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Leigh Bowery at Taboo
 Early in january 1985, Leigh was approached by Tony Gordon to open a nightclub with him. Tony had tried run some nightclubs before but they werent very successful. He wanted to open a club but he knew that he did not have enough clout on his own to make a go of it, so he enlisted the help of Leigh who would be the public face of the club. Leigh was very excited by Tony Proposition because it seemed to tie exactly with what the had been thinking about.
Tony had discoverd a small nighclub in Leicester Square. It hadnt'been used for a fashionable nighclub before and it seemed the ideal premises. It was cnetrally situated, and it was exaclty the right size - not too big,but not pokey. It also had extremely and perfectly tacky decor. There was an a entreance lobby, then a flight of stairs down to the cloakroom and toilets. When you entered the club it had everything you could want from a disco. Tatty red velour banquettes, mirrors everywhere, strange light effects on the walls, three bars and a centrar dance floor with several sheap lights and a mirror ball
The opening night was set for 31 January. Leigh was very excited and as neigher he not Tony had any money to get flyers printed, Leigh decided to make them himself. He cut out photos of naked men from his vast supply of pornographic magazines, stuck them on to bits of card, then stencilled Taboo over the top in gold paint They had picked the name Taboo because it epittomized everything that Leigh loved. On the back of the card he printed the time and place useing a john bull printing set. He distributed these to his friends at many clubs he attende before the opening night
Mark Lawrence, Jefferey Hinton, and Raquel Auburn were the DJs. Mark Vautier was chosen to the door. He had a very extreme look and was fond of wearing cheap, woollen wigs teamed with Leigh's garish clothes, which because he was tall and thin always seemed to hang off him. He was thrilled to be on the London club circuit which was veryt different rom his background as the son a high-ranking army officer.Princess Julia and Malcolm Duffy worked in the cloakroom and were allowed to keep all the money they mad, often going home with about fifty pounds each, the only problem being that it was all in fifty pence pieces. both went on to be very successful DJs.
Leigh' idea, naturally, was to make it the place to be seen. The policy ws simple 'Dressas though your life depends on it, or dont bother. We'l only let in fabulous over-the-top dresse as and stars. We can sniff out phonies and weekend trendies a mile away' .
Before the opening night Leigh' excitement reached fever pitch. He was constantly on the phone telling me the latest developments and who promised to come down.
By the accounts the first night ws quite a success and although not incredibly full, the trash disco music being played was very popular and everyone got down and boogied.
The quest was incredibly long. I typed it up for Leigh and every week we used to putin joke names just so the bouncers got excited because they really thought that DesOÇonnor or Joan Collins might come down. It would not have been that surprising if they had because it soon became a big celebrity hang-out. I would look up and see Boy George, Bryan Ferry, Paul Young, or George Michael waitting to come in..
Sue Tilley - "The Life And Times Of An Icon"
Creation date : 19/01/2007 @ 15:45
Last update : 19/01/2007 @ 15:45
Category : Taboo - The Club
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