London soul nights in the 80s

[Joesoap]

Does anyone remember a regular soul do at a place called The Metropolitan, I think it was near Farringdon station, mid 80s? I seem to remember having some great nights there but for some reason, I can barely remember anything else about it!

For that matter there used to be loads of midweek dos in London in that era - loads of assorted memories. Venues I remember were White Lion (?) Putney -that was always outstanding; Drummonds (opposite Euston Station where we all used to cross the road to get to 'Buzzard' from afterwards...lol!); Angels Snooker Club (near Chapel Market - later became The Paradise Club);  Alexandria (?) was it called, in Clapham? - that used to be on every fortnight and was excellent. There was somewhere on Edgware Road in later 80s called, I think, Jo's Winebar where you had to run the gauntlet of feral West London kids outside to hear Clarkie, Simon Dunmore, Bob Jones, etc play top notch modern. Plus loads and loads of one off nights..

Can anyone fill in details? All a bit sketchy but I do remember a very vibrant, progressive and across the board scene in those days which sadly, seemed to die off quite rapidly by mid 90s...

Any others or recollections?

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2018 by JoeSoap

[manus]

I remember a lot of those places as I was living in London at the time I remember upstairs in the White Lion , Putney and likewise the Alexandria in Clapham. Was the place on the Edgeware Road downstairs and they played a bit of deep early on ? There seemed to be a lot of one off nights around the EC run by the same crowd of Ian Clark etc. I remember Alex Lowes ( Up North , Southport ) coming down to do a spot at one over in the EC area. I thought it was a great time for Soul music in terms of opening up boundaries as to what could be played.

[binsy]

Spot on Manus, very healthy scene then. From great Northern to deep soul and crossover if it was quality it got played. Decent numbers and great characters. A real golden age!

[Tony Smith]

Myself and Ion ran quite a lot of nights at various venues around central London mid to late 80's  including: Sols Arms, Penny Black, Metropolitan, and several more I cant remember!!

[soulster22]

As I recall Jon Buck used to run the Drummonds night on Euston road, upstairs in the pub which later became O'Neills if my memory serves me right. great times .

 

regards H

[Geeselad]

Think I went to the met once or twice, Putney a few time but the Alex in Clapham was the best, a regular haunt, around 87/88.

[Chalky]

If anyone has any 80s flyers they don’t want I will gladly take them. 

[Mickey Finn]

I remember Norman Jay's Original Rare Groove Show at the Bass Clef on Monday nights:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dying-note-of-a-10-year-jam-session-hoxton-became-a-mecca-for-jazz-fans-when-peter-ind-opened-the-1435496.html 

[Mickey Finn]

Must admit when I saw the subject heading I thought immediately of these:

 

[Guest Spain pete]

Seem to recall the global village at charing cross , think Norman jay use to play there on a Friday / Saturday night  was on 3 floors , might be the lyceum ballroom , but its  all a bit patchy ( wonder why ?)  😱🎶

[Hammersoul]

I went to the Metropolitan Club in Farringdon,if memory serves it used to be  next to Yo Sushi in Farringdon rd,now flats. They had all sort of nights,latin,Rare groove,Soul and Jazz. We had many a drunken night in there. Also did the ,The Bush,Sols Arms,St Giles and,The Notre Dame in Leicester Sq early 80`s,they were Mod nights. Late 80`s did a few Of Clarkie`s do`s,rememeber heading over West to Shepherds Bush/Barons Court way for a night out once. Even in the 90`s there was plenty still going on. Sadly London isn`t the City we all grew up in any more  

[Amsterdam Russ]

Some flyers for you...

[Amsterdam Russ]

And some more...

 

[Geeselad]

6 hours ago, chalky said:

If anyone has any 80s flyers they don’t want I will gladly take them. 

I'm sure I have some bits somewhere chalky, when I see them again I'll pass them on. 

[Markw]

Notre Dame nights early 80s were great - what a venue.

[Seano]

13 minutes ago, markw said:

Notre Dame nights early 80s were great - what a venue.

Loved Notre Dame, as you say, great venue and it felt like a weird secret, bang in the middle of London.

 

[Dylan]

Did the late 80s scene suffer as a result of acid house or did it stay the same in numbers attending ?

[Soul Shrews]

8 hours ago, Tony Smith said:

Myself and Ion ran quite a lot of nights at various venues around central London mid to late 80's  including: Sols Arms, Penny Black, Metropolitan, and several more I cant remember!!

Carved Red Lion ? Islington Essex Rd/Islington Green Tony ?

Cheers Paul

[Guest Spain pete]

Sure Eddie pillar use to do the water rats  , great venue .good ale . 👌

2 hours ago, Russell Gilbert said:

And some more...

 

 

[Karl s]

Clarkie did the function at the junction in clapham junction if i remember 

a great night on a friday i think

and ady did one downstairs in a club back of oxford street on  week day 

a rockabilly night was there also on sat nights good as well 

the greyhound on fulham palace road on a Sunday night roger stewart and keb spun tunes there

 The dirt box holloway rd??

the scala kings cross

 

 

[Chalky]

3 hours ago, geeselad said:

I'm sure I have some bits somewhere chalky, when I see them again I'll pass them on. 

cheers mate, appreciated

 

[Karl s]

Comedy club Covent garden with the cammo jeep 

then lets not forget the northern night at at heaven 😳😳

pretty good a one off if my muddled memory serves me right

not a massive turn out but interesting

[Ljblanken]

5 hours ago, Russell Gilbert said:

And some more...

 

What are "greens"? (no greens no jeans) Are they an affront to "smart dress"?

[Mark Bicknell]

Many good gigs in London throughout the 80's, I did several nights for Ian Clark in Clapham, Jon Buck run some great nights in Euston, who remembers the Scala Allnighters in Kings Cross now they were class gigs, London was a hot bed for sure, recently played the Water Rats Reunion after 25 years which was a blast.

[Amsterdam Russ]

2 hours ago, Karl s said:

 

and ady did one downstairs in a club back of oxford street on  week day 

 

the scala kings cross

 

 

The one behind Oxford Street was the Phoenix. 

The Scala - I was at a couple of those. And @soul shrews DJd there, if I'm not mistaken.

 

Edited February 9, 2018 by Russell Gilbert
typo

[Amsterdam Russ]

1 hour ago, ljblanken said:

What are "greens"? (no greens no jeans) Are they an affront to "smart dress"?

Combat trousers - from the days when the scooter crowd lost all sense of style and went all Army surplus. 

[Geeselad]

5 hours ago, dylan said:

Did the late 80s scene suffer as a result of acid house or did it stay the same in numbers attending ?

Well I can remember seeing Dave carne at Keele, and sheepishly walking over and him saying where you been? Me saying the hacienda, and Dave replying with not another one, or some similar derisory remark. This would be late 89.

I know I saw lots of familiar faces at places like introspective, and shell'ys in stoke, legends in Warrington, sequins in Blackpool and of course the hacienda. The guys who introduced me to house had all been to the casino. I think for a lot of people in their  late teens on the scene, who had missed the casino and even totw,  it was pretty irresistible. 

[Dylan]

6 hours ago, geeselad said:

11 hours ago, dylan said:

Did the late 80s scene suffer as a result of acid house or did it stay the same in numbers attending ?

Well I can remember seeing Dave carne at Keele, and sheepishly walking over and him saying where you been? Me saying the hacienda, and Dave replying with not another one, or some similar derisory remark. This would be late 89.

I know I saw lots of familiar faces at places like introspective, and shell'ys in stoke, legends in Warrington, sequins in Blackpool and of course the hacienda. The guys who introduced me to house had all been to the casino. I think for a lot of people in their  late teens on the scene, who had missed the casino and even totw,  it was pretty irresistible. 

Yes that makes sense.  I was too young for those places in late 80s but knew older lads who went and it did sound pretty wild. 

[Dylan]

9 hours ago, Russell Gilbert said:

Combat trousers - from the days when the scooter crowd lost all sense of style and went all Army surplus. 

At least we don’t have silly dress codes now a days.

 

they never really achieved anything imo.

 

a place with a dress code now is far less likely to keep out the idiots than one without.

[Tony Smith]

14 hours ago, soul shrews said:

Carved Red Lion ? Islington Essex Rd/Islington Green Tony ?

Cheers Paul

Yes mate, though I did that pretty much by myself 

[Amsterdam Russ]

The Rosemary Branch is another one I remember. Mr E’s as well. 

Thinking back, it really was a case of there being at least one night on a week. 

[Geeselad]

Anyone got any old echoes? It was like a bible in terms of what was on at the time. 

[binsy]

2 hours ago, Tony Smith said:

Yes mate, though I did that pretty much by myself 

Ahem!  Paul, me and Matt or Ion

[Ian Stacey]

15 hours ago, Karl s said:

Clarkie did the function at the junction in clapham junction if i remember 

a great night on a friday i think

and ady did one downstairs in a club back of oxford street on  week day 

a rockabilly night was there also on sat nights good as well 

the greyhound on fulham palace road on a Sunday night roger stewart and keb spun tunes there

 The dirt box holloway rd??

the scala kings cross

 

 

  The dirt box   Ian whittington was the dj there writer for black echoes as well,  did some great articles in there inthe early eighties

[Guest Polyvelts]

On 09/02/2018 at 09:24, binsy said:

Spot on Manus, very healthy scene then. From great Northern to deep soul and crossover if it was quality it got played. Decent numbers and great characters. A real golden age!

Not forgetting the Happy Soul Club Mark ,

best

Rob

[Chris Turnbull]

18 hours ago, Hammersoul said:

Sadly London isn`t the City we all grew up in any more  

 Tell us more about that

[jimmy clitheroe]

Remember going to some great nights at Dingwalls Camden in the late 80’s👍

[Karl s]

Remember going to a keb doo in the royal college of art on kensington gore A few of us west london soulies  in attendance but the art students were a bit baffled and were piss heads mainly , it was good night and only 15 mins from home in chiswick 

sensible soul club was another place cant remember too much about it though great flyer of a dude supporting his torso on his hands only still got it somewhere

didnt craig and chris brick do somewhere to do with Demob think baz riley and roger stewart were involved 

 

[Geeselad]

The Alex in Clapham, along with the bear in Stoke, defined what great soul night should be, at that time. The only place that's come close is different strokes. 

[Hammersoul]

3 hours ago, Chris Turnbull said:

 Tell us more about that

Where do i start, now London is filling up with Rich/Dodgy/ Foreign investors who don`t care for what  London was or for  it`s history,Local people etc.  Working class people now being forced out due to high rents,lack of affordable housing etc . This in turn means pubs,clubs nearby these new developments having to turn the music down to silly levels/stop having Music events on.  It`s the old N.i.m.b.y. mob in full force again. The amount of Events i`ve been to last 10 years where there have had hassle from residents re the music. Never used to be like this. Call me old fashioned but if you move into Shoreditch next to clubs and pubs ,don`t expect silence all night. That`s why they were cheap digs back in the 90`s. Don`t help the council`s are so Soviet style now on clubs and pubs, there won`t be many left in 10 years time in London. 

[Guest Spain pete]

Filling up. it's full up , been like it for a long time now, totally lost it's identity. 🙅👎

15 minutes ago, Hammersoul said:

Where do i start, now London is filling up with Rich/Dodgy/ Foreign investors who don`t care for what  London was or for  it`s history,Local people etc.  Working class people now being forced out due to high rents,lack of affordable housing etc . This in turn means pubs,clubs nearby these new developments having to turn the music down to silly levels/stop having Music events on.  It`s the old N.i.m.b.y. mob in full force again. The amount of Events i`ve been to last 10 years where there have had hassle from residents re the music. Never used to be like this. Call me old fashioned but if you move into Shoreditch next to clubs and pubs ,don`t expect silence all night. That`s why they were cheap digs back in the 90`s. Don`t help the council`s are so Soviet style now on clubs and pubs, there won`t be many left in 10 years time in London. 

 

[binsy]

7 hours ago, polyvelts said:

Not forgetting the Happy Soul Club Mark ,

best

Rob

Wearing the VIP membership tshirt as we speak 

Edited February 10, 2018 by binsy

[Tony Smith]

9 hours ago, binsy said:

Ahem!  Paul, me and Matt or Ion

Yes I ran it, you Guys were my regular guests, Paul used to ring me me saying he was sick then go to the Phoenix, Gene R also was a regular guest DJ

[Tony Smith]

10 hours ago, Russell Gilbert said:

The Rosemary Branch is another one I remember. Mr E’s as well. 

Thinking back, it really was a case of there being at least one night on a week. 

Keb did the Rosemary Branch also one further down Southgate Road

[Hammersoul]

1 hour ago, Spain pete said:

Filling up. it's full up , been like it for a long time now, totally lost it's identity. 🙅👎

 

Rarely hear a Cockney accent in the West End and surrounding area now. I get  told this time and time again  this from people overseas and from Up North.

 

 

Anyway on a more positive note, anybody do the Mildmay Tavern in Highbury/Islington area .

Edited February 10, 2018 by Hammersoul

[Guest Polyvelts]

27 minutes ago, binsy said:

Wearing the VIP membership tshirt as we speak 

Ha ha Good man !

[Hammersoul]

5 minutes ago, Tony Smith said:

Keb did the Rosemary Branch also one further down Southgate Road

Re the Rosemary Branch, the old  manager  of Hobgoblin pub White Lion St  where we did the Filthy Soul All dayers is now running that pub . He`s open for people to put on Soul nights there. Worth a visit,he`s a good guy to deal with. 

[Tony Smith]

14 minutes ago, Hammersoul said:

Re the Rosemary Branch, the old  manager  of Hobgoblin pub White Lion St  where we did the Filthy Soul All dayers is now running that pub . He`s open for people to put on Soul nights there. Worth a visit,he`s a good guy to deal with. 

The “ones” or the “twos”?

[Tony Smith]

22 minutes ago, Hammersoul said:

Rarely hear a Cockney accent in the West End and surrounding area now. I get  told this time and time again  this from people overseas and from Up North.

 

 

Anyway on a more positive note, anybody do the Mildmay Tavern in Highbury/Islington area .

Yes I did and the last 3 reunion dos

[Hammersoul]

I went to one last a while back  with Hursty.It may have been the first one.You was djing Tony,it was New North rd.