Rafters, later known as Jilly's, was a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

located in St. James Buildings,

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Some well-known bands played concerts at Rafters in the 1970s and 1980s.

Rob Gretton Robert Leo Gretton (15 January 1953 – 15 May 1999) was the manager of Joy Division and New Order. He was partner in and co-director of Factory Records and a founding partner of The Haçienda. For ten years until his death in 1999, Gretton ra ...

, who went on to become the manager of

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

, worked at Rafters. It featured in the biographical film ''

Control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlling ...

'' (2007).

History

Rafters opened in Manchester in the 1970s in

St James's Buildings St James Buildings is a high-rise, Grade II listed building on Oxford Street, in Manchester, England, completed in 1912. The building was constructed in the Edwardian Baroque style and has a Portland stone exterior reaching a maximum height of ...

in Oxford Street. The schedule generally remained the same: live gigs on Monday and Wednesday nights and a Folk night on Tuesday. By the mid-1970s the venue had become better known by the public and musicians, and leading

musical band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guit ...

s began to play there. Following the rise of

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

in 1976 and 1977, the venue became one of the main places in Manchester for live music.

performed there and in other Manchester venues such as Rock World. Numerous new bands played in Rafters in 1977 among them

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. H ...

Sad Café Sad Café are an English rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1976, who achieved their peak of popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for the UK top 40 singles "Every Day Hurts", "Strange Little Girl", "My Oh ...

and

Dougie James The Dougie ( ) is a hip hop dance move generally performed by moving one's body from side to side and passing a hand through or near the hair on one's own head. The dance move originated in Dallas, Texas, where it took its name from similar ...

. At this time

was one of the DJs at the club and also became a leading figure in the Manchester punk scene. The Stiff Records Test (Chiswick Challenge) organised by

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

took place here on 14 April 1978. The event proved significant in the history of the band

. Rob Gretton and

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager and impresario, and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder ...

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

were present at the event and saw Joy Division play. Joy Division were the last of 17 bands to play, but made a strong impression on those at the concerts. As Rob Gretton commented: In 1978, the memorable DJ partnership of Colin Curtis and John Grant established the region's leading jazz-funk night at Rafters. The club closed in 1983. In its final years the DJ was Mike Shaft who appeared on

Piccadilly Radio Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester and North West En ...

with Takin' Care of Business; though he resigned one night after being informed by the management that they felt that 'the club was becoming too black' for them. After that the club was renamed as Jilly's which existed to 1993, after which the club was called Music Box, the site of the Electric Chair club nights, which moved there from The Roadhouse in the late 90s and were hugely influential until they came to an end in 2008.

History

Concerts

Notes

References

External links