Celebrating Hackney’s past, shaping its future – since 1967
Celebrating Hackney’s past, shaping its future – since 1967
Community heroes joined forces in Dalston Square in September 2025 to honour the memory of a legendary music club co-founder and victims of a 1981 fire.
In the 60s and 70s, there were only a handful of places in the UK where you could hear Black music. One of the most influential was The Four Aces Club on Dalston Lane.
Housed in the former North London Colosseum and Amphitheatre, the venue became the beating heart of a new sound carried by Afro-Caribbean immigrants.
As put by New Statesman, the site played a pivotal role in the “evolution of reggae into dance music – from ska to rocksteady, to dub to lovers, to dancehall and the birth of jungle.”
Singers Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker and Jimmy Cliff were just some of the legends to grace its stage.
The Four Aces Club was co-founded by Newton Dunbar and Charlie Collins – better known as Sir Collins.
A Jamaican-born producer, label owner and sound system operator, Collins was a pioneer of UK sound system culture and an early architect of DJing, or toasting, in ska and rocksteady. The club was named after the emblem on his hand-built sound system. By 1967, he had launched his own label, Collins Down Beat. Its debut release, Sir Collins Special by Lester Sterling, is often cited as one of the first records to feature DJing layered over the music.
While The Four Aces Club thrived, frequent police raids in the 80s eroded its momentum. Collins handed the site over to Joe Wieczorek, who formed Club Labrynth – the height of the Acid House scene.
In 1998, Hackney Council closed the venue. Collins was at the forefront of the fight to save it. Nearly a decade later, he joined 60 protesters who occupied the site to oppose its demolition – and was the last to leave, recalls the Hackney Gazette.
The new information panel in Dalston Square (Janet Chapman)
While campaigners had hoped the building could be restored for community use, it was flattened and replaced by Dalston Square.
Collins died in 2018, aged 81. Two years later, Older Generation Younger Generation (OGYG) – a group he had been part of – worked with Hackney Council and local partners to bring Collins’ vision to life.
Their work produced a history panel telling the story of the site, a dedicated space honouring cultural trailblazers, a memory garden for victims and survivors of the New Cross Fire and the preservation of Sir Collins’ archive.
On 13 September 2025, those efforts culminated in an unveiling ceremony hosted by presenter EastEnders actress Judith Jacob.
The day celebrated Dalston’s pioneering entrepreneurs and entertainers – from The Four Aces Club to Cubbies and beyond – with acoustic reggae from Black Slate, an exhibition and Caribbean food from Cummin Up.
One attendee said, “Sir Collins’ influence on Dalston’s music scene – on British music in general – can’t be overstated. This event shines a well-deserved light on it.”
Others agreed. “Dalston has a history of extraordinary talent,” added another. “Today shows that spirit is still here.”
Do you remember Sir Collins and The Four Acres Club? Then share your memories with The Hackney Society on Facebook, Instagram or X.