Given my GenX childhood, I was very interested in music related sites around London, and the West End has no shortage of spots. Most of these are not interesting aside from “hey, cool stuff happened here”, but others are worth a visit if 1960’s through early 1980’s music history is your thing.
Regent Sounds Studio
We’ll start at 4 Denmark Street, the site of the former Regent Sounds Studio (they still have the sign!). Although no longer a studio, it’s now one of several music shops on the street. If you need a guitar, bass, drums, or keys, this is your street! But back in the day this little building made a LOT of noise. The Rolling Stones recorded their first album here. Black Sabbath recorded their first two albums here. The Kinks recorded “You Really Got Me” here. David Bowie put together his first band on this street, and Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote “Your Song” here.
No. Tom Guitars
Just a few doors down is No. Tom Guitars. Directly behind the shop is a small cottage where the Sex Pistols once lived. (We weren’t able to get back there, but rumor has it the graffiti done by John Lydon, including drawings of Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and Sid Vicious’ girlfriend Nancy Spungen is still on the walls.)
Whitfield Street Studios
We move on to 34 Whitfield Street. It’s currently a Sony recording studio, but was originally Whitfield Street Studios. In this studio, The Clash recorded their first album, Iggy & The Stooges recorded “Raw Power”, and others who recorded here include Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, The Who, U2, Bing Crosby, Page & Plant, The Rolling Stones, and Amy Winehouse.
The 100 Club
Next we have the 100 Club. The Sex Pistols played here, and one of the earliest punk festivals was hosted here. In fact it was at that 100 Club Punk Festival, on September 20, 1976, that Siouxsie & The Banshees played their first gig, with none other than Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols on drums! (It would be his only appearance with the band.) The 100 Club is still operating, so check to see who’s playing if you’re going to London.
Original Marquee Club
After that is now just a retail store where the original Marquee Club once stood (it was completely torn down). Music lovers lined this section of sidewalk before heading in to see the Rolling Stones’ first ever live performance, and watch emerging bands like The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, and Jethro Tull. Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac also played one of their first ever shows there.
Ziggy Stardust Album Cover Location
Next up is the location of the album cover shoot for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie. There are a couple business here capitalizing on that fact, one is a restaurant named Ziggy, the other a restaurant named The Starman. Teresa took a picture of me very close to the spot where Bowie was standing for the album cover. The actual spot is one column further in, but is now part of the outdoor patio for the Piccolino Mayfair restaurant, so is not accessible. I’m actually standing against the column that has the lamp in the original photo. The patio also has an awning, which wasn’t there during the album cover shoot. So, we did our best. I used my very meager Photoshop skills to remove the awning and change the sky to match the original. Close enough!
Former Apple Corps Headquarters (and famous rooftop)
Nearing the end, we have 3 Savile Row, which was once the headquarters of Apple Corps, and the famous rooftop where The Beatles performed their final live performance, for the Let It Be album and documentary.
The Ship Soho
Last but not least, we have The Ship Soho, an infamous pub. It was frequented by John Lennon, Syd Barrett, Jimi Hendrix, and infamously Keith Moon, who was banned for life for setting off a fire extinguisher. Also in this pub, The Clash had a band meeting with their manager Bernie Rhodes, where he tried to convince the band he needed complete control, leading Joe Strummer to write the song “Complete Control”.
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