Status of the Glasgow Apollo Theatre (1973-85)
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You had to be there? Reflections on the ‘legendary’ status of the Glasgow Apollo theatre (1973-85) Kenneth Forbes BA, M.Litt Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Culture and Creative Arts College of Arts University of Glasgow April 2015 Abstract The ephemeral nature of live music can, from some perspectives, serve to place limitations on its lasting socio-cultural impact. This thesis addresses such claims by analysing the enduring appeal of a ‘legendary’ venue, the Glasgow Apollo (1973-85), where a series of momentous live music moments from several decades ago continue to be celebrated. In order to accomplish this, the study primarily uses semi-structured and focus group interviews to explore the reminiscences of the audience and artists who shared live music experiences at the venue. Through the application of Actor Network Theory, the work focuses on the influence that actors such as locality, technology, industry and music genre held over these encounters, as well as the manner in which the collective memories of the events in question have subsequently shaped their cultural value. The study first establishes the foundation for Glasgow’s cultural traditions, which thereafter helped to shape the concert experiences at the Apollo. It then follows the actors through, and beyond, the period of the venue’s tenure, to argue that the Apollo ‘legend’ lingers due to the manner in which these live experiences have been collectively framed within several of the platforms dedicated to the venue’s legacy. 1 Table of Contents Abstract 1 Table of Contents 2 List of Figures 5 Acknowledgements 6 Author’s Declaration 7 Chapter One: Introduction 8 1.1 Aim and Approach 10 1.2 Glasgow as a City of Music 13 1.3 An Overview of Glasgow 16 1.3.1 From Industrialisation to De-industrialisation 18 1.4 Leisure and Entertainment in Glasgow 22 1.4.1 Glasgow, Music Hall and Variety Theatre 22 1.4.2 Glasgow and Cinema 25 1.5 The Glasgow Apollo (1973-85) 30 1.6 Structure of the Thesis 32 1.7 Conclusion 35 Chapter Two: Literature Review 37 2.1 Locality, Audiences and Live Music 37 2.2 Live Music, Liveness and Venues 44 2.2.1 Liveness 45 2.2.2 The Live Music Venue 47 2.3. Music Genre 50 2.3.1 The Rock Genre 51 2.3.2 Genre Worlds 54 2.4 Legends, Memory and Rock Heritage 57 2.4.1 Legends and Myths 58 2.4.2 Autobiographical and Collective Memory 60 2.4.3 Rock Heritage 62 2.5 Conclusion 65 Chapter Three: Methodology 66 3.1 Personal Involvement 67 3.2 The Research Question 70 3.3 Research Methodology 71 3.4 Research Tools 75 3.5 Conducting the Research 77 3.6 Ethics 83 3.7 Conclusion 84 Chapter Four: 1973-74 86 4.1 Locality 86 4.1.1 The Glasgow Cultural Wave 1973-74 86 4.1.2 The Local Apollo Network 94 4.2 The Apollo and Live Rock Music 96 4.2.1 The UK Live Industry of 1973-74 97 4.2.2 The Apollo as a Rock Venue 99 4.2.3 The Apollo Genre World 102 4.3 Conclusion 106 Chapter Five: 1975-76 108 5.1 The Apollo as a Live Music Location 108 5.1.1 The Apollo Atmosphere 110 5.1.2 The Apollo Audience 114 5.2 Live at the Apollo 117 2 5.2.1 Apollo Liveness 117 5.2.2 Live Recordings 122 5.3 The UK Live Industry 1975-76 127 5.4 Conclusion 129 Chapter Six: 1977-79 131 6.1. Locality Within / Without the Apollo 132 6.1.1 New Locality 132 6.1.2 The Apollo-Glasgow Audience 136 6.1.3 Local Dimensions of Security Practice 143 6.1.4 Genre Dimensions of Security Practice 145 6.2 Genre Fixity 148 6.3 Conclusion 152 Chapter Seven: 1980-84 154 7.1 Locality 156 7.1.1 The Local Apollo Network 156 7.1.2 Local Live Music Environment 159 7.1.3 Cultural Agenda 161 7.2 Rock Music 166 7.2.1 Genre World 166 7.2.2 Rock Liveness 170 7.3 Live Music Sector 173 7.4 Conclusion 178 Chapter Eight: 1985 182 8.1 The Initiation of the Apollo Legend 182 8.2 Apollo Liveness 186 8.2.1 New Pop Genre World 187 8.2.2 New Pop and Liveness 188 8.3 The SECC 193 8.3.1 SECC Live Expectations 193 8.3.2 SECC Live Experiences 195 8.4 Conclusion 199 Chapter Nine: Apollo Afterlife 202 9.1 Apollo Memories 202 9.1.1 Apollo Autobiographical Memories 203 9.1.2 Apollo Collective-Cultural Memories 206 9.2 The Legendary Apollo 217 9.2.1 Audience Representation of the Apollo Legend 217 9.2.2 Media Representation of the Apollo Legend 220 9.3 Conclusion 222 Chapter Ten: Conclusions 225 10.1 Main Findings 225 10.2 Reflections on the Study 232 10.3 Suggestions for Future Research 236 Appendix One: Focus Group Schedule 239 Appendix Two: Audience Questionnaire 240 Appendix Three: List of Interviewees 242 Appendix Four: Plain Language Statement 245 Appendix Five: Consent Form 247 Appendix Six: Overview of Genre Coding / Ticket Price Averages 248 Appendix 6A: Concert Schedule, Green’s Playhouse 1970 249 Appendix 6B: Concert Schedule, Green’s Playhouse 1971 251 Appendix 6C: Concert Schedule, Green’s Playhouse 1972 253 Appendix 6D: Concert Schedule, Green’s Playhouse-Glasgow Apollo 1973 255 3 Appendix(6E:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1974( ( ( ( ( 260( Appendix(6F:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1975( ( ( ( ( 267( Appendix(6G:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1976( ( ( ( ( 276( Appendix(6H:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1977( ( ( ( ( 284( Appendix(6I:((Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1978( ( ( ( ( 291( Appendix(6J:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1979( ( ( ( ( 296( Appendix(6K:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1980( ( ( ( ( 304( Appendix(6L:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1981( ( ( ( ( 311( Appendix(6M:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1982( ( ( ( ( 316( Appendix(6N:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1983( ( ( ( ( 321( Appendix(6O:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1984( ( ( ( ( 324( Appendix(6P:(Concert(Schedule,(Glasgow(Apollo(1985( ( ( ( ( 327( Appendix(7A:(Genre(Data((Integer)( ( ( ( ( ( ( 329( Appendix(7B:(Genre(Data((Percentage)( ( ( ( ( ( ( 330( Appendix(8A:(Average(Ticket(Price((1970U85)( ( ( ( ( ( 331( Appendix(8B:(Average(Ticket(Price((1970U85)((Adjusted(For(Inflation(2014)( ( 332( Appendix(Nine:(PhD(PublicationsUConference(Papers( ( ( ( ( 333( Bibliography( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( 334( ( ( 4 List of Figures Figure 1-1: The Glasgow Apollo by Jim MacNee (2009) 8 Figure 1-2: Plans for Green’s Playhouse 27 Figure 1-3: Booking plan for main auditorium 28 Figure 4-1: Albany Hotel-Radio Clyde pathway 91 Figure 4-2: Radio Clyde-Albany-Apollo musical pathway 92 Figure 5-1: Glasgow Apollo concert schedule 109 Figure 5-2: Rory Gallagher, Glasgow Apollo, 13 December 1975 109 Figure 5-3: The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Glasgow Apollo, 18 December 1975 119 Figure 5-4: Queen, Glasgow Apollo, 16 December 1975 120 Figure 5-5: Status Quo, Glasgow Apollo, 27 October 1976 122 Figure 5-6: The Ramones, Glasgow Apollo, 19 December 1977 125 Figure 6-1: ‘Save Our Stars’ petition, Sunday Mail, 5 March 1978 132 Figure 6-2: The Police, Glasgow Apollo, 31 May 1979 141 Figure 6-3: The Skids, Glasgow Apollo, 16 June 1979 142 Figure 6-4: The Clash, Glasgow Apollo, 4 July 1978 146 Figure 7-1: Gordon Cullen’s 1984 plans to re-imagine Glasgow city centre 163 5 Acknowledgements I would like to thank several people who have helped me through the PhD process during the last four years. In the first instance, my Supervisors, Amy Holdsworth and Martin Cloonan, deserve my eternal gratitude for their guidance, support and encouragement, which was discernible from the initial proposal onwards. In particular, they warrant special mention for their ability to keep me ‘on track’ during the several occasions when I was liable to lose focus. My friends and colleagues within the Commercial Music team at the University of the West of Scotland also deserve more than sufficient credit for their high levels of support and capacity to motivate me during the study. In this instance, Jim Prime, Michael Mavor, Alan McCusker-Thompson and Holly Tessler all merit both mention and appreciation. Of course, the thesis could not have been completed without the contributions made by the numerous interviewees, who were more than willing to speak to me about their Apollo memories. Whilst there are too many names to mention, I would like to pay special thanks to Colin Robertson, Gerry Tait, Ronnie Simpson, Russell Leadbetter and Martin Kielty, who were all especially helpful. Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to my family for their continued support throughout the study. My sons Tom and Rory may well have wondered on several occasions whether their Dad was a ‘working’ member of the family, but declined to highlight the obvious gap in their domestic arrangements with customary good grace. This thesis is dedicated to my wife Gillian, who, more than anything, has been a key inspiration throughout our thirty-plus years together. Suffice to say, my various academic achievements in the last ten years are a testament to her high levels of support and encouragement. Put simply, I could not have achieved any of this without her by my side. 6 Author’s Declaration I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, this dissertation is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Glasgow or any other institution.