The Bungalow Bar rose from the ashes
While there are no live gigs I thought I’d write something about the venues that make Paisley famous in the music scene – starting with The Bungalow Bar.
The Bungalow was the cradle of British punk music, the place where the punk identity was formed.
Impressively, over 40 years after its foundation, The Bungalow survives and thrives today as a contemporary music venue.
The Bungalow started off as a bar at the bottom of Renfrew Road, Paisley in the 19th century. It was a popular bar with local engineering and ship building works nearby.
Towards the 1970s many of the local businesses were beginning to disappear and trade was getting more difficult. The Bungalow was taken over by Paul Humphries and his wife who put on some acoustic acts in the lounge to attract more customers.
It was so popular that local band Modern Man asked if he wanted a full band to play. Paul said ‘yes’ and the story of the best small venue in Britain began.
Paul enlisted the help of a journalist, Loudon Temple, to book more bands and he did, by the barrel load.
The Bungalow was putting bands on every night of the week.
When Glasgow became hostile to punk bands The Bungalow made them very welcome offering a stage just ten minutes from the city.
Punk had found a home in Paisley. Artists such as The Fall, The Skids, The Tourists, Orange Juice, The
Damned, Alan McGee, The Associates, Echo and the Bunnymen, Altered Images, The Psychedelic Furs, The Damned, The Teardrop Explodes and many more rolled through the doors to perform to a packed Paisley crowd every night.
By the 1990s The Bungalow glory days were over and the venue changed its name to The Stags Head.
Although there was some music still played there it didn’t match up to the early days when The Bungalow was a Mecca for music.
Live music in Paisley suddenly took a dip and the music scene was suffering. Local musician Drew McCormack recognised that something had to be done to reinvigorate the local live music scene and he founded The Bungalow Bar Revival Nights.
These live music nights travelled around various venues in Paisley and injected new life into the town with very popular and well run events giving young up-and-coming bands a place to play that had been missing for years. Stevie Corrigan was the sound engineer for the gigs.
After The Crow Bar closed an opportunity arose for The Bungalow Bar Revival Nights to take it over and turn it into a full time venue.
Of course, there was only one name it could be called, so Stevie and Drew and The Bungalow was reborn.
For four years Stevie Corrigan ran The Bungalow and then in 2016 his brother Alan took over to keep the legacy going.
Just over a year ago three local businessmen took over and refurbished. It now runs as a Community Interest Company to get local people involved in music and keep the venue at the heart of the Paisley music scene.