Golden Eagle, Hill Street circa 1981, this amazing picture sent in by Chris Bates. Spurred on by the photo of the Golden Eagle, Midge has sent these stubs of punk/anarcho punk bands that played at the venue in the early 80s
The Golden Eagle, Probably the best pub venue in the City.
Many local bands, made their name there, including the Spencer Davis Group
Spencer Davis played solo guitar spots at the Golden Eagle pub on Hill Street in Birmingham
which was at that time a hangout for the city’s rhythm and blues enthusiasts.
It was there where he met the Winwood brothers while they were performing on stage
as the Muff-Woody Jazz Band in early 1963. Steve Winwood was aged 15 at the time
but he posessed a vocal style that was way beyond his years and was also talented as an instrumentalist
and alternated between guitar and piano on stage.
Finding common musical ground, Davis joined them and brought in accomplished jazz drummer
Pete York (born August 15, 1942 in Nottingham), a Birmingham University student, and the group became known as the Rhythm and Blues Quartette.
A regular visitor to the Golden Eagle R&B nights was future Slade star Noddy Holder
Legendary venue on Hill Street in the city centre. We would like to build up a history of the gigs that took place here, so if you know any of them please send them in!
Compiled by Keith Law
There Are Currently 34 Comments for this Post
v early iron maiden,inner city unit,john otway and wild willy barett are the ones I remember seeing here along with the one’s i have totally forgotten (hic)
My band
Paint
played here a few times, and it was great atmosphere.
One particular night stands out, as the pub
was full of rowdy agressive, lager swilling
Glasgow Rangers supporters.
As you can imagine, when we finally got on stage,
we feared for our lives, as if they didn’t take to us, we would be ‘burried’
Then I was inspired to mention my name was Law,
and that ‘our kid’ Denis Law, (their famous striker) was my cousin!!!.
Well we could have been c*** that night,
but it made no difference,
from then on, we could do no wrong.
I was in the bar that night for one drink and out, GR had played at Villa earlier, the Eagle was one of the few letting their fans in.
i remember playing in the androids at the golden eagle and having to hump the pa up those bloody stairs. couldn’t do it now. lol
What’s this moaning about the stairs at the Golden Eagle, try Henry’s Blues House at the bottom of Hill Street if you want stairs! And gawdelpus we had a piano! (Tea & Symphony)
I remember those stairs very well. They nearly killed me humping the PA up there maybe once or maybe twice a week for a couple of years on and off. However, it eventually made me stronger.
Fabulous accoustics in the room. As long as the guitarist(s) kept their volume under control on stage!
RIP Clive Ritchie – terrific landlord.
I did the sound for lots of the bands who played there in the early ’80’s. I can’t believe that it’s been demolished – I think it should have had loads of blue plaques all over it denoting first gigs of bands which later became famous.
T’pau for one,
Remember seeing John Otway & Wild Willy Barret and 021 featuring ledendary Olton stixman Ian Richards,who I later played with in Andy Elsae and the phosphorescent Ferrets. Great Pub.
U2 played there a couple of weeks before the Androids in 1980 – I have poster somewhere. Imagine Bono in 1980 having to deal with the bikers hanging round the bar and lugging gear up those bloody stairs. The Spencer Davis photo is funny because the same wallpaper was there when I played there in the early ’80s.
Strangely they did move the stage from the end of the room to the side so it was bigger – funny that.
This was also near the crown so there was a little “scene” between the 2 pubs.
1979 a local band called The News supported all the up and coming mod /ska bands upstairs of a friday night….modettes,Purple Hearts , The LAmberettas.i was 12 at the time and doing the lights for for my brothers band….The News were given a new years head line gig at the Top Rank by Clive the manager…just because the Lamberettas pulled out…i ended up playing bass on that gig..revolving stage an all
Remember the ads for U2 playing there, didn’t go for some reason. Did go to Peter & the Test Tube Babies, came away bruised, still have the photos somewhere I took. Also remember seeing Southern Death Cult play there sometime in the 1980’s. Shame it was demolished, part of musical history.
Was that the venue when only 17 people turned up to see U2
March Violets – 26.4.1983 (my 21st birthday!)
I was walking down Hill St. on Saturday (10th Feb) as i have done a hundred times before when the Brum historian sleuth I was with pointed out that there still remains a Black marble slab from the Golden Eagles facade (immediately after the car park).
Here’s a picture of the last night of The Golden Eagle 5.1.1984
Wonder if anybody remembers the night.
@Chris, I wasn’t there but I did know that Black guy on the Lhs. His name was Mick, a bit of a ‘face’ and he used to play drums.
still have a lampshade somewhere…liberated for posterity lol
@Chris, I wasn’t there but I did know that Black guy on the Lhs. His name was Mick, a bit of a ‘face’ and he used to play drums.
Found another picture of the last night of the Golden Eagle 5.1.84
Hi, Just some infor for your Golden Eagle archive.
Birmingham rock/progressive band Supanova had a Saturday night residency at The Golden Eagle through 1976 and 1977.
The band also played local venues such as Bogarts, Barbarellas, The Railway, & The Barrel Organ.
The band split in 1977 when punk came along. An album or forgotten recordings and rare rehearsal tracks was released in 2003.
The band are currently working together on recordings and may gig in late 2013.
hi just thought I would introduce myself my name is as above(john poulton)
I was head barman at the golden eagle in the last four years.
with a sojourn @ the bournbrook hotel.
I worked with clive and angela Ritchie and bob and nettie hooper
worked with many bands over the years. if you would like more information regarding
the golden eagle please contact me any time.
Hi John
There has been a bit of chat on a fan forum for the band The Sisters of Mercy (www.myheartland.co.uk) about the gigs the Sisters played in Brum in ’82 at the Bournbrook and ’83 at the Golden Eagle (they also played at the Fighting Cocks that year). We found your post on here and just wondered if you had any memories of the gigs as seemingly no members of the fan forum were there and details are very sketchy.
Cheers
Nikolas
The one and only time I went here I saw the Q-Tips (Paul Young before he went solo} supported by The Denizens.Must have been around 1980.Great gig.
Poor images I know, but these photos were taken the very next morning after the final night at the Golden Eagle. The Evening mail that’s on the bar carried the story as it’s headline.
my band (Dance) played there are few times. We supported The Au Pairs, and headlined in our own right a few times. It was a great venue!
I was a regular gig goer at the Eagle – saw many bands in the late 70’s, Otway & Barrett many times & my fave local band of the era Dangerous Girls. Later in the 80’s I was the regular DJ at the R.O.K. Saturday night Rock Disco’s. I was lucky enough (?) to be the DJ on the last night of the pub – it was great to see the photos of the devastation that was left at the end of the night. The regulars all wanted to take a slice of history with them on that evening so all night you could see and hear bits of furniture / seating / curtain being ripped down, despite the gaffer telling us to get them to stop (what was the point with the bulldozers moving in). Was a great disco as always – what I remember clearly was the upstairs toilets were all smashed which left a cascading waterfall down the circular staircase – very picturesque but I had to carry very heavy gear down them. The Jukebox downstairs was smashed and everyone took their fave record, the bar staff having decided it was safer to hide in the back room with the takings. Last memory as we drove away in the old converted ambulance we used was a pissed biker shinning up the outside to try and get the Eagle off the wall – wonder if he ever did.
The “pissed biker” was me Mack with Doc another regular. We were 20 foot up and did not fall off but the Eagle was well secured and resisted levering off with bike tyre levers.
What ever happened to all the tables and chairs that disappeared into the back off that ambulance as souvenirs eh. Brilliant night and still have the next days Evening Mail front page with shock headline “700 Hells Angels Riot in City Centre Pub. Complete tosh, It was the best laugh in years.
Pity that Price the scumbag magistrate managed to close Barbarellas, Bogarts , The Eagle. The Tin Can club, R & J’s and a number of other venues that hosted non mainstream music. That cnut did a lot of damage to Birmingham . Mack
Hi Mack, could you tell me more about Price the magistrate? First name and if you remember anything else about him/her. Would like to do some more research about this. Cheers Jez
Au Pairs played the Golden Eagle on September 13, 1980
who.. loved the ROK disco { mitch at the helm } with robin and Tim on the lights …tony with the pyro technics 1981 o 83… fantastic.. it was really shit after they left … shit man…. golden eagle oh yes memories….
I never had a bad time at the Golden Eagle. It was a very intimate venue but could get ram packed full. I started going in the early 80s and saw, among others, U2, Discharge & Southern Death Cult. The last time I went there was to a brilliant gig with the Sex Gang Children/Ritual. It was a very small audience that night but some well known faces could be seen in the audience – including members of Southern Death Cult & Balaam & the Angel. I remember chatting to Andi from Sex Gang a few months later, after they had played Digbeth Civic, and he was moaning about the band having to lug the gear up the never ending stairs at the Eagle but admitted it was a great atmosphere.
I was there the night the Golden eagle was shutting down.. On arrival a guy was walking out the door with a durex machine under his arm.. when finishing our drinks the glasses was chucked into the centre of floor where a mountain of smashed glass were collecting and forming a glass mountain.. The police had surrounded the pub not to arrest anyone but to protect people passing by from the glass as furniture and fittings started flying through the windows it was at this point I finished my last pint and left the building… what a memory, what a night…
Back in the 60s went there a few times to watch my mates The Renegades (RIP Kim Brown) – Spencer Davis jammed with them a couple of times before forming his eponymous band…
I would just like to say to everyone who thought the last night of the Eagle was a blast you are all heartless bastards! Nothing on here about the terrified bar staff, the manager, the manageress and their kids (9 and 2 years old) who were affected by this. I was that 9 year old! I have many happy memories of my childhood there and it probably helped to shape my taste in music. My parents Bob Hooper and Annette Hooper were devastated by what happened that night. NOT A GOOD ENDING to a super music venue. And to all those bands who didn’t like lugging their equipment up and down the stairs occassionally, try carrying up furniture, a pram/ push chair and the weekly shop on a regular basis!
My twin sister and I worked at the Eagle under Clive and Angie in the early 80s. We shared the behind the bar space with, amongst others, Errol and Beetmoll (lead guitarist of Dangerous Girls). The pub was amazing and hosted so many talented local bands: Dangerous Girls, The Au Pairs, The Denizens as well as more well known artists such as Robert Plant (during his initial solo career).
This was an amazing pub and should never have closed.