When cabaret stars Clubsound played in the Railway - more than 200 times!

JOE Mulholland knew a thing or two about the good people of Antrim - after all, he had been pulling pints for them for long enough at the Railway Bar.

But back in 1971 he reckoned that the times they were a changin’, and he decided that his popular watering hole would do the same.

The days of the old ‘singing pub’ were over, he said. The future was cabaret.

And he was going to dig deep in his pocket to prove it.

The Railway Bar was torn down and in its place, the gleaming new Railway Cabaret Club was built.

But that was the easy part. Joe had a swanky new joint, but who was going to pull in the crowds each Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening?

Comedienne Marjorie Rea, who had long been a doyen of the Belfast circuit, was an easy early booking - after all, she had recently upped sticks and moved to Antrim.

Candy Devine, who sadly died in October, also performed in those early days, as a singer.

Both turns brought in healthy crowds, but Joe was still looking for the big one - and in 1974 he finally landed it.

Four years earlier five pals - George Jones, Tommy Thomas, Billy Bingham, Harry Hickland and Eddie McCrudden - had cobbled together a group to perform at the Abercorn in Belfast.

Accidentally, they had created Clubsound, a cultural phenomenon that would blaze quite the trail in a career which sparked no fewer than six albums, 13 singles, a BBC series and thousands of live performances. They’re still going now.

Initially they were for the main part a musical act, who would banter with the crowds between songs. In time, the comedy element grew and they ditched many of the covers for songs they had penned themselves.

This new shtick stuck. Soon, they were making a name for themselves and they decided to take the act on the road, touring England in 1972 as ‘Warm Sensation’. I kid you not.

The band then toured South Africa, for a year no less, before Jones quit and headed back to Northern Ireland.

Though the endless touring had undoubtedly made them more accomplished on stage, something had changed. They missed the Ulster crowds. They got them - they shared that unique sense of humour.

Soon Clubsound reformed, with a few changes of personnel, and they embarked on a busy spell of writing new songs and skits, most with an unapologetically Northern Ireland flavour.

And in 1974 Joe Mulholland made his move - and, happy to escape the Troubles that were killing off nightlife in Belfast, the band signed on the dotted line.

In July of that year, the news hit the presses.

“Great news! Clubsound are now our Resident Group for every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.”

It was a great opportunity for George and the boys, but it posed a challenge too. To keep packing them in, they would have to ensure they had a steady flow of new material.

It was during this time that crowd pleasers like ‘Belfast, Belfast’ and ‘Shankill Airways’ were added to the mix.

And soon the first reviews arrived. One critic declared the show ‘A Rail Treat’.

‘You’d be lucky to find a spare seat in the Railway, Antrim these days’, wrote Simon West.

‘For since the proprietors secured the services of the legendary Clubsound as a resident band, business has never been better.

‘The Clubsound, of course, are one of Ireland’s leading cabaret outfits, with a wealth of international experience.

‘As the Warm Sensations, they broke box office records in the ritziest night clubs of England, Europe and South Africa. But the boys in the band are more than glad to be home in Ulster after a succession of gruelling tours and residencies abroad.

‘For the most polished sounds in pop and country, the tops in zany humour and a large helping of the unpredictable, make a point of seeing the Clubsound at the Railway. You won’t be disappointed. Unless you miss that seat’.

High praise indeed! Joe was onto a winner, and working with the band he launched a rather unusual advertising blitz designed to drive business to Antrim.

One read: ‘If you are feeling good, come and be depressed by Clubsound, the lousiest group in Ireland, playing their own brand of rubbish at the Railway Cabaret, Antrim.

‘If you enjoy the show send a stamped addressed soda farl for a refund.

‘Red Cross nurses in attendance, and parking facilities for two cars, a motor bike and a donkey’.

Another advised patrons of the services they were offering thrice weekly in the heart of Antrim: ‘Revolutions started, flies swatted, audiences insulted, stages scrubbed, cats doctored. Four large bags of manure free with every ticket’.

A novel approach, but it worked.

Speaking in 1977, ‘spindly wisecracker’ George Jones said the secret of their success at Railway was keeping the audience on their toes.

“We as an act are beyond definition. You can’t call us a comedy act and you can’t describe us as a pop group.

“I think we’re just entertainment, like a variety show all rolled into one. Perhaps another reason we are popular is because we try to involve the audience and we speak their language.”

And it was during this productive period that they really honed the act.

“We got bored with the music after a while and started doing comedy sketches. Just like Billy Connolly these got longer and the music became less.

“If someone had a new idea we’d sit around a table and build a comedy routine around it. For instance, we got so many requests to play ‘ Y Viva Espana’ we decided we’d have to do it even though we hated it. In rehearsal someone started mucking around with it and eventually it became ‘Shankill Airways’.”

Through 1975 and into 1976 they continued to play to packed houses - often staying on stage for over three hours each night.

But they were getting too big, and the Railway was starting to feel too small.

In September 1976, now consolidated as ‘Ulster’s top cabaret attraction’, the band decided to spread their wings with the occasional gig in Belfast alongside their Antrim shows.

“We were offered a few dates outside the Railway. We were not keen, but we tried one at Shorts and wrecked the place! The audience loved it.

“Next we played to over 2,000 people at two performances at the Grove Theatre and we found we were getting packed houses wherever we went.”

Then, shortly before Christmas, came the news that their legion of local fans had long feared. Their residency at the Railway would end with a marathon six night run of shows, ending on New Year’s Day 1977.

A few months later they were supporting music legend Roy Orbison at the ABC in Belfast. And that step up, according to reporter Bob Willox, proved the lads were right to move on.

‘In a matter of months this Belfast five-piece and comedy troupe have moved from the dark undergrowth of the country backwoods to the bright lights of television and classy cabaret in city centre clubs and cinemas, from hundreds of pounds and people each week to thousands, from peace to queues and from record makers to record breakers’, he wrote, rather unkindly.

George saw it differently. It was a decision they took with heavy hearts.

“We stayed at the Railway so long because we were happy there. But after one and half years there we realised they could only pay us so much because it was a small place.

“We also thought the audiences were getting harder to entertain. We tried to change the act because we thought we were getting stale, though we were still packing the place out.

“And I always say, if things don’t work out now, we could possibly go back to the Railway...”

Alas that was not to be - but they did return in October 1984 to record their album ‘Clubsound Almost Live’ in the bar.

Just for old times sake.