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Club/bar casualty

VIP at The Dive Bar / Gerrard St, W1 (Beneath The Kings Head Pub, on the corner of China Town) / Free
On Saturday 14 February 2004 The Dive Bar sadly closed and a chapter of Soho's cultural life came to an abrupt end. The bar opened 47 years ago but unfortunately the lease came to an end. In the 50s and 60s jazz stars who were playing at the Whisky A-Go-Go or Ronnie Scotts would play with the house band and it was at the heart of the skiffle boom. Rock wrinkly Rod Stewart was also once a regular as well as all the Wag crowd. Andy Bell from Erasure was a barman for many years.

Its other claim to fame was that it was immortalised by none other than the Petshop Boys who name checked it on their single Westend Girls (as featured on the londonlostandfound sound track CD volume 1 which can be obtained by writing to londonlostandfound, PO Box 43632, London, SE22 8XN).

The fondest memory for me was leaping up on stage and performing an impromptu and probably inappropriate break dance routine with Boney M! Many of their nites have been relocated to Studio 33, in Vauxhall including Peach. Or why not read about other alternative drinking dens?

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