Another great venue recently demolished. The West End Bar was situated on St Chads Island, just across the road from Snow Hill Station and around the corner from the Thistle Hotel.
This was a much vaunted place back in the 1980s and 1990s serving the soul, rare groove, funk and hip hop crowd downstairs while rockabillys and psychobillys congregated upstairs.
I’d like to hear about it’s past life as well as some of the dj’s and faces from its history.
As always, any memories you have of this place, photo’s, flyers and so on, please send them in!
i used to go to the west end bar back in the day from around 96 onwards it was allways on a sat morning after crunch which used to be on branston street that finished at 6am then we would make our way down to the west end bar which i loved the music was just class and me i was from wolverhampton in the 5 or 6 years i was going there never once ever had any bother in there music was banging and met some cracking people over the years being in there so yeah i have nothing but realy realy good memories of the place great times in fact i just loved the birmingham club scene back then its a pity we have to get old coz from 96 to 2002 was the best in my appinion for clubbing and with brum back then you were just spoilt for choice another club back then was tin tins oh the memories im 40 this year and lets just say it was immotional lol loved every minute of it. jason mcardle now living in ireland
Same as jason mcardle. For me and my mates. A fri night would start of at some place else then next would be backers.. from bakers we’d go over to the ncp car park and change into our proper clubbing clothes.. trainers.. combats and small tops.. ready for crunch. My god thats when the night would get more interesting. The tunes in their would be banging. The atmosphere would crazy.. when a dj would play a banging tune. The whole place would be having it. It wasn’t a very big place but that didnt matter.. although you wouldn’t get much space to dance your tits off with out getting burnt by someones fag.. or dripped on by others sweat.even the walls and ceiling would be dripping.. U didnt care because everyone was having it.. everyone was happy. My space was was in the corner of the dance floor on the little podium right next to the massive speakers which you could sit on.. ( which would explain the constant ringing in my ears now lol ).. I made some great friends their.. including the door staff. Martin and fritz… we would all leave there with our bubble gum flyers telling you what to expect in the coming weeks.. at 6am then drive over to the west end bar and start all over again.. the tunes in there were again wicked.. but if I remember rightly they didnt have a dance license their but that wouldn’t stop us.. the funny thing was leaving their around 12 in the afternoon and it being broad day light and seeing normal people out doing their Saturday shopping looking fresh.. and we would look a mess from dancing our faces off for 12 or more hours.. gee them were the days.. even know when I hear tunes from back then it puts a smile on my face. The one tune that has always been my fave from the west end bar has got to be.. gordens groove im gonna get ya babe… Tuuuuuuune. Nights in brum just isnt the same as they were in the late 90s. Great memories. .
Hype tin tins reunion fri 7th October 2017 search tin tins experience on Facebook
The weekend would start on a Saturday night @ Tin Tins until they literally kicked us out after no more ‘one mores’ at 9am Sunday morning. No one was ready to go home so we’d head on over to the West End bar. Guaranteed there would be a bit of a queue but i used to sweet talk Maxi into letting me queue jump. As soon as you walked through the door the dance floor would be heaving. I would make my way straight to the ladies with my rucksack complete with a change of clothes, toiletries and even my curling tongues for a quick freshen up before heading onto the dance floor myself, thinking back now i don’t know why i bothered because i’d be sweaty again within about half hour. Trotters independent traders, Summer junkies, Aly-us follow me these are some of the tunes i associate with the West End bar. Probably one of the memories that stands out for me is walking into there and the dance floor being covered with tables and chairs and being told we weren’t allowed to dance and they’d lost the licence……Like that was gonna stop us! Oh, and serving mugs of tea!
Had some cracking times in the West End bar, great memories, wicked people! god i miss those years not that i could hack it now as i’m way to old! lol.
Lol.. justine.. the cups of tea haha they were actually quite refreshing after hrs and hrs of dancing and sweating so much.. although a little strange on the taste buds at the same time haha.. I wish I knew the names of some of the tracks that were played there. I had a wicked tape that the dj recorded his set he’d done the one morning and I think I played it to death.. I remember what they went like singing them in my head.. and right now im wishing we could relive just one more night from start to finish ending with west end bar.. but im also to old now and dont think my body could take it lol.. well at least we can live to tell the tale to people that just ent got a clue to what only us old school clubbers can tell. Great fond and happy memories. No doubt we would have crossed paths or even danced side by side and had random conversations together.
E Mancini the random toilet conversations were the one lol. Chewing people’s ears off for hours when you’d ‘just popped to the loo’. The amount of time I’ve had people looking for me cuz I’d gone AWOL lol. Wicked memories, well from what I can remember……haha
There’s a classics reunion night on the 28th at the institute. Called Love House. Check it out on Facebook
Watched some of the best ive seen play in here, namely Ric James,Dave Oldershaw and Dave Lee.Music was excellent and mixing quality.Big respect this place was legendary in brum and the midlands.
My favourite 5 west end bar tracks.( To name but a few)
Silvio Ecomo- Uprising
Wizards on wax-Def Jam
Sheryl Jay-Let the beat Hit em
MIss Peppermint-Let me hear the Dj
Run and Green-Everybody
Happy Days!!!!
Yeah ric has some classic mixes.. he made my nights only recently in a local club near me at the after party by playing all the old school tracks from the west end bar.. gee did it take me back and make me smile from ear to ear.. see ric when u read this.. and like I asked u earlier on fb.. get some mixes put on fb so we can all have some flash backs with tracks x
Yeah ric has some classic mixes.. he made my nights only recently in a local club near me at the after party by playing all the old school tracks from the west end bar.. gee did it take me back and make me smile from ear to ear.. see ric when u read this.. and like I asked u earlier on fb.. get some mixes put on fb so we can all have some flash backs with tracks x
Well the nineties were the best by far and nothing will ever beat them..
I’d go out on a Friday night after work, the crew had either been to Sheffield love to be, crazy Daisy’s, or gods kitchen depending, to the services for a quick change on the way back..
We would all get to the west end bar ready to carry on, as soon as I walked in it would be rammed with gurning faces everywhere, people talking absolute crap and making no sense as they had been up for 2 days ha ha ha..
Everybody would be there from various clubs they had been to, was fab to see us all come together after our crazy nights..and just get more mangled as the day went on..
The tunes would be banging and off we would all go again till the afternoon..
Was hilarious walking out as sweaty messes and the normal public taking one look at us and thinking ” oh my god”, but we didn’t care atall, some of the best days ever..x
I worked at the West End Bar in the mud 80’s. Best place of work ever. Steve the owner/manager was the coolest boss. Martin, head bar man, if you’re out there, shout out to you! 🙂
Greta, were you working there when it was rockabilly upstairs and Indie downstairs?
My mates and i practically lived there during this period.
Bottles of Skol white top with a face scratched in the foil and tequilla short frenzys.
Ah, those were the days
Robert, were you upstairs or downstairs? I’m the American girl who worked upstairs in the late 80s. Jackie worked downstairs. Then we moved to the Ship Ashore with Steve the owner.
I remember you Greta. The naughty nurse!!!! I was the DJ downstairs and then went on to be licensee at the Ship Ashore when we moved there
Hi Greg. How is it going?
Hi Greta.
Just decided to look my old pub up, thanks for the compliment. Not quite as cool at 65 but still love my music. Gave up pubs in 2000 now retired too Weymouth. x
Hi Steve. Loved the West End Bar, and practically lived in there from 86 to 89. Hope you’re doing ok and thanks again for the memories.
Hi Steve,
Hope you’re keeping well – it’s Andy from Hull. I worked at the West End Bar late 80s – probably 88-90. Started upstairs with the rockabilly and then moved downstairs to work on the indie bar with Jackie.
Got to say that was one of the few jobs I have ever had where I couldn’t wait to get to work – it was that much fun.
I seem to remember Greg liked sitting in baths of custard or blancmange or something!
Hi, I worked there in the 80’s with Tweeny/Liz and Tina who washed glasses. Steve was our boss and Martin our manager. We even ran a fun run with West End Bar t-shirts.
Great times
I loved this place some found memories after a banging night in crunch me and my friends would walk up to the west end bar with my ears still ringing and my head buzzing, once past the que a cup of tea and a fag and just watching the madness unfold in there people dancing shaking hands and generally a feel of euphoria amoungst the party crowd, I think mid day alcahol was sold so that was me back on the beer still dancing still smiling. The vibe was electric the youth of Birmingham was spoilt for choice in those days I can still picture the place in full flow now the weird thing for me was my mom worked in Lloyd house the police quarters next to it while she was working away I was dancing away next door!! Great times great people when I was young 😉
Well for me it was the period 88-91, before I moved to Spain. We would start off here, maybe sinatras or Kalaidascope. Then a loooong walk to the powerhouse! Such fun, then a tray of chips from that place next to kaleidoscope which was always packed. In them days, we all knew each other, no fights, no drugs, just out for a good time!
For me it was 87-89 and then synatras and ship ashore great days everyone loved the moment DJ Tony Reynolds kept us dancing and great friends unfortunately I am only in touch with a couple now
Some of us skins/rudies/scooterists would frequent there inbetween Outrigger/Ship Ashore/Synatras.back in the 80s.
Hype tin tins reunion fri 7th October 2017 search tin tins experience on Facebook
Was a rockabilly 87-90, brilliant times in the West End Bar. Also used to go to The Duke of York in Hockley on a Saturday for another great Rockabilly night. As the years went on we graduated to downstairs. I remember NYE 1988 downstairs at WEB with a big group of us. All at the back we opened the emergency exit at midnight and sang Fairytale of New York …before it was trendy !!!
Also went onto Ship Ashore when gaffer left WEB…I remember having some of the greatest nights of my life on the top floor.
Chris Mc – i am pretty sure me and my mates were downstairs that New Year at the WEB – we must of been with you as i remember singing that song – we were the idiots who used to smash the plastic pint pots on our forehead and build towers of the empty plastic glasses up to the ceiling – we moved to the Ship a Shore as well – great times
Used to go the West End Bar for the rockabilly vibe 85-87. I felt a novice and would love to study the other girls and their amazing hair, clothes and dance routines. I remember they looked like young Elizabeth Taylors. I used to get the last bus back to Sutton and pick up my sister who was more into the Goth scene and had been to the Barrel Organ. Happy days.
Great times at the West End Bar. I used to go with my mates Karl and Phil 1987-1990 oh and I mustn’t forget Duncan. We used to go on Friday ,Saturday and Sunday night sometimes Tuesday too. Duke of York also on a Saturday night and Kaleidoscope on a Wednesday night. Discovered some great songs from hearing the DJs play them. Met my great mate Nick Mason there in 1986
Hi Steve, not sure if you are still on here, but if you are we were mod music fans together…you used to make me mix tapes…Small Faces, Kinks, Jam…is this still you? Angie xxx
Are you Jason who worked in top man ?
West End bar the first nightclub I had ever been to where I was to meet my 1st bf Kevin J.
Used to go to the bar at bham Airport too with my then college friend Jane who was gothic,though I was pretty opposite.
Some good memories 🙂
We all moved on but good memories.
https://www.mixcloud.com/tommymaloney76/dj-tom-maloney-west-end-bar-2021-funky-bass-house/ Here is my mix from the west end bar… used to be beyond spangled driving from one venue to another of our tits…. we got pulled by the police in the way from tin tins and they asked me my name I proceeded to get out of the car barged passed the officer at my door opened the police car back door where they had my mate and said sorry to interrupt officer but I need to ask my name for your mate….. unbelievably they let us drive on 😂