Links
Music, Dancing and Nightlife
Third-party wheezes that may be of interest. While we make a half-hearted attempt to keep this page up to date, we can’t guarantee these links are 100% current and take no responsibility for content.
The Candlelight Club
A regular London-based cocktail club with a 1920s speakeasy theme, offering a menu of cocktails, fine dining options, plus dancing to live jazz bands, performances by dancers and cabaret artistes, as well as DJs spinning period platters. The venue is a secret, revealed to ticket holders only a couple of days before the event, and the place is lit entirely by candles. A side-hustle of our Club Secretary Mr Hartley. (Actually it’s his main job—running the NSC is the “charity work” that he doesn’t like to talk about.)
A Curious Invitation
Suzette Field (ex-Last Tuesday Society has carried on her programme of decadent and rather gothic parties and balls under the A Curious Invitation brand (which is also the title of her book about famous parties in literature). This has been expanded into lectures on bohemian and historical topics and workshops, mostly about taxidermy.
Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer
Unstoppable inventor of “chap hop”, Mr B. has to be seen to be believed. He is an NSC Member and has performed at a number of our parties. The music is a mixture of hip-hop beats, banjolele and plummy-toned rapping about thoroughly Chappist concerns, and is clearly derived from a genuine love of both elements. In the 1990s Mr B was in Collapsed Lung, famous for the hit “Eat My Goal”. (In fact they are still going and have released new material, though I’m not sure if it is Mr B’s success that has sparked the resurrection.)
Professor Elemental
Sometimes pitched as Mr B.’s arch-rival, the Professor combines Steampunk subject matter (including the obligatory obsession with tea) with a—by Chappist standards—rather scruffy appearance featuring a pith helmet, safari jacket and permanent stubble. As with Mr B. one senses that a love for hip hop came first and the idea of Chappist subject matter second.
Sir Reginald Pikedevant
YouTube Channel of the mysterious author of Chap Hop style tunes with a Steampunk tone. His masterwork Just Glue Some Gears On It (And Call It Steampunk), with now over a million views, was a success but clearly a lot of people assumed it was by Mr B. (see above) or Professor Elemental, so he made another song pointing out that it was not—in the video to which he appears multiply disguised as Mr B. and Professor Elemental, among others. In truth this was all some time ago (Glue Some Gears was in 2012 and his last post was about three years later) but it still raises a chuckle. We made Sir Reginald an honorary Member of the NSC, which he seemed to appreciate.
The Arkham Hillbilly
Fans of H.P. Lovecraft, the 1920s horror writer and creator of the Cthulhu mythos, will be delighted to learn that the Club’s own Darcy Sullivan spent the Covid locksown reinventing himself as country singer the Arkham Hillbilly, the man who brought you the ‘Miskatonic Blues’, ‘Jamboree at Innsmouth’ and ‘Doggone It, Dagon’. On this Facebook page you can see all his videos, where he sings down-home songs of the uncanny and the eldritch, as well as offering some good, old-fashioned advice about self-isolation itself. Sponsored by Gibbous Moonshine™—the only liquor made in Arkham in a well. That sometimes glows at night. If you’re not on Facebook, check out his YouTube playlist. To hear his tunes in all their glory and purchase downloads, see his page on Bandcamp.
Parlophonians
The official site of The Parlophonians, world-renowned cabaret, burlesque, comedy and dance orchestra, led by NSC Member Jack Calloway. Jack has his fingers in a few other pies, and even has another band named after this club, the New Sheridan 7.
Phonotone Classic
Internet radio station playing restored 78s from the 1920s to the early 1940s, plus radio shows with their own three live radio orchestras. NSC Member and bandleader Jack Calloway has his own show on Sundays.
Champagne Charlie
Resident host at the Candlelight Club and busy singer and compère at many other events and venues, Champagne Charlie will take you by the hand and lead you into a decadent underground world of 1920s cabaret, a mixture of American speakeasy, British music hall, Weimar Berlin and Parisian follies. With cheeky songs, saucy patter and a wardrobe of astounding costumes, he combines waspish bedevilment with a warmth that leaves everyone feeling included.
Ewan Bleach
Top clarinetist, saxophonist and pianist, Ewan plays in various bands that regularly appear at the Candlelight Club and also hosts several of his own regular live jazz nights—see the links on his website.
Lobby Lud and the Luddites
An NSC Member himself, Mr Lud now has a full band of tweedpunk artistes to help him realise his own brand of end-of-pier musical tomfoolery, and he has performed at a couple of the Club’s parties. At the time of writing his website is under reconstruction, but it’s worth keeping an eye on as the last version was increasingly worth viewing just for the amusing animations that accumulated there. In the meantime you can follow the band on Facebook.
The Bee’s Knees
A dance troupe serving up Charleston routines and a variety of other themed acts. But they are also mean DJs and can often be found spinning shellac at the Candlelight Club.
The Gatsby Girls
The Gatsby Girls will transport you back to a world of sophistication, glitz and glamour with performances full of flapper fun and dazzling Charleston footwork. When not shimmying at the Candlelight Club they can be found at the Ned, the Café de Paris, the Café Royal, Glastonbury Festival, Highclere Castle and have popped up on the BBC and ITV.
Swing Out London
Thorough and well-built site listing Lindy Hop events all over London. See also their Facebook page.
Swing Dance UK
Putting on club nights, dance classes, demonstrations and weekend workshops since 1986.
Swing Patrol
The global megacorp of the swing world (there’s even an Australian division), offering swing dance lessons at various venues.
London Swing Cats
Dance tuition, plus various social dance events, from former UK Lindon Hop Champion Claire “Voodoo Doll” Austin.
Black Tie Ballroom Club
George Tudor-Hart’s club for strictly ballroom dancing. He had put on regular events in the past (not sure if that will continue) with dancing to live bands (strict tempo) and recorded music. This Meet-Up website is a directory of places to perpetrate ballroom dancing in the Greater London area.
Sugar Push Vintage Dance
Holly France (one of the Bee’s Knees) offers swing dance classes, workshops and retreats, plus choreography and vintage DJing.
Hot Jazz Rag
Despite the rather unsavoury name, this is Nikki Santilli’s entirely wholesome offering of dance tuition and erudition on African-American jazz dances from 1900 to 1950—Solo Jazz, Balboa, Lindy Hop, Charleston and Black Bottom. She has also been running Rhythm & Book a weekly Zoom lecture and discussion with guest speakers every Wednesday, though I’m not sure if this is intended to carry on after Covid restrictions are lifted.