The Back Cheapside car park. The Busin was situated about half-way up the street on the left-hand side. Image taken May 2012. Copyright Google Streetview.
The Busin was situated on Back Cheapside, an unusually-named
street. The existence of Back Cheapside suggests a street named Cheapside but
it seems the name was simply a nineteenth-century nickname for Newport Street
where the goods on offer by local traders were said to be of an inferior – and therefore cheaper
– calibre than elsewhere in the town centre.
Initially, the Busin was the social club for drivers and
conductors working for Bolton Corporation Transport (later Selnec and Greater Manchester Transport) from at least the 1950s onwards. Ernest Forth wrote on the Bolton Lancashire Bygone Days Facebook group that he played there with his skiffle group in 1957. but was sold in the
seventies to local businessman – and later Labour councillor, Jim Sherrington.
The club is perhaps best remembered for two things: its
rough-and-ready clientele and its punk nights which began around 1978, once a week during the quieter midweek nights. As Steve Fielding points out in the comments below, live music at the Busin began in 1978 - not early-1979 as was originally stated - but gigs at the venue inspired other local musical wannabes to form bands of
their own.
Issue 11 of the local punk fanzine Trends described the
venue as such in May 1980: “The opening
of the Busin was the advent of a host of new talent able to get gigs to an
audience of punks who had not only gained a disco but also acquired a dossing
place easily accessible from all surrounding areas. But foremost it was at your
disposle [sic] to perform to a live audience for the first time.” The article
goes on to list some of the bands that performed at the venue including Ltd.
Edition, The Parelettix, Nervous Disorder, Gun Control, The Reducers, The
Grout, The Droogs and Ex-Directory. However the article points out that “Due to
trouble with the police the Busin looks doomed as a punk club but in recent
weeks it has re-opened again but only as a disco.” [1]
Patrons of the punk nights reported that there was never any trouble.
Patrons of the punk nights reported that there was never any trouble.
The end for the Busin came in 1982 when it closed down and
was taken over to be used as premises for a computer firm [2]. Jim Sherrington concentrated on his other business interests and on Sundowners nightlcub (now Level) which he also owned.
In 1986, the Busin premises. became a footwear retailer named Shu-String. It was later demolished and its site is now a parking area on Back Cheapside.
In 1986, the Busin premises. became a footwear retailer named Shu-String. It was later demolished and its site is now a parking area on Back Cheapside.
[1] Trends, Issue 11, May 1980.
[2] Bolton
Town Centre, A Modern
History. Part Two: Bradshawgate, Great
Moor Street and Newport Street , 1900-1998
I Dj'd there from Nov 80,taking over from Dougie Mitchell, till its closure. I started a similar night straight away at Dean Ward Conservative Club with pretty much the same punters until Dec 82,when sadly that club also shut down and was demolished. Neil Kell.
ReplyDeleteCorrection - The new venue was called Derby Ward Conservative Club.
ReplyDeleteThe Busin image used is my photograph taken of the sticker that was on my guitar case.
ReplyDeleteThe Busin image used is my photograph taken of the sticker that was on my guitar case. The information regarding bands starting in 1979 is incorrect. I played my first ever gig at The Busin in Nov 1978 with The Paralettix and there had been many other bands on since the punk nights started in the spring of 78. I also played there several times in 1979 with my next band Gun Control. I attended pretty much every punk from it starting up until I formed Fashions of Fate in 1980 and then began to frequent Scamps instead. Steve Fielding
ReplyDeleteBusin Nightclub mentioned in this article on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/punk-rock-in-bolton-1970s PDF available.
ReplyDeleteGun Control, named after the illegal Sex Pistols bootleg album, were a raucous fourpiece
Bolton/Horwich based band who played a number of gigs in 1979 including the festival at Montrose
Playing Fields in Wigan to an audience of two thousand when they supported 'The Painkillers'.
The Line up was Gnasher (Vocals) Steve Fielding (Lead Guitar) Dill 'Tony Wilson' (Bass) and Tony
Parkinson (Drums).
In the very early days of Punk Rock, songwriters Fielding and Parkinson had previously formed the
Bolton band 'Paralletix' with former Damned roadie ’Stooge 1 'John Gooden' and the legendary local
punk fashion icon Julie Hayes, formerly of the very early punk all-girl trio 'The Shock'.
Parkinson also later played a number of gigs with the Farnworth band 'Nervous Disorder' with
Dougie Mitchell, Jimmy Ball and Dave ’Harvey’ Howarth, later of popular punk band 'X-Tract'.
Gnasher’s Musical influences were Wythenshawe band Slaughter and the Dogs
Steve Fielding's influences were early 70s Glam rock and Johnny Thunders
Tony Parkinson's influences were post-67 Beatles and Stockport band 10CC
Tony Wilson's influences were David Bowie and dub Reggae
Parkinson cited seeing the Preston band 'Genocides', as being the motivation for wanting to form a
similar 'intense and powerful' band with Steve Fielding.
Gun Control performed a set consisting of original numbers including ’Missing Link’ and ’Suburban
Kid’. All songs were Penned by Fielding and Parkinson apart from "you’ve no right to treat me like
this" which was composed by ’Dill’ Tony Wilson.
The band had a large support at the time, with most of their hardcore followers coming from
Horwich.
Gun Control mostly performed at the now demolished ’Bus-Inn nightclub’ which held a regular Punk
night on Tuesdays. The club itself was distinctive in that it used second hand bus-seats to host its
customers and on non-punk nights was known locally as a centre for prostitution. The ’Bus-Inn’
Tuesday Punk Nights, which were sponsored by the Anti-Nazi League, became very popular, drawing
in Punks from Manchester, Preston, and Wigan.
Gun Control, who rehearsed in a church hall where singer Gnasher once poured lemonade over the
head of a vicar after a disagreement, played a solid Punk set with a lively amount of physical
audience interaction and were one of the few bands in Bolton to attract a genuine fan following.
Gun Control broke up in 1979 when irreplaceable vocalist Gnasher joined the army after needing to
pay a huge fine imposed after a riot at the Balmoral pub, when Bolton's punks en masse took
revenge on Mods, on their own territory, after individual Punks were regularly being targeted for
unprovoked violence by local Mods. Guitarist Steve Fielding went on to perform in ’Fashions of Fate’
along with the legendary 'The Boys' of 'Brickfield Nights' fame, Fielding also became a University
Lecturer and a Crime author of note, Bassist ’Dill’ Tony Wilson later performed with the excellent
and innovative ’Mass of Black’ and Drummer Tony went to live in Europe.