New title from Paradise Road, OUT NOW
It is just a short stretch of shops and offices on the edge of Soho, but for musicians and music fans Denmark Street has always been London’s street of dreams.
In the 1960s and ’70s, Denmark Street was where The Beatles hung out when they first arrived in London, where Elton John worked as a post boy, David Bowie camped in a converted ambulance, The Rolling Stones recorded their first album, Ray Davies was chased by the police and The Sex Pistols thrashed out punk – in a building shared with the designers of Pink Floyd album covers. A rapidly changing scene saw the music publishers and songwriters move out, replaced by shops selling musical instruments.
In the ’90s, its musical heritage attracted the likes of Acid Jazz Records to the street, as well as specialist music bookshop Helter Skelter and legendary live-music venue the 12 Bar Club.
With the rock’n’roll came the sex and drugs, not to mention death: the darker side of Denmark Street includes gangster-run clubs and a largely forgotten arson attack that claimed 37 lives.
This new book covers the history of Denmark Street from the arrival of the first music publishers in the early 20th century to the 21st-century gentrification threatening to erode this remarkable musical heritage.
Hardback, 200 pages, with photography by Rob Telford
