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Faber set to publish Robert Elms’ ‘definitive’ biography of Covent Garden’s Blitz Club
Faber is set to publish BBC Radio London presenter Robert Elms’ Blitz: The Club that Created the 80s, the "definitive" biography of the Blitz Club.
Publishing director Hannah Knowles acquired world English language rights from Dotti Irving at Greyhound Literary, and the book’s publication will coincide with the Blitz exhibition at the Design Museum in October 2025
"The short-lived Blitz Club in London’s Covent Garden was more than a place to hang out or be seen: it was the catalyst for a cultural explosion, a counter-culture blast against all that Thatcher’s leadership had ushered in by the dawn of the ‘80s," the synopsis says. "Tuesday nights boasted a ferocious, fearless cast—from Boy George and Spandau Ballet to Grayson Perry, Peter Doig and Sade to Michele Clapton and Alexander McQueen. They were the vanguard of a very different England; socially liberal, loud and proud, celebrating diversity, fiercely individualistic and above all determined to succeed."
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It adds: "In Blitz, Robert Elms reflects on the club night, founded by a group of working-class kids, which made its mark on the worlds of art, literature, fashion and music, one whose impact reverberated far beyond its doors and is still felt today, in the UK, across Europe and even in America."
Elms said: "Swanning past Steve Strange into the Blitz on a Tuesday night in 1979 was the most important portal I ever entered. That nightclub would change not just my life and my trousers, but radically alter the cultural landscape of the UK forever [...] I have resisted telling this tale for half a century, but now it has all come flooding back."
Knowles added: "The Blitz Club was counterculture at its best; young people fuelled by the desire to have fun and rebel against the system, coming together to party and let off steam, who—along the way—altered the course of arts and culture. As one of those Blitz kids, and a peerless chronicler of London life, Robert Elms is impeccably placed to write its history and inspire a new generation of club kids to take up the flame."
