The Go Go Bar
Posted by Apollomed from Penrhiwceiber on the 18th February 2008
I was recently visiting Aberdare last year after many years living away. The town has changed a great deal and a lot of the old places now gone-sadly! I couldn't help walking around the town and stood opposite what used to be the Go Go Bar in Canon Street in the 60s and the memories of great times came flooding back. It was THE place to go on saturday and Sunday night with fish and chips at Carpaninni's on the way home! Unless you got lucky that is. Wondered if anyone remembers the discos there-I think it was the very first Discoteque in South Wales
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I used to go to "The Mem'" at the time the gogo's was running, they used to give you your money back if they had to play records because the group didn't turn up.
I used to go to the mem on saturday from the age of about 14 (1966 ish) i remember queing from about 6 pm, mind u i had to be home by 9.30pm or else!!I remember having guest groups there my fave was the Bystanders, and I remember a group which had horror films projected on the back wall.
All innocent fun - no alcohol inside but there would still be a helluver fight at the end of the nite!!
I graduated to Go Go's a couple of years later, my mam thought it was den in iniquity.
Behind the library first for a swig of cider, bop the nite away and then a snog in the co-op alley (if you were lucky!) and still home by 10.30!!
hahaha!!
I was 14 in '66 also and after "The Mem'" it was down Cap's for chips 'n homemade pie with Gravy and bread & butter out of a buscuit tin.
I used to go to the mem as well and then Cap's for chips and then home for 9.30 always felt I missed the best part of the evening lol, then graduated to Gogos had some brill nights in Aberdare, I think the group with the horror back drop went on to become Arthur Brown the group that sang "Fire" and had a chart hit, I also remember the Hollies playing the mem at Christmas, bought the ticket and was not allowed to go queued for hours for the ticket had mitched off school and got found out so no Mem for a month which included the Hollies gig, life could be so unfair or so I thought. Do any of you remember the 4 pennies playing the Colosieum?
What good memories of a simpler time. My friend used to live across the road from the Mem and I used to go to her house first so I could put on stockings and a little bit of make-up, and then I'd have to go back to her house before I went home to get all the makeup off! My mum would have killed me if she'd known. I remember GoGos too, I remember being in a dance competition there and fainting! I don't remember Cap's; I used to go to a cafe called Mascherpa's (spelling?), owned by an Italian couple. That was where I was when we heard the news about Kennedy's assination in 1963, so I'd have been 14 then. I'm hoping to make it home next year, my first time since 1977! LOL. I'm sure I won't recognise Aberdare at all. The photograph of the Conservative Club that's on the site, didn't that used to be a big fancy hotel? Don't remember the name of that either - old age sucks! Memory fading.....
i used to go to gogo's too had to take the 10:00pm bus back to Hirwaun wasn't allowed to take the last bus as my parents thought all the drunks would be on that one lol. Have great memories from there that's where i met my husband.
The Con' Club was purpose built in 1898 as it has remained to this day.
Great to hear so many shared those same memories as me. The Go Go bar was run by a guy from Cardiff and he brought his bouncer with him called Mac-a real hard case. The other bouncer I think was local and called Donovan. If there was any trouble out on the front door he used to use a switch under the desk and flicked it on and off which operated a yellow light inside the disco and the bouncers would go running like hell to get out to him. I always remember it being hot, sweaty, noisy, smelling of perfume and....... wait for it cigarette smoke!!!! I think its where most in their teens eventually cut their teeth on the great big world outside. My snogging was done behind the Clinic but you had to queue for a good place as everyone went there. Hope we get more comments this is sounding a good topic.
Graham Donovan is still around he bounced up "The Skip" (Ysgyborwen) after that and thats another story.
I feel dead jealous because I never went to Go Go's or the Mem but I am a good few years older than you people, seems I missed out on all the fun .My twin sisters use to go there .
But I do remember that home made pie in Caparninis absolutely delicious.:-)
It seems we all shared similar experiences. Going to the Go Go Bar was only part of the experience, having a pint before the dance was part of it-even at that young age some pubs would be prepared to take the risk and serve you in the back room. Word would spread about which pubs were "safe" and which ones the police visited. I used to go with my mates to the Bird in Hand in Monk St. Does anyone have similar experiences of before the dance. And what about after the dance!!!!!!!!! That must provoke some memories.
The Bystanders I think were a Merthyr Group. They were the group that never really made it but should have done. They had a near hit with a record called "98.6" You can still get their CD on Amazon and sometimes E Bay. I used to be a the drummer with a valley group called Good Vibrations and we played most of the South Wales clubs.
Quite a few pubs would turn a blind eye if you went to the hatch even if they wouldn't serve you in the bar. Many a flagon bought underage but with a lot of guilt and pepermints to go home.
Apollo, they were from Merthyr and if I have it right Owen Money ( or Lyn as he was then) sang with the Bystanders. I've got a copy of 98.6 somewhere!!
Your spot on there Cynonpuss and hang on to that record it is collectable now. Does anyone recall any of the other groups that played around Aberdare and the valley. I played around the valley and S Wales in a group called Good Vibrations and I remember another Aberdare group around at that time was the Celts. Tom Jones used to be on the Club circit the same time as us, but he was called Tommy Scott and the Senators and was just getting noticed then.
I think I can remember Vibrasions we used to get most of the groups in the Irish club in Mountain Ash Tom Jones as you say was Tom Scott and the Senators, he done his last show in the club on the saturday and on the Monday went PRO. But before he could turn Pro he had to change the name from Scott, because there was a singer from the Thynt named Tom Scott and he was Pro, long before Tom came on the scene
What happend to the Senators they were a good band in thier own right
Doug Oz
Sounds like I may know Apollo seeing as he was a drummer with the Good Vibrations, but it's a long time ago and my memory fades. Good band and good drummer. If I'm correct then the snogging he done behind the Clinic was with a young lady I only knew as "The Phantom Gobbler". Poor bloke was never the same again.
He's got it all wrong-it was his sister I was with!!!!!
That`s where you`re wrong ..... it was his brother!
Thinking back on the discussion on the Memorial Hall, can anyone remember two other groups called "The First Offenders" from the Mountain Ash area, and "The Way" who came from the whole length of the Aberdare valley. What about the Saturday night dance in Mount Y.M.C.A. where they would search you for weapons on the way in, and if you didn't have any they'd lend you some. ------------ Is Appolo really Billy Brown????
GO GO'S i used to go there , the carpenters arms back room first, get drunk on three pints of cider,make a bit of a fuss in go go's, get a smack in the lughole from one of the bouncers, get thrown out , all before ten o'clock!Those were the days!LOL!! I also remember the Celts , the rhythm guitar was jegsy williams. , Lead guitar was a great musician named Ieuan (cant remember his last name0 but we used to go up the Ivy Bush in Cwmaman on a Sunday night to listen to the landlord Cliff Chips on the keyboard and Ieuan on the guitar . The Celts mostly hailed from Cwmaman
Wasn't Jegsey into diving and used to drive a jeep. I seem to remember he had an accident with an air bottle.
Gegsy is still diving and still driving that same old Yellow Jeep, but the accident with the air bottle damaged some fingers and put an end to the guitar playing.
Gegsy, you were in ABERTAF ,am i right?
I saw the Celts a few times.Although, I think it was in Abernant, when,as the band started to play there was an explosion and all the lights went out. Im not sure but i think one of the band got knocked off his feet. What an entrance!LOL!
bobtanner16
i think his name was pat donovan ,
i used to go to the mem too 1966-67, if u had longish hair that,s where u went, if it was short u went to go-go,s
i am from over the mardy ,u had to keep that a secret lol, if they had a big fight in the mem they would close it for a few weeks also,
they were good days
It was Gegsy who was the cause of that spectacular start. I can still remember the mark of the strings burned on his fingers
I was in Abertaf the same time as gegsy-he was 2 years ahead of me
Yes,dmj, Abertaf was responsible for my education from 1966 to 1971.
I wish I had taken more notice of what was available there.
As for the incident at Abernant,which I remember vividly,we had connected the amplifiers for the guitars into plugs on the left hand side of the stage but the amp. for the microphones was plugged into a socket on the right hand side.
Everything worked normally until I touched the mike stand with my guitar strings and completed one big electrical circuit - with me in the middle!
The plugs an one side were wired incorrectly.
And william is quite right I STILL have the burn marks on my left hand where I was holding the strings.
Apollo, Gegsy, I was born in 1947. so I was in Abertaf from .............now let me see,.............It's no good i'll have to take my shoes and socks off,.........................1958 'till 1963.
I regarded it as a sort of Finishing School, 'cos it certainly finished me!
I too, wished I had made more use of the education offered, but it used to bore me to death at the time.
I knew Gegsy and his jeep wonder if he remembers coming round the corner on a street in cwmaman lol wordsworth street and seen things being thrown out the door in one of the flats there lol it wasn't me but it was someone living below me and my husband lol
Hello Welshgirl, I vaguely remember driving around the top corner of Wordsworth St. and having to avoid personal items strewn across the road.
The Jeep brakes were never very good - still aren't - and was happier climbing over things rather than stopping, but in this instance I managed to stop in time.
I think the couple concerned picked up the pieces ( oh no! did I really write that!)made up and got on with things.
Do you remember the Inner Sanctum dance hall at Cwm?
lol gegsy yep they did we lived above them and you knew my husband and yes i remember the inner sanctum also the ivy bush well still got a great friend still living on ivy bush hill and i bet you know him well lol
HA! HA! I remember the inner sanctum, went there a few times with Sam Forward and John Rees I think it was ..i used to have relatives in Kingsbury place, so i knew quite a few up there.
I also went to school, but I'm not sure where. It may have been this Abertaf, it certainly sounds an interesting place. Was dmj the one in love with Miss Davies the religious instruction teacher (It was rumoured that he threatened to end it all when she married a Mr. Richard Fen {artist}). For spite, he put a condom on the end of the exhaust pipe of the gentleman's moped. What a sight as the bike-thing went off down the rocky road, with the condom balloon getting larger and larger.
I've got to stop now 'cos my finger aches and I'm confused. I'm off to ponder the big questions in life-------- Where am I now when I need me? And is snot produced to feed the poor?
curlyleads, It's only now I'm reading this and I LMAO at your post. I was the one Miss Davies threw a wooden blackboard wiper at ,jasus she had a temper!As for Dickie Fen he was a born again nutcase, who after a session in class with us ,used to piss his pants and forget who he was for a fortnight! FOFLMAO!! I wonder what any offspring was like, if it folowed daddy it could be walking round like a Thunderbirds Are Go! puppet , with mam's temper of course!When you've finished pondering the massive impact of snot, give me a clue as to who you are, you've obviously had the unpleasant experience of knowing me. PMSL!!!
I think I had better tell you dmj that curleyleads really is Dicky Fen!!!
Only kidding, but curleyleads and I have knocked around together for years and were both in Abertaf, so maybe I know you too :)
I shouted Dicky Fen's nickname out once as he was driving [past in the car with Ma Davies. I paid for that big time with a leathering on both hands with a dap off Dicky Fen that left me marked for days. Curleyleads intervening and threatening to punch Dicky's lights out probably prevented me from get a worse hiding. Although, I am all for more discipline in schools today, then, there was a marked line that crossed between discipline and brutality to a pupil, which I am afraid was often crossed.
Hi all , I havn't been on this for a while, been setting up new house, but was interested to read about Abertaf school, I was a pupil there from 1963 on and was suprised no one mentioned the other headcase teachers there namely mr Dovey the geography teacher, threw me over a desk because I didn't do his homework, and Abdul the science teacher, can't remember his real name, and who could forget the lovely miss Poole the french teacher even at our young age she was still gorgeous even when she was sent home after coming to school in skin tight jeans, they were fun days , even though I hated school from day one. hope I have jogged some memories,
All the best Roywil
Hi rowil
Looks like I was there same time as you. There is a picture attached to this web site of my old class there 2d (the very Miss davies we are talking about is on it).
Remember Mr Dovey, he used to lower a globe from the ceiling on rope and swing it around the class to shut everyone up. Abdul's name was Mr Griffiths. Miss Pooley was the french teacher and instead of saying "Good morning" to her, the boys used to wolf whistle at her-and she loved it. Mr Cooke the Maths teacher who always forgot to do his flies up and the girls would tell him off in class! Ben Turner the tiny sports master-he gave so much to the school! Mr Horler the History teacher who just had to look at you and put the fear of god there. Mr Cod (dirty old man) used to like to show the girls how to play basketball. I am sure there are more. Sopme good days and some not so good. Whose' class were you in and can you remember any of the pupils you were with?
Lo dmj, I regret that I am unable to reveal my identity at this time, as I am currently on a mission for the F.B.I.
(ie. The Fforchamman Bloody Independants). However, I am allowed to say that I support your view on Miss Davies's temper, because she threw a Bible the length of the class, at Roy Davies and myself. We didn't mind that so much, but what hurt was she called us "Bumpkins",----- and her a religous type! What used to really annoy her, was the fact that she had to catch the bus home, while we would pass her in a white Morris 1000, driven by "Long" Dai Evans (No Licence, No Insurance and No Worries).
What about the time we had shot putting practice. I'm fairly certain it was Robert Day who put the shot onto the back of Dai Matthews's head. Dai was ok, but the shot was judged a foul..
It was the same 8lb shot that went gently down the pan of "Trap 1" in the boy's bogs. What a fuss over that little incident.
Who put a compess point into the lead cistern pipe in the same bogs? Every time it flushed, a jet of water would squirt over those standing by the wall.
Who nailed a rope noose to "The Bod's" door ?
I should make it clear that regarding the conflict between Apollo and Dicky Fen, I simply attended as a character witness for the defendant, but it was good fun.
Tired from all the excitement now.
Don't remember much of the old days have been in South Australia for 36 years and there has been a lot of water under the bridge,old age is a bugger haha.
I do remember getting the cane across the backside many times for for mitching school, we would go in the morning and at lunchtime we would sneak over the road and hide along the hill until we were clear of the school, then we would hitch all the way to Aberdare then catch a bus home (don't think I would like to try it now).
all the best Roywil
curlyleads60 it was either Dayo or Dai sullivan who put the shot into Dai Mathews cranium. I think it would have been a distance record to if he hadn't got his head in the way.I remember all the teachers you mentioned,but the Bod was a bloody masochist, i remember he beat Dai S Jones until he was slumped in Bods bardic chair and Gomez was called to get him out I saw Dai in the chair Gomez came out of there in shock, with eyes like bugs balls.
Apollo, i must know you too,. , and you roywill,does anyone remember Andre Jolli? where did he spend all these years?
If you want a bit of nostalgia take a look at "The Mem'"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites/aberdare/pages/oldaberdare_ch...
Copy and paste to your address bar.
I remember Andre Jolli well-great sense of humour. Him and Curlyleads were blood brothers!!! I went on Friends Reunited for a laugh and got over 10 replies from my old class mates and saw what loads of the others from Abertaf are doing now. Just reading back through the names brought back memories, as does this web site. The Bod had a secretary we nicknamed her "Twaddles" because if you forgot to pay your dinner money she would come tearing up the corridor after you and ran like a duck (That sounds so awful now) On Friends Reunited are some pics of Frank Randall and
Slim and a few other old pics as well. Me and Curleyleads used to do Prefects duty at lunch break down in Mrs Dash's sweet shop, to control the queue of kids fighting to get in. We used to bribe them for sweets if we let them get to the front to come in and get served. I remember Curleyleads liked Jubblies!!!!!!!!
Yep Curleyleads is right, he did act as my character witness (after we concocted the story up and got all our lies worked out). Stood as my trusted witness then he called Dicky Fen a bloody old bully and told him to bugger off. I will say one thing we had total respect for our teachers in those days!!
never went to Abertaf but went to the mem and gogos, and have really enjoyed reading your postings had a look at the photos and brought back some great memoreys,I spent a lot of time in Aberaman and Cwmaman had many good friends and often wondered where they are today.
Apollo,Curly, do you remember Alan "Sam" Forward, Bobby Mills .and here goes,I hope I've got his names in the right order, Roberto Francisco Giovani Mario Francis Franchi.
Yes DMJ, remember all those names well. I think Franchi is still around the Abercynon area running the cafe-what else!! Do you remember the time in morning assembly when the Bod said the hymn number and when Ma Davies hit the first note on the piano there was just a clunk. That was because Franchi had dumped a load of old milk bottles in the inside of the piano!!! He was a great sporstman though and a real character, always walking around reading the horse racing paper.
Lo dmj.& Apollo,
I went right through the Abertaf years with Andre. I have tried to track him down on www.192 but it wont give the bloody phone number, but his name is listed, along with is father's, so he is about.
I can remember the day John (Bronco) Lane and I visited Bob Mills. We pedelled our bikes from 'Ceiber to Penwaun on a Saturday to play darts with him,(it rained all day) what a ride!
Last seen Sam Forward in Aberdare Coll. of F.E. in 1972 when I was on a Mining course there.
Dai Sullivan & Gwyn Elms were a wicked pair, they used to suspend young boys, upside-down, off the bridge over the river.
Rob Franchi's Cafe is now used for some other business.
Do you know what became of Wynford Williams from Bwllfa Dare?
I dug out two class photo's, the 1st of Form Two and the 2nd of the same pupils in Form Five. It is surprising how the girls had turned into young ladies and the boys into delinquents. (Best looking girls in South Wales though.)
Tired now, going to have my Horlicks and totter up the stairs. Tara.
apollo curly,Wynford "Wâss" Williams, a wicked bugger,he was a teacher in the, then, new Boys Grammar School at the bottom of Cwmdare hill but has since retired , still living in Cwmdare with his wife and voice in his boots. I see him a few times in the year, a real character and wicked swine.Bronco Lane is now living in Cwmbach, or he was, upon his return from S Africa.Gomez is also still living in Cwmbach so I'm told, but I haven't seen him since we left school, he was another character.Do you remember Dai.S ? he and I (Dai.M) remained firm friends, until his sad demise a few years ago.
ON a happier note:- My first introduction to school life, was on the very first day. We had just got off the bus, walked down to the lower school yard, when we were ambushed, and one of the senior nutcases cut my tie off at the knot.So in my very first assembly, Bod was running his poisoned gaze over us, and one of his eyes stopped at my collar, he enquired about my lack of tie length and asked if i knew who had the rest of it, i replied, "No" and he sauntered off, hands behind his back head held high, gown all a'flowing, into the sunset.I remember thinking, i'd better wise up if i was to survive here. LMAO!!
Hi I remember the celts too, Dai Thomas I believe was the singer, and peter the postman the drummer, They dressed in welsh plaid kilts,not sure of the others name. David late brother Mall known as Mell Scot later played the clubs and pubs He was a fab sing-a-long singer and the best guitarist I ever heard, everyone loved him, It was said the whole family was very musical,
The mem was the cheapest night out, but the best night out too, never real trouble.I believe the bouncers name was Mr aldicot or some thing like that, at the time he seemed about 50, but at my temder age everyone over thirty looked old. lol he too was a great guy, very fair.
I see many faces of the dancers now on my rare visits to Aberdare, but got to say this was the best time of my life. If I had to pick an era to live this would be it, plenty of jobs, safe to walk alone, and plenty of entertainment, choice cinemas, and the cafes where a cup of coffee lasted all night, and the thrill of a goodnight kiss at the bus stop, with the older generation tut tuting at our peck on the cheek in public, lol We probably only had a few bob pocket money which lasted forever. the kids today have non of this fun, and without work theres nothing for them to do, as a night out now costs an arm and a leg.
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