88-498: Brewer Street is a street in the Soho area of central London , running for about 350 metres west to east from Glasshouse Street to Wardour Street . The street was developed in the late 17th century by the landowner Sir William Pulteney. It first appears on a map of 1664, and was built up over the following decades from east to west. The street is named after two breweries, Ayres's and Davis's (both demolished), which stood from 1674 at
176-490: A "nude entertainment" venue until 1981. The upstairs became known as the Boulevard Theatre and in 1980 was adopted as a comedy club called " The Comic Strip " by a small group of alternative comedians including Rik Mayall , Dawn French , Jennifer Saunders , Alexei Sayle and Adrian Edmondson , before they found wider recognition with the series The Comic Strip Presents on Channel 4 . The name and control of
264-522: A cabaret club managed for a short duration by Debbie Raymond, Paul Raymond's daughter. A period as a television studio followed – the Sky television programme Jameson Tonight was produced in the studio. In 1989, Big Bang performed their Arabic Circus Tour at the Windmill Theatre. In 1994, the former theatre part of the building was leased to Oscar Owide as a Wild West venue which became after
352-480: A century after the name was first used for this area of London. The Soho name has been reused by other entertainment and restaurant districts such as SoHo, Hong Kong , which derives its name from being located south of Hollywood Road , and the cultural and commercial area of Soho in Málaga , Spain. The New York City neighbourhood of SoHo, Manhattan , gets its name from its location south of Houston Street , but
440-673: A cinema in 1964. Many prominent British comedians of the post-war years started their careers at the theatre. Great Windmill Street took its name from a windmill that stood there from the reign of King Charles II until the late 18th century. In 1909 a cinema, the Palais de Luxe, opened on the site. It stood on the corner of a block of buildings that included the Apollo and Lyric theatres, where Archer Street joined Great Windmill Street, just off Shaftesbury Avenue . The building complex incorporates Piccadilly Buildings, an 1897 building which housed
528-572: A drugs raid. The Harmony Inn was a hang-out for musicians on Archer Street operating during the 1940s and 1950s. The Ken Colyer Band's 51 Club, a venue for traditional jazz , opened on Great Newport Street in 1951. Blues guitarist and harmonica player Cyril Davies and guitarist Bob Watson launched the London Skiffle Centre, London's first skiffle club, on the first floor of the Roundhouse pub on Wardour Street in 1952. It
616-470: A façade of terracotta and coloured brick designed by Aston Webb . A significant event in the history of epidemiology and public health was John Snow 's study of an 1854 outbreak of cholera in Soho. He identified the cause of the outbreak as water from the public pump at the junction of Broad Street (now Broadwick Street ) and Cambridge Street (now Lexington Street), close to the rear wall of what
704-505: A huge commercial success, and the Windmill girls took their show on tour to other London and provincial theatres and music halls . The Piccadilly and Pavilion theatres copied the format and ran non-stop shows, reducing the Windmill's attendance. Van Damm produced a series of nude tableaux vivants based on themes such as Annie Oakley , mermaids , American Indians , and Britannia . Typically, nude performers would assemble onstage with
792-465: A new parish of St Anne was established for it. The parish stretched from Oxford Street in the north to Leicester Square in the south and from what is now Charing Cross Road in the east to Wardour Street in the west; it therefore included all of contemporary eastern Soho, including the Chinatown area. The western portion of modern Soho, around Carnaby Street, was part of the parish of St James , which
880-596: A seedier place. The Soho neighbourhood of the 1930s and 1940s had been a respectable place filled with shops and family restaurants. The Revudeville shows ran from 1932 to 1964, until the Windmill officially closed on 31 October 1964. The theatre then changed hands and became the Windmill Cinema (with a casino incorporated in the building), having been bought by the Compton Cinema Group run by Michael Klinger and Tony Tenser . On 2 November 1964,
968-628: A short time an erotic table-dancing club called The Windmill International, run by Oscar Owide and his son Daniel. Until 2009, the Paul Raymond Organisation occupied the Piccadilly Buildings section of the building as their offices. A "gas or electricity explosion" occurred in the male toilets of the Windmill Club on 3 March 2017, causing damage to the adjacent pavement, and leading to a brief evacuation of
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#17327660915691056-526: A small area around Berwick Street. Much of the business has been reported to have been run by Albanian gangs. By the end of 2014, gentrification and competition from the internet had reduced the number of flats in Soho used for prostitution (see Soho walk-up ), but the area remains a red-light district and a centre of the sex industry in London. The National Hospital for Diseases of the Heart and Paralysis
1144-516: A small mosque on Berwick Street. The French Protestant Church of London , the only one of its kind in the city and constructed in the Flemish Gothic style, has been at Nos. 8–9 Soho Square since 1893. The music scene in Soho can be traced back to 1948 and Club Eleven , generally regarded as the first venue where modern jazz, or bebop , was performed in the UK. It closed in 1950 following
1232-590: A small remnant of sex industry venues. London's gay community is centred on Old Compton Street in Soho. Soho's reputation as a major entertainment district of London stems from theatres such as the Windmill Theatre on Great Windmill Street and the Raymond Revuebar owned by entrepreneur Paul Raymond , and music clubs such as the 2i's Coffee Bar and the Marquee Club . Trident Studios
1320-404: A statue made of stone or bronze. Later, movement was introduced in the form of the fan dance , where a naked dancing girl's body was concealed by fans held by herself and four female attendants. At the end of the act the girl would stand stock still, and her attendants would remove the concealing fans to reveal her nudity. The girl would then hold the pose for about ten seconds before the close of
1408-594: A theatre was short and unprofitable, and it soon returned to screening films, such as The Blue Angel (1930) starring Marlene Dietrich . Mrs Henderson hired a new theatre manager, Vivian Van Damm , who developed the idea of the Revudeville—a programme of continuous variety that ran from 2:30 pm until 11 pm. They began to put on shows with singers, dancers, showgirls, and specialty numbers. The first Revudeville act opened on 3 February 1932, featuring 18 unknown acts. These continued to be unprofitable; in all,
1496-531: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster in the West End of London . Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was developed from farmland by Henry VIII in 1536, when it became a royal park. It became a parish in its own right in
1584-440: Is also a reference to London's Soho. The Pittsburgh neighbourhood of Uptown was also formerly called Soho, most likely having been named by its founder James Tustin after the London district, though it may refer to Soho, West Midlands . Soho has never been an administrative unit with formally defined boundaries; it is about 1 square mile (2.6 km ) in area, and is usually considered to be bounded by Shaftesbury Avenue to
1672-616: Is now known for its variety of shops and entertainment establishments typical of Soho. The street crosses, or meets with, Wardour Street , Rupert Street, Walker's Court, Greens Court, Lexington Street, Great Pulteney Street, Bridle Lane, Sherwood Street, Lower James Street, Lower John Street and Air Street, before meeting with Glasshouse Street at its western end. [REDACTED] Media related to Brewer Street at Wikimedia Commons 51°30′41.5″N 0°8′8″W / 51.511528°N 0.13556°W / 51.511528; -0.13556 This London road or road transport-related article
1760-662: Is still in operation, but The Bridge was sold to Miloco Studios in 2009, and relocated to the Orinoco Studios Complex at 36 Leroy Street in Greater London. White Lightning also opened a third studio at 16 Dufours Place, named Space Facilities, in late 1995, but it closed in the same year The Bridge was sold. Twentieth Century House in Soho Square was built in 1937 for Twentieth Century Fox . The British Board of Film Classification , formerly known as
1848-577: Is today the John Snow public house . Snow mapped the addresses of the sick and noted that they were mostly people whose nearest access to water was the Broad Street pump. He persuaded the authorities to remove the handle of the pump, thus preventing any more of the infected water from being collected. The spring below the pump was later found to have been contaminated with sewage. This is an early example of epidemiology, public health medicine and
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#17327660915691936-876: The Middle Ages , the area that is now Soho was farmland that belonged to the Abbot and Convent of Abingdon and the master of Burton St Lazar Hospital in Leicestershire , who managed a leper hospital in St Giles in the Fields . In 1536, the land was taken by Henry VIII as a royal park for the Palace of Whitehall . The area south of what is now Shaftesbury Avenue did not stay in the Crown possession for long; Queen Mary sold around 7 acres (2.8 ha) in 1554, and most of
2024-541: The New Romantic movement in the early 1980s, originally met at Billy's. The club changed its name to Gossip's and became part of London's clubland heritage by spawning several weekly club-nights that influenced British music and fashion during the 1980s. Gerrard Street is the centre of London's Chinatown , and along with Lisle Street and Little Newport Street, house a mix of import companies, oriental food shops and restaurants. Street festivals are held throughout
2112-744: The Street Offences Act 1959 drove prostitution off the streets, many clubs such as the Blue Lagoon at No. 50 Carnaby Street became fronts for it. Gangs controlled the clubs and the prostitutes, and the police were bribed. In 1960 London's first sex cinema, the Compton Cinema Club (a members-only club to get around the law), opened at 56 Old Compton Street. It was owned by Michael Klinger and Tony Tenser who later produced two early Roman Polanski films, including Repulsion (1965). As post-war austerity relaxed into
2200-458: The "swinging '60s", clip joints also surfaced; these unlicensed establishments sold coloured water as champagne with the promise of sex to follow, thus fleecing tourists looking for a "good time". Harrison Marks , a "glamour photographer" and girlie magazine publisher, had a photographic gallery on Gerrard Street and published several magazines in the 1950s and '60s. The model Pamela Green prompted him to take up nude photography, and she remained
2288-479: The 1880s rebuilding the site consisted of courts and alleys. Walker's Court , opposite Rupert Street is a remnant of the old layout. On the north side at Lexington Street is a Grade II listed multi-storey car park operated by National Car Parks . It was opened in 1929 as Lex Garage and is one of the oldest surviving car parks of its type in England. It has a Classical-Moderne style front elevation. The street
2376-472: The 18th century. It initially opened as the Palais de Luxe in 1910 as a small cinema, but was unable to compete with larger venues and was converted into a theatre by Howard Jones. It re-opened in December 1931, but was still unsuccessful. In 1932, the general manager Vivian Van Damm introduced a non-stop variety show throughout the afternoon and evening. It was famous for its nude tableaux vivants , in which
2464-538: The 21st century, it had acquired around 400 flats. St Anne's Church in Dean Street was refurbished after decades of neglect, and a Museum of Soho was established. On 30 April 1999, the Admiral Duncan pub on Old Compton Street, which serves the gay community, was damaged by a nail bomb that left three dead and 30 injured. The bomb was the third that had been planted by David Copeland , a neo-Nazi who
2552-497: The 21st century. Though the Earls of Leicester and Portland had intended Soho to be an upper-class estate comparable to Bloomsbury , Marylebone and Mayfair , it never developed as such. Immigrants began to settle in the area from around 1680 onwards, particularly French Huguenots after 1688. The area became known as London's French quarter. The French church in Soho Square was founded by Huguenots and opened on 25 March 1893, with
2640-462: The 3rd and 4th of February 2020. All road junctions connecting to the streets closed during retrieval of the bomb fragments as well. Soho is near the heart of London's theatre area . It is home to the Soho Theatre , built in 2000 to present new plays and comedy. The Windmill Theatre was based on Great Windmill Street, and was named after a windmill at this location that was demolished in
2728-508: The British Board of Film Censors, has been based in Soho Square since 1950. Soho's key fibre communications network has been managed by Sohonet since 1995, which connects the Soho media and post-production community to British film studios such as Pinewood and Shepperton , along with other locations worldwide include HBO and Warner Brothers . In the 2010s, research commissioned by Westminster City Council showed 23 per cent of
Brewer Street - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-770: The Hon David Tennant as a place where writers, artists and musicians could mingle with the upper crust and eat and drink at affordable prices for the next three decades. In May 1979 the Gargoyle's uppermost room started hosting a weekly club-night on Saturdays called the Comedy Store , which made the reputations of many of the UK's upcoming " alternative comedians ". Among the original lineup here were Alexei Sayle , Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson who broke away in 1980 to establish The Comic Strip team at Raymond's Revue Bar, before they found wider recognition with
2904-524: The Sheffields, and recorded their first four albums and filmed the video for Bohemian Rhapsody at Trident. Other artists who recorded at Trident include David Bowie , Elton John , Free and Thin Lizzy . It closed as a general-purpose recording studio in 1981, but has since reopened in various guises, including providing sound and mixing services for television. Although technically not part of Soho,
2992-464: The Soho Society and new and tighter licensing controls by the City of Westminster led to a crackdown on illegal premises. The number of sex industry premises dropped from 185 in 1982 to around 30 in 1991. By 2000, substantial relaxation of general censorship , the ready availability of non-commercial sex, and the licensing or closing of unlicensed sex shops had reduced the red-light area to just
3080-594: The Windmill Cinema opened with the film Nude Las Vegas . The cinema became part of the Classic Cinema chain in May 1966. On 9 June 1974, the Windmill Cinema closed. The cinema's lease was bought in February 1974 by nightclub and erotica entrepreneur Paul Raymond . Raymond returned it to a venue for nude shows "à la Revuedeville but without the comic element". The first production at the now renamed Windmill Theatre
3168-403: The Windmill to Van Damm. During his tenure, the Windmill was home to numerous famous comedians and actors who had their first real success there, including Jimmy Edwards , Harry Worth , Tony Hancock , Spike Milligan , Harry Secombe , Peter Sellers , Michael Bentine , George Martin , Bruce Forsyth , Arthur English , Tommy Cooper and Barry Cryer . Cryer was "a bottom of the bill" comic at
3256-523: The Windmill's patrons were families and troops, as well as celebrities who came as Henderson's guests. These high society guests included Princesses Helena Victoria and Marie Louise (granddaughters of Queen Victoria ). For a time, on the opening night of every new Windmill show, the Royal Box was always reserved for the Rt. Hon. George Lansbury , a member of His Majesty's Government. The theatre ran into
3344-531: The Windmill, while Forsyth performed as a juvenile performer — a superior post. A number of the most celebrated photographic pin-up models of the 1950s and early 1960s also did a stint as Windmill Girls, including June Palmer , Lyn Shaw, June Wilkinson , and Lorraine Burnett. Van Damm ran the theatre until his death on 14 December 1960, aged approximately 71. He left the theatre to his daughter, rally driver Sheila Van Damm . She struggled to keep it going, but by this time, London's Soho neighbourhood had become
3432-425: The Windmill. It closed on 31 October 1964 and was again turned into a cinema. The Raymond Revuebar at No. 11 Walker's Court was a small theatre specialising in striptease and nude dancing. It was owned by Paul Raymond and opened in 1958. The facade supported a brightly lit sign declaring it to be the "World Centre of Erotic Entertainment". Raymond subsequently bought the lease of the Windmill and ran it as
3520-571: The adjacent Denmark Street is known for its connections with British popular music , and is nicknamed the British Tin Pan Alley due to its large concentration of shops selling musical instruments. The Sex Pistols lived beneath No. 6 and recorded their first demos there. Jimi Hendrix , the Rolling Stones and David Bowie have all recorded at studios on Denmark Street and Elton John wrote his hit " Your Song " in
3608-412: The application of science—the germ theory of disease —in a real-life crisis. Science writer Steven Johnson has written about the changes related to the cholera outbreak, and notes that almost every building on the street that existed in 1854 has since been replaced. A replica of the pump, with a memorial plaque and without a handle (to signify Snow's action to halt the outbreak) was erected in 1992 near
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3696-539: The centre of the fledgling rock scene in London. Clubs included the Flamingo Club , a regular gig for Georgie Fame , Ronan O'Rahilly 's The Scene , which opened in 1963 and catered for the Mod movement with regular attendees including Steve Marriot and Andrew Loog Oldham , and jazz clubs like Ronnie Scott's , which opened in 1959 at 39 Gerrard Street and moved to 47 Frith Street in 1965. Soho's Wardour Street
3784-423: The creative force in their business. By the 1970s, the sex shops had grown from the handful opened by Carl Slack in the early 1960s. From 1976 to 1982, Soho had 54 sex shops, 39 sex cinemas and cinema clubs, 16 strip and peep shows, 11 sex-oriented clubs and 12 licensed massage parlours. The proliferation of sex shops dissuaded some people from visiting Soho. The growth of the sex industry in Soho during this time
3872-457: The culture of Soho through our vibrant and diverse content". There is no playlist policy, and presenters are allowed to play any music they like. In 2016, it was voted the world's best radio station at Mixcloud 's Online Radio Awards. Soho is home to numerous religious and spiritual groups. St Anne's Church on Wardour Street was built between 1677 and 1686, possibly to the design of Sir Christopher Wren or William Talman . An additional tower
3960-452: The curtain down (i.e. out of sight of the audience) and then strike poses before the curtain went up. The performers would then hold those poses, remaining perfectly still until the curtain came down again. Alternatively, a succession of nude performers would stand in the wings on trolleys and be wheeled onstage from the wings by a fully-clothed stage-hand. In all cases the performers themselves had to remain completely motionless, as if they were
4048-550: The eastern end of the street then known as Knaves' Acre. This part of the street was later called Little Pulteney Street until renamed Brewer Street in 1937. The buildings on the south side between Rupert Street and Great Windmill Street (odd numbers) are from 1883–5. The scheme was planned by architect, Arthur Cates to include shops at ground level with artisan dwellings above. The four and five-storey red brick buildings were designed by Robert Sawyer. One section's facade has been replaced because of World War II bomb damage. Prior to
4136-525: The ensuing neglect by rich and fashionable London, and the lack of the redevelopment that characterised the neighbouring areas. The aristocracy had mostly disappeared from Soho by the 19th century, to be replaced by prostitutes , music halls and small theatres. The population increased significantly, reaching 327 inhabitants per acre by 1851, making the area one of the most densely populated areas of London. Houses became divided into tenements with chronic overcrowding and disease. The 1854 cholera outbreak caused
4224-551: The idea at the Academy Cinema in Oxford Street in 1931. In 1930, after her husband's death, Laura Henderson bought the Palais de Luxe building and hired F. Edward Jones, an architect, to remodel the interior to a small 320-seat, two-tier (stalls and circle) theatre. It was then renamed the Windmill. It opened on 15 June 1931, as a playhouse with a new play by Michael Barringer called Inquest . Its existence as
4312-471: The land was granted freehold in 1698 by William III to William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland , while the southern part of Soho was sold piecemeal in the 16th and 17th centuries, partly to Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester . Soho was part of the ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields , forming part of the Liberty of Westminster . As the population started to grow, a new church was provided, and in 1687
4400-516: The late 17th century, when buildings started to be developed for the upper class, including the laying out of Soho Square in the 1680s. St Anne's Church was established during the late 17th century, and remains a significant local landmark; other churches are the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory and St Patrick's Church in Soho Square. The aristocracy had mostly moved away by
4488-465: The location of the original. By the mid-18th century, the aristocrats who had been living in Soho Square or Gerrard Street had moved away, as more fashionable areas such as Mayfair became available. The historian and topographer William Maitland wrote that the parish "so greatly abound with French that is an easy Matter for a Stranger to imagine himself in France." Soho's character stems partly from
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#17327660915694576-465: The long-standing Kettner's which was visited by numerous celebrities. Near to Soho is London's Chinatown , centred on Gerrard Street and containing several restaurants and shops. The name "Soho" first appears in the 17th century. The name is derived from a former hunting cry. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth , used "soho" as a rallying call for his men at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685, half
4664-447: The mid-19th century, when Soho was particularly badly hit by an outbreak of cholera in 1854. For much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation as a base for the sex industry in addition to its night life and its location for the headquarters of leading film companies. Since the 1980s, the area has undergone considerable gentrification . It is now predominantly a fashionable district of upmarket restaurants and media offices, with only
4752-482: The models had to remain motionless to avoid the censorship laws then in place. The theatre claimed that, aside from a compulsory closure between 4 and 16 September 1939, it was the only theatre in London which did not close during the Second World War; this led it to use the slogan "We never closed". Several prominent comedians including Harry Secombe , Jimmy Edwards and Tony Hancock began their careers at
4840-412: The occasional problem with male patrons, but security guards were always on the lookout for improper behaviour. One of the more comical off-stage acts was the spectacle of the "Windmill Steeplechase" where, at the end of a show, patrons from the back rows would make a dash over the top of the seats to grab the front rows for the following show. When Mrs Henderson died on 29 November 1944, aged 82, she left
4928-539: The offices of British Mutoscope and Biograph Company, an early producer of films. The Palais de Luxe was one of the first places where early silent films were shown. As larger cinemas were opened in the West End, business slowed and the Palais de Luxe was forced to close. It was re-opened briefly by Elsie Cohen in 1929 when it was briefly the first "art cinema" in Britain showing foreign films. Cohen would re-establish
5016-431: The other by Eddie Manning, controlled drugs and prostitution in Soho. Both were eventually arrested and imprisoned; Manning died midway through a three-year sentence in 1933. Following World War II, gangs set up rings of prostitutes in the area, concentrated around Brewer Street and Rupert Street. Photographers also visited Soho in the hope of being able to blackmail people caught in the act of visiting prostitutes. When
5104-500: The performance. Another way the spirit of the law was evaded, enabling the girl to move, and thus satisfying the demands of the audience, was by moving the props rather than the girls. Ruses such as a technically motionless nude girl holding on to a spinning rope were used. Since the rope was moving rather than the girl, authorities allowed it, even though the girl's body was displayed in motion. The theatre's famous motto "We Never Closed" (often humorously modified to "We Never Clothed")
5192-433: The remainder was sold between 1590 and 1623. A small 2-acre (0.81 ha) section of land remained, until sold by Charles II in 1676. In the 1660s, ownership of Soho Fields passed to Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans , who leased 19 out of the 22 acres (89,000 m ) of land to Joseph Girle. He was granted permission to develop property and quickly passed the lease and development to bricklayer Richard Frith. Much of
5280-415: The remaining upper-class families to leave the area. Numerous hospitals were built to cope with the health problem; six were constructed between 1851 and 1874. Businesses catering to household essentials were established at the same time. The restaurant trade in Soho improved dramatically in the early 20th century. The construction of new theatres along Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road improved
5368-409: The reputation of the area, and a meal for theatre-goers became common. Public houses in Soho increased in popularity during the 1930s and were frequented by struggling authors, poets and artists. Since the decline of the sex industry in Soho in the 1980s, the area has returned to being more residential. The Soho Housing Association was established in 1976 to provide reasonable rented accommodation. By
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#17327660915695456-497: The series The Comic Strip Presents on Channel 4 . The Gargoyle's success and Bohemian clientele led to other restaurants being founded around Soho, including the Eiffel Tower and Bellotti's. During the 1970s the building at 69 Dean Street housed another nightspot in its cellars, initially known as Billy's, and run by Soho's only Jamaican club owner, Vince Howard. The Blitz Kids , a group of London clubgoers who spearheaded
5544-400: The sex industry in the area and improve it with a comprehensive redevelopment plan. This led to a series of corruption trials in 1975, following which several senior police officers were imprisoned. This caused a small recession in Soho which depressed property values at the time Paul Raymond had started buying freeholds there. By the 1980s, purges of the police force along with pressure from
5632-612: The south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Charing Cross Road to the east. Apart from Oxford Street, all of these roads are 19th-century metropolitan improvements. The area to the west is known as Mayfair , to the north Fitzrovia , to the east St Giles and Covent Garden , and to the south St James's . Soho is part of the West End electoral ward which elects three councillors to Westminster City Council . The nearest London Underground stations are Oxford Circus , Piccadilly Circus , Tottenham Court Road , Leicester Square and Covent Garden . During
5720-522: The staging points of the Dean Street shuffle, with occasional forays into other joints such as The Gargoyle or the Mandrake ;... The Groucho or Blacks". Christopher Howse notes of the coterie of bohemian heavy drinkers that "There was no worry about pensions in Soho. People didn't live that long." The Gargoyle Club opened at 69 Dean Street in 1925. It was founded by the socialite
5808-515: The street. Led Zeppelin 's first rehearsal in 1968 was in a basement studio on Gerrard Street. The Soho area has been at the heart of London's sex industry for more than 200 years; between 1778 and 1801, 21 Soho Square was location of the White House, a brothel described by the magistrate Henry Mayhew as "a notorious place of ill-fame". Shortly before World War I, two rival gangs, one led by Chan Nan (also called " Brilliant Chang ") and
5896-423: The theatre (but not the property itself) were bought by Raymond's business associate Gérard Simi in 1996. The theatre suffered financial difficulties owing to increasing rent, leading to its closure in 2004. It became a gay bar and cabaret venue called Too2Much; in 2005, Elton John staged a joint bachelor party there with his longtime partner David Furnish in anticipation of their civil partnership . The venue
5984-578: The theatre lost £20,000 in the first four years after its opening. Amrit Walia, the co-founder, said: "In the 1930s Laura Henderson famously broke conventions and challenged norms to create the famous institution known as the Windmill Theatre". A breakthrough came when Van Damm began to incorporate glamorous nude females on stage, inspired by the Folies Bergère and Moulin Rouge in Paris. This coup
6072-638: The workforce in Soho worked in the creative industries. Many small and easily affordable restaurants and cafes were established in Soho during the 19th century, particularly as a result of Greek and Italian immigration. The restaurants were not looked upon favourably at first, but their reputation changed at the start of the 20th century. In 1924, a guide reported "of late years, the inexpensive restaurants of Soho have enjoyed an extraordinary vogue." Arthur Ransome 's Bohemia in London (1907) mentions Old and New Soho, including details about Soho coffee-houses including The Moorish Café and The Algerian. Kettner's
6160-514: The year, particularly on the Chinese New Year . In March 2022, Cadbury opened a temporary vegan chocolate shop at 15 Bateman Street. Soho Radio is an internet radio station on Great Windmill Street, next to the Windmill Theatre . Since May 2014 it has been streaming live and pre-recorded programming from its premises, which also function as a retail space and coffee shop. The station states on its website that it aims "to reflect
6248-502: Was a Sunday afternoon club organised by the beat poet Pete Brown , active in the mid-1960s. For the rest of the week, it operated as an illegal gambling den . Pink Floyd played at the club at the beginning of their career. The 2i's Coffee Bar was one of the first rock clubs in Europe. It initially opened on No. 44 Gerard Street in 1956, but soon moved to its more famous venue of No. 59 Old Compton Street. Soho quickly became
6336-512: Was a play called Let's Get Laid , which opened on 2 September 1974, and starred Fiona Richmond and John Inman . A nude dance show called Rip-Off was the next production at the theatre; this show commenced on 10 May 1976. Paul Raymond re-introduced burlesque when he renamed the Windmill La Vie en Rose Show Bar and opened the venue as a supper club with a laser disco on 16 November 1982. The venue became Paramount City in May 1986,
6424-557: Was a reference to the fact that the theatre remained open, apart from the compulsory closure that affected all theatres for 13 days (4 to 16 September) in 1939. Performances continued throughout the Second World War even at the height of the Blitz . The showgirls, cast members, and crew moved into the safety of the theatre's two underground floors during some of the worst air attacks, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941. Many of
6512-672: Was a restaurant on Romilly Street, established in 1867 by Napoleon III 's chef Auguste Kettner. It was frequently visited by Albert, Prince of Wales (where he is alleged to have dined with his mistress, Lillie Langtry ) and Oscar Wilde . The restaurant survived both World Wars without incident, and was regularly visited by Agatha Christie and Bing Crosby . In the 20th century, several Soho pubs and private members clubs gained notoriety for both their proprietors and clientele. Clive Jennings says of regular clientele such as Jeffrey Barnard and Francis Bacon that "the lethal triangle of The French , The Coach & Horses and The Colony were
6600-490: Was attempting to stir up ethnic and homophobic tensions by carrying out a series of bombings. In early February 2020, parts of an unexploded Second World War bomb was discovered by construction workers developing a new mixed residential building in Richmond Mews, near Dean Street . Residents, employees, and pedestrians on Richmond Mews, Dean Street , Meard Street and St Anne's Court were evacuated on both
6688-423: Was based at 17 St Anne's Court , Soho and was a major London recording studio. It was established by Norman and Barry Sheffield in 1968, who wanted to expand from the small studio they had above their music shop. It became immediately successful after The Beatles decided to record several tracks on The White Album there, as the facilities were better than Abbey Road studios . Queen were originally managed by
6776-519: Was based in Soho, and the nearby Denmark Street has hosted numerous music publishing houses and instrument shops from the 20th century onwards. The independent British film industry is centred around Soho, including the British headquarters of Twentieth Century Fox and the British Board of Film Classification offices. The area has been popular for restaurants since the 19th century, including
6864-551: Was built between 1687 and 1703, and is probably named after James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick , the illegitimate son of James II of England . It has held a street market since the early 18th century, which has been formally organised since 1892. Windmill Theatre The Windmill Theatre in Great Windmill Street , London , was a variety and revue theatre best known for its nude tableaux vivants , which began in 1932 and lasted until its reversion to
6952-464: Was built in 1717 by Talman and reconstructed in 1803. The church was damaged by a V1 flying bomb during World War II in 1940, but the tower survived. In 1976, John Betjeman campaigned to save the building. The church was fully restored in the late 1980s and formally re-opened by the Princess Royal on 12 March 1990. The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory on Warwick Street
7040-656: Was built in 1788 and is the only remaining 18th-century Roman Catholic embassy chapel in London and principal church of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham . St Patrick's Church in Soho Square was built in 1792 to accommodate Irish immigrants who had moved to the area. Other religious buildings in Soho include the Hare Krishna Temple off Soho Square, which was part-funded by George Harrison and opened in 1979. There exists
7128-605: Was established at No. 32 Soho Square in 1874. The property had previously been owned by the naturalist and botanist Sir Joseph Banks . It moved to Westmoreland Street in 1914, and then to Fulham Road in 1991. In July 2019, Soho was reported to be the unhealthiest place to live in Britain. Researchers from the University of Liverpool found that the area had the greatest access to takeaways, pubs and off-licences and these were combined with high levels of air pollution and low levels of parks and green spaces. Berwick Street
7216-488: Was made possible by convincing Lord Cromer , then Lord Chamberlain , in his position as the censor for all theatrical performances in London, that the display of nudity in theatres was not obscene: since the authorities could not credibly hold nude statues to be morally objectionable, the theatre presented its nudes — the legendary "Windmill Girls" — in motionless poses as living statues or tableaux vivants . The ruling: 'If you move, it's rude.' The Windmill's shows became
7304-431: Was originally called King Square in honour of Charles II, and a statue of him was based in the centre. Several upper-class families moved into the area, including those of Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston , and Edward Howard, 2nd Earl of Carlisle . The square had become known as Soho Square by 1720, at which point it had fashionable houses on all sides. Only No 10 and No 15 from this period have survived into
7392-553: Was partly caused by corruption in the Metropolitan Police . The vice squad at the time suffered from police officers enforcing against organised crime in the area, while simultaneously accepting bribes. This changed following the appointment of Robert Mark as chief constable, who began to crack down on corruption. In 1972 local residents started the Soho Society in order to control the increasing expansion of
7480-676: Was renamed the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club in the late 1950s, and closed in 1964. In the early 1950s, Soho became the centre of the beatnik culture in London. The first coffee bar to open was Moka at No. 29 Frith Street. It was formally opened in 1953 by the film star Gina Lollobrigida , and the frothed coffee produced from stainless steel machines was pioneering in British culture. Le Macabre on Wardour Street, had coffin-shaped tables, fostered beat poetry, jive dance and political debate. The Goings On, in Archer Street,
7568-423: Was split off from St Martin in 1686. Building progressed rapidly in the late 17th century, with large properties such as Monmouth House (built for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's eldest illegitimate son), Leicester House , Fauconberg House, Carlisle House and Newport House. Soho Square was first laid out in the 1680s on the former Soho Fields; by 1691, 41 houses had been completed there. It
7656-512: Was subsequently renamed to the Soho Revue Bar, but closed in 2009. Soho is a centre of the independent film and video industry as well as the television and film post-production industry. Audio post duo White Lightning (Robbie Weston and Rick Dzendzera) opened two audio post-production facilities in different parts of Soho in 1986: Silk Sound at 13 Berwick Street , and The Bridge Facilities at 55-57 Great Marlborough Street . Silk Sound
7744-577: Was the home of the Marquee Club , which opened in 1958. In the 1960s, numerous major rock bands played at the venue, including early performances from the Rolling Stones in July 1962 and The Who in late 1964, Jimi Hendrix , David Bowie , Led Zeppelin , Pink Floyd , Jethro Tull , AC/DC and Iron Maiden . Eric Clapton and Brian Jones both lived for a time in Soho, sharing a flat with future rock publicist, Tony Brainsby . Trident Studios
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