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Īs one of the first gay clubs in London, and one of the first openly so in the world, Heaven courted controversy, frequently appearing in the tabloid press, especially in The Sun headlines about ecstasy use in the nightclub in 1989. By 1985 this had become Pyramid (shifted to Wednesdays) and was one of the first clubs in the country to play emerging House music from Chicago. Kevin Millins' club night Asylum (on Thursdays) started on 14 April 1983, with resident DJs Colin Faver and Mark Moore (S'Express). Branson was one of the first to identify the burgeoning ' pink pound' and saw the club as an investment opportunity, Branson reported in his autobiography that the £500,000 used to purchase Heaven were financed by the brewery supplying drinks to the venue. In 1982, Heaven was acquired from Norman by Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
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In 1980, London Weekend Television ran a weekly documentary series titled Gay Life in which Heaven nightclub and various other London gay clubs and bars were featured. Heaven also attracted legendary names from the United States such as House music pioneer Frankie Knuckles, who played at the Thursday night Delirium!.
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Original Heaven DJs include: Tony De Vit, Colin Holsgrove, Marc Andrews, Marc Monroe, George Mitchell, Ian D, Tallulah, Jon Dennis, Rich B, Wayne G, and Steve Whyte. Many Heaven DJs would go on to find greater acclaim in both the gay and mainstream music industry. Under the direction of the club's original manager David Inches, Heaven sought DJs who would become exclusive to the club and were groundbreaking in terms of their music selection and style. His mix of Disco, Hi-NRG, and early House music became what is known as the Original Heaven Sound. Heaven's first resident DJ was Ian Levine, who has been credited with being one of the first DJs in the UK of the now customary style of " beatmixing". Heaven brought gay clubbing into the UK mainstream and gave London a club to rival New York's gay super club at the time, The Saint. Until it opened, most gay clubs were small hidden cellar-bars or pub discos. Heaven quickly established itself as the centre of the (then understated) gay London nightlife. Norman used his knowledge and experience of establishing and running a nightclub to create an entirely new kind of gay club on a larger scale. The Embassy proved to be successful and attracted a fashionable clientele it is generally seen as the London equivalent of New York's Studio 54. Norman, an entrepreneur, had started an earlier club, The Embassy, in Old Bond Street in 1978. The original hi-tech interior was designed by his partner, Derek Frost.
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Norman was also chairman of Burke's Peerage, the publishers. Heaven was opened in December 1979 by Jeremy Norman in a former night club called Global Village, which was housed in the arches beneath Charing Cross railway station, once part of Adelphi Arches, a large wine-cellar for the hotel above.