This legendary 1960s venue opened as 2 J's in 1960 as a conversion of an old warehouse on the corner of Lloyd Street and Albert Square, as detailed in the fine little book, The Manchester Musical History Tour by Phill Gatenby and Craig Gill [1]. A coffee shop by day, a jazz club by night, the place only lasted a year and was sold by its owners, the two J's (Jack Jackson and John Collier), and The Oasis was born by new owners, John Orr, Rick Dixon and Hugh Goodwin. Like so many clubs of the time, it was alcohol-free, but these places played such a key - yet largely unheralded - role in Manchester's history they should be included.
Luminaries such as The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart and The Beatles played the Oasis, as well as local heroes like the Hollies, Freddie & The Dreamers and Herman's Hermits. For a time the club was so popular it had its own magazine, The Northern Beat Scene. Later in the '60s, the Oasis turned into Sloopy's, then the bizarrely named Yer Father's Moustache. By 1972 it was Ruebens, but it was soon demolished to make way for the council's ugly Brazennose House and with that, Manchester's once premier venue was lost forever [1].
Yer Father's Moustache flyer. (c) Manchester Beat.
2. www.manchesterbeat.com/venues/manchester_cbd/oasis/oasis.php.
Sloopy's - a cabaret place?? No and no again , it was just a club with a mod crowd. A disco to all intents and purposes.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever go to Rubens?
DeleteThanks for the comment, any errors we can change at the next print run. For Sloopy's, I got the info from the book ''It happened in Manchester - The True Story of Manchester Music 1958-65'' by Alan Lawson.
ReplyDeletePage 104 states ''...Sloopy's began to mention the dreaded word 'cabaret' in its advertising''
My grandad John Collier owned the 2Js ...still have the original poster from the club
ReplyDeleteDon’t suppose you or any relations know Dave Johnson from Rubens?
DeleteI don't suppose you have any pictures? I'd love to see them.
DeleteMy dad, Dave Johnson, co-owned Rubens with Colin Byrne. Would love to hear any stories, as he died before I was old enough to know him! Kind regards... C x
ReplyDeleteMy dad John Collier co-owned the 2 J'S I remember going dowm Market Street Manchester in a sunbeam rapier with a coffin in the back with dracula in it to promote the opening.We were stopped by the police.
ReplyDelete