Gizelle - from Lovers Rock to Acid House

Another great episode of DJ Controlled Weirdness' Tales from a Disappearing City podcast, this time featuring DJ Gizelle, aka Rebel Yelle. As I've said before what I like about this series is how it shows the ways people's lives connect together all these different scenes which people see as separate, and Gizelle has had quite a journey.  Growing up in Catford, she talks about buying records in Lewisham model market and the punk/reggae/ska crossover  including seeing The Clash at the Lyceum and seeing Desmond Dekker playing with Madness at Lewisham Odeon (actually the line up for that 1980 gig also included The Go-Go's with Belinda Carlisle).

As a teenager she joined lovers rock group Charisma, signed to Nevil King's King City Records. They rehearsed above the King City record shop at 494 New Cross Road, with the backing band One Blood. Maxi Priest also rehearsed there.

Later Gizelle worked in local pubs included the Mid Kent Tavern in Lewisham and then Winston's bar in Deptford (where exactly was that?), where she started out DJing in around 1987. Soon she was getting into the early acid house scene, and DJ'd at Asylum nights at the Harp Club in New Cross (soon to be renamed the Venue). I've heard of this before but had no idea that Colin Jerwood from anarcho punk band Conflict was involved in putting on these nights, or that Billy Nasty did a chill out/balearic room upstairs there  Later Gizelle was involved in a night at Thames Poly called Shaboo. Funnily enough I once saw Conflict play there, as well as at the Ambulance Station on Old Kent Road.

Looking forward to the next episode of this, no doubt some good stories of moving from playing at acid house clubs like Clink Street through to the London acid techno scene of the 1990s and beyond.

See previously Uncle G on Woolwich B-Boys and Acid House. I was also honoured to do a couple of episodes myself.

Tales from a Disappearing City - Uncle G on Woolwich B-Boys and Acid House

'Tales from a Disappearing City' is a great podcast with Controlled Weirdness interviewing people about their untold subcultural stories from his SE16 batcave. The latest one is a SE London cracker featuring Uncle G, also known as Urban Intelligence. Godfrey arrived in London with his family as political refugees from Chile in the 1970s and grew up on the Morris Walk Estate in Woolwich. He has lots of great stories of body popping and breakdancing crews in that area in the 1980s at places like Woolwich YMCA and taking part in 'freestyle boogie' dancing competition to hip hop at the Albany in Deptford (apparently there was guy called Chris Sykes  who arranged these events across Lewisham and SE London).

Moving on to the acid house period, Godfrey recalls the legendary Clink Street parties and an ecstasy epiphany with the luvdup crowd that led to a  'rude boys see you later, we want this shit' turning point. He went to Asylum acid house parties at Thames Poly and lots of other raves and parties including 'Rave in the Cave' at Elephant and Castle, a Biology event in a Charlton warehouse, the Tasco warehouse in Plumstead, the Comedy Club in Greenwich and the Tunnel Club (at the Mitre pub by the Blackwall Tunnel) where he remembers a police raid  with 'a big pile of money and pills' in the middle of the dancefloor as dealers frantically disposed of evidence.  He also recalls, as I do, nights at the Venue in New Cross where people would be dancing to house music in one room while indie/alternative bands were playing downstairs: 'we used to see all the goths going to Woolwich train station, loads of punks and all that, and they'd disappear on to the train and go the Venue'. 

He was soon putting on his own parties, including setting up decks in the fields in Middle Park estate in Eltham, and getting involved in pirate radio - leading to 20 years of radio DJing on Woolwich based stations Shockin FM then Wax FM. Today he livestreams every Friday from Planet Wax record shop/bar in New Cross.

Along the way Neil CW mentions seeing Sonic Youth at Thames Poly in 1985 (one of their first UK gigs) and Afrika Bambaataa at Deptford Albany. 

If you remember any of these nights, or similar scenes, let us know in comments.