Porn in the UK before it got legal - remember?

Originally Posted by spaceman69

Saw a link yesterday for a documentary concerning Mike Freeman of Videx Films fame coming out Summer 2016 (via Rose Tinted Films). Could be interesting I think for early days of 60's Soho, will certainly be watching for any film clips! (please have Poarn!!)
Cheers
Spaceman

I am one of the people involved in making this documentary, and we are indeed hoping for a late summer release. The story focuses mainly on Videx, but the 1960s Soho days will be discussed.

As for clips, we have access to all of Mike's films, aside from his early 8mm stuff. If anyone can help us to track down some of the work he did for Climax or Venus we would be most grateful.

[natas777]

You now have images of 16 or 17 year olds in 1970s or 1980s Mayfair which are classified as child pornography. They could have sex, just not be filmed/photographed doing it?

[broxyman]

Originally Posted by spaceman69

Saw a link yesterday for a documentary concerning Mike Freeman of Videx Films fame coming out Summer 2016 (via Rose Tinted Films). Could be interesting I think for early days of 60's Soho, will certainly be watching for any film clips! (please have Poarn!!)
Cheers
Spaceman

Are we talking Michael J Freeman? Author of the 'I Pornographer' series (available via Amazon)?

I've read some of his stuff - a bit of an eye-opener! Basically, according to him, the police were effectively running and controlling the hardcore pornography industry in London in the 60s and 70s. No great surprise there, and there's plenty of evidence to back up some of what he says - but I'd always assumed most of what he's written is fiction.


I grew up in London during the Nazi Blitz during the Second World War. My first memories are of the Doodle Bugs which were rockets filled with explosives that would rain down upon us. One waited until the noise of the engine stopped and held one's breath as it fell to Earth and exploded with a terrible earth shaking bang.

One of my early interests was painting, drawing and photography. My forte was the erotic. In the Sixties I began producing erotica in photography and film. I was a student at St Martins School of Art in Charing X Road in London's West End. One evening I met an artist who after looking at my sketch book introduced me to a Soho book shop owner who purchased my erotic drawings for what was a tidy sum of money in those days.

Eventually I was charged under the Obscene Publications Act and spent time in prison. The arresting officer an inspector Moody was corrupt and I began paying him to avoid going to prison again.

Being involved in a world of corruption and money a contract to kill was placed on my head that ended in me killing my would be murderer and to me being falsely convicted of murder.

I wrote my first novel The Nonce which was based on some of the charactors I met inside. After reading it someone said to me: "You are always talking about the porn business so why not write about that?"


This resulted in my biography I Pornographer that tells the story set in the London Sixties Soho.

I think you will find it an exciting read.

Yep, that's the Mike Freeman. We've attempted to corroborate as many of his claims as we can and, admittedly, some in the I Pornographer series do seem rather outlandish, but they all check out. Not sure he grew up during the blitz though.

He really does offer a fascinating insight into how the porn industry operated in 1960s Soho.

[Don Kinslow]

Originally Posted by Pinkpapercut

Anyone remember a shop in Manchester, initially off Tib Street in the 70s, then later down from the Free Trade Hall up to the early 90s? Run by a bearded chubby posy-hippy dandy libertarian writer who suffered numerous busts at the hands of the Greater Manchester Cops, allegedly as part of a personal campaign by "Gods Cop", J*m*s And*rt*n, and who later wrote comics and novels satirizing said holy-than-thou arsehole?

He sold all kinds of dodgy media, from bootleg vinyl to the hardest and most depraved of hardcore, usually at quite reasonable prices, as far as I can tell as much to stick two fingers up at the Constabulary and judiciary as to make money.

Cracking little shops.

That would be Peter Street. He also sold rare magazines on subjects other than glamour and porn. He also sold comics. I remember a first issue of the Eagle comic displayed. Very expensive. He was a very interesting bloke to talk to, but he kept getting distracted keeping an eye on the customers in the 'Porn' corner.

[PJayBr]

Originally Posted by Don Kinslow

That would be Peter Street. He also sold rare magazines on subjects other than glamour and porn. He also sold comics. I remember a first issue of the Eagle comic displayed. Very expensive. He was a very interesting bloke to talk to, but he kept getting distracted keeping an eye on the customers in the 'Porn' corner.

I used to buy lots of second hand US scence fiction books from there without realisng what else he sold. In fact my (VERY stade) mother used to come in with me. Good job she never went for a look around as I discovered when I went in on my own once. Had just found something rather interesting to look at when I was advised to pop back to the book section for another year or two!

[broxyman]

Reading a fascinating book at the moment by Martin Tomkinson:

Pornbrokers: Rise of the Soho Sex Barons

Published around 1982, but an excellent summary of the position at that time. I had no idea that from the late 50s right through to the 70s the pornography industry in London was effectively being run jointly by corrupt officers in the Metropolitan Police and criminals.

I knew there were bribes being paid and taken, but had no idea it was this bad. Being there at the time, though, and knowing what things were like, I suppose it comes as no great surprise.

[stardust2003]

WAS nt Tib Street where they used to sell monkeys an lots of
other exotic pets ?

[royalbros2]

My apologies for bumping this up once more but I too have something to add. Firstly, I don't think the Albatross cinema in Plashett Grove closed in the early 80s as andysmz says in post 53. I have only been to one xxx cinema in london and I think that was it. The word Plashett sticks in my mind. It was definitely in Upton park area - the only reason I had to go there. And I only came to London in 1986.

I say this only as background information. I bought 2 video recorders in about 1988 so I could copy and exchange. I was active from about 88 to 93. Maybe just after that. There were various shops selling cassettes. No covers - just the cassette. The one I went to was a shop near Liverpool street Station. A ramshackle building. Bare bones inside. The guys that ran it had put up bracketed shelves on the walls and piled up the tapes on them. There was a desk and that was basically it. Each wall was a different genre eg American, amateur/home made etc. Each tape had a number written on it with black pen. There was a list of titles up on the wall corresponding to the number. And some small tv/vcrs . So you'd check what was on the list, go to the shelf hoping they hadn't sold out of that title, check it on the vcr and pay. Prices varied. The amateur ones were £15 iirc. The American ones might have been upto £25 I think. They may have been double features.

The only reason I remember this is I was only after the Ed Powers Dirty Debutantes series. The first of those was 1989 so that helps date it. They always had a lot of them. But the credits were often missing so I never knew what series or volume it was. And they often looked like compilations but given the style of the DD series it was hard to tell. Also, they would put them in both the American and amateur sections with the different prices! The amateur was obviously the best value if the same title was in both section. Especially so as each amateur tape was 3 hours. Maybe 4. Whoever "mastered" it put as many scenes on as possible end to end even if it cut off when tape finished. The amateurs might have been 5 for £50 which I usually paid. And money off if you brought any back which I did usually. I remember getting the Black debutantes series from there. I'd always come back with £50 worth even if there were no Powers.

Being single, I had a set up a married man wouldn't get away with. I had the 2 x vcrs at the bottom of my bed. The noise when the tape popped out would wake me. I remember one machine was a very heavy Sony one. I'd climb to the bottom of the bed half asleep, remove the tapes and pop in 2 more I had lined up on the vcr top before I went to bed. 4 hour tapes mostly so I'd do 2 changes. I had it organised so I could pop in 2 new tapes before leaving for work and when I came home they be popped out. The first thing I'd do was pop in 2 new ones. 5 days a week lol. I didn't sell any. This was just for exchange.

How I met the guys to swap with I can't remember. I had no net. I guess it was via adverts in magazines. We'd turn up with carrier bags full of them. Quite quickly I went from having no tapes to having hundreds - most of them 4 hours. The quality wasn't the greatest but they got the job done. There were some really bad copies and some really good. Most were in between. I wasn't a collector. i was just interested in the genre. I ended up with this huge pile of tapes. When I moved home in 93 I got rid of them. They meant nothing to me and I had no need. The Powers ones were the only ones that would interest me now. And some of the UK home made ones which I doubt you could get hands on now. They were genuine, home made.

So I had no need for the Albatross anyway. I remember going over there one day and it was shut. Likewise, I also went to Liverpool st and that was shut.

[Captain Jack]

Hardcore porn was easily available in UK via satellite. Who remembers FilmNet or TV1000's late night fare? There were always other "dedicated" channels, like Eurotica or Red Hot Dutch. These were typically away from "Sky" channels requiring different subscriptions or, indeed, pirate cards.

I have a few from FilmNet still available on tapes and it also showed something like "Peep Show" after a film sometimes. These Scandinavian channels are what essentially introduced me to proper porn back in the 90s... (I was a horny teenager at time, so it was always exciting!).