THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE INTREPID FOX (PART ONE)
SAVE THE FOX!
Well, I hope it’s not going to happen, but it looks like it
could.
THE INTREPID FOX, the most famous pub in London for Punks
and Rockers is due to be demolished (subject to planning approval). The pub at its
home in the heart of the West End (St Giles’ Circus) has been bought by
property developers, who have quickly announced demolition plans and an
application to turn one of London’s few remaining rock landmarks into housing.
But first let’s wind the clock right back, I was there at
the very beginning.
My calendar gets a bit mixed up here but I think it was
either very late 1986 or early 1987 that I stood in The Intrepid Fox on Wardour
Street (its original home) talking to the owner. The pub then was much the same
as other pubs in the area. Nice enough, but nothing to distinguish it from
others around. The owner (as far as I recall a portly guy in his 40s) stated
that he was going to turn The Intrepid Fox into a full on rock pub. Didn’t
quite believe it of course but it was enough to start me and my friends
drinking in there.
The madness was there right from the beginning. Before the
loud music and before the posters and décor went up, The Fox was always about
the attitude. The owner went on a week away leaving a barman with longish hair
(Paul I think his name was) in charge, along with his girlfriend Alison.
Well what a week that was. Paul never charged more than a
pound for a drink or even a round of drinks. I went there every night that week
– it was ridiculous! Needless to say when the owner returned Paul got fired
fairly swiftly!
The weeks went by and gradually The Fox earned its full rock
credentials. Posters started going up and loud music started thrumming out from
the speakers. London’s punks, metalheads and goths began to flock to the place.
You could even drink outside in Wardour Street (though
strictly against the rules) and those hot summer nights of 1987 were pretty
wild. I remember a street busker having his cider knocked over by my stumbling
friend and having to quickly buy him another one before he ran riot at my mate.
But best of all was when Guns’n’Roses came to town. I can’t
remember exactly when the Fox day occurred but it was on one of The Marquee
dates ( I went to all three but got thrown out of one!). In those days if I had
a fiver on me that was a fortune. Normally it was faking my ticket on the
Underground to get free travel to the pub and then whatever I could do to bum
as many drinks as possible.
So we went in the Fox on that fateful day and the barstaff
asked if we were with the band. I looked bleary eyed and asked ‘why?’
‘Cos it’s free drinks if you are.’ Said the barman.
Well what was I gonna say? “Course we are”, I replied.
I then settled in to enjoy copious amounts of beer on Guns’n’Roses
tab – cool eh? But…
Sometime later (things got rather hazy as they often did)
and all of a sudden, I found myself pinned by the throat and flat out on one of
The Fox’s seats.
I looked up into the angry face of towering GNR bassist
Duff.
“Hey man, are you stealing drinks on our tab?” he seethed.
God only knows what I burbled in response, probably some
sort of apology but I got out of it, nose, lipstick and face intact.
Messing with the baddest boys on planet earth at that time –
not a wise move!
Anyway, that’s not my only Guns’n’Roses Intrepid Fox story…
more in part two…
SAVE THE FOX!
