From The Nottingham Evening Post
Friday, August 28, 2009
The idea came from a former Hucknall miner who had moved down to Nottingham from Scotland in the early eighties. It was to tap in to the changes happening in London and Manchester clubs. The Acid House/rave revolution that had been happening in fields and warehouses across the country was starting to move into clubs.
From mining, James Baillie moved in to fashion, then with business partner Steve Kirk, took over a Stanford Street nightclub called The Club.
Newly-named Venus, it helped kick-start the dance club culture that was to dominate the 90s.
“It was the start of club branding, really,” says former Venus DJ Ian Tatham.
“James never really forced any of the commercial aspect of it, but a lot of the big clubbing brands today owe a debt to Venus. The guys who started Moneypennys and Renaissance used to either go to Venus or at least knew about it.”
The 39-year-old, now a father-of-one who runs Bar Eleven in Goose Gate and still DJs, adds: “It was the start of having regular guest DJs. Everyone played there: Sasha, Pete Tong… pretty much anyone who was anyone.
“There was a bit of a scene in London and Manchester and because James had all the contacts, he started pulling in the guests to play Venus, DJs like Justin Robertson and Terry Farley, Jeremy Healy, Brandon Block and Jon Pleased Wimmin.
“The night that made it for me was Flying. Fifteen of the best DJs in London would bring five or six coaches up. It was an absolute riot. People had big afro wigs, playing inflatable guitars on speaker stacks… in most clubs if you got on the bar and started dancing someone would come and pull you down, but you used to see James Baillie helping people up on to the bar!”
For full article in Nottingham Evening Post click here
Article by Simon Wilson in The Nottingham Evening Post, Friday, August 28, 2009
