It lent its name to the term Batcaver, used to describe the early fans of gothic rock music, who would adorn themselves in Batwing coffin necklaces to distinguish themselves from other goth clubs.

The original Batcave ran for five months every Wednesday from 21 July 1982 at the Gargoyle Club on launched at 69 Dean Street, Soho, moving out when the upper floors were sold off that December.

Olli Wisdom told The Face: “We don’t suck our cheeks, we have fun.”[4] In an interview for Mick Mercer's Gothic Rock, Jonny (Slut) Melton said of the Batcave: It was a light bulb for all the freaks and people like myself who were from the sticks and wanted a bit more from life.

The inside notes:[6] Look past the slow black rain of a chill night in Soho; Ignore the lures of a thousand neon fire-flies, fall deft to the sighs of street corner sirens — come walk with me between heaven and hell.

For some the Batcave has become an icon, but for those that know it is an iconoclast, it is the avenging spirit of nightlife's badlands — its shadow looms large over London's demi-Monde: It is a challenge to the false Idol.