The Cavern Club Live Lounge

Very pleased to welcome back to the Cavern, The Purple Gang, support from The RUG Band,
and featuring compere and stand-up comedian, Roger Ollie Spencer!

THE PURPLE GANG
The Purple Gang are a British rock band active intermittently since the 1960s. Although they were associated with the London psychedelic scene, they originated in Stockport, then in Cheshire, as a jugband.

The band adopted the name, The Purple Gang, when they changed their image to the well-dressed, clean-cut “gangster” style in the 1960s. In London, they engaged Joe Boyd as their record producer, and shared a studio with Pink Floyd as they recorded their first single, “Granny Takes A Trip” (named after the eponymous shop in the Kings Road). Pink Floyd were making their own first single, “Arnold Layne”, at the time. The BBC spotted the word ‘trip’ in the title and, assuming it to be a reference to LSD, banned the record from their airwaves. Also noticing that the band’s lead singer at the time (Pete Walker) was nicknamed ‘Lucifer’, they said that the group “would not be tolerated by any decent society”. An album, The Purple Gang Strikes was released in 1968, but failed to sell, although Pirate radio station DJs such as John Peel praised the group.

The band continued during the early 1970s, with a slightly different line-up. In 1998, the band reformed and recorded an album, Night of the Uncool, with several new songs by Joe Beard, some of which were produced by Gerry Robinson, the mandolin and harmonica player from the original 1967 line-up. From 1999, their new lead vocalist was Stuart Pevitt (born 27 December 1952, Sale, Cheshire, England). They enjoyed some commercial success in Eastern Europe; in Bulgaria and Hungary one of their singles, “Sunset Over the Mersey”, entered the national charts. In 2003, they re-released The Purple Gang Strikes on CD. It contained remixes of several of their 1967 songs, including the BBC-banned track “Granny Takes A Trip”. Another track, “Madam Judge”, was their reply to the latter’s banning.

THE RUG BAND
The RUG Band are a 12 piece band from Ryde, Isle of Wight, who’ve also performed The Purple Gang’s famous song, Granny Takes a Trip!  They’re a happy crew of ukulele players accompanied by bass, fiddle, banjolele, flute, melodica & more!

CLICK HERE FOR: The Rug Band’s Facebook

OLLIE SPENCER
Host and M.C. for the night is ROGER OLLIE SPENCER from the legendary `60`s band IDLE RACE- which featured a young Jeff Lynne – along with Dave Pritchard and Greg Masters – with Roger on drums .Despite massive airplay of their singles by the BBC, John Peel and Kenny Everett, they never charted. Roger spent his life in showbiz and the music industry and we are proud to have him as M.C. compere tonight.

note

The Live Lounge is a standing venue with some unreserved seating. Seating is not guaranteed and may not be available for all shows. If you have a disability and need a seat please call us on 0151 236 1965 in advance to make arrangements!

Most events are 18 yrs and over please see our age policy for more information before booking. If you have any questions please get in touch with us.

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