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Topic: South Pier concerts c1973 (Read 3066 times)

Eam

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South Pier concerts c1973 « Posted: 25 February 2011 at 01:49 PM »

Is there anyone who went to the concerts at the Pier on a Saturday night ?
I remember seeing bands such as Wizzard and the Sweet there and also Thin Lizzy but
their gig archives (Thin Lizzys) do not back this up.
Is this a false memory or does anyone else remember seeing them there?


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frankiesays

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Re: South Pier concerts c1973 « Reply #1 Posted: 02 March 2011 at 07:42 PM »

I remember when Thin Lizzie came to Lowestoft but as I recall it they came to the Royal Hotel where the East Point Pavilion now stands. There were lots of orange posters on lamp posts everywhere proclaiming the fact that "Tin Lizzie" were coming to town. Easy mistake to make when not many people had heard of them, they were irish and the deal was probably done over the phone. I didn't go to see them but can remember seeing Sweet Sensation and KC & The Sunshine Band on the pier. Before my time much more famous bands played the town including the Rolling Stones I believe.


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funkychick

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Re: South Pier concerts c1973 « Reply #2 Posted: 02 March 2011 at 08:59 PM »

Yes Frankie youre right I was in the front row for the Stones, Freddy and the dreamers, the hollies, searches Little Richard and many more all at the Royal Hotel


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paulears

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Re: South Pier concerts c1973 « Reply #3 Posted: 02 March 2011 at 09:33 PM »

I worked there for the shows - which crazily is what I still do - Thin Lizzy and the Stones were at the Royal. The Pier in the early years was still seated, theatre style and only converted to the ballroom in, from memory, ready for the summer season in 74/75. I can't find the exact date, but the venue was still seated when they had a panto there. My Dad, John Johnson, and a lady called Irene Leach were in that one, with other names in my head being Alan Hubbard (Betatravel) and Mike Mills.

Ted and Brenda Hardwick, who also owned the Tower Complex in Gt Yarmouth were at the helm - Ted was notoriously difficult to work for and as Health & Safety had not been invented/discovered, I remember him making the follow spot people walk across a two feet wide walkway across the roofspace, without any hand rails, in the dark! Those confident ones amongst us did well, although I remember Gary Adams, an old school friend falling off this walkway and sticking his foot through the roof, holding on for dear life! Somebody complained a light had landed on their table, but it wasn't, it was a big lump of plaster! Looking up, if the lights had been on, they would have seen a leg, dangling!

At that time, the pier was on the No. 1 touring circuit, so we got - in no particular order:
Sweet, Wizzard, Showaddywaddy, Alvin Stardust (who was also at the Sparrows nest in 79 - and got a letter in the Journal from me complaining that the people of Lowestoft didn't support the venue - nothing much changed there then!).
We also had Blackfoot Sue,Merlin, T-Rex, Geordie, Slade, and of course Gary Glitter and the Glitter band. We had less well know bands too, Middle of the Road, who suddenly became popular with Chirpy, Chirpy, Cheep Cheep - and were pretty awful - and my favourites, Mud! A great band who seemed to vanish were Blackwater Junction who had a minor hit with a version of MacArthur Park.

Apart from the pop lot, we also had big band stuff - the truly excellent Syd Lawrence Orchestra who then became very popular as the resident band on the Les Dawson Show - playing Carribean Clipper as their signature tune. At that time, Syd was alive, playing trumpet, with Ronnie Verrell on drums. My first introduction to Big Band music.

There were also the weekend discos, which tended to be rather rough - The bouncers were much scarier than they are today. If you take the leaflet handed out by Mr Ackerman, outside the old woollies store, you'll see his story of how he was at that time to rather feared Mandy Carbonelli - and nobody messed with him. He's really a nice bloke now, so his leaflet is worth a read just for a bit of history.

The Pavillion Tower, by 1976 had been closed. I used to sneak up there, but Ted would go mad if he caught you!

In the summer, 1974/5 we still had the usual summer shows - what I actually still do. We had one quite infamous one, run by self-styled producer Gerald Morter - the Great Geraldini - a truly dreadful Magician. Technically quite good, but rather like watching Captain Mainwaring doing magic! The shows were quite fun - we had two female dancers who my friend and I got friendly with. Diane Crowe and .... Caroline Quentin - who must have only been 16 or 17 at the time - same as me.

The MD was called Charles Smitton - who played the organ, but had had a stroke and his face had a somewhat alarming grimace as he played.

The show ran out of money, and the producer ran for it. The Headline in the Stage Newspaper was "The Magician who made the Show disappear!"

The very strange thing is that the South Pier Pavillion was actually quite large - but if you look at the pier now, the space doesn't seem big enough?

If I remember any other bands, I'll add them. It was such a shame it closed, but like many seaside theatre venues, they were designed in the 50s, and were never really expected to have a very long lifespan.

The South Pier hardly features on the net at all - very little information.


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Paul Johnson

Joe

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Re: South Pier concerts c1973 « Reply #4 Posted: 02 March 2011 at 10:02 PM »

Thankyou, Paul, for that interesting post.
Thanks to you there is now a little more South Pier information on the 'net.


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paulears

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Re: South Pier concerts c1973 « Reply #5 Posted: 02 March 2011 at 10:29 PM »

Somewhere I even had a little bit of cine film taken outside - but I think it's lost. The trouble is I worked there as my first job from 16-18 - which makes it 1974-6 - but it's a bit blurred. I remember one summer was really hot - was that 76?

The nice thing is I forgot one very important one - The Bay City Rollers! absolute chaos - girls trying to climb drainpipes and attempting to sneak in through the bar at the front. I've no idea at all how good they were (or not) because we didn't hear anything apart from girls screaming.

also - Hot Chocolate, Dr Hook, Judge Dread, Emperor Rosco Roadshow, Paper Lace, Leo Sayer

I've a memory of Split Enz - but that might have been West Runton Pavilion, can't be sure - many Lowestoft people at that time started to go to West Runton instead of the Pier. Fun this!

I bumped into White Plains last year (well, two of them) and they mentioned Lowestoft, but I don't remember them playing there.

At that time, there were even a few parking spaces actually on the pier if you were early enough!

I don't suppose any lighting people are on here but I've just pulled out some old lighting leaflets for things we bought for the new fangled 'disco' nights. The house lighting in the theatre was on large wheel shaped metal chandeliers - and a blue 'fuzz light' (as in police car light) was fitted to each one. We thought it looked good!

It was working there when I first discovered at 17, that I was allergic to alcohol. Popular drink of the time, Lager and Black for the blokes and babycham for the girls. Yuk. On some nights, they didn't want stage lighting, so I washed glasses - and they even had cocktails back then - Tequila Sunrises were the popular ones, and although a non-smoker, the kids bought odd cigarettes from the little shop near the bridge that was near the Ford Jenkins shop - coloured cigarettes, called Sobranie Cocktail, or black ones, Sobranie black


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Paul Johnson

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Re: South Pier concerts c1973 « Reply #6 Posted: 02 March 2011 at 10:38 PM »

Sobranie Black were actually called 'Black Russian'. Well in the 1960's they were.


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An Oyster 575

funkychick

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Re: South Pier concerts c1973 « Reply #7 Posted: 02 March 2011 at 10:45 PM »

I used to smoke sobarnie and drink babycham or cherryB with a cherry on a cocktail stick, drambuie or benedictine no old lager for me with me coloured cigarettes


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frankiesays

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Re: South Pier concerts c1973 « Reply #8 Posted: 03 March 2011 at 01:59 PM »

back in those days (maybe the same now) the girls would have a totally different preference if somebody else was buying the drinks. I used to go to the Tower a lot but mostly Bricks disco underneath. the usual modus operandi was to offer to buy the best looking girl a drink and virtually without exception the choice was brandy and babycham - that cost a whole 50 pence and was usually not what the young lady was currently drinking. One had to make a quick decision as whether it was a wise investment or not, the decision was usually "yes" but the wiseness of the decision mostly wrong buy hey-ho a good time was had by all. At least in those days there was always a slow music session every hour or so which gave us a chance to get to meet some girls by asking them to dance- it doesn't happen that way any more. And back in those days I wouldn't consider going out on a Friday or Saturday night until 9pm and that would be to a succession of GY pubs until just before 11 and then off to a disco. The young guys nowadays tell me that you have to be in the queue for the club (what they call discos nowadays) by 9pm otherwise you won't get in - and at some of them you have to pull a girl before you go in - how mad is that?

Is there a grumpy old man forum on this site? i think I'd be really good at it!


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Eam

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Re: South Pier concerts c1973 « Reply #9 Posted: 03 March 2011 at 02:13 PM »

I remember seeing the bands Paul mentions also Chickory tip, Love affair and Martha Reeves. Geordie's singer is now in AC/DC. I remember Gary Glitter appearing at somewhere called I think, 'Arthurs' in a hotel basement.
Maybe I saw Lizzy at the Royal then, I know they played the college as well.


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