Bungalow Bar: Scotland's legendary punk and new wave venue

In the history or rock 'n' roll, however, especially if you get all nostalgic about the punk and new wave period of the late 1970s and early 80s, there is only one place that matters, and that's The Bungalow Bar which put Paisley on the map.

Writer Loudon Temple who booked all of the bands that played there between 1979 and 1981, in between shifts as a worker bee news gatherer for the Evening Times, has just published a book "to put the record straight," and have the more extreme exaggerations about the place finally laid to rest.

It is an extraordinary story.

In those two short years, the stage in the tight 150-capacity venue would become the launch pad for a remarkable number of careers – all musicians who went on to greater things.

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Actor Peter Capaldi, US chat show host Craig Ferguson, Creation Records' founder Alan McGee, for instance; Paul Young passed through with his original band, Q Tips before going on to become a major solo artist, and pop management guru Brendan Moon, who went on to discover Paolo Nutini, make the list too, while Lloyd Cole and Roddy Frame both made their debut on that stage.

Add heavy rocker Davey Pattison who moved to America and recorded dozens of albums with some of the biggest names of the genre, and former Paisley punk rocker Paul McGuinness, who went on to become the go-to special effects guy for top TV shows and film blockbusters, and the list just goes on and on.

As Temple says in his introduction: "The Bungalow was, no question, a very healthy breeding ground for talent."

As individual recollections unfold, many from artists who played there and some from audience members too, it's clear that they all felt that something "very special" happened there. The over-all feeling comes across that they each remember the experience of being there with great love and affection.

Revillos at The Bungalow Bar

"It felt like being part of a big, extended family," says the man who made it happen; "a couple of hundred kids just became Bungalow Bar converts – you saw the same faces, it was almost like a club thing," remembers Moon.

There are some hugely entertaining stories from musicians themselves. Richard Jobson who fronted The Skids, reveals that the band played their first ever west of Scotland gig there and they were nervous.

The band had gigged all over the east coast and built a strong following, but they had butterflies in their stomach as they headed for Paisley, convinced audiences on that side of the country would be "more unmerciful!"

"I was quite a feral little bugger but the other band members were wimps. I had nervousness, but it turned out to be totally unwarranted. We came away from there feeling great," he says.

Phil Johnstone, who played keyboards with Stiff Records’ band The 45s, went on to tour alongside, write songs for and record with Robert Plant.

When he was starting out, he recalls The Bungalow being "a great gig, mostly because you knew there would be people there to see you." American punk star Holly Vincent who was once romantically linked with Mark Knopfler (his song, Romeo and Juliet is said to have been written when they broke up) also had fond memories of the place.

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Her band, Holly and The Italians who had a hit with the single, Tell That Girl To Shut Up, played the gig on their first ever UK tour after appearing on BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test.

She said the venue reminded her of New York's famous CBGBs. She said: "It was our kind of gig with a CBGBs vibe. I remember, too, that the audience was great."

Temple lists his own most memorable performances, among them appearances by The Monochrome Set, Johnny & The Roccos, Doll By Doll, The Associates, arty Glasgow band The Recognitions and local outfits, Saigon and Actor’s Studio.

Pete Townshend, of the Who, even once turned up hoping to join in one of the jam sessions that happened every weekend.

The Bungalow became an unlikely mecca for punk after the well-documented decision by Glasgow’s city fathers to ban “the troublemakers.”

The book, therefore, gives over a fair bit of space to examine that particular phenomenon.

Members of bands such as Slaughter & The Dogs, Cockney Rejects and local punk bands Defiant Pose, and The Fegs, all give their take on what made it so popular.

Making his own assessment, the author says: “When the punk crowd took the place over, sometimes it felt like there were 300 in that space…celebrating like Paisley’s own bouncing Maasi warriors with an exuberance that verged on mayhem.

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“The whole building throbbed. I loved those nights. It was always boisterous and the walls would end up running wet with condensation, but I never once saw any violence, even though the atmosphere had an edge of tension and was electric.”

Glasgow-based TV actress Libby McArthur agrees, contributing: “We used to get mad as hell when anyone who was making a film or documentary always portrayed the aggressor as a punk. The punks were never aggressive; the guy you had to look out for was definitely the one with the pink lambswool Pringle v-neck.”

Ed Tenpole Tudor, who famously sang Who Killed Bambi? in The Sex Pistols’ film The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle, recalls the night he and his band played The Bungalow. He says: "Scotland always elicits my best efforts. Nothing less would be proper, fitting or apt, forsooth!

"Just as how good a lover a man can be is dependent on the bounty given by his partner, the same is true with gigs.

"Being forced to match the passion of the Scots makes it all the more intense and true and epic.

"I am equally of the mind that if you are not sincere and true then you're worth nothing. The Scots need to be assured of this vital detail: they want to know they are not dealing with bullshit; and quite right too – so do I.

“Like Burns says, it's what's in a man's heart that counts."

The Bungalow – Stories from The Venue and Those Who Played There’ (176 pages including dozens of pics) is available (£15) from www.beenandgoneanddoneit.com £5 from every sale goes to help the homeless.