Completely RANDOM things about Brighton & Hove...

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Bradx, i was at that Stranglers gig too!

 

[Gwylan]

Who remembers The Stranglers playing The Buccaneer? The place was completely packed (I'm sure it breached fire regulations).

I also remember the Tom Robinson Band playing there to an audience of 15 people ... I counted them. About a month later, they had a hit with 2-4-6-8 Motorway and the next time I saw them they were playing in front of several hundred.

 

[bradx]

Don't remember The Stranglers at the Buccaneer but used to go down there a bit in the 70s as my mate's band used to play there quite often. They were called Sharafia in case anyone remembers them. Their biggest claim to fame was supporting Showaddywaddy in Hastings around 1978. Hmmm.
Anyway - the Buccaneer had loads of boxing memorabilia upstairs as I recall.

Other gigs from the 70s I remember.... these ones from the Dome .... which used to put on a lot more concerts than they do nowadays...
Peter Gabriel 1977 - when he used a radio mic to go round the venue... appearing upstairs right in front of where we were sitting, still singing.
Steve Hillage 1977 - yeah man... well .... even tho we were into punk we still liked bands like Gong.
Small Faces 1977. Great to see Steve Marriott and the lads. Can't remember much about it tho alas.

Another all-time fantastic gig was the Clash at the Top Rank Suite 1980. Genuinely exciting live band. Pete Townshend came on for a bit with them.

1977 onwards the Top Rank Suite used to have great reggae nights on a Thursday with all the big stars from Jamaica appearing every week. Saw Dillinger, Culture, Gregory Isaacs, Burning Spear, Ranking Dread, The Gladiators and others I can't now recall. The promoter was a guy called Colin Matthews who put on loads of good gigs around Brighton during this era and into the 80s.

To Freddie Goodwin ..... if you get hold of a live Stranglers DVD issued a few years back .... which features a gig in France at a festival around 1978 you can relive the Brighton Centre experience as the VERY SAME strippers are on the DVD!!
One would have to be a bit sad (like me) perhaps to get any type of thrill from this (in view of the kind of thing you can see at any time now on the internet).... but it still gave me a little erotic charge to view it anyway.

Perhaps I'm revealing too much about my pathetically sad psyche at this point so will close here for now )

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

I seem to recall The Tubes also had a stripper at their Brighton gig.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Is there a pub in Brighton that has a bar billiards table?

 

[saltdeanseagull1]

the strange concrete structures (statues??) in the old churchill square.

 

[Silveraven]

Remember Dogma fanzine?

Nope, doesn't ring a bell.... sorry! It was a one-horse town as you describe but I wasn't in the centre of the heaving metropolis.... I lived on the edge (not metaphorically.... although now I come to think of it, I did a bit I suppose).... nearer to Hassocks anyway. Went to Hassocks County Secondary 73 - 77 (later known as Downlands) .... a bit of a rough place but I believe its quite a good school these days.

I just remembered yet another record shop by the way - Polysound in Gardner Street. Run by the bearded John who I still see around town. It was a chart shop.... late 70s > early 80s. Didn't last too long in the scheme of things.

Might move onto to memorable gigs at some stage..... here's a couple to be going on with.... The Stranglers at the Brighton Centre 1978 on the Nice n' Sleazy tour. When they brought the strippers on (proper strippers not dodgy dancers) my 17 year old eyes popped out of my head. Corks!

The Birthday Party at Xtremes at the New Regent in 1981. Wow. Intense and edgy performance from a young Nick Cave on his 1st trip to England I believe. He ended up living down here of course.
Who remembers the New Regent anyway? A good place to see bands. Very lowlit inside... all red with a small stage and dancefloor and booths for the early birds. Its now Walkabout... I think that's where it was. Saw quite a few bands down there like Aztec Camera, Blurt, Blue Orchids, (missed the Fall alas). Local support was from bands like Birds With Ears, Carved to a Noise... or Full Moon through Glass perhaps.

Wow, what a memory you have for record shops! I'd forgotten the guy in The Cottage having a plastic hand, and ta for reminding me of John in Polysound - a thoroughly sound geezer I seem to remember.
One thing I think you got slightly wrong: pretty sure it was New Moon Through Glass, not Full Moon - but hey!
I was the bass player of later incarnations of Carved to a Noise and have just found that keyboard player Ric has uploaded the video we did with Antimo Rivetti, our manager, who went on to do same for Curiosity Killed the Cat. I can't post links here, but a search on YouTube for Carved to a Noise should pull it up.

I wonder whether you or anyone remembers the fanzine 'Dogma' from around those times ('82 probably). Me and and friend now living in Oz put it together using the Resource Centre's old Gestetner/Roneo machine. It ran for four issues and included interviews with the wonderfully warm-hearted Clare Grogan/Altered Images and the distinctly a***y Nick Cave, probable done just before the Birthday Party gig you mentioned.
Running the fanzine was a great for blagging our way into gigs in exchange for writing a review and listing forthcoming gigs. We'd sell mags whilst there to fund our nightly beer and kebab habit. Good times!
If you or anyone has any copies of Dogma in their archives I'd love to hear from you!

 

[Silveraven]

Well blow me - I was sitting in the row just in front of where Gabriel started singing with his radio mic - fantastic night!

 

[Goring Gull]

Hotshots Ten-Pin bowling / Arcade down North Street.

I remember the happy hour was it 7-8 on a saturday £1 a pint or something? It was always busy so i could never understand why it shut down. Underage drinking was the only reason i could think of.

 

[Silveraven]

Louis Tussauds as I recall.

Does anyone remember the tiny shop round the corner on the Steine that was run by one of the Petulengro's the fortune teller/Clairvoyants? Eva, was it? I remember when, after it had been closed down for a while, some wit wrote with their finger in the dust on the window: 'closed due to unforeseen circumstances'... Well it made me laugh.

 

[mune ni kamome]

The Missus is correct Dave. the 11 was originally in Brighton & Hove Red and cream colours. The 12 as now is the Brighton to Eastbourne route originally run by Southdown , green and cream colours.

Weren't they the 110 and 111 back in the 60's with 108 109 for Moulscoomb

 

[Danny 4]

The old boy who used to carry a tape recorder and dance in his suit outside the front of the old churchill sq in the mid 90s.

 

[Gwylan]

Anyone remember the blind harpist who used to busk in town? There used to be a painting of him hanging in the old library but that's disappeared now.

No-one I know seems to remember the fella - I think he died about 1967/68 - but he was a well-known local character.

 

[BHAFC_Pandapops]

Hmmm? Wasn't that David Rose and I'm sure it was another shop that didn't actually stock any sports stuff apart from these track suits and custom team kits.

Getting these tracksuits was the only reason why I went to Nevill Rd but I used to go to David Rose (when it was at the dials) loads.

dave died, didnt he?

 

[Mackenzie]

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but does anyone remember the public baths in Park Street (by the bus station, just down the road from Queens Park junior school). These were still in operation (just) when I was at Queens Park in the late 70's/early 80's. Its strange to think these days that you might not necessarily have a bath or shower in your house, and would have to go to one of these places to bathe.........I was fascinated by this place as a child, I can remember the geometric tiles and the price list hanging in the foyer (shampoo 5p, towel 5p etc).....was there a scene in a public bath in the film Quadrophenia?

 

[mune ni kamome]

While still at school I worked at Joe Lyons corner house at the bottom of St. James's Street, later renamed Jolyon, collecting the used crockery and on the tea machine. Place was full of lonely old ladies who would buy a tea and sit there all day. 40 years on I still recoil in horror at mustard pots after spending hours refilling them. My nose would be streaming yellow for days afterwards.

 

[Gwylan]

While still at school I worked at Joe Lyons corner house at the bottom of St. James's Street, later renamed Jolyon, collecting the used crockery and on the tea machine. Place was full of lonely old ladies who would buy a tea and sit there all day. 40 years on I still recoil in horror at mustard pots after spending hours refilling them. My nose would be streaming yellow for days afterwards.

I worked there as my Saturday job (missing the horrors of the 72-73 season and the 8-2 defeat by the Gas). I used to stink of grease when I got home.

The real horror was checking the loos to make that the smackheads hadn't a) died or b) left their needles there

 

[mune ni kamome]

I worked there as my Saturday job (missing the horrors of the 72-73 season and the 8-2 defeat by the Gas). I used to stink of grease when I got home.

The real horror was checking the loos to make that the smackheads hadn't a) died or b) left their needles there

It would have been 1969/70 when I was there. Groups of skinheads would come in on Saturdays and remove cakes and sandwiches from the front shop before moving on to the football. I was 15 and couldn't wait to join them

 

[mune ni kamome]

This has reminded me of Curtess's the shoe shop in St James's St. If you couldn't afford real leather shoes you could get cheaper plastic versions there.

 

[Gwylan]

It would have been 1969/70 when I was there. Groups of skinheads would come in on Saturdays and remove cakes and sandwiches from the front shop before moving on to the football. I was 15 and couldn't wait to join them

Just before me then. It was one of the grimmest places I've ever worked but it did provide me with my first ever wage packet.