(Little has been written on the Dublin Punk & New Wave scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s, next to nothing on the Rockabilly revival scene and even less on the Mod Revival/Northern Soul scene of the 1980s. This is a small attempt to ratify this. I’ve chosen to focus on the Bubbles Mod Night as there is a reunion this Saturday at the Grand Central Hotel. Thanks to Paul Davis, Joe Moran and Karl Carey for talking to me and also Anthony Healy, Morgan Nolan and Anne Doyle for the photos.)
Bubbles was the most important and influential mod revival night in Dublin’s history. Located in what is now the basement of the Temple Bar Hotel in Adair Lane, the night ran from 1981 to 1987 – the golden years of the mod revival scene in Dublin.
Starting as a weekly event (Wednesdays from 8pm till 11.15pm), it became twice a week (Wednesday and Sunday nights) to accommodate the growing subculture. The 11.15pm curfew was to facilitate punters getting the last bus.
Admission price was £1.50 (or a pound if you were a member). The cloakroom was 20p and, if you could afford it, a coke was 50p. Alcohol was not on sale. This was, uniquely, an all ages event. However, as Paul Davis, who is organising this weekend’s reunion, remembers, this didn’t stop a “few enterprising lads” selling a cans of beer at a couple of all-nighters. There was also one individual who did a “lucrative trade” in pills.
At the start, the music policy was pure 1960s mod and soul with a dashing of ’79 revival. Original Trojan/Studio One ska also made an occasional appearance. As time went on, Northern Soul became a staple part of the Bubbles diet.
A funny anecdote relates to a number of TV theme songs that were played every week at Bubbles. The theme from Joe 90 and Hawaii 5-0 were long-established tunes that were attached to the Northern Soul scene (for what particular reason I’m not quite sure). The third song that was played every week was the Match of the Day melody. As Paul Davis explains; “this was never regarded by anyone as northern soul, mod or anything like that, it was Noel’s (the DJ) way of saying, that’s your lot, it’s over till next week.” Nevertheless you still had ‘newbie’s’, who were on their first visit to Bubbles, thinking that the Match of the Day tune was also a Northern Soul cult classic and they’d get up and dance to it. The regulars saw it as a great (and often humorous) way to distinguish the posers from the genuine fans on their first visit.
Joe Moran recalls his first time in Bubbles:
I think it was the summer of 1984 when a friend of mine gave me a Motown LP. I had just turned Mod and for me I just couldn’t fit the style with the post 79 new wave and angry Pop and was searching around for musical satisfaction … with an older guy who had been a mod from the seventies when no-one else was and he had a huge collection of mainly white RnB British stuff and he had me listening to that. He pointed out when I told him about the Motown Lp that the original Mods were big lovers of RnB and Motown in particular so I was very firmly on the right track.
So my summer exams finished and I had told my folks that I was going to this Disco (Bubbles) in town and that it finished at 11.30 etc. etc. you know how it was when you’re young. And after some misgivings on their part they gave their blessing once I agreed to be on the last bus home ( I never got on that bus but walked home with my companions talking nine to the dozen and skipping along like a three-year old, gesticulating and investing a teenagers perceived importance onto all the things I had seen that night and they were smiling at my mad capering antics)
Anyways I organise with my cousin Karen and her friend to come along with me as all the Mods from East Wall I knew were non-committal (their mod life was on the wane) but as I knew a few Mods from school who’d be there I knew I wouldn’t be on my own. I remember the clothes I wore that night, Black and white golf jacket, Polka dot shirt, grey sta-press and bowling shoes. I looked the business (or so I thought)…
So with trepidation we head into town and down the lane and up to the doors where we are greeted by some bouncers all dressed up and me thinking “they are either going to a ball or serving at one with their evening suits and dickey bows on”
“First time tonight?” Says the small bouncer
“Eh, yeah, can I go in?” says I nervously trying to swallow with a dry mouth
“Okay, you need to get a membership, you got photos, give them to the girl downstairs and she’ll sort you out”
“yeah I got them, okay”
“And here….”
“Yeah?”
“Any fucking messing and you’re barred”
“okay no problem…no messing”Down the stairs and pay in and then through the arch and I’m there. There’s some track playing I don’t know, some band belting out the power chords. I see Mods everywhere as I stand against the wall, getting sized up by the regulars who are kitted out in some sensational (to my eyes anyway) styles. Guys in suits smoking and chatting up fashionable girls with big hair, heads thrown back at some witty repartee and I feel like a hick in the big smoke for the first time, aware of his quaint fashions and demeanour and I try to blend into the scenery whilst attempting to look cool. The girls have fucked off to the jacks leaving me on me Sweeney but I spot a Mod from my School, Peter Ragazolli, and he waves and beckons me over and introduces me to some of his crew and before I know it there’s a host of us back slapping and sizing each other up – its blur of names and interestingly for those who went to bubbles and probably has some importance that seemed so important in those days all this takes place over by the deejay box on the dance floor (one of the very few times I ventured past the pillars) I forget the names and faces now but for a time most of those people were a big part of my life.
And then suddenly the mood changes, the deejay starts playing a slow set – To Sir, with Love is playing and there is a slow enough take up from the punters to start the lurching. The crew moves up to the bar for a smoke and a talk and I get the usual questions from the guys I don’t know “ where you from” “Do you know so and so” how long you been into Mod” “what music you into” and it’s all easy and relaxed and my musical taste are getting nods of approval from one or two and soon we are parrying records and tunes back and forth – as I scan the bar I see that not everyone is wearing tailored clobber and I don’t feel so bad but make a mental note to sharpen up next time I come out.
I note a crew of Faces and realise that I recognise one of them and he wanders over and chats to me for a while and I’m introduced as a “friend of ours” its like the mafia – I’m in. I’m treading carefully around subjects and trying to fit in – laughing at the right places most of the time though in fairness most of the adventures and personalities in the stories are unknown to me
The slow set is fading out and the crowd start to walk back down the tunnel past the jacks (some months later I was to realise that once you started going regularly you got to know the deejays set inside out so rarely did he play a new tune) and then I feel my heart start to throb as a bass-line attacks me from the speakers. A tambourine kicks in and then some falsetto harmonising rounds out the sound “Before, I go forever, be sure of what you say” and then it sounds like the place is collapsing and there are people leaping over each other to get to the dance floor and the place goes mental. I’m looking at Jimmy Mulvaney (I found out his name later) doing what can only be described as the most spectacular dancing I had seen up to that point in my life. He looks almost like a mod with his neat hair, Fred and bowling shoes but his trousers are a little too wide and they flap as he kicks his leg high in the air and pirouettes and stops dead on the beat and then he’s off again doing some more footwork.
I’m stunned – I look around and Ragger and the guys are laughing and joking as if there’s nothing happening – I’m in awe I had never had a song grip me like that with its raw power, its beat and pure exuberance
“Ragger – what the fuck is that song?”
“Franie Valli – The Night”
“Where do I get one?”
“Ah ask the soul boys when they are finished dancing – they’ll get you one, probably cost you about 2 or 3 quid”
The floor is jammed with bodies, slim tall mods, cigarettes in their hands doing a variation of the block, bobbed black-haired girls doing this dainty stepping dance and the soul boys moving around the floor like manic spinning tops
The song finishes and the next tune on the decks is as fast and as hard-hitting as the previous . Another Motown sound though more Motown-ish than the previous one and as different to my Motown Gold LP than if they’d been made on two different planets. ‘(There’s a) Ghost in My House’ has the same intensive beat and the dancers are getting up into a lather, even the contoured Mods are starting to show the heat in this humid cellar club and the girls are disappearing to the jacks to powder their noses (today they just head to the jacks to stuff powder up their noses but different times eh?).
The deejay keeps the tempo going and its obvious that the crowd know all these songs and as people leave the Dance floor someone will take up the vacant real estate like some telepathic signal to “ keep the space warm for me while I go grab a fag”.
And then after some more glorious vocal tunes and instrumentals the tempo changes and I recognise Secret Affair’s ‘Time For Action’ and as one the soulies move off and the Mods reclaim the dance floor.
There were other songs that I heard over that first year/two years that turned my head – Eddie Holman’s I Surrender is an all time favourite of mine, Epitome Of Soul – ‘You Don’t Love Me’, The Metros – ‘Since I Found My Baby’ and a whole host of other top-notch sounds but I can arguably say that ‘The Night’ and ‘(There’s a) Ghost in My House’ were the two songs that got me into Northern Soul.
Bubbles closed in early 1987 after the owners didn’t renew the lease on the venue. It moved to a new premise in Abraxis on Sackville Lane beside Cleary’s but many saw this as the beginning of the end for the Mod scene in Dublin. Davis remembers that the venue didn’t suit us; “it was a bit too trendy and bright”. By 1987, the Mod scene was dying a death. In the UK, the scene “had already gone way underground” while in Dublin it was on its last knees.
Karl Carey (42) looks back on Bubbles fondly:
“My first time at Bubbles was late September 1984. I was 16. Suits, Parkas, Loafers, Fred Perry’s, Scooters and oh yeah, girls! My mod music was based around the 79 sounds, Bubbles introduced me to new mod sounds – Northern Soul (yeah I still have to explain what it is to people). As I get older I prefer to keep it my treasured secret.
Every Wednesday and then also every Sunday night I couldn’t miss Bubbles. To be honest, some nights were just ok but when they were good WOW! The All – nighters were ours and ours alone, don’t think any other scene had or has anything like it. Met the most wonderful people at Bubbles and even got the most gorgeous girlfriend and then wife because of Bubbles.
25 years, 2 sons and 6 scooters later I find myself getting more and more back into the scene … Some things have changed and I realise you can’t hold on to everything you might want, but your memories will last forever…………….”
After Bubbles, Joe Moran, Eamonn Flavin and Mark Byrne set up the This Is It Soul Club in the basement of The Plough on Abbey Street which then moved on to The Fox & Pheasant on Great Strand Street, close to Capel Street Bridge. This shared alternate Fridays with the Night Owl Soul Club, which Paul Davis ran with Stuart Chaney and Mick Duffy. Both clubs ran for less than a year. The early 1990s saw most of the original Dublin Mods pack up and move to London.
There wasn’t another regular club in Dublin until the Dublin Soul Club was set up in 1995 by Paul Davis, John Dunne and Ray O’Reilly. Their night ran for six successful years in The Plough.
The Sleepless Nights Soul Club took up the torch in 2002 and the scene has been burning bright since. They are celebrating their 8th anniversary with a weekend of Northern and Motown soul on April 30 and May 1 in McGrattan’s.
Keep the faith.
Remember Bubbles like it was yesterday. Started going in 1982 every Wednesday Night.Rarely ever missed a night. I still remember my first time walking up the alley and hearing the most fantastic music ever ! coming up out of the basement . Great music & great people. I remember that the first allnighter was in 1984 St Patricks day weekend. still have the concession and still keeping the faith.
Fantastic level of research in this piece.
Do you have any snaps of the mods on O’ Connell street showing the Irish take on the mod symbol?
No sure if your thinking of specific picture but there’s some snaps of mods wearing the green/white/orange Mod target here:
here:
and here:
Hi, wanted to go the mod reunit this Saturday but not sure if it’s the Central Hotel on Exchequer Street, Central Hotel in Temple Bar or Grand Central Bar on O’Connell Street?
Thanks
Hi Pauline,
The Bubbles reunion is happening in the The Grand Central Hotel/Bar on O’Connell Street.
All the best.
Thanks a million
Am absolutely bulling that I missed this night, was on holidays. I had been thinking that a bubbles reunion night was a great idea for years. Was at the Specials gig last year and couldnt believe some of the faces there that I recognised from Bubbles all those years ago. We were going to Bubbles from around 81-83 but it was a Fri nite, and the Afro spot was i think Sat or Sun nite. The sounds that I distinctly remember were the Dave Clarke 5 (Bits and pieces) , The Purple Hearts (Frustration), The Lambrettas (Dance and Page 3) Secret Affair (My World) and lots of The Jam (the greatest band ever bar none), and there was always a good Ska set. It was def before Northern Soul was introduced. Fights with the Ormond Square boys, anyone remember them, probably the 1st casuals on the scene in Dublin, they wanted our Fred Perrys.
Well done for celebrating this era lads, but is there any chance you could do it again for those of us who missed out,
All the best
Thanks for the comment Martin.
Paul Davis organised the reunion. You can find him here –
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1716352329&ref=ts
I think they are planning to make it an annual affair.
Never heard of the Ormond Square Boys. Fascinating stuff.
Do you remember what other gangs there were in Dublin in the mid 1980s?
We came from Binns Bridge, at the end of Dorset st heading into Drumcondra. We would regularly come into contact with gangs from Finglas drinking on the canal who werent affiliated to any of the fads of the time but who took great pleasure in beating up Mods when they got half the chance.
When we started going into town around 1981 the Mods and the New Romantics used to hang out together. We used to gather in an arcade on Westmoreland St, and youd be sussing out the clobber that was on show, as well as the girls in their sixties gear.
One night in Bubbles there was meant to be a showdown between the Mods and the aformentioned gang from Ormond Square and the word going around inside Bubbles was that they were outside and beating up the mods as they left. I remember we were bricking leaving and decided as soon as we got out we were going to leg it. But when we got outside we were greeted by a large contingent of Skinheads, older lads who were immaculately dressed in Freds, braces and docs and who had teamed up with the Mods and already seen off the other shower. The cops arrived in their black mariahs, the skins started shaking the vans and then the big scatter.
Its a night I’ll always remember. But the banter in Bubbles and the lads youd meet up with on a Fri, mainly from Cabra, Ringsend and town, Rasher, Sparks etc was just magic.
Sorry for rambling mate but its great to know the spirit is still alive, and although we’re older and greyer the fact is being a Mod is a permanent thing, its for life,
Keeping the faith…
Great post mate… These are the stories we’re rapidly losing, and I guess thats what JayCarax is trying to do… Keep a bit of the old history alive. Any more stories from the era, I’m sure he’d be delighted to hear, I know I would be.
Very cool ! Thanks for sharing. Now I’m following you..
Disappointed I missed this reunion. I remember vividly my first night in Bubbles – Aug ’84 on my 16th birthday. I had been a Mod since the previous Christmas. I went with a bunch of mates from Ballyfermot who had all been before. I remember being so self conscious and being afraid of looking or saying something uncool. When I got downstairs I was completely blown away by the music and whole atmosphere. I remember being blown away by the power of Northern Soul, music I had never heard before but could appreciate its effect on those not afraid to express themselves with dance moves I thought could only be performed by gymnasts – hand stands, soul kicks and occasional back flips.
The night finished with ‘Sittin’ on the dock of the bay’ and then match of the day. I couldn’t get to sleep that night, thinking about the whole week I had to get through before I could go again.
The songs that stand out for me at that time are ‘he’s coming home’ by Beverley Anne; ‘Too Late’ by Williams and Watson; ‘The Snake’ by Al Wilson to name but a few.
The weeks were broken up by hanging around the pillar and ‘playland’ on O’Connell St. onsaturday afternoons.
Magic days.
I still vividly remember my first time going to Bubbles as a teenager in the 1980’s
That Wednesday night ,I drove my Vespa PX 125 into Town and parked it outside Pears Street Garda Station. Many others Mod scooters were parked here as it was a safe place and it was only a short walk across Fleet Street , past the Apartment Night club down to Adair Lane to where the club was situated.
The first thing that struck me as I walked down the lane was that you could hear the faint pulsating sound of music coming from behind the basement doors as you approached .Already a queue had formed and two bouncers opened the doors to let what must have been regulars in. Most of the them had come on scooters as they were holding crash helmets under their arms and many were wearing Parkas, trench coats. & golfing jackets and the girls had Macs. Suede ¾ length coats & bags.
Then it was my turn.. I was asked by one of the bouncers in a monkey suit was I a member ,to which I replied that it was my first time. I was told that I could go in this time but that I would need to fill out a application form along with a photo to become a member which I agreed.
To this day I can Still remember going down the narrow metal stairs and hearing this most amazing music than I had ever heard. Remember this was the 80’s , New Romantics , Miami Vice , Chart music. !! ugh
In the 80’s It was hard enough to be a Mod as you had a hard job trying to buy a button-down shirt or a three button jacket in Dublin let alone hearing quality 60s Mod & Soul Music.! No world wide web no i-tunes and no Utube, You couldn’t hear this music anywhere. ! It is hard to explain that to someone in 2010 hearing this unique music for the very first time ,the excitement , the emotion of it that still 25 years later still captures my attention. This became our music.
That night As I walked down the stairs paid the entrance charge , put my Mac , scarf & crash helmet in the cloakroom, two tracks were playing which hooked me . I later found out that they were Panic by Reparta & the Delrons and a quirky Instrumental , A touch of velvet , a sting of brass by the Ron Grainer Orch . What amazed me about this record was that the crowd on the dance floor clapped in unison along to it on the breaks.
As I walked nervously into the club .I noticed that the blue neon lights on the low ceiling made white socks , white sta-press trousers and Fred Perry polo shirts luminous and showed up every speckle of dust on darker clothing .!! If you were wearing white you shone !! That first night I was wearing navy sta prest, grey polo neck , navy jacket and brown suede hush puppies. That was the first and last time that I wore a polo neck as from then on it was short –sleeved shirts as it was much cooler as the place was always like a oven.!
Looking around the club everyone looked sharp and clean,. Mod clobber was the in thing as this was the height of the 1979 revival. Guys in three button suits. Striped boating blazers, Fred Perry polo shirts, sta- prest trousers , Fred Perry Jumpers, cardigans, Polo neck jumpers , Doc shoes ,Hush Puppies shoes, Cycling tops, Bowling shoes , Moc croc shoes, Button down Ben Sherman shirts , plain , stripes , polka dots , Girls in 60s dresses , twin sets, Polo & turtleneck sweaters, cardigans, Ski pants, Suede Jackets , hush puppies and the dancing was fantastic, quick and intricate with kicks and spins.
Later on I was told that this was the way to dance to Soul especially Northern Soul. The soul music that was played was a mix 0f 60’s and 70s Northern Soul but you did here stuff by Wilson Pickett, Booker T & the MGS , The Capitols , Carla Thomas, Arthur Connolly and Joe Tex. Joe Tex –Show me and Rex Garvin the Mighty Cravers- Sock it to em JB come to mind as two records that became Bubbles standards.
The rest of the music in Bubbles was broken down by the regular D.J Noel Synott into various sets , Soul & Motown was by far the largest and most popular set , then you had The 60’ Mod set, The Who, Small faces. Kinks. Spencer Davis Group , Creation , 79 Mod , The Jam , Secret Affair, Purple Hearts, Squire. 60’s & 80’s Ska , Desmond Decker , Prince Buster, Toots & the Maytals. Madness, The Specials, Selecter ,The Beat. (These sets catered for everyone musical tastes , as skinheads & suede heads also went to Bubbles ) and we even had the slow set Lulu The Casuals, Otis Redding ,Diana Ross , Delfonics. The last track of the Night around 11.10 was always the Match of the Day theme tune.. then you knew it was time to get your belongings from the cloakroom and head home. Those who were catching the last bus were already gone by 11.15 ! but for those with their own transport they could wait until the end.at 11.30 As you were leaving you were always given concessions by the management which was 50 pence with your membership card off the next Wednesday Night admission fee which was £1.50
As you put your helmet on , tied your scarf around you face to keep out the cold , and started up the scooter, you were already counting the days …. Wednesdays couldn’t come quick enough..
Fascinating account Tony. These were the kind of comments I was hoping for when writing the article. The point about having no itunes, internet or youtube and trying to listen to 60s Mod and Soul in the 1980s should be definitely emphasized!
(It would be great to set up some sort of society or group to help collate and document the Dublin subcultures of the 1970s and 1980s. I might try to do some research into setting one up over the summer)
I missed the reunion too, freaked when I heard there was one. Loved Bubbles, the place the people, the music, brill music, I remember the song The night well, definitely one of my favouites, watching Jimmy Mulvaney and the other lads strut their stuff. I can relate to not being able to sleep being so excited about going back, eventually I went to Bubbles every Wednesday and Sunday night, missed it big time when it closed down, a lot of very good memories from those days, thanks for the nostalgia on this site, great to read peoples memories. Once a Mod always a mod, it’s in the bones 🙂
The reunion was a great night & it was great to see a lot of the old faces. The sounds were great on the night & it was great to see Noel Synott after all these years.
Fair play to the lads for organising it & let there be many more.
Paul Maguire (Squire, Condo)–The Gangsters
Bubbles 81/ 82
First night in Bubbles was a Friday night came down the stairs to the sounds of The Kinks – You Really Got Me, some of the songs I remember;
The Beatles – Taxman
Tommy James & The Shondells – The Hanky Panky
The Who – Happy Jack ( A Joe Kinsella Special !!)
The Who – Cant Explain
The Yardbirds – Heart Full of Soul
The Small Faces – Lazy Sunday Afternoon
Blues Brothers – Green Onions
Syndicate of Sound – Little Girl
Little Eva- The Locomotion
Purple Hearts – Frustration
Squire – It’s a Mod Mod World
9 Below Zero – Homework
and the last song of the night
The Who – My Generation
Lost interest when the scooter boys took over Bubbles, with their English beer mats stitched to the back of their flight jackets. Didn’t seem very Mod to me.
Flash Back!
Are you going to Bubbles tonight?
Na studying,
Are you….na not allowed out on Wednesday nights.
Upstairs clashing with the books- it’s 82 and the INTER is soooo important. got to get out-got to get out- ahhhhhhhh!
The window, nobody will notice, yes- I’m out in the street lights and down swiftly to the bus stop, on the bus and free. the excitment builds up as I cross O,connell bridge, right , left,right. the music is in beat with my heart.
no hassel at door as I’m a girl on my own. In, down the stairs and onto the dance floor. The music melts me.& Still does.
YES it was great a club, providing the music I loved, the style and nature I truely understood and adored.
It was such a spark, creating and finding clothes was brillant ,second hand clothes shops then where fantastic, and if your visited london -well the ace face was been established. people borrowing your clothes and getting their mam to make a pattern. Got my hair done in THE WITCHES HUT -deadly graduated bob. No money but a pure creative time.NEVER TO BE FOGOTTEN & YES I HAVE TO SAY THE FAITH REMAINS>
See you,s on the 17th.
[…] to write a piece on the history of reggae in Dublin, similar to what I’ve done so far on the Mod scene in Dublin and the Rockabilly […]
Just saw this now! Really interesting piece as I’d never read anything about the Dublin mod scene before.
Just on this bit…
“The theme from Joe 90 and Hawaii 5-0 were long-established tunes that were attached to the Northern Soul scene (for what particular reason I’m not quite sure).”
They were regular spins at the Wigan Casino in it’s latter days so maybe that’s where it came from, though the hardcore soul crowd hated them and thought the scene was getting too commercial at that stage. (According to The Soul Stylists by Paolo Hewitt anyway)
I remember there being mods in Navan where I grew up until the late eighties but from my fuzzy recollection they weren’t alll that smart. Early to mid nineties I was probably the only mod in town. Only proper one anyway.
Just heard about the Bubbles reunion that took place in April after making contact with some of the old gang of FB. What a fab piece. Reading it and the comments was like i was dancing around the floor in Bubbles on a Wednesday night.
Myself Joan and Aisling first went to Bubbles in 82 after a few bottles of stag upstairs in ‘The High Tide’. We were all a bit nervous, even after the bottles of stag, as didn’t know anyone. However from the minute i entered down those stairs, the music got me. We soon got to know everyone and regular nights in the ‘High tide’ and then ‘The Oval’ were a must before Bubbles. From the 1st night that was it. I was part of this special gang, movement, whatever you want to call it, and there was no going back. Dancing, buying records, scouring second hand shops for clothes, attending scooter rallies and boys of course all followed.
I remember a few of us going to see ‘Quadrophenia’ somewhere on middle abbey street i think and coming out feeling like i belonged to a very special gang. At that moment i didn’t want life to change.
It seemed liked a normal transition for some between Mod or (Modette) to getting into Northern Soul and trying to master the intricate dance steps. I remember also being transfixed watching Jimmy Mulvaney as he spun around the floor (early breakdancing). Sadly Bubbles did close but some of us did continue on with the evolving Northern Soul and scooter scene in Dublin.
I also have found memories of playing some records (i was now collecting them) upstairs in the ‘Fox and Phesant’. Christie i think it was who ran the pub. Also remember the BBC coming in one night and doing a piece for a documentary on the up and coming film adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s book ‘The Commitments’. Scooter rallies in Ireland and England followed over the years but sadly i eventually lost contact with most people.
Thanks for this piece on ‘Bubbles’ as so many memories have been reignited in my little old brain. Still haven’t lost the moves but might be a bit slower around the dance floor. Hold on i’m not that old. Check out the new film ‘Soulboy’ for more music memories.
Can you let me know when the next ‘Bubbles’ reunion is on? Please tell me there’s going to be another one as would love to meet up with the old gang and get my dancing shoes on again.
Keep the Faith
Nicki
the r’n’b club in the jonathan swift on kevin st, moved onto th ivy rooms on parnell st and also the parklodge hotel on north circular road , onto the ormond hotel on ormond quay and finally the wynn’s hotel on abbey st., ran for many long years, with anumber of all dayers in the tv club on harcourt st ,
brian o’byrne
—————–
Have to say, Saturday night was excellent thanks to Paul Davis for being one of the organisers of such a nostalgic night. It defo reminded me of old times, great to see all the blasts from the past, knew lots of faces not great at names though but met many people from my past, shared many stories. The music was brill, can’t wait for the next one, thanks again to all the organisers 🙂
Another great Night , place was packed to capacity with so many Bubbles regulars that were transported back to the 80s. Great atmosphere and it was a pleasure to dja nd play. Well done to Paul Davis for organising another success. Remember that there are still Soul & Mod nights still going on. Check them as you will see many regular faces from the Bubbles era and others – young & old who are now captivated by the music we love. K.T F Tony
It was only fantastic to find out there was a re-union-thanks to Paul Davis. A place to share the same passion for the sounds I grew up with in ’82 which was the first for me in Bubbles. I have always listened to the music over the 28th years and inside I have always understood that it’s true ‘Once a mod always a mod’ funny that- but I did’nt dedicate myself to the fashion over the years (nice to see at the re-union many did)
Walking down the stairs was so strange -walking away from the new romantic sounds up-stairs (like the apartment) into a basement. What a flash back. Would have liked a bigger dance floor. Just to have the needed floor space like Bubbles with mul vanny spinning around(What a dancer he was)
The DJ noel was the face I remembered and guessing maybe three or four others.
The evening started immedically for me as the music was brillant.The blending was bang on.Some of the tunes I had’nt danced to outside my home since Bubbles.
People arrived and arived and the place was gammers in a comfortable way. Wavd of the water, the night and fortune teller blew me away and having them on the cd is a dream, Thanks again paul for that added bonos of the evening, Hav’nt danced to Paul Cleary since his re-union and you could tell by the dance floor everyone was elated.
All the mod 79 tunes -ah it was fantastic.
DO I hear the next one is July?
[…] I’ve previously written a piece about the history of the Mod scene in Dublin, you can read it here. […]
Went to Bubbles a few times in 1981. Yeah, it was exciting. But I was a Mod from Dunleary, and me and my mates were kind of viewed with suspicion by the regulars. I dunno, maybe our accents weren’t quite right. We’d been into Mod since 1978 or so, I worked in a crap job in an insurance company, two blokes who worked there were Cabra Mods. One was decent and friendly to me, the other was vile, for no reason I could fathom. I drove a banana-yellow Vespa 90 (used to love riding around Stephen’s Green on a Sunday, by the Dandelion Market, just for the crack). What intrigued me about Bubbles was a) the very un-mod name, and b) the tension on leaving – I couldn’t understand the concept of people of different musical subcultures beating the shit out of each other. In autumn 1981 we went to London to visit a modette friend who lived in Fulham. Her mates welcomed us warmly and took us to very cool clubs, but again I hated their penchant for driving off in gangs after dancing, and beating the crap out of anyone of a different subculture or race (punks, teds, skins, blacks, indians, you name it). It really soured the mod thing for me, and when I came back, I sold my scooter, gave away my parka, gave up my job and went back to college. Although I loved the clothes, and the music, in my fifties I’m glad to look back and think I never thumped anyone because he had different clothes to me. The violence ruined mod. Just as it had in the sixties.
Thanks for this. Very honest and informative post. Cheers for sharing.
had some great nites at bubbles wise it was still there i
s
Great to read all your comments on Bubbles remember it as a 10 year old and my first job at 14 picking up glasses this only because my Dad was the owner.BUT THE MOD NIGHT WAS ALL ABOUT THE ALL NIGHTERS WITH THE LOCK IN TILL 8 THE NEXT MORNING . Would you agree ?
Wish I could say yes but I was 15 and even been in town at night time was a no no
Had to be under cover from the folks for this one
but an all night er .. thatwould have blown it
always enjoyed those kids that were allowed to tell their story
Hi all , reading all the comments bring,s very fond memories back to me, I was one of the original mods from Ormond square or the Os mods we were called myself
Mark Fitzgerald, Paul Leornard Paul skinner Groves, Paul ringo Coleman we were all mods back in 1980 81, 82, we all went to the Apartment next Door to Bubbles
the Apartment was our main hang out but we did frequent Bubbles now and then we did start of as four but our ranks soon swelled to about 20 or so, not all from Ormond square i,may add but all were called Os mods we had a emblem with were the O had the s middle of it and with Mods under this, we would meet in the Dandelion market and then hang around Advance records
there were the Amods from Anmoe drive in Cabra most were sound Ringsend lads, and a crew from Beamount and Finglas crew, most were good lads but you had wankers who just wanted to cause hassle i remember a poor punk lad getting the shit kicked out of him poor fucker could,nt run because he was wearing bondage straps, it was hard to find clothes then but my self and skinner groves use to get them made , in Morris Abrams or Louis Copeland,
i remember getting a swiss mohair suit made in Abrams cost 150 pounds in 1980, and bum freezer jackets in Brendan Kidds, about 60 pounds, it was a fab time i met my wife then who was a modette, the music motown secert affair
the purple hearts, the lamebrettas we all thougt they were plastic mods with there poison ivy shite,The blade good Irish band and not forgetting the Jam
remember going to the national stadium to see the Kinks, there was loads of mods there poor Ray Davies nearly getting pulled of the stage as the crowd
were shouting mods mods and him shouting thats all in the past, aha the memories, of those days the warm summers heading out to Bray and running Amok, hanging around the green and belonging to something, but it never leaves you once a Mod always a mod, Mark Fitz
hj mark this is john from tallaght hung around with ringo down the sq .had goods times aroud there. i am still a paul weller fan and still in to the soul scene and go to mod do when there is one on cheers john 79 mod
hi BUBBLES was great. Reading all of these stories brings back very fond memories to me, however we were into a different music scene but the same location!! We would go on Saturdays and it was Punk/Goth night. The brilliant colours, fashions, hairs etc… We would also sometimes have tribute nights, where all the music played was by the same artist or artists. I remember there was a fab night of David Bowie and Marc Bolan. AHHH wonderful memories, wish there were more places like this now. There are a huge amount of closet goths/punks from that era, that would love to come out of the wood work!!! Anyway, if anyone has fond memories just reply.
Garrette Byrne – Memories.
Memories… memories.. I was a massive fan of Japan, Gary Numan and Bowie. Great days, i remember so well of these nights in Bubbles. Maybe there will be a reunion arranged – WHO KNOWS!! Alot of these people came out of the woodwork and had great nites in the ‘Dice Bar’ about six or seven years ago. The Dice Bar is near the four courts, don’t know if it is still there or not??? They were brill nites also. Maybe more can be arranged . . . .
i was into ska and loved going to bubbles best years of my life
Memories memories and more Memories i just wish that some one would bring up that bubbles 2 was done before… and there a lots of 79 mods never get a mention its seams to be late 83 -84 mods doing all the talking for the Dublin mods. well this goes out for all the old Dublin mods its all only Memories and if you where not there don’t ask or try say that yous where there as a young mod hanging around the monument at the start of it there was very few Dublin mods hanging around it ..in 79 a hand few and not the A boys the likes of tomo sam rolo the collies brothers these people where there right from the start but went scooter boys well tomo did and it was tomo and linda bringing all the soul into bubbles plus in very early bubbles i brought to English girls into bubbles that brought 2 N soul tracks in you could say it was the first time N soul was Played in bubbles…. plus
The RnB club in the jonathan swift on kevin st, moved onto th ivy rooms and the park lodge that brian o’byrne ran for a good few years plus he is one of the old Dublin mods .
Thanks for the comment JK! Interesting points.
No problem
hi joe 79 mods for ever cheers john from tallaght
some of the old Dublin crew at one of the pow nights i use to run enjoy
the best times of my life was at bubbles ahhh de memories xx
I remember Bubbles Two tone suits bager shoes walking down the steps did anyone hang out in the high tide pub or was it called the flowing tide their seem to be alot of Mods drinking their.Great to see their is a reunion I live over in London now still doing the Mod thing I’ve got a Lambretta LI 125 and went to a Northern Soul alldayer yesterday at the dome tufnell park with my wife & daughter all thanks to the Dublin mods still going KEEP THE FAITH
Great read.Keep on keepin on ,
Ady from Carlow
coulldnt bekieve it when i came cacross this article about bubbles although i was askin head rude boy i often frequented bubbles no not just for the row on occasion for the music we use to fight the mods saturday afternoon at the monmument in o connell street those were the days the mods that said hello were alright it was the little fuckers who ignored u who looked down there noses at u i didnt like stuck up little fucks we werte working class skins from beaumont d9 bubbles was situated behind mc birneys dept store on the south quay on dublins south side which was later taken over by virgin magastore and now i think its a spar when my first love broke it off with me she went out with a mod whom she later married ill never forgive her u no who u are he was from elmount not two far from the stardust where the specials played with the beat 3 weeks be fore the tradgey killing 48 kids out enjoying themselves and now my wife of 18 years is org from brixton south london who was ivolved in the riots in 81 although as kids we had nothing and i see the kids of today who have everythinhg handed to them i think we were alot happier i mean that we were happier the specials in may downtown dublin thats what im looking forward to they took over my life although the general is not with them the music will never die adios amigos paul heller org rudeboy dublin
Hi Paul
Ive booked tickets to see The Specials at Brixton Academy.I lived around the corner from the Stardust I remember going around and standing outside with loafers black staypress white stocks and the bouncer telling me to f off no kids allowed and take your Specials poster with you I was heart broken real working class band. Madness was not for me my parents liked Madness but said The Specials looked rough The Specails were special I’ve seen them afew times since they reformed my wife is from Jamaica the roots of Ska and my daughter who is 8 have seen them Paul its a night to remember its like the eighties all over again and some I’m not abig fan of bands that reform but like I say The Specials are special.
Cliff Rude Boy Steele
Paul Heller, ya Bowzy…..
Great to hear someone remembers the Punk/Goth nites at the Bubbles location and we were very friendly with the mods too, made some great mates. Does anyone else remember?
Bubbles…. great times and memories…the fights with the Ormond Square heads were true. Drinking upstairs in the High Tide before Bubbles was the big thing .I wish I was back there now .
Dtra
HI JUST TO CLEAR UP ABOUT THE NAME ,THIS IS IT SOUL CLUB ,IT CAME FROM NIGHTS LISTENING TO NORTHERN SOUL RECORDS IN MARKY BYRNES PALOUR PLAYING THE LATEST RECORDS WE GOT SENT OVER FROM ENGLAND ,THE THREE OF US WOULD SPEND HOURS LISTENING TO AND TALKING ABOUT SOUL WHILE MARKY’S MUM WOULD SEND IN TEA AND FRESH BATCHLOAF TOAST WITH KERRY GOLD BUTTER WHICH WAS GREAT BECAUSE MY DAD WAS’NT WORKING SO KERRY GOLD WAS AS REAR AS SOME OF THE NORTHERN SOUL WE RECORDS WE WERE PLAYING. ,ANYWAY BACK TO THE POINT THE THREE LADS THAT TALKED ABOUT THIS SOUL CLUB WERE MARKY,FLAVO ,AND PETE DUNNE AND THE NAME WAS PETE’S AFTER THE MELBA MOORE SONG THIS IS IT, ALSO IT WAS’NT AFTER BUBBLES .BUBBLES WAS STILL GOING JUST NOT AS STRONG ,PETE WAS THE OTHER ONE UP THERE WITH FLAVO AND MARKY BUT TO SHY TO SPIN THE SOUNDS BUT THEY WOULD PLAY HIS RECORDS AS WELL THAT WAS AT THE START A GOOD LOT OF THE STUFF ON THE FIRST NIGHTS CAME FROM ALBUMS LIKE SOUL GALORE THE BEST OF CHESS AND LIVING THE NITELIFE I STIL HAVE THEM .SORRY IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE A BIT OF A MONE ITS NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT THE GLORY DAYS,P.S I STILL SEE FLAVO AND MARKY WE ARE STILL FRIENDS, AND ALL WAYS WILL BE.IT GOOD TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR MATES AND THE ODD NATTER ABOUT THE OLD DAYS BYE THE WAY SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO NOEL DUNNE WHO I HAVE BEEN FRIENDS WITH FROM FIRST CLASS TO THIS DAY AND HE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE PALOUR WITH US AT TIMES AND THIS HAS TO BE SAID ,THAT NOEL HAS TO BE THE ONLY BLOCK I KNOW WHO WAS GIVEN A BAG OF NORTHERN SOUL RECORDS COMPLEAT WITH THE NITER PATCHES FROM A REGULAR FROM WIGAN CASINO,THE RECORDS THE BAG AND THE PATACHS NOW HOW COOL IS THAT.
BEST WISHES AND KIND REGARDS,
PETE DUNNE .
KEEP THE FAITH, I DID AND STILL DO TO THIS DAY.
Hi Pete,
Was that Marky Byrne from Ballyfermot? If so, I was in school with him on Le Fanu Road and another Mod called Derek Fitzpatrick. I wasn’t a Mod but was good mates with Marky and he made me loads of Northern Soul tapes which were my introduction to that music. A lovely bloke, great offbeat sense of humour.
Think I was the first miss bubbles in 1975 ish .
Teresa ennis
There were Mods who could hang at the pillar and those that couldn’t. I was a kid (12,13,14- left to England in 83) but somehow managed to get into Bubbles and other places. Me and my mate Ricey. We were sharp little Mods. Can’t remember how we afforded it all. We used to get our stay pressed tailored down in a basement in Abbey Street so they sat just so over our Chelsea boots, we hung at the arcades, got into scraps, idolised people like Ray Dunne and Joe Kinsella. Everyone had a nickname, Jap (Evans), Sparky, Woppy etc. I remember the smell of Bubbles. Remember the night of the SLF gig. Lots of memories sparked off by this article and the posts.. Part of me will always be a Mod. It’s an attitude, style. It says.. Nobody is or can be better than me.. You can’t be snobbier than a Mod! Where are you from, who do you know? What are you listening to? Where did you get that (clothes).
Omg I am so delighted to come across this blog it’s a blast from the past ! I went to bubbles and also my sisters and friends , we were from cabra and got the bus to bubbles mon , wed , fri sat and sun . Couldn’t afford to go many a nite so using my concessions and a bit of begging from family and friends (any odds ) I managed to get there , we loved it so much , it was like a big family meeting up 4/5 nights a week , I met my husband there and 36 years later we’re still so happy we have 2 children , I would love if someone org a reunion I’m not on face book but will get info here , I have loads of pics that were taken in bubbles and would love to share them , but I wouldn’t put up any pics without permission , and with respect if anyone has passed , do u guys remember birds byrne and Hamo , Biffo Curley Patti mcawayne , teresa weldon, Bernie Thorpe and my first boyfriend Michael Mann who lived in Sean Mc dermot street , would love to hear from him , I could go on and on but bye for now , they were definitely the best time in our young lives teresa xx
omg loved bubbles, it was like our second home, we went monday wed fri sat and sometimes sunday, it was like a big family .i have loads of pics from bubbles . we came from cabra and remember many a night using our bus fare home just to get in and legged it home ahead of the last 22 bus to cabra or we were dead.ha so many wonderful memories , i met my lovely husband who used to go to the apartment next door, in the college inn pub and we hit it off at age 19 and got married at 20 still together and happy 36 years on and 2 lovely children who are getting married in the next 2 years .would love someone to org a renunion what fun would that be ha
please someone
lol teresa