Tales from the Colony Room: Soho's Lost Bohemia

ISBN-10: 1783528176
ISBN-13: 9781783528172
Category: Biography & Autobiography
Language: English
Published: 2020-04-16
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
Author: Darren Coffield

Description

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the closure of London’s most infamous arts establishment, the Colony Room Club in Soho, former member Darren Coffield has written the authorised history of this notorious drinking den. It’s a hair-raising romp through the underbelly of the post-war scene: during its sixty-year history, more romances, more deaths, more horrors and more sex scandals took place in the Colony than anywhere else. In the regimented and repressed atmosphere of post-war London, the Colony was heroically bohemian, largely thanks to the dominant personality of its owner, Muriel Belcher. Muriel was a combination of muse, mentor, critic and guru to those who gathered around her, just as the Colony provided a home for the confluence of talents that will be forever associated with the artistic circle of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Tales from the Colony is an oral biography, consisting of previously unpublished and long-lost interviews with the characters who were central to the scene, giving the reader a flavour of what it was like to frequent the Club. With a glass in hand you’ll move through the decades listening to personal reminiscences, opinions and vitriol, from the authentic voices of those who were actually there. On your voyage through Soho’s lost bohemia, you’ll be served a drink by James Bond, sip champagne with Francis Bacon, queue for the loo with Christine Keeler, go racing with Jeffrey Bernard, get laid with Lucian Freud, kill time with Doctor Who, pick a fight with Frank Norman and pass out with Peter Langan. All with a stellar supporting cast including Peter O’Toole, George Melly, Suggs, Lisa Stansfield, Dylan Thomas, Jay Landesman, Sarah Lucas, Damien Hirst and many, many more.

Get the book

Similar books

Tales from the Colony Room: Soho's Lost Bohemia
By Darren Coffield
Entertaining, shocking, uproarious, hilarious . . . like eavesdropping on a wake, as the mourners get gradually more drunk and tell ever more outrageous stories' Sunday Times This is the definitive history of London's most notorious ...
Factual Nonsense: The Art and Death of Joshua Compston
By Darren Coffield
The text is illustrated with previously unseen photographs, letters and extracts from Joshua's diaries, which give insight into his thought process as well as the deterioration of his mental state towards the end of his brief but eventful ...
Soho in the Eighties
By Christopher Howse
Christopher Howse recaptures the lost Soho he once knew as home, its cellar cafés and butchers' shops, its villains and its generosity. While it lasted, time in those smoky rooms always seemed to be half past ten, not long to closing time.
The Colony Room Club, 1948-2008: A History of Bohemian Soho
By Sophie Parkin
"...For the Colony was an Arts Club for the most important artists, ballet dancers, composers, poets, writers, MP's, journalists, architects, gangsters, designers, directors, photographers, publishers, critics, musicians, academics, ...
The Book of Lost Things: A Novel
By John Connolly
Taking refuge in fairy tales after the loss of his mother, twelve-year-old David finds himself violently propelled into an imaginary land in which the boundaries of fantasy and reality are disturbingly melded.
A Journey with Sieur de La Salle
By L. L. Owens
Primary sources enable readers to learn more about the journeys of Sieur de La Salle.
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives
By David Eagleman
At once funny, wistful and unsettling, Sum is a dazzling exploration of unexpected afterlives—each presented as a vignette that offers a stunning lens through which to see ourselves in the here and now.
Tales from a Revolution: Bacon's Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America
By James D. Rice
William L. Barney James E. Crisp James West Davidson John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger Richard Godbeer Peter Charles Hoffer Mark H. Lytle Douglas Cazaux Sackman Allan M. Winkler Series Editors James West Davidson Michael B. Stoff ...
The Palace of Laughter: The Wednesday Tales No. 1
By Jon Berkeley
As Miles and Little embark on an extraordinary journey to rescue two friends who have been captured at the Palace of Laughter, they discover nothing less than the power of friendship and the gift of family.
Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess
By Gael Greene
Acclaimed restaurant critic Gael Greene dishes up a delectable memoir-complete with her favorite recipes-from a lifelong love affair with food, men, and wine.