# Love Soho



## Mr Blob (Apr 9, 2012)

Over recent decades Soho has changed. Its still vibrant.............what's your experience?

http://www.itraveluk.co.uk/content/68.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17647357


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17647357


In January I went with a friend after work to a Curry place off Wardour Street and a drink at Captain Cabin in Haymarket after


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## Mr Blob (Apr 9, 2012)

Believe Old Compton street and the bars there gives Soho character.  And last week I went with a Chinese friend to a restaurant on the corner of Gerrard street.  The Chinese in London have had a Chinatown there since 1950s


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## Mr Blob (Apr 9, 2012)

Is the Capital radio station still there?

I used to frequent Soho square


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## Mr Blob (Apr 9, 2012)

My favourite London bus, the 38 now a new Routemaster  passes through Soho, Shaftesbury avenue


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## Mapped (Apr 9, 2012)

Oh no, what's happened to soho?


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## Mr Blob (Apr 9, 2012)

That's revealing


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## 5t3IIa (Apr 9, 2012)

I was having this convo recently. We were wondering how much trouble one could really get into in Soho now days. There's presumably, but not obviously, a lot still going on behind the closed doors and it must still be a Mecca for people running away from the provinces but on the surface it does look like chains or shiny doors you can't afford to go through.


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## Mapped (Apr 9, 2012)

There was a piece about this on BBC TV news yesterday, with some Westminster council bod saying that it's not true and that they are in favour of helping small businesses etc. Sounded like complete bollocks to me


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## scanner (Apr 9, 2012)

Today's Soho bears little resemblance to the Soho of my younger days. Just after the end of WW2 tourists, when there were any, didn't venture into that area, service men & women were everywhere from all nations. Walk up Wardour St. you'd be accosted many times by prostitutes who were on every street corner day & night. No trendy clothes shops, Lisle St was full of Government surplus shops selling anything from binoculars to radio equipment, duffle coats etc. The giant Lyons Corner House in Coventry St was hugely popular for good meals, open 24 hrs a day at one time. It's said that much of London's criminal activities were planned over the tables of the resturants in there. There were no strip clubs or gay bars, all illegal in those times. A bit later in the 50s Soho had an Annual Fair each summer, with street parades and events all over the area. Happy memories!


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## vauxhallmum (Apr 9, 2012)

I've worked (on and off) in or near Soho for nearly 30 years. Late night drinking dens were everywhere. Erics was particularly seedy . You had to go to the back of the sex shop and down a darkened staircase where fabulous debauchery and watered down beer awaited you. Also the Maltese Club on Frith Street where the world's most beautiful ladyboys could be found and one seriously scarey club known only as 'The White Door' *shudder*
I'm sure all those sort of places still exist in one form or another, only my will to seek them out has disappeared.


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## stethoscope (Apr 9, 2012)

Doesn't seem as colourful or exciting as it once was, but its still a place where I enjoy roaming around. Soho will forever be associated with sex drugs & rock'n'roll, and that sums up my Soho too.

I remember first record shopping around there regularly in the very early 90s. That itself is something that has really died about the area - Berwick Street used to be rammed and so full of life with record shops occupying every other unit seemingly. The sounds coming from the original Reckless, as well as Sister Ray, Ambient Soho, Selectadisc. Along with the bustle of the market with their radio's tuned into Kiss or a pirate radio stations all soundclashing in the afternoon sun. And can't forget down in the basement of Choci's Chewns in St Anne's Court. Now, only Blackmarket on D'Arblay Street really serves as a reminder of that time.

Still struggling with my sexuality and gender at that time, there was something incredibly attractive to me about that whole area. But it wasn't the tourists ogling the Raymond Revue or Walkers Court that was of interest, but Old Compton Street. I never felt like I fitted the world until then, and yet in Soho it didn't matter as I was at home with the other queers. I remember first stepping foot in the recently demised First Out Cafe, just on the edge of Soho on St Giles High Street. That place helped me along my way, and became a regular haunt for me over the years through to the early days of Soho Pride (now ten years ago!)

Oh, and I knew of a really good dealer around Wardour Street at the time


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## Mr Blob (Apr 9, 2012)

stephj said:


> I remember first record shopping around there regularly in the very early 90s. That itself is something that has really died about the area - Berwick Street used to be rammed and so full of life with record shops occupying every other unit seemingly. The sounds coming from the original Reckless, as well as Sister Ray, Ambient Soho, Selectadisc. Along with the bustle of the market with their radio's tuned into Kiss or a pirate radio stations all soundclashing in the afternoon sun. And can't forget down in the basement of Choci's Chewns in St Anne's Court. Now, only Blackmarket on D'Arblay Street really serves as a reminder of that time.


 

Music shops are sought after- shame Soho isn't so trendy now


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## stethoscope (Apr 9, 2012)

Mr Blob said:


> Music shops are sought after- shame Soho isn't so trendy now


 
Not sure if it's about being 'trendy' so much as reflective of the demise of the music industry/record shops and the move to mp3/downloads


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## ska invita (Apr 9, 2012)

Yeah I think there's still a lot going on in Soho, but you have to be in the know (and Im not). Still some after hours drinking clubs, and even record shops aren't all gone , Black Market, Selectadisc still there? SisterRay is - Revival 2nd hand and Music exchange and my favourite shop Sounds of the Universe. Yes fond memories of CHoci's Chewns too...he was a real character Choci.

There's still plenty of dodgy people around at night, if that's your thing, particularly round the madam jo jos end, and sitting out on Old Compton Street on any night of the week is pure entertainment - unlike anywhere else in Britain.

Still lots of nice pubs in Soho - Nelly Dean is a favourite for some reason - but they're all enjoyable. Also one of many favourite places to eat is an Indonesian restaurant (Nusa Dua) across the road from Nellys

Ronnie Scotts is still there after all these years, and against the odds.

Personally all the 'models upstairs' stuff depresses me - i've heard some very dark stories of what goes on. Arguments about the sex industry are one thing - most of these flats in Soho help to make the case against.

...its definitely changed a lot over the years - as has the whole country - but I still have real love for Soho, and would happily live there if I could afford it.


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## Divisive Cotton (Apr 9, 2012)

The Coach and Horses is one of those few pubs in the area that has a genuine historic feel to it


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## ska invita (Apr 9, 2012)

Star & Garter is another fav
Shaston Arms (carnaby street end) is a beautiful wooden affair
Old Coffee House has a vibe about it... (golden square end - though staff a bit moody I've found)
Pillars of Hercules tends to be one I pass through...
The Crown and Two Chairman is really nice inside
Glasshouse Stores has some nice mirrors...
...making me thirsty this!


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## stethoscope (Apr 9, 2012)

Yeah, a few of those record shops are still there and I visit them regularly, it was more the vibe I meant. The jostling to get to the counter on a heaving Saturday afternoon, hands flying over the counter to grab the latest promo's, seeing the big scene DJs pass through.

Glad you mentioned Ronnie's, ska. One thats survived. Managed to get to the Wag a couple of times but sadly the original Marquee had already gone by the time I was able to go (1988 I think?)


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## ska invita (Sep 9, 2012)

Brilliant documentary here 30 mins long - Soho as it was in 1985 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00s1mq1/Just_Another_Day_Series_2_Soho/


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## Mr Blob (Sep 9, 2012)

ska invita said:


> Brilliant documentary here 30 mins long - Soho as it was in 1985
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00s1mq1/Just_Another_Day_Series_2_Soho/


looks good-thanks ska......


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## dessiato (Sep 9, 2012)

My father first took me to Soho when I was a child, about ten, then later I worked in Broadwick Street for about three years, a long time ago, and thought Soho was the most fantastic place to be. Since then it has changed a lot, and is almost unrecognisable. The one thing that has remained, at least for me, is the magic and the charisma of the place. Whenever I get back to London these days it is one of the places that I go to great length to visit. The cafes and restaurants are, without doubt, the most exciting anywhere in Europe.

The people there haven't really changed. They are still loud and proud. The shops are much different, the sex has almost gone, but is still there if you look rather than glance around. The girls are still as they always were, quite lovely some of them. (I would like to see them working legally, but that is for a different thread)

I was supposed to be in the Admiral Duncan the day of the bomb. That was one of the defining times in modern Soho. There was a change in the atmosphere. But it became what it is today, an exciting place to wander around and more respectable (compared to the seventies!)


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## ska invita (Sep 9, 2012)

For the first time in a good while went up to Soho for a quick record shop*, beer + a bite last week, was taken aback by how upmarket Dean Street has become...very fancy on the restaurant front...lots of new places packed with well heeled customers...tyring hard to remember what was there before now...yet the magic still holds, i agree dessiato

*went into Black Market, sorry BM Soho as its now called, the basement is fantastic now, expanded the space, loads of listening points, DnB Dubstep and Dub Vendor all sharing the space - usual good vibes down there, immediately get talking to everyone, great shop still - lets hope to god they survive. If the record shops go then Soho will really lose a big part of its magic (ground floor house music bit was very very empty)


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## Blagsta (Sep 12, 2012)

Still loads of stuff happening in Soho.  I used to work at a drug project there, loads of dodgy stuff happening there if you know where to look.  Dealers on Rupert St, working girls upstairs in premises on Dean St, shops that buy stolen goods, it all still goes on.


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## rutabowa (Sep 12, 2012)

Soho is great as a warren of vice and excitement, no doubt it has changed massively but it is to this day what i always thought of as proper london, ever since seeing the Oliver Twist film. camden i have been familiar with ever since a small child and that has also changed massively but still makes me excited to visit in the same way.


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## ohmyliver (Sep 13, 2012)

My little brother worked in The French for a while, there does still seem to be an underground scene of hidden away very late night bars..

What happened to Chocci,  he was part of Tonka wasn't he? Tonka's first Monday of the month nights down the Zap was one of the best clubs I've ever been to.


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## Dan U (Sep 14, 2012)

i used to love record shopping in Soho, was a regular occurrence - i still pop in to Sounds of the Universe when passing

my Dad used to be really in to Jazz when he was a teenager in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he'd get the tube up to Soho from South London with his mate and they'd blag their way in to clubs, climb through toilet windows and all kinds of stuff. Invariably they'd miss the last bus home and have to walk back to South Wimbledon.

He used to see a queue of Chinese and Jazz Musicians outside Boots on Piccadilly, getting their prescription heroin

This is a decent book about the 'old' Soho http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dog-Days-In-Soho-Adventures/dp/0575068507


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## Bahnhof Strasse (Sep 14, 2012)

Dan U said:


> i used to love record shopping in Soho, was a regular occurrence - i still pop in to Sounds of the Universe when passing


 
That one in St Anne's court, in the basement, had loads of shite, but always, on every visit, 2 or 3 choice choons. Used to love it, then get offered a blow job walking back to the tube, "No thanks, got better shit to do", i.e.  get home and slap that vinyl on the decks


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## ska invita (Sep 15, 2012)

Bahnhof Strasse said:


> That one in St Anne's court, in the basement, had loads of shite, but always, on every visit, 2 or 3 choice choons. Used to love it, then get offered a blow job walking back to the tube, "No thanks, got better shit to do", i.e. get home and slap that vinyl on the decks


CHocis was in the basement in st annes court  discogs says last tune he made was 2003..... http://www.discogs.com/Choci-vs-Dirtsnob-Future-Is/master/145776


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## ska invita (Sep 15, 2012)

scanner said:


> A bit later in the 50s Soho had an Annual Fair each summer, with street parades and events all over the area. Happy memories!


 
id love to see some pics/footage of that


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## pseudonarcissus (Sep 15, 2012)

Dan U said:


> ....they'd blag their way in to clubs, climb through toilet windows and all kinds of stuff. Invariably they'd miss the last bus home and have to walk back to South Wimbledon.


I thought it was lifting paving stones.....that was what my dad claimed (East Ham) but as I've heard it from other people I don't know if it's true or urban myth


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## dooley (Sep 15, 2012)

cant bear the place myself - populated by narcissistic judgmental wankers and suburban norms desperately trying to make their shit grey lives a little bit more interesting.


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## Dan U (Sep 15, 2012)

pseudonarcissus said:


> I thought it was lifting paving stones.....that was what my dad claimed (East Ham) but as I've heard it from other people I don't know if it's true or urban myth


 
i will ask him next time i speak to him!


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## DJWrongspeed (Sep 20, 2012)

Here is our tribute to the Berwick Street of a few years ago:


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## blossie33 (Sep 20, 2012)

Haven't been up Berwick Street for some years now - is the Sister Ray shop still there? Used to like looking in the record shops.
There used to be an amazing material shop there as well - Boroviks?

I do cut through Soho sometimes still, mainly the Chinese quarter end.


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## Yelkcub (Sep 20, 2012)

Sunday morning funky house at Madam Jo Jo's in 2002 or 3


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## Balham (Sep 20, 2012)

Fave pizza restaurant gone due to Crossrail in Dean Street, on the west side of Dean Street not far from Oxford Street. Bella Napoli, 101 Dean Street, then seen on Street view as Spaccanapoli, then found this re Crossrail.

An oldfamily friend would come down from Northamptonshire near Christmas (she'd be in London in Decmber that is, she didn't live near a place called Christmas if you get my drift), we'd meet in Selfridges and walk along Oxford Street and finish with a rather nice lunch in Bella Napoli, the manageress was from Brazil I recall. This is going back to the early to mid nineties.  

So, if anyone can recommend a good pizza restaurant in the same style near by . . . oooh, there's a contact thingy, on their page, I'll try it!

Soho in general,  used to love Berwick Street Market, massive mushrooms  there. Mixed feelings about Soho but more love than hate.


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## sim667 (Sep 21, 2012)

N1 Buoy said:


> Oh no, what's happened to soho?




I was just about to post this


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## Remus Harbank (Sep 21, 2012)

First time I got lost in Soho was in 1990, on an exchange trip to the UK... Very excited and adventurous I felt, ended up at Wimpy's for a burger. Since moving to London 13 years ago Soho has changed massively, even in that short time. I know a few oldies who used to frequent the old clubs and the French (House), who don't bother with Soho any more – too gentrified. My favourite bars have long since disappeared and Crossrail has ripped a massive hole into Soho's fabric. Bar Italia is still there and when I do end up in WC1 that's where I go people watching.

That said, neighbourhoods change, no point in crying for what once was.


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