"9 Beautiful Bars, 11 Crowded Dance Floors. Pips (It's Behind The Cathedral)!" So went the old advert for this famous old club that used to adorn the city centre and be played on local radio and television.
Pips was a hangout for many faces in the Manchester music scene of the late 1970s - the likes of Ian Curtis, Barney Sumner, Peter Hook, Morrissey, Johnny Marr and Peter Saville.
Pips was a hangout for many faces in the Manchester music scene of the late 1970s - the likes of Ian Curtis, Barney Sumner, Peter Hook, Morrissey, Johnny Marr and Peter Saville.
Nowadays a hairdressers marks the spot where Pips stood and the original entrance may well still be in existence, hidden below street level.
Pips old entrance, 2006. (c) Pips Facebook.
The cool kids would be downstairs in the Cave listening to Bowie, Roxy Music, Lou Reed and the like, and Thursdays was punk night. The delightful sounding Fosters Tube Lager from Wilsons Brewery was available to lucky punters.
Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music was once refused entry to Pips after a gig at Belle Vue as he was wearing jeans! Saturday nights would often see coach parties coming to Pips from all over the north west and locals often kicked off with visiting Scousers [1].
Many bands played at Pips, usually in the Bowie/Roxy room and Joy Division played their first ever gig at here, though they were actually advertised as Warsaw [2]. Pips was also known as Nice & Easy at some point.
Nice & Easy at Pips, Fennel Street. (c) Memories of Pubs from Manchester & Salford Facebook [3].
Pips closed at the beginning of the 1980s, but later reopened as Konspiracy hardcore nightclub. This lasted into the '90s before being closed by police - another casualty of the Manchester door wars with regular taxing of takings by Cheetham Hill and Salford gangs.
Ah, Pips...
ReplyDeleteHad so many great times in the Bowie /roxy room
ReplyDeleteTrue the Roxy room was a great place to be
DeleteHad so many great times in the Bowie /roxy room
ReplyDeletegreat place to be
ReplyDeleteWould love to go back in time and enjoy Pips all over AGAIN!
ReplyDeleteSpent each Friday and Saturday night in here for a couple of years early 80s, fantastic fashion and music ,and a lot of football culture along with the violence that went hand in hand.
ReplyDeleteIt was also called Thursdays and Fennels bar before Konspiracy. I loved 'Thursdays' because of the soul music especially 80's Groove. I was in there from 1985-87. Great times
ReplyDelete