Owner of legendary TJs - John Sicolo - dies (From South Wales Argus)
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Owner of legendary TJs - John Sicolo - dies
8:00am Monday 15th March 2010 in News
By Ruth Mansfield
Mr Sicolo outside his beloved TJs
THE OWNER of legendary bar TJs, John Sicolo died yesterday morning, aged 66.
Mr Sicolo, who has owned the bar for almost 40 years, died at the Royal Gwent hospital at 6.30am.
Mr Sicolo had been admitted to the hospital two weeks ago for a knee replacement operation and had also had an operation for deep vein thrombosis.
A post mortem is currently being carried out to determin the cause of death.
Originally one of eight, Mr Sicolo was born and raised in Newport.
He joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 16 working his way up to the title of Chief Steward before he left at the age of 28.
It was then that he started running Cedar’s Rest restaurant, which later became El Sieco’s Wine Bar before he then ran it under the name of TJs.
The club attracted tens of thousands of bands including the likes of Oasis, the Manic Street Preachers and Feeder and was also featured in FHM in 1997 as one of the top 50 big nights out in the world.
But as the Argus reported last week, Mr Sicolo was struggling to find £15,000 to save the bar from closure.
Mr Sicolo’s sister in law Arlene Sicolo, 73, who is married to Mr Sicolo’s brother Ray, 74, said: “He was a great brother and a good laugh. He loved running TJs and lived for that place.
"He was very well-known in the community and very well-respected.”
Mr Sicolo had also raised thousands of pounds through the club for charities.
Mrs Sicolo said it was not known yet whether a family member will take over the running of TJs.
He leaves behind his daughter Leanne Jones who he adopted from a previous marriage, and four grandchildren.
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Comments(17)
islwyn09
says...
9:30am Mon 15 Mar 10
dragged up
says...
9:52am Mon 15 Mar 10
I will miss him.
myopinion
says...
11:08am Mon 15 Mar 10
Poolergirl
says...
12:18pm Mon 15 Mar 10
D-G
says...
12:43pm Mon 15 Mar 10
RIP John - Rest in Peace or Rock In Perpetuity, I hope you're happy wherever you are.
rafa's red army
says...
2:23pm Mon 15 Mar 10
darren wallis
says...
2:26pm Mon 15 Mar 10
such a sad loss,
my thoughts are with his family.
rest in peace mate
Cantankerous
says...
3:20pm Mon 15 Mar 10
maria p
says...
3:47pm Mon 15 Mar 10
islwyn09
says...
8:22pm Mon 15 Mar 10
broadsworddan
says...
12:55am Tue 16 Mar 10
Edcase1977
says...
8:33am Tue 16 Mar 10
pestobobber
says...
9:13am Tue 16 Mar 10
islwyn09 wrote:islwyn09 why do you write your posts With Upper Case Characters At The Start Of Every Word?
Jilted & Desmond I Think The Comments About The Abject Failure Of NCC To Get "City"Ready For Ryder Cup & Of El Tel Mathews Has A Lot To Do With It! Sad But True!I Hope & Pray That TJs Will Live On To Honour The Name Of John Sicolo & His Contribution To Music & Welsh Culture!WAG & CADW Take Note!
It must take much longer to to that and it is Totally Unnecessary, What Do You Think You Are Achieving By It?
Gareth
says...
10:25am Tue 16 Mar 10
broadsworddan wrote:Thanks SWA for reopening the comments section for people to say a few words about JS; an icon of Newport.
How very sad. Everyone knew of John, whether they had met him or not, his reputation as an ambassador for Newport's social scene and for independant music was widespread. We should all be very proud to have had a place like TJ's here. It was one in a million. In fact I strongly believe the council should ensure TJ's lives on after John's death as it has become as important an icon of Newport's identity as the transporter bridge. Without TJ's Newport will be a less interesting place. Rest in peace John. P.S. Can anybody confirm the urban legend of Kurt Cobain Proposing to Courtney Cox in TJ's?
It has all been said really - both here and on facebook. Personally, I just smile at the thought of T&J back together again. No doubt this Friday night, a whole host of rowdy angels will be getting a clip around the ear, as they queue outside the pearly gates and around the block for the launch of TJs 2. God bless.
---
On the above comment regarding the council: TJs success was solely due to the personality of John (and Trilby back in my youth!) as its heart . Alas, it became financially unviable even with JS at the helm. With his passing, we only have an empty shell of a building. An events genius would find it difficult to recapture its past, never mind a council committee of civil servants.
Michele2121
says...
10:26am Tue 16 Mar 10
John was an amazing guy. He looked after us all while we were kids and gave us wonderful opportunities to see bands and party in a relatively safe environment. This is a devastating loss for the Newport music scene, not to mention his family and hundreds and thousands of friends. Newport will never be the same again.
With regards to the Kurt Cobain thing, i asked John and he said that he did go there to see Courtney but as far as he knew, there was no proposal. He did try to make him pay to get in though!
Riandaj
says...
8:36pm Tue 16 Mar 10
What with John passing and Micky Jones of "Man" fame on the 11th,a sad week for the Welsh music scene.
Richard Morgan says...
9:22am Mon 15 Mar 10
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