Pulp in Uncut
I am incredibly fortunate to get to meet and write about people and places that have always fascinated me. This is particularly true when it comes to the musicians whose music I fell in love with as a teenager Continue reading
The Great Wen
A London blog
Latest posts
Time Out – smoking hot and strikes
BBC Archive recently posted a fantastic video about Time Out magazine in 1978. It s a fascinating snapshot of London past, from the references to seedy King s Cross and trendy Covent Garden to the fact that everybody appears to be smoking, Continue reading
London – “a card-index system to an inexhaustible set of topics”
It doesn t happen that often, but every now and then I read a description of London that makes me sit up finally somebody sees London in the same way that I do! The following is from Penelope Lively s very Continue reading
Battersea Power Station – updated paperback edition
When I completed Up In Smoke, my history of Battersea Power Station, in early 2016, the power station was still a derelict shell in the centre of a huge building site. Some believed it would always remain so. But in Continue reading
The Rock and Roll Public Library
I am not usually the type of person who can summon a quote off the top of their head but one came to mind as I looked around the Rock And Roll Public Library in St Giles. This is a Continue reading
Sohemian Society talk – December 5
I have a talk coming up with the Sohemian Society on Thursday December 5, where I will be in conversation with writer and musician Max Décharné about Denmark Street: London s Street Of Sound. The event will be held upstairs at Continue reading
Rough Trade on Denmark Street
When I wrote my history of Denmark Street Denmark Street: London s Street Of Sound I delivered what some felt was an overly optimistic conclusion. This commercial makeover might not be all bad, I said, citing one example: Might Continue reading
Denmark Street talk with Andy’s Guitars
I am doing a talk next Thursday (July 11) at the new Meanwhile space, which is just round the corner from Denmark Street, backing on to No 4, where the Rolling Stones recorded their debut album. I will be talking Continue reading
Meanwhile… On Denmark Street
Flitcroft Street is the short street at the east end of Denmark Street. You might know it from its most famous building the one with the huge door (theatre backdrops were painted here hence the big door to Continue reading
POSTPONED Denmark Street at Regent Sounds – free talk
No 4 Denmark Street could be the most important single address on Tin Pan Alley. It s housed Regent Sound, the studio where the Rolling Stones recorded their debut album, the Helter Skelter bookshop that specialised in books about music, and Continue reading