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| RACHEL AUBURN: It was Leigh's idea 10 start a club. He was approached by a guy named Tony Gordon. Tony was going 10 do the business side of it and Leigh was fronting it. We gave out handmade flyers -torn-out pictures from porno magazines stuck on playing cards. JEFFREY HINTON: Tony and Leigh had this very strange working relationship. Leigh had no respect far Tony whatsoever and treated him like a doormat. Tany used to do most of the liasing with Maximus 'cause they were pretty horrified when we first started. Then the money started rolling in. All of a sudden they had hordes of people trying to get in their little club on a Thursday night. It was all word of mouth. Always. |
| LAURENCE MALICE: When Tony Gordon put together Taboo, I think he wonted to recapture the likes of the Blitz. That was the first club for the alternative crowd in London. It was a place you could go if you were o little bit different and feel at ease. Taboo tried to capture a really dressy crowd, but it was the Eighties -people were dressy. There were o lot of people doing parties at the time which were just as good, but Taboo was a lot gayer and it was very fashion-orientated. JEFFREY HINTON: Leigh said to me, 'Came and have a look at this venue -it's really cheesy'. Maximus was stuck in this 1977 disco bubble. It was a bit like that film Thank God It's Friday. The DJ booth was this little island. They had a video screen that came dawn and it had a sunken dancefloor. And as you went down the stairs, you went through this huge multi-coloured changing light bubble tube -which I absolutely adored. I thought 'Yes! I'll work here!' |
| ALEX GERRY: Mark Vaultier was very ruthless on the door. lf you didn't have the look, 'goodbye!' You couldn't argue with him. Being in Leicester Square you can imagine the kind of people trying to get in. And he wouldn't let anyone in wearing fur -'cause he loved animals. JEFFREY HINTON: The door policy was very strict. Not everyone was welcome. The idea for the club was it was a place where people of our sort of mentality could go. You'd get past Mark by knowing him. But then, to know him, you'd either have to be a drug dealer or some boy he funcied. Or someone that he liked. But then he'd let in a tramp. It was all on his whim. |
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| Rachel Auburn |
| MATTHEW GLAMORRE: I'd read about Taboo in I-D. They said it was difficult to get in and, 'cause I was only 16, I'd decided I had to go ond get in. And I just walked straight through! I did have a big look on. I used to have this pink back combed fringe going out one side and a big pink polka dot over one eye. And I was wearing a plastic rain mac with naughty knickers on underneath. They seemed to think it was fine. Mark Vaultier quite liked my look. |
| ALEX GERRY: I was at pyramid and Tony Gordon came up to me and gave me an invite for the opening night. I thought it was the most unfriendly place in the universe. People didn't talk to you unless you were part of that little clique -Trojan, Mark Vaultiet; Mark Lowrence, Leigh Bowery, [Princess] Julio, Rachel. It was a bit vile, to be honest. I was alright 'cause I was taking photographs. And of course they all loved having their photographs taken. So I was tolerated. |
| RACHEL AUBURN: Leigh wasn't really a name then. He was kind of on the club scene. We'd been going to places like pyramid, Club For Heroes and Cha Chas. Taboo launched Leigh. It was like his bedroom. He could experiment, try out new looks. |
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