Yes, Brixton locals will recognise those words – they’ve been plastered across Dogstar’s facade for weeks, echoing the lyrics of the Streets’ hit that mentions the venue*. But my gosh, as the band’s former frontman might put it, how Brixton has changed since he was last a local. So what will he still recognise?
It was the late-90s when Mike Skinner moved from Brum to Brix. And now that he’s a north Londoner (these days he lives in Hampstead), we thought we’d help him out with a little guide to some of the things he might still recognise from back in the day – and find useful on his big night.
“It has come to our attention that some people have been using the sauna coals to barbecue chicken. This is UNHYGIENIC!”
Pre-gig workout
Brixton Rec,
27 Brixton Station Rd
The Rec, Brixton’s 1985-built, architecturally extraordinary sports centre is still standing – but only just. The building, designed in 1971 by the architect George Finch, who died last year, was recently threatened with demolition to make way for a “state-of-the-art” new fitness facility in its place. Local campaigning succeeded, just this year, to get the building refurbished rather than knocked down. The Rec was originally part of a big redevelopment planned for Brixton, which would have seen this part of south London divided by a motorway (the Somerleyton Estate is known locally as “the barrier block” as it was built as part of this plan, with tiny windows on its Coldharbour Lane side to muffle the noise of high speed traffic. The early seventies oil crisis got in the way, and halted most of the development – but not the Rec. If Skinner was working out there back in the early 2000s, he may well have come across possibly the best public notice we have ever seen. In the sauna area one day, a staff-penned sign appeared: “It has come to our attention that some people have been using the sauna coals to barbecue chicken. Please do not do this. It is UNHYGIENIC!” Brilliant.
The ground-floor beauty and grooming department is far swishier than it was in his day
Last-minute outfit shopping Morleys, 472-488 Brixton Road, SW9
If Skinner needs a fresh polo shirt for his big night, this 1897-established department store on the high street should sort him out. It got a major facelift a few years ago, and the ground-floor beauty and grooming department is far swishier than it was in his day. If he’s worried about looking like he’s aged, there’d be a lot of anti-wrinkle creams to choose from. Despite its long history, Morleys was preceeded in Brixton by another department store, Bon Marche, also on Brixton Road (now offices), which was the first purpose built department store in the country and opened just twenty years before Morleys 1877.
Back then, the soundtrack was generally the thud of dominoes
Quick pint The Effra, 38 Kellett Rd London, UK SW2
When Skinner was hanging around in Brixton, this back-street corner boozer looked a bit different. Back then, the pub was still divided into two bars; olds-school regulars hung out on the left-hand side, while newer, younger punters would crowd into the right-hand bar. The soundtrack was generally the thud of dominoes, as there was a carpeted table for the game in the corner; from which emanated a regular thud, as the little black and white blocks were slammed down competitively. Alternatively, Mike might fancy some other Brixton drinking stalwarts. There’s the Prince Albert, as old-school as they come despite a radical makeover in the early noughties; Skinner will be sad to hear that the legendary land-lady Pat Burke, who reigned over the the place in his day with a terrifying combination of sweet smile and hawk-eyed stare, sadly passed away over a decade ago. Or perhaps he’d fancy the Trinity, instead – a classic Young’s pub behind the high street on Trinity Gardens. It’s poshed up too since Skinner’s time, but still as friendly and cosy as ever. But, he can’t lounge in the boozer all day, he’s got manoeuvres to make…
Bamboula specialities include jerk lamb and codfish fritters
DJ fuel Bamboula, 12 Acre Lane
You can’t play on an empty stomach. And Skinner might remember this Caribbean restaurant, which opened at the bottom of Acre Lane in his era: 1998. The restaurant, which grew out of a Jamaican spice export company, and promises “an authentic Caribbean experience” could sort him out with specialities including jerk lamb and codfish fritters, perhaps topped off with their signature rum bread pudding for dessert. They do take-outs too, if he’s running late. For hearty Caribbean feasts, we also really love Negril, half way up Brixton Hill. Probably a bit far from the Dogstar for tonight though.
Skinner’s lyrics “Brixton’s burning up” seem to recall the 1995 riots that targeted Dogstar
Time for another Marlon at the bar Dogstar, corner of Atlantic Road and Coldharbour Lane
When Skinner was getting mangled here in the late 90s, the Dogstar was pretty new. First bar of its kind in this neck of the woods – with a late licence and dancing – and quite a stir its appearance caused. Dogstar opened its doors in December 1995, just as Skinner was settling into the area – and promptly got torched in the oft-forgotten 1995 Brixton riots. (Some of us at Below the River remember that night well; returning from a Christmas party in town, game taxi driver at the wheel, to find a burnt-out car in the front garden.) Skinner’s lyrics “Brixton’s burning up”** in Let’s Push Things Forward seem to recall it too. In his heyday there, he’d have been dancing around the torched soundsystem, which was what the arsonists targeted – as the melted speaker remained in situ for some time after the event as some kind of monument to survival against the odds. A little different to the stylish, artfully shabby interior new owners Antic, who also own the Effra Social, have installed. Interestingly, the bar – which had previously been a roomy old-man boozer called The Atlantic – was almost as divisive back then as the arrival of Foxtons estate agents was last month. In 1990s Brixton, the pub was seen as the ultimate symbol of “yuppification”, according to archive newspaper reports. How times have changed.
* From Too Much Brandy, from the Streets’ 2002 debut album Original Pirate Material “Ra ra ra it’s all back to Dogstar … and if it’s his round I’m quite partial to another Marlon at the bar” ** From Lets Push Things Forward, also on OPM: This ain’t your archetypal street sound … As London Bridge burns down Brixton’s burning up … Back street brawlers, corner shop crawlers, victory’s flawless
