Free London Calling by Barry Miles

always spent his money in the club as soon as he got it. You have
     to remember he was getting far less for his pictures in those days.’ 5 Francis called her ‘mother’ and she used to call him ‘daughter’. Bacon brought in John Minton, Edward Burra, the two Roberts,
     Colquhoun and MacBryde, Keith Vaughan and the Moynihans. They were all painters, but could be guaranteed not to talk about
     art all the time, which would have been boring.
    The Colony Room Club at 41 Dean Street was originally the first-floor reception room of a domestic dwelling built in 1731
     though now much altered. The space retained its domestic proportions which is perhaps why people felt so at home there. Muriel
     sat perched on a high chair at the far left of the bar, next to the door, head tilted back to display her fine aquiline nose,
     imperiously waving a cigarette in a long holder as she barked ‘Members only!’ at anyone she didn’t recognize. This was quickly
     followed by ‘Fuck off!’ if they did not turn immediately to leave, followed by ‘Get a face-lift on the way.’ Members, however,
     were welcomed with an endearing: ‘Hello, cunty!’ She was a formidable presence; one afternoon a local gangster entered the
     club looking to set her up for protection money but he had barely announced his purpose before Muriel screamed: ‘Fuck off,
     cunt!’ so loudly that he backed out of the door and down the stairs.
    The bar had a bamboo front with a bamboo screen above and potted plants above the gin bottles and shelves. There was a row
     of barstools with mock leopard skin seats and a green carpet. Muriel’s girlfriend Carmel was Jamaican and the decor was supposed
     to suggest a Caribbean ‘colony’ theme. The walls started off cream-coloured but became so stained by nicotine that in the
     mid-fifties Muriel painted them in green gloss, renewed regularly. Michael Wojas celebrated the new millennium by painting
     them one shade lighter, which upset some of the old-timers. There were curtains and lace curtains prevented anyone from seeing
     in from across the street. There was no clock because otherwise drinkers would always be thinking about the train they had
     to catch. Muriel had a licence to open from three in the afternoon at a time when pubs closed at 2.30. She closed at 11 p.
     m., like a normal pub. It would have been possible to extend the licence until one o’clock, but as Michael Wojas, manager
     of the Colony Room from 1994 until 2008, recalled: ‘Muriel always said that by 11 the punters are pissed and skint and we’ve
     had the best from them. Send them on their way and let someone else cope with them.’ 6 An attitude summedup by the club’s attractive motto: ‘Rush up, drink up, spend up, fuck off.’ He explained:
    It’s a perfect space; it’s very well worked out. Muriel would sit by the bar in her special seat. If you keep the mirrors
     clear you can see what’s going on behind you without having to twist your neck round. You can talk to people at the bar and
     you’re in contact with whoever’s behind the bar. You’re also right by the door just in case someone you don’t want comes walking
     in. You don’t want the music too loud, you need to hear everything. 7
    Muriel’s initial clientele included many of the gay military men from the Music Box and her girlfriend, Carmel, had many gay
     friends who quickly joined, but there was no intention of making it into a gay club. The Colony was one of the few places
     where it was safe to be openly homosexual but Muriel was looking for an interesting mix. Encouraging Francis Bacon to introduce
     his friends was a master touch; even though, as she said: ‘I know fuck all about art’ 8 , Muriel had a good eye for people and knew that artists would add excitement and atmosphere to the club. Bacon loved it there
     and told Dan Farson: ‘It’s a place where you can lose your inhibitions. It’s different from anywhere else. After all, that’s
     what we