Last week marked 35 years to the day since Glasgow's legendary Sub Club first opened the doors to its Jamaica Street home.
Located on 22 Jamaica Street, Sub Club opened in 1987 as a unique space for new, underground music to break in Scotland.
It allowed the likes of local heroes Slam and Optimo, as well as influential labels like Numbers, to put the city on the map while simultaneously pushing musical boundaries and inspiring a new generation of music enthusiasts.
Now, over three decades later, the club still showcases the best in underground music - and still runs its flagship Saturday night ’Subculture’ which is now the longest-running weekly house and techno club night on the planet.
Here at Glasgow Live, we thought we'd join in on the celebrations by pulling together a list of 13 unknown facts about the Subby...
1. It's always pulled the big names
Back in the 50s and 60s the basement was a ‘speakeasy’ after-hours jazz venue known as Le Cavé. Many jazz luminaries including Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald apparently performed there after live shows at bigger Glasgow venues, such as Green's Playhouse.
2. Jamaican me hungry
The Jamaica Street basement was the original Jamaica Inn steakhouse in the early 70s featuring dinner dances and spawning a national chain for Rio Stakis.
3. Harri is a legend
Harri began DJing at what was then Lucifers in 1985, two years before it became the Sub Club.
4. Mish mash
Subculture was originally known simply as Saturday Sub which featured Oscar Fullone (Mish Mash) as a resident DJ along with Harri and Domenic.
5. Domenic is a legend too
Domenic began his DJ career playing the blues in bars and social clubs around Glasgow.
6. Screamadelica
Primal Scream are reputed to have played their first-ever gig at Sub Club.
7. The fire
The club wasn't actually damaged by the infamous fire in 1999 - it was the demolition of the next door building which wrecked the gable wall, closing the Sub from November of that year until November 2002.
8. Wedding bells
Optimo hosted a live wedding at the club's temporary home in Royal Exchange square in 2002.
9. Ooops! (oh my)
Hudson Mohawke was a glass collector in the Sub Club between 2003 and 2004.
10. Confusion
The Sub celebrated its tenth anniversary in the wrong year - 1996 - mistakenly believing the opening had been in 1986, which was actually the date the original lease was signed.
11. Adults only
The Classic Grand Cinema above the club was an infamous adult-only film cinema in the 70s. Minds blown.
12. You're so young at heart
Bobby Bluebell, of Young At Heart fame, was one of the DJs on the opening night in 1987 and the Bluebells held a regular Christmas party at the club for the next five years.
13. Moneybags
The club once started a student night where they gave everyone at the door a brand new £5 note as they arrived - and got reprimanded by the license board!
This article was first published in April 2017.
