Editing Peter Stringfellow (section)

==Career==
When Stringfellow was 13 years old, he worked at a cinema on [[The Wicker]] arterial street in Sheffield. His first job after leaving school was as an assistant tie salesman at [[Austin Reed (retailer)|Austin Reed]]. After some casual jobs he enrolled as an apprentice in the [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]], at the age of 16. His Merchant Navy career lasted two years.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sheffield-born nightclub king Peter Stringfellow kept cancer battle secret|url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/sheffield-born-nightclub-king-peter-stringfellow-kept-cancer-battle-secret-1761295|newspaper=The Star|location=Sheffield|date=7 June 2018}}</ref>

On his return to Sheffield, he worked briefly in various jobs. While at Dobson's Furnishings Company he was convicted of selling stolen carpets and served two weeks in [[HM Prison Leeds|Armley Prison]], [[Leeds]], in June 1962 and six weeks in [[HM Prison Ford|Ford Open Prison]].<ref name="Guardian 2">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/aug/12/peter-stringfellow-my-greatest-mistake|title=Peter Stringfellow: my greatest mistake|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=12 August 2011|access-date=21 November 2012|first=Kamilla |last=Baiden|location=London, UK}}</ref><ref name="The Star 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/peter-stringfellow-says-prison-was-best-error-1-3686427|title=Peter Stringfellow says prison was best error|newspaper=[[Sheffield Star]]|date=17 August 2011|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref>

After his conviction and imprisonment he was unable to find regular work. This led to his business career running clubs.<ref name="promo">{{cite news |title=Peter Stringfellow: I don't want to be the Hugh Hefner of Europe – Real Business |url=https://realbusiness.co.uk/business-growth/2014/11/27/peter-stringfellow-i-dont-want-to-be-the-hugh-hefner-of-europe/ |access-date=7 June 2018 |work=Real Business |date=27 November 2014}}</ref>

===Nightclub management===
In 1962, Stringfellow rented St Aidan's Church Hall in Sheffield every Friday night, operating the Black Cat Club. Several bands played in the club, such as the Pursuers, [[Dave Berry (musician)|Dave Berry and the Cruisers]], Johnny Tempest and the Cadillacs and from London, [[Screaming Lord Sutch]], [[The Savages (Screaming Lord Sutch backing band)|the Savages]], Count Lindsay and [[Gene Vincent]].<ref name="Autobio 6">{{cite book|title=King of Clubs: The Autobiography of Peter Stringfellow|publisher=Little Brown and Company|last=Lafferty|first= Fiona|year=1996|at=Chapter 4, Page 42|isbn=0316879339}}</ref>

His fortunes changed when [[The Beatles]] played on 2 April 1963. The demand for concert tickets was so great that Stringfellow rented a larger venue, the Azena Ballroom in [[Sheffield]]. On that night he sent the Beatles a telegram congratulating them on their first album, ''[[Please Please Me]]''.<ref name="Autobio 6"/><ref name="Beatles Bible 1">{{cite news|url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/1963/04/02/live-azena-ballroom-sheffield|title=Live: Azena Ballroom, Sheffield|date=2 April 1963 |newspaper=Beatles Bible|access-date=19 November 2012}}</ref>

In 1963, Stringfellow began another club, the Blue Moon, at St. John's Church Hall in Sheffield. The opening act was the Marauders who had a single, "That's What I Want", in the British top 50.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/that%27s-what-i-want/|title=that's what i want &#124; full Official Chart History|website=Officialcharts.com|access-date=4 April 2023}}</ref> More bands followed such as [[the Kinks]]. Other bands that played at the club and who later became famous were [[Freddie Starr and the Midnighters]], [[The Searchers (band)|the Searchers]], [[Shane Fenton and the Fentones]], [[Wayne Fontana]], [[Long John Baldry]] and the Hoochie Coochie Men, [[Rod Stewart]] and the Soul Agents, [[Vance Arnold & The Avengers]], Dean Marshall and the Deputies.<ref name="Amazon 1">{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-In-Crowd-Story-Northern/dp/product-description/0953662616|title=The in Crowd: The Story of the Northern and Rare Soul Scene|access-date=20 November 2012|first1=Mike |last1=Ritson |first2=Stuart |last2=Russell|website=Amazon UK }}</ref>

In 1964, Stringfellow opened the highly successful Mojo Club, later renamed the [[King Mojo Club]] in Sheffield. During its three and half years of business, many bands played at the club, including [[the Who]], [[Pink Floyd]], [[the Brian Auger Trinity]], [[the Graham Bond Organisation]], [[John Mayall's Bluesbreakers]], [[the Yardbirds]], [[Zoot Money's Big Roll Band]], [[the Hollies]], [[the Merseybeats]], the [[Spencer Davis Group]], [[the Pretty Things]], [[Manfred Mann]], [[the Small Faces]], [[Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames]], and [[the Jimi Hendrix Experience]]. Other American acts who played in the club included the first [[Motown|Tamla/Motown]] acts to play in the UK, [[Ben E. King]], [[Sonny Boy Williamson II|Sonny Boy Williamson]], [[Tina Turner]], [[Inez and Charlie Foxx]], [[John Lee Hooker]], and [[Little Stevie Wonder]].<ref name="BBC Online 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/content/articles/2008/06/19/peter_stringfellow_feature.shtml|title=Profiles: Peter Stringfellow|publisher=BBC|access-date=20 November 2012}}</ref><ref name="Mod Gen 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.themodgeneration.co.uk/2011/11/dirty-stop-outs-guide-to-1960s.html|title=Dirty Stop Out's Guide to 1960's Sheffield|publisher=The Mod Generation|access-date=20 November 2012|last=Anderson|first= Niel}}</ref><ref name="Standard 1">{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/the-stars-peter-stringfellow-will-never-forget-6561954.html|title=The stars Peter Stringfellow will never forget|work=[[London Evening Standard]]|date=1 February 2011|access-date=20 November 2012}}</ref>

In 1968, he went into another business venture with Down Broadway, just under the Stylo's shoe shop in the centre of Sheffield.<ref name="Autobio 8">{{cite book|title=King of Clubs: The Autobiography of Peter Stringfellow|publisher=Little Brown and Company|last=Lafferty|first= Fiona|year=1996|at=Chapter 7, Page 92|isbn=0316879339}}</ref>

On 4 November 1968, [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]] was the first act to play at Down Broadway and [[John Peel]] was booked to play as the star DJ. Another progressive rock group, [[Yes (band)|Yes]], also played at the club. In 1969, Stringfellow acquired the first alcohol licence for another of his clubs called the Penthouse Sheffield. The club only lasted for a year due to trouble with overcrowding and objections from the local police. This prompted him to sell it and move to [[Leeds]].<ref name="BBC Online 1"/><ref name="Mod Gen 1"/>

In 1970, he opened Cinderella's in Leeds.<ref name="BBC"/> This was Stringfellow's first super club, mixing recorded music and live bands.<ref name="Mod Gen 1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.building.co.uk/news/finance/naked-ambition/1020197.article|title=Naked ambition: Design a club the Peter Stringfellow way|work=[[Building (magazine)|Building Magazine]]|year=2002|access-date=21 November 2012|first=Matthew |last=Richards}}</ref>

In 1972, Stringfellow acquired a space next door to Cinderella's to create another club called Rockafella's.<ref>{{cite news|title=The 28 lost Leeds nightclubs and pubs we miss the most|url=https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/best-in-leeds/whats-on-news/lost-leeds-nightclubs-pubs-miss-19357785|website=Leeds Live|first=Dave|last=Himelfield|date=27 November 2020}}</ref> This was the first and last of his super [[cabaret]] and super clubs. Comedy duo [[Mike and Bernie Winters]] and magician [[Paul Daniels]] performed at the club. The two clubs were combined in 1973 and given the name Cinderella Rockafella's, and Stringfellow dropped the cabaret and put in full-time DJs such as Chris Crossley and Peter Tyler. He and his brother, Paul Stringfellow, also served as DJs.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

In 1976, Stringfellow and his then business partner and brother, Geoffrey Stringfellow, sold the Cinderella Rockafella's to Mecca and moved to [[Manchester]], where they opened the Millionaire Club.<ref name="MDM Archive 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/archive/showartefact.php?vid=559|title=Millionaire Club Manchester |publisher=Manchester District Music Archive|access-date=20 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110915020110/http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/archive/showartefact.php?vid=559|archive-date=15 September 2011|first=Andy|last=Mac|date=20 September 2010}}</ref><ref name="Strip EU 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.strip-eu.com/mmagazine/new_welcome.php?subaction=showfull&id=1090331784&archive=&start_from=&ucat=4&|title=Interview with Peter Stringfellow|publisher=Strip EU|access-date=21 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113004520/http://www.strip-eu.com/mmagazine/new_welcome.php?subaction=showfull&id=1090331784&archive=&start_from=&ucat=4&|archive-date=13 January 2015}}</ref> There were no live bands in the Millionaire Club. However, the Stringfellows hired named DJs including Peter Tyler and Brett Sinclair.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/peter-stringfellow-dead-cancer-nightclub-14753281|title=Nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow dies, aged 77|last=Coyle|first=Simon|date=7 June 2018|work=Manchester Evening News|access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref>

In 1980, he sold the Millionaire Club to Granada Ltd and he then moved with his whole family to London. There he opened Stringfellows Covent Garden.<ref name="Covent">{{cite web|url=http://www.stringfellows.co.uk|title=Stringfellows Covent Garden|publisher=Stringfellows Covent Garden|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref> It was an immediate success as a nightclub in London, where celebrities, international film stars, TV personalities, rock stars, models, [[paparazzi]] and national newspaper journalists partied for the next 15 years.

In 1983, he took over the old cabaret club, Talk of the Town, which had closed. He reopened it with its original name [[Hippodrome, London|Hippodrome]] and it became the "World's Greatest Disco".<ref name="Shadow 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.shadowplays.com/archive/hippo.php|title=London Hippodrome|publisher=Shadow Plays|access-date=20 November 2012}}</ref> The Hippodrome introduced its first gay night at the venue under his management.<ref name="Dream Land">{{cite web|url=http://www.dreamlandnews.com/morton/3.shtml|title=London Hippodrome|publisher=Dreamland News|date=4 July 1985|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref><ref>Since 1976 on a Monday and Thursday (in the basement of the London Astoria, Charing Cross Road) a gay night called BANG had been operating, which 15 years later became [[G-A-Y]] nightclub.</ref> He also started Hippodrome Records and one of his acts to sign was [[Dusty Springfield]] who released the single, "Sometimes Like Butterflies".<ref>{{cite news|title=How Dusty Springfield made a remarkable comeback|url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200630-how-dusty-springfield-made-a-remarkable-comeback|website=BBC Culture|date=1 July 2020|first=Nick|last=Levine}}</ref>

In 1986, he opened Stringfellow's New York, which was frequented by New York celebrities and managed with his daughter Karen. In 1989, he opened Stringfellow's [[Miami]], and then Stringfellow's [[Los Angeles]] in 1990. He sustained huge financial losses due to the American economic recession in 1989.<ref name="Standard 1"/><ref name="Baltimore Sun 1">{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1999/10/14/a-not-so-stodgy-englishman-cabaret-a-high-profile-grandfather-is-making-lap-dancing-almost-respectable-in-london/|title=A not-so-stodgy Englishman|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|date=14 October 1999|access-date=21 November 2012|first=Bill |last=Glauber|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113004442/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-10-14/features/9910140256_1_peter-stringfellow-lap-dancing-dancing-club|archive-date=13 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Evening Standard 10">{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/the-stars-peter-stringfellow-will-never-forget-6561954.html|title=The stars Peter Stringfellow will never forget|work=[[London Evening Standard]]|date=1 February 2011|access-date=21 November 2012|first=Amira |last=Hashish}}</ref>

In 1996, Stringfellow's [[autobiography]], ''King of Clubs'', was published by [[Little, Brown and Company|Little, Brown]]. It was serialised in the ''[[Baltimore Sun]]'' newspaper and became a best-seller.<ref name="Baltimore Sun 1"/>

====Adult clubbing====
In 1990, Stringfellow introduced [[table dancing]] to his New York club with a licensing deal with Michael J. Peter. This became Stringfellow's Presents Pure Platinum.<ref name="Strip EU 1"/><ref name="Covent"/><ref name="Baltimore Sun 1"/> In 1996, Cabaret of Angels, a table-side dancing club was opened for three nights a week at Stringfellow's Covent Garden.<ref name="Covent"/>

In 2006, Stringfellow opened his second adult entertainment club named Angels in [[Wardour Street]], [[Soho]].<ref name="Angels Club 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.angelsclubsoho.com|title=Angels Club Soho|publisher=Angels Club – Soho|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref> He was the first club owner to gain a fully nude licence from [[Westminster City Council]]. In 2009, he criticised the [[Policing and Crime Act 2009]], saying the licensing changes with regards to [[Lap dance|lap dancing]] were "unnecessary" and he would be appealing to the [[European Court of Human Rights]] if his current licences were not renewed.<ref name="IM 1">{{cite web|url=http://icqurimage.com/Magazine/Lap_dancing_legislation_2010.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029210702/http://icqurimage.com/Magazine/Lap_dancing_legislation_2010.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 October 2013|title=Getting tough on titillation – lap dancing clubs hit by new licensing legislation|work=Icqurimage Magazine|access-date=21 November 2012}}</ref><ref name="BBC Online 2">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11733974|title=Too much sex in the city, say London's councils|work=BBC News|date=12 November 2010|access-date=21 November 2012|first=Andy |last=Dangerfield}}</ref>

In 2012, he was granted the necessary [[sexual entertainment venue]] (SEV) Licence for Stringfellow's Covent Garden and Angels Soho,<ref name="SM 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.strip-magazine.com/london-strip-scene-gossip-august-2012|title=London strip scene gossip August 2012|work=Strip Magazine|access-date=21 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017051835/http://strip-magazine.com/london-strip-scene-gossip-august-2012|archive-date=17 October 2012}}</ref> and was able to successfully market Angels as providing rooms for the entertainment "in privacy"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stringfellows.co.uk/|title=Gentlemen's clubs London - World Famous Stringfellows in Covent Garden|website=Stringfellows London}}</ref> of young women in lingerie.<ref>{{cite web|title=Angels VIP Girls (image)|website=Angels Club Soho|url=http://www.angelsclubsoho.com/wp-content/gallery/angels-vip/angels-vip-girl-2.jpg|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402213716/http://www.angelsclubsoho.com/wp-content/gallery/angels-vip/angels-vip-girl-2.jpg|archive-date=2 April 2013}}</ref>