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Down Broadway


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Apparantly there was a Peter Stringfellow opened/owned bar called Down Broadway that was an underground place on High Street near where Cavells bar is now.

It didn't have a licence and instead served coffee's, but did have live bands on

After a year or two the Stringfellows decided to go upmarket and it closed down. They then opened the Penthouse Nightclub on Dixon Lane

In the late 60s and early 70s Down Broadway would not let anyone in who was wearing jeans including denim skirts.

The DJs used to take their jobs very seriously at Down Broadway.

As well as Motown, they also pioneered a lot of the early reggae music, Trojan and all that. One of the dj's there used to use the Isley Borthers' version of "I Hear a Symphony" as his theme.

Does anyone have any memories of this ?

Was it a club or a coffee bar or a pub ?

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was a dj at the time went for an audition hat to sit and wait through two braws one in the toilet the other in the High street with the audiance climbing on the bus to watch. was not impressed blood all over the glass mirrors on the dance floor

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Went in on a semi regular basis in my early teens. Because it did not sell alcohol it was one place you could go and act all grown up.Like you say the music was all Motown, Reggae and Ska.

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Guest wisewoodowl

Used to go in on Sunday nights, around 1970. It was the next step up from Tuesdays at Top Rank

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http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/uploads/monthly_06_2007/post-42-1182256398.jpghttp://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/uploads/monthly_06_2007/post-42-1182256429.jpg

Heres a couple of the murals I painted in Down Broadway. They were painted over an earlier set of murals (which I didnt do) of music notes and clouds.

The 'spacy' idea was one of many in a sketchbook I had done, but I was never was quite sure why Peter picked this comic book style universe theme to go with the name Down Broadway!

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Excellent

Many thanks for taking the time to post these Paul - apprecaiaed

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Used to go down here - forget which night, but would not have been tuesdays 'cus that was Top Rank night.

Up to reading this thread I was not aware that it did not have an alchohol license 'cus I was only around 14 at the time and would nto have bothered trying to buy it anyway.

Remember the brilliant music - at that time we were very much into Soul and that was always being played - also remember that if you wanted to go out for a breath of fresh air etc. the doormen stamped your hand and I seem to think it was an imprint of an elephant - or was that somewhere else from my past?

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An elephant pass out stamp? Youve got me there docmel! Could well have been something like that. Some clubs used the cheapest stamp possible - ones you could buy from toy shops as part of 'Junior's printing set'.

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... would not let anyone in who was wearing jeans including denim skirts.

Never had the denim skirt problem; there's time yet lol

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Guest Rivedonian

I went to the opening night of Down Broadway. I was just sixteen, and having been too young to go to the Mojo, saw it as my entry into the exalted world of the Mojo fraternity. There were lots of really 'cool' looking, obviously ex-Mojo veterans there (all in aged levi's, jeans and jackets), and the verdict from them was a vocal, metaphorical 'thumbs down'. After that first night, they were never seen again, and the place was left to us upstarts. I really liked the place. I saw some really good bands there ( I was also there when Jethro Tull played, but I recall the place was packed). the Stringfellows always seem to have moved with the times, and by the late 60s, when progressive had taken over, Pete had no problem in using the club to give many good bands a chance (usually on Monday nights as I recall).

I stopped going when the Penthouse opened. I think there was a short period when the Stringfellows owned both, but not for long. Once I had been to a 'real' club—one that sold alcohol—my life changed forever. I used to go in Down Broadway afterwards, but only during the day. They used to do really nice burgers, and it was a 'cool' place to go in the days when the only other real burger alternative was the Wimpy Bar.

IR

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Guest DownBroadway

Ahh... what a great place to start your clubbing adventures!

The Stringfellow brothers all had a hand in Down Broadway. Geoff and Peter and their younger brother who's name escapes me! However, as you waited in the queue outside going up High Street toward the Cathedral, all you could hear were the strains of some fantastic soul records. Usually Junior Walker's "How Sweet it is" or "Roadrunner". Then, your turn to pay and go in, get your hand stamped for the passout (A green ink four leaf clover stamp as I recall, and down the stairs into the heaving club. To the left was the dancefloor, usually packed and with a little stage with DJ booth in the right hand corner. To the right a "diner" type area and small coffe bar. It was only soft drinks and tea and coffee. If you wanted alcohol you had to go out and round the back to the "Dove and Rainbow" for a pint or two before going back in.

Once saw Arthur Conley there and because it was heaving and nearly got crushed I vowed never to go to a live gig there again.

At one time I used to go every night with my mate, Mick Jones. Sometimes the "elite" dancers used to get up on stage and do their "stuff". Heard some fantastic records there and spent most of my adult life chasing them as a vynil collector.

Heady days!

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http://www.groovesvilleusa.com/blog/?p=187

Apparantly there was a Peter Stringfellow opened/owned bar called Down Broadway that was an underground place on High Street near where Cavells bar is now.

It didn't have a licence and instead served coffee's, but did have live bands on

After a year or two the Stringfellows decided to go upmarket and it closed down. They then opened the Penthouse Nightclub on Dixon Lane

In the late 60s and early 70s Down Broadway would not let anyone in who was wearing jeans including denim skirts.

The DJs used to take their jobs very seriously at Down Broadway.

As well as Motown, they also pioneered a lot of the early reggae music, Trojan and all that. One of the dj's there used to use the Isley Borthers' version of "I Hear a Symphony" as his theme.

Does anyone have any memories of this ?

Was it a club or a coffee bar or a pub ?

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