I thought it was also called the Buccaneer - I had my 21st birthday party here in 1980.

I think you're right Mick. During the early 70s I used to sometimes drink here at weekends. It had a bar in the basement which became quite, shall we say, 'lively'. We were removed by the police more than once.

I think it was the Buccaneer too. I remember seeing a few bands here, it was the place to see good Rock bands in the late 70s and 80s. One popular Brighton band that we loved was called "Spoons". All that changed in Brighton when the strict licensing laws came in, which was a shame. Cheers 

I'm not really sure the licensing laws became stricter, surely they went the other way?

Hi Peter, what I meant was that landlords were required to provide fire exits and escapes if public houses were to be music venues or used for similar types of entertainment. Some landlords didn't have the the money to pay for the building work as in some cases would have been some major work to be carried out. The other thing that changed if not killed off the band scene was that some councils put restrictions on how many musicians could play at a time, usually just two or a duo. This may have been due to noise /environmental issues but it was ok to have a disco which could often be louder than a band. In Brighton many musicians made a few bob on the side from band work, I should know because I was one of them. I'm sure that landlords did well if they hosted a popular band, places were packed out. I reckon it wasn't liked that the government didn't pay tax on these small earnings! Cheers.

Ahh .. The Buccaneer! I can remember going there to see The Spoons too. I was amazed when I realised the lead singer had been at Varndean a year below me. Can't remember his name though - Miles something? I also remember it being one of the first places to have a Space Invaders machine.