Heaven is a superclub in

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. It has a long association with London's

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

scene and is home to long-running gay night

G-A-Y G-A-Y is a long-running gay nightclub, based at Heaven in Charing Cross, London. It started in 1976, and for many years was based at the London Astoria. History G-A-Y started in 1976 in the Sundown club in the basement of the London Astoria (l ...

. The club is known for

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mas ...

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

events in the 1980s, the underground nightclub festival

Megatripolis Megatripolis was an underground London club night created by Encyclopaedia Psychedelica/Evolution editor and founder of the Zippie movement Fraser Clark, and partner Sionaidh Craigen as well as a great many others. The club combined New Age ideo ...

, and for being the birthplace of

ambient house Ambient house is a downtempo subgenre of house music that first emerged in the late 1980s, combining elements of acid house and ambient music. The genre developed in chill-out rooms and specialist clubs as part of the UK's dance music scene. It ...

. Soundshaft also hosted Future, a regular night on Thursdays run by

Andrew Weatherall Andrew James Weatherall (6 April 1963 – 17 February 2020) was an English musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer. His career took him from being one of the key DJs in the acid house movement of the late 1980s to being a remixer of trac ...

and

Terry Farley Terry Farley is a British DJ, remixer and producer from London, active since the mid-1980s. Career Farley started out going to clubs in the late 1970s and first visited Ibiza in 1982. He then started working as a DJ, performing at the same clubs ...

. At the end of the night, both crowds would come together when the doors connecting Heaven & Future opened for the last couple of songs.

History

Beginnings

Heaven was opened in December 1979 by

Jeremy Norman Jeremy Gordon Norman (born 1947) is a British entrepreneur, whose ventures have included ''Burke's Peerage'', Mayfair's Embassy nightclub, the gay 'ultradisco' Heaven, the clubs Embargo and Leopard Lounge on Fulham Broadway, the Power Station g ...

in a former night club called Global Village, which was housed in the arches beneath Charing Cross railway station, once part of Adelphi Arches, a large wine-cellar for the hotel above. Norman was also chairman of

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Br ...

, the publishers. The original hi-tech interior was designed by his partner, Derek Frost. Norman, an entrepreneur, had started an earlier club, The Embassy, in Old Bond Street in 1978. The Embassy proved to be successful and attracted a fashionable clientele; it is generally seen as the London equivalent of New York's

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

. Norman used his knowledge and experience of establishing and running a nightclub to create an entirely new kind of gay club on a larger scale. Heaven quickly established itself as the centre of the (then understated) gay London nightlife. Until it opened, most gay clubs were small hidden cellar-bars or pub discos. Heaven brought gay clubbing into the UK mainstream and gave London a club to rival New York's gay super club at the time,

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

. Heaven's first

resident DJ In the DJ culture, a resident DJ or local DJ refers to a DJ is part of the staff of employees of the club, unlike a guest artist, who works as freelancer, which means that he or she plays on several clubs (including several countries). Obtaining ...

was

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, and DJ. A moderniser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of Hi-NRG, he has written and produced records with sales totalling over 40 million. ...

, who has been credited with being one of the first DJs in the UK of the now customary style of "

beatmixing Beatmatching or pitch cue is a disc jockey technique of pitch shifting or timestretching an upcoming track to match its tempo to that of the currently playing track, and to adjust them such that the beats (and, usually, the bars) are synchroni ...

". His mix of

Disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

Hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

, and early

House music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

became what is known as the ''Original Heaven Sound''. Under the direction of the club's original manager David Inches, Heaven sought DJs who would become exclusive to the club and were groundbreaking in terms of their music selection and style. Many Heaven DJs would go on to find greater acclaim in both the gay and mainstream music industry. Original Heaven DJs include:

Tony De Vit Antony de Vit ( ; 12 September 1957 – 2 July 1998)
- accessed May 2011 was an English DJ and music producer. He is consi ...

, Colin Holsgrove, Marc Andrews, Marc Monroe, George Mitchell, Ian D, Tallulah, Jon Dennis, Rich B, Wayne G, and Steve Whyte. Heaven also attracted legendary names from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

such as

pioneer Frankie Knuckles, who played at the Thursday night ''Delirium!''.

1980s/1990s

In 1980,

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

ran a weekly documentary series titled Gay Life in which Heaven nightclub and various other London gay clubs and bars were featured. In 1982, Heaven was acquired from Norman by

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding c ...

. Branson was one of the first to identify the burgeoning '

pink pound Pink money describes the purchasing power of the LGBT community, often especially with respect to political donations. With the rise of the gay rights movement, pink money has gone from being a fringe or marginalized market to a thriving indust ...

' and saw the club as an investment opportunity, Branson reported in his autobiography that the £500,000 used to purchase Heaven were financed by the brewery supplying drinks to the venue. Kevin Millins' club night ''Asylum'' (on Thursdays) started on 14 April 1983, with resident DJs

Colin Faver Colin Faver (24 December 1951 – 5 September 2015) was a British club and radio DJ, best known for his 1990s cutting-edge show on London's Kiss FM, and an important role in the development of British club culture. Biography Colin Faver was bor ...

and

Mark Moore Mark Moore (born 12 January 1965) is a British dance music record producer and DJ. He was founder of the dance / sampling pioneers S'Express, and runs the London nightclubs, 'Electrogogo' and 'Can Can'. Biography Moore began his DJ career ...

(S'Express). By 1985 this had become ''Pyramid'' (shifted to Wednesdays) and was one of the first clubs in the country to play emerging

from Chicago. As one of the first gay clubs in London, and one of the first openly so in the world, Heaven courted controversy, frequently appearing in the tabloid press, especially in ''The Sun'' headlines about ecstasy use in the nightclub in 1989. In the late 1980s, Heaven would host two what would become legendary nights during the height of

Acid House Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

Techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

, and

Breakbeat Hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In ...

rave culture. The first was ''Spectrum'' promoted by

and Ian St Paul, which ran on Monday nights between April 1988 and 1990, and the other was ''Rage'', a Thursday night running between October 1988 and 1993 which included DJs

Fabio Fabio is a given name descended from Latin '' Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented ...

& Grooverider,

, and Trevor Fung. Oakenfold brought in

Jimmy Cauty James Francis Cauty (born 19 December 1956), also known as Rockman Rock, is an English artist and musician, best known as one-half of the duo The KLF, co-founder of The Orb and as the man who burnt £1 million. He is married to artist and mu ...

and Alex Paterson (

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

) as ambient DJs for his "The Land of Oz" nights at Heaven, club nights which Dom Phillips in ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'' called "seminal". These chillout sessions in "The White Room", also involving

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

, heralded the birth of

. Cauty's other band,

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...

, made their premier live performance at the Land of Oz in July 1989. Replacing ''Rage'' on Thursday from October 1993 until 1996 was

, with

Mixmaster Morris Mixmaster Morris (born Morris Gould, 30 December 1965) is an English electronica DJ and underground musician who has also recorded as The Irresistible Force. His work in the 1990s blended ambient music and chill-out influences with UK dance ...

and regular guests such as

Mr. C Richard West (born 2 January 1965), known as Mr. C, is an English house music DJ, producer and rapper. He was the resident DJ at the early acid house "RIP" nights at Clink Street, London, and later was the co-owner/co-founder of London's The En ...

and Alex Paterson. In the mid 1990s, Wednesday night was ''Fruit Machine'', hosted by Miss Kimberly with a strong Drag theme. Fridays were ''Garage'' playing

and Hardbag with DJs Blu Peter and Mrs Wood. Saturday nights were 'Heaven is Saturday – Saturday is Heaven' which hosted a variety of parties and weekly changing themes.

Soundshaft

''Soundshaft'' was a small club attached to Heaven, which had a separate entrance on Hungerford Lane, behind Craven Street, although it was also accessible from the main club. Between 1988 and 1990, this hosted the seminal ''Troll'' night and which launched the career of DJs

Daz Saund Daz Saund is a British club DJ and Remixer from London, England. Career After getting his big break at the seminal ''Troll Nites'' at the ''Sound Shaft'', Heaven, London in the late 1980s. Daz Saund then progressed to become resident DJ at th ...

and

Luke Slater Luke Slater (born 12 June 1968, Reading, Berkshire, England) is an English electronic musician, DJ and record producer, who has concentrated on techno since the beginning of the 1990s. He achieved break through commercial success with his tra ...

. It is now called ''The Stage Bar''.

1998 Relaunch

In 1998, the club was refurbished and relaunched as a more mainstream venue to challenge increasingly popular clubs such as

Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

and The Fridge. As part of this broadening appeal, a new Monday Indie night called ''Room Two'' started alongside its more trademark night of ''Popcorn'' which started on a Monday (and replaced Fridays ''Popstarz''). To ensure the club stayed relevant, it also hosted nights from popular promoters such as

Gatecrasher Gatecrasher is an international clubbing brand made famous by the "Gatecrasher" (later "Crasher") dance music events, which were held at the Republic nightclub in Sheffield, UK during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The promoters of the brand ...

and

Bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

(on a Thursday night until 2005, with resident DJ

John Digweed Thomas John Digweed (born 1 January 1967) is a British DJ and record producer. ''DJ Magazine'' voted him World No 1 DJ in 2001. As well as achieving success as a solo act, he has collaborated with Sasha as Sasha & John Digweed, and with Nick M ...

2000s

At the beginning of the 2000s, Heaven adopted a more mainstream Tribal house and

-influenced sound, employing DJs that had been resident at other major gay London nightclubs such as Trade and Salvation, such as Billy Gonzalez. In 2003, Virgin sold the club to a consortium which comprised Paul Savory, David Inches, and Jeremy Millins (Pure Group). Towards the mid 2000s, the music policy of its main room became more underground-oriented, with Progressive,

Tech Tech or The Tech may refer to: * An abbreviation of technology or technician * Tech Dinghy, an American sailing dinghy developed at MIT * Tech (mascot), the mascot of Louisiana Tech University, U.S. * Tech (river), in southern France * "Tech" ...

, and

Deep House Deep house is a subgenre of house music that originated in the 1980s, initially fusing elements of Chicago house with the lush chords of 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. Its origins are attributed to the early recordings of Larry Heard ( ...

on a Saturday night from resident DJs Pagano and Nick Tcherniak.

G-A-Y

On 22 September 2008, Heaven was purchased by the

MAMA Group MAMA & Company is a live music and entertainment company which owns and operates a number of live music venues and festivals in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2005, it has since acquired many other venue-holding companies, expanding its reach si ...

through its jointly owned subsidiary company G-A-Y Ltd. ''G-A-Y'' was a popular and long-running gay night hosted for many years at the

London Astoria The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in the 1970s. After further develop ...

, and on Friday 3 October 2008, MAMA Group moved G-A-Y to Heaven. Little over a year later, MAMA Group itself was bought by music retailer

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

When HMV went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

in 2013, Jeremy Joseph founder of

acquired the outstanding shares in G-A-Y Ltd, and with it Heaven.

Asset of Community Value

Heaven was granted

Asset of community value In England, an asset of community value (ACV) is land or property of importance to a local community which is subject to additional protection from development under the Localism Act 2011. Voluntary and community organisations can nominate an ass ...

status in January 2020

Coronavirus pandemic

Nightclubs across England, including Heaven, were closed for much of the coronavirus pandemic. When it was announced on 14 July 2021 by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

that all remaining coronavirus restrictions would be lifted on July 19, Heaven launched a digital clock counting down the hours until nightclubs could reopen. Footage of revellers queuing for Heaven and dancing inside the nightclub to celebrate the final lifting of restrictions in England gained worldwide media attention. On Sunday 8 August, Heaven opened up between midday and 9pm as a vaccination drop-in centre, offering first doses of Pfizer vaccines and second doses of AstraZenica vaccines without appointment.

Past performers

Heaven often features live performances by notable artists. These have included, but are not limited to (in alphabetical order):

Heaven Worldwide

The Heaven name has been franchised over the years to ventures in

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

and

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

.Heaven Ibiza
/ref>

Today

Monday

Monday continues to play host to ''Popcorn'', a largely student night which plays pop and funky house music. It is a predominantly gay event.

Thursday

Thursday plays host to ''Porn Idol'', a strip competition for men and women previously held at the Astoria, with £250 offered to the winner each week. The competition comprises several rounds, with £1,000 awarded to the season winner. It is preceded and followed by three rooms of pop.

Friday

Friday plays host to ''Camp Attack'', a long-running night from the days at the Astoria.

Saturday

Saturday night events continue to mostly feature a live performance.

References

External links

Club night website

Live venue website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster 1979 establishments in England LGBT nightclubs in London Electronic dance music venues