Did Soho make me a Mad Man?
I’m a Londoner, West End born and bred lived there most of my life with
notable extended residences on the East Coast of the US. I’ve always
loved it. When I was little my aunt and uncle had a proper workmen’s
cafe in Soho (on Beak Street). My dad used to take me to get my hair cut
in Gino’s on Dean Street, we got our birthday cakes from Maison Bertaux
on Greek Street and he was such a coffee mad man that we’d spend an
inordinate amount of time in Bar Italia, me with a Biscuit and him with
his fifth espresso of the day.
Growing Up in Soho’s Vibrant Culture
As a young boy I used to drive my mum and dad mad to let me stay with
Auntie Gloria and Uncle Cyril (no, really) in their cafe while they
served the huge range of people that used to patronise the establishment.
coming in for their egg and bacon sandwiches (on Mothers Pride bread
of course) and cups of super strong tea in brightly coloured mugs…..
What are you looking at?
I was introduced to all sorts of fascinating characters from the
colourfully painted ladies who smelled of exotic perfume popping in to
get a coffee and have a chat comparing their nights adventures to the
cockney old boys with fags hanging out their mouths, braces on their
trousers and stubble on their chins shouting at each other at a volume
that assaulted my tiny innocent ears….it was brilliant! Fashionistas and
freaks and workmen and office workers and just everyone who made this
incredible part of town the noisy, mad, dirty, and fascinating to a young
mind. I even got introduced to Peter Stringfellow which meant nothing to
me at the time but I remember him popping in and me looking at his huge Rolls
Royce parked outside alongside the huge piles of rubbish bags waiting to
be collected at some point. ( tiny bit of satire there)
Discovering the Ad Industry in Soho’s Squares
From refuse to refuge
I was always fascinated by the squares of SOHO…this oasis of Green in
the middle of the madness…far enough away from the bland mediocrity of
Oxford Street South and nestled at the gateway to the wonder of Greek,
Frith, Dean, Wardour streets…It was here in SOHO square and Golden
Square as a teenager that I started to be aware of the ad industry…and I
was fascinated by the conversations I heard between clusters of
creatives all dressed in super cool fashion as I saw it contrasted by
the account guys all suited and very sharp and 80’s looking!
The Golden Age of TV Advertising
Make a cup of tea the ads are on
As a child of the 70’s and teenager of the 80’s TV advertising played a
huge part in my media diet – only one commercial channel until Channel 4
arrived in late 1982 a full year after MTV came whizzing onto the scene
and the age of the music video arrived in earnest…The advertising of
that time is rightly lauded as legendary….I do wonder and often ask how
younger generations view it in a World where advertising is so very
different and although still requiring the same response has very
different methods of application.
We shall not go into detail here but if you are not familiar with some
of the greats of moving image advertising of that time (and if you’re
not you really should be) have a look here and let me know your
favourites at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjOL35RCRsY – I’d be interested to know. A lot of it is
certainly dated (naturally) and visually doesn’t stack up without our
ever evolving technological advances and of course outdated and in some
cases unacceptable notions of society are everywhere but look beyond
that to the quality of the writing, the storytelling and the incredible
strap lines and I think it stacks up….who knows the secret?…..
Soho’s Allure and My Entry into the Ad World
Glamour for everyone – except for me
So here I was, a founder member of the MTV Generation and of course the
instant gratification crew of Generation X, my creativity was piqued by
the usual outlets of music (played in bands) literature (wrote rubbish
poetry), art (looking not touching) and theatre (always loved
Shakespeare, bit weird) but I would also put advertising in there as
something that just seemed to be very important in my life….everyone
would talk about the ads that we saw on the TV for the first-time crying
out loud! Very different times..
What all this did for me was equate soho with advertising with glamour
with yes please and thank you I’ll have a large portion of that as soon
as I’m able.
And so, it was…I got my dream first job in a big advertising agency in
Soho Square – the glamour however was to be deferred as I was assigned
to the press section and tasked with measuring recruitment ads…..about
as far away from The Black Magic Box as I could have imagined but I had
faith that things would change…..
To Be Continued