Glasgow’s Tin Pan Alley.

By Red Casual 26th October 2019

Opening  in late 1989, Tin Pan was the first club in Glasgow to play the new sounds coming from Belgium and Detroit at the time. Split across three floors, the club was hidden away on Mitchell Lane and was Year Zero for techno in Glasgow. It launched the careers of Slam and established classic nights like UFO and The Orb. Negotiating all those stairs was a bit of a whitey though.

I was taken there by a good friend Frank Paterson in the late eighties I was an out-of-towner.

This was the first time I’d mainly heard beats only in a Club for the majority of the night. This wasn’t rave or house as such, more like electronic beats. This was also before any ecstasy scene had kicked off. It would be a Football Terrace clubbing crossover.  A three floor dance club with a connecting staircase, you’d always meet a good section of clubbers

The crowd were cool, Glasgow always had the unique style of matching up between casual or tailored threads and of course a few permanent sun-tans.  This was a place where you just wanted to dance, no chemicals apart from a Red Stripe or maybe a shlitz.

It was here I first heard dance tracks like White Horse – Laid Back, although the track was old I’d never heard it before especially in a club. Also Electrical Salsa by Off.

I was also introduced to some good pubs in the City which seemed to be the crowd that would later be at Tin Pan. Carnegie’s was a great little joint and again a good crowd, always on a good vibe. It was here I noticed  remixes of Ten City also Joey Negro – Promised Land.

Tin Pan was a club that was hidden away in Mitchell Lane. Theres not many tributes or photos that justify it’s excistence, but it was certainly a catalyst to a lot of major clubs and DJ’s that came about in the 90s.

Holywell Street would like to pay tribute to Glasgow and it’s Night Clubs and of course Frank the legend.