As G-A-Y turns twenty it’s celebrating with a brand new compilation three CD and digital album, ‘G-A-Y The Album’. We turn to G-A-Y owner and maestro behind the music Jeremy Joseph to give us twenty stellar memories of G-A-Y connected to the artists on the album.
Madonna
It’s rare for Madonna to go on compilation albums and she personally approved Hung Up to go on G-A-Y The Album. It was very surreal at the time, Madonna at G-A-Y: I couldn’t tell anyone, all I wanted to scream was ‘OMG MADONNA Is At G-A-Y!’ and I could only tell my dogs. Around that time Live Nation were spending no money on the Astoria as they knew its days were numbered, so I lied that Madonna’s management said that the backstage area needed decorating. I said she wanted it done completely purple; ‘Confessions on the Dancefloor’ wasn’t Madonna making demands, it was me. Now I confess!
Adele
Adele is the only act in twenty years that we’ve managed to keep 100% secret. It was a little bit scary, because at the time there were rumours of various artists, but I’m not sure why we were worried, for f**k sake it’s Adele! This showed G-A-Y to be different from any other club: having an artist come on, just her and a piano, going from an up-tempo disco to a full-on acoustic set. One of the reasons we didn’t announce Adele, was because she’d recently cancelled performances because of throat problems. Until she got out on stage, she didn’t know what she was able to do, but at least with ‘Someone Like You’ she had a club full of very loud backing singers.
Lady GaGa
After the sound check she said to me, ‘So what you doing now?’ I said ‘Well I’m gonna go home and watch TV until the club opens’ and she said, ‘Oh I’ll come back with you then.’ So Lady GaGa came back to my flat and we just sat there eating sushi and watching TV. It was surreal. I left her at the flat, I trusted her not to steal anything, and I went to Heaven to get it open in time. There was such a huge queue and it was one in one out, so she decided not to disappoint: she literally walked along the queue and through the club! People double-took!
Kylie
Kylie presented PinkPaper’s 10th Birthday at G-A-Y with me. The night before I got a phone call saying ‘It’s just come on the news that Michael Hutchence has died.’ The next morning her manager called me and said: ‘she still wants to do it.’ Kylie arrived at the Astoria for rehearsals and I could see she was upset; I said to her, ‘You don’t have to do this’, but she didn’t want to let anyone down. She also didn’t want to come across as heartless though or that she wasn’t grieving for Michael. I said we should mention him on stage and if she found it too difficult to say, she could grab my hand and I’d take over and say something. When it got to the point, she wasn’t able to and I had to take over. But the fact she still did the show because she didn’t want to let anyone down, just says so much about Kylie as a person.
Dannii
When I first started booking acts it was very hard to get them, so Dannii was our first real current act and that was a turning point for G-A-Y. If it wasn’t for Dannii, it wouldn’t have led to other artists including Kylie. That’s why when we left the Astoria, it was important to me that Dannii was the last act to perform. One of the most emotional nights at G-A-Y was following Kylie getting the all clear from cancer, G-A-Y was doing the launch of Dannii’s Greatest Hits, Kylie came to support her ‘little sister’ as she called her on stage. After the year they had been through, they stood on stage together, an incredible moment that all fans of Kylie and Dannii wanted to see.
The Spice Girls
I remember on the night of the Spice Girls at G-A-Y, I nearly had a water fight on stage with Mel B. You have to remember this is the beginning of their careers and I was worried that I’d forget their names when taking them off, so I wrote them on my hand. Mel B saw me checking my hand and tried to throw water at me, so I grabbed a bottle of water and threatened to throw back; war was averted!
Geri
When Geri released ‘Ride It’ we did a signing at G-A-Y Bar and I wanted to bring Soho to a stand still, so I suggested Geri came down Old Compton Street riding a horse. On the night Geri got on the horse and suddenly from nowhere, there were paps and fans, and I was running by the horse to make sure she got safely down Old Compton St, but just as we arrived towards the bar, I could see a taxi had parked outside. So there’s Geri on a horse and me running ahead screaming: ‘Get that cab moved!’
One Direction
The first time One Direction performed at G-A-Y there was such an atmosphere that I’d never seen before from an X Factor act immediately after leaving the show. I said to the manager, ‘I think this might be the only time they do G-A-Y as they’re going to be worldwide.’ But they did come back again: the second time I learned, ‘never give One Direction a cake on stage unless you want to wear it.’
P!nk
Not only did P!nk decide to bring her arena show, but she also put on a full concert of an hour and a half! She did go on stage ten minutes late, but for the only acceptable reason; she was playing with Gizmo and Hayley (my dogs) backstage. The icing on the cake for G-A-Y, was P!nk decided to put an extra date on sale at Wembley and asked if G-A-Y would do it with her. To go on stage at Wembley before P!nk was an unforgettable moment…
Girls Aloud
One year Girls Aloud did New Year’s Eve and I said after they bought in the New Year whether customers wanted them back on stage drunk or sober, the audience voted drunk. Recently Kimberly said in an interview that she couldn’t even remember the show!
S Club
S Club actually split up on stage at G-A-Y. When they decided to call it a day, I approached them about doing a last gig and they confirmed that they’d do it. Literally when they performed the last song, that was it, they wouldn’t be together any more. It was emotional for the band and the reaction was amazing. You could feel the emotion from the band and fans.
Olly Murs
Olly is a man of his word! I was the winner in our bet, which was if his single went to number one that he’d get naked on stage next time he was at G-A-Y. He said ‘a bet is a bet’, and literally he stripped on stage, fully naked! He had his hands covering his bits and, although I’m not a size queen, I can confirm he needed both hands. Olly is very cheeky and that’s part of his charm, so whenever he’s at G-A-Y, I try and come up with naughty things to do!
Saturdays
Food fights have become a regularity at G-A-Y! It was Vanessa and Una’s birthdays and we got them cakes to celebrate. I went up to Frankie and said, ‘does this cake smell off to you?’ and as she went to smell it, I pushed her nose in it and that led into a huge cake fight back stage – there was cake everywhere, on the ceiling, on the carpet, on the walls, all over The Saturdays and as the cake was made from cream within half hour, we all stank. When Una was leaving backstage she got papped covered in cake and the headline was that she was ‘worse for wear’ but she was just covered in cake.
Ke$ha
Each year, G-A-Y has the artists who are voted off the X Factor supporting headline acts. When Ke$ha performed at G-A-Y, her support act was Jedward. Imagine not knowing who they are and meeting them for the first time. Jedward are lovely guys, but very inquisitive and extremely hyperactive. Ke$ha was lovely, but I can’t help wondering if she was thinking ‘what the fuck?’
Amy Winehouse
The first time Amy performed at G-A-Y, she cancelled her sound check, however she arrived on time at night and everything seemed to be running to plan. I introduced Amy, and the audience reaction was huge: the band started to play and Amy goes on to perform her first number, but as she finishes her first song, she literally threw up into her hand, caught it and ran off stage into the toilets. I had to be the bearer of bad news to the crowd. I was told it was food poisoning, but because of Amy’s much publicised history, nobody believed me and they all started booing. But credit where it’s due, she re-booked a date with G-A-Y and did the most incredible show.
McFly
The first time McFly performed they stripped down to their underwear, performed the encore and literally dropped their underwear and ran off stage. Second time, McFly volunteered Dougie to drag up, so on stage, the other three did his make up and he dressed as a woman; he lived up to the word drag, because he looked like he’d been dragged through a bush covered in make up. The last time McFly performed at G-A-Y, I said, ‘do you have a party trick?’ and their reply was setting fire to their pubes, also known as the flaming bush!
Pussycat Dolls
The second time The Pussycat Dolls performed, they brought in their arena stage set which includes poles, so when they weren’t looking, Michael and I started pole dancing on their set. We got spotted and they decided to show us what to do: it’s not every day you get pole dancing lessons from the Pussycat Dolls! We weren’t asked to join them on stage though.
Rita Ora
Rita came down to see Alexandra Burke perform at G-A-Y and I got introduced to her: Hot Right Now had already been Number One and I made her a pinky promise that when she releases her first solo single, she’ll launch it at G-A-Y. As soon as she had a release date for R.I.P, I got a call confirming a date. On Rita’s second performance at G-A-Y, Harry Styles came down and it led to another G-A-Y famous back stage food fight: but the mess was a nightmare, maltesers everywhere. It was the cleaners I felt sorry for.
Christina Aguilera
I asked Christina to do ‘Beautiful’ and at the time her management thought I was insane for a ballad to be performed in a nightclub. So they said no, they wanted to do an up tempo show, but I wouldn’t let go. At the last minute they agreed. Christina sang ‘Beautiful’ and 2000 people sang along. As I gave her flowers on stage, I whispered to her, ‘told you so’ and she looked at me and went ‘yeah’.
Steps
They went on and did ‘5,6,7,8’ but when they did ‘Last Thing on My Mind’ the reaction was phenomenal and as they started singing, I turned to their manager and went ‘oh my god this band is not a one hit wonder’. It was the beginning of a huge pop band. Some things happen before a band has a hit and it was a pinnacle.
• G-A-Y The Album will be released on 7th October on Sony Music. This Saturday 21st September sees G-A-Y The Album Pre-order Launch Party at Heaven, under the Arches, Charing Cross, WC2N 6NG. Free entry and queue jump if you’ve pre-ordered G-A-Y The Album or £2 entry wrist band available from G-A-Y Bar.
