RIP The King Of Soho

March 3, 2008 1:02 PM

Paul Raymond, billionaire porn baron and property magnate, founder of Raymond's Review bar - the "World Centre of Erotic Entertainment", and publisher of such periodicals as Mayfair, Men Only and Razzle that added much to several generations of English gentlemen's education has gone to the great strip-club in the sky.
posted by fearfulsymmetry (28 comments total)

.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:06 PM on March 3, 2008

The Telegraph has the best obit. As usual.

"he remained a louche and unhealthy man of vulgar tastes, though he wore good suits".

There is a lesson in this for all of us.
posted by grounded at 1:08 PM on March 3, 2008

↗
..
posted by not_on_display at 1:15 PM on March 3, 2008

* <-(stain, suspicious)
posted by Artw at 1:18 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]

"he remained a louche and unhealthy man of vulgar tastes, though he wore good suits".

That's worthy of Ian Fleming that is...
posted by Artw at 1:19 PM on March 3, 2008

(.)(.)
posted by unSane at 1:24 PM on March 3, 2008 [2 favorites]

If, as the post below claims, "snark kills", then it's a good thing Mr. Raymond is already dead.
posted by wendell at 1:28 PM on March 3, 2008

I doubt that porn barons are the sensitive and precious souls that, purportedly, advertising executives are.
posted by Artw at 1:31 PM on March 3, 2008 [2 favorites]

(.)(.)
posted by unSane at 3:24 PM on March 3

I believe the proper spelling is (oYo)
posted by Daddy-O at 1:40 PM on March 3, 2008 [4 favorites]

But that wouldn't have RIP dots in it
posted by unSane at 1:49 PM on March 3, 2008

About nine years ago, I was in my seventh or eighth month of unemployment, very short of money and desperate for a job. At this stage I was applying to nearly everything in the Media Guardian every monday and attending all the interviews. One of these jobs was as sub-editor on Escort, one of Raymond's titles. (It is a big-seller, and specialises in the "home made" "reader's wives" type stuff.) They gave me an interview, and specified that I should wear casual clothes, "just jeans and a T-shirt". But I had an interview earlier that day as well, and turned up to the Raymond office block in the seedy end of Soho wearing a suit.

This office block was incredibly warm inside - tropically warm. I felt very uncomfortable, red-faced and sweaty in my suit. The interview was not a big success - I think Escort's editor quickly realised I wasn't really interested in a job in pron - and when it came to the end he asked me if I had any questions.

"Why is it so hot in here?" I asked.

"Because people are taking their clothes off," the editor said.

I didn't get the job (it turned out I had misspelled "imaginative" in my cover letter - I have never been more grateful to a typo). And that was My Time At Paul Raymond Publications.
posted by WPW at 2:45 PM on March 3, 2008 [3 favorites]

I like this:

Raymond then became a producer, touring a variety programme, the Vaudeville Express, around the country. With the variety circuit in decline, many impresarios were enlivening their bills with nude acts. A ruling by the Lord Chamberlain, the supreme theatre licensing authority, prohibited any movement by nudes on stage so the shows consisted of tableaux in which women posed, naked to the waist, for minutes at a time. In 1951 Raymond transformed his variety show into the Festival of Nudes (a nod to the contemporary Festival of Britain); his initial investment consisted of paying two dancers an extra ten shillings (50p) a week.

Raymond's nude acts rapidly became his main attraction. He put on Moving Nudes, a show where the women stood on platforms that were winched across the stage...

I wish they had film of that.
posted by pracowity at 3:23 PM on March 3, 2008

I have never been more grateful to a typo.

Are you, like, ghey or something?
posted by uncanny hengeman at 3:26 PM on March 3, 2008

Are you, like, ghey or something?

I think it would have been a pretty soul-destroying job. It was depressing work, attempting to edit letters from the readers of Escort into something approaching English, having to lie to people about what I did. I was young ... I was desperate ... I needed the money ... as far as I remember those words were written on the door of the PRP human resources department.
posted by WPW at 3:46 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]

From The Telegraph's obit:

The current revival of Soho had little to do with Raymond, but stems from the spending power of the affluent homosexuals who have pitched camp in the area.

Somebody had been waiting for years to use that line.
posted by ardgedee at 3:51 PM on March 3, 2008

WPW. No worries! Just going for a cheap laff.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 4:01 PM on March 3, 2008

uncanny hengeman: Don't worry either, I wasn't offended, I just felt like putting my feelings about the job on record. I think it would have been easier if I were, er, ghey. Less risk of being put off sex for life.
posted by WPW at 4:07 PM on March 3, 2008

. Porny man
posted by ob at 4:48 PM on March 3, 2008

I saw my first gutted rabbit in a Paul Raymond mag. Crikey! I had seen a few friends' dad's Playboys before, but as we all know, they don't have no gutted rabbits.

I also noticed the models SMILED a lot more in his mags. They looked genuinely happy most of the time. American models seemed to have either bedrooms eyes, or crazy eyes like they were about to go into battle.

Worked in a newsagency for four years in my mid teens. My data sample is large!
posted by uncanny hengeman at 4:57 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]

gutted rabbit

Ah, the language of romance!
posted by maxwelton at 5:09 PM on March 3, 2008 [1 favorite]

I'm afraid I couldn't read the text in the links, as the web pages were stuck together.
posted by Tube at 8:06 PM on March 3, 2008 [2 favorites]

Tube - Did you find it under a hedge?
posted by Artw at 8:12 PM on March 3, 2008

Or in the woods?
posted by roombythelake at 1:25 AM on March 4, 2008

I found some porn under a hedge only last year, glad to see that's one tradition that hasn't quite been killed off by the internets.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:40 AM on March 4, 2008

I found some porn under a hedge only last year, glad to see that's one tradition that hasn't quite been killed off by the internets.

Yes, that give me a warm fuzzy glow too.
posted by ob at 4:41 AM on March 4, 2008

"he remained a louche and unhealthy man of vulgar tastes, though he wore good suits".

At last, a game plan to follow as I head towards retirement.

.
posted by surfdad at 4:43 AM on March 4, 2008

I've just read someone's suggestion that his ashes should be scattered under a hedge.... oh dear, but it did make me smile.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:01 AM on March 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

X. Sp. Raymond Revuebar. If you're going to have a World Centre of Erotic Entertainment then spell it right.
posted by Dr.Pill at 4:43 PM on March 5, 2008