In the UK a new licensing system for pubs and clubs is being introduced to enable 24 hour opening and remove the last vestiges of the old licensing laws introduced to stop ammunition workers getting too drunk in WW1.
A side effect of this is that the new licenses include everything in one {alcohol, music, dancing, and nudity} and this will make it much more difficult for a council to turn down a new strip venue. This could have a dramatic effect in places like say Manchester where the council has opposed all new venues and put petty restrictions on those that are open. Watch this space !
The documentary on Jo King´s strip school filmed in the East End as reported in the November column is to appear on Wednesday 5th of March at 11pm on channel 5.
News has reached me of the first ever table dancing venue in solidly middle class Twickenham home of the mighty England Rugby Union team. Richmond council has granted a license to convert an existing nightclub called the Zen lounge {as reported in October´s column} into ” Heaven ” a 90 capacity table dancing club due to open early in the Spring in Kings Street Parade.
The long established { it´s had strippers now for 21 years}White Horse of High Wycombe introduced table dancing in addition to the normal strip shows as of the end of January. It´s now open at lunchtime on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, the 3 girl Friday show runs until 5.45, earlier in the week it stops earlier.
The ex Stringfellow dancer Lucy Carr´s single ” Missing You ” as reported last month reached a high of number 28 according to the chart I saw. A follow up single called ” This is good bye ” is scheduled to be released on the 5th of May.
Top UK model and one of the most popular private show dancers sexy Lynda Leigh has announced that she will be retiring from the scene after she gets married later in the year.
Possibly the best regular private shows { featuring a number of well known models and top London dancers including Miss Leigh} in London have been run by Full Service { see www.fullservice.co.uk } in a variety of Central London locations over the last few years. As of March these are to be run in a much enlarged and refurbished venue with a number of new features {including a range of fantasy rooms}now called ” Club Wicked “. From March events will happen twice a month { the 1st and 3rd Tuesday nights } as opposed to once and are to be renamed ” Decadence @ Club Wicked ” . As a regular attendee of the old shows I am very much looking forward to the new ones, contact details are on the web site.
Although the printed magazine seemed to have ended after 2 issues Pole Position launched it´s web site in February { see www.polepositionmag.com }, it seems more printed versions will emerge soon.
The Miss Shoreditch poll on London strip ended with a convincing win for Carla a Brazilian girl who worked last year mainly at the currently closed Platinum Bar { apparently she can currently be seen at the dreaded Flying Scotsman }. Runner up was Rainbow´s Tabs closely followed by Shannon Brown´s top scorer. Last year´s winner Varona qualified for the final again { 4th time on the trot, the only girl to manage this} but did not feature as a potential winner in the end.
Long time top Rainbow girl and model Danielle {also a finalist in Miss Shoreditch} has a new web site { www.desevilla.co.uk }.
Talking of Rainbow there is a rumour that boss Mervyn Thomas wishes to sell the Rainbow Sports Bar in Shoreditch High Street. This is my least favourite strip bar in London but it is financially successful and has a full nude license so it must be quite a valuable proposition.
Legs 11 Birmingham´s oldest club has joined forces with an organisation called Platinium to offer table dancing lessons to prospective dancers starting in March .This is as far as I know the first provincial alternative to the FYEO and Jo King courses in London.
The growth of clubs outside London continues at some speed with the first club in Plymouth { Temptations} opening , Bristol now has no less than 4 clubs { it had none 9 months ago} though the first club Club Crème only got a full nude license in October 2002. In homely Bury { home of the black pudding} a non nude { can´t really see this idea catching on !} pole dancing club called ” The Office” has already opened but local councillors are trying to resist a 2nd more conventional place called the Bar Juice from terrifying the locals with bare female breasts ! Chesterfield { not a place exactly noted as being on the forefront of trends}has a restaurant called Buddy´s now doing pole dancing 3 nights a week. Spearmint Rhino are expecting to open further clubs in Edinburgh, Nottingham, Cardiff, and Dublin during 2003.
January is traditionally the worst month of the year for pubs and clubs and the word on the streets of London is that business has been very poor since Christmas. The large scale job losses in the City are the main reasons given for this. Possibly as a result of this Spearmint´s Vauxhall club is now not expected to open until May, and this may also account for the long delay in opening of Secret´s 5th club near St Katherine´s Dock.
Tyke
Author: Saxon
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