As London’s beloved after-hours gay club prepares to close its doors, regular DJ Ruby Waters selects the tracks that sum up its spirit
Where is one supposed to go for a drink at 3am on a Friday morning now? As reported earlier this month in Dazed, the one-of-a-kind, all-inclusive Hackney Road pub The Joiners Arms will be shutting its doors forever in January, much to the dismay of every queen this side of 1997. As well as being known for being seedy in a sexy way, at The Joiners, everybody and anybody could dance like nobody’s watching (and like everybody was). To commiserate and celebrate the music that kept the damp, amyl nitrite-scented dance floor alive for 17 years, we spoke to the club's regular DJ and Tuesdays' Tranneoke hostess Ruby Waters, who compiled ten tracks that she feels best represent the place. Why? Because, in her words: “I wanna make sure these luxury flats are built on the rotting corpses of a thousand murdered songs!”
CHERYL LYNN – “GOT TO BE REAL”
“This one’s a no-brainer. It’s the classic disco track for any party at The Joiners. Every day of the week there’s a slight different feel to what’s being played, but this song always fits in and goes down well on the dance floor.”
MAN 2 MAN – “MALE STRIPPER”
“Back in the day, The Joiners was pretty sleazy – this is definitely one for a cruisey night. It just goes hand-in-hand with the stories of losing your virginity in the toilet. This song is one for the toilet cubicles.”
ALASKA THUNDERFVK – “YOUR MAKEUP IS TERRIBLE”
“Recently I’ve been getting a lot of requests from the bartender to play this and I think it goes well with the mentality of the drag queens of east London. It’s an anthem for the shambolic queens of East London, whose makeup really is terrible. To them, there’s nothing more terrifying than a professional drag queen in perfect makeup."
RUPAUL – “SUPERMODEL”
“After all the other gay bars have closed and The Joiners is still open and this comes on, there will always be an eruption on the dance floor. There will always be some sassy, swishy guy in the room throw down the gauntlet and do a walk off. Everyone puts on their best face and they get serious – the atmosphere in the room changes and they’re out for blood, lip-synching for their life.”
LAURA BRANNIGAN – “SELF CONTROL”
“This is an iconic song for The Joiners. There’s this guy called Jack who’s a Karaoke superstar and goes to a different Karaoke night every single night of the week. He’s a regular and comes to The Joiners on Tuesdays and this is one of his choices. I don’t think I’d ever heard this song before I heard Jack do it and since then it’s always in my head.”
LOOSE JOINTS – “IS IT ALL OVER MY FACE?”
“Another classic disco anthem that’s very fitting for The Joiners Arms. And God! The stuff that is all over people’s faces there. It’s literal.”
DORIS DAY – “QUE SERA, SERA”
“This is a classic on Karaoke night. Polly Sexual, who used to host the Karaoke night before me, comes back to do this number sometimes. She’s a bit more of an old fashioned queen, despite being younger than me.”
DANNY BOY AND THE SERIOUS PARTY GODS – “CASTRO BOY”
“This song may be about San Francisco but I feel like the lyrics perfectly reflect nights spent at The Joiners as well… just without all the illegal substances, of course.”
KENNY ROGERS – “COWARD OF THE COUNTY”
“Bartenders never come up to do a karaoke number because they’re far too cool, but there was one Australian bartender who was a bit rough around the edges and would do this song every single week. What the fuck?”
SCISSOR SISTERS – “LET'S HAVE A KIKI”
“The Joiners is open until 3am on a Thursday – so when it closes there are no other places to go. The first time I went to a house party afterwards, they made everyone come down to the living room for this song, and a Joiners regular got up on the table and made an announcement that it was time for the greatest song ever. Now it will always be The Joiners afterparty jam.”