I’ve previously talked about why I think 1981 was a pivotal year for UK pop music – and a huge part of that is down to what happened during the two years previous, in a tiny World War 2-themed basement club in Covent Garden, London known as “The Blitz”. An evolution of the Bowie themed nights that Rusty Egan and Steve Strange created first at “Billy’s” club in Soho.
Some of the pivotal figures of that era have worked with Rusty Egan to create a retrospective exhibition which runs until 29th March 2026 at the Design Museum.
It features many photographs from that era, many of patrons of Egan/Strange’s club night the The Blitz, but also looks more widely at the history – delving into the state of British society in the lead up to the 1980s and European popular cultural influences too.
It was a period of not just huge societal change but of new electronic technology applied to both the creation and production of music.
There’s a re-creation of the club itself with a video-wall projection of some of the types of characters & styles that you would’ve seen back in the day. There’s a young Rusty Egan avatar projected into a DJ booth where he’s playing a playlist of 5 songs and a video performance of Spandau Ballet’s iconic debut single “To Cut a Long Story Short”.
Of course the creative types that frequented the club weren’t just musicians – fashion designers, jewelry designers, artists, writers, milliners and furniture designers were all there too.
After my visit I travelled to Covent Garden on some sort of pilgrimage to 4 Great Queen St, WC2B 5DG to see the actual frontage of what once was “The Blitz” – seems like it’s closed/condemned due to asbestos but as a small consolation there’s a “Spandau Ballet first played here” plaque 😉
Room 7609 