Eric's Club

Eric's Club was a music club in Liverpool, England. It opened on October 1, 1976 in a building basement on Mathew Street opposite The Cavern Club where The Beatles and other bands of the 1960's played, and became notable for hosting early performances by many punk and post-punk bands. [http://www.cavern-liverpool.co.uk/cavernclub/CChistory57.htm Cavern-Liverpool.co.uk The Cavern] URL last accessed June 25, 2006.]

The club was started by Roger Eagle along with co-owners Ken Testi (manager of cult Liverpool band Deaf School) and Pete Fulwell (owner of a small record label "Inevitable" and later to become manager of Liverpool bands It's Immaterial and The Christians).

Music

The club played host to many local, national and international bands primarily within the music sub-cultures of the time, early punk rock and featured many artists and bands of the time such as Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks, The Clash, Joy Division, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Slits, The Stranglers, Ultravox, Wire, XTC, X-Ray Spex and early gigs by U2 (see Bradys era), New Order and Mick Hucknall (pre Simply Red) and many other contemporary acts of that time.

The club acted as a catalyst for local musicians (often also from the Runcorn, Southport, Skelmersdale, Wirral areas) and saw many local artists later become successful acts, including Dead Or Alive, Echo & the Bunnymen, Julian Cope, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The Teardrop Explodes, Wah! Heat and many others. [http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/exhibitions/erics/index.asp Liverpool Museums.org.uk Liverpool Museums Website] ]

It was a membership only venue whereby members had to buy a yearly membership to enter the club. One of the more beneficial ideas was to provide membership for 'under 18's', this allowed younger music fans to see both local and national bands during a 'matinee' show thereby allowing the younger crowd to see bands they would more often than not have had a chance to see. It could be argued that this was at the time merely a marketing ploy or revenue generating exercise but it has been said elsewhere that this not only encouraged more prominent national bands/artists to visit Liverpool but helped to provide a social networking venue for some of the cities future bands and artists.

Closing

The club lasted until March 1980 when the club was raided by police for drug offences, the final act were that night, The Psychedelic Furs. Later the club reopened as "Bradys", to last some 12 months before closing.

The lower floor of the club also operated as the "Radio Jackie North Cave" for some years after this.

Current Status

The original venue building is now part of the local 'trendy' orientated bar/club culture playing contemporary pop/dance music and is still on Mathew Street which has an annual festival to promote Liverpool music.Visitors to Liverpool maybe interested to know that the club's main members entrance was situated below (though slightly to the right) of the well known Beatles Mural sculpture on Mathew Street which is featured on the wall, opposite the current Cavern club.

Eric's The MusicalA brand new musical written by Mark Davies Markham (Liverpool born author of West End hit Taboo) and directed by Jamie Lloyd will open at The Liverpool Everyman Theatre in September 2008.

Eric's the PhotographsItalian born rock photographer Francesco Mellina photographed the music scene in Liverpool from 1978 to 1982. He war a regular contributer to music magazines such as NME, the Face and Smash Hits during this period. He temporally stopped taking photographs professionally when he became the manager of Nightmares in Wax who later became Dead or Alive and to set up Blacy Eye Records. His collection has remained unseen for 30 years when in July 2008 he agreed to publish his work. His work was used in the publicity for Eric's The Musical.A major exhibition of his work is to take place from May to August at the National Conservation Center in Liverpool

References