IN MY PHYSICS textbook at school was an amazing photo of two galaxies colliding. Just imagine being on a planet in a system in either of those nebular spirals, watching all those heavenly bodies slide on by, because the odds were astronomically low that anything would collide. Far out!
Imagine those two galaxies to be records. More specifically, The Man Who Sold The World and Young Americans. If you were to be somewhere along the point where the two merged what you would hear is Station To Station.
This is Bowie's Christmas gift, recorded late last year on the spur of the moment. The title has several meanings, some of which are alluded to in the title song. Whether it's part of some overall concept is unclear since the cover isn't available, but if there is it's obscure.
I love this record. I love it because it rocks like a bitch, because it has stupid lines like , "It's not the side effects of her cocaine. I'm thinking that it must be love", and because Bowie has the sense of humour to not only mumble half the songs, but mix them so low down it's impossible to make out a word. When a person is confronted with a wedge like:
"Baby, you vibrate every,
Each night I sit there thinking,
Some mumble mumble my
mumble mumble,
She mumble mumblecher, her,
My TVC one-five. She's mumble mumble my baby"
('TVC 15')
he's not going to spend too much time listening to what the artiste has to say.
What makes this album such a wondrous slab of wax therefore is its sound content. The musicians 'include': Earl Slick, Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis, George Murray, and Roy Bittan.
Producing with Bowie is Harry Maslin. Bowie arranges, and that's where the album's beauty lies. This man knows how to keep the surprises coming, and when the band is hot – and it is indeed hot – well, Jack, the result is a pure delight from ears to toes and everything in between.
Get out your copy of 'Golden Years' and listen to it. Those ceaseless, insinuating guitars, how his falsetto "Angel" dives into the canyon, the swishing cymbals through the verse and the sharp attack as it slides into the chorus, those handclaps that hook in so precisely; how everything is devoted to propelling the song along its course without a pause for the view. It's one of the finest three minutes yet put on a single.
On the album it's a minute longer, remixed to add lots of brilliance and sparkle. It sounds even better.
Preceding it is the title track. To return to the opening metaphor, The Man Who Sold The World is ably represented by Earl Slick's paranoid Ronsonesque scrapings, with more than a touch of Diamond Dogs anarchic post-Crash dementia thrown in for good measure. Coupled with the beefed-up dance rhythms of Young Americans, it makes for an uneasy but compelling coalition. Funk in the wastelands. Aladdin Sane meets Cab Calloway.
All this is laid before you in 'Station To Station'. Opening with a steam train phasing from speaker to speaker, the band soon starts strangling a doom-laden riff out of their respective axes. Slick and Alomar sound like psychopathic chickens. Bowie lays low for several minutes, as he does throughout most of the long tunes, letting the musicians build the atmosphere. "The return of the thin white duke, Throwing darts in lovers' eyes"… Halfway through the tune's 10 minutes the band switch into flat-out dance rhythm while Bowie's thought is that "It's too late to be grateful. It's too late to be hateful".
'TVC 15' is the closest to a straight rock tune. What the title means I have no idea, and it is here that he mumbles more than ever. But the soundarama is at its peak, built on a dozen different Sixties riffs, Bittan's piano being particularly extraordinary. Through each verse Bowie provides vocal under-pinning by humming like a chorus of '30s crooners – what a card! Along with 'Golden Years', it's one of Bowie's best tunes. Watch for it as the next single.
The second side's magnum opus is 'Stay', which is one of the most uncompromising slices of overdrive funk yet to be recorded. Again, Bowie stays in the background, and on this outing the musicians really let go. Supposedly, the guitar raunch is Ron Wood, with Willie Weeks and Andy Newmark holding down the other end of the rhythm machine.
What I love most about this album is that its commitment to kicking arse and being A Great Record Of Our Time relies only minimally on its verbal/literary content. Which is to say, what a great sound! Let me play that again!
Sounds, 24 January 1976
© Jonh Ingham, 1976
Showing posts with label David Bowie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Bowie. Show all posts
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
DAVID BOWIE – FROM DAVID LIVE to STATION TO STATION
In her three years as secretary, Corinne has watched Bowie shrewdly work up to his most difficult move yet: the switch from cultish deco rocker to a wide-appeal entertainer. "I want to be a Frank Sinatra figure," Bowie declares. "And I will succeed."
-- Cameron Crowe, Rolling Stone, February 1976
By late 1974 the script Bowie had written to play the part of a rock and roll star had reached The End. The albums, the stage show, they worked and they kept the trip going. But now he was through with rock and roll. Finished. Rocked his roll. Time to see if America liked his music Broadway-style.
The Diamond Dogs tour was rehearsed to the last perfect detail. Chris Charlesworth said in Melody Maker, “There isn't one iota of spontaneity about the whole show…The music actually appears secondary to the various effects and dance routines, and while it could be argued that Alice Cooper has taken rock theatre to its extreme level, Bowie has moved onto a totally different level. It’s more in the vein of a Liza Minnelli performance, or even a Vegas night club cabaret.”
Bowie acted out each song as the character involved. For “Panic In Detroit” he was in a ring wearing boxing gloves; he even had a minder towelling him down and fitting a fresh gum shield between verses. But his main role, the role of David Bowie, was to be a star above stars, as untouchable as the sky. He ignored the audience. He didn’t even take a bow at the end.
From this came David Live. Where the staging was extreme, the music took few chances. The band featured London’s best studio rhythm section, drummer Tony Newman and bassist Herbie Flowers, plus keyboard virtuosos Mike Garson and Michael Kamen (later a famous film composer). Kamen recommended a new guitarist called Earl Slick. For production Bowie turned to his old friend Tony Visconti.
Calling the album David… was a nice intimate touch from a guy playing the remotest star on the planet. But we weren’t yet familiar with Bowie’s chameleon poses so the ‘good chums’ pretense failed on both sides of the Atlantic. The tour hadn’t come to Britain so there was no context. In the States he was preaching to the already-converted, whereas Elton John was mesmerising everyone from Hollywood to Harlem. Bowie needed some moves to match his ambition.
Signs surfaced during the Dogs tour. Bowie had added former members of Santana and the Main Ingredient to the band, who morphed the rhythms into something black ‘n’ blues. More tellingly, David started singing 'Knock On Wood'. What had been a solid soul hit for Eddie Floyd in the 60s was filtered through Bowie’s repressed English white-boy emotion into something CREEM writer Robot A. Hull described as “an inspirational interpretive parody. It sounds like a buncha wazoos from some local pub auditioning for the community talent showcase. Madness!”
Bowie was also recording at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia. Here, producers Gamble and Huff had created the platinum successor to the Motown Sound, a silken grooved r’n’b called TSOP – The Sound Of Philadelphia. Bowie took the house band, added some white-noise shimmer with Garson and Slick, and wrapped them around a brace of songs that sounded as cool as they were opaque. For Tony Visconti it was right on target for 1975.
"He's been working on putting together an r’n’b sound for years. Every British musician has a hidden desire to be black. They all talk about 'funky rhythm sections' and their idols are all black blues guitarists. When I was in Philadelphia, I saw Soul Train for the first time, and I was so impressed by the state of black culture. Being black now is a culture rather than a revolution. By the time this album has been released more people will realize that and David's next LP will be timed just right."
Bowie was far more succinct.
“Let's be honest; my rhythm and blues are thoroughly plastic. Young Americans is the definitive plastic soul record. It's the squashed remains of ethnic music as it survives in the age of Muzak rock, written and sung by a white limey.”
At first everyone agreed. But the sophisticated mix of funky rhythm section, atmospheric washes and David’s Sinatra tendencies seeped into the ether. Slowly it made more and more sense. Then the angular hooks of “Fame” hipswayed through discos and Bowie had his first American Number One. Its chilly scream-from-the-limo lyrics were a rare moment of clarity; the rest of the album was lyrical fog with sound bites. In 1976 he told Playboy, “My actual writing doesn't make a tremendous amount of sense... frankly, I'm surprised Young Americans has done so well.”
With American fame achieved, Bowie created his next tour. A monochrome crooner strutted a black and white stage powered by a superlative mix of r’n’b rhythm section and rock guitars. Inspired by the moves, he took the band into the studio and emerged with Station To Station.
It was a perfectly judged collision of Young Americans and Ziggy Stardust: big, moon-age, modern – itchy disco rhythms pitched against triumphant guitar riffs and reigning over it Mr. Bowie, melodramatic and funny, owning the songs the way Sinatra did. The opening lyric created his next pose: “The return of the thin white duke…”
It was a great conceit: Where was the Thin White Duke returning from? Why hadn’t we noticed him before? It fit the album’s restless travelogue mood, the Cinemascope sound and the confident voice. Station… sounded contemporary in a way few records did. The big hit was “Golden Years”, a perfect concoction single-mindedly pursuing an immaculately detailed path. It cemented Bowie’s status.
Station To Station live looked like rock and roll – including a drum solo! – but it was just as choreographed as Diamond Dogs. This time, though, moves and music were in sinuous synch. For two hours everything looked and sounded like 1976. Bowie had made the wild mutation from a rock and roll star.
---- Originally published in Mojo, 2006
The Diamond Dogs tour was rehearsed to the last perfect detail. Chris Charlesworth said in Melody Maker, “There isn't one iota of spontaneity about the whole show…The music actually appears secondary to the various effects and dance routines, and while it could be argued that Alice Cooper has taken rock theatre to its extreme level, Bowie has moved onto a totally different level. It’s more in the vein of a Liza Minnelli performance, or even a Vegas night club cabaret.”
Bowie acted out each song as the character involved. For “Panic In Detroit” he was in a ring wearing boxing gloves; he even had a minder towelling him down and fitting a fresh gum shield between verses. But his main role, the role of David Bowie, was to be a star above stars, as untouchable as the sky. He ignored the audience. He didn’t even take a bow at the end.
From this came David Live. Where the staging was extreme, the music took few chances. The band featured London’s best studio rhythm section, drummer Tony Newman and bassist Herbie Flowers, plus keyboard virtuosos Mike Garson and Michael Kamen (later a famous film composer). Kamen recommended a new guitarist called Earl Slick. For production Bowie turned to his old friend Tony Visconti.
Calling the album David… was a nice intimate touch from a guy playing the remotest star on the planet. But we weren’t yet familiar with Bowie’s chameleon poses so the ‘good chums’ pretense failed on both sides of the Atlantic. The tour hadn’t come to Britain so there was no context. In the States he was preaching to the already-converted, whereas Elton John was mesmerising everyone from Hollywood to Harlem. Bowie needed some moves to match his ambition.
Signs surfaced during the Dogs tour. Bowie had added former members of Santana and the Main Ingredient to the band, who morphed the rhythms into something black ‘n’ blues. More tellingly, David started singing 'Knock On Wood'. What had been a solid soul hit for Eddie Floyd in the 60s was filtered through Bowie’s repressed English white-boy emotion into something CREEM writer Robot A. Hull described as “an inspirational interpretive parody. It sounds like a buncha wazoos from some local pub auditioning for the community talent showcase. Madness!”
Bowie was also recording at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia. Here, producers Gamble and Huff had created the platinum successor to the Motown Sound, a silken grooved r’n’b called TSOP – The Sound Of Philadelphia. Bowie took the house band, added some white-noise shimmer with Garson and Slick, and wrapped them around a brace of songs that sounded as cool as they were opaque. For Tony Visconti it was right on target for 1975.
"He's been working on putting together an r’n’b sound for years. Every British musician has a hidden desire to be black. They all talk about 'funky rhythm sections' and their idols are all black blues guitarists. When I was in Philadelphia, I saw Soul Train for the first time, and I was so impressed by the state of black culture. Being black now is a culture rather than a revolution. By the time this album has been released more people will realize that and David's next LP will be timed just right."
Bowie was far more succinct.
“Let's be honest; my rhythm and blues are thoroughly plastic. Young Americans is the definitive plastic soul record. It's the squashed remains of ethnic music as it survives in the age of Muzak rock, written and sung by a white limey.”
At first everyone agreed. But the sophisticated mix of funky rhythm section, atmospheric washes and David’s Sinatra tendencies seeped into the ether. Slowly it made more and more sense. Then the angular hooks of “Fame” hipswayed through discos and Bowie had his first American Number One. Its chilly scream-from-the-limo lyrics were a rare moment of clarity; the rest of the album was lyrical fog with sound bites. In 1976 he told Playboy, “My actual writing doesn't make a tremendous amount of sense... frankly, I'm surprised Young Americans has done so well.”
With American fame achieved, Bowie created his next tour. A monochrome crooner strutted a black and white stage powered by a superlative mix of r’n’b rhythm section and rock guitars. Inspired by the moves, he took the band into the studio and emerged with Station To Station.
It was a perfectly judged collision of Young Americans and Ziggy Stardust: big, moon-age, modern – itchy disco rhythms pitched against triumphant guitar riffs and reigning over it Mr. Bowie, melodramatic and funny, owning the songs the way Sinatra did. The opening lyric created his next pose: “The return of the thin white duke…”
It was a great conceit: Where was the Thin White Duke returning from? Why hadn’t we noticed him before? It fit the album’s restless travelogue mood, the Cinemascope sound and the confident voice. Station… sounded contemporary in a way few records did. The big hit was “Golden Years”, a perfect concoction single-mindedly pursuing an immaculately detailed path. It cemented Bowie’s status.
Station To Station live looked like rock and roll – including a drum solo! – but it was just as choreographed as Diamond Dogs. This time, though, moves and music were in sinuous synch. For two hours everything looked and sounded like 1976. Bowie had made the wild mutation from a rock and roll star.
---- Originally published in Mojo, 2006
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
David Bowie: Central London Polytechnic, London 1972
"YES, I'M DAVID BOWIE. These are the Spiders from Mars. And we're the slickest show in town."
A crash and a jump and the band is roaring, David in a mirrored jump suit, twelve string acoustic guitar slung across his pelvis, prancing about while he sings some obscured lyrics introducing the band. The Lauren Bacall hair has been sacrificed in favour of a Rod Stewartish crewcut, but he still looks gorgeous. With no introductions or thank yous the Spiders zoom through most of HUNKY DORY, with occasional oldies and new songs along the way. Even though the twelve string is plugged into an amp it's inaudible most of the time, but David uses it to good Elvis advantage, standing with legs apart, crotch forward, mimicking the lyrics with his hands before lifting his arms in an imploring Tom Jones/Andy Williams reach for the audience, the hands slowly drifting ever higher until he looks like he's being crucified. Song stops, head drops in utter exhaustion, stage plunges into darkness, audience goes wild. Yep, it sure is slick.
After awhile David actually pauses and says, "Thank you." Two stools are brought out and David and the Spiders' guitarist perch on them, playing elegantly while the lights flash blue-pink and orange-red around them. Finally he introduces a song by "a French composer, Charbrot. It was translated from French into American. Then into English. It's about Amsterdam." Applause and cheers from the freakier members of the audience – 'Ah yes, mon cheri, those nights in the Paradisio...the mentions in Suck...the hash...' – while the more obvious appearing students peer around them in confusion. Who is this weirdo singing about sailors urinating in Amsterdam, taking bows after each song, filling his verses with images of space and superior aliens who don't want to blow our minds? He even sang 'Space Oddity' – can't see how that got into the Top Ten. Tony Blackburn certainly didn't play it. And so thinking they turn either for the bar and another pint of Guinness or the door and home.
The band returns and delivers "our homage to the Sixties": 'I Feel Free'. The break comes and the guitarist does a Pete Townshend stick-the-arm-in-the-air while playing the frets for two minutes. A strobe light twitches into its alpha rhythm frenzy and the band leaps about the stage while roaring feedback and amphetamine guitar runs fill the air, almost equaling Cream in boredom. Predictably, it gets thunderous applause.
David, meanwhile, has disappeared offstage, and when he returns, yes, he has changed his outfit to a pair of bleached trousers, trendily rolled up to display his boots, and a flimsy black and white shirt open to the waist. Donning his guitar he runs through a few more numbers before announcing, "The rest of our show will be devoted to some old rock and roll songs," the first of which is 'White Light White Heat', followed by 'Hot Pants'. They've got it down to the last guitar lick, and you almost expect David to shimmy one legged across the stage, but instead he picks up his sax and honks out some beautifully boozy runs. All too soon he carefully places it on the floor (it's plastic, you know) and they're drawing to a close. The crowd goes wild for an encore, stamping and chanting, but my last bus home will be departing in a few minutes, so I leave. And all the way home I keep hearing, "Ch-ch-ch-changes," and especially, "Look out all you rock and rollers." True words.
Phonograph Record, 1 July 1972
Friday, 9 January 2009
Rock Shrines 31 - 40
Rock Shrine No. 31 – Station Hotel – The Rolling Stones
Every musician has started out the same: the secret pleasure of a small fan club. Even The Rolling Stones started out as unknowns.
By 1962-63 six guys within the bunch of blues fans that floated around the suburbs of London had fused into The Rolling Stones and were getting a reputation as something you had to see. The place to see them was The Station Hotel, Richmond, a suburb on the very edge of London. One of those told to check them out was 19-year old wunderkind Andrew Loog Oldham. He was publicist for The Beatles but wanted more. In his autobiography Stoned he describes the fateful night:
“Finally, in the dark and sweaty room, the Rollin’ Stones, all six of them, took to the stage while the…hundred-odd couples seemed ready for what they were about to receive and went apeshit. So did the group – they didn’t seem to start, so much as carry on from a previous journey…The room was as one, the music and audience had one particular place to go, a place I’d never been to but was happily being drawn to.
“On that stage, when I took in the Stones’ front line, I saw rock ‘n’ roll in 3-D and Cinerama for the first time….I’d never seen anything like it.”
Oldham became their manager and bent them to his fantasies of the ultimate rock group. His gift for outrageous publicity turned them into the second most famous group in the world. Just check the liner notes of the first few albums to see his talent for exaggeration.
Today it’s a bar and the interior has been gutted. But the back entrance remains, where the fans lined up and young Oldham entered to meet his destiny.
Station Hotel, 1 Kew Rd, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 2NQ
Rock Shrine No. 32 – The Africa Centre – Soul II Soul
Around 1988 Soul II Soul started life as a sound system and collective under the leadership of Jazzie B. A shifting group of musicians, the key people were Nellee Hooper from Bristol, vocalist Caron Wheeler and Japanese session drummer Masa, whose efforts to build a career in London were somewhat hampered by the lack of a work visa. Their residency at the Africa Centre in Covent Garden got them noticed and signed to Virgin Records and their first release, Club Classics Vol. 1 became a global hit. The band lasted throughout the ‘90s though never repeated the initial success. Hooper went on to become an A-list producer, working with Bjork, Madonna, No Doubt and Gwen Stefani, and Garbage, among others. What really made Soul II Soul distinctive was the invention of a brand new drum loop, which was the work of Masa and for which he never got credit.
The Africa Centre, 38 King Street, London WC2E 8JT
Rock Shrine No. 33 – Albert Hall
It’s been immortalised in one of the greatest songs of the last 40 years. It’s one of the most desired playgrounds in an artist’s career. It started out as an entertainment palace for fights and circuses.
Strange as it may seem, the Albert Hall is the Victorian equivalent of Staples Centre, MSG and all the music sheds. Glistening anew after a serious renovation, it’s one of the best places in London to see music. The audience sit in an oval shape, with boxes ringing the perimeter and cheap seats climbing in a steep rake right up to the high ceiling. The stage is at one end, in front of a massive pipe organ (on which Frank Zappa once played “Louie Louie”), which can make for interesting sight angles. When I saw Cream play in 2005 I watched Eric Clapton, seated behind the PA stack, bouncing his young daughter on his knee while Ginger Baker drum solo’d.
This is where Britain’s version of “The Sixties” started in September 1965, when a one-day poetry event with Allen Ginsberg drew all the freaks out of the woodwork, resulting in that ‘eureka!’ moment when the packed Hall realised they weren’t the only ones. Everybody has played here, classical, jazz and popular. But…Cream famously retired here in 1968 and reformed in 2005. Deep Purple played with an orchestra before reworking their blueprint for ‘Machine Head’. The Stones played in 1966. The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1968. Bryan Ferry’s done it. Bob Dylan famously played here - acoustically in 1965 and electrically in 1966, resulting in a famous bootleg actually recorded somewhere else. Paul Simon played ‘Graceland’ for a week. But the residency king is Eric Clapton, who held an annual engagement for many years in the ‘80s and ‘90s, playing variously a regular night, a blues night and an orchestral night. In the end, the Hall is more famous than the participants.
http://www.royalalberthall.com/
Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP
Rock Shrine No. 34 – Bag O’Nails [Jimi Hendrix, Beatles]
In Swinging Sixties London, when you got fed up with the Ad-Lib (what with Lennon freaking out because people were smoking joints in there) and couldn’t be bothered to trawl all the way down Picadilly to the Scotch of St. James (about, oh…a mile away), you walked five minutes (or had the chauffer drive you) to the Bag O’Nails. Situated at 9 Kingly Street, it’s less than 100 feet from Regent Street, one of London’s busiest streets, yet so invisible it might as well be miles away.
It was one of The Beatles' favourite places in 1967-68. Beatles assistant Mal Evans said in his book, “Ended up smashed in Bag O'Nails with Paul and Neil. Quite a number of people attached themselves, oh that it would happen to me...freak out time baby for Mal”.
On 15 May, 1967, Paul McCartney met New York photographer Linda Eastman for the first time.
Jimi Hendrix joined the roster of celebrated performers who held the stage when he played his second British show here in late September 1966. It was a promotional bash for The Experience, financed by manager Chas Chandler selling five of his six guitars. “Britain is really groovy,” Jimi announced afterward, just a week into his first visit to the country.
Bag O’Nails, 9 Kingly Street, London W1B 5PH
Rock Shrine No. 35 – Savoy Hotel [Bob Dylan]
We’ve all seen the video of Bob Dylan standing behind the Savoy Hotel dropping cards to “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. In ‘Don’t Look Back’ you’ve seen him take apart Donovan while holding court in his suite at the Savoy. This is the Savoy.
Opened in 1889, it was built by impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte, producer of Gilbert and Sullivan, and has always enjoyed a reputation as one of the most prestigious hotels in London. Famous guests include The Beatles, U2, Led Zeppelin, Sarah Bernhardt, Enrico Caruso, Lillie Langtry, Charlie Chaplin, Ivor Novello, Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Elton John, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, The Who, Richard Harris, Julie Andrews, Shirley Bassey, Jimi Hendrix, and Marilyn Monroe. It’s currently closed for a £100million refurbishment.
In the accompanying video of His Bobness in his hotel suite, the woman who stands up at 5 seconds is Anthea Joseph, who gave Dylan his first residencey in London. She ran the Troubadour in Earls Court and in her words, saw a pair of boots descending the stairs and when the rest of him came into view, thought, ‘Hmmmmmm, this looks interesting…’
Savoy Hotel, 91 The Strand, London, WC2R 0EU
Rock Shrine No. 36 – EMI House [The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols]
You’ve all seen the photo of The Beatles looking down from the balcony. It happened on the first floor (second floor for Americans) of EMI House, the buildng that used to stand here. When I worked here in the 70s we used to amuse ourselves by standing where they had. From this vantage point I watched Marc Bolan get into the front seat of his chauffered white Rolls Royce limo. He always sat in the front seat. Once I turned around and saw Freddie Mercury for the first time, thinking, “Who’s that strange lookin guy?” The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Cockney Rebel, Cliff Richard, The Sex Pistols, Roy Harper, ELO…If your favourite band was on EMI or Capitol they visited here.
The front door.
Four smiles that changed the world.
Pink Floyd play at being pop stars in front of EMI.
Maybe if he hangs out long enough someone will sign him.
When Generation X (Billy Idol) signed to Chrysalis, we celebrated by taking a photo outside EMI. (What a punkish jape!) That’s me third from the left.
The building was pulled down a few years ago; its replacement being designed to fit in with the rest of the Square. Architecture fans will want to go next door to The Wallace Collection, which features a stunning atrium designed by Rick Mathur.
EMI, 20 Manchester Square, London W1U 3PZ
Rock Shrine No. 37 – The Jam’s First London Gig
It’s the summer of 1976 and you’re an unknown trio of Mod-loving kids living about 50 miles out of London. How do you get your first gig in London? You take your cue from the manifesto Malcolm McLaren is spinning in the weekly music papers and get your own gig. So one hot Saturday morning The Jam set up on the pavement in front of a street market, ran an extension cord from the Rock On record stall, and played to a handful of people. Most of them were curious passersby; about five of us were paying attention, including The Clash’s Mick Jones. Fifteen minutes later and it was over. Today, the market is a parking garage. The band played about where the street lamp stands.
The Jam’s first London gig – Newport Place, London W1.
Rock Shrine No. 38 – UFO [Pink Floyd]
UFO was London’s first psychedelic club, the equivalent of the Electric Circus in NYC or the Fillmore in SF. It was started by music entrepreneur Joe Boyd and John Hopkins (aka "Hoppy") in an Irish dancehall called the "Blarney Club", a basement venue under the Berkeley Cinema. This wasn’t the first time the location had been an essential nightclub; from 1919-1926 it was a jazz club where races could mix to hear predominantly black music.
UFO opened on December 23, 1966. As Joe Boyd wrote in his book ‘White Bicycles’, "freaks came out of the woodwork from all over the city”.
Joe Boyd: “The club’s first few months were idyllic. Freaks descended en masse. We made money, everyone was astonished by how many like-minded souls there were in London, the groups had a prominent platform for the first time and our beautiful silk-screen posters could be seen all over the city. Something new was happening every week and even bigger things, it seemed, were just around the corner. It is hard to convey the excitement and optimism in the air then.”
Pink Floyd were effectively the house band, though evenings combined live music and light shows, avant-garde films and slide shows, dance troupes and even "spot the fuzz" competitions as attention from plainclothes police increased. Producer Chris Thomas (Procul Harum, The Pretenders, Roxy Music, John Cale, Elton John, The Sex Pistols, etc.) remembers seeing the Floyd one night playing with all the PA equipment at the sides of the room, so that while the band were in front of you, the sound was coming from the sides. Another night they played behind hanging sheets that completely obscured the stage, with the light show projected on them. Pete Townshend was a regular, studying Pink Floyd from beside of the stage.
Pink Floyd at UFO:
How they looked if you weren’t on drugs:
When Pink Floyd grew too popular, Soft Machine became the house band. Others who played included The Incredible String Band, Arthur Brown, Tomorrow, and Procol Harum, who played there when "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was No 1 in the charts. On April 28, 1967, Jimi Hendrix turned up as part of the audience and then jammed with Tomorrow, who were headlining.
How many plainclothes policemen can you spot?:
UFO was killed by success — it was too small to accommodate the increasing crowds. In June, 1967, Hoppy was imprisoned for drug offences and further police pressure caused the landlords to revoke the lease. It moved to The Roundhouse for a few months but a high rent meant Joe usually lost money. In October it ended.
The building was torn down in 1970 as part of a huge, multi-block redevelopment. Today the location is still a cinema; the basement where Pink Floyd first wowed London is a room with a screen.
Let’s give the final word to Joe: “Like most revolutionaries, the freaks of 1967 aimed high. And like many, they failed to reach their goals. The list of disappointments is long, but one only need watch a right-wing politician or pundit talk about the era to realise how much was accomplished: the very words “the Sixties” make them spit with fury, so we must have got something right!”
UFO: 31 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 1BX
Rock Shrine No. 39 – MPL [Paul McCartney]
Paul McCartney moved his company McCartney Promotions Ltd (MPL) into Soho Square in early 1976. The lobby is a fascinating mix of faux-Art Deco and modern art, with an excellent Robert Rauschenburg silkscreen just inside the front window. McCartney has collected modern art for years and has the largest private collection of noted Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi. In return, Paolozzi designed the cover of Red Rose Speedway. (McCartney also worked with pop artist Richard Hamilton to design the White Album cover and poster.)
Pass by at night and, if the curtains are open, you can see an upper floor office with one wall completely covered in gold and platinum discs. Not many people know it, but McCartney is the largest independent song publisher in the world, owning the catalogues for Buddy Holly and several of the American Songbook standards.
M P L Communications Ltd, 1 Soho Square, LONDON, W1D 3BQ
Before he moved two blocks up the road to Soho Square, Paul McCartney had offices at this building.
Paul McCartney, 12 Greek Street, London W1D 4DL
Rock Shrine No. 40 – 23 Brook Street [Jimi Hendrix]
In 1968 and 1969 Jimi Hendrix was one of the world’s biggest rock stars. But when he wasn’t jetting to rock festivals and sold out concerts, the small flat on the very top floor is the palace he called home. He moved from here a few months before his death. In London there’s a society that puts blue plaques on buildings where famous people lived or, occasionally, famous events happened. Where the devil’s music is concerned, only one person has had that honour.
In a piece of sublime serendipity, Jimi lived next door to where another musical genius lived two centuries earlier.
The house where Handel lived and died is now a museum (Handel House Museum). The rooms where Jimi lived is now a kitchen and toilet area for their volunteer staff.
Jimi Hendrix, 23 Brook Street, London W1K 4HA
Every musician has started out the same: the secret pleasure of a small fan club. Even The Rolling Stones started out as unknowns.
By 1962-63 six guys within the bunch of blues fans that floated around the suburbs of London had fused into The Rolling Stones and were getting a reputation as something you had to see. The place to see them was The Station Hotel, Richmond, a suburb on the very edge of London. One of those told to check them out was 19-year old wunderkind Andrew Loog Oldham. He was publicist for The Beatles but wanted more. In his autobiography Stoned he describes the fateful night:
“Finally, in the dark and sweaty room, the Rollin’ Stones, all six of them, took to the stage while the…hundred-odd couples seemed ready for what they were about to receive and went apeshit. So did the group – they didn’t seem to start, so much as carry on from a previous journey…The room was as one, the music and audience had one particular place to go, a place I’d never been to but was happily being drawn to.
“On that stage, when I took in the Stones’ front line, I saw rock ‘n’ roll in 3-D and Cinerama for the first time….I’d never seen anything like it.”
Oldham became their manager and bent them to his fantasies of the ultimate rock group. His gift for outrageous publicity turned them into the second most famous group in the world. Just check the liner notes of the first few albums to see his talent for exaggeration.
Today it’s a bar and the interior has been gutted. But the back entrance remains, where the fans lined up and young Oldham entered to meet his destiny.
Station Hotel, 1 Kew Rd, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 2NQ
Rock Shrine No. 32 – The Africa Centre – Soul II Soul
Around 1988 Soul II Soul started life as a sound system and collective under the leadership of Jazzie B. A shifting group of musicians, the key people were Nellee Hooper from Bristol, vocalist Caron Wheeler and Japanese session drummer Masa, whose efforts to build a career in London were somewhat hampered by the lack of a work visa. Their residency at the Africa Centre in Covent Garden got them noticed and signed to Virgin Records and their first release, Club Classics Vol. 1 became a global hit. The band lasted throughout the ‘90s though never repeated the initial success. Hooper went on to become an A-list producer, working with Bjork, Madonna, No Doubt and Gwen Stefani, and Garbage, among others. What really made Soul II Soul distinctive was the invention of a brand new drum loop, which was the work of Masa and for which he never got credit.
The Africa Centre, 38 King Street, London WC2E 8JT
Rock Shrine No. 33 – Albert Hall
It’s been immortalised in one of the greatest songs of the last 40 years. It’s one of the most desired playgrounds in an artist’s career. It started out as an entertainment palace for fights and circuses.
Strange as it may seem, the Albert Hall is the Victorian equivalent of Staples Centre, MSG and all the music sheds. Glistening anew after a serious renovation, it’s one of the best places in London to see music. The audience sit in an oval shape, with boxes ringing the perimeter and cheap seats climbing in a steep rake right up to the high ceiling. The stage is at one end, in front of a massive pipe organ (on which Frank Zappa once played “Louie Louie”), which can make for interesting sight angles. When I saw Cream play in 2005 I watched Eric Clapton, seated behind the PA stack, bouncing his young daughter on his knee while Ginger Baker drum solo’d.
This is where Britain’s version of “The Sixties” started in September 1965, when a one-day poetry event with Allen Ginsberg drew all the freaks out of the woodwork, resulting in that ‘eureka!’ moment when the packed Hall realised they weren’t the only ones. Everybody has played here, classical, jazz and popular. But…Cream famously retired here in 1968 and reformed in 2005. Deep Purple played with an orchestra before reworking their blueprint for ‘Machine Head’. The Stones played in 1966. The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1968. Bryan Ferry’s done it. Bob Dylan famously played here - acoustically in 1965 and electrically in 1966, resulting in a famous bootleg actually recorded somewhere else. Paul Simon played ‘Graceland’ for a week. But the residency king is Eric Clapton, who held an annual engagement for many years in the ‘80s and ‘90s, playing variously a regular night, a blues night and an orchestral night. In the end, the Hall is more famous than the participants.
http://www.royalalberthall.com/
Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP
Rock Shrine No. 34 – Bag O’Nails [Jimi Hendrix, Beatles]
In Swinging Sixties London, when you got fed up with the Ad-Lib (what with Lennon freaking out because people were smoking joints in there) and couldn’t be bothered to trawl all the way down Picadilly to the Scotch of St. James (about, oh…a mile away), you walked five minutes (or had the chauffer drive you) to the Bag O’Nails. Situated at 9 Kingly Street, it’s less than 100 feet from Regent Street, one of London’s busiest streets, yet so invisible it might as well be miles away.
It was one of The Beatles' favourite places in 1967-68. Beatles assistant Mal Evans said in his book, “Ended up smashed in Bag O'Nails with Paul and Neil. Quite a number of people attached themselves, oh that it would happen to me...freak out time baby for Mal”.On 15 May, 1967, Paul McCartney met New York photographer Linda Eastman for the first time.
Jimi Hendrix joined the roster of celebrated performers who held the stage when he played his second British show here in late September 1966. It was a promotional bash for The Experience, financed by manager Chas Chandler selling five of his six guitars. “Britain is really groovy,” Jimi announced afterward, just a week into his first visit to the country.
Bag O’Nails, 9 Kingly Street, London W1B 5PH
Rock Shrine No. 35 – Savoy Hotel [Bob Dylan]
We’ve all seen the video of Bob Dylan standing behind the Savoy Hotel dropping cards to “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. In ‘Don’t Look Back’ you’ve seen him take apart Donovan while holding court in his suite at the Savoy. This is the Savoy.
Opened in 1889, it was built by impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte, producer of Gilbert and Sullivan, and has always enjoyed a reputation as one of the most prestigious hotels in London. Famous guests include The Beatles, U2, Led Zeppelin, Sarah Bernhardt, Enrico Caruso, Lillie Langtry, Charlie Chaplin, Ivor Novello, Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Elton John, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, The Who, Richard Harris, Julie Andrews, Shirley Bassey, Jimi Hendrix, and Marilyn Monroe. It’s currently closed for a £100million refurbishment.
In the accompanying video of His Bobness in his hotel suite, the woman who stands up at 5 seconds is Anthea Joseph, who gave Dylan his first residencey in London. She ran the Troubadour in Earls Court and in her words, saw a pair of boots descending the stairs and when the rest of him came into view, thought, ‘Hmmmmmm, this looks interesting…’
Savoy Hotel, 91 The Strand, London, WC2R 0EU
Rock Shrine No. 36 – EMI House [The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols]
You’ve all seen the photo of The Beatles looking down from the balcony. It happened on the first floor (second floor for Americans) of EMI House, the buildng that used to stand here. When I worked here in the 70s we used to amuse ourselves by standing where they had. From this vantage point I watched Marc Bolan get into the front seat of his chauffered white Rolls Royce limo. He always sat in the front seat. Once I turned around and saw Freddie Mercury for the first time, thinking, “Who’s that strange lookin guy?” The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Cockney Rebel, Cliff Richard, The Sex Pistols, Roy Harper, ELO…If your favourite band was on EMI or Capitol they visited here.
The front door.
Four smiles that changed the world.
Pink Floyd play at being pop stars in front of EMI.
Maybe if he hangs out long enough someone will sign him.
When Generation X (Billy Idol) signed to Chrysalis, we celebrated by taking a photo outside EMI. (What a punkish jape!) That’s me third from the left.
The building was pulled down a few years ago; its replacement being designed to fit in with the rest of the Square. Architecture fans will want to go next door to The Wallace Collection, which features a stunning atrium designed by Rick Mathur.
EMI, 20 Manchester Square, London W1U 3PZ
Rock Shrine No. 37 – The Jam’s First London Gig
It’s the summer of 1976 and you’re an unknown trio of Mod-loving kids living about 50 miles out of London. How do you get your first gig in London? You take your cue from the manifesto Malcolm McLaren is spinning in the weekly music papers and get your own gig. So one hot Saturday morning The Jam set up on the pavement in front of a street market, ran an extension cord from the Rock On record stall, and played to a handful of people. Most of them were curious passersby; about five of us were paying attention, including The Clash’s Mick Jones. Fifteen minutes later and it was over. Today, the market is a parking garage. The band played about where the street lamp stands.
The Jam’s first London gig – Newport Place, London W1.
Rock Shrine No. 38 – UFO [Pink Floyd]
UFO was London’s first psychedelic club, the equivalent of the Electric Circus in NYC or the Fillmore in SF. It was started by music entrepreneur Joe Boyd and John Hopkins (aka "Hoppy") in an Irish dancehall called the "Blarney Club", a basement venue under the Berkeley Cinema. This wasn’t the first time the location had been an essential nightclub; from 1919-1926 it was a jazz club where races could mix to hear predominantly black music.
UFO opened on December 23, 1966. As Joe Boyd wrote in his book ‘White Bicycles’, "freaks came out of the woodwork from all over the city”.
Joe Boyd: “The club’s first few months were idyllic. Freaks descended en masse. We made money, everyone was astonished by how many like-minded souls there were in London, the groups had a prominent platform for the first time and our beautiful silk-screen posters could be seen all over the city. Something new was happening every week and even bigger things, it seemed, were just around the corner. It is hard to convey the excitement and optimism in the air then.”
Pink Floyd were effectively the house band, though evenings combined live music and light shows, avant-garde films and slide shows, dance troupes and even "spot the fuzz" competitions as attention from plainclothes police increased. Producer Chris Thomas (Procul Harum, The Pretenders, Roxy Music, John Cale, Elton John, The Sex Pistols, etc.) remembers seeing the Floyd one night playing with all the PA equipment at the sides of the room, so that while the band were in front of you, the sound was coming from the sides. Another night they played behind hanging sheets that completely obscured the stage, with the light show projected on them. Pete Townshend was a regular, studying Pink Floyd from beside of the stage.
Pink Floyd at UFO:
How they looked if you weren’t on drugs:
When Pink Floyd grew too popular, Soft Machine became the house band. Others who played included The Incredible String Band, Arthur Brown, Tomorrow, and Procol Harum, who played there when "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was No 1 in the charts. On April 28, 1967, Jimi Hendrix turned up as part of the audience and then jammed with Tomorrow, who were headlining.
How many plainclothes policemen can you spot?:
UFO was killed by success — it was too small to accommodate the increasing crowds. In June, 1967, Hoppy was imprisoned for drug offences and further police pressure caused the landlords to revoke the lease. It moved to The Roundhouse for a few months but a high rent meant Joe usually lost money. In October it ended.
The building was torn down in 1970 as part of a huge, multi-block redevelopment. Today the location is still a cinema; the basement where Pink Floyd first wowed London is a room with a screen.
Let’s give the final word to Joe: “Like most revolutionaries, the freaks of 1967 aimed high. And like many, they failed to reach their goals. The list of disappointments is long, but one only need watch a right-wing politician or pundit talk about the era to realise how much was accomplished: the very words “the Sixties” make them spit with fury, so we must have got something right!”
UFO: 31 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 1BX
Rock Shrine No. 39 – MPL [Paul McCartney]
Paul McCartney moved his company McCartney Promotions Ltd (MPL) into Soho Square in early 1976. The lobby is a fascinating mix of faux-Art Deco and modern art, with an excellent Robert Rauschenburg silkscreen just inside the front window. McCartney has collected modern art for years and has the largest private collection of noted Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi. In return, Paolozzi designed the cover of Red Rose Speedway. (McCartney also worked with pop artist Richard Hamilton to design the White Album cover and poster.)
Pass by at night and, if the curtains are open, you can see an upper floor office with one wall completely covered in gold and platinum discs. Not many people know it, but McCartney is the largest independent song publisher in the world, owning the catalogues for Buddy Holly and several of the American Songbook standards.
M P L Communications Ltd, 1 Soho Square, LONDON, W1D 3BQ
Before he moved two blocks up the road to Soho Square, Paul McCartney had offices at this building.Paul McCartney, 12 Greek Street, London W1D 4DL
Rock Shrine No. 40 – 23 Brook Street [Jimi Hendrix]
In 1968 and 1969 Jimi Hendrix was one of the world’s biggest rock stars. But when he wasn’t jetting to rock festivals and sold out concerts, the small flat on the very top floor is the palace he called home. He moved from here a few months before his death. In London there’s a society that puts blue plaques on buildings where famous people lived or, occasionally, famous events happened. Where the devil’s music is concerned, only one person has had that honour.
In a piece of sublime serendipity, Jimi lived next door to where another musical genius lived two centuries earlier.
The house where Handel lived and died is now a museum (Handel House Museum). The rooms where Jimi lived is now a kitchen and toilet area for their volunteer staff.
Jimi Hendrix, 23 Brook Street, London W1K 4HA
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Rock Shrines 21 - 30
Rock Shrine No. 21 – Eurythmics
Judging by his space-age bachelor pad, Dave Stewart is the coolest playboy in London. Dave is the musical mastermind of Eurythmics, one of the Travelling Wilburys, a studio owner, a solo musician, a man whose life is so perfect that in Japan one year he had his appendix removed because he couldn’t believe there wasn’t something wrong with his life. He lived in this glass penthouse during the ‘90s. An article on it in the Sunday Times showed a place filled with ultra-cool technology and hot ‘70s vintage furniture. Imagine an updated Austin Powers shag palace and you get the idea. This a la mode temple is on Seven Dials, right in the middle of Covent Garden. At the time he was living with Siobahn Fahey of Shakespear’s Sister and you could see them circulating the streets, usually arguing with each other. Historic note: in Victorian times Seven Dials was considered so dangerous at night that it was said you were lucky if you got to the other side alive.
Dave Stewart's Bachelor Pad: Seven Dials, Covent Garden, London WC2
Rock Shrine No. 22 – The Scotch of St. James
The first London rock star club was the Ad Lib but by 1966 it was passe and everyone was on to the next club – The Scotch of St. James. The area of St. James has a long history as a discreet playground for the louche, moneyed, and landed and The Scotch of St. James was the ultimate in discretion – in a small yard off a side street, reached only by an easily missed driveway.
Andrew Loog Oldham described it in 2 Stoned: “You'd knock at the door and be auditioned through a peep-hole. Once in you'd travel downstairs via the twisting staircase... The Beatles, the Stones, the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Long John Baldry, Keith Moon, the Searchers all starred in the main room on their nights off... Lennon and McCartney, Jagger and Richards and I and our ladies would sit back in a dark corner and smoke and gloat.”
Here’s a photo from 1965, starring The Merseybeats and Pattie Boyd (the future Mrs. Harrison/Mrs. Clapton aka “Layla”).
Forty years later it’s still a club.
The Scotch of St. James, 13 Masons Yard, London SW1 6BU
Rock Shrine No. 23 – Indica Gallery
One of the key addresses in psychedelic London. Indica Bookshop and Gallery was opened in 1965 by Barry Miles, Peter Asher and John Dunbar. Dunbar was a friend of The Beatles and married to Marianne Faithfull. Asher was the brother of Paul McCartney’s girlfriend Jane Asher, half of Peter and Gordon, and in the ‘70s the producer of James Taylor and producer/manager of Linda Ronstadt. Most cultural movements seem to be the result of serendipity and a few crucial people. English psychedelia – and The Beatles’ music - would be very different without Barry Miles. I knew him reasonably well in the early 70s, when he wrote for the NME. Considering the pivotal role he had in shaping global culture he was one of the quietest, unassuming people I’ve met. It came as a real surprise to learn of his background.
L-R: Peter Asher, Barry Miles, John Dunbar
Indica Gallery: 6 Masons Yard, London SW1 6BU
Rock Shrine No. 24 – Eric Burdon (and the Animals)
Ending our tour around Masons Yard, Dalmeny Court is where Eric Burdon had a flat in the mid-‘60s. Eric was lead singer in The Animals, a group who dealt a global Number One in 1964 with their first single, ‘House Of The Rising Sun’. They had original compositions as well (including the hilarious ‘Story Of Bo Diddley’) and starting in ’65 produced a string of fabulous hard hitting singles that, criminally, don’t get modern recognition. According to Eric’s memoir, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, “I was right above the Indica Gallery" (see Rock Shrine 23). Which also puts him right above the Scotch Of St. James, the coolest night club in town (see Rock Shrine 22). Which made getting home a cinch. And this a bachelor pad supreme.
Dalmeny Court, 8 Duke St, Westminster, London SW1Y
Rock Shrine No. 25 – Trident Studios
You’ve heard of hiding in plain sight. Trident Studio does just that. St. Annes Court is a busy pedestrian alley in Soho connecting two of it’s main streets. I’ve walked through it for decades, right past the Trident doorway, and never noticed it. Spot the studio:
Imagine these people walking towards you on their way to the studios: carrot-top spaceman David Bowie, satin ‘n’ tat T. Rex, overproductive Beatles, innocent Queen, wild-side Lou Reed. Check these in your collection: Hunky Dory, Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, Electric Warrior, Transformer, the first two Queen albums, ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Martha, My Dear’, ‘Dear Prudence’, ‘Honey Pie’. Created here.
The view from the control room: Peter Gabriel at work.
Three producers made it their home: Gus Dudgeon, Tony Visconti, and Richard Perry. Why? [1] It was the first studio in Britian to have eight-track recording. [2] A 100-year old Bechstein concert grand piano with resin on the hammers, renowned for its sound. [3] Engineer Ken Scott, who cut his teeth on many of the greatest Beatles records. [4] A warm sounding room and a great sounding drum area.
The studio bill and McCartney’s notes for ‘Let It Be’
Rock Shrine No. 26 – RCA: The Clash
The Royal College of Art is best known as a centre of British art [Hockney, Kitaj, Conran…] but on November 5, 1976 it hosted A Night Of Treason, starring The Clash. Punk was going overground and the place was full of punks, the interested and students. The stage door policy was loose and backstage was as crowded as out front. The dressing rooms and corridors were seething with talent. Siouxsie Sioux was gathering her tribe to follow up the Punk Festival appearance. Billy Idol and Tony James were about to leave Chelsea (one time on stage) and start a band called Generation X. Adrian Thrills was starting a fanzine. Mark P was working on the next issue of Sniffin’ Glue. If Punk was an attitude then Subway Sect was as Punk as it got. They didn’t look or sound like anything else on a stage [before or since]. Their complete lack of showmanship and off-centre music really made you feel you were seeing something new. Then The Jam came on, all two-tone shoes and Shepherds Bush riffs. Somehow the sharp suits and Rickenbackers were at odds with the homemade fashions and Fenders of the Pistols and the Clash and backstage they sat apart from the other bands.
The Clash were incendiary. The sound was big and loud and they climbed all over their brace of songs like kids on a building site, crashing guitars and a rabble-rousing Joe. Then a student threw a beer glass. [Depressingly, it was always students who threw glasses and bottles.] Joe threw his arms above his head and shouted ‘Under heavy manners!’ He sought out the perpetrator, who got on stage. Joe questioned him and the guy looked sheepish. Then Sid Vicious got on stage, muttering into the mic and looking well-named. A few minutes later and they got back to the wonderful racket.
People used to say their life changed the first time they saw The Clash. This was the night when that scenario began.
Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU
Rock Shrine No. 27 – The Vortex
The summer of ’77 – hot and heaving. The Summer of Punk. The year of The Vortex. Every Tuesday night 1500 punks would cram themselves into the basement of this club to see a double bill of the best new bands. You knew when a fresh shipment of Punk’s drug of choice was in town because if you entered straight the atmosphere was unpleasantly electric. Amphetamine sulphate was a 1!2!3!4! drug for 1!2!3!4! music. It cost a measly £15 a gram and one nostril stripping snort would keep you alert and charging for ten or twelve hours. The unholy trinity of 1977 was punk, powder and price. The punk-reggae interface started here, when Generation X played with a band from Birmingham called Steel Pulse. On stage it was all Rasta patois but in the dressing room they sounded as Brummie as Ozzy Osbourne. Ex-Pistol Glen Matlock started The Rich Kids here; Mick Jones was getting tired of no drummer in his band and injected a big dose of is-he-quitting paranoia into Camp Clash by guesting with Glen. Malcolm McLaren was putting his Sex Pistols movie together and had hired titilation director Russ Meyer. As wonderfully strange as Meyer’s movies were, in punk he was a tourist in a very strange land. My favourite image of The Vortex was watching Meyer – slacks, jacket and very big cigar – wandering disturbed and confused through the sea of punkettes in dog collars, torn fishnets and bad makeup. Thirty years later it’s a disco.
The Vortex, 201 Wardour Street, London W1F 8ZH
Rock Shrine No. 28 – Ivor Court (The Who, Rolling Stones)
Variously and together, from the autumn of 1964 to 1967: Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts lived here. The Who manager Kit Lambert both lived and had an office at no. 113 as he navigated the group from guitar-smashing debt to rock-opera riches. It was Lambert, the youngest in a line of upper-class artistics, who suggested to Pete Townshend he should write an opera. The result was ‘A Quick One’, paving the way for the much more ambitious ‘Tommy’. Rolling Stones and Immediate Records visionary Andrew Loog Oldham ran his offices at 138 and 147. Oldham is rightly famous for inventing the Stones, but he also signed The Small Faces. Oldham defined his moment of arrival as the point when he could decide which telephone calls to accept.
Ivor Court, Gloucester Place, London NW1 6BJ
Rock Shrine No. 29 – The Lyceum
One of the best venues in London for live music: good acoustics, wonderful rococo design and a roof that rolls back.
The Rolling Stones were here in 1969; when they played the Chuck Berry song “Little Queenie” a spotlight was shone on the hall’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth, possibly the first post-modern moment in rock music. In the days before Ticketmaster, the ticket line for The Who was several blocks long, nearly everyone a young man. The Clash and Queen played intimate dates here. At an all-nighter in the summer of ’76 the Sex Pistols supported The Prettythings. Madness, The Selector and The Specials kicked off Two-Tone with a riotous celebration in 1980.
But the reason we really remember it is for the momentous live recording by Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1975. The two nights he played were fabulously warm and the roof was open so all the cigarette and spliff smoke disappeared. When you looked up you could see stars in the sky. The stage was low and while it was hard to see more than the band’s heads and shoulders it meant you could get close and really be part of the experience. These things I remember: the dipping and swaying of the multi-coloured I-Threes, the nimbleness of the Barrett brothers as they drove one fabulous song after another forward off the stage, and the righteous militancy of Bob as he stepped across the stage, sang with sweet conviction and shook dem locks as the weak hearts dropped.
The Lyceum, 21 Wellington St, London, WC2E 7RQ
Rock Shrine No. 30 – 57 Wimpole St. (The Beatles)
From 1963 – 1965 Paul McCartney lived in rooms on the top floor of the family home of his girlfriend Jane Asher.
Lennon and McCartney wrote “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in the basement, “one on one, eyeball to eyeball,” as Lennon put it. During the three years he lived here it’s fair to say many other famous songs were either conceived or worked on here.
When Paul wanted to dodge fans he would duck into Browning Mews, which backs on the house.
Wimpole Street is one block from Harley Street, famous for its doctors, including the Dr. Robert immortalised in The Beatles song. Architecture fans should spend some time walking around the neighbourhood, it has some of the best residential architecture in London.
57 Wimpole St., London W1G 8YW
Judging by his space-age bachelor pad, Dave Stewart is the coolest playboy in London. Dave is the musical mastermind of Eurythmics, one of the Travelling Wilburys, a studio owner, a solo musician, a man whose life is so perfect that in Japan one year he had his appendix removed because he couldn’t believe there wasn’t something wrong with his life. He lived in this glass penthouse during the ‘90s. An article on it in the Sunday Times showed a place filled with ultra-cool technology and hot ‘70s vintage furniture. Imagine an updated Austin Powers shag palace and you get the idea. This a la mode temple is on Seven Dials, right in the middle of Covent Garden. At the time he was living with Siobahn Fahey of Shakespear’s Sister and you could see them circulating the streets, usually arguing with each other. Historic note: in Victorian times Seven Dials was considered so dangerous at night that it was said you were lucky if you got to the other side alive.
Dave Stewart's Bachelor Pad: Seven Dials, Covent Garden, London WC2
Rock Shrine No. 22 – The Scotch of St. James
The first London rock star club was the Ad Lib but by 1966 it was passe and everyone was on to the next club – The Scotch of St. James. The area of St. James has a long history as a discreet playground for the louche, moneyed, and landed and The Scotch of St. James was the ultimate in discretion – in a small yard off a side street, reached only by an easily missed driveway.
Andrew Loog Oldham described it in 2 Stoned: “You'd knock at the door and be auditioned through a peep-hole. Once in you'd travel downstairs via the twisting staircase... The Beatles, the Stones, the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Long John Baldry, Keith Moon, the Searchers all starred in the main room on their nights off... Lennon and McCartney, Jagger and Richards and I and our ladies would sit back in a dark corner and smoke and gloat.”Here’s a photo from 1965, starring The Merseybeats and Pattie Boyd (the future Mrs. Harrison/Mrs. Clapton aka “Layla”).
Forty years later it’s still a club.
The Scotch of St. James, 13 Masons Yard, London SW1 6BU
Rock Shrine No. 23 – Indica Gallery
One of the key addresses in psychedelic London. Indica Bookshop and Gallery was opened in 1965 by Barry Miles, Peter Asher and John Dunbar. Dunbar was a friend of The Beatles and married to Marianne Faithfull. Asher was the brother of Paul McCartney’s girlfriend Jane Asher, half of Peter and Gordon, and in the ‘70s the producer of James Taylor and producer/manager of Linda Ronstadt. Most cultural movements seem to be the result of serendipity and a few crucial people. English psychedelia – and The Beatles’ music - would be very different without Barry Miles. I knew him reasonably well in the early 70s, when he wrote for the NME. Considering the pivotal role he had in shaping global culture he was one of the quietest, unassuming people I’ve met. It came as a real surprise to learn of his background.
L-R: Peter Asher, Barry Miles, John Dunbar The bookshop was one of the first places in London to sell beat poetry, Burroughs and other “alternative” literature. McCartney was a regular customer. It was here that John Lennon bought a copy of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which partly inspired “Tomorrow Never Knows”. McCartney put money into the premises and helped build it. The wood needed for the shelves and counter was picked up by Dunbar and Miles in McCartney's Aston Martin. McCartney wielded a saw. Jane Asher donated the shop's first cash till, an old Victorian one she had played with as a young girl. McCartney helped to draw the flyers advertising the opening and also designed the wrapping paper. In 1966, the bookshop was separated from the gallery and moved to 102 Southampton Row. The Gallery promoted radical art ideas and radical artists (in its life it never exhibited paintings). One of those was Yoko Ono, who exhibited in late ’66.
On November 9, 1966 John Lennon stumbled out of his Rolls, into the gallery and up a ladder where a magnifying glass on a string let him read a tiny message on the ceiling: “Yes”. Yoko, in attendance, handed him a card which read, ‘Breathe’; thus did The Beatles’ second double-act meet. A few years ago Miles and Dunbar were interviewed about this famous meeting as part of a BBC documentary and were in fine debunking form. Interestingly, both had different memories but agreed that: Lennon was quite stoned, reacted positively to Ono’s artistic playfulness and conceptual ingenuity, and that Yoko knew very much who Lennon was and manouevred for conquest, despite her subsequent high-art assertions that she didn’t know who The Beatles were. (Miles claimed that she tried to get in the Rolls with John when it left.) Today, it’s still a gallery. Indeed, the yard seems to be made up almost entirely of art-related businesses. English place names can be quite literal and Masons Yard was just that – a place full of stone masons, with a large central area for the stone. Today it’s filled with the newest gallery, the White Cube, one of London’s leading art spaces.
John Dunbar on Indica
Photos of recreated Indica installations
On November 9, 1966 John Lennon stumbled out of his Rolls, into the gallery and up a ladder where a magnifying glass on a string let him read a tiny message on the ceiling: “Yes”. Yoko, in attendance, handed him a card which read, ‘Breathe’; thus did The Beatles’ second double-act meet. A few years ago Miles and Dunbar were interviewed about this famous meeting as part of a BBC documentary and were in fine debunking form. Interestingly, both had different memories but agreed that: Lennon was quite stoned, reacted positively to Ono’s artistic playfulness and conceptual ingenuity, and that Yoko knew very much who Lennon was and manouevred for conquest, despite her subsequent high-art assertions that she didn’t know who The Beatles were. (Miles claimed that she tried to get in the Rolls with John when it left.) Today, it’s still a gallery. Indeed, the yard seems to be made up almost entirely of art-related businesses. English place names can be quite literal and Masons Yard was just that – a place full of stone masons, with a large central area for the stone. Today it’s filled with the newest gallery, the White Cube, one of London’s leading art spaces.
John Dunbar on Indica
Photos of recreated Indica installations
Indica Gallery: 6 Masons Yard, London SW1 6BU
Rock Shrine No. 24 – Eric Burdon (and the Animals)
Ending our tour around Masons Yard, Dalmeny Court is where Eric Burdon had a flat in the mid-‘60s. Eric was lead singer in The Animals, a group who dealt a global Number One in 1964 with their first single, ‘House Of The Rising Sun’. They had original compositions as well (including the hilarious ‘Story Of Bo Diddley’) and starting in ’65 produced a string of fabulous hard hitting singles that, criminally, don’t get modern recognition. According to Eric’s memoir, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, “I was right above the Indica Gallery" (see Rock Shrine 23). Which also puts him right above the Scotch Of St. James, the coolest night club in town (see Rock Shrine 22). Which made getting home a cinch. And this a bachelor pad supreme.
Dalmeny Court, 8 Duke St, Westminster, London SW1Y
Rock Shrine No. 25 – Trident Studios
You’ve heard of hiding in plain sight. Trident Studio does just that. St. Annes Court is a busy pedestrian alley in Soho connecting two of it’s main streets. I’ve walked through it for decades, right past the Trident doorway, and never noticed it. Spot the studio:
Imagine these people walking towards you on their way to the studios: carrot-top spaceman David Bowie, satin ‘n’ tat T. Rex, overproductive Beatles, innocent Queen, wild-side Lou Reed. Check these in your collection: Hunky Dory, Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, Electric Warrior, Transformer, the first two Queen albums, ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Martha, My Dear’, ‘Dear Prudence’, ‘Honey Pie’. Created here.
The view from the control room: Peter Gabriel at work.It goes on: Elton (‘Your Song’, Tumbleweed Connection, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road), Nilsson (‘Without You’), Carly Simon (‘You’re So Vain’), Billy Preston, Mary Hopkins, James Taylor, George Harrison (All Things Must Pass), Lennon (‘Cold Turkey’), Dusty Springfield, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Free (‘All Right Now’), Frank Zappa, Mott The Hoople (‘All The Young Dudes’), Yes, Genesis (with Peter Gabriel), Peter Gabriel (without Genesis), and The Jeff Beck Group. The Rolling Stones effectively auditioned Mick Taylor here, recording mostly unreleased tracks with titles like ‘Potted Shrimp’ and ‘Leather Jacket’ as well as ‘Brown Sugar’.
Three producers made it their home: Gus Dudgeon, Tony Visconti, and Richard Perry. Why? [1] It was the first studio in Britian to have eight-track recording. [2] A 100-year old Bechstein concert grand piano with resin on the hammers, renowned for its sound. [3] Engineer Ken Scott, who cut his teeth on many of the greatest Beatles records. [4] A warm sounding room and a great sounding drum area.
The studio bill and McCartney’s notes for ‘Let It Be’The two brothers who owned the place started modifying the desk and developed a very successful business building mixing desks. They started a video company in 1973 and developed another very successful business. The piano was restrung in the mid-70s and lost its distinct sound. In 1981 the strudio was sold.
Today’s it’s used for audio post production in TV, film and multimedia. The original control room is still pretty much as it was, though the desk faces the other way. The basement studio has been broken up into more studios and overdubbing rooms.
Every Thursday at 6pm, the public can go on a “Magical History Tour” of the studio’s past. Part of the experience is hearing a selection of the hits on big monitors. Heard back to back it’s obvious that all these records came from the same room: a fantastic drum presence, beautiful percussive piano, evocative vocal sound and warm, round strings.
Today’s it’s used for audio post production in TV, film and multimedia. The original control room is still pretty much as it was, though the desk faces the other way. The basement studio has been broken up into more studios and overdubbing rooms.
Every Thursday at 6pm, the public can go on a “Magical History Tour” of the studio’s past. Part of the experience is hearing a selection of the hits on big monitors. Heard back to back it’s obvious that all these records came from the same room: a fantastic drum presence, beautiful percussive piano, evocative vocal sound and warm, round strings.
Rock Shrine No. 26 – RCA: The Clash
The Royal College of Art is best known as a centre of British art [Hockney, Kitaj, Conran…] but on November 5, 1976 it hosted A Night Of Treason, starring The Clash. Punk was going overground and the place was full of punks, the interested and students. The stage door policy was loose and backstage was as crowded as out front. The dressing rooms and corridors were seething with talent. Siouxsie Sioux was gathering her tribe to follow up the Punk Festival appearance. Billy Idol and Tony James were about to leave Chelsea (one time on stage) and start a band called Generation X. Adrian Thrills was starting a fanzine. Mark P was working on the next issue of Sniffin’ Glue. If Punk was an attitude then Subway Sect was as Punk as it got. They didn’t look or sound like anything else on a stage [before or since]. Their complete lack of showmanship and off-centre music really made you feel you were seeing something new. Then The Jam came on, all two-tone shoes and Shepherds Bush riffs. Somehow the sharp suits and Rickenbackers were at odds with the homemade fashions and Fenders of the Pistols and the Clash and backstage they sat apart from the other bands.
The Clash were incendiary. The sound was big and loud and they climbed all over their brace of songs like kids on a building site, crashing guitars and a rabble-rousing Joe. Then a student threw a beer glass. [Depressingly, it was always students who threw glasses and bottles.] Joe threw his arms above his head and shouted ‘Under heavy manners!’ He sought out the perpetrator, who got on stage. Joe questioned him and the guy looked sheepish. Then Sid Vicious got on stage, muttering into the mic and looking well-named. A few minutes later and they got back to the wonderful racket.
People used to say their life changed the first time they saw The Clash. This was the night when that scenario began.
Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU
Rock Shrine No. 27 – The Vortex
The summer of ’77 – hot and heaving. The Summer of Punk. The year of The Vortex. Every Tuesday night 1500 punks would cram themselves into the basement of this club to see a double bill of the best new bands. You knew when a fresh shipment of Punk’s drug of choice was in town because if you entered straight the atmosphere was unpleasantly electric. Amphetamine sulphate was a 1!2!3!4! drug for 1!2!3!4! music. It cost a measly £15 a gram and one nostril stripping snort would keep you alert and charging for ten or twelve hours. The unholy trinity of 1977 was punk, powder and price. The punk-reggae interface started here, when Generation X played with a band from Birmingham called Steel Pulse. On stage it was all Rasta patois but in the dressing room they sounded as Brummie as Ozzy Osbourne. Ex-Pistol Glen Matlock started The Rich Kids here; Mick Jones was getting tired of no drummer in his band and injected a big dose of is-he-quitting paranoia into Camp Clash by guesting with Glen. Malcolm McLaren was putting his Sex Pistols movie together and had hired titilation director Russ Meyer. As wonderfully strange as Meyer’s movies were, in punk he was a tourist in a very strange land. My favourite image of The Vortex was watching Meyer – slacks, jacket and very big cigar – wandering disturbed and confused through the sea of punkettes in dog collars, torn fishnets and bad makeup. Thirty years later it’s a disco.
The Vortex, 201 Wardour Street, London W1F 8ZH
Rock Shrine No. 28 – Ivor Court (The Who, Rolling Stones)
Variously and together, from the autumn of 1964 to 1967: Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts lived here. The Who manager Kit Lambert both lived and had an office at no. 113 as he navigated the group from guitar-smashing debt to rock-opera riches. It was Lambert, the youngest in a line of upper-class artistics, who suggested to Pete Townshend he should write an opera. The result was ‘A Quick One’, paving the way for the much more ambitious ‘Tommy’. Rolling Stones and Immediate Records visionary Andrew Loog Oldham ran his offices at 138 and 147. Oldham is rightly famous for inventing the Stones, but he also signed The Small Faces. Oldham defined his moment of arrival as the point when he could decide which telephone calls to accept.
Ivor Court, Gloucester Place, London NW1 6BJ
Rock Shrine No. 29 – The Lyceum
One of the best venues in London for live music: good acoustics, wonderful rococo design and a roof that rolls back.
The Rolling Stones were here in 1969; when they played the Chuck Berry song “Little Queenie” a spotlight was shone on the hall’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth, possibly the first post-modern moment in rock music. In the days before Ticketmaster, the ticket line for The Who was several blocks long, nearly everyone a young man. The Clash and Queen played intimate dates here. At an all-nighter in the summer of ’76 the Sex Pistols supported The Prettythings. Madness, The Selector and The Specials kicked off Two-Tone with a riotous celebration in 1980.
But the reason we really remember it is for the momentous live recording by Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1975. The two nights he played were fabulously warm and the roof was open so all the cigarette and spliff smoke disappeared. When you looked up you could see stars in the sky. The stage was low and while it was hard to see more than the band’s heads and shoulders it meant you could get close and really be part of the experience. These things I remember: the dipping and swaying of the multi-coloured I-Threes, the nimbleness of the Barrett brothers as they drove one fabulous song after another forward off the stage, and the righteous militancy of Bob as he stepped across the stage, sang with sweet conviction and shook dem locks as the weak hearts dropped.
The Lyceum, 21 Wellington St, London, WC2E 7RQ
Rock Shrine No. 30 – 57 Wimpole St. (The Beatles)
From 1963 – 1965 Paul McCartney lived in rooms on the top floor of the family home of his girlfriend Jane Asher.
Lennon and McCartney wrote “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in the basement, “one on one, eyeball to eyeball,” as Lennon put it. During the three years he lived here it’s fair to say many other famous songs were either conceived or worked on here.
When Paul wanted to dodge fans he would duck into Browning Mews, which backs on the house.
Wimpole Street is one block from Harley Street, famous for its doctors, including the Dr. Robert immortalised in The Beatles song. Architecture fans should spend some time walking around the neighbourhood, it has some of the best residential architecture in London.
57 Wimpole St., London W1G 8YW
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Rock Shrines 13 - 20
Rock Shrine No. 13 - Air Studios
When George Martin produced The Beatles he was on an EMI salary – no royalties for him. In 1969 he left the company and established Air Studios at Oxford Circus. See that row of windows above the ledge and below the roof? That was Air Studios. Probably the only recording studios on the fifth floor.
Rock Shrine No. 14 - The Rock Garden
Today it’s a cinema and club called the Scala, at 275 Pentonville Rd., near Kings Cross station.
In the early to mid Seventies it was a popular venue for reggae concerts, then for bands such as PiL, The Cramps and Soft Cell, and finally for British Asian dance acts. Ten years ago Elton John held his 50th birthday here.
On 22nd January 2007, the Palais was condemned to be demolished. There will be a series of concerts over the next few days, climaxing on 31st March with former Clash-man Paul Simonon playing in his new band The Good, The Bad and The Queen.
It’s at 242 Hammersmith Road, just up the road from Hammersmith tube station.
Map location
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: W6 7NL
Rock Shrine No. 18 – The Palladium
The Palladium is one of London’s venerable institutions and the cream of the world’s entertainers have played here. The building was originally a circus and then an ice rink before becoming a theatre in the ‘20s. Everyone’s been here – Ellington, Garland, Crosby, Fitzgerald, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Danny Kaye, and Johnnie Ray (the Nabob of Sob) among them.
Its rock and roll fame is just as extensive. The TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium introduced The Beatles to national TV, where Lennon famously told the rich people to “rattle your jewellry”. The Rolling Stones added to their delinquient image by refusing to ride the rotating stage that traditionally closed the show. (What innocent times!) Slade played a raucous week as part of the celebrations to mark Britain joining the EU and you could see the balcony moving from the stamping fans. Marvin Gaye recorded a live album in 1976. I saw John Denver here!
Brian Epstein’s offices were next door at 5-6 Argyle Street and is where Lennon gave the interview saying The Beatles were more famous than Jesus.
Argyle Street is just off Oxford Circus.
Map Location
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: W1F 7TF
Rock Shrine No. 19 – Ziggy Stardust
The location for a very famous album cover.
23 Heddon Street is off Regent Street a few hundred yards from Picadilly Circus.
Map Location
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: W1B 4RA
When George visited San Francisco and the Haight Ashbury in 1967 he somehow invited a couple of Hells Angels to visit him in London. Sure enough they showed up six months later with a retinue of friends, including the actor Peter Coyote (he was a radical hippie back then) and author Ken Kesey.
Saville Row is one part of London that’s resistent to change and therefore looks almost exactly as it did then. Next door is Gieves and Hawk, tailors to the royal household. Across the street is the back entrance of The Albany, the best address in London. Terence Stamp has lived here for more than 40 years.
Stamp shared a flat with Michael Caine before he got famous and moved here. If ‘60s Caine was movie cool then ‘60s Stamp was rock star cool. In Sean Levy’s highly readable history of Swinging London, Ready Steady Go he ends the book with an image of Stamp slipping quietly out this back door while The Beatles play on the roof.
Apple HQ, 3 Savile Row, London W1S 3PB
Map Location
When George Martin produced The Beatles he was on an EMI salary – no royalties for him. In 1969 he left the company and established Air Studios at Oxford Circus. See that row of windows above the ledge and below the roof? That was Air Studios. Probably the only recording studios on the fifth floor.As you would expect, the best artists in the world passed through these rooms, including Kate Bush, Genesis, Procul Harum, The Pretenders, and Roxy Music, who recorded their second album ‘For Your Pleasure’ here. I was writing an article on them and abused my privilege to come back several times to watch them mix and finish the album. So I can tell you that “Bogus Man” was several minutes longer and had to be trimmed to fit on a vinyl record.
It was always very odd to look out the windows and realise you were five floors up.
In 1991 the lease ran out and Air moved to a church in Hampstead.
It’s at Oxford Circus, above Nike Town.
Rock Shrine No. 14 - The Rock Garden
The Rock Garden was the first British venue for Talking Heads. They played in a small basement room in early 1977 and Brian Eno was in the audience. It was a strange affair; the band were nervous and we were curious. But Brian saw something special, because this is where he introduced himself to the band. The start of a beautiful friendship.
It’s at 6-7 The Piazza at Covent Garden.
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: WC2E 8HB
Rock Shrine No. 15 - Kings Cross Cinema
In June, 1972 The Stooges played their one UK concert at the Kings Cross Cinema. It was a midnight gig, which meant that first of all a lucky bunch of us drove up to Aylesbury (about 30 miles north of London) to see David Bowie being Ziggy Stardust.
It wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen, but it was the most nervous. Iggy had a verrrrry long mic cord and wandered into the audience a lot. He sat on a girl’s lap and sang right into her eyes. He grabbed one guy by the side of his head and shook it really fast. You had no idea what he would do next and it made for a very tense atmosphere.
The band were…The Stooges! James Williamson stood in one spot in front of a double Marshall stack ripping off big riffs and noise. The Ashetons made rhythtm thunder. They played a lot of Raw Power, though we didn’t know that, mixed in with TV Eye, Dog, 1969 and others. At one point the sound screwed up and with a shout of rage Ig hurled the mic against the stage floor. It bounced about a foot into the air in three or four pieces, in a line like an illustration from a manual. While it was fixed he stood alone in the middle of the stage and started singing ‘The Shadow Of Your Smile’ in his best Frank Sinatra voice. He sang it really low so everyone shut up to hear it. It was beautiful. The back cover of Raw Power is from that show.
It wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen, but it was the most nervous. Iggy had a verrrrry long mic cord and wandered into the audience a lot. He sat on a girl’s lap and sang right into her eyes. He grabbed one guy by the side of his head and shook it really fast. You had no idea what he would do next and it made for a very tense atmosphere.
The band were…The Stooges! James Williamson stood in one spot in front of a double Marshall stack ripping off big riffs and noise. The Ashetons made rhythtm thunder. They played a lot of Raw Power, though we didn’t know that, mixed in with TV Eye, Dog, 1969 and others. At one point the sound screwed up and with a shout of rage Ig hurled the mic against the stage floor. It bounced about a foot into the air in three or four pieces, in a line like an illustration from a manual. While it was fixed he stood alone in the middle of the stage and started singing ‘The Shadow Of Your Smile’ in his best Frank Sinatra voice. He sang it really low so everyone shut up to hear it. It was beautiful. The back cover of Raw Power is from that show.
Today it’s a cinema and club called the Scala, at 275 Pentonville Rd., near Kings Cross station.Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: N1 9NL
Rock Shrine No. 16 - Hammersmith Palais
“Midnight to six, man, For the first time from Jamaica
Dillinger and Leroy Smart, Delroy Wilson, your cool operator”
On June 5, 1977 Joe Strummer from The Clash went to a concert he expected to be a celebration of the roots reggae we were all listening to that year. Instead he got “Four Tops all night with encores from stage right” and poured his frustration into their best song.
The Palais opened in 1919 to host jazz bands and was a popular dance venue until the Fifties. On the back of the building a mural remains from – probably – its opening promoting the dances.
Dillinger and Leroy Smart, Delroy Wilson, your cool operator”
On June 5, 1977 Joe Strummer from The Clash went to a concert he expected to be a celebration of the roots reggae we were all listening to that year. Instead he got “Four Tops all night with encores from stage right” and poured his frustration into their best song.
The Palais opened in 1919 to host jazz bands and was a popular dance venue until the Fifties. On the back of the building a mural remains from – probably – its opening promoting the dances.
In the early to mid Seventies it was a popular venue for reggae concerts, then for bands such as PiL, The Cramps and Soft Cell, and finally for British Asian dance acts. Ten years ago Elton John held his 50th birthday here.On 22nd January 2007, the Palais was condemned to be demolished. There will be a series of concerts over the next few days, climaxing on 31st March with former Clash-man Paul Simonon playing in his new band The Good, The Bad and The Queen.
It’s at 242 Hammersmith Road, just up the road from Hammersmith tube station.
Map location
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: W6 7NL
Rock Shrine No. 17 – Hammersmith Apollo
It’s now called the Hammersmith Apollo, but true music fans call it by its real name: The Hammersmith Odeon.
Originally a cinema, this imposing piece of post-Art Deco has been a consumate London venue for over 40 years. Almost everyone has played here, from Ray Charles and Chuck Berry through Bobby Womack to Pharell Williams. The list of legendary concerts include all The Beatles Christmas Shows, Emmylou Harris with James Burton, a week of Bob Marley and a week of Erasure. At different times both Blondie and Tom Petty made their acquaintance with the UK here. Kanye West is playing three nights next week – followed a week later by Toto. It’s an inclusive place.
Ziggy Stardust emotionally retired on this stage in 3 July, 1973. Two years later Bruce Springsteen made a disastrous UK debut, returning a few days later in triumph. Bowie came back in 2003, Bruce in 2005 and both of them made constant references to their previous visits. (A friend was singing in Bruce’s band and said he kept looking like he was seeing ghosts.)
It’s now called the Hammersmith Apollo, but true music fans call it by its real name: The Hammersmith Odeon.Originally a cinema, this imposing piece of post-Art Deco has been a consumate London venue for over 40 years. Almost everyone has played here, from Ray Charles and Chuck Berry through Bobby Womack to Pharell Williams. The list of legendary concerts include all The Beatles Christmas Shows, Emmylou Harris with James Burton, a week of Bob Marley and a week of Erasure. At different times both Blondie and Tom Petty made their acquaintance with the UK here. Kanye West is playing three nights next week – followed a week later by Toto. It’s an inclusive place.
Ziggy Stardust emotionally retired on this stage in 3 July, 1973. Two years later Bruce Springsteen made a disastrous UK debut, returning a few days later in triumph. Bowie came back in 2003, Bruce in 2005 and both of them made constant references to their previous visits. (A friend was singing in Bruce’s band and said he kept looking like he was seeing ghosts.)
Of the many times I’ve been in this place, the standout is Neil Young and Crazy Horse in March, 1976. We knew he was playing new songs [Hurricane] but no idea he was full of jumbo jet volume’d dissonance and feedback. This was the first time the mad Neil attack was unveiled and the place responded with a roar as loud as the ringing in our ears. After they stopped no-one left. For 45 minutes we riotously demanded an encore until the band came out. They didn’t know we were still there until they heard the noise as they came back to play for the fun of it.
The Odeon is at Queen Caroline Street Hammersmith London W6 9QH.
The Hammersmith Palais (Rock Shrine 16) is up the road a few hundred yards.
Map Location
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: W6 9QH
The Odeon is at Queen Caroline Street Hammersmith London W6 9QH.
The Hammersmith Palais (Rock Shrine 16) is up the road a few hundred yards.
Map Location
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: W6 9QH
Rock Shrine No. 18 – The Palladium
The Palladium is one of London’s venerable institutions and the cream of the world’s entertainers have played here. The building was originally a circus and then an ice rink before becoming a theatre in the ‘20s. Everyone’s been here – Ellington, Garland, Crosby, Fitzgerald, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Danny Kaye, and Johnnie Ray (the Nabob of Sob) among them.Its rock and roll fame is just as extensive. The TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium introduced The Beatles to national TV, where Lennon famously told the rich people to “rattle your jewellry”. The Rolling Stones added to their delinquient image by refusing to ride the rotating stage that traditionally closed the show. (What innocent times!) Slade played a raucous week as part of the celebrations to mark Britain joining the EU and you could see the balcony moving from the stamping fans. Marvin Gaye recorded a live album in 1976. I saw John Denver here!
Brian Epstein’s offices were next door at 5-6 Argyle Street and is where Lennon gave the interview saying The Beatles were more famous than Jesus.
Argyle Street is just off Oxford Circus.
Map Location
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: W1F 7TF
Rock Shrine No. 19 – Ziggy Stardust
The location for a very famous album cover.Although the brickwork has been painted and the evocative K. West sign has gone, the rest is remarkably untouched.
In 1977 Generation X knew how to make a cool reference to the past.
23 Heddon Street is off Regent Street a few hundred yards from Picadilly Circus.
Map Location
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: W1B 4RA
Rock Shrine No. 20 – Apple HQ
3 Saville Row must be one of the most famous addresses in Britain. This was Beatles HQ when they formed Apple Records, famous for the rooftop concert recorded for the film Let It Be.
When they weren’t on the roof they were in the basement studio. Here’s a photo of the mixing desk:
When George visited San Francisco and the Haight Ashbury in 1967 he somehow invited a couple of Hells Angels to visit him in London. Sure enough they showed up six months later with a retinue of friends, including the actor Peter Coyote (he was a radical hippie back then) and author Ken Kesey. Saville Row is one part of London that’s resistent to change and therefore looks almost exactly as it did then. Next door is Gieves and Hawk, tailors to the royal household. Across the street is the back entrance of The Albany, the best address in London. Terence Stamp has lived here for more than 40 years.Stamp shared a flat with Michael Caine before he got famous and moved here. If ‘60s Caine was movie cool then ‘60s Stamp was rock star cool. In Sean Levy’s highly readable history of Swinging London, Ready Steady Go he ends the book with an image of Stamp slipping quietly out this back door while The Beatles play on the roof.Apple HQ, 3 Savile Row, London W1S 3PB
Map Location
Put this post code into Google Earth and go for a ride: W1S 3PB
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