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					T A B O O BY SUE TILLEY
			Early in january 1985,  Leigh was approached by Tony Gordon to open a nightclub with him.  Tony had tried run some nightclubs before but they werent very successful.  He wanted to open a club but he knew that he did not have enough clout on his own to make a go of it, so he enlisted the help of Leigh who would be the public face of the club. Leigh was very excited by Tony proposition because it seemed to tie exactly with what the had been thinking about.     Tony had discoverd a small nighclub  in Leicester Square.  It hadnt'been used for a fashionable nighclub before and it seemed the ideal premises.  It was cnetrally situated, and it was exaclty the right size - not too big,but not  pokey.  It also had extremely and perfectly tacky decor.  There was an a entreance lobby, then a flight of stairs down to the cloakroom and toilets.  When you entered the club it had everything you could  want from a disco. Tatty red velour banquettes,  mirrors everywhere,  strange light effects on the walls, three bars and a centrar dance floor with several sheap lights and a mirror ball     The opening night was set for 31 January.  Leigh was very excited.. They had any money to get flyers printed,  Leigh decided to make them himself. He cut out photos of naked men from his vast supply of pornographic magazines, stuck them  on to bits of card, then stencilled Taboo over the top in gold paint  They had picked the name Taboo because it epittomized everything that Leigh loved.  On the back of the card he printed the time and place useing a John bull printing set.  He distributed these to his friends at many clubs he attende before the opening night     Mark Lawrence, Jefferey Hinton, and Raquel Auburn were the DJs.  Mark Vautier was chosen to the door.  He had a very extreme look and was fond of wearing cheap, woollen  wigs teamed with Leigh's garish clothes, which because he was tall and thin always seemed to hang off him.  He was thrilled to be on the London club circuit which was veryt different rom his background as the son a high-ranking army officer. Princess Julia and Malcolm Duffy worked in the cloakroom and were allowed to keep all the money they made, often going home with about fifty pounds each,  the only problem being  that it was all in fifty pence pieces.  Both went on to be very successful DJs.     Leigh's  idea,  naturally, was to make it the place to be seen.  The policy was simple  'Dresses though your life depends on it, or dont bother. .  We can sniff out phonies and weekend trendies a mile away. Before the opening night Leigh's excitement reached  fever pitch.  He was constantly on the phone telling me the latest developments and who promised to come down.     By the accounts the first night was quite a success and although not incredibly full, the trash disco music being played was very popular and everyone got down and boogied.     The quest was incredibly long.  I typed it up for Leigh  and every week we used to put in joke names just so the bouncers got excited because they really thought that  Joan Collins might come down.    It would not have been that surprising if they had because it soon became a big celebrity hang-out. I would look up and see Boy George, Bryan Ferry, Paul Young or George Michael waitting to come in.        -          Sue Tilley - The Life And Times Of An Icon TABOO MENU