Eric's was a music club on Mathew Street, Liverpool, UK, opened by Roger Eagle and Ken Testi, later joined by Pete Fulwell, and operating from 1976 to 1980.

The club was given the name 'Eric's' by Ken Testi as an antidote to aspirational disco clubs with names such as 'Tiffany's', 'Samantha's’ and 'Cinderella's'.

The club officially opened on 1 October 1976 with The Stranglers, but had a pre-opening with Deaf School on 3 August 1976.

Initially Eric's operated on Friday nights out of Gatsby's and The Revolution, two clubs in the same building, a former Fruit Exchange.

The main acts would appear at ground floor-level Gatsby's followed by the support going on stage later downstairs at The Revolution.

The entrance to Gatsby's was on Victoria Street with The Revolution entrance on the opposite side of the building in Mathew Street.

For Eric's Club nights, a Gatsby's fire exit further down Mathew Street became the main entrance to both venues with a temporary 'Eric's' sign propped-up on a chair beside the door.

The Stranglers were followed the next week by The Runaways and then the Sex Pistols. There was so much smashed glass in the dressing room after the Sex Pistols played that Gatsby's owner Roy Adams forbade any further acts upstairs.

The Revolution then became the sole Eric's Club night venue with the entrance reverting to The Revolution's main door further up Mathew Street.

From January 1977 Eric's Club nights expanded to Fridays & Saturdays. Roger Eagle and Ken Testi were joined by Pete Fulwell in March 1977 and the trio took over the freehold of Cavern Enterprises, which included The Revolution, and the club was renamed 'Eric's' with bands now playing most, if not every, night of the week.

The club's ethos was to showcase music of all kinds; dub, reggae, jazz, folk, blues, rockabilly, R&B, punk/new wave, etc, as well as hosting travelling theatre groups.

Acts such as Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks, The Clash, Joy Division, Ramones, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Talking Heads, Generation X, John Cooper Clark, Stanley Clarke, John Cale, Robert Gordon & Link Wray, Richie Havens, Colliseum, Barbara Thompson, Split Enz, Rezillos, The Darts, Undertones, Pretenders, The Cure, Prince Far I, Tapper Zukie, Steel Pulse, Aswad, John Martyn, Bert Jansch, Ian Dury, Iggy Pop, The Selector, Madness, The Jam, Joy Division, The B52s, Devo and The Cramps.

To comply with licensing laws, Eric's was a members-only over-18s venue (with an annual membership fee of 50p when it opened), but the addition of alcohol-free Saturday matinee performances allowed under-18s the experience of seeing their favourite acts live.

This was supported by the bands, welcomed by the under-18s and provided a networking venue for some of the city's future musicians. 'Special membership' for under-18s was free, rising to 10p in 1979.

Myth-busting - Blondie, advertised for 14 May 1977, did not play. In the words of Chris Stein "When I investigated, I saw that we didn't play a Liverpool show on the first UK tour with Television" (see Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk).

The 'supergroup-in-reverse', Big in Japan, was formed by Eric's regulars whose members later went on to form Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The KLF, The Lightening Seeds or join Siouxsie & the Banshees.

Other successful acts from the Eric's stable include Dead or Alive, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, Wild Swans, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and Wah! Heat.

On Friday 14 March 1980 Eric's was raided by police. A number of reasons were given - drugs, violence, breach of membership rules (none of which were apparent or substantiated) - and a handful of arrests were made, along with accusations of planted drugs.

The police had opposed the renewal of the club's license in 1979 and had made it clear they would oppose more forcefully at the next renewal application in September 1980. With mounting debts and the threat of further police raids, the management reluctantly took the decision to close immediately.

It has never been clear why the police chose to raid the club that night as its closure was scheduled for the following week with Siouxsie & the Banshees as the final act.





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