Shangri La, Nightmares in Wax
recorded at Open Eye demo studios Liverpool November 1979
Colour photos taken at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, February 1980
Melody Maker review can be found in Bombed Out! by Peter Alan Lloyd
Thanks to Nightmares' guitarist Mick Reid for the upload
Sat 1st March The Inmates
+ Mark Andrews
+ The Ghosts
+ the Killer Meters
+ the Zorkie Twins
Sat 8th March The Cramps
+ The Fall (did not play)
+ Nightmares in Wax
+ Eric Beat
+ Wah! Heat
Wah! Heat at Eric's, March 14th 1980
Psychedelic Furs, February 1980 Peel session
Another story the following day not only repeated the closure threat, but stated it quite explicitly. Eric's is to close next week.
All that's left now is the Letters Page of the Echo on the 19th March, including Angry Young Man, Mike Royden.
The accepted wisdom is that Eric's, Liverpool's legendary punk and new wave club (also jazz, folk, reggae, prog and Beatles Conventions) closed as a result of a police raid following a Psychedelic Furs/Wah gig on 14th March 1980. As these stories from the Liverpool Echo show, that's not quite accurate.
Wednesday 12th March 1980
Starting with the piece on the 12th, two days before the Furs gig, "rock" fans were already preparing to write to their MP to save Eric's. The police were going to oppose Roger Eagle and Pete Fulwell's application to renew their licence. The reason given was that non-members were being allowed in. A technicality said Roger.
Thursday 13th March 1980
One of the problems throughout Eric's existence was that although the big nights were rammed there were a lot of nights were there weren't that many punters. Although looking at the lists there are a lot of impressive names, at the time they were mostly on their way up, or on the way down.
Eddie & the Hot Rods in 1980? Yawn.
Orchestral Manoeuvres, who played their debut at Eric's were to be on at the Mountford Hall on Saturday. How would that affect sales of tickets for the Skatalites at Eric's?
Free admission to Cagneys for Bowie/Roxy night on Thursday or Eric's for Ludus?
I'm not saying that the reason Eric's closed was that OMD were playing at the University; what I'm saying is that things had moved on.
During the summer of 1980 I went to a gig in London. It was a Factory band named Blurt and was downstairs in some club. By 11:00pm we post-punks were being thrown out because there was another booking. We traipsed out in our long macs past bright young things in glitter and war paint. Blitz Kids. I felt so old, jaded, one of the boring old farts listening to Factory groups. I was 19.
Eric's had debts running into thousands (that's just the way of business, investors make a killing whether things are successful or not. Except the ones that don't, Uh, capitalism). The lenders would have been well aware that it was getting harder for Eagle & Fuller to pay their monthlies. The police objecting to the renewal of a licence will have highlighted the precariousness of Eric's position. So the lenders asked for their money back. Roger Eagle won't have expected much return from a Ludus gig but if he could just eke it out to a Sioxusie and the Banshees gig next week . . . might just get through the month.
Note the ticket price: twice the price of any other gig at Eric's in 1980
And that brings us to the night of the gig. Wah! played first. Here's Pete Wylie
Scroll to around ten minutes in and you'll hear Wylie say:
This is the last song you'll ever hear by a Liverpool group in Erics's
He knows. After the Psychedelic Furs finish the raid starts.Saturday 15th March 1980
Even after the raid they were still hoping for the Banshees gig to take place (it did, but in Manchester and a coach load of Eric's regulars went).
Protesting the closure of Eric's March 1980
The gig was on the Friday night. On Saturday afternoon there's a march through Liverpool protesting the closure. Nowadays you'd have a Facebook announcement and a What's App whip round but then? It was pretty impressive to assemble the troops at such short notice. There was another march the following week. (Not sure which march this photo is from)
On the 18th March there's the full story in the Echo.
18th March 1980
Mrs P Killon is Penny Kiley, who had already had reviews and articles printed in Melody Maker, and would later be a music writer on the Liverpool Echo.
The Echo was quite supportive, including this column from Peter Trollope. Unfortunately the print is so faint I can't reproduce it.
After that there were meetings and meetings but it was over, despite Roger claiming "nothing is definite at the moment".
Last word to Christopher McHale.
4th April 1980
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