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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Lauren Cochrane

Strange days: how the Blitz club changed the 1980s – and fashion

Vivienne Lynn, Boy George, Chris Sullivan, Kim Bowen, Theresa Thurmer, and a Blitz attendee, 1980
Vivienne Lynn, Boy George, Chris Sullivan, Kim Bowen, Theresa Thurmer, and a Blitz attendee, 1980. Photograph: Derek Ridgers/Unravel Productions

For a nightclub that existed for less than 18 months, the Blitz – which opened at 4 Great Queen Street in Covent Garden, London, in February 1979 and closed in October 1980 – had an outside influence on UK culture.

Set up by scenester Rusty Egan and aspiring pop star Steve Strange, who went on to have a Top 10 hit, Fade to Grey, with his band Visage, the Tuesday night party in a 200-person capacity space swiftly became the place to be seen if you were young, cool or creative. Famously, it spawned era-defining pop stars including Spandau Ballet, Sade and Boy George. Equally, though, fashion was central to its success.

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