MARCH, 1971, and an audience some 600-strong is out in force at a special dinner-cabaret on the opening night of the Rangers Social Club at Edmiston House.
The £500,000 facility was officially opened by the Lord Provost, Sir Donald Liddle. Other notable attendees included Rangers FC chairman John Lawrence, social club director David Hope and the club's architect, Sam Bunton. For several years the club was a popular cabaret venue, and Lulu played there several times.
An article in a September 1971 edition of Rangers News quoted Mr Hope as saying the club was the "best in the world." The lounges, dining rooms and TV rooms were the last word in comfort; even the toilets were luxurious. Each suite was linked by closed-circuit TV, with a monitor in the reception area. In terms of sound, there were no fewer than 47 speakers installed in the building.
Jim Hannah, Fans Liaison Manager at Rangers, said yesterday: "There was a private members' club on the first floor. The second floor was where the main club was - it could hold about 450 people. I bought membership for the big club and could just about afford it. The private one down the stair had about 100, 150 members.
"Lulu appeared at the club quite a few times. She would do a show in front of the 400 members and would then go for a private show down the stair. "The Drifters were another regular act there - I saw them about four or five times. You would get other acts there, too, like stage hypnotists." Matt Monro, Brenda Lee and Bob Monkhouse were other stars who entertained at the social club.
"It was a big venue on the cabaret circuit," Mr Hannah added. "Scotland did not have anything like it at the time - never mind Glasgow. It really was the first of its kind."
In time, however, the club folded. The space was taken over by such ventures as a snooker-and-fitness club before the top floor was re-opened as the Edmiston Club, the first floor being bought by a computer company. In a later reincarnation, the building housed a call-handling company owned by Rangers chairman, David Murray.
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