The Doors of Reception

April 30th, 2014, 8am

It was 10°C with broken clouds. The wind was light.

In 1971 these were the most famous secret doors in London.

The UFO club had closed, Apple had imploded, the underground scene was fragile and fragmented and then, one night in June, Alan Roland-Rotherham opened his legendary club Reception. The hippies and artists had a home again. Pink Floyd played here, so did Genesis, Gong and The Grumbleweeds and Permanent Secretary finished their notorious Exemplar Tour here in late 1972 - inspiring the generation of young musicians who would go on to create Public Sector Rock in the late 70s and early 80s.

The club flamed out spectacularly in 1974 after a series of raids by the RSPCA - butterflies were repeatedly being broken on wheels by conceptual art pranksters The Big It.


Adrian and Kristen said thanks.

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Russell Davies

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