Author Topic: The Castaways Club  (Read 47822 times)

Anne W

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #99 on: September 15, 2015, 08:05:12 PM »
By the way, that's not my silhouette, I had much longer legs! (I wish).

LORZ

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #100 on: September 16, 2015, 05:02:09 AM »
Anne, I used to be behind the bar the shipwreck bar and the one downstairs where the juke box was, ha we must have been there at a similar time, but I am not exactly sure, nice to chat with someone that remembers it all, did we all go home in a mini bus, or was that the Dolce Vita, can't remember, so you live out in Warwickshire, I lived Small Heath, then Sheldon, then Tilecross, then my dad passed in 1974 so most of my club days were prior to that, then left and went to the Isle of wight, lived out there, then came back to the mainland and lived in Surrey for years, then emigrated here 2001, 2 days after 9/11.  I remember Warwickshire, it was beautiful out there.

Hey my maiden name was Bennett to how strange is that xx (I am Lorraine)

Anne W

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #101 on: September 16, 2015, 03:08:05 PM »
Hi Lorz, When I worked there  the downstairs bar was a disco with a female DJ. Think we were sent home by taxi, if we had been there at the same time we would have shared a taxi as we lived so close. The chap who owned Crossroads shop worked as a doorman there for a while. I had my hen night at the Dolce Vita in 1973, I loved it there! I have sent you a PM x

Dex

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #102 on: October 09, 2015, 06:34:56 PM »
Hi just found this topic. I was born in Coventry next door neighbour to John Reeves. I was born in the early hours at homeSeptember 1965. John came back from the club and along with the Bachelors and Lulu they came round to wet my head ! I don't remember John that much, but his E type jag I do. His mate Pete lived 2 doors down the other way, had an E type too. Pete had a fruit and veg shop. This is all on the Leamington Road in Stivichale, Coventry. Johns house was done out with timber from the club, and had a real smart bar.

johnm

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #103 on: January 11, 2016, 07:42:21 PM »
I worked at The Castaways from July 1967 until December 1967 as a chef with three others. I worked on my own on Sunday nights producing meals in a basket - the in-thing at that time. I was there when The Electric Prunes performed. There were some great acts on during the week and remember watching Bonzo Dog - brilliant. Next door to the club, which was at the bottom of Bradford Street just before Rea Street, were the rehearsal rooms for Crossroads. Roger Davis was the manager during my time there. There were four dishes on the menu including sirloin steak. John Reeve, the owner, decided to purchase whole sides of beef direct from the wholesale meat market and we cut them to get the sirloin - you've never seen so many whole fillets in a freezer!

Paul Harbron

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #104 on: January 31, 2016, 11:43:56 AM »
Hi brumboyo


Welcome to you, I remember seeing P J Proby whilst in Bristol so that must have been sometime in 65 and I remember seeing him at the Birmingham Town Hall some 12 months or so later. He was brilliant of course on both occasions.


Hi,
I worked at the Time & Place from when it opened after The Castaways closed. I was the resident drummer there with my trio called The Paul Drummond Sound. I remember backing PJ Proby one night which ended up being a total disaster. He arrived at the club over an hour late & it was obvious when he walked in with his wife & a friend that they were all drunk. We tried to go over his music in the dressing room before going on stage which proved to be almost impossible because of his drunken state. When we did finally get him on stage & start his first song, he forgot the words & we repeated the intro until he got it together. His wife & friend were sitting at a table front of stage to my left. About half way into his third song his wife started a big row with someone sitting at the same table. John Wilson, the club owner had to go over to them & warn them to keep quiet. It was the one & only time I had worked with PJ but I will always remember it as being one of the worst experiences of my musical career.

Phil

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #105 on: January 31, 2016, 11:57:54 AM »
Hi Paul

Welcome to the forum, it must have been quite a distressing experience for you at the time. Myself I can only speak as to his stage performance the couple of times that I saw him and as I said previously he was brilliant. Unfortunately (or is it fortunately) he was not the only artiste of those times to have a reputation for that sort of thing. 
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

vamann

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #106 on: January 31, 2016, 04:01:03 PM »
My Wife worked at the Cavendish in the late sixties and remembers Mat Monroe being drunk on a number of occasions, obviously a hazard of the job. 

Paul Harbron

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #107 on: February 02, 2016, 01:50:10 PM »
Yes that's correct Vamann. We also had an occasion when we were backing Ruby Murray at the Cadbury Social Club in Bournville when she was so drunk she got half way through her first song and nearly fell off the stage. Needless to say, that was her finished for the night. Real shame because she was a great artiste normally.

Hallpeter

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #108 on: September 30, 2017, 09:37:18 PM »
I djied there back in 71 I was the only dj there that night.
I was a member of the club.
I had to play the 2 rooms that night.

Bronson

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Re: The Castaways Club
« Reply #109 on: September 30, 2017, 10:01:00 PM »
The Castaway club was a night club with skimpy dressed waitress . A ex girlfriend of mine used to work there before she went to live in America.


 

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