Thread for London nostalgics...

[Salv]

Rather than take up any more space in the American Crew... pomade thread I've started this thread to wallow in some collective nostalgia for the retro/vintage/club scene in London in the early 1980s. I know the inimitable GOK was around town then, and if any other Brit Loungers of a certain age were there at the time then feel free to join in.

pipvh posted this:

Willie Brown! I'd totally forgotten about him. I loved his stuff! I had a brown jacket - I think it was an anorak, in fact - with the check trim. Wonder what happened to that. Also any number of his shirts, which weren't cheap. Went the way of all my Johnson's shoes, no doubt.

Blax! Of course. What a brilliant shop. There was also one called Cuba(?) I think, on New Oxford Street. Yeah, reading the Face in Valerie's or the Bar Italia, buying pegged trousers from that place upstairs at Kenny Market. Chevalier Bros! Nice one. Seriously off-thread now: we should start another one, for London nostalgics only!

...and anyone that's read any of my recommendations for new clothing can look away now...

pipvh - do you remember that Willie Brown eventually had a seperate shop over the road from Demob, called Old Town. Well, he now goes by the slightly more mature name of Will Brown and has a shop in Holt, Norfolk called Old Town - they sell two ranges of clothes, the Old Town range in wools, tweeds, cottons and linens, and the Tin House range of workwear. Lovely stuff, but they only take cash or cheques and don't ship outside the UK. I started a thread about the new Old Town here.

That place upstairs at Kenny Market was probably Rock-A-Cha, who are also still going, but are now known as Rocacha. Rob Crossley, who used to work in the shop, is the guy that runs it now. Here's Rob and Jay Strongman from a 1981 edition of The Face:

Do a search in the Lounge for Rocacha and you'll find some photos that I've put up of some of my suits and trousers from there.

You'll probably like - some of - this site http://us.geocities.com/theblitzkids/index24.html - it's mostly stuff about the New Romantics, but if you hunt around you'll find some great photos of Chris Sullivan and Blue Rondo A La Turk in their zoot suits, Willie Brown's first shop (Modern Classics) before he moved to Demob, and articles about the Mud Club, Beat Route and Kilt.

And there's a good bit of nostalgia here from Kathryn Flett, who would go on to edit Arena magazine (still by far its best editor IMO) and now writes for the Observer.

And a thread here on DJHistory.com with some Dirtbox nostalgia. Great nights out there, but one toilet for 200 people was never going to be nice. I quickly learned not to wear good shoes to the Dirtbox...

 

[Marq]

I used to go to the Fortissimo in the back of the castle in Camden,Dj was Rohan the Man .Also Hellzapoppin of which i'm going to tonight at the Cecil sharpe house in Camden.Tim has Been running Hellzapoppin for about 20 years now.I also remember Silks in Shepherds Bush ,The Camden workers in the early 80's and also the Elephants head pub Camden Also Chriss Bay used to do the Electric ballroom upstairs on a Saturday night..................heady Days...........Paul

 

[pipvh]

Amazing - I'm wallowing in memories! Of course it was Rock-a-cha, and that picture brings it right back. I remember that very article. They were really nice guys and didn't mind penniless blag-artists like myself hanging around their stall, because they knew we'd shell out for something eventually. Great thread on Old Town - so he's still going strong. Might have to make a pilgrimage out to Norfolk next time I'm over. Some of my very happiest memories are of those Soho/Kings Road days.

I'd also forgotten about Flip, Salv - they had lots of dross to wade through, and some really nice stuff, very pricey if you managed to find it. To my mind the mantle of cred was taken over by the Duffer of St George in its very earliest incarnation, although they've been off the boil for years.

We used to do the Saturday loop from Portobello over to Islington market, and Sundays at Camden, of course. I had West and North London friends, the Notting Hill set and the Camden lot, and everyone seemed to be in a band, or a DJ, or selling T shirts at the market.

At one point I was living off Lillie Road in Fulham and a tiny little shop opened up at the bottom of North End Road selling just shirts made out of bizarre materials. I bought one made out of heavy old damask upholstery cloth: it was stiff as a board even after a few washes and had possibly also been treated with some sort of fire-retardant, which smelled pretty odd after a hard night on the dance-floor. I seem to remember that the guy went on to bigger things, but he reminded me of a sort of budget, slightly mad Scott Crolla. Lots of great designers and stylists around then, all very, very cool and sharp and not particularly commercial.

Btw, anyone remember the Gold Coast club at the Fridge? It was an African music one-nighter around 1983? - fantastic DJ.