London: day forty-three

Today was one of the days in my British Youth Culture class when the lecture did not take place in the classroom. Instead, we met in Soho and went on a walking tour through the streets of Soho, through Carnaby Street, and then took the Tube to Abbey Road.

At the start of our excursion, we stood on Denmark Street looking down toward the Alley Cat Bar which was a venue for many of what would become some of the most famous bands to emerge out of London. We stood directly underneath the flat that the Sex Pistols’ manager owned, and where they more than likely met and played. Around the corner and across the street we stopped in front of what used to be the Grand Marque (now the Montague Pyke); the venue at which both Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd as well as many other well-knowns played some of their first performances. This is right next to what was the London School of Fashion.

Down a side street, we passed by Ronnie Scott’s. Across the street from there, was the Bar Italia right next door to where Mozart lived and wrote during his time in London, and above which is the apartment that the demonstration of the first television was revealed. We stopped briefly in front of the flat where Karl Marx lived while in London, where he wrote Das Kapital, and then we cut down a narrow alley and ended up at Trident Records, the place where some of the biggest names in music recorded their albums; the Beatles, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Black Sabbath, Queen, Elton John, and many others. We went down Wardour Street, known as the home of London film, and ended up on the street corner that Oasis’ most famous album cover was photographed from. We also passed by the public toilet that one day while recording, a bored John Lennon donned a top hat and tails just to have a laugh ushering people in. Just a bit further down, there was a plaque on the wall of one of the apartments commemorating the painter Canalleto who lived there. Canalleto was one of the first artists to set up shop in Soho, he would never know the influence he had, because since him, artists, musicians, filmmakers, fashion designers, actors, any and everyone with creativity in their blood has since flocked to Soho ever since. From here, they have changed the world, over and over and over again.

Not far from here was Carnaby Street. Unfortunately we did not get nearly as much time here as I would have liked (will just have to come back), but we did get to see some of its history. Right at the corner was a plaque commemorating John Stephen who is one of those credited with starting the “Boutique Revolution” – setting up shop intentionally parallel to the street which held all the designer stores for the wealthy. We also popped into a small courtyard where apparently many fashion shows were given, at one of which John Lennon met his future wife.

When we left Carnaby, we passed by the Vogue House, the London branch of one of the biggest names in fashion today, and the place where the real “devil wears Prada” worked. It was a little further from there where we came across my favorite part of the whole excursion; Jimi Hendrix’s apartment. Hendrix made his name in London due to the racial boundaries in the States which continually held him back. He quickly became a star overnight, and when he returned to the States, it was as one of the greatest rock stars ever to have lived. His heart remained in London, however, and ultimately he came back (to a different apartment, not the one we saw) and spent the remainder of his life there. The best thing, which Hendrix also appreciated, was that right next door to this apartment which he lived in when he first moved to London, was the place where George Fredrick Handel lived and wrote many of his greatest works – including the Messiah chorus. Like Hendrix, Handel was forced to leave his country due to being oppressed (for him, on religious grounds), and come make a name for himself in London. He also ultimately returned to his German home-country and was regarded as a celebrity. Before moving on to Abbey Road, we stopped briefly to look at a plaque on another wall marking the place of the original HMV Store, “the world’s most famous music store.”

Then it was the one you’ve all been waiting for: Abbey Road. And yes, we took our picture walking across the famous crosswalk. I do not have that picture yet as they were all taken on one camera from someone in the class. My professor suggested that someone go barefoot like Paul McCartney did in the photography, and looked at me, “I’m looking at you because I know you’re hardcore.” While I considered it, ultimately I decided to keep the shoes due to the cold, rain and possible glass on the road; maybe if it had been warmer. We then stood outside of Abbey Road Studios and wrote our names on the white barrier wall before it (they whitewash it every so often to make room for new signatures). Unknown to many, Abbey Road was famous before the Beatles because it was where the composer Sir Edward Elgar recorded his symphonies, breaking the barrier in the classical world and becoming the first to record classical music to vinyl, consequently making classical accessible to a much wider audience. There is a plaque next to the door with his name, and it is rumored that every morning before entering the studio, Lennon would lean over and kiss it. This really is speculation though as the plaque honestly is quite a little distance from the door and as our professor implied, all the band members were pretty hopped up on drugs during those days, and he doubted someone who was high could manage to reach over the railing that far without ended up face-first in a bush.

So that was our excursion, and it was by far the most interesting day we have had in that class up to date. There’s something about seeing the places where these legends lived and worked that makes them more real in a way, and it is quite an inspiring and, to a degree, a quite inexplicable experience.