It was a good time to be in and around Hackney

Tonight Chats Palace hosts reggae extravaganza celebrating some of the best Queens of Reggae. The Fragile Archivists talked to David Corio about the reggae and blues club scene in the 1970s/80s Hackney.

© David Corio - The Four Aces Club, London 1986

© David Corio – The Four Aces Club, London 1986

David Corio began his professional career in 1978 taking photographs for New Musical Express, followed by The Face, Time Out, and Black Echoes. After a stint as a music writer at City Limits, he worked as a freelance photographer for the Daily Telegraph, The Times, Q, Theatre Royal Stratford, and Greensleeves Records, among others.

“The years since have robbed David’s photos of none of their urgency or elegance and in the instance of fallen stars like Marley, Simone, Fela and Dury, lent them poignancy. The unusual candour of the portraits he produced were a tribute to David’s easy way around people, celebrities or otherwise.”  Neil Spencer, former editor of the NME

Fan at Misty In Roots concert Stockwell, London 1977

© David Corio – Reggae fans, London 1977

You can see David Corio’s photograph of London Reggae fans as part of the current photography exhibition of young people from the Photochats archive at Chats Palace.

for more details and opening hours see “You’re only young once”.