Johannesburg
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Mandys, IDOLS, and ESP: Nightclubs of 96 End Street
The definitive history of 96 End Street including club mixes from Mandy’s and IDOLS Read more
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Tokyo Star Melville DJ Mix
Between 2007 and 2010 I played countless Thursday night sets at the Tokyo Star in 4th Avenue Melville (plus later, a few in Greenside) and was privileged to share those with some amazing DJs like Sassquatch, Data Takashi, King of Town, Casioheart, Youngsmuts, and many others. It was a real scene driven by Myspace and… Read more
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Fat Franks Southern Diner
The music was a huge part of the experience. The shift always started with Ella & Louis ‘Can’t we be friends?’. Hearing the opening piano intro brings back visions of wooden barrels, terracotta tiles, dim lights, and the smells of spicy nachos and warm muffins. The night or shift always ended off with… Read more
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Johannesburg Then and Now
My first book has been launched and is finding its way into the stores. Penguin approached me in late 2016 to research and write this edition of the book for them (A Cape Town version was released in 2013). The book was completed in July 2018 with all the ‘now’ photography done by my friend… Read more
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The Junction
The Junction, originally on the corner of Bree and Claim Street, was owned by Shayne Leith who previously owned Decodance in Market Street (which eventually became Le Club). The Junction opened in 1988 and closed sometime in 1991 before moving to a short-lived run at Ponte. It had two dance floors. One was dark with… Read more
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Scants Laserdrome
Scants opened on the 19th August 1983 at 180 Fox Street. The owners, Stan Herson and Bruce Kennedy would later go on to open Heaven, but this was the pair’s first foray into the nightclub business (although in the 1970s, Stan was involved with the first incarnation of Mandy’s in End Street when he converted… Read more
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Johannesburg in 1961 on JHBLive
JHBLive has featured a piece I did on Johannesburg from a movie shot in 1961. The film, all about a bumbling ‘ducktail’ gang, was really hard to watch. Trying to identify the locations and seeing the city and suburbs as they were more than 10 years before I was born more than made up for… Read more
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Lost churches of early Johannesburg
Jhblive published an edited version of the piece I did on the lost churches of Johannesburg. Read it HERE. For the longer and more detailed piece, check out the full version on Johannesburg1912 HERE. Part two, which will focus on the buildings that are still standing, will be out in early 2016. This research is… Read more
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Cellardoor 10th Anniversary Live Mix
It was 10 years ago this month (14 Oct 2005 to be exact) when Cellardoor threw its first monthly party. It was a Friday night at Horror Cafe in Newtown and I think we finished up with about 80 people. Cellardoor was started by Martin Thomas and I with some inspiration from the film Donnie… Read more
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History of theatres in Johannesburg
JHBlive have published an edited version of my piece on the history of theatres, bioscopes and cinemas in early Johannesburg. The site publish a weekly e-mail highlighting all the great events and things to do in Johannesburg (there are mailers for Durban and Cape Town too). The original post was put up in 2013 on… Read more
Marc Latilla 