Roundhouse at 50 : BBC 4 Sunday 22.00

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

The Roundhouse at 50: From gin joint to cultural tonic - October 2016

The Roundhouse venue in Camden, London, was at the centre of the British counterculture from its beginning. The opening concert was the All Night Rave in October 1966, featuring ‘the Pink Floyd’; and many other celebrated rock acts like The Doors and The Stones subsequently played there. The Roundhouse was also spiritual home to revolutionary theatre, hosted poetry readings and jazz, and later tapped into punk as well as avant-garde classical music. As a new Arena documentary, The Roundhouse - The People's Palace, comes to BBC Four, BRIAN MORTON traces its illustrious half-century."

BN.

[elmo]

[QUOTE=BLUESNIK'S REVOX;584189]The Roundhouse at 50: From gin joint to cultural tonic - October 2016

The Roundhouse venue in Camden, London, was at the centre of the British counterculture from its beginning. The opening concert was the All Night Rave in October 1966, featuring ‘the Pink Floyd’; and many other celebrated rock acts like The Doors and The Stones subsequently played there. The Roundhouse was also spiritual home to revolutionary theatre, hosted poetry readings and jazz, and later tapped into punk as well as avant-garde classical music. As a new Arena documentary, The Roundhouse - The People's Palace, comes to BBC Four, BRIAN MORTON traces its illustrious half-century."

QUOTE]

Good programme - did not know that the playwright Arnold Wesker was behind it's inauguration. All sorts of interesting people were there through the sixties and seventies, Alan Ginsberg, Stokeley Carmichael etc.

I used to go there when I lived in London in the late sixties - remember a good gig when Roland Kirk played there and also on that night were Vandergraff Generator (their first live gig) and the pop/folk singer Melanie(Safka). Poor Melanie she came onto the stage and perched on a stool in the centre of the stage ready to start her first number when a sandbag on a rope (part of the scenery) swung down and hit her straight on the back of the head and she went sprawling across the stage. She was very shook up but like trooper she dusted herself down and carried on.

elmo

[Lat-Literal]

For what it's worth, I have never set foot in the Roundhouse which is surprising given that I spent so many nights of so many years in North London venues as well as South - Town and Country Club, latterly The Forum, Kilburn National, Mean Fiddler, Dingwalls, Jazz Cafe, Alexandra Palace, Sir George Robey, Camden Underworld, the Bull and Gate, the moved Marquee and Finsbury Park itself to name but a few. The reason is that it was closed between 1983 and 1996. Similarly, I have never been into the Rainbow which closed in 1982.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

For what it's worth, I have never set foot in the Roundhouse which is surprising given that I spent so many nights of so many years in North London venues as well as South - Town and Country Club, latterly The Forum, Kilburn National, Mean Fiddler, Dingwalls, Jazz Cafe, Alexandra Palace, Sir George Robey, Camden Underworld, the Bull and Gate, the moved Marquee and Finsbury Park itself to name but a few. The reason is that it was closed between 1983 and 1996. Similarly, I have never been into the Rainbow which closed in 1982.

I only found out recently er, today, that the Scene Club of mod sixties fame, a bleak and souless concrete basement in Ham Yard where trendy London shop girls (and me) would pose around at lunchtimes to import R&B records, was, wait for...the very same place as the legendary Club 11 of the birth of British modern jazz fame. After that it was Cy Laurie's Jazz Club, famous home of youthful bohemians, rebel toffs, leggy St Martins art students and 50s traddddditional jazzzzz. Now its replaced by some very upmarket hotel.

Who'd have thought that I once "two stepped" to Jimmy Mcgriff in the very basement that modern jazz (Brit style) was conceived. The ghosts are everywhere.

BN.

[Serial_Apologist]

I'm going to have to check this programme out, in order to see if the Dialectics of Liberation Congress got a mention, it having been one of the major events of that year for me, even of my life. They always mention the Allen Ginsburg poetry be-in of the previous year when running the history of the Halbert 'All.

I only found out recently er, today, that the Scene Club of mod sixties fame, a bleak and souless concrete basement in Ham Yard where trendy London shop girls (and me) would pose around at lunchtimes to import R&B records, was, wait for...the very same place as the legendary Club 11 of the birth of British modern jazz fame. After that it was Cy Laurie's Jazz Club, famous home of youthful bohemians, rebel toffs, leggy St Martins art students and 50s traddddditional jazzzzz. Now its replaced by some very upmarket hotel.

I hadn't known that either!

Who'd have thought that I once "two stepped" to Jimmy Mcgriff in the very basement that modern jazz (Brit style) was conceived. The ghosts are everywhere.

BN.

I'm just glad I missed out on the jive style of dancing (known as the Jitterbug by the previous generation) by a whisker - when I came in was about the time of the Twist, which probably led to many of the lower back problems suffered by those of us of a certain age range, but didn't threaten head, if not total body injury! E.g.:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1fwq3tP7cg

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

I went with my then girlfriend to an "invite only" demonstration of the emerging twist by "Britain's best twisters" (no, not the Tories). They were rubbish but the band was Howie Casey and the Seniors. Howie was a tenor sax player from Liverpool and not half bad. Their singer was...oh no no no..a young Freddie Starr! Fortunately we didn't pay and skipped (twisted?) out the back...

BN