Blitzed – 2020
Out of one small London venue called The Blitz came a generation of outrageous teenagers, working class and art school kids, who would define the look, the sound, the style and the attitude of the ’80s and beyond. This is their story.
Steve Strange and Rusty Egan co-hosted these exclusive nights without giving them a name, according to Strange’s autobiography, and publicised them solely by word of mouth. An emphasis on style was ensured by enforcing a strict dress code at the door. Crucially, the Blitz lay between two art colleges (St Martin’s School and Central School) and it became a testbed for student fashion designers who set London ablaze during the 1980s.
The Blitz began making headlines thanks to its patrons outrageous styles of clothes and make-up for both sexes,[3] subsequently documented by Gary Kemp in his 2009 first-person book, I Know This Much, and by Graham Smith and Chris Sullivan in their 2011 book We Can Be Heroes: London Clubland 1976-1984.
Other core attendees included Boy George, Marilyn, Alice Temple, Perri Lister, Princess Julia, Philip Sallon and Martin Degville (later to be the frontman of Tony James‘ Sigue Sigue Sputnik), Siobhan Fahey (later a member of Bananarama), Biddie and Eve (long-standing cabaret act at the Blitz as wine bar), Perry Haines (who became co-editor of the earliest issues of i-D magazine) and Chris Sullivan (who founded and ran the Wag club in Soho for 19 years).
The team of Strange as greeter and Egan as DJ came together at Billy’s nightclub in Soho in autumn 1978, when the post-punk generation found themselves bored with the whole nihilist punk genre, as Smith and Sullivan record. Strange and Egan introduced regular Roxy Music and David Bowie nights at Billy’s and, in an effort to find something new and colourful, the denizens took to wearing bizarre home-made costumes and clothing and emphatic make-up, presenting a highly androgynous appearance.
Cast
David Bowie – Self(archive footage)
Boy George – Self
Michele Clapton – Self
Culture Club – Themselves(archive footage)
Steve Dagger – Self
Fiona Dealey – Self
Rusty Egan – Self
Robert Elms – Self
Bryan Ferry – Self(archive footage)
Darla Jane Gilroy – Self
Mick Jagger – Self(archive footage)
Dylan Jones – Self
Stephen Jones – Self
Princess Julia – Self
Gary Kemp – Self
Marilyn – Self
Arthur Miller – Self (archive footage)
Marilyn Monroe – Self (archive footage)
Directors – Bruce Ashley and Michael Donald
On Disc at Amazon Here
Blitzed – 2020
Blitzed – 2020, Blitzed, Gay Movies, Gay Cinema, Queer Movies, Gaymen, Blitz Night Club, London 1980s, Gay Club, David Bowie, Boy George, Michele Clapton, Culture Club, Steve Dagger, Fiona Dealey, Rusty Egan, Robert Elms, Bryan Ferry, Darla Jane Gilroy, Mick Jagger, Dylan Jones, Stephen Jones, Princess Julia, Gary Kemp, Marilyn, Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe
