29/09/2026
“The Cotton Club” part 3 - a blog by NNE
We did a series of blogs about 10 years ago on Paisley nightlife in the 70s and 80s, into the naughty 90s.
From Valentino’s & Paris, to The Garage and Toledo Junction and to The Cotton Club and then The Institute, Paisley was truly a pioneer of nighttime entertainment in the West of Scotland 🔥🔥🔥
This was the last entry from our blog, an ode to Mr Laverty 🫡
‘𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗼 𝗥𝗮𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱’
As the 90s wore on, The Cotton Club started to lose its shine a little, and when brewery giants, Carlsberg Tetley, called in the receivers, Mr Laverty had no choice but to put the keys back through the old school letterbox as the club hit irreversible financial difficulties.
Sadly, Mr Laverty’s “The Cotton Club”, had served it’s last cocktail, and an icon of Paisleys nightlife had passed into the history books and annuls of Paisley pub and club folklore.
But Mr Lavertys legacy lives on, its burns brightly, even if it’s etched now only in the memories and anecdotal stories of Paisley buddies scattered to the 5 continents across the globe 🌍.
There would be several more incarnations through the mid to late 1990s, from Melrose Place, to club 30 UK, and then finally to The Institute, but most of the original “The Cotton Club” patrons would argue vigorously, and successfully, that the old place was never the same again.
As the philosopher Boethius wrote;
“It's my belief that history is a wheel. Inconstancy is my very essence," says the wheel. "Rise up on my spokes if you like, but don't complain when you're cast back down into the depths. Good times pass away, but then so do the bad. Mutability is our tragedy, but it's also our hope. The worst of times, like the best, are always passing away."
And for those of us here who experienced first hand the ambience & atmosphere of this truly iconic Paisley nightclub complex, those memories continue to burn bright, even if the lights went out over 30 years ago.
Mr Laverty, The Cotton Club, La Verte W**e Bar - We salute you. Thank you for the memories 🥃’
