Dirty Water Club
The Dirty Water Club is a long-running (in a town where most tend to be short-lived) London club night featuring bands influenced by 1960s garage punk. It was named after The Standells' 1966 hit single "Dirty Water".
The club night started in October 1996 in the Tufnell Park neighbourhood of north London, at a venue called The Boston (The Standells' hit glorifies the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts). It hosted weekly live performances.[1]
Past performers have included The White Stripes, The Fleshtones, Billy Childish (of Thee Headcoats, The Buff Medways, and The Musicians of the British Empire), The Woggles, The Von Bondies, The Dirtbombs, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, The 5.6.7.8's, The Horrors and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. The club has also seen some original 1960s/70s performers, such as The Monks, Kim Fowley, GONN, Radio Birdman, The Rising Storm, and Sky Saxon of The Seeds, grace its stage.
The club night's influence is widespread, with venues in both Australia and Italy starting up club nights named "Dirty Water" and with the club's DJs being invited to perform at festivals all across Europe and in the USA.
The in-house record label, Dirty Water Records, was launched in 2004 with the debut single by The Dirty, followed up by a 7" EP by Thee Exciters in 2005 then, after the re-release of the classic 1979 Lyres single How Do You Know? c/w Don't Give It Up Now in May 2007, a heavy release schedule was initiated that continues to this day.
The Dirty Water Club held its last night at The Boston venue on 19 June 2009, the final bill being original 1960s garage band GONN, The Masonics and Speak and the Spells. One of original partners no longer wished to continue and the remaining partner declined to continue under the "Dirty Water Club" name. Occasional live music events continued to take place, however, under the auspices of Dirty Water Records and at a variety of venues.
On Saturday 14 April 2012, The Dirty Water Club re-opened at The Hackney Trashbar in Stoke Newington running a monthly residency, with one of the bands with whom the club closed in 2009, The Masonics. The club night then ran monthly at the Shacklewell Arms in Dalston, with occasional gigs at the Rhythm Factory in Whitechapel. It is currently venue hopping, popping up at whichever location is suitable for dates that it books.
Notes
4. Guardian "Review of the Decade", 29 November 2009
6. New Musical Express, 18 September 2009
7. Mojo Magazine, "The Mojo Hall of Fame 100", November 2003
8. Dirty Water Club website announces end of regular club night