Sheffield 1970s rock fans fought for city's Penthouse club to play the music they loved - and they won

It was all sweetness and light in the early part of the decade with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath rising to prominence.

But by 1976 a decidedly unwelcome guest had gatecrashed the party in the shape of punk rock.

Arduous guitar solos, long hair and songs about wizards suddenly became as unfashionable as flared trousers.

The period provided further adversaries in the shape of social unrest, political turmoil and industrial strife.

Heavy rock had no choice but to go underground and it was down to a close-knit group to fight for its place in the upper echelons of Sheffield nightlife.

The battle was led by Shirley Freeman. She was chairperson of the Penthouse Action Committee that fought tooth and nail for the scene they so loved.

She was also one of the few people to capture life in the city’s rock clubs on camera in the period.

Castle Market’s Penthouse was one of the first venues to start promoting rock nights in the early 1970s.

The scene was a far cry from the vision Peter and Geoff Stringfellow had for the venue when they originally opened it in 1969.

Their love affair with the venue - sited seven flights of stairs above Dixon Lane – didn’t last long.

Peter Stringfellow, and his brother Geoff, had already achieved massive success with their Burngreave-based King Mojo teenage club which attracted stars spanning Jimi Hendix to Ike and Tina Turner.

Their performances at the venue were some of their very earliest gigs on record.

The Penthouse was the Stringfellows’ first venue with an alcohol licence.

It was, in their eyes, a disaster. Fighting became a consistent problem.

They sold the club within months of opening and moved their business interests to Leeds.

Heavy metal started to get a foothold in the years following their departure.

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But when soul nights started to carry more favour than rock nights a group of regulars decided – in true 1970s style – to make a stand.

Seven of them got together to form the Penthouse Ahttp://ttps://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/ction Committee to lobby the management. They were so successful they soon got their rock nights reinstated.

They went on to campaign for a better sound system and staged one of the earliest shows by Def Leppard, together with gigs by the likes of Rokka and Virginia Wolf.

Shirley Freeman said at the time: “We want to see the sound system improved and more records available than the limited collection now.”

PAC – consisting of Shirley Freeman, Mick Cassidy, Jenny Jones, Della Freeston, Jackie Ball, Larry Massey and DJ Bob Maltby – also raised money for charity and staged rock nights at Stars on Queens Road after the Penthouse turned into Dollars speakeasy.

Their work helped prove the demand for a rock nightclub which eventually opened as Rebels in the former Penthouse.

By the late ‘80s heavy metal had exploded and the rock club became one of the busiest in the city.

Rebels was the brainchild of former Limit bouncer Steve Baxendale.

He said at the time: “On opening night I thought no-one had come. I came down the street and only saw four people stood outside. I was gutted.

“But then I opened the bottom doors and over 1,000 people were on the stairs - all seven flights of ‘em.”

Rebels provided a dedicated nightclub for the rockers after they’d finished at the likes of the Wapentake Bar which was hugely popular.

Former PAC member Bob Maltby and Ken Hall, best known for his years at the Wapentake, spun the discs in the early days.

The opening of Rebels was perfectly timed as the rock scene exploded in the mid-1980s with the rise of Spandex-charged hair metal, following in the wake of the new wave of British heavy metal genre.

Def Leppard – championed by PAC – were conquering the world.

*The PAC story is set to be included in the forthcoming 10th anniversary edition of Neil Anderson’s book Signing On For The Devil which tells the story of the rise of heavy metal in the region.

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