Does anyone remember these Manchester DJ's ?

[westernplumber]

Just for info, Cruz101 are having an old-school hiNRG night on Fri 19th Dec

[metalbearuk]

Just found this thread whilst googling Roy Stanier, just seeing if he was still running Music Beat, so sad to hear the news he's not longer with us.

Starting off with my earliest memories of moving to Manchester, I went to Hero's a couple of tmes, but it felt like it was in it's death throes, busy for a while, but then it seemed like people went elsewhere, and they did as I found out....

I am told that Hero's used to have a hot tub or pool when it was in it's prime, but saw no evidence of it on my visits, but do recall lot's of tubular steel framework.

I assume it was Les Cokell DJ'ing, but to be honest can't remember(too many Breaker's!!)

I used to go to Stuffed Olives as well which was a venue everyone used to go too between the pubs and a club, so got busy from sort of 11- midnight.

My main memory of the place was it was where I first and only heard Al Corley's 'Square Rooms' played.

Plus the fact it was a good fifteen minute walk away form the village being situated off King Street, but it was next door to Hero's and on the way to The Archway.

When I discovered that The Archway was where people had been disappearing to, I could understand why.

You could hear the music pounding through the doors of this railway arch, and the smell of alcohol, tobacco and poppers really hit you in the face when you walked in!

One visit and I was hooked, so hooked in fact, I got a bar job there.

The guys who ran it(and I thought owned it, but an earlier poster says differently)Wayne and Harry were nice enough guys, and made me feel welcome, but boy did I work hard behind that bar!

We used to open on a Sunday lunch from 1 until about 5 and that was a killer as I hadn't usually got home until 5am!

Having said that the Sunday afternoon sessions were some of the best times ever, a completely different atmosphere ot the very cruisy Saturday nights.

The DJ in charge of the madness was Roy Stanier, and he played the whole gamut of Euro and Hi Nrg, and was indeed a brilliant mixer, there were never any gaps or jumps, the dancefloor was never less than packed, uncomfortably so at times.

For me this was the best club ever in Manchester, and nothing has come close since.

I could waffle on for hours, but I won't!

An earlier poster said they had difficulty getting into the club as they were dressed wrongly for the club, and I find this really surprisng, as Harry used to DJ early on in the evenings for the alternative crowd who were regulars there.

Finally, I'm pretty sure that The Archway were the first Manchester club to do an AIDS benefit, I've got the programe of events somewhere, and I know for a fact there was (or even more frighteningly is!) footage of me doing 'Bobby's Girl' out there........

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by metalbearuk

When I discovered that The Archway was where people had been disappearing to, I could understand why.

You could hear the music pounding through the doors of this railway arch, and the smell of alcohol, tobacco and poppers really hit you in the face when you walked in!

You're so right metalbear! I didn't live in Manchester back then & I remember parking my Fiat Panda () & walking past the queue of kids for the Hacienda & getting butterflies in my tummy when I heard the pounding hi-nrg beat of the Archway & ringing the bell to be let in. It's such a pity that since I've actually lived in manchester there hasn't been a club with that level of excitement, & I've been to most of 'em! I wished I'd appreciated that whole hi-nrg scene more at the time, I just thoght it would be around forever but it was all gone so quickly.

[metalbearuk]

SandraDee, they were indeed special times.

What gets on my nerves is hearing people slagging those times off, and saying how the music sucks and isn't relevant any more.

Well, I don't go out as much any more as the music being played at present for the most part sucks to my ears, and the one place that was OK to go to (for someone of my advancing years!) Legends is dying a death.

I still like The Tunnel once in a while, but it's not the same when there's one or two people on the dance floor, as opposed to the few hundred there used to be.

I'm just glad I was there.

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by metalbearuk

I'm just glad I was there.

Me too mb! At least we have the memories & the music at home to listen to.

[westernplumber]

I usually only go to the Tunnel bar at Legends during a special do, eg Mardi Gras/Pride etc, when it's packed to bursting and the drinks are cheap!

Cruz still does it for me on the nights when DJ Almighty Donald is on the decks, all hi-nrg mixes of old and new stuff, though more modern stuff than old!

i knew Roy very well from 1988 to 1992 or so when he dj'd in Excalibur (owned by Bob (passed a good few years ago now) and Ray) in Stoke On Trent, or Hanley to be more precise. His then partner Chris ran the record shop in the club for him. After that he moved to Mates

Excalibur, Mates and The Club are all names for the same place under different owners; after Colin Murphy was murdered it's back in gay ownership though they have a disparate mix of straight and gay DJ's which makes the music rather hit and miss and the clientele very mixed str8/gay/student.

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by westernplumber

Colin Murphy was murdered.

How awful. Where & when did this happen? I used to live in North Staffs & was often at the various incarnations of the gay club in the late 80s/early 90s.

[westernplumber]

How awful. Where & when did this happen

It must be around 1996! Colin was from Manchester (Salford?) I think, one night he was followed home and mugged in his driveway, he died of his injuries and the story was on the front pages of the local paper the Sentinel. ('12 jobs under threat as city nightspot boss dies')...or something like that. Only a few months before, the paper had run a paragraph on the imminent closure of the venue due to lack of customers. Ironic.

This was when the aforementioned club was called 'Mates'; after a short period under lease the place was bought by a gay entrepreneur from Yorkshire who'd made his money running a landscaped caravan park in Thirsk. He renamed it 'The Club', installed his Park Manager and boyfriend to manage the place and invested a much-needed large amount in renovating the place, (Colin had run the place on a shoestring); and the place got busier and busier, having Saturday PA's from people like Deuce, Steps, Pete Burns and Jane MacDonald. It's under the same ownership today and the original manager ('Ruby') is now his business partner, they also own the nearby gay pub 'the three tuns' and there's a discrete & secure walkway between the two venues.

Since becoming 'The Club' they've had various DJ's both good and bad; including resident gay couples Mike and Rob ('Berta'), Alan & Andy, Pussy & Rick, and various comeday-go day people from within and outside of the scene.

Like many places, footfall numbers are on the wain at the moment and the place operates a 'cheap' or 'free' bar with a larger initial entry fee to ensure reasonable turnout.

http://www.theclub-stoke.co.uk

P.S. No I dont work there! But I've been around the block in Stoke ;-)

[totouk]

I used to live in Stoke from 1985 to 1996 and lived around the corner from "the Club", the gay club in Stoke has had a number of names over the years, even a couple of locations but it was always known as the club, which I always found quite endearing. I had a lot of very fond memories of my time there and the people I knew and the music that was played.

Its good to know it is still going, I still have a few friends there but none that go out clubbing these days. I went once about 8 or 9 years ago and didn't seem to know anyone there, people had moved on (some to Manchester). The walkway between the two was something new to me, I only ever knew that walk from the bar to the club, which was no distance.

I can't remember the names of people there other than I recall Ruby, who used to be the glass collector many years ago before the transformation into drag queen/manager.

toto

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by totouk

even a couple of locations but it was always known as the club

Yes, for a couple of years it was located in Glass Street (the old Roxy roller disco if I remember correctly!) in Hanley before it went back to the old 'Robateaux' location (Hill Street?). My main memory of the Glass Street club was the only time I ever went clubbing in drag (hard to believe I know!) when I went as Lily Savage (big at the time) on New Years eve & I remember throwing up due to drinking so much as I was so nervous! (I'm not proud of it.) I preferred the Hill Street location, especially when it first opened in the late 80s with Cissy & Belinda in the little bar upstairs. (that Belinda had all the gossip on everyone!)