Tiffany’s, Simone’s among Blacktown’s favourite nightclubs

From wild nights at the Robin Hood Inn, to “classy’’ gatherings at Tiffany’s with the Divinyls and Midnight Oil, partygoers were spoiled for choice back in the ’80s when there was always a place to let your permed hair down.

From wild nights at the Robin Hood Inn, to “classy’’ gatherings at Tiffany’s, plenty of venues kept Blacktown buzzing in the 1980s, whether you liked pub rock or pop music washed down with a cocktail or three.

Former Tiffany’s nightclub bartender James Cassells, 57, recalls working at the venue opposite the cop shop at Kildare Rd with fond memories for two years from when he was 19.

The Bill McNamara-owned club, next to the cinemas at Westpoint Blacktown, attracted rock heavyweights such as The Divinyls to Midnight Oil, and The Cockroaches, featuring Lalor Park brothers Paul and Anthony Field (and John) before they shot to global stardom with the Wiggles.

“It was awesome,’’ Cassells said.

“It was better than the nightclubs in the city. It was very classy.

The cocktail list at Tiffany's at Blacktown.

“Sydney clubs would try and get some of the bands and we would get them in downtown Blacktown. It was really ahead of its time.’’

“You didn’t have to travel far and with Tiffany’s, they started to get Spy vs. Spy, the Radiators.’’

For those who preferred pop music, Cassells said Tiffany’s clubbers were treated to a light spectacle.

“I remember the Mel and Kim music,’’ Cassells said.

“The DJ used to let the lights down, it was like a UFO landing. The lights came down from the ceiling, and there was smoke, it was sensational.’’

The Tiffany's logo. Picture: Memories of Blacktown/Facebook

“All the really good bands were playing there and it was the first place to use LED lights. All the stairs had LED lights coming all the way up.

“I was in the commercial lighting game as well and I never seen any LED lights till I saw them there.’’

Patrons were treated to six bars and dinner at the Terrace restaurant.

“It was all high-end stuff,’’ Cassells said.

“There would be a three-course meal, with a bottle of wine and movie tickets thrown in.”

Once on a quiet night, a bikie came in with his wife and Cassells showed him some hospitality.

“I could see then being lovey-dovey and I said ‘What’s the occasion? and he said ‘It’s my wife’s birthday’. I said ‘pick a cocktail’ … my shout, so I shouted him and his missus a drink each and as he’s leaving he gave me a 50-buck tip.

“He insisted and said ‘I’d be offended if you didn’t take it.

“I liked it because it was like you were going out, but you weren’t really going out, you were going to work.’’

Normally, clients wore their best outfits.

“Everybody was just dressed up to the nines,’’ Cassells said.

“They were all hyper well-dressed because there were really strong dress codes.’’

He said the venue represented “old-school Australia”.

“Not that we used to go sexually harassing girls or anything like that, but it was the tongue-in-cheek Australian.’’’

Up the road on Main St, Simone’s attracted plenty of punters.

“Simone’s was nice as well,’’ Cassells said.

“People would go between Simone’s and Tiffany’s.’’

A group of friends ‘dressed up to the nines’ at Tiffany's Blacktown donning quintessential ‘80s fashion.

There were also plenty of bands who performed at the Robin Hood Inn, which was built in 1937 and demolished in 1984.

Others loved to get their pub rock fix at the Kildare Rd’s Comb & Cutter, which Blacktown Council tried to shut in 1981 after changes to liquor laws in several western suburbs hotels.

There were also discos in the auditoriums at Seven Hills-Toongabibie and Blacktown RSL clubs.

Tiffany's was ‘ahead of its time’ in the 1980s and included the Terrace restaurant.

Cheap Trick poster/flyer from April 1988 (a Tiffany’s gig is listed below). Picture: Cheap Trick/Facebook

The Robin Hood Inn at Blacktown circa 1960s.