Steve Strange
Steve was enticed from Newbridge to the bright lights of London in the 1970’s after being invited down by Billy Idol. His first job was designing artwork for Malcolm MacClaren and The Sex Pistols. In 1978, he set up a club night called ‘Billy’s, which provided a setting for a mixture of art students and fashion designers to become the precursors for the New Romantic movement. ‘Club for Heroes’ was then opened in 1981, and Steve invested in and opened The Camden Palace in the same year- London’s first ‘full time’ club.
The New Romantic movement spawned bands such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Culture Club and around the same time, Steve’s band ‘Visage’ was formed, the original line up including Midge Ure. The band enjoyed a plethora of hits around Europe, the most famous being ‘Fade to Grey’ which went to Number One in thirteen countries.
Steve continued performing in ‘Visage’ in the 80’s and running successful club nights in London as well as modelling for top designers including John Paul Gaultier. Steve is a much sought after ‘style commentator’ on a host of TV and radio shows, still models for designers including Vivienne Westwood and is currently touring Europe to commemorate the 25 th Anniversary of his biggest selling single, ‘Fade to Grey’ which was recently voted ‘Song of the Decade’ on the prestigious German music show ‘Hit Giganten’. Channel 4 recently showed a 1 hour documentary charting his achievements in clubland and music, and Steve has just completed work on a major BBC series charting fashion in music.
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