Before there was the Blue Orchid (from 1986), it was The Greyhound – a live music venue originally run by Howard Bossick, who now runs nightclub the Bad Apple, on the High Street in Croydon. Now, after being a gym for a while, it’s nothing but there seem to be works going on, apparently to turn the whole thing into flats (how original!) Deep Purple, Status Quo, Thin Lizzy, The Ramones and The Jam all played here between 1969 and 1977, when Bossick left, on the same very day when Elvis Presley died.
David Bowie and Queen are other huge acts to have played the venue – with Roxy Music getting billed as a support act and being paid £10 for their sets.
Address: 22-24 Park Lane, Croydon, CR0 1JA
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