The wild days and nights of Paisley Punk are unveiled in a new book celebrating a venue that went stratospheric.
The Bungalow Bar burned brightly for just three years before being snuffed out when the landlord refused to pump in cash to make it even better.
It had become the unofficial tribal HQ of the anarchists, those who wanted to direct two fingers at the Establishment.
Now the Renfrewshire author, journalist and Bungalow Bar booker Loudon Temple lifts the lid on the goings-on that propelled it to cult status among bands and fans.
The Renfrew Road venue is remembered with a fondness that amounts to complete reverence.
It shut its doors exactly 40 years ago in July after bursting on to the punk and new wave circuit.
Big names flocked after Glasgow banned punk rockers – and they all adored the heady atmosphere of the rather shabby Bungalow.
Impresario Loudon, now 73, took charge of the seven-day-a-week line-ups for most of the Bungalow’s life from 1978 to 1981.
His new book – unsurprisingly called ‘The Bungalow Bar’- is out now and amounts to a historical treasure trove of what went on within those black emulsioned walls, sometimes so hot the paint streamed.
The Damned, Alan McGee, The Associates, Echo and the Bunnymen, Aztec Camera, Tenpole Tudor, Orange Juice, Q Tips with Paul Young, Altered Images, The Psychedelic Furs and The Teardrop Explodes all hit the stage.
As did chat show host Craig Ferguson and his youthful sidekick Peter Capaldi, the celebrated actor, who appeared with their band The Dreamboys.
A three-hour launch party will take place next Thursday, June 3, at the new Bungalow Bar in Shuttle Street.
VIPs include the Bungalow licensee Paul Humphreys, the man who transformed Paisley into one of the UK’s punk meccas.
Paul bagged a coveted entertainment licence allowing him to charge on the door – up to a huge £1.50 for some of the bigger names.
In his 176-page book, Loudon unraps the facts of what actually went on, rather than the myths that grew arms and legs. And it includes pages of photos taken during the Bungalow sets as well as stories of impoverished groups camping out the back and naked men being found inside.
Interviews with bands shine a light on the unique Bungalow experience – and with the regulars, some of the most knowledgeable and appreciative music fans in the world.
One man who tried to get in and failed was Pete Townsend of The Who. He’d made his way to Paisley to watch some Saturday afternoon gigs – to find out they’d been switched to Sunday.
Loudon said: “Short-lived it may have been, but what a party we had, milking it for all we could, for everyone’s benefit, while it lasted.
“We put on hundreds of bands in that tight space, many of them young hopefuls setting out and looking for a start.”
Local bands The Fegs,XS Discharge, Urban Enemies and Defiant Pose each had a track on the compilation EP, “ha! ha! funny polis” produced to highlight “harassment of punks by police” in the town.
It goaded the police into a response and the punks were invited into the Mill Street nick for a pow-wow.
And Bungalow regular Jim Baird was asked for his top five band appearances, popping Modern Man into the number one slot.
Jim revealed: “Modern Man was the first band I really got into at The Bungalow. This was long before the stage was built and they always packed the place out.
“The only time I everwitnessed a punch-up was during a Modern Man Bungalow gig.
“Singer Jim Cook came up with the quip “if you want to see fighting, go to the f****n’ Kelvin Hall”.
Richard Jobson of The Skids recalled being scared of the reputation The Bungalow had built. He recalled: “The band had also felt nervous that there might be trouble or that violence could break out.
“It was a combination of paranoia, innocence and naivety, I guess.
“I was quite a feral little bugger and not normally intimidated by much, but I had a nervousness that ended up being totally unwarranted.”
Perpetual fans became known as the “residents” – music devotees who just couldn’t get enough of live performances.
They included best buddies Neil McLean and William “Beany” McBean who, the book notes, were “almost as permanent fixtures as the Space Invaders machine in the corner”.
Neil revealed: “Me and Beany were best pals then and still are today. We love going to see groups together, right up until Covid put a stop to that.
“Looking back to The Bungalow, it seemed we were there every night. My absolute favourite memory, and there are many, was having a beer with Billy Mackenzie and Alan Rankine after their gig.
“Billy had an aura about him then and I knew he was on the road to stardom.”
A snippet from music journalist Billy Sloan reveals he was once given a gram of cocaine inside the bar.
He was to interview a band and was asked by their management what drink they could line him up with.
Billy, who does not drink, reveals: “I said they could get me some Coke.
“When I arrived, a fan who was travelling around the country going to all of their shows, tugged me by the sleeve and said somewhat furtively: ‘I’ve got something for you.’
“He handed me a small polythene bag with white powder in it.
“I asked ‘What’s that?’ and he replied: ‘It’s a gram of coke... I was told you like coke.
“You should’ve seen his face when I said ‘I do – the kind that comes in a can’!”
■The Bungalow Bar is available now from www.beenandgoneanddoneit.com and priced at £15, £5 of which will go to homeless charities.
