The Alice in Wonderland nightclub, based at Gossips, 69 Dean Street, Soho, London, W1 started on 10 October 1983 and ran every Monday night for almost a decade becoming, at its peak, the most successful one-nighter in London's west end. The club was the brainchild of former art student and punk musician, Christian Paris

Christian Paris

Credited by Time Out magazine and BBC teletext as being The Godfather of Acid House. Former Art Student and Punk Musician Christian Paris was the brain child of the world famous Alice In Wonderland NightClub that ran from 1983 until 1993 in Soho, London, UK with the help of his resident DJ, Doctor...

 and became the launch pad for many other projects including records, a film, film festivals, the now legendary Magical Mystery Trips and the bizarre Plant Alice shops in London and Los Angeles.

Enlisting the help of DJ, Doctor Clive Jackson, lead singer of the rock group Doctor And The Medics

Doctor and the Medics

Doctor and the Medics are a London based psychedelic rock band which enjoyed greatest success in the 1980s and are best known for their UK No. 1 song, "Spirit in the Sky"...

, the club, loosely based on 1960's psychedelia, brought together, for the first time many other musical influences, including punk, goth, glam, heavy metal, psychobilly, surf, blues and country which helped created the unique scene.

The nightclub received unprecedented media coverage and for the majority of its long life the 500 capacity club was packed to the gunnels every Monday night with long queues snaking round the block. At the height of its popularity more people were turned away than could actually get in. The colourful light and laser shows, the toilet paper hanging from the ceiling and Doctor Clive's ranting psychobabble from the DJ box made the club unlike any other club in London's mid-eighties.

Alice in Wonderland featured a live band every week, many of whom subsequently went on to far greater thanks. At one point it was calculated that one in every ten bans that played there then went on to have a hit record. Doctor And The Medics

Doctor and the Medics

Doctor and the Medics are a London based psychedelic rock band which enjoyed greatest success in the 1980s and are best known for their UK No. 1 song, "Spirit in the Sky"...

, The Cult

The Cult

The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...

, The Damned

The Damned

The Damned are an English gothic punk band formed in London in 1976. They were the first punk rock band from the United Kingdom to release a single , an album , to have a record on the UK music charts, and to tour the United States...

 (under the name Naz Nomad And The Nightmares), The Jesus And Mary Chain

The Jesus and Mary Chain

The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride, Glasgow in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid...

, The Mission

The Mission

- Film and theater :* The Mission , 1986 film by Roland Joffé* The Mission , a.k.a. Cheung fo, by Johnnie To* The Mission , 1980 German play by former East German playwright Heiner Müller, also known as The Task- Music :* The Mission , the original score album of the 1986 film by Ennio Morricone*...

, The Shamen

The Shamen

The Shamen were an experimental electronic music band, from 1985–1999, initially formed in Aberdeen, Scotland, as a psychedelic-influenced indie rock act. The founding members are Colin Angus , Derek McKenzie and Keith McKenzie...

, Timbuk 3

Timbuk 3

Timbuk3 was an American post-punk band which released six original studio albums between 1986 and 1995 that were produced by Derrick Vedrani. They are most well known for their Top 20 single "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"...

, Daisy Chainsaw

Daisy Chainsaw

Daisy Chainsaw was an English alternative rock band, active between 1989 and 1995. It originally featured KatieJane Garside as lead vocalist and lyricist on the band's early EPs and debut album, Eleventeen , before her departure in 1993...

, Gallon Drunk

Gallon Drunk

Gallon Drunk are an English band formed in London in 1988. Their swamp rock sound contains a variety of influences, from punk to jazz and the novels of Derek Raymond , and is noted for its dark subject matter.-Biography:...

, Zodiac Mindwarp And The Love Reaction, Jayne County

Jayne County

Jayne County , formerly known as Wayne County, is an American male-to-female transsexual performer, musician and actress whose career has spanned several decades. County would go on to be known as rock's first transsexual singer...

, Crazyhead

Crazyhead

Crazyhead are an English garage punk band from Leicester, England. Though lumped in with the largely media-created grebo scene, they were more influenced by the garage rock of the late 1960s, as well as bands like The Ramones, The Stooges and Captain Beefheart...

 and Gaye Bykers On Acid

Gaye Bykers on Acid

Gaye Bykers On Acid were an English psychedelic rock band from Leicester, and one of the founder members of the Grebo music scene. They later released both thrash punk and dance music albums under various aliases.-Personnel:...

 are just some of the bands that played there.

In 1984 the club released a single on its own Magic Alice record label featuring their resident band. The four track single called Doctor And The Medics Live at Alice In Wonderland was a low-key disc only available at the club or by mail order. Next came the file, entitled I Keep Thinking It's Tuesday (Two Pieces Of Cloth Carefully Stitched Together), another low budget affair featuring club regulars and, of course, Doctor And The Medics. The film was premiered at the first of many Alive In Wonderland All Night Psychedelic Film Festivals held at the Scala Cinema in London's Kinds Cross.

The Film Festivals featured a selection of classic and cult sixties movies together with a live band, light and laser shows and the Alice In Wonderland disco. This is thought to be the first time that film and music were joined together for a live event.

1984 was also the year of the first ever Alive In Wonderland Magical Mystery Trips which took place at Chistlehurst Caves. In time over 2000 people were transported by trains or coaches to the mystery destination somewhere in England. Rave magazine

Rave magazine

Rave was an Indian music magazine, launched in March 2002. Rave shut down in February 2009....

 was just one of many publications that credited the Mystery Trips as being the forerunner of Raves and Acid House Parties. Time Out magazine and BBC Teletext, among others, credited Christian Paris as being The Godfather of Acid House. Future Mystery Trips included secret visits to a derelict factory in Battersea, a disused Butlins Holiday Camp in Clacton and a ballroom at the end of Lowestoft Pier.

1985 saw the Alice gang take their road show to New York putting on the first of two events at the Danceteria nightclub

Danceteria

Danceteria was a well-known four-floor nightclub located in New York City which operated from 1980 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. Throughout its history, the club had seven different locations, three in NYC and four in the Hamptons...

. The club's popularity continued to increase and City Limits magazine voted Alice In Wonderland Nightclub of the Year.

In 1986 the first of their Planet Alice shops opened in Portobello Road, London W10. The shop was equally unique selling their own designs of bizarre multi-coloured clothes as well as records, posters, jewellery, incense, books etc. Plant Alice soon gained a lot of exposure in the fashion press and their clothes were sold all over the world.

An album featuring some of the bands that played at Alice's, including, naturally, the Medics (under the guise of Gwyllym And The Raspberry Flavoured Cat) and The Damned (under the pseudonym of The Spooks) was recorded that year. Live At Alice In Wonderland (A Pretty Smart Way To Catch A Lobster) was released on Flicknife Records

Flicknife Records

Flicknife Records was an independent record label setup in the United Kingdom in 1979 by Marc "Frenchy" Gloder, and Gina 'Wild Thing' Nares. It specialised in psychedelic rock and Hawkwind and ex-members solo projects...

 in the UK and on CBS Sony in Japan.

In 1987 the second Planet Alice opened in Kensington Market, London W8. Meanwhile the club continued to be as popular as ever and a European tour with the Alice In Wonderland disco and the Medics helped raise their profile even more.

Other special events continued over the next few years and in 1991 Planet Alice moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles when Christian Paris went into partnership with Lee Starkey

Lee Starkey

Lee Starkey is Ringo Starr's daughter with his first wife Maureen Starkey. She was co-owner of boutique Planet Alice in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Youth:...

, daughter of Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr. The latest Planet Alice in Melrose Avenue received considerable high profile attention from the World's press, understandably helped by the Beatles connection. However, despite the massive publicity, the L.A. shop was short lived and closed down within the year.

In 1993 Alive In Wonderland, after almost a decade of madness eventually closed down. In more recent years the Lobster album has been re-released in C.D. form on Madman Records and Christian Paris has written a book on the whole Alice In Wonderland movement entitled A Pretty Smart Way To Catch A Lobster (The Alice In Wonderland Years).

Christian Paris

Christian Paris

Credited by Time Out magazine and BBC teletext as being The Godfather of Acid House. Former Art Student and Punk Musician Christian Paris was the brain child of the world famous Alice In Wonderland NightClub that ran from 1983 until 1993 in Soho, London, UK with the help of his resident DJ, Doctor...

has recently re-kindled his art career and has been included in the Punk And Beyond exhibition in London's Signal Gallery.

Source Material

pOoTer's pSyceDelic shacK - Alice In Wonderland Nightclub

Anne Carlini Exclusive Magazine

pOoTer's pSyceDelice shacK - Christian Paris

The Taste Experience - The Psychedelic Restoration

ALBUM:

Live at Alice In Wonderland (A Pretty Smart Way to Catch a Lobster):
Flicknife Records 1986

Live at Alice In Wonderland (A Pretty Smart Way to Catch a Lobster):
CBS Sony 1986

FILMOGRAPHY

(16mm Black and White)
I Keep Thinking it's Tuesday (Two Pieces of Cloth Carefully Stiched Together):
Magic Alice Films 1984