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clubs + bars : our favourites
DJ Lord Ant B's Top 5 Disco Inferno
By 1980 disco had become the dirtiest of dirty words.
The only inferno it generated was a toxic conflagration caused by a pile
of disco records (approximately 40,000 of them in fact) that US DJ Steve
Dahl – the principal proponent of the “disco sucks”
movement had set fire to the year before in the Chicago White Sox baseball
ground. Anti disco riots followed. At its zenith though, the disco phenomenon,
intensified by John Travolta’s performance in the epoch-making Saturday
Night Fever, was an intoxicating antidote to the grim reality of
life in the 1970s when war, political scandal, recession and economic
hardship gripped America. Twenty five years on, in the UK, disco lives
on and new styles such as Acid disco, Italo disco, euro disco, etc, have
developed, although for a majority it will always be symbolised by ill
fitting flared white polyester suits, ‘man’ sized medallions,
that pointed silhouette pose and super cheesy tunes. So c’mon lets
‘do the hustle’.
And Did We Mention Our Disco? @ Plastic
People, 147 Curtain Road, EC2 / Every Fri, 10.30pm - 3.30am / £7
Yes we did, and no it’s not another night throwing up Rolls Royce
and Sister Sledge, but more like sonic anarchy with a touch of post punk,
glitch funk, hip-hop, leftfield house, R&B, dirty electro and mutant
acid disco. Rory Phillips from Trash, Denboy Odell and Glyn are your hosts.
You Should Be Dancing!
Death Disco @ Notting Hill Arts Club,
21 Notting Hill Gate, W11 / Every Wed, 9pm - 1am / £5
Death Disco is described as an open psychedelic love letter to music.
A return to the valley of the dolls. The history of Death Disco is that
there is no history. Death Disco is an international freak-out dancing
on the graves of the super clubs brought to you by Pop tones svengali
Alan McGee. Whacked out fuzzed up punk rock. Hands in the air hedonism.
Teenage Terror School Disco. Rioting in the streets. Sonic psychosis.
Drunk kids. Rave kids. Messed up kids. There are only three rules to Death
Disco:
Rule 1 - You don’t talk about Death Disco
Rule 2 - You don’t talk about Death Disco
Rule 3 - There are no rules
Death Disco is also a track by Public Image Ltd (with John Lydon the former
front man).
Staying Alive!
Roller Disco @ Canvas, King's Cross Freight
Depot, off York Way, N1 / Every Thu, 8pm - 12am & Fri 7pm -3am / £10
(including skates) and £7 (with own skates)
Back in 1980 roller discos were all the rage, and London's Premiere hot
spot was the Hammersmith Odeon. Veteran club promoter Tony Askew has over
recent years resurrected the craze at Canvas. So popular with beginners
and pros alike it has gone bi-weekly. The last time I went down I spent
most of the time spinning on my sweet disco ass but it's still a good
excuse to dig out your fluorescent neon pink leg warmers, green plastic
visor (Bognor Regis circa 1982) and get your skates on!
Boogie Shoes!
School Disco.com @ Hammersmith Palais,
242 Shepherd's Bush Road, W6 / Every Sat, 10pm - 3am / £15
Some people say that school days are the best days of your life (I'm not
so sure about that). School Disco does exactly what it does on the tin!
Music wise, expect your typical School Disco soundtrack running right
across the black board with less of your ‘Kum by Ya my Lord' and
more '70s, '80s and '90s pop, rock and disco. Break dancing, snogging
to slow songs and smoking behind the bike sheds are actively encouraged.
I remember attending one of the first ones some years ago when they originally
held it in an old school in Vauxhall. Six years on it has become an almighty
club juggernaut with no sign of stopping. Dress code: Compulsory school
uniform.
Night Fever!
Ultimo Disco @ AKA Bar, 16a West Central
Street, WC1 / Every fourth Thu of the month, 9pm – 3am / Free before
10pm, £5 after
Discomatic dancefloor sounds from the European underground. Having first
appeared on clubland’s radar in November 2003, Nodisko has established
itself as one of the capital’s most exciting and downright daring
little discos. What started as an outlet for long-time promoter/DJ Zak
Frost and new kid on the block Magic Jase to play the new electro-charged
‘post-house’ sounds and lost classics they loved, has become
a secretive London institution, an intimate, workout, built on word-of-mouth,
rather than hype, alone. They’ve also pulled in some of the most
exciting DJs from the UK and beyond: Cosmo, Headman, Bjørn Torske,
G-HA, Dax DJ, Guglielmo Mascio, Richard Sen, The Rev. Milo Speedwagon,
Pete Herbert and The Zookeepers have all graced the club’s decks,
spinning alternative sets of glossy eighties Italo, forgotten disco from
outer space, electronic punk, dub and European electro-house – a
revolt against the dull deep house and Latin sounds.
Night On Disco Mountain!
Make Mine a Pint of: Disco Fizz
Ingredients:
0.5 shot of De Kuyper Blue Curacao
Champagne
1 shot pineapple juice
0.5 shot elder flower cordial
Disco ‘light up’ dance floor
Method:
Pour all the ingredients into a pint glass and top up with champagne.
Gulp it all down in one, get on the floor and look real SEXY!
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