During the mid 70’s, Belfast city centre  at night was a lonely desolate place. Once the shop and office workers had made their way home by 6pm, the shutters came down, the barriers swung into operation to close off the roads and an eerie desertedness descended over the city streets. Years of destruction and loss of civilian lives, caused by countless no warning bombs and indiscriminate gun attacks, had left most people too frightened to venture into the city centre after dark, preferring to socialise in the relative safety of their own areas.

Up until 1978, most punk gigs took place in bars and youth clubs on the outskirts of Belfast, in unlikely venues such as the Glenmachan Hotel, Girton Lodge and Paddy Lambes, but the situation in the country made it difficult for people to travel across city to different areas to attend these gigs, and it was virtually impossible for young punks from other towns such as Antrim, Ballymena etc to get there. Most venues wouldn’t touch punk acts anyway and those that did usually ended up banning the punks. It soon became oblivious that the punks needed a venue of their own and it needed to be in a fairly neutral part of the city. Belfast was, and still is, a heavily divided city split into areas that are predominately Loyalist or Nationalist, so, the only reasonably neutral part of Belfast was the city centre.

One venue that had opened it’s doors to the new teenage rebellion was the Pound Club, a music venue on the edge of the city centre, situated in Townsend Street, behind the fire station, and within gobbing distance of the Law Courts and Oxford Street bus station. The Pound was a bit of a dive and was a refuge for the town’s ageing hippies and dope heads. Blues and Heavy Rock were the standard musical fare churned out most weekends. But to be fair, the new young guitar-slinging upstarts were given a chance to strut their stuff too and from late 1977 until the early 80’s, the Pound played host to many memorable punk gigs. Most, if not all the local bands played there and in January 1978 Ulster Television recorded a documentary ‘It Makes You Want To Spit’ and most of the footage was filmed in and around the Pound. The thirty minute show featured love footage of Victim, Stiff Little Fingers and Pretty Boy Floyd & the Gems. Many English bands also played there, including The Zones, Radio Stars, The Lurkers and The Doomed, to name just a few. Further information on the venue is available elsewhere on this site.

However, it was the Harp Bar, a five minute brisk walk from the Pound that would enter the realms of punk (folk)lore and obtain near legendary status. The Harp Bar was situated in Hill Street, a narrow, dimly lit, cobblestone street, just behind St Anne’s Cathedral and a few minutes walk from the main shopping areas, in what was known as the docklands. The bar had been bombed in pervious Republican feuds and was surrounded by a steel mesh security cage, which was backed up by oil drums filled with concrete, an intercom system, and CCTV, in the hope of preventing any further attacks.

Victim & The Androids staged the first ever punk gig in the Harp in April 1978.  Wes Graham of Victim remembers “Some may say the Harp was a major catalyst for the Ulster punk scene in the late 70’s, a unique environment which spawned and nurtured a wealth of undisclosed talent, a seminal meeting place where disillusioned, like - minded teenagers congregated to launch a music-inspired crusade against Northern Ireland’s deep-rooted traditions of bigotry, discrimination and apathy. I personally feel much more accurate in saying it was simply a fucking great place to get pissed and pogo to some great music from some great bands”.

Regular ‘New Roxy (sic)’ Rockers

Alternative Ulster Fanzine report on the Harp Bar from Issue 72.

'In the bowels of Belfast’s dockland / Corporation street area, just down the road from where the UDA run their taxis, lies the Harp Bar.

Recent months have seen the Harp’s ascendancy to that of the city’s most important rock venue for local talent. On Friday and Saturday nights there’s usually two, sometimes four bands per evening. Sometimes they’re backed by two hackneyed discos notably that of the ‘Big Bopper’, whose not exactly a lynch pin of popularity (with a name like that......).

The club was made available for gigs when the management realised they could be using the stage for activities other than the afternoon stripper, and with the groups pulling crowds the management is shifting drink that would otherwise not be sold, and groups fix the door price (except when the Bopper’s on, in which case it’s usually too expensive) and they divide it between themselves.

The Harp’s been given the corny monicker of the ‘New Roxy’ coz some people like to think London 76 = Ulster 78, when we all know it don’t really happen that way at all. What the two venues do have in common is that both provide(d) an outlet for bands at a time when joyless reactionaries prevented them from playing elsewhere.

Of course the Harp has got its faults like a dance floor the size of a chessboard, bad design, the bar’s against the same side of ‘the auditorium’ as the stage. Sometimes there’s the risk of spidermen ( backstreet boys to you Patrick F) or cop a bit of harassment on the way home. The latter is of course the old story of the authorities’ agents trying to degrade societies way-ward youth. By being there they’re creating unnecessary tension, this has not escalated into violence - YET.

But all in all the Harp remains as somewhere to play ; it’s a vital link in Belfast’s alternative communication network. That is the most important fact of all' (Gav - Alternative Ulster Fanzine 1978).

Terri Hooley and some friends set up a Punk Workshop, booked the Harp for a May Day bank holiday Punk Festival. The festival itself was a near disaster as, after some confusion, only one band, Pretty Boy Floyd & The Gems turned up to play, although some members of the audience who had just formed a band called the Basics, borrowed gear from the Gems and played a few numbers. The Punk Workshop secured the use of the Harp on a weekly basis and it soon became established as the number one punk venue in the province.

The bar itself was a bit of a tip. Downstairs there was a semi-lounge bar, a poolroom with jukebox, and a back lounge with a small stage. Upstairs, where most of the action took place, (including strippers every Saturday afternoon!) there was seating for around 300 people. There was a small dance floor (nicknamed Murder Alley!), above which spun a Mecca ballroom type mirrored sphere, and a small stage. There is footage below of The Outcasts playing upstairs at the Harp in 1979.

"The place was usually unheated. The gent’s toilets were the pits, and resembled a dank, slippery cave in total darkness, which didn’t really matter as most people preferred to use the slightly more hygienic Ladies room, anyway! “The Harp could be very violent, it had toilets you wouldn’t care to take a crap in, pies only a fool would eat, strippers in the pool room, a choice of two beers, a bar manageress who hated our guts, and it closed at 11:30pm. The kids today would call it a dive - and they’d be right. But regrettably, it was still more exciting than anything they’ve ever experienced”. Fletch - Stage B.

A proper club was set up, with a paying membership and a committee was formed to oversee the running of the club (original committee members being Terri Hooley, Mervyn Bradshaw and Ian Jamison). Thursday nights were punk disco nights and live bands appeared every Friday  and Saturday night. Terri Hooley, Mervyn Bradshaw and Big Davy (Hamilton) took turns to spin sounds and, pop pickers, the most played records at the Harp were ATV,s ‘Action, Time, Vision’ and ‘G.L.C.’ by Menace!

“The Harp was fucking amazing! Even though it had a fearsome reputation it was in fact far, far safer than any of the places we had been playing up until then. I can only remember a handful of fights in the Harp all the time it was open, whereas every night at our old stomping grounds of the Glenmachan and Girton Lodge seemed to end ( or start!) with some form of bloodbath”. Brian Young - RUDI.

Punks flocked to the venue from all over the city and farther afield. Punk kids from both sides of the religious divide, working class, middle class, even the rich kids from the Malone Road, mixed freely in the Harp without fear or intimidation, and drank alongside hoods, dockers and strippers!

“The Harp Bar was a DUMP, but it was OUR dump! I would go every week starting on Thursday through to Saturday night. Saturday’s were always the best days. We’d go for a few drinks in the afternoon and then head off to the restaurant on the corner of Waring Street and Donegall Street for a greasy fry up, then head down to the subway beside the Albert clock and get hammered on Woodpecker cider or Concorde wine. There were a load of us - protestants and catholics who all bonded together by our love of music and the girls looked amazing. After a session in the subway, we’d head back to the Harp and see fat Tony’s smiling face (not!) as we bought pints of beer, pogoed the night away and tried to stay out of the gents toilets as it was a health hazard! I have fond memories of the Harp Bar, it played a major part in my life for a number of years and I took many, many photographs of the bands who played and my punk friends. Unfortunately, those negatives are long gone but the memories live on in my head and I’m proud to say that I was responsible for booking the first act to play in the Harp, The Androids”. - Alwyn Greer - Photographer & editor of Private World Fanzine.

“It was a place where people could be different to the ordinary guy and girl in the street, and express their individuality through their taste in music and dress sense without fear of getting your head kicked in. You worried about that at closing time when you would have to go through the city centre to get home, past all the ‘spidermen’ coming out of the other pubs and clubs which closed at the same time”. Joe Donnelly - Harp Bar regular.

The fact that many young Catholics and Protestants, having found a common bond in punk, and were mixing freely and forming friendships, (not to mention bands!), was a major breakthrough in our divided society.

“The importance of the Harp can’t be underestimated. It was the first night-time venue in the city centre where punks from all over the place could meet safely and where it was the music you liked that mattered, not where you were from or what religion you were”. Brian Young - RUDI.

This didn’t go down too well with the extremists on both sides and punks would often be attacked making their way to and from the Harp. Once inside the Harp it was a different story and few would dare to enter looking for trouble, although having said that, there were still a few hair-raising incidents.

“The Harp Bar was an absolute dive. On Saturday afternoons I had to set up my drum kit, whilst a stripper performed on a chair in front of me and the local dockers howled their approval. Honestly, it was like something out of a Tom Waits song! Far from being a haven of non-sectarian utopia, we had a very ropey incident one evening in particular. We covered Shan 69’s ‘Ulster Boy’ and because people would have known our background (from the loyalist Shankill/Ardoyne area).....well, the punters downstairs (who were generally tough as fuck and didn’t mix with the punks upstairs) took exception to the chorus and a gun was produced. Cut to Ruefrex leaving...fast!” - Paul Burgess, Ruefrex.

Just about every local band played the Harp, which had been dubbed the ‘New Roxy’. All the better known names, RUDI, The Outcasts, Victim, Stiff Little Fingers, Protex and so on, along with lesser known combos such as Wet Blanket, The Suspects, The Lids, Ask Mother,UXB, the list is endless. Who could ever forget Harp regular Ralph Malph’s band The Nauseators hilarious live rendition of Travolta & Newton-John’s Summer Nights?

“Harp Bar memories. I’ve a lot, but three stand out. Saturday afternoon, calling in to leave our amps and stuff for later. Wish i had a picture of the strippers face, standing stark naked while us young reprobates walked past her onto the stage with our gear.

Playing Sham 69’s ‘Ulster’ which we were covering in our set then. This guy comes up after we’d just finished playing it and says "Play that again and you'll be shot”. Of course Ruefrex being Ruefrex, we played it for an encore. Not once, but twice!

Ruefrex were never really part of that crowd. They didn't know what to make of us. We all grew up within half a mile of each other on the Shankill and were then all living just as close in the murder triangle of North Belfast. We didn't dress as punks (except perhaps when we played live). One week I could play in a ripped t-shirt and combats or black lace trousers and make up. The next week I could be wearing a Wrangler jacket skinners complete with DM boots and a Bowie t-shirt. We were viewed as ‘spides’ but had a real punk attitude. We didn't give a fuck either way. One particular night we were having a bad time from the so called punk faction that listened to reggae and hadn't heard of Black Sabbath or Hawkwind, but we loved them. We had this thing we had mucked about with in rehearsal. A Sabbath riff with doomy lyrics. It was a mess around. No intention of playing it live. This night we decided to play it. We called it the biggie and we played it for 10 or 15 mins. That cut the shit out of them. We were punk alright. We just never felt that we had to dress like one (whatever that was)”. Allan Clarke (Clarkey) - Ruefrex.

“Going to the Harp when I was 16 was a real eye-opener. It had everything, punks, skins and strippers, not to mention the blue movies on the big screen! RUDI and The Outcasts are about the only bands I can remember seeing”. Buck - The Defects.

The Fall, The Mekons, The Nipple Erectors, V2, The Fall, The Raped, Sector 27 and many more came over from England to entertain the punters at the new punk Mecca, while bands such as Revolver and Strange Movements made the trip from the south of Ireland. Top Radio 1 DJ John Peel made a pilgrimage to the Harp too, but he picked a bad night to visit. The Xdreamysts were playing and the place was near empty as nearly everyone had buggered off down to Dublin for the Dark Space 24hr festival. Peely seemed to enjoy himself though and gave the people of the Harp bar a mention at the start of his first show back at Radio 1 the following week.

“The first time we arrived at the Harp was after signing to Terri Hooley’s Good Vibrations Records. We were the only Hippie looking band on the label, and dressed appropriately with the long hair etc. So we're tuning up ready to go on, and all the punks are lined up at the front. Bang, in we go, to be assaulted with a sea of gob! Didn't flinch one bit as we knew that would be suicide. We’d no bother as the frantic pogoing ensued. During one of our faster tunes, our left side speakers came tumbling down but luckily no-one was hurt. Our roadie, Toastie immediately propped them up with a couple of bins, but we never stopped playing. It was a good night.

Our second visit was the night Peely turned up. He could barely get up the stairs as he was being mobbed. We couldn't get anywhere near him to thank him for playing our single every night as last song. However, next week in his column in the Melody Maker he mentioned the reception he got in Belfast, and said that he’d heard The Xdreamysts and they have a few other great tunes up their sleeves. We were delighted. The Harp was special and we were fortunate enough to have witnessed it first hand”. - John ‘Doc’ Doherty - The Xdreamysts.

The Harp’s fame spread far and wide and even The Clash couldn’t resist a chance to get their photo taken posing in front of the venue! The police and army were also frequent visitors to the gigs, searching for underage drinkers. As most of the crowd fell into that category, there was always a mad rush to the bogs, to lock yourself into a cubicle, until the all clear was given that the police had left. Or you just asked one of the nice, helpful committee members to give you one of the Harp Punk Club signed ID cards that stated that you were over 18!

“It smelled of armpit and vomit. The barmen, Tony, scowled at everyone, particularly if he thought you were underage (which most were). There was a stripper on a Saturday afternoon, so the bands that were playing that night had to wait until she was finished before they could put up their gear. It was also very intimidating if you weren’t part of the inner punk clique”. - Stuart Bailie - Acme.

The Harp hosted a reggae night, as Terri Hooley was an avid fan of that particular genre. He brought over a band called Raaw for a live gig and introduced the punks to a bit of Jamaican culture via Bob Marley et al on the turntables. Joint Punk/Teddy Boy discos were even held in the Harp.  There were quite a few Teds and Rockabillies knockin’ about Belfast in the late 70’s, their main hangout being The Kool Katz Club in the Bailey, just round the corner from the Harp, beside the Albert Clock (a well known Belfast landmark). There was some initial aggro between Teds and Punks, no doubt fulled by weekly reports of the Ted/Punk battles on London’s trendy Kings Road. However, realising that both parties were targets of unwarranted acts of violence by ‘Spides', a truce was called ( this was also helped by the fact that some of the Punks/Teds had brothers or sisters who were Punks/Teds). The Teds were invited to the Harp for a Punk/Rock ‘n’ Roll disco and after a nervous start and a good few beers, a rockin’ night was had by all, with everybody jivin’ to the Pistols, Clash etc and then pogoing like fuck to the likes of Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran! The following week punks were invited to the Kool Katz Club for more of the same and they all lived happily ever after! ( eat your hearts out Johnny Thunders and Shakin’ Stevens, who had hoped to stage a Punk/Ted reconciliation gig in London which never came off). A number of punk gigs were even stages at the Bailey after that, with bands such as Stage B, UXB and Shock Treatment.

By the end of 1979, things had gone a bit stale. Bands started to get a bit fed up playing the same venue and to the same old faces and gigs began to get cancelled at the last minute and frustration started to creep in. The management and staff at the Harp never really had much time for the punks and that dislike began to show in even greater measure. The bar shut down for a while to undergo some badly needed major renovations. It briefly reopened its doors to punk in the early 80’s but things were never the same and a lot of the original crowd had filtered away. The Labour Club and the Anarchy Centre were opening up and a new generation of punks had emerged. Punk was finally shown the door at the Harp in 1982 and to add insult to injury was replaced by Country ‘n’ Western nights! The Harp was eventually demolished as part of the ongoing redevelopment of the area.

On 8th September 2012, a Harp Bar reunion gig took place at the Black Box, a venue just a few yards along Hill Street from where the Harp Bar once stood. Regular acts from the Harp Bar in the 70’s including Shock Treatment, Protex, The Androids, Henry Cluney (SLF), The Outcasts, Stage B, Brian Young (Rudi) and Terri Hooley all took part in the event which had been organised by William Maxwell and the Time To Be Proud team and the whole event was filmed by NvTv.

Just over a month later, Belfast City Council recognised the importance and significance the Belfast Punk movement had played in the development of the city and a golden plaque was erected to the wall of the Housing Executive offices in Hill Street, the original site of the Harp Bar. At three o'clock on Friday 9th November the Lord Mayor of Belfast and a small gathering of people connected to the old punk movement watched as Terri Hooley performed the unveiling to celebrate his Good Vibrations record label and the punk bands who had played The Harp Bar. Ex RUDI front man Brian Young rounded proceedings off by performing a semi-acoustic rendition of 'Big Time' for the assembled crowd.

“I remember the Harp Bar was sometimes dangerous to get to but once inside it was safe, upbeat and full of like minded people who were there for the music. It had a fantastic atmosphere, was dark and dingy, but we all loved it and it was ours.The great thing was that it was a venue were all local punk bands could play and where bands had an audience that were more or less on their side. I must have spent every weekend there in 1978 and much of 79, playing with Protex along side Rudi, The Androids, Rhesus Negative, Shock Treatment, The Outcasts and many others.

I lent my guitar to John O’Neill when The Undertones played their first gig at the Harp, and saw bands who came from further afield such as The Fall ,The Monochrome Set and The Nips. I remember after we supported The Fall at the Harp on Friday 22nd September 1978, we spent the next day with Mark E Smith, playing pool in the ground floor and he asked me how I got the guitar sound for Don’t Ring Me Up - I was chuffed. The Harp Bar was an important venue at that time as it allowed the scene to develop, giving bands a place to play, creating a sense of community. I’m immensely proud the have been there” - Aidan Murtagh - Protex. The Fall photograph below © Alastair Graham, taken at The Harp Bar Belfast 1978

“I don't remember much about it to be honest. I do remember the staff in the Harp trying to kick me out of the bar when we were waiting to soundcheck. The rest is a blur” - Martin Bramah - Original Fall guitarist until April 1979.

“I don’t know how the Harp became the centre for punk gigs in Belfast, but it may have been a case of an undesirable venue accepting and undesirable crowd. At that time the city centre at night was pretty much out of bounds. I guess heading down those backstreets was a bit of an adventure. When I first went through the Harp’s hallowed portals I was less than impressed. You were guaranteed some insults from the ‘Spides’ hanging around downstairs and even the L-shaped room was a bit of a shit-pit, but it certainly saw some great live action. I remember a touching scene of inter-group respect when RUDI entertained Henry Cluney on his birthday. He even got up and crooned with them (‘Gloria’ maybe?). Some happy memories then, but I could never work out why, on those cold Saturday afternoons, those women insisted on taking off their duds!” - Stevie Boyd - No Fun Fanzine.

“The Harpo Bar : The Fantasy & the Reality - André Stitt, (Ask Mother) Feb. 2021

‘In the periphery of a maze of narrow cobblestone streets, built to house dock workers and their families at the end of the 19th century, lies the Harp Bar; which remains the venue most likely to sire worthwhile talent in Belfast. Situated in a sort of territorial no-man’s-land, it has the advantage of not being a specifically sectarian bar, but it is buried in the bowels of Belfast’s dockland and that’s an area that’s notoriously desolate and spooky late at night in the city. This and the fact that the venue recently has had a Public Health warning slapped on it by the health minister could discourage prospective punters from entering its portals.’

“So, wrote Alternative Ulster fanzine’s Gavin Martin in the 11th October 1980 issue of the NME. His article ‘Northern Ireland: The Fantasy and the Reality’ also includes a mention of my own band Ask Mother (now, now, calm down, don’t get excited, it’s only a mention) …. ‘Good Vibrations proposes to release a compilation album of tracks by minor league Belfast legends Ask Mother..’ (the fantasy) We had indeed recorded several songs down an alley near the Harp Bar at Wizard studios for Good Vibes savant Terri Hooley. Originally conceived as a Good Vibes vinyl EP, a cover was designed and printed but the record never materialised…and no one knows what happened to the masters. (the reality) Maybe it’s better that way. Like printing the myth. Or, maybe the recorded material was shit… who knows, who cares, who remembers?

History, like memory, is slippery. My own memory of the Harp Bar is somewhat oppositional and most possibly unreliable or plain dodgy as regards the now accepted dominant mythology and sentimental creation story invoked by Belfast’s punk historians. My recall relies on the fragmentation of experience and like many of us from that time is haunted by the trauma of conflict. But also, and most crucially, it is about a conversion of those experiences into something else; ‘punk’ as a kind of secular communion that enabled like-minded outsiders in that story a place to belong outside of a self-perpetuating history of bigotry. I can only speak through the prism of my own experience in the band Ask Mother. (A.M.= glam/ punky in a Lester Bangs/asymmetric kind of way...I think) As a group we were a dysfunctional collection of outsiders from Seymour Hill (although we actually formed over a week’s long degenerate encampment in a flat in Fitzroy Avenue, Belfast) that really loved being part of the scene which emerged at the Harp Bar, but also maintained and cherished our own autonomy.

Identity is never fixed no matter what we think, it is fluid and inexact. I would say that the identity we found in ‘punk’ allowed a fluidity and inclusivity that saved us from sectarianism, hatred, fear, and isolation. My overwhelming feeling now of that time is one of wonder, audacity, innocence and a joyful arrogance tempered with the seriousness I presume every generation feels when it thinks it is going to change the world. We played the Harp Bar on a regular basis from our first gig there (organised by the beatific Alwyn Greer of Private World fanzine) in May 1978 to our last gig in April 1979. When we started in 1977 there was virtually nowhere to play if you couldn’t actually play. That’s an important distinction as ‘punk’ was principally a DIY proposition. Like many of the emerging bands we organised our own gigs, but not even many of those ( a riot in Queens University in 1977, trouble at another we organised with The Roofwrecks, latterly Ruefrex, in the Lisburn Assembly Rooms 1978…) So, the Harp Bar really was a lifeline for playing live, testing boundaries and being part of a communal whole. But what do I really remember about the Harp Bar? The murky seediness of it all; dark, dank, smelly, but really no different from what we expected or were accustomed to. It felt like home and it felt safe once you were inside.

At the time, we shared a big mansion of a house with The Androids on the outskirts of Belfast in Dunmurry. We had pooled equipment and created a rehearsal room in the house and always seemed to be taking equipment down to the Harp Bar. We had our own home-made PA which we would lend to other bands. So, my main memory is of carrying equipment on a regular basis up and down those dark stairs and into the light and buzz of the performing space. My whole being would heave with a rush of excitement each time I climbed those stairs. Geoff Shannon who went on to form The Lids was in the band for our first Harp Bar gig. His party trick was doing a Hendrix: playing guitar behind his head. The rest of us were really pissed-off at the gig when he suddenly did an inappropriate Hendrix in the middle of ‘No Fun’ by The Stooges. Goodbye Geoff. Thereafter our steady line-up carried us through the rest of that period when we played at the Harp. Me, Willie ’Fuzz’ Foster, The Suit, Click (a ‘Animal’ muppet style 15 year-old drummer often taking to smashing up his kit ) and Harpo. We almost lived in the Harp Bar at weekends and it was then that we started calling it the ‘Harpo’ Bar, after our lead guitarist Harpo. We were really into drinking and pharmaceuticals; a boozy and ofttimes shambolic band with a rabid love of speed ( and I don’t mean the pace at which we played) or any other mind-altering substances.

I can’t seem to summon up many anecdotes, it was just a whole lot of no fun turned into a load of serious fun and being together. Although, I remember one Saturday afternoon carrying our equipment in and helping to set-up for another band ( I can’t remember who it was..?) when me and another regular Merv the Perv laid into the upstairs bar. There was no bar staff around so we just helped ourselves to the optics. I think Merv must have known his limit but anyone who knows me wouldn’t be surprised at the veracity in which I laid into the bottles of whiskey and vodka. I had no idea what happened until I was coming to while having my stomach pumped out in Belfast City Hospital. Apparently, I had blacked out and some of the punkettes had taken me into the Ladies to hide me from the bar man. I was lying on the floor unresponsive; covered in vomit and my own piss when they got worried and called an ambulance. From what I heard later there were a few of the punkettes playing with my willie and abusing me in what I can only imagine they thought of as an honourable punk initiation of some kind. I am always grateful to The Androids who came to get me from the hospital next day and brought me clean clothes, even if it was to provide me with a massive oversized pink mow-hair jumper! We left the hospital and went to hang out at Good Vibes. Everyone seemed to find it hilarious as I regaled them with my dark tales of near death; a big transparent plastic bag full of my dirty sick and bloody clothes slung over my shoulder and smelling like an abattoir: punk er wat?

For me the atmosphere at the Harp Bar changed when Terri Holley got involved and started something called the Punk Workshop. That seemed a complete contradiction of what had been a wholly grass-roots and anarchic scene that conferred responsibility on participants. I found Holley’s autocratic self-seeking benevolence and controlling influence suspect. Beware the one-eyed man with carrot.The final disintegration of all that was good and uplifting about the Harp occurred when Reflex Action, Protex, Ruefrex and Ask Mother tried to organise a Rock Against Sectarianism gig at the Harp Bar and Hooley, who by that time had control of the bookings, opposed such an event.

As I said, identity is never fixed, it is fluid and inexact, and this is not a revisionist history. It is after all, only my own dim memory of an amazing time spent with truly amazing people, many of whom I cannot name and some who have now passed on; like my dear childhood friend Robin Holmes of The Androids from a heroin overdose. (“ the bass player who looks like a Hanna-Barbara caricature of Frankenstein’s monster” as Gavin Martin described him) Now, over forty years later, I can see all their faces as they meld together in some parallel universe. I can recall the music, the sound, the smell of the Harp Bar; the filth on our hands as they touched the walls and the pulsating sweaty bodies of our young selves who dared to live in an unfixed ‘now’. Our version of ‘punk’ as experienced in the Harp Bar in the late nineteen seventies allowed a fluidity and inclusivity to occur that saved us from sectarianism, hatred, fear, and isolation. The memory and form of that fluid and unfixed energy was hardwired into me at The Harp Bar and so it remains”.

“The Harp was a godsend to the likes of Dutchie and myself, two 16 year old punks from Antrim. Apart from the very occasional gig in the Steeple Inn, there was fuck all in Antrim and we had no way of getting to places like the Glenmachan or the Trident in Bangor. Gigs in the Harp meant we could get the bus right into the city centre, get off in High Street, get a couple of bottles of cider from the ‘offie’ and dander round to the bar, or sometimes run round if the Spides were about! Worst thing though was the last bus home left at 10:30pm and we usually missed the last half hour of the action, which was shit. But then we met James, a young man from Templepatrick, a couple of years older than ourselves, and he bought a Mini, hurrah! And James being the kind-hearted soul that he was gave us lifts home from the Harp most Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. So we could stay to closing time. For that, we’ll always be grateful. Cheers James! And for all the friends we made (‘cos we didn’t really have many mates in Antrim at the time, sob! although we were eventually joined on our pilgrimages to Belfast by a big skinhead called ‘Clarkey’ and fellow punk nutter Norrie Thompson) like Chris, Mark, Pete, Gerry, Big John, Big Davy, Big Tommy, Wee Tommy (some kinda pattern emerging here...?), Sloaner, Stage B, The Androids, The Idiots, Larry, Andy, Dennis, Liam, Robbo, Jim Roche, John Perfect, Mr Puke, Ralph Malthus, Ashey, DJ, Quiggs, Merv Bradshaw, Hector, Sandra, Yvonne, Mandy, Diane, Joan, Jacqui, Maureen, Theresa, Karen, Cara, Siobhan, Frances, Elaine, the Winters sisters and all the rest. Yeah, the Harp was a shithole, but it was our shithole, where we belonged” - Guy Trelford, Harp Bar regular.

“Harp Bar - lift in sisters Mini to High Street - run like fuck up Skipper Street. Cage - up the stairs - Big Tommy Wee Tommy, Big John ,Merv, Mr Puke, Ralph Malph, Karen, Cara, Dee Wilson, Guiney - friends from school I didn't know were punks - The Man who dies every day ,ATV, GLC. Coming to the Harp, Castlereagh, Castlereagh by the Skids - PIL - Hello Hello - Sylvester you make me feel - Pickled eggs, Maureen, Tony, Punk Workshop - upstairs bar - downstairs room, Paddy's Day with The Basics, Shock Treatment - The Fall The Mekons, supporting the Bears - signing to Good Vibes by Terri after a show in front of about 12 people. Ladies toilets - the importance of graffiti in the mens bogs - RUDI, OUTCASTS, PROTEX, UNDERTONES, ANDROIDS, VICTIM, BASICS, ASK MOTHER - run like fuck back to High Street” - Davy McLarnon - Shock Treatment

“Living in Bangor we could only get to the Harp once in a while, as we couldn’t get home at the end of the night due to things like a shortage of taxis, cash, school and so on. Rhesus Negative were practically the house band as far as I remember” - Robert Scott, The Doubt.

“The Harp Bar was where you started before making it to the dizzy heights of the Pound. All I can remember about playing there was having to move a stripper’s chair and feather boa from the afternoon session out of the way to make room for the amps and kit. And of course the characters who made it the place what it was....there was a guy who wore a paratrooper’s beret along with the sort of demeanour that didn’t invite questions about choice of headgear or where he had got it from. Most places wouldn’t even let us in as customers, ‘nat the way yer dressed, ye must be jokin’,” - Ali McMordie - Stiff Little Fingers.

“My first knowledge of punk came from an article in the News Of The World, with pictures of the Sex Pistols, I was curious but not impressed. Then I got to hear the John Peel Show, my life was about to change direction, I could not help it, that’s where I wanted to be and it felt good! We used to meet up in Cornmarket on a Saturday, chat, buy records, occasionally get chased, and then get the bus home. Band wise the gigs were few and far between. Then one Saturday we went round to the Harp Bar. Personally, it could have been a hole in the wall, somewhere to go, punk in Northern Ireland needed this, I needed it. Here was somewhere to chat, have a pint, and I know everybody says it, but amongst the punks nobody cared who or what you were. Imagine Belfast without it at the time, it was bleak enough” - John ‘Dutchie’ Maarleveld - Harp Bar regular.

“From the outside, The Harp Bar, in Belfast’s Hill Street, was a dark and forbidding place. As was the custom with city centre bars, it’s front door was covered in steel mesh. During the week it was a regular bar, but at weekends it was taken over by ‘The Punk Workshop’ a club established by Terri Hooley. Here it was that Belfast’s punk scene gelled, where people could dress as they wished and meet fellow pilgrims. Here it was that The Undertones travelled down from Derry to strut their stuff, where RUDI and The Outcasts regularity bewitched the faithful. And here it was where religious and class differences disappeared in a haze of smoke, beer and of course, music”. Owen McFadden - Protex.

“The Harp was like a wee haven for all the freaks in the towns, all mad punks, sleazy ‘oul men and people who looked a wee bit weird. They used to let you up the stairs in the afternoon to do your sound check. The place was empty. There was nobody there to keep an eye on you. We’d go in with all the guitar cases and then leave again with them all full of beer bottles. We’d then go away and drink them all before the gig later that night. The Harp really was an oasis, call it what you will. It was a place where the ‘Spides’ didn’t go. It was like a youth club, with drink”. Johnny Hero - Ex - Producers.

“Very very importantly it was the first place where anyone who wanted to, could borrow some gear and get up and thrash away, and a LOT of bands started off that way. Any band that formed had a ready made place to play. An unbelievable change from the way things were here even six months or a year earlier! Better still ya had a fiercely partisan audience to play for, though they didn’t suffer fools lightly (The Tearjerkers f’instance)! It was somewhere too that the more established bands could hone their chops and it was no coincidence that all the bands here came on leaps and bounds while the Harp was open”. Brian Young - RUDI

“Contrary to popular memories there was no great camaraderie amongst bands at the Harp. I personally never enjoyed any gig where I thought the band were as good as us, but fortunately this very rarely happened”. Greg Cowan - The Outcasts.

“The Harp became my home from home. I was there sometimes five nights a week. I loved the atmosphere ; nobody cared about religion or politics, just the music. It did get a bit of a punk snob attitude for a while, but still the place to be. I watched our first appearance on Top of the Pops in the Harp too”. Henry Cluney - Stiff Little Fingers.

“As has been often written, Victim and The Androids played the first pUnK gig at the Harp Bar. This was on the 21st of April 1978, just 2 weeks after Wes and Colin of Victim went looking for gigs for the band in Belfast city centre, securing a gig at the Harp! Victim and The Androids had become friends through shared gigs and rehearsal rooms etc., so Wes immediately came to my house and asked if The Androids would like to play at the Harp with Victim. I said yes, of course - and I suppose part of history was made!

The original Androids played 4 times at the Harp over the next 2 months, then I left the band to join Victim (via Emergency) , playing another 10 times at the Harp - altogether I played 14 gigs at the Harp over 14 months - must be some kind of record!

And the memories! Where to begin? Well, memories of that first gig remain of course, where I took the mic and shouted: "1-2-3-4! We are the Androids!" and we were off! Also, supporting RUDI a few weeks later was good, then Stiff Little Fingers, where I got the audience to sit in a semi-circle in front of the stage!

But a more sinister memory lingers - the gig on the 3rd of June 1978 with Rhesus Negative. This was when a handful of "spidermen" cornered me in the toilets and pulled a gun out, threatening to shoot me! They had sneaked upstairs via the back stairway to see what the punks were all about. Obviously I was shaken...but I managed to tell what happened to some of the "harder " punks, so when the "spidermen " dared to get on the dance floor later, a large group of punks (led by Big Tommy R.I.P.) smashed the offenders all over the dance floor! They ran off with all the punks in the Harp chasing them! The kids were indeed united.

Victim memories abound as well, such as the filming of part of the gig on the 23rd of November 1978 for the Shellshock Rock documentary (with Protex and Rhesus Negative). Also, supporting The Monochrome Set, and then playing the St.Patrick's gig on the 17th March 1979 with Shock Treatment, Stage B, the Basics and Rhesus Negative. The final gig for Victim at the Harp was on the 7th of July 1979 which was sad for us, as we left for Manchester a few weeks later, never to play in Belfast again.

Of course, there are great memories of watching other bands...all the local bands of course, RUDI, The Outcasts, Stiff Little Fingers, Protex etc., but also bands from England. The Fall played a great set, as did V2, also from Manchester. I also remember Shane MacGowan sitting downstairs in Ted gear, drinking a pint of Guinness (his first in Ireland?) before the Nipple Erectors played. The Blades came up from Dublin to play as well. All-in-all, the Harp days (and nights) were the best of days, on a par for me with what teenagers must have felt at the Cavern in Liverpool in the early 1960s, or the Whisky in L.A. in the mid-'60s, or C.B.G.Bs in New York, or the Roxy in London.

So...you may not be able to put your arms around a memory, as JT sang...but you just might be able to let Harp memories put their arms (metaphorically) around YOU!” - Joe Zero - VICTIM & The ANDROIDS.

If you have any memories or photographs that you'd like to share of the Harp Bar, then please send to spit77to82@aol.com