Lobotomy Room at Fontaine's DJ Set List 26 June 2015

/ Flyer cover girl: Jayne Mansfield and chihuahua. Artwork by Ego Rodriguez Illustration /

From the Facebook events page:

Leave all sense of shame and propriety at the door - when LOBOTOMY ROOM returns to its new home, the subterranean Bamboo Lounge of opulent Art Deco vice palace Fontaine’s!

At last - a club night for the hillbilly beau monde! LOBOTOMY ROOM! Where sin lives! A punkabilly booze party! A spectacle of decadence for the permissive Continentally-minded! A Mondo Trasho evening of Beat, Beat Beatsville Beatnik Rock’n’Roll! Rockabilly Psychosis! Wailing Rhythm and Blues! Twisted Tittyshakers! Punk Cretin Hops! Kitsch! Exotica! Curiosities and other Weird Shit! Think John Waters soundtracks, or Songs The Cramps Taught Us, hosted by Graham Russell (of Dr Sketchy and Cockabilly notoriety). Expect desperate stabs from the jukebox jungle! Savage rhythms to make you writhe and rock!

Lobotomy Room: Faster. Further. Filthier.

A tawdry good time guaranteed!

This represented the debut Lobotomy Room at what should hopefully be its permanent new home - the bijou Art Deco surroundings of Fontaine’s cocktail lounge in Dalston! (OK, the Dalston/Stoke Newington border if you want to be pedantic).  The place is exquisite: so frou frou and chi chi it feels like you’re inside a silver-and-blue 1930s jewellery box. Glancing around, you half expect Jean Harlow to sashay in at any moment and order a Tom Collins at the bar.

/ A shot I snapped of Emerald Fontaine in action at the Time for Tease tent at Bestival in 2012 /

The boss woman behind Fontaine’s is Miss Ruby Martin, who I first encountered in the Dr Sketchy days when she used to bump and grind as a burlesque showgirl under the show biz name Emerald Fontaine. (We bonded over our shared mania for everything John Waters). Ruby has a great eye for luxe details: who knew I’d ever wind up DJ’ing at a place with candles, fresh flowers and silver-painted palm trees? She even provided me with my own lit-up pink flamingo in the DJ booth for extra-filthy Divine inspiration. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be there in the air-conditioned darkened womb of Fontaine's basement Bamboo Lounge the last Friday of every month for the rest of 2015. Watch your step coming down those steps after a few drinks! Just think – I’ll be dragging this impeccably elegant cocktail lounge down to my level!

/ DJ'ing isn't a terribly photogenic thing: me at work /

The Lobotomy Room re-launch was a bit more low-key (as in: sparsely-attended!) than I ideally would have liked. It coincided with the weekend of Pride and Glastonbury – who knows? But the elite group of Lobotomy Room stalwarts (and some new faces) present were hip, enthusiastic - and most importantly danced to my putrid selections of musical vintage sleaze. Onwards and upwards! The latest incarnation of Lobotomy Room is off to a promising start.  

/ The bartenders in the Bamboo Lounge - intoxicating in more ways than one /



/ Christopher (aka Christophina) and Abigail /



/ The Portuguese contingent /



/ Dance-floor revelers /



/ Sarah, Lauren, Christophina and Abigail /



/ The Chet Baker de nos jours - Danny Mcvey /



/ Charlie and Sarah /



/ Lauren /



/ Bad Girls Go to Hell: Lauren and Sarah - The Women of Lobotomy Room /



/ Me (and pink flamingo) behind the DJ booth /



/ Sarah, Lauren and Christophina /



/ Lauren and Christophina - aka blues-punk duo Spanking Machine /

Taboo - The Shangaans
Der Karibische Western - Lydia Lunch
High Wall - The Fabulous Wailers
Tough Chick - The Rockbusters
La Sorella Di Cristina - Andrea Tosi
Voodoo Dreams / Voodoo - Les Baxter
Xtabay (Lure of the Unknown Love) - Yma Sumac
Misirlou - Bob Kames
Monkey Bird - The Revels
Kismiaz - The Cramps
Quiet Village - Martin Denny
Fever - Edith Massey
These Boots Are Made for Walkin' - Mrs Miller
Mamie's Place - Bing Day
One Mint Julep - Sarah Vaughan
Mama Looka Boo Boo - Robert Mitchum
Go Calypso - Mamie Van Doren
One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Big Maybelle
Ain't That Good? George Kelly and Orchestra
Twist Talk - Jack Hammer
Boots - Nero and The Gladiators
Egg Man - Edith Massey
Beatnik - The Champs
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
Intoxica - The Centurions
Bombora - The Original Surfaris
Fever - Nancy Sit
Jailhouse Rock - Masaaki Hirao
That's Why I'm Asking - Carl Dobkins Jr with Lew Douglas, His Orchestra and Chorus
I Want Your Love - The Cruisers
I Got Stung - Elvis Presley
Adult Books - X
Wiped-Out - The Escorts
I Live the Life I Love - Esquerita
Johnny Lee - Faye Adams
Raging Sea - Gene Maltais
Poor Little Baby - Billy Crash Craddock
Let's Have a Party - Wanda Jackson
Deuces Wild - Link Wray
Bop Pills - Macy Skipper
One Hand Loose - Charlie Feathers
Love Me - The Phantom
Woodpecker Rock - Nat Couty and The Braves
She Said - Hasil Adkins
I Stubbed My Toe - Bryan "Legs" Walker
Whistle Bait - Larry Collins
Jim Dandy - Sara Lee and The Spades
C'mon Everybody - Sid Vicious
Breathless - X
Do You Remember Rock'n'Roll Radio? The Ramonetures
Comin' Home, Baby - The Delmonas
Motorcycle Maniac - Bobby Warren
Harley Davidson - Brigitte Bardot
Hot Pearl Snatch - The Cramps
Lightning's Girl - Nancy Sinatra
Cretin Hop - The Ramones
Woo-hoo - The Rock-A-Teens
I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield - The 5,6,7,8s
That Makes It - Jayne Mansfield
Here Comes the Bug - The Rumblers
Muleskinner Blues - The Fendermen
Shortnin' Bread - The Readymen
Surfin' Bird - The Trashmen 
Rock Around the Clock - The Sex Pistols
Johnny Hit and Run Pauline - The Ramonetures
Nausea - X
Margaya - The Fender Four
Woman - Peggy Lee
Lucille - Masaaki Hirao
The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard
Sweetie Pie - Eddie Cochran
Fools Rush In - Ricky Nelson
Devil in Disguise - Elvis Presley
Dance with Me, Henry - Ann-Margret
What Do You Think I Am? Ike and Tina Turner
Wipe-Out - The Surfaris
How Much Love Can One Heart Hold? Joe Perkins and The Rookies
Killer - Sparkle Moore
Money, Money - Big John Taylor
Where's My Money? Willie Jones
Welfare Cheese - Emanuel Laskey
Party Lights - Claudine Clark
Heartbreak Hotel - Buddy Love
Female Trouble - The Melvins
Last Call for Whiskey - Choker Campbell
Breathless - Arlie Neaville
Cocktails for Two - Cliff Duphiney
My Way - Nina Hagen



Further reading:

Read about all the previous Lobotomy Rooms to date here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Follow me on tumblr for all your rancid kitsch and homoerotic vintage sleaze needs!

See the rest of the photos from this Lobotomy Room on my flickr page.

Read some rave reviews for Fontaine's here and here.

Remember: the next Lobotomy Room at The Bamboo Lounge of Fontaine's is Friday 31 July 2015. Carve the date into your flesh!