfire.com/indie/irish/_punk_wave/index.html

Thanks very much, I will contact Gary. It was a great time, but I’m not sure if I would like to relive all of it.


europhile

May 8th, 2007 09:03

If I recall correctly, The Clash also did a matinee before the evening gig in the Exam Hall.
ALSO, the Ivy Rooms went on to become Fibber’s. It was a real hellhole.


Peter Breen

Nov 1 2007 19.00

I well remember those days my brother John Breen had rehearsal rooms on Mountjoy Square a full Georgian house remodelled and soundproofed with sand from Dollymount in the sash windows. He also played with a band called the School Kids with Dave Lee on vocals. Lots of bands rehearsed there Rocky de Valera , the Atrix, U2 and so many more that I cannot remember. Heady days to be sure

Keep on rockin

Peter Breen

Yes, I remember your brother very well indeed, and that fateful conversation about U2’s chances of getting a record deal – a very switched on guy


Hi Aidan
You asked for some info for names or places you couldn’t remember.
The Venue you saw the Jam at was .. The Top Hat Dun Laoghaire .. We
played support to both .. The Jam and The Clash at The Top Hat.

Take Care

Charlie Hallinan .. Ex Drummer Berlin

Great to hear from you. It was a long trek out to Dun Laoghaire, but worth it!


Great site. I was one of them punk rockers in that time. The Dando market, hangin outside Advance Records South William Street. That band the Strougers I remember the lead singer wore a pair of teddy boy shoes. There was the band Sidefx. Rocky was the bass player. The band the Threat the lead singer was Morris. The Damned played McGonagles as the Doomed. Drinking cider in the green. Way back in the day in a simplier time..r.i.p Lenny who we lost at Slane Castle 1984.
Gradlaw

I still have no recollection at all of the Strougers! – I remember the Damned at McGonagles quite clearly, the white-faced lead singer prancing up onto the speakers and all around the venue. I don’t think there were many people at that concert. I also saw the Virgin Prunes at McGonagles and recorded the entire set on my bulky portable tape recorder and radio. I still have that recording somewhere, along with the ones of U2.


Aidan,

I enjoyed your piece on Dublin music scene in the late 70s, brought back some great memories. McGonagles, Toners, Bruxelles, the Buttery and a bunch of other places I have long forgotten. If you haven’t been to this website there is loads of band info from that time http://www.irishrock.org/index.html

Here’s what I remember:

The Dandelion Market, Sir Walter Raleighs for rainbow skins, The Alchemists Head to get copies of the Freak brothers magazines, seeing U2 and The Atrix (I think I still have a copy of “Treasure on the Wasteland”) for 50p in the underground parking lot off Stephens Green, Hijax wine bar on O’Connell street to score hash, Saturday nights in Bruxelles followed by McGonagles and walking home because both of the cities Taxis were nowhere to be found. Having “One from the wood” in the snug at Kehoes, Reggae at the TV Club on Fridays, sneaking in a take out 6 pack to The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Stella (Midnight Express and Taxi driver in Cork), Abracababra at 2.00 in the morning, the Rock in Stephens Green, outrage when a pint went over a quid, The diary of Adrian Mole on the radio, the Letters of Henry Root, Mulligans for the best pints, John Cooper Clarke, Micro Disney, Firstenberg and Colt 45, 24 hour shop in Rathgar, Johnny Foxes during mushroom season, rat fink Haughey, the 5000 quid giveaway on Radio Nova, Nova Park, “Ta said ag teacht” Arran island Guinness ad, Wine coolers, Snake bites, Durban poison (yeah!), nightclubs on Lesion St., The Pink Bicycle…
Don’t remember much else but a good time was had by all!

The attached was a great gig.

Cheers for stirring the memories

Dermot Houston

That’s fantastic, thanks – I remember quite a few but not all of what you mentioned! Funny how each of us has our own ‘version’ of how things were. Many thanks for contacting and sending the poster!

Filed Under: Dublin, Music Tagged With: Adam Clayton, Bono Dublin, Bono young, Dublin music, Dublin music scene, Dublin rock, early U2, Larry Mullen, late 70s Dublin music, Paul Heuston, punk bands Dublin, U2 before they were famous, U2 fans, U2 The Edge

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