Snow Hill, Birmingham
Le Metro, at Snow Hill, well actually, it was under the train lines at Snow Hill! I think the entrance was in Livery Street, but I stand corrected.
It was a cavern type club, and if my memory, serves me well, it wasn’t open very long!
I remember going there several times, and seeing many local bands, like the talented but unrecognized band The Stringbeats,
who hailed from West Bromwich. They played several of my songs, and as they were from Caribbean parents, they made interesting renditions of my very ‘white’ songs! Austin the singer, was a personal friend of mine.
The club I think changed names a couple of times, but was certainly to end up as Holy City Zoo.
Here is a piece from Bob Summers, of the Birmingham History Forum
| Yes the “Zoo” was the old “Le Metro” and the three owners where Andy Gray, Peter Warren (Who managed many Bars in town inc. Hortze Wine Bar), and Jonnie Ralston. The manager of the “Z00” was Duncan Gray (Andy’s younger brother) It was a lively place while it lasted with many “C” local celebs in attendance. They did have Live bands at weekends, but I can’t pin point any as they seemed to be young up and coming bands from around the MidlandsIt closed due to bankruptcy, I don’t know if its still used as a club today? |
Mny thanks to Bob, for his input.
Compiled by Keith Law
Our aim to build a complete list of gigs at the Metro. Here’s a start but we need your help!
Good Time Losers 18/02/67
Ten Years After 02/5/68
Ten Years After 19/09/68
There Are Currently 54 Comments for this Post
Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac played there and a young singer called Robert Plant got up and jammed with them.
I remember that. A Thursday night which was Blues night. Great club …’while it lasted!
Sharp thknniig! Thanks for the answer.
I went to see JESSE FULLER of ‘San Francisco Bay Blues’ fame, but can’t remember a date – late 60’s. The place was packed when I got there and the only seat seemingly free was a sofa at the side of the stage. After his set he came and sat next to me – I was in ‘the dressing room’! He had a bag of his autograph written on slips of paper, and passed me one. Why didn’t I keep that??
Hi there,
I just came across your article.
I am Austin Griffith from The Stringbeats! I am know known as Mel Day. Please check out my website http://www.mrmelday.com for more info.
I would very much like to get in touch with you to catch up on old times.
Pleaes email, me at [email protected] or call me on 07949 137 409.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best regards
Austin ‘Mel Day’ Griffith
I I know that Spencer Davis the moody Blues, the Soul Seekers ( a Wolverhampton blues band), and the famous John Lee Hooker played there in the period from 1964 to 1966
Regards to all midland exiles . Looking at Brum today I’m glad I didn’t move back.
Also the Town Hall all nighter gigs where we saw more than one Blues Festival too those were days
I remember jeff lynne and the idle race playing there late sixties.he used to lie his amp on the floor to get a great guitar sound.
Like Mothers and Henry’s Blues House Le Metro was one of my regular haunts in the 60’s. Tull, Fleetwood mac and Free, (then called Free at Last if I remember right) were some of the many acts I saw there.
Being budding players we would arrive early and get near the stage to watch the guitarists hands and pick up some tips.
I remember my friends and I helped take Earth’s equipment in and later meeting them again rehearsing at Nechells Green Community Centre; they were nice guys and talked to us about equipment for a long time.
I have very happy memories of the Le Metro, I joined just after they opened, i too recall seeing Jesse fuller , one of the regular groups on folk nights were the Black country three , also Harvey Andrews . recall drinking loads of luke warm double diamond and Watneys red barrel at i think about 5 shillings a pint ,
Metro Club , under one of the arches in Livery Street, Snow Hill.
Very popular club , On most nights.
Folk. Country on a Wednesday, Soul/R & B disco on Thursday.
Live Bands on Friday and Saturday.
Big names, like Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity, local band the KIng Bees, Spencer Davis etc.
Resident DJ’s were Pete & Carl with thier great Soul Sounds
i was one of the dj,s peter.i took over playing the soul night alone in 1967. i can,t remenber when the metro opened. can some help me.in 1971 i moved to the south of england.where carried on playing records with my mate peter barclay.
I remember you
I remember you and Peter Barclay you gave me my love of soul music
When you were leaving I bought a single of Iko Iko of Peter Barclay
Again many thanks
Just come across this thread and great to see the post from peter James. he is spot on in that it was us that were the DJ’s when the club opened in, I think, January 1965. I remember providing a little help to the original owners when the building was being finished off and the bar was being constructed. Those original owners were Alec Cooper, Terry and John Mullett and Don McCoy. I left in 1967 and peter James carried on. The plave was buzzing on Wednesdays when we played Rare Soul music which was reallythe start of the Norhtern Soul Scene but not named that until three years or so afterwards. The clientele in those early days included some of the Whisky A Gogo mods and it was probably the leading club of its kind at the time in Brum.
i would love hear from you,if went to the wednesday soul night.
I remember Le Metro very well, used to go regularly in the mid 70’s. Then it became the Holy City Zoo. I thought Jim Davidson had to do with it, certainly recall seeing him there a few times. After it closed, didn’t it become Porters for a while, before more recently becoming Subway.
Used to go to the le metro club,liked. It a lot,met a lovely girl there”barbara. Mcclean” hot babe
Le Metro best club in Birmingham by far in the late 60’s. Went every week, loved it. Oh the memories.
Used to regularly use Le Metro and later when it became the Holy City Zoo, owned, in part by Andy Gray, the Villa footballer. Also The Elbow Room, Rumrunner, Rebeccas, Barbarellas, Samanthas (above the Silver Blades), The Swan at Yardley ( Fleetwood Mac on every other Thursday in the late 1960s) and many others. Good times !
The membership card was also memorable
Ie it was a flapped card with your picture
On it
Ah the Metro what a brilliant club used to go every Saturday with my mates Terry Canning and Ken Jennings late 1969 1970s think i still have a car sticker somewhere ‘ Meet at Le Metro’ well met the wife there!!Then when the night was over up to Colmore Row for a burger from mobile caravan then Night Service 90 home. Marvellous
Hi John, I haven’t seen you in over 40 years. Make contact [email protected]
I used to go to the Wednesday soul nights was only 17 at time. Me and a mate asked Pete if we could spin a few one night and I remember him saying come next week with a small box and we will give you a go. I bottled out unfortunately now 40 years on I dj on the northern soul scene and am a resident at the Kings Hall Stoke billed as the biggest allnighter in the world
Saw Fleetwood Mac there not mych room for anyone els! best nights R&B dj was John cant remember rest of name, his intro was Wade in thh water Ramsey Lewis
fantastic tune.
Great Club I remember seeing Savoy Brown Blues Band and Jethro Tull with Ian Anderson in his trademark to be big check overcoat , I think this was one of their early gigs . i had seen them at Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival a few days before their Metro gig I’m sorry cant remember dates think it may have been 1966 . It was a very atmospheric venue in Livery Street it was like an old railway arch I think , as I said sorry I cant remember dates , later on went to Mothers in Erdington every weekend
unbelivable venue at a time when there were so many brilliant live bands about , later discovered Frank Freemans in Kidderminster another fantastic venue will always remember Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac with Jeremy Spencer
Just watched the Jeff Lynne BBC concert in Hyde Park & it brought back all the wonderful memories of Le Metro. It was the first club that me & my gang from school went to when we were 16. Being innocent little convent school girls we thought we were in Heaven! My friends are scattered all over the World now but they all remember our wonderful Friday nights at Le Metro. We would all meet in the Kardomah at 8pm & then off to Le Metro to see some great live groups & so many romances that started in that club. I remember the Idle Race playing so well & so many other groups that went on to be successful. 1967 – 1969 & then we moved onto the Opposite Lock as we thought it was more sophisticated! Wonderful music & wonderful memories from those heady days when life seemed perfect!
Hello Christine Webb! (Wallington??)
Would love to get in touch; [email protected]
Fenola
I remember Le Metro. I first started ther as a go go dancer when they had the small podium on the dance floor, they then built one higher up off the dance floor. The aphmospher was electri, I loved dancing there and moved on to dance at other venues. Happy memories
I was a regular on Thursday nights –the DJ was John D’Milton.
Saw Taste/DR k’S Blues Band/Jethro Tull/ Savoy Brown fronted by ChrisYOULDEN AND THE EXTRAORDINARY JEFF BECK GROUP fronted by Rod Stewart .
A seminal venue
cp
I used to go to Tuesday night folk nights. Always had great guests – Halliard (Nic Jones first band), The Settlers, The Campbells, Derek Brimstone, Colin Scott, Harvey Andrews, in fact, anyone who was anyone on the sixties folk circuit. Very comfortable and well organised. One of the best I’ve been to.
Loved the le metro,went every Wednesday .the dj was Carl he played a record of fats domino singing it’s raining and raining for my seventeenth birthday. Many years later I worked with a girl called Pamela who went out with Peter the di for nine years.
I remember going to the swan yardley for someone’s 21 St birthday with a lot of people from the le metro this was around 1965
nice to read your comment,s i have retired as a d/j.i now live in norway.
Have many happy memories of nights at the Metro with great mate Paul King where we met our wives on the 13th Sept 1969, Miss June Stephens and Miss Vicky Aston. Funny how I can remember the day, time and moment I first saw June on the Metro dance floor and asked her for a dance.
lucky me.
I remember the soul nights, great place! Must have been ’67/’68.
6 years ago H Yates remembers Robert Plant getting up and jamming with Fleetwood Mac. MY memory has Robert Plant getting up and jamming with Alexis Korner.
Remember the Metro Club as one of my favourite nightclubs in the sixties, and the membership cards were metro tickets.
Danced many a night away there, and fell in love with a girl called Helen from Northfield, who worked as a florist for Margaret Tregonning..!!
also had many great nights at the Hillfields, an old mansion in Solihull, where everyone, if they weren’t dancing, sat around on old sofas.
Does anyone else remember going there in the sixties????
Have discovered that Hillfield Hall became a nightclub in 1964, and then in 1974, became a restaurant, and is now a Toby Carvery…
I went to the Metro Club in the 60’s. Great club which indeed became the Holy City Zoo in latter years. The owners of the club were Andy Gray, Pete Warren and John Rawson (not Ralston as previously mentioned). Unfortunately my good friend John passed away 10 days ago after a long illness. His funeral is at Redditch Crematorium on Tuesday 31st May at 1.15pm.
Remember seeing The Eurythmics,Steve Gibboons Band and Chris Farlow made a guest appearance,this was when it was the Holy City Zoo,happy days
Regular at LeMetro 67-74
Met my lovely wife at the club 71.
Got the owners to open on Monday for a bit
of Rock. Great fun while it lasted.
group of us used to dance to any rock music,
especially the Stones,
Great memories.
Hi Bob, I think I might have know you. If the names Maxine and Alan mean anything to you, please make contact. [email protected]
Used to visit Le Metro when I was VERY underage (14) – loved the place , met my first long term boyfriend there. Remember seeing lots of acts there on Saturday nights – most memorable for me in those days were Gino Washington and the Am a Jam band
Just randomly looked up Le Metro after lustening to some reggae and remembering dancing at the club on a Friday with the girls from St Agnes. Saw comment by Christine Webb above (Wallington?) and would love to get in touch with het or any of the othets; Angela,Eileen etc!
[email protected]
I loved the Le Metro blues nights, many memorable gigs including John Mayall, Jethro Tull, and Fleetwood Mac.
Just found this thread. I met my husband-to-be at Le Metro on Sunday, 25 February 1968, and 3 children and 1 grandson later, we still have fabulous memories of this nightclub. We only went on Soul nights but the music was always fantastic. I remember Robin & Gene and their group of friends were always there when we were there – but that was before I met my husband. Great memories!
I played at The Holy City Zoo in a band called The Myst. Mike Horseman (R.I.P) was our then ‘mentor.’ Round about the time (1980?) when Mood Six (not a Brummie band), Fashion, Nervous Kind, The Great Outdoors, The Durans etc were doing the rounds. I even remember seeing Haircut 100 (DEFINITELY NOT BRUMMIES) there !?! Best bands to grace that place in my mind were Fashion and Huang Chung (not Brummies) (later known as Wang Chung.) Those two bands were exceptional : Birmingham band Fashion in a league of their own – Dick Davies (from Moseley?) the drummer was a pioneering exponent of the Simmons (drum) kit and I worked with Martin Recci the bass player up at Salamis Greek Restaurant at top of Broad St/Five Ways before all the music kicked off !! Lovely guy as was paradigm professional ‘Mulligan’ on keyboards – a keyboard wizard/genius – such a gentle man. Their lead/guitar frontman was Dave (‘De’) Harris who is STILL AND ALWAYS WILL BE one of my idols : quite simply Birmingham’s answer to David Bowie I thought and just as original and innovative. Great place though. I remember the Mars Bar very well. A few things used to go on up there ! Fun, great Brummie days when Brum had some fab, young, up and coming bands (like The Myst ! Ha! Ha! Ha!) I remember it all well – Mike Horseman was the DJ there and there used to be some manager/heavy there who was simply known by everyone as ‘Irish’ (?) Looked a bit like actor John Voight with a moustache ? Great, heady days.
Fleetwood Mac
Chicken Shack
Duster Bennett
Bloddwyn Pig
Ten Years After
Jethro Tull
and so many other bands I cannot recall. Ansell’s Kingpin Mild. 10d a pint. Walls dripping all night cold and clammy to hot a steamy in very short time.
Who stuck that photo of Scott Jordan on my input? I still have all my own hair 🙂 Thinking back I remember it was Thursdays but I never had a members card. Never knew who was playing either until we were there.
I was a regular at Le Metro on Sundays 1970 and beyond. Soul music venue with emphasis on Motown . Fabulous atmosphere; no hippies . Saturday evening was at the Rainbow on 4 th floor of High St Coop. 7/6 entrance. All Trojan Reggae records with DJs Dave Spicer and Tubby Stan. Where now is the gorgeous Audrey Cotterill ?
I went at least twice I know one time we saw John Mayall’s Blues Breakers there. Does anyone know when the Metro opened and when it closed?
Holy City Zoo. All make-up and shared loos. You couldnt tell who was who or what was what. The ‘In’ crowd came from alllll over to visit. They even visited us Brummies from London. Aha! And I danced with and snogged Marilyn there. (No, no. Not the Hollywood Marilyn, the pop singer Marilyn). Wonderful days. Wheredtheygo?
Saw some great performers at the Metro back in the mid 60s – Fleetwood Mac, Savoy Brown, Alexis Korner to name just a few. The night I saw Korner he invited up Robert Plant to do a few numbers with him. Great venue, full of that indefinable quality, ‘atmosphere’.