Memories of the Marquee Club in London

Posted in: Art, People | 4

I was born and raised in Britain and when I was in my mid teens the punk rock era came to life. Needless to say I jumped in with both feet, from the bondage pants to safety pins and of course I saw many bands play live. I think, now that I am all grown up, I impressed my kids the most when they found out I had seen the Sex Pistols live. The images above are my semi-abstract paintings of Joe Strummer, rhythm guitarist & co-lead vocalist of the Clash and Sid Vicious, the bassist & co-vocalist for the Sex Pistols.

The Marquee Club in London was the place to go as it was cheap and was open every night of the week…if my memory serves me right. All the famous bands of today, like The Rolling Stones, The Who, Police, Boom Town Rats, Jethro Tull, Generation X, The Stranglers, The Pretenders, XTC, The Jam, to name but a few, all played there. The changing room in the Marquee was covered in graffiti and looked more like a cell than anything else, but it was the venue to be at when you were just starting out. I remember one night I went there to see The Police and the supporting band, who I had not heard of at that time, was the Boom Town Rats! Who would’ve thought that their lead singer, Bob Geldoff, would become a “Sir”.

The Marquee originated on Oxford Street as a Jazz and skiffle club, but from 1964 – 1988 it’s new location was Wardour St., in Soho and it became a rock and punk club. After that it moved to Charing Cross Road and eventually closed in 1996. Truly defining the end of an era.

 



Both these images are for sale in my gallery as:

Wall Art, Home Décor, Puzzle, Beach Items, Tote Bags, Greeting Card/Stationery, Phone Case, Coffee Mug, Face Mask and Apparel.

The image is adjustable, use all of it or just part of it. Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Click on the image above for more information.

 

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Michael

Haha, a bit before my time but I used to frequent a club like this in Cape Town called the “Purple Turtle” back in the 90s and it too was the place to be seen when you were just starting out! That and another deviant club called “Playgrounds” although sadly Playgrounds closed late 80s Purple Turtle went on to survive into the noughties but its hey day was over before the millenium, also and end to an ‘era’! My favourite venue of all though had to be “The Fringe” which although I never saw live music there was the place to be if you wanted to hear any kind of music you could imagine, they played it! they held themed evenings for every night of the week from modders to rega, ska and dub, goth , pop halloween, you name it they played it! This fantastic nightclub which will forever be etched upon my psyche sadly burnt down in the noughties after the owner fell asleep one night after closing with a cigarette. Luckily no other casulaties other than himself but it was still extremely sad, not just because of his tragic death but because it totally uprooted our little clique we had going! lol! to be young, dumb and full of…

Vanayssa Love

Love this Pennie. How interesting. I didn’t know any of that. How lucky you were to live near there at that time in history. You must have had so much fun. Was your mother worried?