Marquee Club

Last updated

Marquee Club
Wardour Street former site of the original Marquee Club, London.jpg
The former site of the Marquee Club in Wardour Street, Soho
Marquee Club
LocationLondon
Coordinates 51°30′48″N0°08′02″W / 51.5134°N 0.1339°W / 51.5134; -0.1339
Type Nightclub
Genre(s) Rock
Opened19 April 1958
Closed2008

The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, which opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End.

Contents

It was the location of the first live performance by the Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962. [1] [2]

Origins

The club was established by Harold Pendleton, an accountant whose love of jazz had led him to become secretary of the National Jazz Federation. Originally it was located in the Marquee Ballroom in the basement of the Academy Cinema in Oxford Street, where dances had been held since the early 1950s. Its decor was designed by Angus McBean with a striped canopy to imitate a marquee. Pendleton took over management of the ballroom, and the first Jazz at the Marquee night was held on 19 April 1958. Johnny Dankworth, Chris Barber, Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies were early resident performers, and Tubby Hayes and Joe Harriott were also regular performers. In 1962 the club began a regular R&B night that occasionally featured visiting American musicians such as Muddy Waters. Pendleton also launched the National Jazz Festival in 1961 in Richmond; this was the precursor to the Reading and Leeds Festivals. [3] By 1963 the club had become most noted for its R&B acts, including Davies, Brian Auger and Manfred Mann–who played there a record 102 times between 1962 and 1976–but Pendleton was forced to find a new venue when his lease expired. [4]

The 1960s: Rock roots

Richmond Mews, Soho (2018), where the back loading entrance to the Marquee Club was located and also where the Marquee Studios were housed. Richmond Mews, Soho (2018), where the back loading entrance to the Marquee Club and the Marquee Studios was located.jpg
Richmond Mews, Soho (2018), where the back loading entrance to the Marquee Club was located and also where the Marquee Studios were housed.
Blue plaque commemorating Keith Moon playing at the Marquee Club Keith moon at marquee.JPG
Blue plaque commemorating Keith Moon playing at the Marquee Club

In March 1964, the club moved a short distance to what became its most famous venue, with an entrance at 90 Wardour Street, and the actual music venue housed over two buildings. Almost every major rock band played on the tiny stage here over the next 25 years.

The Marquee in Wardour Street did not have an alcohol licence until 1970, [5] hence, Simon White (manager of the Marquee Studio) and music agent Kenny Bell [6] came up with the idea of opening a private bar called La Chasse Club [7] at 100 Wardour Street, which Jack Barrie managed. La Chasse became the watering hole of many musicians and operated until 1973. [8] [9]

Band residencies during the late 1960s included Alexis Korner, Cyril Davies, Camel, Chris Barber, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, the Who, King Crimson, the Syn, Mabel Greer's Toyshop, Yes, Jethro Tull, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Pink Floyd (who played on Sunday afternoons as part of the Spontaneous Underground club). [10] Another band that made regular appearances was the Manish Boys, featuring David Bowie, who first played there in November 1964. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac gave their first performance there in 1967. [4] To find out who was playing on any given night, you could just call in at the 'Ship' pub a few doors away. [11]

In 1964, Moody Blues manager/producer Alex Murray used a homemade studio in the garage at the back of the club to produce the classic "Go Now" single, which shot to No. 1 at Christmas 1964, and filmed for it the first ever UK pop promo video. The development of Marquee Studios was largely financed by profits from this record.[ citation needed ] The studio was later used by Elton John, the Groundhogs, the Clash and others. [4] The Rolling Stones, who first appeared at the club in July 1962, [4] returned there on 26 March 1971 after a nine-year hiatus to film a television special.[ citation needed ]

John Gee, a former accountant and journalist, became the manager of the Marquee Club during the 1960s and was a pivotal part of helping create what the Melody Maker termed "the most important venue in the history of pop music". [5] Gee championed certain groups that played at the club such as Ten Years After and Jethro Tull, and wrote the liner notes for Ten Years After's eponymous 1967 debut album. Jethro Tull named the B-side of their second single, "A Song For Jeffrey", a jazz-flavoured instrumental, "One for John Gee". Gee introduced the bands to the audience before they appeared on stage. He left the Marquee Club in 1970 to take a job in the offices of Radio Luxembourg. Jack Barrie, who was the manager of the Soho bar La Chasse, took over as the manager of the Marquee in 1970. [5]

The 1970s

The Marquee Club also nurtured a large social scene based around the record industry, with record company heads and their A&R representatives visiting the venue on a daily basis, often talent spotting. The venue also attracted many famous musicians and recording artists who simply used the VIP Bar to socialise in. The Marquee staff became an integral part of the club as much as the bands that performed there.[ citation needed ]

The Faces performed at The Marquee on 7 December 1970. Queen performed at the club three times in the beginning of their career. First on 8 January 1971, then on 20 December 1972, and on 9 April 1973, as their first gig after signing with the Trident record company. [12] [13] In 1972, Status Quo took to the stage with a blistering set, including "Paper Plane", the video for which was filmed during this gig. On 18, 19 & 20 October 1973, Be-Bop Deluxe and String Driven Thing appeared on the same bill in 1974, David Bowie filmed The 1980 Floor Show at the Marquee for the American NBC TV late night show The Midnight Special. [14] NBC used the Marquee Studios (housed beside the venue) as dressing rooms for the cast.

Although never a seminal punk venue, the club nevertheless embraced the burgeoning punk rock movement of the late 1970s and regularly promoted punk and new wave nights into the 1980s. Bands such as Sex Pistols, X-Ray Spex, the Boys, Eddie and the Hot Rods, the Damned, the Stranglers, Generation X, London, the Police, XTC, Skrewdriver, the Sinceros, Buzzcocks, the early Adam & the Ants, the Jam, Joy Division, the Sound and the Cure all trod the famous Wardour Street stage. Mainstream rock acts like Dire Straits (on their first tour, 5 and 6 July 1978), [15] Alexis Korner, Steve Hillage, Rory Gallagher, Racing Cars, the Enid, Hanoi Rocks, the Tyla Gang, Universe and Karakorum (featuring Martin Chambers, later of the Pretenders) also appeared regularly at the venue.

The 1980s

During the early to mid-1980s the Marquee became an important venue to the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM). Def Leppard played their first show on the Pyromania World Tour here, and included a different setlist from the rest of the shows on that tour. There was a glam revival spearheaded by Hanoi Rocks, the Babysitters, the Quireboys and others. NWOBHM bands, such as Angel Witch, Diamond Head, Girlschool, Witchfynde, Rock Goddess, Silverwing and Praying Mantis were regulars. Iron Maiden played a string of the dates at the club in 1980 and were filmed performing for LWT documentary 20th Century Box (introduced by a very young Danny Baker). Metallica performed their first UK show at the venue on 27 March 1984. In April 1985 Robin Trower recorded the majority of his live album Beyond the Mist at the Marquee Club. This album also includes two new studio tracks and an extended 10-minute version of "Bridge of Sighs".

The Marquee was the central venue of the progressive rock revival of the early 1980s. It was here that the then-unsigned Marillion began to gain a wider fan base and press interest by playing frequent two-night residencies to a sold-out crowd. Other neo-prog acts of the time regularly headlining at the club included Twelfth Night, Solstice and Pallas, often supported by acts such as Pendragon or IQ who would in later years become leading lights of the neo-prog scene. Other progressive bands regularly playing the Marquee at this time included Quasar, Mach One, Haze, Cardiacs, Legacy of Lies and Liaison (who were not strictly prog but seemed to become linked to the movement).

During this period the club held heats and the final of Melody Maker 's "band contests". New wave and indie bands appeared, including "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" one-hit wonders Splodgenessabounds and the almost-cult band the Hummers. In 1985, Wham! filmed the video for "I'm Your Man" there, clearly showing the Marquee name.

The band Genesis also performed at the Marquee during their 1982 Abacab Encore tour. At the Marquee, they signed as Garden Wall.

Final location, closure and subsequent re-use of the name

Ballboy at the Marquee Club on 13 August 2005 Ballboy.jpg
Ballboy at the Marquee Club on 13 August 2005

In 1988, Harold Pendleton sold the club to Billy Gaff, the former manager of Rod Stewart. [4] The Wardour Street site was sold for redevelopment (it is now Meza and Floridita with a cigar retail shop, Spanish restaurant and Cuban restaurant and some flats), and the Marquee Club was forced to move again, this time to a larger venue at the former Cambridge Circus Cinematograph Theatre, 105 Charing Cross Road. [16] During this period, American progressive metal band Dream Theater recorded their first live album, Live at the Marquee , at the venue on 23 April 1993. Additionally, the American group All Mod Cons: A Tribute to the JAM, drew the largest ever crowd at this location in October 1993. This site was subsequently bought for redevelopment and the club closed in 1996. A Wetherspoons pub named "The Montagu Pyke" now occupies the building. In 1992, Marquee Club also used by Europe for their Halfway to Heaven song's videoclip.

The Marquee was relocated in 2001 by Billy Gaff and entrepreneur Doug Palfreeman to Angel, Islington, in a purpose-built space. It was then sold on to Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. However, with Stewart's team this hit financial difficulties and closed in 2003, less than a year after it had opened. It is now O2 Academy Islington.

Under new owner entrepreneur Nathan Lowry, the Marquee Club re-opened in 2004 in Leicester Square above MTV's TRL studio. Jimmy Page re-opened the club. The opening night was called the Breakthrough Weekender featuring dozens of new and unsigned artists. A Jimi Hendrix exhibition ran for three months featuring a large collection of original guitars and unseen footage at the club, before being auctioned by Mick Fleetwood's auction company Fleetwood Owen. The club featured over 500 new and established bands during its time here, including Razorlight, the Feeling, and the Magic Numbers. Many music industry launches were held at the club including the Download Festival featuring Ozzy, Green Day, Billy Idol and Snow Patrol. Both MTV and the club closed with the Marquee citing licensing problems with Westminster Council. It continued as a pop up in St Martin's Lane for another year until closing in 2008. Lowry continues to hold the brand rights.

Former entrance to the Marquee Club on Upper Saint Martin's Lane Marquee Club August 2007.jpg
Former entrance to the Marquee Club on Upper Saint Martin’s Lane

General and cited references

Citations

  1. "The Rolling Stones 40 years anniversary Marquee Club, London, July 12, 1962", The Rolling Stones Fan Club of Europe. It's Only Rock'n Roll.
  2. Jim Farber (12 July 1962). "The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones celebrate 50 years". New York Daily News. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  3. Barroso, K. "Marquee Promotions' Festivals". TheMarqueeClub.net. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Solly, Bob (April 2014). "The Crucible". Record Collector. No. 426. pp. 38–46.
  5. 1 2 3 "Journalist and manager who helped make the Marquee Club in Soho the epicentre of British rock in the 1960s". The Independent . 26 July 2014.
  6. Article about Kenny Bell La Chasse Club, The Marquee, and David Bowie, written by a former Marquee employee
  7. "Kenny Bell obituary". The Times . 14 August 2023. p. 42. 'Music promoter who booked some of rock's biggest acts and helped David Bowie to fund and record his first demos'
  8. "The Quietus | News | GALLERY: Rowan Bulmer". Thequietus.com. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  9. Thompson, Howard (5 November 2008). "La Chasse". North Fork Sound. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  10. Miles, Barry (2002). In the Sixties. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN   9780224062404.
  11. Barroso, K. (January 2007). "Interview with Peter Banks of Yes". TheMarqueeClub.net. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007.
  12. Rassadyn, Andrey (1994). About Queen. Moscow, Russia: Mir Vokrug Nas. p. 336. ISBN   5900809013.
  13. "Queen Concerts 20.12.1972". QueenConcerts.com.
  14. "The Ziggy Stardust Companion - The 1980 Floor Show (1/2)". 5years.com. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  15. "Dire Straits tour 1978". Tours. Canada: Mark Knopfler official site. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  16. "The Bioscope: the cinema king". Thebioscope.net. 19 November 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2015.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexis Korner</span> British blues musician and radio broadcaster (1928–1984)

Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner, known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, he was instrumental in the formation of several notable British bands including The Rolling Stones and Free.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Jones</span> British musician, founding member of the Rolling Stones (1942–1969)

Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones recordings and in concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jethro Tull (band)</span> British rock band

Jethro Tull are a British progressive rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1967. Initially playing blues rock and jazz fusion, the band soon incorporated elements of English folk music, hard rock and classical music, forging a signature progressive rock sound. The group's lead vocalist, bandleader, founder, principal composer and only constant member is Ian Anderson, who also plays flute and acoustic guitar. The group has featured a succession of musicians throughout the decades, including significant contributors such as guitarists Mick Abrahams and Martin Barre ; bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, John Glascock, Dave Pegg and Jonathan Noyce; drummers Clive Bunker, Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow and Doane Perry; and keyboardists John Evan, Dee Palmer, Peter-John Vettese and Andrew Giddings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mayall</span> English blues musician (born 1933)

John Mayall is an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians.

British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s, and reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s. In Britain, blues developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar, and made international stars of several proponents of the genre, including the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Jeff Beck Group</span> English blues rock band

The Jeff Beck Group was a British rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy-sounding blues, rhythm and blues and rock was a major influence on popular music.

Blues rock is a fusion genre and form of rock music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock. From its beginnings in the early to mid-1960s, blues rock has gone through several stylistic shifts and along the way it inspired and influenced hard rock, Southern rock, and early heavy metal.

<i>Then Play On</i> 1969 studio album by Fleetwood Mac

Then Play On is the third studio album by the British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 19 September 1969. It was the first of their original albums to feature Danny Kirwan and the last with Peter Green. Jeremy Spencer did not feature on the album apart from "a couple of piano things". The album offered a broader stylistic range than the straightforward electric blues of the group's first two albums, displaying elements of folk rock, hard rock, art rock and psychedelia. The album reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the band's fourth Top 20 LP in a row, as well as their third album to reach the Top 10. The album's title, Then Play On, is taken from the opening line of William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night—"If music be the food of love, play on".

Cyril Davies was an English blues musician, and one of the first blues harmonica players in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Jazz and Blues Festival</span>

The National Jazz and Blues Festival was the precursor to the Reading Rock Festival and was the brainchild of Harold Pendleton, the founder of the prestigious Marquee Club in Soho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ealing Jazz Club</span>

Ealing Jazz Club was a music venue in Ealing, west London, England, which opened in 1959. It became London's first regular blues venue, with performances by the Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies band Blues Incorporated. Now commonly referred to as the Ealing Blues Club, the venue is now a nightclub called The Red Room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clouds (1960s rock band)</span> 1960s Scottish rock band

Clouds were a 1960s Scottish rock band that disbanded in October 1971. The band consisted of Ian Ellis, Harry Hughes (drums) and Billy Ritchie (keyboards).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Cornick</span> British bass player (1947–2014)

Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick was an English bass guitarist, best known as the original bassist for the British rock band Jethro Tull from 1967 to 1970. Rolling Stone has called his playing with Tull as "stout, nimble underpinning, the vital half of a blues-ribbed, jazz-fluent rhythm section".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giorgio Gomelsky</span> Georgian musician (1934–2016)

Giorgio Sergio Alessando Gomelsky was a filmmaker, impresario, music manager, songwriter and record producer. He was born in Georgia, grew up in Switzerland, and later lived in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, or simply Blues Incorporated, were an English blues band formed in London in 1961, led by Alexis Korner and including at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Ginger Baker, Art Wood, Long John Baldry, Ronnie Jones, Danny Thompson, Graham Bond, Cyril Davies and Dick Heckstall-Smith.

British rhythm and blues was a musical movement that developed in the United Kingdom between the late 1950s and the early 1960s, and reached a peak in the mid-1960s. It overlapped with, but was distinct from, the broader British beat and more purist British blues scenes, attempting to emulate the music of American blues and rock and roll pioneers, such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. It often placed greater emphasis on guitars and was often played with greater energy.

Geoffrey Frank Bradford was an English guitarist who played alongside British blues musicians in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Long John Baldry and Alexis Korner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Flamingo Club</span> Former jazz nightclub in Soho, London

The Flamingo Club was a jazz nightclub in Soho, London, between 1952 and 1969. It was located at 33–37 Wardour Street from 1957 onwards and played an important role in the development of British rhythm and blues and modern jazz. During the 1960s, the Flamingo was one of the first clubs to employ fully amplified stage sound and it used sound systems provided by ska musicians from the Caribbean. The club had a wide social appeal and was a favourite haunt for musicians, including The Who.

Harold Pendleton was a British music business executive and former club owner, who established the Marquee Club in London and the National Jazz Festival, the precursor of the Reading Rock Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Blues and Barrelhouse Club</span>

The London Blues and Barrelhouse Club ran between 1957 and 1961 at the Round House public house at the junction of Wardour Street and Brewer Street in Soho, London. Established by Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner, it hosted many visiting American blues performers and was an important catalyst in developing British blues music, R&B, and ultimately British rock music.