In the Footsteps of British Rock Music!

Commemorative plaque above the long gone 2i’s Coffee Bar.

My wife and I went to visit beloved London in September 2023 and this time we had decided to do a walk to some of the places where British rock music started. Some of the places I already knew, others were new. We would do our walk in historical chronology as far as possible.

The first stop we made on our British rock music walk was to the long-defunct 2i’s coffee shop. I didn’t know about the 2i’s, but I had just recently listened to a podcast made by the two guys behind Rockonteurs Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt. In the podcast they interviewed Hank Marvin from the Shadows. More of that later.  

The story behind 2i’s is pretty amazing, so with good help from Wikipedia, here it is:

The name 2i’s comes from the original owners of the coffee shop, brothers Freddie and Bakhtyar Irani, who ran the coffee shop until 1955. They sold 2i’s to the two Australian professional wrestlers Paul Lincoln, who was known as Dr Death and Ray Hunter, known as Rebel Ray Hunter. The two wrestlers opened the coffee shop in 1956. 

The basement of 2i’s was soon used for live music, where the performers stood on the 50 cm high stage, which consisted of milk crates with planks on them. The basement was no bigger than a bedroom, and the lighting consisted of a few dim lamps in the ceiling. There was only one microphone and some speakers on the walls.  

Lincoln and Hunter started it all by engaging skiffle groups. Skiffle was in 1956 a completely new phenomenon in England, and the place soon became a meeting point for the hipsters of that time.  One of the popular and later famous skiffle groups was the Vipers. Hank Marvin, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan at one point became members of the Vipers. The 3 gentlemen as you probably know subsequently became members of the Shadows. You really ought to listen to Rockonteurs’ podcast (Spotify, Apple) with Hank Marvin (Season 1 Episode 23), where Hank Marvin talks very vividly and humorously about his time as a musician at the 2i’s.

The 2i’s had space for approx. 20 people standing room only, so it was crowded when later famous artists performed in the coffee bar. These artists were, to name but a few: Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, Joe Brown, Albert Lee, Paul Gadd (Gary Glitter) Richie Blackmore, the Most Brothers w/ Mickie Most (later famous composer and producer), Kris Kristoffersen and Georgie Fame.

Mickie Most also worked at the 2i’s as a waiter. Led Zeppelin’s manager Peter Grant had a job as a bouncer at the 2i’s before his career as a manager took off in the music business.

The 2i’s closed in 1970 and it is today a Fish and Chips Restaurant.  The 2i’s legacy is quite significant. In addition to being the birthplace of many later great artists, the coffee bar was also the inspiration for the establishment of the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool, where the early incarnation of the Beatles played.

Bruno Koschmider owner of Kaiserkeller in Hamburg visited 2i’s to engage English groups to play in his club e.g., Derry and the Seniors, whose manager was Alan Williams. That gentleman became the Beatles’ first manager, and he shipped the early and fledgling Beatles to Hamburg to perform at the Keiserkeller amongst other places. 

On 18 September 2006, a green commemorative plaque was unveiled on the wall above where the 2i’s lay and to celebrate 50 years of British rock and roll.

The famous 2i’s Coffee Bar which today sells Fish and Chips. Look closely and you can see a sign through the door which shows down to the cellar where the artists performed.

Geographically, we zig zagged quite a bit. We went from the 2i’s and then on to Denmark Street. And why? Well, as many of you already know, this little street was the center of the world if a musician needed to buy instruments, or if an aspiring artist or group needed to record a single or LP.  Denmark Street has actually been the center of British music industry since the 1940s. Despite its famous reputation, the street is probably not much longer than a football pitch. On both sides there are still music shops, as in the 60s.

We had a look at Regent Sounds Studios, where a very large number of successful British bands in the 60s and 70s began their recording careers. The Rolling Stones recorded their first album here, the Kinks recorded demos, the Who recorded parts of the album A Quick One, David Bowie recorded demos, Black Sabbath recorded their first two albums and many many more.

The world famous Regent Sounds Studios in Denmark Street. Small is better.

In the window there is still a good luck post wishing the Rolling Stones the very best with their first recording.

We then strolled on to another world-famous studio, the renowned Trident Studios in St. Anne’s Court in Soho. Trident Studios existed from 1968 to 1981.  The first hit recorded was My Name is Jack by Manfred Mann in 1968. This was the beginning of Trident Studios’ heyday.

Later that year, The Beatles recorded Hey Jude and parts of their White Album in the studios.  Other major albums and songs recorded at Trident Studios were Elton John’s Your Song, David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Lou Reed’s Transformer and Queen’s albums Queen, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack.

Trident Studios with David Bowie’s commemorative plaque above. Again a small building.

Commemorative plaque to honor David Bowie and his recordings at Trident Studios.

But when the groups weren’t in the studio making records, where did the many groups that emerged in the 60s play? One of the most famous places was the legendary Marquee Club.  This club was located at 90 Wardour Street in Soho from 1964 to 1988.

Virtually every self-respecting major or minor name in rock music has at some time played at the Marquee Club. In the 1960s, among others, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, the Who, King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Pink Floyd performed at the Marquee Club. The Rolling Stones played the Marquee Club for the first time in 1962 and later returned after a 9-year hiatus in 1971 to make a TV special. Queen performed 3 times at the Marquee Club at the beginning of their career. First time in 1971.

 In 1988 it was sadly the end of the Marquee Club, when it was sold for other purposes.

On the front of what used to be the Marquee Club steel plates have been put up. They are engraved with some of the many names that performed in the club. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo.

Such a historical rock walk is not complete without the Beatles. Savile Row in London was and is primarily famous for the many and expensive tailors that the upper class for decades have used to have their clothes tailor made to perfect fit.

But in Savile Row no 3 the Beatles had their headquarters for their company Apple. On 30 January 1969, the Beatles gave an impromptu concert at the top of No. 3 Savile Row. The group performed for 42 minutes. However, their performance was interrupted by the police, who ordered the group to turn down the volume.  They played 5 of their new songs while many people spent their lunch break watching and listening to the Beatles play.

The concert ended with Get Back, and with John Lennon wittily expressing his thanks on behalf of the group, and that he hoped they had passed the audition.

The building in Savile Row where the Beatles gave their last live performance in 1969.

Commemorative plaque of the Beatles’ final live performance.

After this historic British rock walk, we ended up with a well-deserved lunch at the pub The Ship, which in all fairness can be called a Rock and Roll Pub due to its prominent legacy. It became both famous and infamous because Keith Moon, drummer of the Who, was banned from entering the pub when he set off a smoke bomb inside.

The Ship is located at 116 Wardour Street, Soho, London. So once more we were back at Wardour Street. Other great rock personalities who frequented The Ship were John Lennon, Syd Barrett and Jimi Hendrix, who reportedly fell down the stairs in the pub more than slightly intoxicated.  Concludingly, The Ship has seen its best days and there is virtually nothing inside that tells you of its proud past as a rock and roll pub. Somewhat disappointing.

On our way back we hit Carnaby Street where my wife happened to discover a commemorative plaque for the Small Faces. This surprising find pleased me very much. In the 60s I was a huge fan of the group and to this day I still think they are brilliant. 

A little history about the group. Small Faces were formed in 1965 in London. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston. Ian Mclagan replaced Jimmy Winston as the group’s keyboard player in 1966.  The group became one of the most influential Mod groups of the 1960s, having hits such as Itchycoo Park, Lazy Sunday, All or Nothing and Tin Soldier as well as their concept album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake. The group disbanded in 1969, with Steve Mariott leaving the group to form Humble Pie. The remainder of the group joined forces with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood to form The Faces.  

Mod is an abbreviation of the word Modernist because the followers originally listened to Modern Jazz. Mod was a subculture that began in the 1950s in London.  In the 1960s the Mod movement was focused on music which included soul, r’n’b, ska and jazz as well as fashion (often tailored suits). Mods often rode scooters mostly Lambretta and Vespa. In the 1960s Mods listened to rock groups like Small Faces and the Who.

Commemorative plaque in Carnaby Street of the Small Faces and their manager Don Arden.

I was a massive fan of the Small Faces in the 60s and to this day I think they are brilliant. Here is a picture of my Lp with group from 1966.

The last stop on our In the Footsteps of British Rock was to visit the Rolling Stones store in Carnaby Street. The group opened the shop in 2020 and the two storey shop is filled with plenty of merchandise, but also art. Here you can see an example of a painting that was for sale in the shop for £1500. Who says Rock music can’t be art.

Huge advertisement for Hackney Diamonds in the Rolling Stones shop in Carnaby Street.

Painting of the group which you can buy in the Rolling Stones shop. Is Ron Wood the artist?

And then after writing about this little British Rock Music Tour I felt like listening to the Rolling Stones with their number Angry from their great album Hackney Diamonds. Cool number. 

I hope you had fun on this little tour that we did!

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