Amber Street was just off Shudehill, described as "between Shudehill and the Co-Op" and "behind the CIS". But, it is seemingly no longer, one of the streets that's been lost since the redevelopment of this area. The old Club 43 was originally upstairs at the Clarendon off Oxford Road on the southern side of town. When this venue was demolished for the Mancunian Way the club moved briefly over the road before finding home in a this cellar venue on Amber Street at some point in the early 1960s [1]. In the '70s the venue became Kelly's, a rough sounding club, run by Tommy Harrell. In 1978, The Fall, The Distractions, Frantic Elevators (Mick Hucknall's old band), Joy Division, Fast Cars and sister Ray (Johnny Marr's old band) amongst others played at Kelly's [2].
I don’t remember kellys ever being a rough club, a bit of a dive but no trouble
ReplyDeleteMy dad Tommy Harral was the owner of this club and yes it was not a dive as stated. It was a great working man's club run by a hard working man my dad. I used to work behind the bar for my dad and there was always a great atmosphere 🙂
DeleteI recall this club, initially being named: Club 43,
ReplyDelete( Jazz Club ) appx early 1960's. Many excellent
American Jazz musicians played here, Roland Kirk, Sonny Rollins, Lee Konitz, Max Roach, etc.
Anyway, Peace to all !!