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Personal Column in
Preston St, which is the street that the Ministry rehearsal rooms was
on. It was also the location for the Yates's Wine Lodge where we
finished up after those rehearsals.
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The
Gilmore was at
the back of the Ministry, and most of the bands that rehearsed there
seemed to get photographed outside it at some point. It was only much
later, after they knocked it down, that i looked at the building
itself, and realised that it must
have been tiny inside. Pre-VHS, that was how you got porn, if that was
how your tastes were. L to R: Colin Brown, Mike McCarrol, Marc
Vormawah, Mike Hayes.
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And here's the band
on the Ministry staircase. As you can see, they were highly
image-conscious...;-)
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Rehearsing at the
Ministry. Although it was a bit scussy, the Ministry was better than
some places, it had padded walls, you could keep your gear there, and
as it was in a bit of town that no-one really used (except the patrons
of the Gilmore, of course), there weren't really any problems with
noise. So it had its advantages.
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A posed shot at the
Ministry. You can just see Colin's favoured keyboard stand, ie a Black
& Decker workmate, although the shot has been set up so you can't
see Colin's face, for some reason.
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A live gig at the
Left Bank Bistro, on Mathew St. It's now called 'Lennon's Bar', though
i don't think John Lennon is seen in there much, these days. As you can
see, the ceiling in the cellar was alarmingly low.
The gig was promoted by Neil Tilly, and the poster for it is on the
left.
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If you're of a
certain age, then this shot will take you right back: it's the stage of
the Masonic, on Berry St. It was arguably Liverpool's number one rock
pub, and definitely the number one for drug dealers. It had bands on
seven nights a week, and Personal Column signed off from there with a
flourish by playing three consecutive nights in 1983.
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You may have read (if
you're keen on soaps) that Mark Moraghan, ex of Holby City, was lead
singer in a band called Personal Column at one point. Well, it's half
true: he was actually backing singer and percussionist for a while, but
he was invited to leave due to a persistent failure to acquire any
percussion. He was forced to console himself by becoming rich and
famous, but here he is, singing with Personal Column.
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An early promo shot
of Marc & Colin, now finally dressed as if they're in the same
band, at least, but still not looking much like Dead or Alive...
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This was shot for an
article in Sounds, outside St Georges' Hall on Lime St. It's the first
thing you see as you come out of Lime St Station, and it's got columns all outside it. Columns! Did
you see what he did there? Columns...
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This
was taken in the old Everyman Bistro. For those of you too young to
know, in those days the cellar under the Everyman was a total artists'
hangout (it's kinda corporate and pricey nowadays), and we often ended
up there after rehearsals, not least because it was open till 12. We
spent that extra hour saying how we weren't going to go on to the Casa
afterwards. And then going to the Casa.
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A publicity shot
taken in the Walker Art Gallery: they were looking for something
classy, and felt that a little Victorian art might do the trick.
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This is in the Walker
as well. Marc is in the middle, Colin's the one with the beard. The one
with the beard on the right, that is. Like a lot of these pictures,
this one was taken by Royce Naylor, the band's then manager.
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Marc & Mick on
stage at the Masonic. This was taken by Penny Potter, unbeknownst to
the band, and she passed it on later: just one of those quick shots
that works really well.
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This staged shot was
done in an underpass near Lark Lane, and was much used on Personal
Column publicity material for some time. L to R: Terry Sterling, Mike
Hayes, Marc Vormawah, Colin Brown.
Much of the band's artwork at the time was done by Rosemary Doughty,
who laid out posters and fliers, as well as designing the sleeve for
'Same Old Situation'.
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'The Venue' was on
Seel Street, though it wasn't open for long. That's Robbie Boardman on
guitar, to the right of Marc, late of the Jass Babies.
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The Zigzag Club in
London: this may not have been the ideal venue for Personal Column, as
the audience look like extras from Prince's Purple Rain movie.
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On Stage in
Switzerland, as part of a festival of Liverpool bands in Swiss venues.
Thats Shaun McLoughlin on bass, formerly of Afraid of Mice.
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