The club that shaped a new culture

Sounds and fashion of Blitz under spotlight at exhibition

- BY MATT ROPER and MARC BAKER

The Blitz nightclub in Covent Garden was the place where the 1980s truly began, and the launchpad for the careers of some of the decade's biggest stars.

It was open for just 18 months, from 1979 to 1981, and only on Tuesdays.

But the scruffy bar became the crucible for a cultural revolution, defining the sound and style of a generation. Future members of Spandau Ballet hung out there. Boy George worked in the cloakroom. And while the outrageously dressed were welcome, Mick Jagger apparently got turned away for wearing jeans.

Inside, the tiny, war-themed venue pulsed with art-rock and synth pop, while the dancefloor dazzled with flamboyant fashion, all garish colours, theatrical makeup and wild hair.

The Blitz, co-owned by DJ Rusty Egan and Steve Strange, is considered the birthplace of the New Romantics — the androgynous, eccentric look inspired by military uniforms, pirate chic and glam rock excess.

Later this month, its legacy will be celebrated in a new exhibition, Blitz: The Club That Shaped the 80s, at the Design Museum in Kensington.

Perhaps the club's unique atmosphere rubbed off most on Boy George.

Back then, he was squatting at a friend's house and working two jobs - the other at a fashion store called Boy. Speaking to the Mirror, he remembers how Strange, who manned the door, limited entry to only those who were dressed "like a walking piece of art".