As one of Liverpool's most famous and legendary nightclubs, thousands of locals, students and a number of famous faces have had a night out at the Raz.
Located on Seel Street in the city centre, the club has welcomed generations across Merseyside and if you've ever been a student in Liverpool, there's a high chance you've been there. The venue itself has been open since 1939 and was historically a jazz club in the 1960s, which saw it quickly become a Liverpool institution.
It is famous for many things - legends such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan are known to have played in the club. Beatles manager Brian Epstein famously discovered Cilla Black's talent as she sang in the Blue Angel and from there he whisked her to London for auditions.
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The word’s first Medical Officer of Health, William Henry Duncan, was also born in 1805 in what is now The Blue Angel Club and a plaque was unveiled there in 1995. Despite its huge blue wording showing its name to be 'Blue Angel,' it also gets called 'The Raz' as it briefly changed its name to the Razzamataz in the 80s, before reverting back to the Blue Angel a short time later.
The name of the Razzamataz is said to have only lasted around 12 months before Beatle City, a museum based on Seel Street at the time, asked the club if they could change their name back to the Blue Angel to attract tourists. Throughout the years, we've all popped in for a Fat Frog - a fluorescent green mixed drink - danced on its sticky carpet and made some great memories.
Owners Val Davies and Michael Kearon have had the Raz since 1990. Val had never stepped foot in the club before the couple made it their own, but Michael visited on random nights 18 months prior to see what it was like.
Michael told the ECHO: "Before the Raz I'd spent a lot of time in nightclubs because my brother owned The Cabin Club around the corner, so I was between there and here anyway. My mum had The Swan in Wood Street during the war and we were working in The Cabin.
"When we left, we heard this place was for sale. We bought it and we’ve been here ever since.
"It was always student oriented, that’s why I bought it. But it was very similar to The Cabin where we were anyway. When we left The Cabin a lot of the customers we knew there came here, it got really busy so we bought other units overtime."
Over the years, the Raz has attracted a huge and loyal customer base, from students and groups visiting Liverpool to children of a different generation of customers. They've also become known for selling signature drinks such as Cheeky Vimtos, Fat Frogs, Snakey B's and Raz Bombs - some mixes being a closely guarded secret.
Val said so many characters and weird and wonderful outfits have come through their doors and that she enjoys having a joke with the customers. She said: "We've had 10 and 20 year reunions and they’re funny.
"We love it, we love seeing customers again. I was off for nine months because I had cancer and the customers were bringing cards in saying can you give this to Val.
"I've been to customers weddings, I get invited to all sorts. We’ve had ex staff's children working for us because we’ve been here that long.
"We had a girl on her wedding night and she came with her wedding dress on. Her husband was drunk so she left him in the hotel and came with all her guest in her dress. I just pinned it up for her so it didn't get dirty."
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Michael said former students also come back years later and ask them "are you still here?" He said: " You don’t know what the customers are going to be like but from term to term the leavers tell the new ones where to go.
"It’s just nice to know people are enjoying themselves here. We always get a new influx every term and it’s always through word of mouth, people saying go the Raz."
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If you've ever been a student in Liverpool, you will know that the club is also a destination on 'Raz Monday's.' Val said: "It is so weird. You can turn the corner on a Monday and the road is dead, there’s nobody around.
"Then you can look out five minutes later and they’re just there. You don't see anybody arrive, it’s like they’re dropped there from outer space. "
The Raz has kept a lot of its traditional features over the years and the walls feature photos of the likes of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones with facts about their visits. Over the years, celebrities such as Jools Holland, Suggs from Madness and various footballers have also had a night at the club.
And clubbers don't just leave with memories, but momentums such as caps and mugs that have seen the name make its way around the globe. Val said: "We’ve always had the t-shirts - we started with Blue Angel ones, but for the freshers fairs we do Raz ones.
"We said we’d never do hats because originally we didn't like people coming in with baseball caps. But people were asking 'don't you do hats.'
"We have customers who collect all the colours. On Instagram, one girl has Raz hats on her Christmas tree instead of baubles.
"We have pictures from people at the Grand Canyon, the Himalayas with the hats on. A group of medics did a cycling fundraiser and everyone had a different coloured Raz hat and different coloured t-shirt cycling all over Europe."
Some customers also took their devotion to the club to the next level. Michael said: "We had girls years ago get the Raz tattooed on their leg - so we let them in for free. We use a different colour stamp now so if they come in with a black tattoo it wouldn’t match a red one."
The latest Memory Lane special is available in many local newsagents and major retailers now. This instalment of the bumper picture special looks at fun in the sun - with pages of stunning photographs and treasured memories of family holidays from years gone by. You can also buy Memory Lane online here.
But like many club owners, it's not always been easy running a business in the city centre. In 2008, the Blue Angel was under threat after a series of noise complaints, but in 2010 it won the court battle to remain open.
The Raz was also impacted by the lockdowns in the coronavirus pandemic, but Val said without the business, they wouldn't know "what they'd do." She said: "I just enjoy the people. I said to him years ago when I was sick should we just forget it but I thought what would we do.
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"Technically 42 years I've been doing this, ten in the Cabin and 32 years here. I would miss the people.
"People bring their kids back, their other halves. It makes you proud to think you’ve had so many friends and acquaintances and people that have had good times over the years and they come back."
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