Pool Of Sound - After The Beatles

Punks entering Eric's in 1979

Following the explosion in the early 1960s of the Mersey Beat, from 1967 there was a quiet period of about 10 years. Liverpool had almost been denuded of good bands, with lesser bands accepting low payments this had forced the good ones to disband or travel further afield in the country or abroad to Scandanavia, Finland, Germany, etc. There were also extremely good bands now from Manchester, the Midlands, London et al. Club life in Liverpool had turned to alchohol and discotheques and 'members only' clubs with expensive bar prices. The ever-growing popularity of the 'harder edged' blues-rock sound that was emerging meant beat music began to sound out of date seeing any remaining groups shifting their sound towards different areas of  rock and pop music, such as psychedelic and progressive rock.

The Cavern Club had closed in 1973, re-opening opposite at No.7 Mathew Street for a short time before becoming Eric's which hosted a new scene of bands such as 'Big In Japan', 'Echo and the Bunnymen', 'Wah! 'Heat' and 'The Teardrop Explodes', to name but a few, bringing a new music life to the city. These bands themselves became an influence on the next wave, not perhaps in terms of their music, but in the way they showed that it was not only possible to form a good band with your friends, but also to gather good reviews, get gigs and live the dream. Liverpool once again had a music scene to be proud of.
The club, opened by Roger Eagle and Ken Testi, the manager of a cult Liverpool band 'Deaf School', acted as a catalyst for local musicians and was a membership only venue whereby members had to buy yearly membership to enter the club. One of the more beneficial ideas was to provide membership for 'under 18's', which allowed younger music fans to see both local and national bands.
Roger Eagle, it is said, was the conduit for all the disparate musicians wandering around Merseyside in the late 1970s.
There was a sense that something was beginning to emerge in Liverpool again.

The first run of gigs at Eric's

There are certain moments in history when a club emerges and manages to perfectly capture the mood of the time and Eric's seemed to do just that. Punk music was beginning to explode, not that Eric's was ever a 'punk club', but the owners had tapped into what was part of a new rich vein of excitement. The first band to appear at Eric's were 'The Stranglers', followed a week later by 'The Runaways' and then 'The Sex Pistols'.Once they had brought the maelstrom of 'The Clash's' epic live show to Eric's in May 1977, the music scene really crystalised again in Liverpool. 'The Clash's' first gig here, supported by 'The Specials', was witnessed by the likes of Jayne Casey, Julian Cope, Pete Wylie, Pete Burns Bill Drummond, Holly Johnson, Will Sergeant, Budgie and Ian McCulloch. Things would never be the same.

Probe Records

In 1974, Peter O’Halligan had sought to create a hub of free-thinking, with his transformed leased warehouse into the Liverpool School Of Language, Music, Dream & Pun. Within its confines were the Armadillo Tea Rooms, Aunt Twacky's independent market, Deaf School's rehearsal space and the Science Fiction Theatre Of Liverpool. Geoff Davis had also set up another of his Probe Records close by.
So the groundwork was already in place when Eric's opened. It was during 'The Clash's' show at Eric's, on Ian McCullough's 18th birthday, that he, Julian Cope and Pete Wylie formed the short lived band 'The Crucial Three'. The three went on to individual success with their own groups as we will see later but they were part of this music 'phoenix' rising from the ashes of the 1960s music scene.
Ironically the original Mersey Beat explosion had significant links with a club, The Cavern, in Mathew Street and a record shop, NEMS, in Whitechapel and it was happening again with a club, Eric's in Mathew Street, and a record shop, Probe Records in Whitechapel.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2019/06/pool-of-sound-real-thing.html