From industrial powerhouse to Banners department store and reputedly the first escalators in the country – Attercliffe has won many accolades over the years.
But one thing often forgotten is the trailblazing music venue that opened in the mid-1980s – something heavily featured in the newly republished ‘Dirty Stop Stop Out’s Guide to 1980s Sheffield’.
Marcus Reynolds following the Thatcherite doctrine and made his dream happen with the Take Two Club via the Government’s £30-a-week Enterprise Allowance Scheme – remember that?
It opened on Saturday, December 13, 1986.
Former music writer of The Star, John Quinn, was one of the devout regulars and seems to have better recollections that most...
“Marcus was very tolerant of the ranks of punks, psychobilly’s, skinheads and assorted ne'r-do-wells who frequented the venue, and this policy of politeness paid off. I can't recall there ever being trouble at this particular place.
“In 1987 I became editor of The Star's pop page so I was a regular writer about and visitor to Take Two, mainly a live music venue but also occasionally the place for indie music discos.
“People go on about the power of the press. Maybe on a national level, but local music journalists tend to delude themselves - I know I did - that what they write is somehow important.
“This was proved to me when Take Two played host to a Northern Irish band called Bam Bam And The Calling who I'd described on the pop page as 'better than The Beatles' on the grounds that one of them was actually called Paul McCartney. This shameless bit of hype led to them attracting a massive audience of...ooh...four. Which wasn't fab, but I bravely fought my way to the front and enjoyed them anyway.
“However the venue had some bigger names too. Primal Scream and Dinosaur Jr played to full houses, while the Lee Brilleaux-led late-80s line-up of Dr Feelgood and punk veterans UK Subs seemed to be in a competition to see who could play there most often.”
Take Two helped fill the gap as places like the city centre’s Limit venue devoted more time to clubnights rather than gigs.
- You can get the newly republished ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1980s Sheffield’ here: https://dirtystopouts.com/products/dirty-stop-outs-guide-to-1980s-sheffield
2. Take Two Club
Listings for Sheffield's Take Two Club in the 1980s, when it was described as 'Sheffield's liveliest music club' Photo: Neil Anderson
3. Opening
A news article about the opening of the Take Two Club in Attercliffe, Sheffield Photo: Neil Anderson
4. The Limit
Revellers at the Limit nightclub in Sheffield during the 1980s Photo: Neil Anderson