Live Local Music, Artists & Venues

My wife is an Allesley girl and she's never heard of the Casablanca club at The Sportsman's. She says she just knew it as the disco!

Having recently learned about the Casablanca Club at the Sportsman's Arms in the mid-1960s, I began thinking that there was a trend at that time for similarly-named clubs and bars. I can think of the Blue Nile Club at the Savoy, the Bali Hai at the Locarno and the Shanghai Waterfront at the Jules Verne. Were there any others? I know there were a number of coffee bars/cafes that would also fit the bill. Interesting that all the above locations have changed their name and/or their usage

According to Don Powell's site they also played the Parkstone club in Foleshill on the 10th August 1966.

Thanks Jonny, I missed that. They were supported by/were supporting Muzzle Toft. The only reference to them I can find on the internet is Don's website. I wonder what happened to them? Were they a local band, or were they from the Black Country like Slade? Were they the Parksone's house band?

Hi Jonnybgood, welcome to the forum.

Hi. I had posted this on the Hobo A to Z of Cov Bands page but never got any replies. I'm hoping someone here might know of my dad and the bands he was in. Below is a photo of one that Trev from Hobo helped to try and identify some of the people. Roger Jackson is on the right and next to him could be (but not sure) keyboard player Martin Barter. Left we think is Freg Liggins, the tenor sax player who was with the Boll Weevils in the 60's. However we don't what this band was called. Any information welcome.

Hi there Meowdisco If you're on Facebook it might be worth contacting Pete Chambers, Coventry's music guru, and creator of the Two Tone museum up Ball Hill. He would probably be the best positioned to have the right contacts for this sort of query.

If you go to Trev's other FB, Coventry the Music, your request will reach a bigger audience, also ask about access to the archived Broadgategnome site which is the best for that period.

Can anyone tell where Jack Ruane was playing at on Saturday January 7th? I assume it was his Irish Show Band?

Mick, it says The Banba Club which, looking at other posts on here, was the former Redesdale Cinema.

The Banba Club was later the Treetops Club and is currently a Sikh temple.

Located on the corner of Foleshill Road and Edmund Road, the Redesdale Cinema was opened on 31st January 1933. Seating was provided for 1,073 in the stalls and 500 in the circle. It was built for W.H. Bassett-Green. In 1934 it was leased by the local Philpot chain and was re-named Roxy Cinema. In April 1954, the cinema was taken back by Bassett-Green and it reverted back to its original name. It continued to operate for two more years, and was then closed and the contents were auctioned off on 3rd September 1956. The building was converted into the Banba Club, then became the Hibernia Club and in 1973 became the Tree Tops Club. It was closed in April 1978, and the building was put up 'For Sale'. There was talk of conversion back to cinema use with a restaurant, but this came to nothing. A Sikh group purchased the building in November 1979, and it was converted into the Nanaksar Gursikh Temple.