singemonkey wrote
Yep. I believe that's what they were for. I recall Bowie saying something about how unreal Syd seemed if you walked into the UFO with a head full of acid, making reference to them sparkly discs.
Quite a scene. And I don't think it's just legend. Joe Boyd and John Hopkins opened that club in late '66 because they were broke. Nobody knew what sort of market and audience was out there and especially in London for the likes of Pink Floyd and The Soft Machine. The opening night exceeded expectations and UFO was up and running. In borrowed premises - they rented space from an Irish pub on Friday nights. Early on they were very multi-media, combining Pink Floyd (who were the anchor act for the first month) with art movies and various "happenings". Yoko Ono used to put on little shows. The door staff were selling acid.
Nothing to do with the management of course.
There was some serious talent that passed through that club during it's brief existence: Pink Floyd, The Soft Machine, Arthur Brown, Fairport Convention, Procol Harum, Graham Bond, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Move, The Incredible String Band...
Boyd tells a story of the night the cops came knocking on the door. UFO had a policy - no search warrant, no entrance. But that particular night the cops had apprehended somebody who was out of his tree on something running stark naked down Tottenham Court Road and having been seen leaving UFO in a state of undress. They had the guy in custody and wanted to collect his clothing. So it was agreed that one uniformed officer would be allowed in. The lights went up, the dance floor cleared and the cop started picking up various items of clothing. Before long he realised he'd picked up a lot more clothing than one man could wear. His face turned red and he got out of there fast.
