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Some notorious Luton Punk venues from the 70's and 80's.
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PJ
King of Chav's
King of Chav's


Joined: 04 Apr 2004
Posts: 148

PostPosted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 6:25 pm    Post subject: captain chaos Reply with quote

Did fred lay one on the captain for messing up the lights?? Razz
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werewolf
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Posts: 1240
Location: Luton UK

PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:19 am    Post subject: Ceaser's Reply with quote

Ceaser's

Yes he probablly did!
Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
He has never been able to walk straight since!
Rolling Eyes Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2005 8:49 am    Post subject: luton Reply with quote

[/b] please can you put a pic of 18 stuart street
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Chriss
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Joined: 21 Apr 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That was a cracking read! - I was / am slightly too young to see UK Decay - although I have got the Black Cat ep.

I was one of the next generation Luton Indie-Goth kids. 1983-Present!

Attended Elephant & Tassle 'Switch' / Blocker’s Gigs / Brickies / Karma Sutra Library Theatre Gig / Five O ‘Switch’ / 33 events etc…

Anyone remember the short lived ‘Upside Down’ Event @ Ronnelles, that me & Jo started? That’s before the manager raised the nightly hire price too high and Bernie & Nick moved the Switch there.

Anyway I think you understated the relevance of The George in the mid to late eighties – used to be rammed to the gills with us lot, crimped hair, pointy boots etc. Remember sitting outside in Summer & even the Street outside was packed. So I think the Station steps are worthy of being included. Piccie is L-R me Mitch & Paul circa 1988.




Then the George refurbished (about 1990) for their existing customers (so the notice said) & then promptly banned leather jackets – smart move!??? The highest turnover Green King pub in the country to One Old Bloke & his dog on a Saturday Night.

So everyone went to the Cock in Park Street instead. Initially kinda weird mix – Trendies at the front Goths at the back. Many splendid evenings had there particularly the in the courtyard & later opened Ale Bar.

So that was all good until about 1996 when the Cock refurbished and did exactly the same thing as The George.

Cue the Fedorah & Firkin a revamped ‘The Bitter End’ (Which is also worth a mention).

More great nights @ the Firkin were had ‘Pound-a-pint night’ can’t remember which year the Firkin shut down??? Moved to The Bridge for a while that got refurbished too!

Also – the upstairs of The Fountain (now called ???) in Wellington Street is worth a mention for their upstairs ‘Attic’ events (mid Nineties).

Oh and Koolworld where the final Switch events were held – Conversation with Bernie…

Me: Was that the new Pixies single?

Bernie: No it’s Nirvana.

Me: What that little band from Seattle?

Bernie: It’s #3 in the charts

Me: What the F*#K????

Present day it’s The Castle, but I try to get to as many gigs as I can @ The Well & I’m very encouraged by the likes of the Park / Cork & Bull & even Red, Red, Red! putting bands on.

Hmm, seemed to have rambled on quite long enough now – I’m off to find me crimpers…
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werewolf
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:20 am    Post subject: Welcome Chriss and some more thoughts Reply with quote

Hi and welcome Chriss
That's a pic!
Welcome to UK Decay Communities
Like the backdrop on your website Cool
Glad you liked that and thanks for filling us in with some of the later
period 'alternative Luton' life.

Some further thoughts...

Yes in retrospect The George for a long period of time was the mainstay
of the local 'alternative' scene. It seems to this day to fluctuate between
the 'one man and his dog' and the odd packed occasion.
Nephilim Babe from the 'Coven' club has been trying to get something
going down there on Thursday nights, we hope to pop down and check it out.
Generally speaking, good luck to anyone trying to get alternative gigs
off the ground in Luton. You would think having the university in town
would lead to a more healthy and vibrant local music scene. Sadly I
dont see that, the 'Uni' seems to shut its doors to those that don't happen
to be students. Although I accept I may be wrong! Its just that not being
'allowed in' doesn't help!
So we are back to the pubs and entrepreneurs, who as always need to
get ‘bums on seats’. There is no longer a ‘Queensway Hall’, or ‘California
Ballroom’ for the larger travelling artists. For that, you will have to place
your bum on a seat of a train to the big smoke! Perhaps that’s the key;
Luton is too close to London, that’s where it looses out.
It’s a shame the town is not on the tour itineraries for most touring
artists.

Luton in the 90's...'Tribal Gathering'


A great ray of hope in the town in the late 90’s was the Tribal Gathering
that brought a host of ‘stars’ to Luton Hoo just outside the town including
Kraftwerk’ who named one of their new tunes after the town. But unless
you had more money than sense or could get a job working there or
perhaps jump the fence, for most Lutonian’s the ticket price was simply
too much.

Luton in the 90's...'Exodus'

On that night 15 miles up the motorway in a warehouse besides Junction
13, Luton’s Exodus collective hosted a massive party, attracting those that
couldn’t afford the entry at the Tribal Gathering. Exodus had become a
focal point for a large part of the towns ‘alternative’ culture, just as the
Punk movement had done 15 years or so earlier. They were often at
loggerheads with the authorities. The underground sound system in the
early/mid 90’s, had a dance music only policy. In 1999 however they
hosted one of the towns biggest and most successful Live gigs in years. It
was at Stopsley sports centre, with the Levellers headlining, supported
amongst others by Luton’s ‘Phi life Cypher’. It was a superb event
bringing together many of the towns old punks and alternatives along with
new generations of the town’s youth culture.
Exodus continued after that hosting ‘Live stages at 4 of their festivals and
some of their parties. At one of their ‘Fezzies’ at the Long meadow farm
their was over 50 bands who played over 3 days at least one of the bands
playing half a dozen times on different stages! A fact not well known by
many outside the alternative community in the town.

What now?

Today with Exodus long gone, no real larger venues left that could host
bigger bands and artists, a commercial Pub venue scene that sadly lacks
in excitement and enthusiasm and a Uni that is too paranoid to let in
Lutonian’s

What is there left to inspire our new up and coming bands/artists in the
town?

The main Band stage at last years Luton Carnival was a disapointment
after the previous years terrific performances by 'The Beat' and 'Desmond
Decker
'!. apart from the 'Dour' safe and 'pollitically correct' line-up of
bands and 'PA's, the banner dominating the Stage read:-
Sponsored by the Befordshire Police! needless to say, we didn't hang

about !

Finally


In a historical context the “Some notorious Luton Punk venues from the
70’s and 80’s.”
should at some point be augmented to the present and
corrected where necessary. There is no real Luton music history of the
‘Alternative Music Culture’ before this! (please correct us if wrong!) But to
do this we will need your help to bring us up to date!

If you have thoughts, stories, or information that could ‘illuminate’ us all
on the topics so far discussed please feel free to contribute them here.

please post 'Reply' now!
Twisted Evil Twisted Evil


Last edited by werewolf on Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:33 am; edited 2 times in total
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werewolf
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Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Posts: 1240
Location: Luton UK

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:53 am    Post subject: Footnote to above Reply with quote

Straight outta Luton!
"This radical history of Luton in Bedfordshire and surrounding areas was
produced for the Free the Spirit festival organised by the Exodus Collective
in September 2000. An exhibition based on it was displayed as part of the
South London stage at the festival, which was held on land next to the M1
Motorway in Bedfordshire".


For those interested in the 'Radical history of Luton' throughout history,
this is a must!
Straight outta Luton
Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
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Last edited by werewolf on Thu Nov 24, 2011 1:56 am; edited 1 time in total
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PJ
King of Chav's
King of Chav's


Joined: 04 Apr 2004
Posts: 148

PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2005 9:36 pm    Post subject: remember the counterpoint club in Bletchley Reply with quote

Anyone remember the counterpoint club in Bletchley, saw some wicked bands there put on by the late great Dave Barr . I remember one gig he put on there with a band called Ring and a crazy punk band in support who cut the mic stands in half with a petrol saw grinder, they used the grinder on some scaffold poles to send sparks flying into the audience then the club owners through them out great band though i wish i could remember their name??.
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Chriss
Bard
Bard


Joined: 21 Apr 2005
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2005 9:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

SPK used to use an angle grinder live?
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:18 pm    Post subject: The Rubber box Reply with quote

I had the privilege of spinning some records at most of those venues. One important venue in the mid eighties was the Swift taxi Ofiice now known as the Hot and Spicy. Click Click and the Party Girls trod the boards there as well. Remember playing some early Hip Hop and house. Rigged up an early warning system to warn us about the old Bill as we were selling beer. Further gigs followed with Love Lite before I could not be assed to clear the mess up next morning. On top of that the place was swarming with coppers, so I thought I better call it a day.
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:33 pm    Post subject: bletchley etc. Reply with quote

Ah yes the counterpoint, and as it was known previously, the compass club. There were some excellent gigs down there, usually disrupted by the west bletchley skins, I have some stage storming photo's somewhere. I recall a little argument i had with Patrik Fitzgerald after a gig he did there, And What of Jah Lizzard and his alternative Disco ? Kind of MK version of Mr Shingler's Black Sheep Disco , alternative nights at L.B.s Unicorn Club. So that was Wednesdayand Friday spoken for, then further afield for gigs on Saturday. What a social whirl we all lived in ! Rave on. J x.
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