Goths, New Wavers, Rockers, Preppies, and I think I even saw a Teddy Boy there, all hitting the club in the 80s. I’d seen bits of this before, but this was the first time I watched it all the way through. Best video I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s low-quality filming and every once in a while I felt like I should be cringing but everyone is having so much fun and is so sincere that respect is due.

According to the poster’s blog writeup, this was a souvenir made by the venue owners, which is why there’s a slow start and weird interlude mid-video with a local celebrity. Apparently this was filmed on a Sunday so as not to disturb the regular nights. There’s an obvious paradox to filming in a nightclub: for anything to be visible you need bright lights and cameras, which of course kills the mood. But credit to the clubgoers (who apparently were all invited regulars) they still get into it.

Some of my favorite parts:

• doors open, the clubgoers troop in to New Order https://youtu.be/A9sMZ_5NjM8?t=540
• really feeling Ziggy Stardust https://youtu.be/A9sMZ_5NjM8?t=1640
• goths and preppies meet on the floor for selections from Glenn Miller, the Monkees, and the Monster Mash https://youtu.be/A9sMZ_5NjM8?t=1948
• the boys hit the floor for some Cult - Spiritwalker https://youtu.be/A9sMZ_5NjM8?t=2620
• Killing Joke packs the floor - https://youtu.be/A9sMZ_5NjM8?t=2975
• interviews with some of the clubgoers where they talk about what they do for a living, how they do their hair, where they get their clothes, etc https://youtu.be/A9sMZ_5NjM8?t=4233
• rocking out to “Mauritia Mayer” - https://youtu.be/A9sMZ_5NjM8?t=6563
• pantomining to Life on Mars https://youtu.be/A9sMZ_5NjM8?t=7014

I don’t think I really “got” Bowie til I saw these people feeling Life on Mars at the end, just a couple hours before they had to get up and go back to work. Notably, this took place in a town/city called Batley which is apparently an old industrial town in the middle of a traditional farming area – if you’re from the US, I’m thinking it’s like one of the smaller cities in Illinois or Ohio. i.e. they’re just regular kids, and the youtube comments and the blog writeup comments are full of people saying who they were in the video or who they knew in it or where they went that was just like it.

This was all way before my time, but what’s interesting is the looks are still interesting (most of the kids say they went to second-hand shops, and at least two of them said they made clothes out of old bedsheets!) and the music is still being played in clubs and online.

Beautiful

Not so old but here’s a fashion parade from a Melbourne Goth club in 2012? https://youtu.be/vJnzoVY748c

Good find.