Why I can’t resist the lure of a lavish nightclub
MOVIES AND SHOPPING SPREES ARE NOT LIKE THEY USED TO BE
ALL together now: a big Happy Birthday to Tramp! The famous nightclub turns 50 in a couple of weeks’ time and in its long and louche lifetime has played host to anyone who is anyone.
It was founded by Johnny Gold and Oscar Lerman, who was married to Jackie Collins. Peter Sellers, Joan Collins, Liza Minelli and Ringo Starr all had wedding receptions there. Various Beatles, Rolling Stones and Frank Sinatra were early visitors.
It once played host to three James Bonds, when Roger Moore, Sean Connery and George Lazenby bumped in to one another and had dinner in the club’s Zodiac restaurant. Michael Caine, meanwhile, had spotted a beautiful actress called Shakira in a coffee advertisement and vowed to fly to her native Brazil to track her down. Instead he met her in Tramp. They have been married for 46 years.
I remember being taken to Annabel’s by someone who is now a very famous historian. It felt like a very grand country house, except one with a dancefloor that was lit up from below. Like so many clubs it was a place to see and be seen, although you would never let on: you would develop the knack of noticing fellow guests out of the corner of your eye without ever being so uncool as to gawp at Hugh Grant.
Nightclubs are far more than just places to dance. The best have bars and restaurants, in Annabel’s case covered with pictures, hence the country house feel, but you pay for your pleasure. Tramp currently costs about £1,000 in
membership a year. Nor is the fare on offer cheap: my favourite Ruinart rosé champagne costs £180 a bottle in Tramp (though don’t ask me what the normal price is – I only drink it on a practically daily basis). I have also been to Stringfellow’s, which was not in fact sleazy, and was wooed by a young swain at the Hippodrome. The relationship didn’t last though the memories did.
There was the much-lamented Hacienda in Manchester, the coolest nightclub in Europe, which was inexplicably pulled down to make way for a block of flats. Did the city authorities think that these pleasure domes are not worth preserving? Heaven forfend that such a fate should ever befall Tramp.
There’s something about a nightclub that nowhere else can match. They’re sexy, dimly lit, with seating huddled together, just perfect for a new amour. The loos were often used for more than powdering one’s nose and while that is no doubt reprehensible, it all added to the sense of fun.
IF YOU think I exaggerate the importance of the nightclub, consider this. Mark Birley founded Annabel’s and his son Robin now runs another club, 5 Hertford Street. That was where Harry and Meghan had their first date. It was also where David Cameron and Michael Gove met recently to end their feud and where Nigel Farage held secret meetings with backers of Boris Johnson. Power, intrigue, politics, sex and all with a dancefloor.
What is possibly not to like?