Simon Hobart
Encyclopedia
Simon Hobart was one of the most influential figures in British gay nightlife of his era. He was most famous for creating the hugely popular, long-running alternative nightclub
Popstarz at London's Scala
. He was also the owner and promoter of Soho
venues Ghetto (which hosted the Nag Nag Nag
night) and Trash Palace.
goth
club in the early 80s, the Kitcat. In 1984, a photo of him in full goth regalia was splashed across the front page of the tabloid The Sun
, above the caption "Godfather of Goth." Hobart took the fall for the first club raid on London’s first all-night club. Police (dressed as goths) surveiled the soon-to-be infamous venue and saw no club managers or owners at the place: just the 20-year old DJ. 200 police descended upon the premises. Hobart got away with community service
and the club became wildly popular.
Following the huge success of the night, he went on to open another club that became a legend of its time, Bedrock
. He has said in interviews that he promoted the club's opening night (3rd February 1989 At Oxfords, 21 Oxford street W1) by not letting anyone in, forcing them in a long queue outside, but blasting the music and pretending it was packed to capacity inside. There was immediate buzz about the new, "wildly successful" indie dance night.
His growing reputation led to DJ residencies at the Heaven
nightclub. Simon then moved into Drum and Bass
- opening two major underground DnB nights, Fusion and Vivid, both having capacities of about 1200 people.
. "If Popstarz had failed," he told Alternative London Magazine, "I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself, because I didn’t know anyone in the gay community." It became his most successful creation, and more than a thousand patrons a week continue to arrive each Friday. Many stars have partied there, and it has been host to many world-class bands, including Scissor Sisters
, The Dandy Warhols
, Le Tigre
, and Goldfrapp
.
He told Gay.com
that he started Popstarz to bring something different to the gay scene, away from the “factory-farm stereotyped, mindless, blinkered gay people” churned out by other clubs. "The feeling was that gay people had been liberated from the hell that they’d been in for most of their teen to adult lives,” he said. “So many people said to me it was like coming out of the closet for the second time.”
In more recent years, his passion was the Ghetto (previously the Tube Nightclub), a small basement club behind the London Astoria
, where he had the opportunity to nurture a number of criss-crossing alternative gay scenes. The Ghetto, where Simon spent six nights a week (except Fridays at Popstarz, where he spun), had nights ranging from Redeye (gay metal/punk/rock with devout regulars who connected on the bentpunk internet forum) to The Cock (celebrity-studded, ambisexual post-electroclash) to Misshapes (cutting edge indie with a heavy lesbian presence). On Saturdays Simon himself spun at Wig Out, his packed, unpretentious pop night. Shortly before his death, his new alternative bar Trash Palace hosted the first gay freshers fair for new students in the capital.
Simon often said he was willing to take losses on certain nights (such as Redeye) because he was so committed to promoting the alternative gay scene. In fact, all events and venues run by Simon were and continue to be run on a semi-charitable basis with any profits after costs going to charity.
In 2003, The Observer
included Simon in its list of the 20 most influential gay people in the country.
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
Popstarz at London's Scala
Scala (club)
Scala is a nightclub in London, England, near King's Cross railway station.-History:The Scala was originally built as a cinema to the designs of H Courtney Constantine, but construction was interrupted by the First World War and it spent some time being used to manufacture aircraft parts, and as a...
. He was also the owner and promoter of Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
venues Ghetto (which hosted the Nag Nag Nag
Nag Nag Nag
Nag Nag Nag was an influential former London club night at the late Simon Hobart's Ghetto nightclub for six years, founded by veteran DJ, promoter and musician Jonny Slut. It is commonly associated with the ambisexual post-electroclash scene. The Independent described the night as a "legendary...
night) and Trash Palace.
Early career
He began his career as a promoter and DJ at a Westbourne GroveWestbourne Grove
Westbourne Grove is a retail road running across Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, a section of west London, England. It runs from Kensington Park Road in the west to Queensway in the east, crossing over Portobello Road...
goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
club in the early 80s, the Kitcat. In 1984, a photo of him in full goth regalia was splashed across the front page of the tabloid The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
, above the caption "Godfather of Goth." Hobart took the fall for the first club raid on London’s first all-night club. Police (dressed as goths) surveiled the soon-to-be infamous venue and saw no club managers or owners at the place: just the 20-year old DJ. 200 police descended upon the premises. Hobart got away with community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
and the club became wildly popular.
Following the huge success of the night, he went on to open another club that became a legend of its time, Bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
. He has said in interviews that he promoted the club's opening night (3rd February 1989 At Oxfords, 21 Oxford street W1) by not letting anyone in, forcing them in a long queue outside, but blasting the music and pretending it was packed to capacity inside. There was immediate buzz about the new, "wildly successful" indie dance night.
His growing reputation led to DJ residencies at the Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
nightclub. Simon then moved into Drum and Bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
- opening two major underground DnB nights, Fusion and Vivid, both having capacities of about 1200 people.
Popstarz and later career
On 25 May 1995, he started his first gay night, Popstarz, capitalizing on the popularity of BritpopBritpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
. "If Popstarz had failed," he told Alternative London Magazine, "I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself, because I didn’t know anyone in the gay community." It became his most successful creation, and more than a thousand patrons a week continue to arrive each Friday. Many stars have partied there, and it has been host to many world-class bands, including Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
, The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994. The band was founded by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström, with keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford later joining. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by...
, Le Tigre
Le Tigre
Le Tigre is an American electroclash band, formed by Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman in 1998. It also featured Sadie Benning from 1998 until 2001, and JD Samson for the rest of the group's run...
, and Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo, formed in 1999 in London, England, that consists of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory ....
.
He told Gay.com
Gay.com
gay.com is a chat, personals, and social networking website catering to the LGBT community. The site is a digital brand of Here Media Inc. In addition to community features, the site features LGBT-related news and features. As of September 2005, San Jose Mercury News ranked gay.com as the most...
that he started Popstarz to bring something different to the gay scene, away from the “factory-farm stereotyped, mindless, blinkered gay people” churned out by other clubs. "The feeling was that gay people had been liberated from the hell that they’d been in for most of their teen to adult lives,” he said. “So many people said to me it was like coming out of the closet for the second time.”
In more recent years, his passion was the Ghetto (previously the Tube Nightclub), a small basement club behind 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...
, where he had the opportunity to nurture a number of criss-crossing alternative gay scenes. The Ghetto, where Simon spent six nights a week (except Fridays at Popstarz, where he spun), had nights ranging from Redeye (gay metal/punk/rock with devout regulars who connected on the bentpunk internet forum) to The Cock (celebrity-studded, ambisexual post-electroclash) to Misshapes (cutting edge indie with a heavy lesbian presence). On Saturdays Simon himself spun at Wig Out, his packed, unpretentious pop night. Shortly before his death, his new alternative bar Trash Palace hosted the first gay freshers fair for new students in the capital.
Simon often said he was willing to take losses on certain nights (such as Redeye) because he was so committed to promoting the alternative gay scene. In fact, all events and venues run by Simon were and continue to be run on a semi-charitable basis with any profits after costs going to charity.
In 2003, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
included Simon in its list of the 20 most influential gay people in the country.
Death
Simon Hobart died in the early hours of Sunday October 23, 2005 after falling from steps outside his home. He was 41 years old.External links
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/nov/02/guardianobituaries.artsobituariesObituary from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
], Wednesday 2 November 2005 by David Hudson - Obituary from The Times (subscribers only, retrieved October 2011)
- Family pay tribute to London gay legend, Simon Hobart Pink NewsPink NewsPink News is a United Kingdom-based online gay newspaper.The paper version, The Pink News, officially launched at the Law Society on 28 June 2006 by Francis Maude, Chairman of the Conservative Party, Meg Munn, Minister for Equality, Simon Hughes, President of the Liberal Democrats and Meg Hillier,...