The Batcave Club 1982-85

Olli Wisdom, member of Specimen and founder of The Batcave, and Nik Fiend, of Alien Sex Fiend, at The Batcave Club, 1982

The Batcave club was a new type of club night focusing on the emerging Post Punk scene, hosted at "Gossips" in London's Soho district.

The club night opened in July of 1982 and ran on Wednesdays nights until late 1985 when the club night ceased.

The originators of the club were popular members from the band Specimen, notably Olli Wisdom.

To quote Olli:

"It’s the people that make the atmosphere. It’s not “Suck your cheeks in and pose in the corner.” It’s very friendly. Basically, it’s about fun. It’s about having your tongue firmly in your cheek and being able to laugh at the realities of the day-to-day existence."

The club night hosted many live bands, and over the years, these bands have gained notoriety due to being some of the progenitors of the Post Punk movement.

Bands that performed included:

Bauhaus

Alien Sex Fiend

Southern Death Cult (The Cult)

Sex Gang Children

Virgin Prunes

Siouxsie Sioux (And The Banshees)

Nick Cave
Patti Palladin

Marc Almond (Marc and the Mambas)

David Tibet (Current 93)
Specimen

Sex Beat

Bone Orchard

Tabitha's Nightmare

The Venomettes
Meat Of Youth

Flesh For Lulu

KAS Product
Danielle Dax
Death In June
Play Dead

Music at the club night was not what most modern "Goths" would imagine, while the live bands that played are what most people think of as being Goth, the club would often be heard playing the likes of David Bowie, A Little Stray Cats or Garry Glitter over its speakers.

Resident DJ Hamish McDonald:

"I play what I call a sweeping curve of sound, with Siouxsie and the Cramps as middle ground, taking in Sweet and the Specimen and stretching to Eddie Cochran and Death Cult"

It wasn't until 1983 when the dancefloor become considerably more "Goth" in its playlist.

The top 10 records in the Batcave between Feb 83 and Feb 84, described as "Batcave's crucial instruments of change in the past 12 months" from The Face, February 1983.

Virgin Prunes - Pagan Love Song
Bauhaus - Lagartija Nick
Cramps - Cos you've got good taste
Sisters of Mercy - Temple of Love
Banshess - Dear Prudence
Killing Joke - Tensioin
Specimen - Telltale
Public Image - This is not a love song
Alien Sex Fiend - Ignore the machine
Xmal Deutschland - Boomerang

In 1983 the Batcave, after gaining attention in the mainstream media, went on a tour of the UK. This helped bring the movement to people outside of London, and also helped spurn similar clubs throughout the UK.

Resident DJ Hamish McDonald:

"When we toured the Batcave last year it was obvious that kids wanted to dance, not sit around burning black candles in some "alternative" club. In small towns like Colne, Lancs, they were furious and keen for music to dance to - but only modern stuff like the Cocteau Twins. It was more difficult mixing in the older glam rock. Now there are Batcave nights at Planets in Liverpool, the Belfry in Leicester, the Hacienda in Manchester... it's the one night that kids have got their own punk disco."

From an interview with Jonny (Slut) Melton in Mick Mercer's Gothic Rock:

Mick Mercer: Was the Batcave ever a spawning place for ideas?

"It was a light bulb for all the freaks and people like myself who were from the sticks and wanted a bit more from life. Freaks, weirdos, sexual deviants...
There's people around who'll always be attracted by something shiny, glittering, exciting. A t the time the Batcave wasn't a doomy, Gothy, droney grungey sort of place. I don't think it ever was, but I imagine in this day and age that's what people may imagine it was... but it was more Gotham City than Aleister Crowley."

The Batcave also published a compilation vinyl titled "Batcave: Young Limbs And Numb Hymns" which feared the prominent bands played at the club.

Tracklist:

A1 - Specimen - Dead Man's Autochop

A2 - Sexbeat - Sexbeat

A3 - Test Dept. - Shockwork

A4 - Patti Palladin - The Nuns New Clothes

A5 - James T. Pursey - Eyes Shine Killidiscope

B1 - Meat of Youth - Meat of Youth

B2 - Brilliant - Coming Up for the Downstroke

B3 - Alien Sex Fiend - R.I.P.

B4 - The Venomettes - The Dance of Death

The Batcave "Members Card"