If you rode a British bike (I rode a Norton Commando), and
loved rock'n'roll and rockabilly, then The Clarence was a great place to
be on a Saturday night in the late 1970's. It never made any pretence to
be anything other than a working mans pub. I recall that during the week,
the patrons would be dock workers and occasionally foreign sailors.
The regular Saturday DJ was Rockin' Bill ( I never did
know his last name). He was a great guy, and a real holdover from the
Teddy Boy era. He had a huge collection of 1950's and early 1960's tunes
that you just couldn't hear anywhere else. I can still hear "Black
Slacks" by Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones, and "Washing Machine
Boogie" by the Echo Valley Boys. Bill was the guy that first sparks my
interest in American rockabilly - which continues today, some 30+ years
later.
The Clarence also hosted some great rockabilly bands such as Matchbox,
and Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers. The place would be bursting at
the seams if either of those two were playing.
Every now and then we would go there on a Friday night.
Much quieter than Saturday, but I recall that the music was good even
without Bill to spin the tunes. A huge added attraction for all the guys
on Friday nights was that a couple of the local ladies (I think one of
them was named Cindy) would slip out of the bar around 8:30 or so to
change out of their street clothes and into bikinis. They would then
reappear and dance go-go style, moving around the bar and the large room
off to the left. After a while they would take their bikini tops off,
and dance topless. Looking back on it, this probably violated all sorts of
laws, but it was a great time.
On a Saturday, the bikes would all be parked on the
opposite side of the street. BSA, Triumph, AJS, Velocette, Norton,
Triton...hardly a Jap bike to be seen. Although I do remember one guy who
rode a Yamaha XS 650. What a great group of guys too. Mickey Russell and
Pony, Wilf and Diane (tragically, Wilf was subsequently stabbed to death
outside another pub in Brighton), Ross Haffenden and his always dazzling
850 Commando, Micky Moses, Terry Tippett, and many others who's names I
have forgotten. Every now and then an "out of towner" or a jap bike rider
would show up and a drag race would ensue. It usually started at the
intersection of North Street and Church Road and would run eastward past
the Clarence, ending at the intersection with Station Road. North
Street ran slightly uphill from Church Road, and the ridge where the road
flattened out was just west of the Clarence. You had to roll off the
throttle a little as you went over the ridge to ensure that you had
control when you landed. On one occasion, the out of towner had no clue,
landed hard and just laid it down at about 60 mph. A huge shower of sparks
and much embarrassment, but thankfully he had no serious injuries.
I moved to the U.S. in 1980 (and now ride Harleys instead
of Nortons). I still make it back to Sussex at least once a year. It is
sad for me to see that so many of the old haunts - including The Clarence
- have been bulldozed and replaced with characterless modern buildings.
|
