Trade nightclub
Encyclopedia
Trade is a highly successful, pioneering and influential gay
nightclub
started in 1990 by Laurence Malice and Tim Stabler. The idea for Trade came from the brief but seminal club nite Troll (1988-89), at the Sound Shaft Heaven
where some of Trade's first DJ's used to play. Trade was unlike any other club at the time as it opened from 4am Sunday morning until 1pm on Sunday afternoon at Turnmills
, Clerkenwell Road, London
. The club was touted as "the original all night bender". The door policy was firm but fair: "You don't have to be gay or a member to get in, but your attitude and look will count".
, G-A-Y
and The Fridge
closed at around 02:00-03:00 Sunday mornings, an hour or so before Trade opened at 04:00. Therefore clubbers were able to go straight on to the club.
At the time many guys went cruising in the parks after leaving other clubs. The name 'Trade' and the opening hours was to encourage guys to go to the club as a safer alternative.
Turnmills was the first club in the UK to be given a 24-hour "Music & Dance" license.
Due to this massive licensing advantage, the venue's role was crucial to the success of Trade.
The club owner, John Newman (deceased father of DJ: Tall Paul), played an instrumental part in hosting Trade in his venue and was most passionate with his enthusiasm to make it work. John constantly made improvements to the club as money allowed. Soon after Trade launched the small original sound system had to be rapidly improved to cope with the tough demands being made of it.
Each improvement made resulted in more people enjoying the music, that was the ethic.
Peter Lynes installed around sixteen huge JBL recording studio monitor loudspeakers around the venue as a temporary fix. These studio monitors had been purchased by Peter directly from the EMI Abbey Road Studios. Soon after this a new ASS horn-loaded sound system was designed and installed by Peter Lynes for the main dance floor, the old system was shuffled down to cover the surrounding areas. The horn-loading nature of the new main sound system allowed for far greater volume and acoustic penetration across the dance floor.
The sound system played an important part in the club's success, there were multiple sound systems, each to cover an area and it was equalised (tone controls) in real time for each record to maximise sound quality and enjoyment. This was a unique approach at the time and paid great dividends.
An air cooled, single colour laser was installed to compliment the manic dance floor.
John Newman (AKA Big John) was often seen in the DJ booth operating the light show & laser with a wide smile on his face.
Turnmill's dance floor and surrounding balcony was soon decorated with black paint to create a "theatrical" (infinite) background with Trade's fluorescent banners and wall hangings illuminated by ultra violet lighting, mainly created from the artist Trademark who became closely associated with the club, later becoming Trade's manager. The banner and decoration themes changed regularly, usually on the special events parties held at Easter and on the Trade birthday party each October with spectacular fluorescent mobiles and effects projections.
Small video clips of the Trade dance floor appeared in the 1993 video 'Trance Vision Dance Volume 1' to accompany the 11th track on the video 'Let's Rock' by E. Trax.
Around 1993/4 a water cooled white light laser was installed, this was a serious investment and was a very industrial unit requiring a 3-phase 415-volt electricity supply and a constant supply of cold water running through it from the water mains. The term "white light" can be confusing, it actually means that the light generated can be filtered to provide the full colour (rainbow)spectrum. The result was awe-inspiring; as the dance floor was catapulted into a different dimension.
.
Trade were unable to hold their (by now legendary) New Year's Eve party at Turnmills in 1995. This was because New Year's Eve 1995 fell on a Sunday and the usual Turnmills Sunday night club - FF - held their NYE night at Turnmills. Trade held a successful New Years Day party at the Leisure Lounge in Holborn, London instead.
Around 1995 Turnmills commissioned Peter Lynes again to design a totally new bespoke sound system for the main dance floor and balcony. This was designed from scratch, every last loudspeaker cabinet was hand built to deliver surreal sound quality at unsurpassed volume levels without distortion. The system design was based on the very best recording studio loudspeaker technology, but ramped up in scale 1000 fold & modified to cope. Ground breaking Digital processing equipment was used to enable consistent quality. There was a huge sub-bass cabinet that used four 21-inch loudspeakers in front of the DJ booth that really pumped the air. The result was that the club grew further in popularity as the club took sound quality so seriously.
Trade suffered a setback on 2 July 1998 when popular DJ Tony De Vit
died.
Due to the global success of Trade, UK Channel 4
television commissioned an hour long documentary Trade the all-night bender which was broadcast on 9 August 1998 as part of the Queer Street series of programmes.. It featured in the BBC2 programme "Gaytime TV" and also had a regular weekly radio show on Atlantic252.
On 27 May 1999 Turnmills ended Trade's residency due to security problems at the previous weeks event. Trade negotiated a 4 week run at LA2 in the London Astoria
. During this time the management of Trade and Turnmills resolved the issues. Trade returned to Turnmills on 3 July 1999 for the post Mardi Gras (the renamed London Gay Pride) party. The following month on 7 August 1999 Trade had a dance tent at Summer Rites in Brockwell Park
, the first time they had a tent at the festival.
Towards the end of the 1990s, as Turmills opened up and fit out more space in the venue, Trade was able to open up a second room named the 'Trade lite lounge' playing a lighter funkier style of house music which quickly gained a big following.
, but also Daz Saund
, Trevor Rockliffe, Smokin Jo, Tall Paul, Alan Thompson, Malcolm Duffy, Steve Thomas, Pete Wardman, Ian M and Fergie
. Other DJs who have graced the decks include EJ Doubell, Lisa German, Rosco, Gonzalo, The Sharp Boys, Peter Ward, Steve Haswell, Fat Tony, Strawberry K, Guy Williams, Ziad
, Jon Dennis, Pagano, Gabriele Cutrano and Tom MacMillan.
Turnmills suspended future events on 24 April 2004 following a number of overdoses of GHB
at the Easter Party the previous week. The use of GHB in clubs was causing problems for a number of clubs and venues at that time. The next Trade event held at Turnmills after this was the 14th Birthday party in October 2004.
would be held on the 22/23 March 2008. This is due to the expected closure of Turnmills as a clubbing venue.
This was subsequently confirmed on 24 January 2008 when Turnmills officially announced the closure.
A further press release on 30 January 2008 announced that the final date was being brought forward by one week to Sunday morning 16 March 2008. This was due to "so many 'sell out' events at Turnmills over Easter it would not be practical to run Trade After-Hours over this weekend".
Within a few weeks of the tickets going on sale, the event sold out. Many of the original Trade DJs returned for the final event, including Steve Thomas, Ian M, Daz Saund
, Malcolm Duffy and Pete Wardman. The club opened its doors at 05:00 and during the night Lawrence Malice made a speech to the main room dancefloor, thanking the clubbers and his associates, and asking everyone 'to really go for it!'. The party continued until the final record, Schoneberg by Marmion, was played by Pete Wardman, finishing at 17:45.
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
started in 1990 by Laurence Malice and Tim Stabler. The idea for Trade came from the brief but seminal club nite Troll (1988-89), at the Sound Shaft Heaven
Heaven (nightclub)
Heaven is a Superclub in London, England which appeals predominantly to the gay market. It is located underneath Charing Cross railway station in Central London, just off Trafalgar Square.-Early history:...
where some of Trade's first DJ's used to play. Trade was unlike any other club at the time as it opened from 4am Sunday morning until 1pm on Sunday afternoon at Turnmills
Turnmills
Turnmills was a London nightclub on the corner of Turnmill Street and Clerkenwell Road in the London Borough of Islington. It closed on the morning of 24 March 2008....
, Clerkenwell Road, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The club was touted as "the original all night bender". The door policy was firm but fair: "You don't have to be gay or a member to get in, but your attitude and look will count".
Early Years 1990 - 1995
Trade quickly grew in popularity as other clubs at the time such as HeavenHeaven (nightclub)
Heaven is a Superclub in London, England which appeals predominantly to the gay market. It is located underneath Charing Cross railway station in Central London, just off Trafalgar Square.-Early history:...
, G-A-Y
G-A-Y
G-A-Y is a gay nightclub in London. It operated from the London Astoria music venue for 15 years until July 2008. The Boston Globe described it as "London's largest gay-themed club night", NME reported that it "attracts 6,000 clubbers each week", and The Independent described it as "the one London...
and The Fridge
The Fridge
The Fridge is a nightclub in the Brixton area of South London, founded by Andrew Czezowski, who had run the Roxy during punk music's heyday in 1977. It was originally started in 1981, in a small club at 390 Brixton Lane, and in 1982 above Iceland in Brixton Road with a radical decor that included...
closed at around 02:00-03:00 Sunday mornings, an hour or so before Trade opened at 04:00. Therefore clubbers were able to go straight on to the club.
At the time many guys went cruising in the parks after leaving other clubs. The name 'Trade' and the opening hours was to encourage guys to go to the club as a safer alternative.
Turnmills was the first club in the UK to be given a 24-hour "Music & Dance" license.
Due to this massive licensing advantage, the venue's role was crucial to the success of Trade.
The club owner, John Newman (deceased father of DJ: Tall Paul), played an instrumental part in hosting Trade in his venue and was most passionate with his enthusiasm to make it work. John constantly made improvements to the club as money allowed. Soon after Trade launched the small original sound system had to be rapidly improved to cope with the tough demands being made of it.
Each improvement made resulted in more people enjoying the music, that was the ethic.
Peter Lynes installed around sixteen huge JBL recording studio monitor loudspeakers around the venue as a temporary fix. These studio monitors had been purchased by Peter directly from the EMI Abbey Road Studios. Soon after this a new ASS horn-loaded sound system was designed and installed by Peter Lynes for the main dance floor, the old system was shuffled down to cover the surrounding areas. The horn-loading nature of the new main sound system allowed for far greater volume and acoustic penetration across the dance floor.
The sound system played an important part in the club's success, there were multiple sound systems, each to cover an area and it was equalised (tone controls) in real time for each record to maximise sound quality and enjoyment. This was a unique approach at the time and paid great dividends.
An air cooled, single colour laser was installed to compliment the manic dance floor.
John Newman (AKA Big John) was often seen in the DJ booth operating the light show & laser with a wide smile on his face.
Turnmill's dance floor and surrounding balcony was soon decorated with black paint to create a "theatrical" (infinite) background with Trade's fluorescent banners and wall hangings illuminated by ultra violet lighting, mainly created from the artist Trademark who became closely associated with the club, later becoming Trade's manager. The banner and decoration themes changed regularly, usually on the special events parties held at Easter and on the Trade birthday party each October with spectacular fluorescent mobiles and effects projections.
Small video clips of the Trade dance floor appeared in the 1993 video 'Trance Vision Dance Volume 1' to accompany the 11th track on the video 'Let's Rock' by E. Trax.
1995 - 2002
From about 1995 onwards Trade started to export their brand of music and clubbing experience and over the next few years, held events throughout the UK and worldwide, in addition to releasing a number of CDsCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
.
Trade were unable to hold their (by now legendary) New Year's Eve party at Turnmills in 1995. This was because New Year's Eve 1995 fell on a Sunday and the usual Turnmills Sunday night club - FF - held their NYE night at Turnmills. Trade held a successful New Years Day party at the Leisure Lounge in Holborn, London instead.
Around 1995 Turnmills commissioned Peter Lynes again to design a totally new bespoke sound system for the main dance floor and balcony. This was designed from scratch, every last loudspeaker cabinet was hand built to deliver surreal sound quality at unsurpassed volume levels without distortion. The system design was based on the very best recording studio loudspeaker technology, but ramped up in scale 1000 fold & modified to cope. Ground breaking Digital processing equipment was used to enable consistent quality. There was a huge sub-bass cabinet that used four 21-inch loudspeakers in front of the DJ booth that really pumped the air. The result was that the club grew further in popularity as the club took sound quality so seriously.
Trade suffered a setback on 2 July 1998 when popular DJ Tony De Vit
Tony De Vit
Tony De Vit was a British club DJ, Producer and Remixer and one of the most influential of his generation. He was credited with helping to take the "Hard house" and fast "Hard NRG" sounds out of the London gay scene and into mainstream clubs...
died.
Due to the global success of Trade, UK Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
television commissioned an hour long documentary Trade the all-night bender which was broadcast on 9 August 1998 as part of the Queer Street series of programmes.. It featured in the BBC2 programme "Gaytime TV" and also had a regular weekly radio show on Atlantic252.
On 27 May 1999 Turnmills ended Trade's residency due to security problems at the previous weeks event. Trade negotiated a 4 week run at LA2 in the London Astoria
London Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...
. During this time the management of Trade and Turnmills resolved the issues. Trade returned to Turnmills on 3 July 1999 for the post Mardi Gras (the renamed London Gay Pride) party. The following month on 7 August 1999 Trade had a dance tent at Summer Rites in Brockwell Park
Brockwell Park
Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare park located between Brixton, Herne Hill and Tulse Hill, bordered by Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill , and Dulwich Road in South London....
, the first time they had a tent at the festival.
Towards the end of the 1990s, as Turmills opened up and fit out more space in the venue, Trade was able to open up a second room named the 'Trade lite lounge' playing a lighter funkier style of house music which quickly gained a big following.
DJs
Many DJs made their name at Trade most notably the late Tony De VitTony De Vit
Tony De Vit was a British club DJ, Producer and Remixer and one of the most influential of his generation. He was credited with helping to take the "Hard house" and fast "Hard NRG" sounds out of the London gay scene and into mainstream clubs...
, but also Daz Saund
Daz Saund
Daz Saund is a British club DJ and Remixer from London, England.-Career:After getting his big break at the seminal Troll Nites at the Sound Shaft, Heaven, London in the late 1980s. Daz Saund then progressed to become resident DJ at the immensely popular Garage at Heaven nightclub...
, Trevor Rockliffe, Smokin Jo, Tall Paul, Alan Thompson, Malcolm Duffy, Steve Thomas, Pete Wardman, Ian M and Fergie
Fergie (DJ)
Fergie is an Northern Irish DJ and electronic music artist from Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Initially playing hard house in his early career, he is now better known for breaks and techno....
. Other DJs who have graced the decks include EJ Doubell, Lisa German, Rosco, Gonzalo, The Sharp Boys, Peter Ward, Steve Haswell, Fat Tony, Strawberry K, Guy Williams, Ziad
Ziad
Ziad is an Arabic given name for males. People with the name include:* Ziad Asali, Arab-American activist* Ziad Fazah, Lebanese polyglot* Ziad Doueiri, Lebanese film director* Ziad Hamzeh, American film director...
, Jon Dennis, Pagano, Gabriele Cutrano and Tom MacMillan.
2002 onwards
Trade ended its weekly London Sunday slot on 27 October 2002 on the 12th Birthday party but still tours the world and regularly returns to Turnmills in London, for occasional one off events. (Trade celebrated its 17th birthday in October 2007).Turnmills suspended future events on 24 April 2004 following a number of overdoses of GHB
Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid
γ-Hydroxybutyric acid , also known as 4-hydroxybutanoic acid and sodium oxybate when used for medicinal purposes, is a naturally occurring substance found in the central nervous system, wine, beef, small citrus fruits, and almost all animals in small amounts. It is also categorized as an illegal...
at the Easter Party the previous week. The use of GHB in clubs was causing problems for a number of clubs and venues at that time. The next Trade event held at Turnmills after this was the 14th Birthday party in October 2004.
Last event at Turnmills
On the 18th January 2008 a Trade press release announced that the final trade event at TurnmillsTurnmills
Turnmills was a London nightclub on the corner of Turnmill Street and Clerkenwell Road in the London Borough of Islington. It closed on the morning of 24 March 2008....
would be held on the 22/23 March 2008. This is due to the expected closure of Turnmills as a clubbing venue.
This was subsequently confirmed on 24 January 2008 when Turnmills officially announced the closure.
A further press release on 30 January 2008 announced that the final date was being brought forward by one week to Sunday morning 16 March 2008. This was due to "so many 'sell out' events at Turnmills over Easter it would not be practical to run Trade After-Hours over this weekend".
Within a few weeks of the tickets going on sale, the event sold out. Many of the original Trade DJs returned for the final event, including Steve Thomas, Ian M, Daz Saund
Daz Saund
Daz Saund is a British club DJ and Remixer from London, England.-Career:After getting his big break at the seminal Troll Nites at the Sound Shaft, Heaven, London in the late 1980s. Daz Saund then progressed to become resident DJ at the immensely popular Garage at Heaven nightclub...
, Malcolm Duffy and Pete Wardman. The club opened its doors at 05:00 and during the night Lawrence Malice made a speech to the main room dancefloor, thanking the clubbers and his associates, and asking everyone 'to really go for it!'. The party continued until the final record, Schoneberg by Marmion, was played by Pete Wardman, finishing at 17:45.