I loved the wonderful sense of community in Sunderland's nightclubs of the 1990s. Relive it all here
Community spirit was alive and flourishing in Sunderland’s 1990s nightclubs.
In the latest episode of our series Sunderland’s 90s Nightlife, our interviewees discuss how people used to get involved more when there was trouble in a pub or nightclub 30 years ago.
‘The customers were like a family’
The episode is called Looking Out For Each Other.
Bob Senior, who was a nightclub boss in the 90s, recalled the days when any sign of trouble was usually handled within the club, because of the community it had.
“There would be four or five faces looking because the club belonged to all of us,” he added. “It was not just us and customers. The customers, because they often came in three nights a week, were like having a family.”
Alison Vaulkhard , a nightclub operator in the era, said attitudes towards helping people who were being bullied have changed, and back in the 1990s people would get involved ‘because we would think ‘that’s not right’.”
The music you loved in a bygone era
Watch out for mentions of nightclubs such as Annabels and Idols as well as plenty more memories from an iconic Wearside era.
Our series is now well under way and here’s a reminder of the first seven episodes which you can catch online.
Episode 1: Called Old Skool. Our interviewees discuss their memories of music back in the 1990s including Nirvana, rave, dance and trance.
Episode 2: The very people who ran Idols and Annabels shared their memories - and there were lots of them!
Where you met before going clubbing
Episode 3: We asked people for the first thing that came to mind when they thought of the 90s night scene in the city.
Episode 4: A look back at Chambers, particularly through the eyes of John Shaw who was a DJ there in the 1990s.
Episode 5: Called The Safety of the Pack. We looked at the places where people met before going to their favourite nightclub.
Watch out for episode 9 coming next week when we look at Sunderland fireman Bryn Hanson who talks about how he came to make a list of the UK’s 50 most eligible bachelors.