Strap yourself in for a magical musical ride to the very core of England's rock 'n' roll heritage. Bulging with stories, facts and anecdotes and crammed with rare archive photographs, Never Mind the Bollards showcases English rock and pop music's biggest stars and wildest characters, visiting the places where these musical heroes grew up and hung out. The book focuses on the enduring heroes and legends of English rock and pop music from The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, to the Smiths, Blur and Oasis as well as some of England's unsung heroes. It delves into the stories behind the songs and visits the places that have inspired a million song lyrics: from Waterloo Bridge to Penny Lane, Primrose Hill to Solsbury Hill and Billericay to Totnes. From Battersea Power Station to Dungeness, this book tours the locations where the famous and not-so-famous album sleeves were shot and discovers the locations where some of the best pop videos were filmed. In addition there are quirky stories throughout from informative to scandalous and humorous; themed playlists from anti-Thatcher tracks to songs that evoke the seasons and it also encourages readers to recreate their own album cover with partners, friends and a camera phone. * Rock history told through landmark locations * Traces the development of each musical scene and genre * Showcases English rock and pop music's stars and characters * Presents momentous gigs and places where these musical heroes grew up and hung out * Crammed with stories, facts, anecdotes and photographs

About the Author

Music has been a passion for freelance writer and photographer Max Wooldridge ever since his famous sportswriter father banned everything but Beethoven from the childhood home. He later turned to writing when he realized he couldn't sustain even a basic beat with chopsticks on a biscuit tin. He is a former Observer Young Travel Writer of the Year and author of Rock 'n' Roll London and several travel guides. He writes for UK newspapers and magazines and specialises in the quirky and adventurous - staying in an old Soviet prison in Latvia, attending rodeo school in the Aussie outback and firing rocket-propelled grenades in Cambodia. He lives in south-west London.

Table of Contents

Foreword; Introduction; About the book London: Soho, West One and Central London Locations Heddon Street (Ziggy Stardust) The 100 Club Denmark Street/Tin Pan Alley Trident Sound Studios Savoy Hotel (Bob Dylan, DA Pennebaker, Subterranean Homesick Blues) Brook Street (Jimi Hendrix) The Lyceum (rock & pop shrine/Bob Marley) Features Coffee House Rock & the Soho Skiffle Scene (Tommy Steele, Lonnie Donegan, the 2i's club etc) Carnaby Street, Swinging 60s, The Mods, Pill-Popping at the Flamingo and the Scene 1960s London Folk clubs e.g. Les Cousins (Bert Jansch, John Renbourn & Paul Simon) Gone But Not Forgotten - important central London venues (the Marquee, Astoria etc) 1960s pop hang-outs like the Bag O' Nails & the Ad Lib club The Blitz Club, New Romantics & Spandau Ballet Glam Rock - Bowie & Bolan The UFO Club and All-Nighters. London: North, East, South & West London North London locations Camden (fashion/shops/markets, "free-thinking", Madness, Amy Winehouse) The Good Mixer (Oasis) The Dublin Castle Koko (Camden Palace) Primrose Hill (inspiration for loads of lyrics, two album covers; also in 'Fool on the Hill' by Beatles) The Hope & Anchor, Islington (debut London gigs for U2, the Stranglers, Joy Division and more) Features Abbey Road crossing/studios The Kinks' North London Britpop & Camden South London locations Queen's Ride, Barnes (pilgrimage site where Marc Bolan died) 430 Kings Road (cradle of punk, McLaren's Sex shop) Battersea Power station (Pink Floyd album) Waterloo Bridge (The Kinks) Brixton Academy Features Squeeze, South London's Bacharach & David West London locations The Westway & Portobello (The Clash, lots of album covers etc) Notting Hill Carnival Logan Place, Freddie Mercury's former residence Features Westway to the World: Punk, The Sex Pistols & The Clash. No Sleep til' Hammersmith - two legendary west London venues - Hammersmith Palais and the Hammersmith Odeon/Apollo East London locations Hoxton Street, E1 (The Verve Bitter Sweet Symphony video) Itchycoo Park (Ilford, Small Faces) Features 'Agitpop' - Victoria Park, Hackney, Rock Against Racism & the tradition of protest in English pop Birmingham & The Midlands Locations The Barton Arms, Aston, (Black Sabbath). Tanworth-in-Arden (Nick Drake). Rock City (Nottingham) Saramoons, Birmingham (Duran Duran). Malvern Winter Gardens. Cromford railway station (Oasis). Castle Donington (heavy rock mecca). Features: Satan's Come Around the Bend: Heavy Metal & Black Sabbath (Birmingham). Dawning of a New Era: Ska, 2-Tone & The Specials (& The Margaret Thatcher Songbook) (Coventry). South-East England & East Anglia Locations: Stanley Road, Woking (Paul Weller). Mapledurham Watermill, Oxfordshire (Black Sabbath). Ely Cathedral (Pink Floyd). Knebworth House. Glisson Road, Cambridge (Syd Barrett). Dungeness (album covers galore and Derek Jarman). St Mary's Churchyard, Henley (Dusty Springfield). Brighton Pier etc (Mods & Rockers, Quadrophenia) The Zodiac, Oxford (Radiohead). Reading Festival. Features: Dr Feelgood's Canvey Island (Essex). Back to Basics, Pub Rock (Essex). The Bard of Barking, Billy Bragg (Essex). Lord Upminster, the Rhyming Genius of Ian Dury (Essex). The Canterbury Scene & Progressive Rock (Kent). The Sound of the Suburbs: the enduring importance of suburbs to pop and punk music, e.g Bromley (Kent). The British Blues explosion / Crawdaddy club etc (Richmond, Surrey). Psychedelic Rock & Pink Floyd etc (Cambridge). Folk Rock & Cambridge Folk Festival (Cambridge). Mods and Quadrophenia etc (Brighton) Your Song: pop songs inspired by English people: e.g. , the "professional cynic whose heart's not in it" in Blur's Country House is former Blur manager and boss/co-owner of Food Records, Dave Balfe, The country house in the video was Pyrton Manor (Oxfordshire). South & South-West England Locations Dimbola Lodge / Jimi Hendrix statue (Isle of Wight) Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel) Stonehenge (Spinal Tap!) Southsea Pier (Tommy) Beaulieu National Motor Museum, Brockenhurst (exhibition of cars owned by rock stars like Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler etc). Headley Grange (Led Zeppelin) The Joiners Arms, Southampton. Priory Road Cemetery, Cheltenham (Brian Jones). Weston-Super-Mare beach (Oasis, Beatles). Colston Hall, Bristol. Glastonbury. All Tomorrow's Parties, Minehead (Somerset) Features: Festival, Hippies and Mysticism etc (Glastonbury). Trip Hop Scene & Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky etc (Bristol). Isle of Wight & Bestival Festivals (Isle of Wight). You Don't Have to be an Old Fogey to Play Folk: The New Folk scene (Seth Lakeman) (Devon). Liverpool, Merseyside & The Wirral Locations Cavern Quarter/Mathew Street. Beatles Statues - John Lennon statue/Dooley statue/Eleanor Rigby statue The Grapes pub - favourite Beatles hang-out. Waterfront/Albert Dock - Beatles Story attraction. The Picket - famous venue. Independent Quarter (local bands, live gigs etc). Parr Street Studios (iconic bands have recorded here). Korova (bar & club, live music seven nights a week, Arctic Monkeys album cover). Features Liverpool's annual Festivals/Events (International Beatle Week, Mathew Street Music Festival, Liverpool Music Week, Creamfields). Erics (famous former club, new wave response to punk rock, huge impact on music scene). Sing When You're Winning - football and pop entwined (from the massed ranks of the Anfield Kop on Pink Floyd's Meddle to Thin Lizzy's The Boys Are Back in Town being adopted by Luton Town to soundtrack players running onto the pitch). Plus which rock & pop stars support which clubs? Magical Mystery Tour: Beatles Liverpool locations (including Cavern Club, 251 Menlove Avenue, Penny Lane, 20 Forthlin Road, Strawberry Fields, Empress Pub, Dingle, St Peters Church (Eleanor Rigby). Four Lads That Shook The Wirral: the tradition of satire & humour in English pop (Half Man Half Biscuit, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band etc). Manchester & The Northwest Locations Salford Lads Club (The Smiths). Macclesfield Crematorium (Ian Curtis). Radisson Edwardian Manchester, formerly the Free Trade Hall (Bob Dylan, Buzzcocks and the Sex Pistols ). Northern Quarter, Manchester's vibrant heart, including Piccadilly Records & Vinyl Exchange. Blackpool (The Kinks' Autumn Almanac/ 1990 Stone Roses gig). Widnes (Spike Island and Paul Simon's Homeward Bound). Sifters Records, Didsbury (Oasis). Features Madchester, Factory Records & The Hacienda etc (Manchester). England's Unofficial Capital of Pop? (Salford) The Bard of Salford, John Cooper Clarke. The Road to Wigan Casino (Wigan Casino, The Twisted Wheel Club, Northern Soul and Soul All-Nighters). Mancunian Miserablists (The Smiths). Yorkshire & the Northeast Locations Lindisfarne, Holy island. The Leadmill Club, Sheffield. Coles Corner, Sheffield (Richard Hawley) Newcastle City Hall (The Animals, Emerson Lake & Palmer). River Tyne. Leeds University (The Who, Live At Leeds) Scarborough (inspiration for Simon & Garfunkel) Features: Synth Pop & the Human League etc (Sheffield, Yorkshire). Goths & Gothic Rock - The Cult/The Mission/The Sisters of Mercy etc (Leeds/Bradford). The Best English Live Albums Ever (taking its cue from The Who - Live At Leeds). England's Folk Dynasty: the Watersons & Carthys (& Kate Rusby) (Yorkshire). The Angelic Upstarts & Oi! (Newcastle/South Shields). Roxy Music and Art Rock (Newcastle).