» Memorial plaque for club finally installed
Memorial plaque for club is installed
Who would have thought it would happen in Cheltenham? Steve Winwood
AGING music fans have finally won a long-running battle to get a memorial plaque installed at the site of a Cheltenham club that hosted some of the biggest pop stars of the 20th century.
Activists spent three-and-a-half years trying to get permission to put up a blue plaque at the former Blue Moon Club site in High Street.
It was open for less than two years, from July 1965 to May 1967, but hosted many up and coming artists who would go on to become massive stars across the world.
They included Jimi Hendrix, The Who, David Bowie, Elton John, Rod Stewart,
Eric Clapton, and Steve Winwood.
And while the music lovers celebrated unveiling their plaque in a ceremony attended by Gloucestershire-based Mr Winwood, it was not blue as they had intended and it was not on the wall as they had planned.
Instead, a dark-coloured plaque had
been set into the pavement outside what had been the front entrance to the club, in between what are now the Accessorize and Santander shops. Dave Jackson, a leading player in the project and a member of the Blue Moon Reunion Group, said there had been a wrangle with insurance company AXA that meant it had not been realistically possible to put the plaque above the entrance to the club. Fears about the plaque falling from the building on to someone’s head and injuring them had led to it being put into the pavement instead.
the process had been long and at times frustrating, Mr Jackson and dozens of other enthusiasts at the ceremony were in celebratory mood.
The 72-year-old said: “It’s the first plaque like this to go in the pavement in the town and it was paid for through public subscription - costing the best part of £1,000.”
He added: “We’ve had our setbacks. It seemed like an impossible hill to climb to start with.
“But we’ve got there and it’s been a team effort.”
Mr Winwood said: “I think it’s great. It’s little known that this venue was where, essentially, a lot of rock ‘n’ roll began. Who would have thought it would happen in Cheltenham?”
John Norman, who used to be one of the owners of the Blue Moon Club, cut a ribbon to formally launch the plaque.
He said: “It’s very special because it’s been a long time coming.
“It was a great time to be young and to be involved in the music business.
“The bands were breaking and coming to the fore.
“We used to get 200 to 300 people here on a Saturday night.”
The club, which was later known as the Night Owl, is currently disused.