Retro t-shirts are giving a nod to some of Liverpool's most iconic and lost nightclubs.
A generation of Merseyside clubbers will remember having many legendary nights out in Liverpool through the years. Decades ago, revellers would spend their weekends dancing with friends and having a few drinks in places like The Grafton, Coconut Grove, the She Club and more.
But over the years, many have closed their doors and are now confined to the history books. With so many great venues over the years that have made up the fabric of our city's nightlife, many wish they could have one more night at their favourite lost clubs.
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Now, a new range of retro unisex T-shirt designs celebrating Merseyside’s bar, club and music scene of the 70s and 80s is available - for clubbers who’ve been there, done that and now want the T-shirt.
The idea was sparked by former ECHO music writer Jade Wright, who launched her book The Dirty Stopouts Guide to 1970s Liverpool. The book is an affectionate look back at the era defined by glam rock, industrial action and the rise of punk, told by the people who were there.
Jade said: "These were the days of gigs at, cabaret nights at Allinson’s and grabbing a granny at The Grafton, when cabaret was king and wrestling drew huge crowds. Big bands played small venues, girls danced around their handbags and the brave ones drank Pernod and blackcurrant and lived to tell the tale.
"When we launched the book, we had a lot of requests for T-shirts, badges and posters, but then lockdown got in the way, and now - at last - the dirty stopouts are out and about again.
What are your favourite lost nightclubs? Let us know in the comments section below.
“The book’s publishers have made this range of T-shirts and people are remembering how good a night out used to be. They’ve been there, done that and now they want the T-shirt."
As well as the Grafton, Coconut Grove and Liverpool Stadium, there are also designs for Ugly’s, Wispa, The Other Place, The She Club, Tiffany’s, Romeo and Juliets and more. Jade is also working on an 80s follow up to the book, and has been interviewing regulars from some of the city’s best-loved night-time venues.
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She said: "These were the days where you could see David Bowie at the Top Rank Suite for 50p, before the newly built St John’s Centre venue went on to become Bailey’s, Romeo and Juliet’s, Studio 54 and then Rotters. Down below it had The Moonstone, The Penny Farthing and above the revolving restaurant at St John’s Beacon, or as one diner described it ‘the chippy on a stick’.
"Clubs like The Time Piece, Ugly’s, Tiffany’s and The Mardi Gras, were the places to be seen in the city, while the club scene boomed in Southport, New Brighton, Birkenhead and Wallasey, with venues such as the Chelsea Reach and the Golden Guinea."
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