Liverpool is loved for its nightlife - and while some popular Liverpool venues have stood the test of time, many have sadly closed through the generations.
A number of clubs, bars and pubs have left their mark on Liverpool over the years. But while we continue to welcome fantastic venues to the city, it's hard not to feel nostalgic about the past.
In Liverpool, revellers in the 1980s would religiously spend their weekends dancing with friends and having a few drinks in places like Cagneys, Planet X, Michelle Claire's and more.
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Some opened in 80s, but were confined to the history books after a matter of years, whereas others were around for longer for younger generations to experience them. Here, we take a look back at some of the Liverpool bars and clubs we loved back in the eighties.
This list isn't intended to be comprehensive, we picked a number of lost bars and clubs loved at the time. But if you have any more you'd like to see included, let us know in the comments section below.
1. Cagneys
Cagneys club opened on Fraser Street, just off London Road, in Liverpool City Centre back in 1979. The premises had originally opened in the early sixties as the Compton Club and had a succession of names, such as the Peppermint Lounge, Dinos and Gulliver, the Liverpool ECHO previously reported.
But in the 80s, Cagneys was a prime nightspot and a place to be seen for New Romantics. In its heyday, clubbers would travel from across Merseyside and elsewhere in the North to attend its Roxy/Bowie night.
Cagneys is also remembered for hosting a number of public appearances. The likes of Ultravox, Duran Duran, The Human League and more walked through its doors before they gained international acclaim.
2. Fallows
If you grew up in or visited Aintree for its nightlife, you'll most likely remember The Paradox and Fallows. Fallows was known for its Monday and Thursday nights and it even made an appearance on The Hit Man and Her TV show in 1991.
The club took off in the late 1980s until it was closed in 1992. But since then the Heysham Road venue has been ever evolving.
After it was Fallows the club venue was then separated into different rooms and it was then made into a pub called the Heysham Arms. and another club called Kiss. After Kiss, Thomas Valentino’s function room came along.
3. Planet X
For around a decade, one lost Liverpool club added a great deal of colour, darkness and gothic glamour to the city's nightlife scene. InJ une 1983 that Planet X opened its doors at Macmillans in Concert Square.
This was the first of the five venues around Liverpool it called home, later moving to Brady’s in Mathew Street, then Jody’s in Stanley Street, before moving to its own places – first in Temple Street and, finally in Hanover Street. The club was launched by Doreen Allen – a largely unsung heroine of Liverpool’s punk and post-punk music scene - and her then partner, Kenny Dawick, with Doreen becoming sole owner in 1989.
Up until 1993, Planet X played host to The Stone Roses, Primal Scream and The Boo Radleys and was patronised by stars including Morrissey and John Lydon. The club’s name came courtesy of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Paul Rutherford, being taken from The B-52’s song Whammy Kiss.
4. Coconut Grove
If you went clubbing in Liverpool in the 1980s, there's a good chance you spent at least one memorable night at the Coconut Grove. The nightclub, otherwise known as 'The Cokey', was the city's go-to place for a night out at the time.
It first opened its doors in 1982, on the corner of Green Lane and West Derby Road in Tuebrook. It later became The Venue in the early 90’s.
Many people will remember The Cokey's tropical theme, from Pina coladas, to Hawaiian garlands and plastic palm trees. A cafe was also situated by the DJ booth, where clubbers could enjoy sausage and chips and chicken in a basket before heading back to the dance floor.
5. The State
Opening as a stunning ballroom in the 1920s, The State transformed as the decades progressed, from being taken over by Littlewoods to later reopening as Liverpool’s first Laser nightclub in the 1980s. In 1984, the ballroom featured in Frank Clarke's film A Letter to Brezhnev, starring Margi Clarke and that same decade music programme The Tube came to do a special on the music scene in Liverpool, filming Frankie Goes to Hollywood playing Relax at The State.
Towards the end of the 1980s, the club became a Mecca for the new acid house music scene. In 1988, James Barton launched the Daisy nights – a homage to the Daisy Chain night in London. It was the first time in Liverpool that an outside promoter had taken over a night from the club owner and it was also Liverpool's first house night.
Many will remember DJ's such as Steve Proctor, Mike Knowler and Andy Carroll at The State. Located on Dale Street in Liverpool City Centre, the Grade II listed State Insurance Building has been home to JD Gym since 2014.
6. Flintlocks
Flintlocks was very popular and meant a lot to 80s clubbers. Over two floors with a downstairs dancefloor, it was also a place where VIP card-carrying members could get themselves and a friend in for free.
In a story in the Liverpool Echo in 2012, one former regular, Gill Beesley, is quoted to have said: "I started clubbing when I began my first job at the age of 18 and a half in 1984. Our second home, as we liked to call it, was Flintlocks - of which we all still have really fond memories.
"My dad worked at a printers and they used to print the admission tickets for Flintlocks so we knew the doormen really well and I was the proud owner of a VIP card (which I'm sure I found not so long ago when clearing out a drawer) which got myself and a friend free admission. Some weekends we would go both Friday and Saturday night. We couldn't wait to finish work to get home and get ready and we also loved Wednesday nights as it was 50p admission and 50p a pint. How times have changed."
7. Michelle Claire's
When you think back to Liverpool nightlife in the 80s, Michelle Claire's is bound to spring to mind. The club was located on North Street, by the Dale Street flyover.
Many will remember heading there for the Bowie/New Wave nights or even Punk nights. The venue was also known to host live music groups.
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8. The Continental club
The Wolstenholme Square venue first opened its doors in 1982. Known as "the Conti" for short, it soon became a popular place for soul and RnB fans who would spend hours on the mirror-panelled dance floor.
Tuesday nights were the best nights at the Conti when it would be packed full of clubbers from across the city. The venue which was next door to the renowned Tuxedo Junction, even offered guests their own private car parking service.
It was later replaced with the Kazimer club. But the site has since been demolished.
9. Snobs
This site housed a lot of memorable venues. Before it was Snobs disco, it was Russell’s cabaret club in what was the old Merseyside Academy in Wolstenholme Square.
Later becoming Harvey's, the venue is remembered for being the place where the Cream story began in the 1990s, the Annexe of Nation.
Do these awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
10. The Grafton
The Grafton, on West Derby Road in Everton, has gone down in history for its wild party nights. Many will remember partying there in the 1980s.
Opening in 1924, the venue was once a thriving dance hall next to what is now known as the Liverpool Olympia. The Beatles and Duke Ellington played the venue and famous bandleaders like Henry Hall, Victor Sylvester and Joe Loss all appeared on the stage.
During WWII it was packed nightly with war workers, soldiers on leave and American GIs stationed around Merseyside and the site also shot to national prominence decades ago, when BBC2 unleashed Nightclub: Tales From The Grafton on an unsuspecting world. The good times were not to last forever and the venue closed permanently in 2008.
11. Rotters
First there were discos - then there was Rotters. Located in St John's Market, many clubbers ventured here in the 1980s.
Prior to being Rotters, it was home to Top Rank, Bailey’s, Romeo and Juliet’s and Studio 54. In 1980, The Ramones played there, after rescheduling to perform on Top of the Pops instead.
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12. The Masquerade
Hungry customers would get an unexpected surprise when they knocked on the door of what they thought to still be a Chinese restaurant. Situated between a shoe shop and hairdressers, on Cases Street, stood a restaurant - but unbeknownst to many, the venue was transformed into a “mysterious cavernous cellar club,” the ECHO previously reported.
The site would later become The Masquerade. The club to many was affectionately known as The Mazzie
13. Bunters
Another fondly remembered 1980s nightspot is Bunters. It first opened its doors in April 1983.
It occupied the former Scamps premises on the junction of Mount Pleasant and Brownlow Hill. The ECHO previously reported how it boasted ‘the greatest sound and light show in the North West’, as well as a dancefloor specially imported from France.
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