The long awaited trial of Metropolis boss Steve Martin took place at Southwark Crown Court early in August and resulted in a not guilty verdict after 2 days of jury deliberations. Much to my surprise and relief it did not attract a media circus.
Axe girl Lara Clifton´s book on the London strip pub scene “Baby oil and Ice ” was published towards the end of the month. It´s only available in hardback at present at a wallet bruising £25 in the shops but it is lavishly illustrated and has lots of interesting quotes from dancers and punters. It captures the atmosphere of several of the pubs brilliantly though there is not much in the way of narrative. However if you go by mail order direct to the publishers it´s available for a bargain £19.99 in including UK post to readers of this column. The address is.
The Do Not Press
Dept { BO/TYKE}
16 The Woodlands
London
SE13 6TY
Tel 020 8698 7833
Cheques payable to ” The Do Not Press ”
August also saw the publication of the first UK magazine devoted to the strip scene called ” Pole Position “. It´s subscription only at the moment { tel 01902 371896 } and seems to concentrate mainly on the rapidly growing table dancing club sector. It is based in Wolverhampton which is not a place normally associated with high class adult {or indeed any!} entertainment but it covers the national scene. It has a web site www.polepositionmag.comthough this was still under construction the last time I looked. I have also been told that the magazine will feature in a Sky 1 programme on September 1st.
Rather like London buses once you get one magazine another comes along almost immediately. Another magazine called ” Showgirls” is being started up, currently it´s an Internet only newsletter based in http://www.icon-net.co.uk/showgirls/index.htm but it is intended to move to a full printed magazine in the near future.
The owners of the Venus club {www.venuslapdancing.co.uk} near Smithfield meat market have apparently opened London´s first topless restaurant called ” Honkers ” nearby on the Clerkenwell road. It is reported that they are looking to get a license for full nudity though I don´t know if this is as part of a conventional stage strip show or with the intention of introducing the novel concept of full frontal food to the UK.
Australian Chanta Rose {see www.chantarose.co.uk} has been a regular on the UK strip pub circuit for several years {Rainbow, Browns, Axe} now but is moving to the US and so made her final strip appearance in the UK on the 9th of the month.
I hear that striptease has at last reached the spiritual capital for the unreconstructed Essex man the famous town of Romford. I used to live near there and I was always surprised nobody ever tried this 20 odd years ago. One of the town centre pubs/clubs Trax {formerly a railway terminus and now mainly a music venue} opposite the current railway station has started putting girls on to liven up Friday nights.
The ” Operation Barbarosa ” style invasion of the UK by Spearmint Rhino continues at some pace. As reported last month Spearmint will be opening it´s 5th Greater London club in Vauxhall as soon as premises can be converted and there are now strong rumours that a 6th club will shortly be opening in Greenwich. The story goes that Spearmint have already acquired the premises {one of 30 they have reportedly identified in phase 1 of the campaign} and will be making a license application in the next few weeks. They see a market for at least 15 branches in Greater London eventually so expect some further announcements. August also saw the opening of what has been called ” the largest lap dancing club in the world ” right in the centre of Birmingham {the companies existing Hagley Rd site will remain open at least for the moment}. Whether this new monster will take over as Spearmint´s UK flagship from the established Tottenham Court Rd site remains to be seen.
The Metropolitan Police´s strange obsession with Spearmint´s Tottenham Court Rd premises continued with more expensive undercover operations to find trivial breaches of the various arbitrary council rules. You would have thought with London´s current drug inspired violent crime wave that scarce Police undercover time could be spent in better ways than in enforcing the 3ft rule. It could be though that the Police officers themselves find the prospect of a few hours overtime in Spearmint rather more appealing than say a drug bust in Brixton!
It has been reported in the financial press that SFI Plc is close to finally completing the sale of the FYEO chain but as separate clubs and not as a complete chain of 5 as originally intended. The attempt to sell the chain to financial institutions failed reportedly due to worries in the city about getting involved with nude entertainment. The sale as 5 separate clubs {2 in Greater London} was presumably easier to fund. Whether they will retain the current name or be taken over by other chains is not yet known.
On the pub scene stripper Julie K successfully sued controversial agent Alistair Watts for continually cancelling her bookings at the White Horse in High Wycombe for no good reason. Maybe along with the Majingo´s contracts as reported last month this may mark the start of a trend towards fairer treatment for dancers. Not before time in my view.
After a false start in May it appears that Lisa Anderson {Miss Shoreditch 2001} is back working at Browns on a regular basis.
Tyke
Author: Saxon
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