Heaven & Hell
By Antony Clayton
Next to the 2i’s at 57 Old Compton Street was the Heaven & Hell Coffee Lounge, which opened early in 1956. Originally a popular resort that posed a threat to its then-ailing neighbour, it was soon to be eclipsed by the ‘home of the stars’. Owned by Eric Lindsay and Ray Jackson this establishment consisted of the ‘heaven’ of the brightly lit, white-painted ground floor coffee bar and the ‘hell’ of a darker, atmospheric, subterranean room lit by red-eyed devil masks along the walls. Like its neighbour it also offered live music and one of the resident groups playing in the underworld of the cellar was appropriately called the Ghouls.