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Working Men's Clubs in Sheffield

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The land lord at the loco club was John Broadley.

I remember the minah bird and the old geezer on the door with the cap.

the open plan stairs up to the concert room.

The trips to mablethorpe already mentioned by Col as i was always sick on the return journy because of the bottle of orange on the coach.

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Originally posted by superCol

Amazing. There were some good acts on the club circuit, then! Most of the ones that I saw where dismal. Most of the crowd were waiting for the bingo (as far as I remember). I didn't play that, rather spend my money on beer.

 

My mother used to like some bloke that sang a bit like Perry Como, can't remember his name. Used to turn up at the Loco Club (Woodside) about 2 or 3 times a year.

 

Anybody else remember the Loco Club? Or howabout that one at the bottom of Fife Street in Wincobank? What was it called? (No, not the conservative club).

 

Wasn't it amazing, the number of places you could get in to with a club card. Shame the birds didn't see it the same way.

wincobank a blackburn

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Originally posted by pitsmoorlad

Comedians at the clubs. Knutty, Ron Delta, Pat McCluskey, Barton Brothers, Tony Whyte, Marti Caine, Stan Richards, a weird bloke called John Paul Jones, I'm sure there's more that others can suggest.

Strippers were always called Miss X.

 

Oh, god! dont remind me about the "miss x" 's at the clubs.

 

Way, way back, when I was a kid, of about eight, my dad had suggested a rare treat of a family trip to the WMC, and seeing a "turn", one Sunday lunchtime.

 

So we brought out the "bible",:- the "Our Clubs" booklet, (published every week with the comprehensive lists of every local club, and what "turn" would be on, and when.)

 

I was reading through it, and pointed to one club's listing.

 

"Hey, Daddy!" I said. "The *insert name of club here* has Miss X on, shall we go and see her?"

 

Well....... you could have heard the eruption in moscow!

 

daddy went ballistic. no scratch that! Daddy went *Intercontinentally* ballistic.

 

don't understand why...

 

PT

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me and my friend used to follow a male group called Smart Ass around all the clubs.we loved em.That was the 80's.there were some good groups around then.We saw Billy pearce a couple of times too.

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Originally posted by fuddyduddy

Anyone remember The Our Clubs booklet in the sixties and seventies it held all the concert nights of the clubs in the Sheffield area.There were the big clubs :Dial House ,Smithywood,Manor,

Arundel,St Phillips and the small ones: La Plata,Hartley House.

A group could have a full diary for the year and never go out of the area there was so many.

I remember seeing Bitter Suite at the Dial House when they had the brass section,wow what a full sound when they played numbers such as "Breaking Down theWalls of Heartache" .At the

Hillfoot Club I remember the "Vantennas" coming on to the high stage such an unassuming bunch of lads far different from the pop star image of the Suite but boy what a sound they dished out from "Penny Lane" to the vocally testing "Good Vibrations".

One incident I remember was one Saturday night in 1967

at Tinsley WMC .The concert room was full to bursting at 8:00pm

but the group had not arrived from the Birminghamarea,Suddenly they arrived for some reason brought the gear through the audience pushing and knocking the audience about .By this time the audience had taken an intense dislike to their would be entertainers and the chairman was in two minds whether to let them on or not.Anyway by 08:30 they were on .An unusual group

who decided to utilize the clubs grand piano but adding a small keyboard of there own underneath.The keyboard player proceeded not to play but to explain to the audience that the small keyboard was called a "Mellotron" consisting of loops of tape and pressing the keys a string sound was heard this was to prove they hadn't a tape recorder under their sleeve.The audience was not impressed familiar cries of "get on with it" were

heard around the room and I feared the worst for the group.Then they at last started to play ,for all the world it sounded like Mantovani and his orchestra was up there not four lads the tune was "Theme from a Summer Place" .I looked around the room it was just like that film "The Producers" with the musical Spingtime for Hitler. Jaws dropped audience aghast.When they finished the number there was total silence then as one the audience were on there feet clapping and shouting for more ,all was forgiven Musical technology had arrived in Tinsley!!

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I remember hillfoot WMC. we used to go on daytrips to cleethorpes as my father was a member. i also remember a few club turns from the late 60s. frankenstein and the munsters (Ray Stuart) who has since died. the daisies. johnnie calendar group, the O'haras playboys, the new formula. frank White Band, and many more. I also used to go to the black swan to see club acts when Terry Steeples had it and before that in 1968 to the canon hall and the warncliffe at firth park

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Originally posted by katrina

I remember hillfoot WMC. we used to go on daytrips to cleethorpes as my father was a member. i also remember a few club turns from the late 60s. frankenstein and the munsters (Ray Stuart) who has since died. the daisies. johnnie calendar group, the O'haras playboys, the new formula. frank White Band, and many more. I also used to go to the black swan to see club acts when Terry Steeples had it and before that in 1968 to the canon hall and the warncliffe at firth park

 

I thought that Ray Stuart was the brains behind 'Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt Kickers?' (the group who did "The Monster Mash")

 

I remember Ray Stuart's jingle on the radio,It used to make me smile every time I heard it

 

It consisted of the opening bars of "the crazy world of Arthur Brown" 's song "Hellfire!". (or "Fire" or whatever it was called)

it went

 

{song}" I am the god of hellfire and I bring you........."

 

{ordinary voice}"Ray Stuart"

PT

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Anyone remember Octopus from the 70's.they were really heavy for working mens clubs ,but had a massive following.Used to play a lot of Yes stuff as well as there own,also brought an album out.When they packed up, the drummer joined Mungo Jerry,but the singer Paul Giggs who was the driving force behind the band changed direction completely and joined Guys and Dolls,how naff was that .

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Me and my mates used to go to the Philadelphia club to see the strippers.(at 18 you do these things). Most memorable was one who started in a cat suit, complete with tail, and near the end of the show pushed both boobs into a bowler hat and sang " I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts". The image has stayed with me all these years. Talent like that should always be appreciated.

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Guest poppins

MY DAD USE TO GO TO SHEFFIELD LANE TOP PUB, IT WAS HIS SECOND HOME, TOOK BETS FROM THERE ON THE HORSES, HAD A NICE LITTLE BUISNESS FROM THAT, TILL HE GOT CAUGHT !

THEN DEVENSHIRE ARMS BECAME HIS NEXT HOME, ONLY SAW HIM WHEN WE TOOK BOTTLES BACK, HAD TO BE 50 YEARS AGO.

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Is there anyone who used to go to the A.E.U. Club on audition nights and see the new act's Auditioning for the Concert Sec's trying to get work on the Sheffield Club circuit..Some were awfull and some were great..I remember the club was a bit of a dump no carpets just sawdust, and beer was served with a rubber hosepipe.

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I use to go to Midhill club around the mid 60's and went out with one of the comittee members daughters he was Fred Widgoose and his daughter was Susan she moved somewhere on Norfolk Park I think! Seen her brother John on the odd occasion.

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