I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar... which cocktail bar?

[Parapou 10]

The famous opening line of the song is often misquoted; it was actually originally "I was working as a cocktress in a Waitail bar" and refers to something else entirely.

 

Back in 1980, it was quite popular in the rougher area of Sheffield to hold illegal cockfighting competitions in the beer garden, and to ensure they were in top condition for the fights, the barmaids of the pub would each be assigned a **** to look after, hence they became known locally as "cocktresses".

The Waitail pub chain flourished around the same time, and was so called as they employed as few barstaff as possible, thus anyone ordering a drink had to queue up for a long wait and eventually the queue would stretch out of the bar like a tail would stratch out of a rat's body. Hence the words Wait and Tail were combined into the singular Waitail. It's thought that Suzanne Sulley out of the Human League briefly held the position of cocktress at the now-vanished Waitail bar in Neepsend.

 

 

I always thought it was WaitAle, beacuse you had to wait for your ale.

 

Not to be confused with WeightAle, which was the drinks dept of the much missed "Scoop Weigh & Save" shops, the ones that had dustbins full of coco pops, dried fruit and sugar and you helped yourself, scooping what you wanted into a bag and paid for the weight in your bag.

 

In WeightAle you could once buy a stone of Stones, but the company were accused of profiteering at metrication when they charged the same for a kilo of Kelham.

[BasilRathbon 10]

I always thought it was WaitAle, beacuse you had to wait for your ale.

 

Not to be confused with WeightAle, which was the drinks dept of the much missed "Scoop Weigh & Save" shops, the ones that had dustbins full of coco pops, dried fruit and sugar and you helped yourself, scooping what you wanted into a bag and paid for the weight in your bag.

 

In WeightAle you could once buy a stone of Stones, but the company were accused of profiteering at metrication when they charged the same for a kilo of Kelham.

 

Sometimes real life is stranger than fiction. Just having read your post I discovered an email from the Kelham Brewery stating that their seasonal ale for June is going to be called "WaitAle" and is described as "a dark beer with a hint of honey flavour. It has the characteristic bitterness of a porter and a deep dark brown colour. Brewed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the closure of the last pub in the Waitail chain, this beer should be on sale at the usual local outlets."

[Deepak_S7 10]

I never made the Crazy Daisy (too young LOL) but I saw Susan Sulley at the Cricketers in Totley last night

[BasilRathbon 10]

I never made the Crazy Daisy (too young LOL) but I saw Susan Sulley at the Cricketers in Totley last night

 

If you see her again, why not ask her about her days as a cocktress? I'm sure she'll be only too happy to talk about it!

[wolfstalin 10]

I never made the Crazy Daisy (too young LOL) but I saw Susan Sulley at the Cricketers in Totley last night

 

I remember her well, she had a very sexy little dance routine where she would wriggle slowly like a snake and run her hands down her body when she wanted to get you going.

[jibbs1977 10]

I can remember when I was younger going car washing with my mate near where I lived and wel knocked on the door knowing the human league lived there on ecclesawl rd south, and I nearly past out when one of the female singers came with just her dressing gown on I nearly died and went to heaven .

[Charlie Chuck 10]

Does anybody remember the Saturday dinner sessions where the music was themed around Bowie and Roxy Music with artist like Lou Reed and Iggy Pop mixed in between,remember Mick Ronson's Billy Porter been a big favourite, Sailors Glass of champagne also comes to mind. First up on the dance floor was a guy famously known as Mad Rodger, but as the beer flowed he was soon joined as the dance floor got packed, remember the girls doing a certain dance move to the Bowie and Roxy tracks played. Like most of the best clubs, it was in the basement,dark, quite long and fairly narrow with a bar at each end and the dance floor iin the middle and who can forget Daisy's pantry. I seem to remember the same thing happen'd on Wednesday nights also,think it was these Bowie/Roxy themes that attracted guys like Phill Oakey to the Daisy with the eye make up on, great times everybody up for the fun of it all, still wouldn't go a miss these days as that music is still played today, ageless.

[Carborundum 10]

So we seem to have firmly established that it was not Dempseys cocktail bar that was the inspiration for the song .... perhaps I'll bring out a new one then ...

 

"I was working as a Bar bitch at the end of the Moor .....

 

...That much is true !!!! ....

 

Now five years later on I have a much better face, amazing what botox can do .....

 

DONT ... DONT you taunt me !!!......"

 

etc etc fill in the blanks ..

[pete_jim 10]

So we seem to have firmly established that it was not Dempseys cocktail bar that was the inspiration for the song .... perhaps I'll bring out a new one then ...

 

"I was working as a Bar bitch at the end of the Moor .....

 

...That much is true !!!! ....

 

Now five years later on I have a much better face, amazing what botox can do .....

 

DONT ... DONT you taunt me !!!......"

 

etc etc fill in the blanks ..

 

 

That's just brilliant!

[shullie 10]

Does anybody remember the Saturday dinner sessions where the music was themed around Bowie and Roxy Music with artist like Lou Reed and Iggy Pop mixed in between,remember Mick Ronson's Billy Porter been a big favourite, Sailors Glass of champagne also comes to mind. First up on the dance floor was a guy famously known as Mad Rodger, but as the beer flowed he was soon joined as the dance floor got packed, remember the girls doing a certain dance move to the Bowie and Roxy tracks played. Like most of the best clubs, it was in the basement,dark, quite long and fairly narrow with a bar at each end and the dance floor iin the middle and who can forget Daisy's pantry. I seem to remember the same thing happen'd on Wednesday nights also,think it was these Bowie/Roxy themes that attracted guys like Phill Oakey to the Daisy with the eye make up on, great times everybody up for the fun of it all, still wouldn't go a miss these days as that music is still played today, ageless.

 

I remember... and then all across to Walshes/House of Frazer/ now TJ Hughes upstairs cafe to drink coffee and pose! ( It was 'posh' in those days!...)

[wolfstalin 10]

I remember... and then all across to Walshes/House of Frazer/ now TJ Hughes upstairs cafe to drink coffee and pose! ( It was 'posh' in those days!...)

 

Yes, and they had great sausage rolls for those of us who actually had a few bob, I remember more than a few would sit for ages with one cup of coffee between two people.

[Alastair 12]

Not at all, a very select and fashion leading establishment of the avant-garde...your 'pint of Stones or Tetley bittermen' did not frequent this place, it was more pernod sipping and wine glass crowd......a little pretentious but not too extreme. I met Phil Oakey in there a few times, along with members of ABC, a well known 80's Sheffield band, and I think some of Heaven 17 were there too at various times.

 

It was THE place to name drop and be 'seen' with the 'right' (indie) people. for a while anyway. Only in the late 80's did it turn into a complete dive and fill up with your Embrace type crowd.....

 

It was a dive when I went in the late 70's/early 80's. Or maybe you didn't meet the smack addicts and speed freaks who frequented the place?