It was recently announced that the historic Manchester upstairs/downstairs club combo Jilly's and Rockworld have closed for good, with John Bagnall - owner of the clubs since 1981 - going into liquidation.

The venue originally opened as a true 'chicken-in-a-basket' variety/music clubs Fagins (upstairs) and Rafters (downstairs) during the sixties and seventies.

With resident DJ Rob Gretton the sticky carpet venues ran late-seventies punk and new wave gigs, eventually hosting the Alan Wise-produced post-Russell, pre-Hacienda Factory Club during the early eighties.

Fond memories include Fad Gadget climbing the Rafters, the four comrades sat round a table in silence that suddenly alighted to the stage and became DAF, the Hook/Mason promoted IKON Video supported by Stockholm Monsters, The Birthday Party's first drunken gig, and who could forget the infamous Slim/Pete Murphy onstage stand-off!

Labels: Manchester, Rob_Gretton, venues

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