AS FANS of the 80s awaiting Duran Duran's new album with bated breath, one Swindon DJ has described the era as a boom time for live music in the town.
DJ Sandy Martin, who was behind the decks at the Brunel Rooms for 12 years, said every night was a party in the era of Spandau Ballet and Simon le Bon (pictured below).
The venue in the Brunel shopping centre attracted the likes of Kool in the Gang who have also jumped on the revival bandwagon and put out a new album and Donna Summers, who has a greatest hits album out.
Sandy remembers Mel and Kim, Blondie, Dexys Midnight Runners and Sister Sledge were also in the line-up.
"It was a boom time in the 80s. There wasn't the drug culture it was just boy meets girl," said Sandy, a DJ on BBC Radio Swindon. "The Brunel was the only place in the town to go. There were more than 1,000 people there every night, four nights a week. It was booming. Every night was a party."
The Brunel Rooms saw most of the big names of the era, although Duran Duran were not among them. The boys were from the Midlands and tended to stick to the Birmingham clubs.
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