Two-Piers brings you their latest killer compilation in the shape of Richard Norris Presents ‘Weird Scenes from the Hangout (Psychedelic & Freakbeat Dancefloor Anthems 1967-1982). An album curated by Richard Norris (The Grid, Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve, The Time and Space Machine, and more) and centred around Richard’s Liverpool Club Night ’The Hangout’ in the 1980’s.

Richard Norris on how The Hangout came about after being inspired to go to University in Liverpool…..

For a place with a distinctly psychedelic tinge, Liverpool was missing one thing in the mid-eighties. A full-on psychedelic club night. I’d been schooled in all things psychedelic, a result of working at Bam Caruso, a label steeped in psych who lovingly reissued many lysergic greats. It was a fantastic education. I was determined to bring some technicolour sonics to Liverpool.  

I found a suitable venue, called Krackers, at the bottom of Mount Pleasant. It was a big basement club, with a stage, video projector, lights, bar, and long tables. In front of the stage, there was ample space for a dance floor. There’s something about clubs in basements. They just work. I chatted to the owner, Bill, who suggested trying out Thursdays for the new night. Inspired by Bam Caruso, and by the Soho club Alice in Wonderland, I agreed to take Thursdays on. 50p to get in. The night was named The Hangout.

The Hangout was born in autumn 1984. The place was perfect. Clips of op art psychedelic films copied to VHS tape were projected on to the large screen that covered the stage. There was a smoke machine, a bubble machine, many moving lights. The place opened to a packed dancefloor and stayed that way into 1985 and beyond. There were guest bands, including Zodiac Mindwarp, Mr.Suit featuring Larry from Wimple Winch, Freight Train and the Cardiacs, among others. There were giveaways of sweets, flowers, balloons, and jelly. Tons of jelly.

Musically, the Hangout’s take on psychedelia and freakbeat had one aim - to make you dance. We weren’t trainspotters – it didn’t matter if a record was rare, so long as it grooved and worked on the dancefloor. We’d give equal time to the more bandwagon end of sixties exploitation as to hipper acts. I’d pick up tracks on shopping trips in London with Phil Smee from Bam Caruso, or at Probe in Liverpool, where there was a class selection of psychedelia. Bob and Mick from Probe, and their mate Bernie Connor, became Hangout DJ’s, and brought even further mind-bending madness to the Hangout dancefloor. Standout tunes got played again and again, every week, until tracks like The Left Banke’s ‘I’ve Got Something on My Mind’, the Turtles ‘Buzzsaw’, Can’s ‘Outside Your Door’ and all the other tunes you now hold in your hands, became bona fide Hangout club anthems.

The Hangout came and went in a flash, but its legacy of bringing psychedelic foot stompers to the dancefloor carries on. The Hangout left me with a personal love of all things beat and freak.  I’ve been pursuing various musical shapes that all have their roots on the Hangout’s psychedelic dancefloor ever since.  

I hope you enjoy this compilation. Every track is a tried and tested Hangout anthem - Richard Norris, Lewes, August 2024.