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Anorak News | The Choir Boy Grooming Room and gym opens in Scotland

The Choir Boy Grooming Room and gym opens in Scotland

by | 12th, June 2013

Choir boys of the Queen's Chapel in procession to the church of Marlborough House in London.

Choir boys of the Queen’s Chapel in procession to the church of Marlborough House in London.

WHY did Stephen Wilson name his garage gymnasium at East Calder, West Lothian, the Choir Boy Grooming Room? Is he hoping to attract the key and as-yet-untapped clerical keep-fit market? Is the venue more Jim Savile than gym fit?

Neighbours are not happy at the naming and the sign he put up. They called the police.

But Mr Wilson says it’s all a joke:

“I came up with the name because choir boys are seen as quite weak, and grooming, although nowadays is seen as sexual and associated with paedophiles, is also a training term meaning preparing your body and mind for something. I just put a different slant on the name.”

Surely the Choir Boy Grooming Room is a name more suited to a punk band. Jon Moss once explained he and Boy George’s  route to the name Culture Club:

“As soon as I met George I knew: I just knew. He had ‘it’. There were a couple of minor hurdles not least of which were the band was called In Praise Of Lemmings. Then he wanted to call it Sex Gang Children. So I said, George, do you want to be successful? Because if you do, maybe you should change the name. But we actually sold it for a tenner to some punk band.”

Is there a punk band naming service, something similar to domain name trading companies? ChoirBoyGroomingRoom.com is available for just £6.99.

Mr Wilson, a former Marine now working as a fireman, adds:

“A neighbour did say a few people had been asking about it and were wondering what was going on. I can understand what they mean if someone was trying to sell their house and a prospective buyer saw the sign. But it is just temporary, I always knew I was going to go for initials and thought I would only have this up for a week or so. I’ll get the new signage put up next week.”

The Choir Boy Grooming Room will become the CBGR. That just happens to be the same acronym used by banking outfit Close Brothers Group. So. Grooming Boys or Close Brothers? Which ever way up it’s been a terrible misunderstanding, yer Honour…



Posted: 12th, June 2013 | In: Reviews, The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink