Hidden stash of archive T-shirts to be sold in jazz jumble sale
A hidden stash of T-shirts promoting a week-long music event at the former Ronnie Scott’s nightclub on Broad Street, Birmingham, nearly 30 years ago has been discovered.
The 36 T-shirts, all bearing the words “Ronnie Scott’s proudly presents Rhythm & Blues Showcase September 12th to 17th 1994”, were found at the Westside offices of Big Bear Music following the company’s recent relocation.
Fans of R&B and rock ‘n’ roll will get the chance to own one of the T-shirts when they are included in a jumble sale of music memorabilia on September 17, exactly 29 years after the original event ended.
But anyone wanting to snap up one of the T-shirts will have to be one of Ronnie Scott’s or R&B’s biggest fans, as they all come in size XXL!
Jim Simposon, founder of Big Bear Music and also the first manager of Black Sabbath, said: “We moved offices to Quayside Tower on Broad Street in January this year after 37 years on Hagley Road and this box of T-shirts obviously came with us.
“But, because of organising the jazz festival, we didn’t unpack everything at the time. We finally got around to opening up this cardboard box and found these three dozen T-shirts, all in individual bags, bearing the name Ronnie Scott’s and an R&B music event in September 1994.
“We will now include them in our next rock ‘n’ roll jumble sale, which we put on every now and then, together with lots of other items.”
All proceeds from the jumble sale will go towards the cost of staging the 40th annual Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival next year.
Ronnie Scott’s in Birmingham was a franchise of the more famous jazz club in London. It opened on Broad Street in 1991 but closed just a decade later when it became the Rocket Club.
During the decade it was open, the Birmingham venue hosted performers from the likes of David Gray and the then relatively unknown Coldplay to legends such as George Melly, Georgie Fame and Chaka Khan.
The line-up for the 1994 Rhythm & Blues Showcase was James Hunter & The Jokers, the Ben Waters Boogie Band, Red Peters & The Solid Senders, The Honkin’ Hepcats, Tiger Lily & The Jitterbugs, and Sugar Ray Ford’s Flying Fortress.
The rock ‘n’ roll jumble sale will take place at Velvet Music Rooms on Broad Street from 4pm to 10pm.
