The Burning Up Times - Strangled.co.uk

Burning Up Times Issue 3
Rainbow Theatre, Seven Sisters, N7
In the 1960s, it’s the Finsbury Park
Astoria, the Art Deco hall where Chuck
Berry appears with The Swinging Blue
Jeans, Moody Blues and the Nashville
Teens; once again, it’s a young Hugh , with
school pal Richard Thompson – this time,
in the crowd. On 30th January 1976, The
Stranglers support the Climax Blues Band
at what is now The Rainbow, and Hugh
sports a provocative T-shirt that reads
‘Fuck’. Offi cials pull the plug following a
tip-off after wearing it at Croydon’s Red
Deer, and viewed both times by a future
Lurker called Arthur Billingsley. In the
ensuing years, The Rainbow becomes an
almost spiritual home for The Stranglers,
and when Hugh is imprisoned in1980
for drugs possession, two Easter gigs go
ahead without him. Nowadays, it’s home
to the Kingdom of God.
[ http://ship-of-fools.com/Mystery/mws_
05/reports/1064.html ]
Duke of Lancaster, Barnet EN4
Slightly off-radar, but still in my A to Z:
Like the Fred’s Hope & Anchor – Bill
Phelan was another cool publican
name-checked in Bitching. The band
play a secret gig in January ’78: According
to Jet, it rained sweat that
night. But by 2002, perspiration turns
to demolition and now the landmark
is commemorated in Tarmac to form a
supermarket car park.
The Torrington, 4 Lodge Lane, Finchley, N12
Hope & Anchor, 207 Upper Street, N1
Islington publican Fred Grainger gives the
band their fi rst residency, and play to one
man (and his dog). But word spreads, and
within weeks, the 150 capacity cellar bar
is rammed. In Bitching, JJ compares other
publicans to Fred: “Why can’t you all be
like Fred Grainger..?”.
With two hit albums under their belt,
the band return for November ‘77’s Front
Row Festival – a fund-raiser starring Steel
Pulse, Dire Straits and Shakin’ Stevens.
Albion’s Ian Grant has video release plans
quashed, although a live double LP documents
the three-week festival. Video footage
of Something Better Change, Hanging
Around and Grip shows early Hope gigs by
The Stranglers, the latter found in the Old
Testament compilation.
When the Finchley Boys stumbled upon The Stranglers’ on 14th November 1976, the
Torrington Arms was Finchley’s prime gig spot. Today, it’s a coffee shop and restaurant.
Here’s what the locals think of the transformation nowadays, sourced from a public
reviewing forum:
“Shocking – this was one of the few real pubs in Finchley, with a back room which was
almost an institution, the kind of place where you’d go to see your mates’ bands play
and where they used to have record sales. Now turned into yet another Starbucks.
Who the hell gave planning permission for that?”
“I enjoyed an afternoon drinking session in The Torrington one Saturday , four years
ago . I am sad to hear that it’s now closed.”
“The front has turned into a Starbucks, the rear part is going to be 3 Oceans Bar &
Restaurant.”
“They have only gone and turned it into a bloody Starbucks! Just what Finchley needs
– another poncy coffee place.”
Anyone for coffee?
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