During the sixties, Newcastle’s club A’Gogo was one of the top music venues in the North East. The ‘Gogo’ was to Newcastle what the Marquee club was to London. It is fondly remembered by club goers and musicians alike – people like Eric Burdon, Brian Ferry and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson. But unlike the Marquee, there is very little information about the club A’Gogo on the internet. There are, of course, many references to the Animals being the resident band at the club in the early sixties. The Animals also recorded a live album at the Gogo and even wrote a song about the place.
The Club A’Gogo was opened in the early sixties in Percy Street, Newcastle at a time when jazz was very popular and almost mainstream. For instance, in 1961 there were three jazz performers in the top 20 all at the same time – (Dave Brubeck, Kenny Ball and Acker Bilk). There was no shortage of traditional (trad) jazz bands and modern jazz combos doing the rounds in local clubs and there was plenty of venues to accommodate them. In Newcastle in the early sixties some of the most popular places for live music were the Palletta in Blackett Street, the Oxford Galleries and the Majestic Ballroom (where the Beatles made their first live appearance in the city).
There was also the Marimba coffee bar on the corner of Grey Street and High Bridge which had originally been opened by a Londoner named Michael Frank Jeffery. Mike Jeffery also ran a popular Jazz Club called the Downbeat in Carliol Square. Eric Burdon of the Animals was a member of a crowd that used to hang out at the Downbeat. In one interview Burden described his bunch of friends as “like a motorcycle gang …… without the motorcycles ……. they were tough, hard-drinking and listened to American music”.
The Downbeat eventually succumbed to rock music featuring local bands such as the Alan Price Combo (originally the Pagans), the Kylastrons and a Whitley Bay band called the Invaders, the first ‘non-Jazz’ band to play there. The Downbeat was eventually closed because of fire regulation and did, in fact, subsequently burn down as did Mike Jeffery’s other venture, the Marimba coffee bar.
Newspaper ad for the downbeat in 1962
Probably from the proceeds of insurance pay offs on his previous two ventures, Mike Jeffery opened the Club A’Gogo in partnership with another local businessman called Ray Grehan. At the time, Ray Grehan was the sales manager for a company named Automaticket. The Club A’Gogo was situated on the top floor in a building on Percy Street in Newcastle’s Haymarket area above a canteen used by Newcastle Corporation bus crews. The Handyside Arcade, another well known land mark of the era, was part of the same block. These buildings have long since been demolished and in their place stands the Eldon Garden Shopping Centre.
When the club first opened the down stairs box office was run by Keith Gibbon, a lady called Barbara and an Irish ex-pro boxer called Paddy. There were two rooms upstairs, initially managed by Bill Smith. On the right was the licensed “Jazz Lounge” where the Tommy Henderson Trio was the resident band. On the left was the “Latin American Lounge”, (later to be renamed the “Young Set”) which was not licensed and featured mainly the pop music of the day.
The Young Set (originally named ‘The Latin American Lounge’)
In the early days, the Jazz Lounge was true to its name and featured mainly jazz acts. As well as local jazzmen such as Mike Carr, the club was also host to a lot of visiting London musicians such as the Tubby Hayes Quartet and the Alan Elsdon Jazz Band. Gradually, the Jazz Lounge changed to accommodate some of the great British groups that were emerging in the early sixties; bands like the Alex Harvey Soul Band, Graham Bond Organisation, Spencer Davis Group to name but a few. In 1963, the Animals became the resident band in the Jazz Lounge.
In the meantime the Invaders became the resident band in the Young Set. Dougie Vickers, who was the Invaders’ drummer, remembers the band auditioning for Mike Jeffery. The Invaders were offered the gig but only on the condition that they added a sax player to their line up. They promptly found a saxophonist and began playing in the Young Set on Wednesday, Friday, Saturdays and Sunday nights. The Saturday night sessions would start at 12.00 midnight and end at 4.00am. Dougie recalls that on some occasions the queue to get into the club stretched from the doorway in Percy Street around the corner to St James Park.
Club a’GoGo flyer from 1963
Due to the popularity of the Club A’Gogo in Newcastle, Mike Jeffery also opened a second Club A’Gogo in Whitley Bay.
The Junco Partners, who took over as the resident house band at Newcastle’s Club A’Gogo in 1964 after the Animals hit the big, probably know as much about the club as anyone. In the following clip Juncos – Ronnie Barker and Dave Sproat remember their days at the Club a’GoGo.
Ronnie & Dave talk about the Club A GoGo
Junco Partners Official Myspace. | MySpace Music Videos
In this second clip, the Juncos (and Eric Burdon) revisit the building which housed the GoGo (years before it was demolished). The clip contains footage of the entrance on Percy Street, the stairwell, landing and the stage of the Jazz Lounge.
The Juncos and Eric Burdon “Alright Now!”
Junco Partners Official Myspace. | MySpace Music Videos
Mike Jeffery went on to manage many rock performers. Most notable are the Animals and Jimmy Hendrix. He also owned night clubs in Majorca and met an untimely death in 1973 when a plane bringing him back from a trip to Majorca collided with another plane over Nantes in western France. The accident occurred not long after Jimi Hendrix died in London. Jeffery was on his way back to a Court hearing in London concerning Hendrix when he died along with 60 other passengers when the DC-9 crashed,
People who frequented the Gogo in the sixties will also remember some of the characters who worked at the club. Tommy Crumb, a bald guy who usually wore a leather coat, looked after the door on ground level with several others. The clubs upstairs were managed by Myer Thomas who is mentioned by name in the Animals song ‘Club a’GoGo’. A couple of the better known bouncers were the Findlay brothers – Dave and Tommy. Dave was a tall good looking bloke with fairish/ginger hair. Tommy had darker hair was a quite a bit shorter than Dave. I recall waiting to go into the club one night when a guy came running out of the door hotly pursued by Dave Findlay. The guy ran along Percy Street and Dave tried to head him off by jumping onto the bonnets and roofs of a couple of parked cars.
Other names that people remember as working at the club were Big Phil, Keith Crombie and Keith Young.
Percy Street in the sixties – entrance to the Gogo was by the doorway (bottom right)
Site of the Club A’Gogo on Percy Street in the noughties
I played at the Club A’Gogo, both the Young Set and the Jazz Lounge with two bands; the Jazzboard and the Village on several occasions between 1965 and 1968. Due to band commitments and the fact I lived in Sunderland, I was never a regular visitor to the club but when I was with the Jazzboard in 1966 we often went to the Jazz Lounge after our own gigs in the Newcastle area had finished. Some of the bands I saw at these late night sessions were Graham Bond, the John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (with Eric Clapton), Geno Washington and not forgetting Newcastle’s favourite band, The Junco Partners.
Newspaper ad for the Gogo (1965)
Around this time, there used to be a black guy who sat in with a lot of the visiting bands on conga drums. I think he must have kept his drums at the club and brought them out if he got the nod from the band. The stage in the Jazz Lounge wasn’t very high and you get quite close to the musicians. Myer Thomas used to manage the stage and the appearance of the bands. I can remember him telling off our keyboard player, Jimmy Hall, for smoking on stage. Another ex-Gogo regular remembers Myer at the time that the Animal’s ‘House of the Rising Sun’ had been released. Every night he would announce its progress up the charts. Myer eventually moved out to Majorca where Mike Jeffery together with Keith Gibbon opened a night club named Sergeant Peppers in the Plaza Gomilla, Palma.
In an interview on the ITV series ‘Northstars’ (broadcast in 2002), Bryan Ferry recalled seeing the Junco Partners at the Gogo and playing there with his own band – the Gas Board. He remembered carrying the band’s gear from the Young Set across the landing to the Jazz Lounge. Ferry described the atmosphere at the Gogo as heavily charged and said it was the best club he had been to.
The Invaders – the first resident band in the Young Set (photo kindly supplied by Dougie Vickers, drums)
Also in the ‘Northstars’ interviews, Brian Johnson of AC/DC remembered seeing the Yardbirds at the Gogo but was kicked out as soon as Keith Relf appeared on stage because he was too young to be in the Jazz Lounge; Sting recalled seeing Jimi Hendrix and Rod Clements of Lindisfarne remembered being close to the stage when the likes of John Mayall and Alex Harvey appeared. He recalled meeting the same bunch of people around the stage area waiting for the bands to appear.
Brian Ferry remembered that the walls of the Jazz Lounge had a day-glo mural of a New York skyline. In fact, he helped the artist, a David Sweetman with the painting. Rod Clements remembered portraits of Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson and John Lee Hooker on the walls.
Ex-club goers that have contributed to the Chronicle Live site remember the mod clothes – herringbone jackets and hush puppies and other gear brought from City Stylish. According to one contributor, the Gogo lost its popularity after the opening of Sloopy’s (formerly La Dolce Vita) and this forced its closure.
The GoGo is best remembered for its intimate atmosphere and for the great bands that appeared there throughout the sixties. ChronicleLive, often features people’s memories of the life and times of the Gogo and is well worth checking out.
Gogo flyer
Here are some of the bands and artists that appeared at the Gogo:
• Alan Bown Set
• Alan Price
• Alex Harvey
• Amen Corner
• Brian Auger’s Trinity (with Julie Driscoll)
• Captain Beefheart
• Cream
• Fleetwood Mac
• Garnet Mimms
• Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band
• Graham Bond Organisation
• Herman’s Hermits
• Hollies
• Howlin’ Wolf
• Ike and Tina Turner
• Jeff Beck
• Jimi Hendrix
• John Lee Hooker
• John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
• Long John Baldry
• Lulu
• Mary Wells
• Memphis Slim
• Moody Blues
• Pink Floyd
• P J Proby
• Rolling Stones
• Screaming Jay Hawkins
• Sonny Boy Williamson
• Spencer Davis Group
• Status Quo
• Steam Packet (with Rod Stewart)
• T Bone Walker
• The Animals
• The Family
• The Herd (with Peter Frampton)
• The Who
• Walker Brothers
• Yardbirds
• Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band
Gogo newspaper cutting from 1965
Here are some Gogo gig dates:
• 07/02/1964 – Graham Bond
• 05/06/1964 – John Lee Hooker
• 20/03/1965 – T Bone Walker
• 20/01/1966 – Spencer Davis
• 17/02/1966 – The Who
• 19/03/1966 – Zoot Money
• 12/10/1966 – The Family
• 10/11/1966 – The Family
• 15/12/1966 – The Family
• 20/10/1967 – Cream
• 10/03/1967 – Jimi Hendrix
• 19/05/1967 – Pink Floyd
• 01/07/1967 – The Family
• 16/11/1967 – Jeff Beck
• 23/11/1967 – Cream
• 04/12/1967 – Eric Burdon and the Animals
• 15/03/1968 – Status Quo
• 22/03/1968 – The Herd