The coffee bar was run by Jon Vickers-Jones who was the assistant manager. He would help with setting up the stage area for the musicians and would often record them rehearsing on a Grundig Tape recorder. A door at the back led to the manager's office, and a narrow stairway led down to a "dismal and dark cellar about the size of a large bedroom, lit by a couple of weak bulbs. At one end was the small 18-inch stage made of milk crates with planks on top of them. There was just one microphone, left over from the Boer War, and some speakers up on the wall." The stage area can very briefly be seen in Rank Studio's 1959 episode "Coffee Bar", from their Look at Life, available on Network DVD, in a clip featuring future Shadows drummer Brian Bennett. Roster of Stars Several recording stars were discovered at, or performed at, the 2i's coffee bar, including Rory Blackwell, Tommy Steele, The Vipers Skiffle Group, Cliff Richard, Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Brian Bennett, Tony Meehan, Jet Harris, Brian 'Licorice' Locking, Vince Eager, Terry Dene, Wee Willie Harris, Adam Faith, Carlo Little, Joe Brown, Clem Cattini (The Tornados), Eden Kane, Screaming Lord Sutch, Tony Sheridan, Keith Kelly, Russ Sainty, Lance Fortune, Albert Lee, Johnny Kidd, Paul Gadd (later to be known as Paul Raven and then Gary Glitter), Ritchie Blackmore, Alex Wharton, Mickie Most (as the Most Brothers), Big Jim Sullivan, Joe Moretti, Vince Taylor, Duffy Power, Johnny Gentle, Michael Cox, Kris Kristofferson, Derry and the Seniors and Georgie Fame. Notable non-musical names among the 2i's clientele included Diana Dors, Michael Caine, Terence Stamp and Francis Bacon. Famous personnel According to an article in Time, skiffle was new to the UK, and the 2i's Coffee Bar and, nearby venue, The Cat's Whisker, founded by Peter Evans, were where "Soho hipsters swelter and suffocate for it... and... generally the musicians were paid with coffee and cokes". Evans later started the Angus Steak Houses from the bar. Songwriter Lionel Bart and music producer Mickie Most worked there as waiters, whilst Wee Willie Harris worked as a cleaner and waiter and musician and future member of The Shadows Jet Harris worked behind the bar. According to Chas McDevitt, Bart was responsible for painting the cellar, decorating it with a "black ceiling, large, stylised eyes on the walls, and cubist shapes behind the small