Speed (and other club listings), i-D 1995

Club listings from i-D magazine,  no. 135, April 1995, covering lots of places in Britain and Ireland, but with the photos all from legendary drum'n'bass club Speed, including shots of DJ Kemistry and Goldie. I remember dancing to the former there alongside the latter on the dancefloor. 

Tony Marcus writes: 'For the last couple of months, Speed (Thursdays at Mars, Sutton Row, W1) has been playing London's most futuristic, raw, experimental and sci-fi grooves. Resident DJs Fabio and LTJ Bukem spin the latest drum'n'bass sounds on dubplate for a crowd that regularly includes junglist heads like Goldie, 4 Hero, Nookie, DJ Rap, DJ Ron, DJ Crystl, Deep Blue and A Guy Called Gerald. The sounds are immaculate: divine harmonies and crystalline breaks that wash, float and massage the dancefloor. A few stray hippies and tantric types take the floor for some wildly expressive dancing, while small groups of skinny boys lean against the speakers and solemnly nod to the rhythms. The vibe is relaxed, chemical-free and unites musicians, music lovers and dancers for a few hours of sonic bliss. And at times it looks like a scene from William Gibson, as sci-fi skate and B-boy fashions collide under sounds for the next millennium. Recommended'.

i-D, April 1995, cover star Nikki Umbertti

Speed reviewed by Dom Phillips in Mixmag, January 1996:

'Speed was the brainchild of a young man called Leo, formerly employed in the dance department of A&M Records. He met Bukem hanging out in the legendary Basement Records in Reading, through breakbeat producer and shop owner Basement Phil. "Just basically wanted to hear the music I was into  under one roof," explains Leo. "l didn't want no big PR, just word of mouth. Because musically it's intelligent and it's Central London, you're gonna get the people you want".

So you get an older, more mixed crowd, into the music, there to dance, not show off nor take their shirts off. At  |Speed there's a quiet, determined appreciation of the  best drum n' bass has to offer and the hands and feet are  frequently flailing in delight come midnight. No attitudes,  just good vibes and even better sounds. No wonder   peed is perhaps the best midweek night London has got. 

"It's a personal thing down there," says Leo, paying respect for the hard work put in by his resident DJ crew of Kemistry and Storm, DJ Lee and of course Bukem and  Fabio. "l didn't want to turn it into a trendy West End  thing. It was just a room that felt good. I was lucky because I knew [club owner] Nicky Holloway..." 

[post last updated 18/12/2023 with added Mixmag article]

See also other listings posts:

London Gay Disco 1972

NME Guide to Rock & Roll London (1978): Disco

NME Guide to Rock & Roll London (1978): Gay clubs

NME Guide to Rock & Roll London (1978): Reggae

London Club Listings 1982 - Time Out

Clubbing in London i-D listings, 1984

Clubbing in Sheffield i-D listings, 1984

Clubbing in Manchester listings, 1984

Clubbing in Luton, 1984

1987: Dancing in Brixton and beyond

1988 London club listings: 'do not play acid'

The Face London Club listings, March 1989

Muzik Magazine 1995 club listings

More 1995 London Clubs

 

Motorway Madness: 'ravers take over motorway services' (i-D, 1991)

Great article from i-D magazine, no. 91, April 1991 about post-club gatherings at Motorway service stations (click on images to enlarge):

'3 AM, Saturday morning. The M6 is windy, wet and desolate. Its service stations offer comfort only to lorry drivers and sleepy executives. For many weeks, however, selected services have paid host to the coffee and communal smoke of hundreds of ravers' post club comedown. After the semi legendary Blackburn parties, police continually harassed the convoys criss-crossing Lancashire and beyond. Although parties such as Revenge provided a brief replacement, the next best thing was driving long distance to a club and afterwards passing a few hours chilling at a service station. A network of clubs around the Midlands and Northwest, such as Legends in Warrington, Quadrant Park in Liverpool and Oz in Blackpool now provide the excitement and camaraderie of the raves of 1989 and 1990. Each club generates its own Service station mayhem; favourites including Burtonwood (M62), Charnock Richard (M6) and Anderton (M61).

The usual M6 choice, Knutsford (with its commanding views of all six lanes from the cafe) has tonight been cordoned off by the police (the “dibble“) and so the hordes head south to Sandbach. Most are returning from Shelley’s Laserdome in Stoke. As the cafeteria fills up and the ghetto blasters rev up, the staff and the casual callers look bewildered, probably by the size of the bubble jackets as much as the weight of numbers.

In the jungle humidity of the clubs, the ubiquitous baggy T-shirt is the only garment which prevents fainting, but in the chillier atmosphere of the services, mountaineering gear and sportswear reign. The clothes are from Chipie, Gio Goi, Soviet and still Joe Bloggs; favourite jackets and thick, fleecy tops come from Tog 24 and Berghaus. The bobble hat, once the preserve of train spotters, is now sported  with pride and appears in a vast range of bobbles, colours and ear-flaps...

A similar situation goes off on Sunday morning at Charnock Richard. 300 cars, each full, descend on the service area. This has been happening since the north-west after hours raves diminished last autumn. However by Christmas the management and police got wise to the game and started shutting the coffee bar, leaving the car park as the congregation area...'

'Phoebe 16, music journalist from Derby, clothes from Stussy and Guy's in Derby. Maddest thing you've ever done? 'Had the best night of my life at Shelleys and then got stuck in Stoke'