TIN PAN ALLEY The History of Soho's Denmark Street Tuesday 26th September 2023 Doors open at 6:30 pm, Talk commences at 7:00 pm Britain’s own Tin Pan Alley, Denmark Street was at one time alive with the sound of hammered pianos, and sung melodies and choruses. Its songwriters knocked out tunes on the fly and rushed to the street to sell them to pay for the next round of drinks. 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 Stones recorded their first album, Ray Davies was chased by the police and the Sex Pistols occupied an old workshop formulating Anarchy in the UK, and annoying the neighbours – who happened to be Hipgnosis, designers of album covers for the likes of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. In the ’90s, the street’s musical heritage attracted the likes of Acid Jazz Records, 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 evening revisits this glorious musical heritage with Peter Watts, author of the just released Denmark Street: London’s Street of Sound, and Mark Blake, author of the recently published Us and Them: The Authorised Story of Hipgnosis. Tickets £12. Please click here to buy.