Steve Strange’s verdict on Marc Warren, the actor who
recreated his role as gatekeeper of the 1980s Blitz club on TV: “Perhaps he was a bit too harsh.”
❚ ONE PRESENT WAS GOING straight into the smallest room in the house. At Steve Strange’s 51st birthday party last night at the Green Carnation in Soho, Rosemary Turner, co-host with Alejandro Gocast of the monthly club-night called The Face, presented him with a poster of his favourite pinup of the moment, the actor Marc Warren giving his rottweiler portrayal of Strange in last Sunday’s TV drama, Worried About the Boy.
All highly amusing, except that the TV drama had cruelly rendered Strange as some kind of tyrant on the door to the 1980 Blitz club which had a legendarily ruthless admissions policy long before red ropes became de rigueur. You were only admitted if you sported an OTT “look”. Even so, by common consent, Warren’s performance was a bit of a harsh portrait. What did you think Steve? “A bit too harsh,” Steve reckoned, biting his lip and holding back the tears.
Still, friends rallied round and champagne corks popped. In the roped-off VIP escape pod veteran clubbers could have put names to a few veteran popsters such as Steve Norman and Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet, with partners Shelley, Shirlie and their family formation pose teams in tow. There too were Andy Bell of Erasure (new album out next month, with a Vince Clarke remix of the title track, Non-Stop, if you’re sharp), Studio 54 star Windy Tiger who is currently urging us to support Unison over public-sector cuts, trend-shaping photographer Gitte Meldgaard and Paul (Scoop) Simper “from Number One magazine”. The sudden summer weather meant that in the street outside, leading the smokers contingent was fashionista Stephen Linard, on temporary leave from his new roost in Australia.
A new generation of clubbers peered over the rope and moved along, possibly wondering who the heck all the old-timers were. Rose has established a winning formula of mixing the generations at her club-nights, not to mention sprinkling a generous dose of double-barrelled names into the mix. Some of those scarcely out of their acne are being dubbed the Neo Romantics, sporting extreme colourful looks, provocative names and an instinctive eye for a camera.
Strange’s birthday party photographed © by Shapersofthe80s – CLICK TO ENLARGE
➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣ 
“A bit too harsh” and a bit too old for that role!