Groovy Rob. Carnaby Street was a rather spent force by the time I worked in central London in the late 70s and early 80s, so I’m glad it’s spruced itself up a bit. Your presentation and graphics get better and better but not at the cost of content.
England won the World Cup ?? Why do English people never mention it ?? 😂😂😂. I love your channel, I was a very late baby and had married siblings when I was born. From about age 7 I would be put on the overnight coach from Edinburgh and spend a few weeks with my brothers who lived in Finchley, and Camberwell at various times. I also had a sister in Chatham married to a CPO in the Navy. When my brother lived in Finchley the coach dropped me off at Tally Ho corner. I remember going on a boating lake and watching a donkey derby, and.....there was a guest appearance that day by The Four Pennies !! 🎶. Yeah, I'm old, I'm 70 now. 😂😂😂
Everything looks so much nicer in the 60is, and everyone looks happier and more relaxed. I wish I could live in the 60ies for just a week and walk down the streets of London including Carnaby street.
I bought a fake newspaper there in the 1960s. It had a space at the top where a name could be printed above the words "appears naked on the West End Stage". I had the name of a colleague printed at the top and read the inside of the paper during coffee break. Thank you for another superbly-produced video.
@@Robslondon What does SOHO stand for? My dad, a very old guy who is now long gone, said it means South Hong Kong. Is that true? It makes no sense to me. And what about the American SOHO? I don't know which US city it's in, but I know there is one.
Thanks for another great video! It seems like Carnaby street lost its uniqueness and became the ordinary shopping destination with big international names. But still I like the colourful shops and street furniture there and Christmas decorations were amazing!
That was brilliant Rob, I have to agree that Carnaby St has passed it's golden days of originality and settled into something more commonplace and repetitive. You really covered a lot of ground, pardon the pun! Thank you.
Great video Rob. Right up my street! My late Cousin, Colin, was an ace face Mod in the 1960’s and was a fixture in the area right up until he passed away in the 1990’s. He frequented many of the clubs in the area and, I recall a large wreath from Madame JoJo’s at his funeral. I used to travel up to central London on a Red Bus Rover ticket with my older brother from the late 1960’s up until the mid 1970’s. As a big record collector, Andrew was in his element. I purchased my first suit, a houndstooth check Mod suit from a tailor in Marshall Street in about 1978/79. Combined with my two-tone Jam shoes, my parka and Vespa I thought I looked the dogs! Carnaby Street now is horrible. I rarely visit it! The shops are all from the high street and the area has become a destination for tourists, not that it hasn’t attracted visitors in the past. But, they flock there looking for Lord John and Gear and find Swatch and North Face. Shame!
Beautiful comment Robin, I enjoyed reading that, thank you. Your cousin sounds like he was a very cool guy! 😎 And a houndstooth check suit? Very, very nice; you have good taste sir 😉
@@Robslondon thanks mate! Colin was a child actor and performed in the west end alongside well known stars of the period. I believe, although I am probably wrong, he did try out for the role of the MilkyBar Kid.
Outstanding work Rob, excellent video. I worked in and around Soho for over 20 years and frequented Carnaby Street often. Many a pair of Levi stay-pressed trousers, Ben Sherman and Brutus shirts purchased there.
I was a bit late to the party for Carnaby St, showing up in the late 90s, but I had grown up in the punk scene in Canada in the 80s, so had a built-in fascination with the street having heard about it, for example, in the Jam song you mentioned. At the north end, there was (is?) a Pret, and I would ride in to work every day from Golborne Rd w2 (I lived above Rough Trade offices, another punk rock institution), and call in at 'Carnaby'n'Marly', and sip my coffee in the crisp autumn morning air, and just imagine what the street was like 10 years, 20years, 30years ago...there were still a few boutique shops and none of the retail giants had moved in yet, so you could still sense the last vestiges of it's fashion/style history
Wow not the hussel and bussel of the late 70's early 80's now, but quaint looking. The history is fascinating thank you for your research. Saturday camden lot days meant a walk down carnaby, kings and Portobello just for window shopping and icon watching 😊 Thanks rob i don't remember the pavements probably spent my time looking up bogged eyed at it all 😂❤❤
Another fascinating video. I spotted Liberty and had to go in and explore and low and behold I came out and found Carnaby Street. So much fun to shop these iconic areas. Thanks for the history.
7:55 in the mid 00s, the John Snow pub was the local for bike couriers, gathering from several companies to have an after work pint. One of my friends who I had known as a bike messenger in Budapest became the barwoman there, which gave the (mostly) guys further reason to gather here. (The pump became a standby spot, where we would gather while waiting for calls)
Hi Rob, yet another trip down memory lane. I went down there in the 60’s. and remember buying a poster which I can still remember. It’s a shame that the youth of today won’t have the same experiences that we had and I truly feel blessed to have been able to say that was a wonderful time for so many of us 🦆💕
For a while, in the 80s, legendary goth club The Batcave was just off Carnaby Street. I wasa skint teenager, and couldn't afford a hotel, but did have a railcard. So my strongest memory of the club was that it closed well before the first train back to Manchester. At least you could get into Euston station at night back then.
@@Robslondon - No. I think it was on Ganton Street, on the bit heading in the direction of Regent Street from Carnaby. It was a long time ago now, but I think the location is now the cocktail bar below Jakarta.
I remember I was Lord Kitcheners valet . I sometimes think I was born 10 years too late. I was still a child in the 60s. Another Swinging history of our great city RL.
A great upload and a fascinating history. Being a horror movie fan im glad you used a clip from one of my favourite films "The Haunted House of Horror" filmed around Carnaby Street in 1969. It's an interesting groovy type of Horror and featured actors Mark Wynter, Frankie Avalon, Richard O'Sullivan and George Sewell.
Nice interesting facts, Rob. Thank you. As a child up t' North, it was more like Cathy Come Home than Austin Powers - LOL -Have you ever thought of doing The Chislehurst Caves? Or the locations of many a famous album cover? Or... Story's of popular songs (eg: Itchycoo Park was about the nettles in nearby Manor Park, where the kids often 'made out')?
Great video. The thing I remember most was the flea market, which sadly didn't get a mention. Colin Wild was another colourful character. He founded the Carnaby Cavern and then had his own shop in Newburgh St. making clothes for the likes of Marc Bolan. Would be great if you could do something on Kensington Market!
Hi Rob. New subscriber here. I've got to say your videos are absolutely fantastic. As a Londoner myself (living in greece) i miss the old town and your videos (with history and amazing footage) has brought me back to London. Thank you for the amazing content
In 1978 I started managing a shop on a corner in Carnaby Street Until 1982. We went all Mod as most shops did at that time but we had a tailor who sat in the window.
Hello Rob A excellent researched and edited video. We love the Carnby area. Our favorite Byron's was on Beak Street just opposite where the his shop was. I love the walking lady art just beside that big mural. Thanks for the great video. Take care Chris and Sandra of Canada.
Hi Rob, Great video and so much information that I would never have known on such a popular street. Marshall Street Baths is very interesting too with pictures on the wall of troops training for D-Day in the swimming pool. Thanks again for the videos you do, they are extremely informative.
Fantastic Fact's, of an iconic part of London. The 50s murder being solved in 2015 is crazy. So much info, i think I'll be rewatching just to take it all in!!! I used to have trousers made in a tailor's just around the corner in the 70s?? The Time cover of 66, now that is something to put in a frame on the wall.... Thanks for you work on this, I'll be sharing it across the seas💪🇬🇧💯🤩😍
Spent lots of time in Soho in the late 80s and 90s. Always ended up haunting Liberty's fabric hall at the end of the street, having a pint or 10 at the Crown and Two Chairmen on Dean Street, survived the bombing at the Admiral, and always ended the good nights at Ronnie Scott's via the Pillars of Hercules. Sang at Ronnie's several times. I miss that vibe. It's like most great London enclaves, far too commercial for my taste now. Sad.
thank you Rob! I remember visiting Carnaby Street in the mid 1990s where there were a lot of markets down underground where all sorts of souvenirs and clothes could be found. Bootleg records too, similar to the now long gone Kensington market. I used to shop a lot in these areas as a teenager. Now it seems too bland and only aimed at rich people. Great video and history, and I thank you again for your research :) I really enjoy watching your videos, keep up the good work
I remember buying a lovely flowered shirt in carnaby street,it was purple, yellow, green, and blue flowers, great times, thanks for another great video 😊
I used to buy most of my records in a small shop off the main drag in Carnaby street. You went into a shop that had the appearance of a small shed, but when you went downstairs into the cellar, music heaven. Can't recall what it was called, but i went in most weeks. You could get, english releases, american deletions, (cheaper than the imports) imports from allover and sometimes bootlegs. I used to go in and he would say, "Oh, its you, listen to this, i think you'll like it?" He was always right. 70s and 80s.
Sadly living where I was in the sticks in the 60s free love and exotica rather passed me by and I never went to Carnaby Street in its hey day.! But what n incredible story well researched as usual by you! This the last on for today, but I look forward to more tomorrow, though I hope I do not expend the cannon as they all fill and inform my empty life. Cheers! Rob
Like all the small tidbits you add. Carnaby 1 and 2 being code words and the gentleman who was first to sell "off the rack". I was very young in 1960's but had older siblings. It is very much a part of my childhood. Hello from Oregon US.
Another great video! When I was thirteen, my parents took my brother and I to London. We were in a shop called DH Martial Arts, on Carnaby Street. A martial artist called Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace was going to be giving some kind of lecture in the shop, but we hadn't heard about it and weren't there for it. He apparently had the fastest kick in the world and had starred in a film opposite Jackie Chan. Anyway, the lecture was about to begin but he had gone down to the Shakespeare pub you spoke about. The shop's Chinese owners were getting impatient and asked if my brother and I could go down to the pub to track him down, but my parents wouldn't let us because we didn't have much time left in London and wanted to go somewhere else.
Completely and hopelessly hooked on your videos. The way you describe Carnaby street got me extremely nostalgic, although I was born way after that time and had never even been there.
I was wondering why you haven't been head hunted by the "big boys", but I'm glad you haven't, you make videos for your audience not the advertisers thoughts of what is needed. Keep up the good work, to your standards.
Terrific video! Good to see Peter Ackroyd get a mention - he's one of the best and most interesting writers on the history of London (along with our host, of course!).
Robs uncle is on the front cover of the smash hits mag featured near the end. He was the bass player in the band Department S. Thanks for always leaving such lovely messages. Best wishes Robs dad.
Bought a lot of my rock chick clothing there in the 80s, and worked at Ruby's in 1988 - a proper dive of a shop with a manager who loved ripping off tourists... Great to hear more about the history of the street especially the much earlier times you don't often hear about. Great video, thanks!
I used to "Stand By" at the top end of Carnaby St in the late 90s early 00s... Also on the steps of the Palladium next to the Newsstand along with other Bike couriers... Great Content cheers...
I lived in Ontario Canada back then in the mid 60's. One of the girls' in my class at school had an Aunt on holiday bring her back a couple of outfits she bought for her on Carnaby Street. We were all pea green with envy :)
I do indeed remember the nylon tiles! My new wife and I used to travel to London for the week-end regularly from '81 to about '89. I recall Carnaby St. being quite scruffy and couldn't understand the attraction tbh. If only I could have seen it in it's 'heyday'! We stayed at the hotel 'Rembrandt' so we could be near the museums. London seemed such an exciting place to be in those days.
@@Robslondon Cheers. The tiles felt a lot like the modern 'cushioned' linoleum and were quite slippy when wet. But I do remember how bright they were compared to the rather dowdey looking shop fronts.
I worked in Lady Jane in 67/68, and the new shop Lady Jane Again which was further down Carnaby Street on the other side. The owners used to stage stunts with naked models, very amusing, he was arrested often😂 As sales staff, I got to wear the stock, all very short and see through. 😊 Brilliant times.
I worked in Lady Janes in 1969. Yes you could wear their great stock but you had to leave the price tag on which used to dangle down on a long string and flutter in the breeze as you ran down the street to buy your lunch time sandwich. Great times.
Cheers Rob! I was there back in the 70s and it was groovy baby! really far out man! The hustle and the bustle was fabulous! What with rock music 🎶 rocking out of some shops 😊 I miss those days 🎶🎸🎼
I love Carnaby street, I always make time to visit when I’m back in London. My favourite store is the Rolling Stones store but it’s dangerous as I could spend a small fortune in there!
I remember going down Carnaby Street back in the late 1970`s and 1980`s,can't remember that paving though! Too busy heading for shops to spend pocket money. Thanks for the history of the area, it makes it even more special. Let's hope the independents get back control as it had some amazing shops before corporate landlords took over.
Great video Rob, again 👍. Fascinating place, I’ve visited myself but not aware fully of its history until now. Great part of the west end and if I’m not mistaken a very famous toy shop is close by 😊
Rob, another wonderful video! This Yank knew of Carnaby Street in 1966. My babysitter filled my head with images of music and fashion and sports. She played Rubber Soul for me. I remember my parents having that Time magazine. I longed for everything British and London. So, maybe not remarkable if I'd been a teenager. But in 1966...I was three! I finally got there as a young adult in the 80s, in the post-punk era, and again in the 90s, a "BritPop" girl. I spent more than I ever had on clothes on the street, Fred Perry's and a Small Faces Ben Sherman shirt. (Being a tall Yank, I bought men's things, as women's were too tiny for me then.) I've been back a few more times (never enough), enjoying the Christmas lights and wandering. Last visit, I did feel a bit like an historian myself, when a few shop clerks and a bartender wanted to hear about the street back when in the 80s and 90s. Wishing you the best, and looking forward to more videos.
In the 70s I bought a silver ring from the Great Frog store opposite Lord John's and just up from Granny Takes a Trip. Then in the 80s I remember visiting an acquaintance George O Dowd when he worked as a shop girl in Street Theater, Newburg Street. It was short walk from the backstreet where the K.West sign hung, the sign and nearby phone box being on the cover of Ziggy Stardust.
Another well researched video. Glad Inderwick's got a mention, i liked their My mixture pipe tobacco . And as i mentined before Imperiàl Russion ciggies, although i couldnt afford them as a regular smoke being hand made. I still have a couple left but i would expect them to be WELL passed their use by date. I wonder how many folks can remember driving down Carnaby street, as i do.
Your story about the cholera pump was in the BBC?/PBS show Victoria.He did very detailed research to get to that pump and stop the outbreak. Sometime dramas do have correct information in between the drama.
Hi Rob. Another fantastic video, these are so well researched! I love all the street name history references. Your channel is brilliant I’m so glad I found you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and hard work ❤
Another great video, Rob. You weren’t in the Red Lion on Kingly Street per chance? Saw the Sam Smiths beer glass and it instantly transported me back to the mid 80s when I met up with college mates there - Sam’s was the cheapest beer in London back then.
The Small Faces had charge accounts to all the shops. Both Kenney Jones and Ian Maclagan have said they wished they kept all the clothes they bought because it would all be worth a fortune. Another great video, Rob. Thanks.
Went to the 69 cup final aged 12, coach dropped us off in Piccadilly for a wander round, couldn't work out why there were so many people on the streets at 5am, different planet to Manchester in them days
Yet again, Rob, another well researched and informative video Must admit, though, in its heyday I was not living in London, and came upon purely by chance when out walking, oh and said Carnaby street. Keep up the good work
Groovy Rob. Carnaby Street was a rather spent force by the time I worked in central London in the late 70s and early 80s, so I’m glad it’s spruced itself up a bit. Your presentation and graphics get better and better but not at the cost of content.
Really appreciate that Mark, many thanks indeed. Stay well.
Excellent. I really appreciate the hard work that you put into making these videos. Many thanks, Rob xo
It’s a pleasure Jake; I really appreciate your kind words, thank you.
England won the World Cup ?? Why do English people never mention it ?? 😂😂😂. I love your channel, I was a very late baby and had married siblings when I was born. From about age 7 I would be put on the overnight coach from Edinburgh and spend a few weeks with my brothers who lived in Finchley, and Camberwell at various times. I also had a sister in Chatham married to a CPO in the Navy. When my brother lived in Finchley the coach dropped me off at Tally Ho corner. I remember going on a boating lake and watching a donkey derby, and.....there was a guest appearance that day by The Four Pennies !! 🎶. Yeah, I'm old, I'm 70 now. 😂😂😂
Great comment Trish, thank you! And don’t forget the 2003 rugby World Cup 🤣
Everything looks so much nicer in the 60is, and everyone looks happier and more relaxed. I wish I could live in the 60ies for just a week and walk down the streets of London including Carnaby street.
I bought a fake newspaper there in the 1960s. It had a space at the top where a name could be printed above the words "appears naked on the West End Stage". I had the name of a colleague printed at the top and read the inside of the paper during coffee break.
Thank you for another superbly-produced video.
🤣 Great comment, cheers- and thank you for the support sir
@@Robslondon What does SOHO stand for? My dad, a very old guy who is now long gone, said it means South Hong Kong. Is that true? It makes no sense to me.
And what about the American SOHO? I don't know which US city it's in, but I know there is one.
@@cattymajiv Hi Catty, 'Soho' is an old hunting call; the area where it now lies used to be fields and they did indeed hunt with horses there.
@@cattymajivThe SOHO in New York comes from SOuth of HOuston St.
Thanks for another great video! It seems like Carnaby street lost its uniqueness and became the ordinary shopping destination with big international names. But still I like the colourful shops and street furniture there and Christmas decorations were amazing!
Perfect comment youleks, thank you ☺️
Carnaby Street is amongst one of the most famous roads in London. Will be interesting to hear some of its history. 👍
😉
Hi Rob, Hope you are keeping well, Great video, Informative and a joy to watch, Thank you
Bless you Dave, thank you so much ☺️ Cheers mate and stay well; much appreciated
That was brilliant Rob, I have to agree that Carnaby St has passed it's golden days of originality and settled into something more commonplace and repetitive. You really covered a lot of ground, pardon the pun! Thank you.
Ha ha! Thanks so much Anne, great comment 😊
Great video Rob. Right up my street!
My late Cousin, Colin, was an ace face Mod in the 1960’s and was a fixture in the area right up until he passed away in the 1990’s. He frequented many of the clubs in the area and, I recall a large wreath from Madame JoJo’s at his funeral.
I used to travel up to central London on a Red Bus Rover ticket with my older brother from the late 1960’s up until the mid 1970’s. As a big record collector, Andrew was in his element.
I purchased my first suit, a houndstooth check Mod suit from a tailor in Marshall Street in about 1978/79. Combined with my two-tone Jam shoes, my parka and Vespa I thought I looked the dogs!
Carnaby Street now is horrible. I rarely visit it! The shops are all from the high street and the area has become a destination for tourists, not that it hasn’t attracted visitors in the past. But, they flock there looking for Lord John and Gear and find Swatch and North Face. Shame!
Beautiful comment Robin, I enjoyed reading that, thank you. Your cousin sounds like he was a very cool guy! 😎 And a houndstooth check suit? Very, very nice; you have good taste sir 😉
@@Robslondon thanks mate! Colin was a child actor and performed in the west end alongside well known stars of the period. I believe, although I am probably wrong, he did try out for the role of the MilkyBar Kid.
Wow! He sounds too cool for the MilkyBar Kid though ;-) @@RobinHullBuilds
Everything everywhere is now Americanized. Plastic, fake, cheap, disgusting.
Outstanding work Rob, excellent video.
I worked in and around Soho for over 20 years and frequented Carnaby Street often. Many a pair of Levi stay-pressed trousers, Ben Sherman and Brutus shirts purchased there.
😄 Cheers mate.
And Farah slacks and shirts with round collars.
I was a bit late to the party for Carnaby St, showing up in the late 90s, but I had grown up in the punk scene in Canada in the 80s, so had a built-in fascination with the street having heard about it, for example, in the Jam song you mentioned. At the north end, there was (is?) a Pret, and I would ride in to work every day from Golborne Rd w2 (I lived above Rough Trade offices, another punk rock institution), and call in at 'Carnaby'n'Marly', and sip my coffee in the crisp autumn morning air, and just imagine what the street was like 10 years, 20years, 30years ago...there were still a few boutique shops and none of the retail giants had moved in yet, so you could still sense the last vestiges of it's fashion/style history
Wow not the hussel and bussel of the late 70's early 80's now, but quaint looking.
The history is fascinating thank you for your research.
Saturday camden lot days meant a walk down carnaby, kings and Portobello just for window shopping and icon watching 😊
Thanks rob i don't remember the pavements probably spent my time looking up bogged eyed at it all 😂❤❤
Lovely comment Tracy, thank you so much ☺️
Another fascinating video. I spotted Liberty and had to go in and explore and low and behold I came out and found Carnaby Street. So much fun to shop these iconic areas. Thanks for the history.
Nice comment Deb, thanks!
7:55 in the mid 00s, the John Snow pub was the local for bike couriers, gathering from several companies to have an after work pint. One of my friends who I had known as a bike messenger in Budapest became the barwoman there, which gave the (mostly) guys further reason to gather here. (The pump became a standby spot, where we would gather while waiting for calls)
does anybody remember ZORRO RECORDS in the flea marketin early 80s mod revival?
Great sharing. I enjoyed watching it and loved it. Thank you Robert. 👍👍👍😍😍😍
Thank you Sharon!
I remember the multi coloured rubber flooring, wild crazy shops, all done now, global brands up and down now....
Great video Rob, mix of history and culture 👌
Thanks so much James 😉
Hi Rob, yet another trip down memory lane. I went down there in the 60’s. and remember buying a poster which I can still remember. It’s a shame that the youth of today won’t have the same experiences that we had and I truly feel blessed to have been able to say that was a wonderful time for so many of us 🦆💕
Thanks so much Pam ☺️ What was on the poster?
@@Robslondon It was a cartoon picture of a ‘bovva’ boy with spiky hair, braces & large army boots 😂
Ha ha! @@pamcullen537
For a while, in the 80s, legendary goth club The Batcave was just off Carnaby Street. I wasa skint teenager, and couldn't afford a hotel, but did have a railcard. So my strongest memory of the club was that it closed well before the first train back to Manchester. At least you could get into Euston station at night back then.
Great comment! Yes, was the Batcave on Kingly Street?
@@Robslondon - No. I think it was on Ganton Street, on the bit heading in the direction of Regent Street from Carnaby. It was a long time ago now, but I think the location is now the cocktail bar below Jakarta.
I remember I was Lord Kitcheners valet . I sometimes think I was born 10 years too late. I was still a child in the 60s. Another Swinging history of our great city RL.
😄
A great upload and a fascinating history. Being a horror movie fan im glad you used a clip from one of my favourite films "The Haunted House of Horror" filmed around Carnaby Street in 1969. It's an interesting groovy type of Horror and featured actors Mark Wynter, Frankie Avalon, Richard O'Sullivan and George Sewell.
It’s a classic, yep! Cheers 😉
Your films are always fascinating, Rob. Thanks! -- Jacqueline
I truly appreciate that Jacqueline; thank you so much for your kind support :-) Have a great weekend and thanks again!
Nice interesting facts, Rob. Thank you. As a child up t' North, it was more like Cathy Come Home than Austin Powers - LOL -Have you ever thought of doing The Chislehurst Caves? Or the locations of many a famous album cover? Or... Story's of popular songs (eg: Itchycoo Park was about the nettles in nearby Manor Park, where the kids often 'made out')?
Great comment, thank you! Album covers and music video locations are ones I’d love to do…. 😉
Great video. The thing I remember most was the flea market, which sadly didn't get a mention. Colin Wild was another colourful character. He founded the Carnaby Cavern and then had his own shop in Newburgh St. making clothes for the likes of Marc Bolan. Would be great if you could do something on Kensington Market!
Thanks Adam ;-)
Awesome video. I think in the '80's/ 90's I used to go to a nightclub down a side street in Carnaby Street called Gullivers.
Great comment Annyaboyd, thank you!
Hi Rob. New subscriber here. I've got to say your videos are absolutely fantastic. As a Londoner myself (living in greece) i miss the old town and your videos (with history and amazing footage) has brought me back to London. Thank you for the amazing content
Thanks for the lovely words Ricky, that means a lot to me. And it’s good to have you here! 😉 Stay well and thanks again.
In 1978 I started managing a shop on a corner in Carnaby Street Until 1982. We went all Mod as most shops did at that time but we had a tailor who sat in the window.
Nice! 😎
Hello Rob
A excellent researched and edited video. We love the Carnby area. Our favorite Byron's was on Beak Street just opposite where the his shop was. I love the walking lady art just beside that big mural. Thanks for the great video. Take care Chris and Sandra of Canada.
Thanks guys, hope you’re keeping well. Yes, the walking lady is interesting, I’ve seen a similar installation in New York.
Brilliant, Rob! Have subscribed…👍
Thank you! Good to have you here :-)
Hi Rob,
Great video and so much information that I would never have known on such a popular street. Marshall Street Baths is very interesting too with pictures on the wall of troops training for D-Day in the swimming pool.
Thanks again for the videos you do, they are extremely informative.
Brilliant comment; I had no idea they trained for D-Day in there! Wow ;-) Thanks for watching; much appreciated.
Thanks for this, Rob! The Soho area has so much goddamned history that you could spend your entire life researching it.
Ha ha, yes thanks Peter! You could devote an entire channel just to Soho!
Thanks Rob. Another beautifully researched Gem giving us far more history and information than you would believe possible… incredible work as always.
Cheers as always Doug ;-) Hope you're keeping well.
Fantastic Fact's, of an iconic part of London.
The 50s murder being solved in 2015 is crazy.
So much info, i think I'll be rewatching just to take it all in!!!
I used to have trousers made in a tailor's just around the corner in the 70s?? The Time cover of 66, now that is something to put in a frame on the wall....
Thanks for you work on this, I'll be sharing it across the seas💪🇬🇧💯🤩😍
Lovely comment Gary, enjoyed reading that 😉 Cheers mate and stay well; appreciate your support.
"Fact's"?
When my father first came to London in 1961 Carnaby Street was all warehouses.
Would’ve been interesting to see it like that
Thanks for the informative and well produced video delivered with a very pleasant narrator's voice. Thumbs up!
That's really kind of you to say Jack; thank you!
Spent lots of time in Soho in the late 80s and 90s. Always ended up haunting Liberty's fabric hall at the end of the street, having a pint or 10 at the Crown and Two Chairmen on Dean Street, survived the bombing at the Admiral, and always ended the good nights at Ronnie Scott's via the Pillars of Hercules. Sang at Ronnie's several times. I miss that vibe. It's like most great London enclaves, far too commercial for my taste now. Sad.
Wonderful comment. Thank you.
thank you Rob! I remember visiting Carnaby Street in the mid 1990s where there were a lot of markets down underground where all sorts of souvenirs and clothes could be found. Bootleg records too, similar to the now long gone Kensington market. I used to shop a lot in these areas as a teenager. Now it seems too bland and only aimed at rich people. Great video and history, and I thank you again for your research :) I really enjoy watching your videos, keep up the good work
Great comment and thank you.
Excellent production! Really enjoyed the history. Many thanks, Calgary, Canada
I really appreciate that, thank you!
I remember buying a lovely flowered shirt in carnaby street,it was purple, yellow, green, and blue flowers, great times, thanks for another great video 😊
Sounds totally groovy Robert! 😉
Excellent documentary Rob!! I’m sure there is so much work put into your videos from research to editing.
I really appreciate that, thank you so much Richard!
I used to buy most of my records in a small shop off the main drag in Carnaby street. You went into a shop that had the appearance of a small shed, but when you went downstairs into the cellar, music heaven. Can't recall what it was called, but i went in most weeks. You could get, english releases, american deletions, (cheaper than the imports) imports from allover and sometimes bootlegs. I used to go in and he would say, "Oh, its you, listen to this, i think you'll like it?" He was always right. 70s and 80s.
Great 😉
Sadly living where I was in the sticks in the 60s free love and exotica rather passed me by and I never went to Carnaby Street in its hey day.! But what n incredible story well researched as usual by you! This the last on for today, but I look forward to more tomorrow, though I hope I do not expend the cannon as they all fill and inform my empty life. Cheers!
Rob
Cheers as always Rob! 😉
Like all the small tidbits you add. Carnaby 1 and 2 being code words and the gentleman who was first to sell "off the rack". I was very young in 1960's but had older siblings. It is very much a part of my childhood. Hello from Oregon US.
Thank you Melissa :-)
Another great video! When I was thirteen, my parents took my brother and I to London. We were in a shop called DH Martial Arts, on Carnaby Street. A martial artist called Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace was going to be giving some kind of lecture in the shop, but we hadn't heard about it and weren't there for it. He apparently had the fastest kick in the world and had starred in a film opposite Jackie Chan. Anyway, the lecture was about to begin but he had gone down to the Shakespeare pub you spoke about. The shop's Chinese owners were getting impatient and asked if my brother and I could go down to the pub to track him down, but my parents wouldn't let us because we didn't have much time left in London and wanted to go somewhere else.
Ha ha! Great memory Paul!
Completely and hopelessly hooked on your videos. The way you describe Carnaby street got me extremely nostalgic, although I was born way after that time and had never even been there.
Bless you Bennett, thank you so much! Glad to have you here ;-) Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it. Stay well.
Fab, Rob. Fantastically put together.
Many thanks Jonathan :-)
Looking forward to this one! 👍
Hope you like it! 😉
@@Robslondon 🤗 excellent video!
Thank you! @@asheland_numismatics
Bought a sealed can of 'London Air' there back in 67. Those were the days.
🤣 Brilliant
As always super video mate,didn’t know this street was in west London,my fault for being a northerner 🤣🤣🤣
😂
I love your videos Rob,I used to walk on Carnaby Street from the back entrance of Liberty’s.
Thanks Kerryanne… I forgot there was an entrance there! Should’ve included it 😄
I have frequented the shakspeare's head when I visited London. Good pub..good beer and decent food !
Cheers Matthew, it's a good pub yes ;-)
I doubt the Carnabetian Army shops there any more. Tough being a Dedicated Follower of Fashion?
I used to swim at Marshall Street Leisure Centre back in the early 90s when I was a young, naïve pup. Always smile whenever I pass by it now 🙂
😉
I was wondering why you haven't been head hunted by the "big boys", but I'm glad you haven't, you make videos for your audience not the advertisers thoughts of what is needed.
Keep up the good work, to your standards.
Thanks Chris, that means a lot to me.
@@Robslondon 👍 credit where it is due!
As a life long Mod, I really loved the video, Thank you Rob.
Ah, cheers Scott ;-)
Excellent vid, like the maps and engravings of the time .
Much appreciated, thank you.
Been looking forward to this :)
Enjoy! 😊
Terrific video! Good to see Peter Ackroyd get a mention - he's one of the best and most interesting writers on the history of London (along with our host, of course!).
Thank you so much ☺️ Yes, he’s a terrific writer; a big influence. Stay well Tragicyouth 😉
Robs uncle is on the front cover of the smash hits mag featured near the end. He was the bass player in the band Department S. Thanks for always leaving such lovely messages. Best wishes Robs dad.
@@thewrecker3140 "Is Vic There?" 😉
@@thetragicyouth he certainly is.
@@thetragicyouth- Classic song, but I always preferred 'Going Left Right'.
Vaughn Toulouse - died far too young.
Fantastic video. Thanks for sharing.
It's a pleasure Johnny, thanks for watching.
Lovely video. "Carnaby Street, not what it used to be." :o)
Cheers 😉
Bought a lot of my rock chick clothing there in the 80s, and worked at Ruby's in 1988 - a proper dive of a shop with a manager who loved ripping off tourists... Great to hear more about the history of the street especially the much earlier times you don't often hear about. Great video, thanks!
Great comment Lisa, thanks- enjoyed reading that! 😉
Enlightening and enjoyable, thank you.
Thank you CosmosNut
Very interesting, Rob It’s certainly got some history
Yes indeed! Cheers Ron 😊
I used to "Stand By" at the top end of Carnaby St in the late 90s early 00s... Also on the steps of the Palladium next to the Newsstand along with other Bike couriers... Great Content cheers...
Nice comment, thanks 😉
🎉 I love carnival street. It is the best place in London. 🎉❤🎉
I lived in Ontario Canada back then in the mid 60's. One of the girls' in my class at school had an Aunt on holiday bring her back a couple of outfits she bought for her on Carnaby Street. We were all pea green with envy :)
What a brilliant comment 😄
I do indeed remember the nylon tiles! My new wife and I used to travel to London for the week-end regularly from '81 to about '89. I recall Carnaby St. being quite scruffy and couldn't understand the attraction tbh. If only I could have seen it in it's 'heyday'! We stayed at the hotel 'Rembrandt' so we could be near the museums. London seemed such an exciting place to be in those days.
I know the Rembrandt hotel well 😉 Lovely comment thank you, and you’re the first person gillie who has a strong memory of those odd tiles!
@@Robslondon Cheers. The tiles felt a lot like the modern 'cushioned' linoleum and were quite slippy when wet. But I do remember how bright they were compared to the rather dowdey looking shop fronts.
Interesting, thanks @@gillie-monger3394
Wonderful and interesting as usual Rob! I really want to visit there now!
Thank you Vicky! Hope you make it there 😉
Well done Rob, another fascinating post. I knew it would be good but you've outdone yourself.
Really appreciate that Walter, thank you
I worked in Lady Jane in 67/68, and the new shop Lady Jane Again which was further down Carnaby Street on the other side. The owners used to stage stunts with naked models, very amusing, he was arrested often😂 As sales staff, I got to wear the stock, all very short and see through. 😊 Brilliant times.
Such a good comment Jayne! Thanks for sharing 😄
I worked in Lady Janes in 1969. Yes you could wear their great stock but you had to leave the price tag on which used to dangle down on a long string and flutter in the breeze as you ran down the street to buy your lunch time sandwich. Great times.
Cheers Rob! I was there back in the 70s and it was groovy baby! really far out man! The hustle and the bustle was fabulous! What with rock music 🎶 rocking out of some shops 😊 I miss those days 🎶🎸🎼
😎
I love Carnaby street, I always make time to visit when I’m back in London. My favourite store is the Rolling Stones store but it’s dangerous as I could spend a small fortune in there!
🤣
@@Robslondon but once again a brilliant video Rob!
I remember going down Carnaby Street back in the late 1970`s and 1980`s,can't remember that paving though! Too busy heading for shops to spend pocket money. Thanks for the history of the area, it makes it even more special. Let's hope the independents get back control as it had some amazing shops before corporate landlords took over.
😄 Great comment, cheers!
Great video Rob, again 👍. Fascinating place, I’ve visited myself but not aware fully of its history until now. Great part of the west end and if I’m not mistaken a very famous toy shop is close by 😊
Cheers Chris! Yes… Hamleys, worthy of a video in its own right 😉
Thank you, that was very interesting!
It’s a pleasure! Thanks for watching 😄
Another wonderful history, well researched and presented. Thank you!🙏
Thank you Alan 😄
I visited in the late 80s it was alive and very busy
Nice 😉
Rob, another wonderful video! This Yank knew of Carnaby Street in 1966. My babysitter filled my head with images of music and fashion and sports. She played Rubber Soul for me. I remember my parents having that Time magazine. I longed for everything British and London. So, maybe not remarkable if I'd been a teenager. But in 1966...I was three!
I finally got there as a young adult in the 80s, in the post-punk era, and again in the 90s, a "BritPop" girl. I spent more than I ever had on clothes on the street, Fred Perry's and a Small Faces Ben Sherman shirt. (Being a tall Yank, I bought men's things, as women's were too tiny for me then.) I've been back a few more times (never enough), enjoying the Christmas lights and wandering. Last visit, I did feel a bit like an historian myself, when a few shop clerks and a bartender wanted to hear about the street back when in the 80s and 90s. Wishing you the best, and looking forward to more videos.
Thanks for taking the time to write Raquel; a lovely set of memories :-) I enjoyed reading that.
In the 70s I bought a silver ring from the Great Frog store opposite Lord John's and just up from Granny Takes a Trip.
Then in the 80s I remember visiting an acquaintance George O Dowd when he worked as a shop girl in Street Theater, Newburg Street.
It was short walk from the backstreet where the K.West sign hung, the sign and nearby phone box being on the cover of Ziggy Stardust.
Superb comment 😉
Brilliant video,well worth the wait.Never knew about the tornado..
Thank you! They way the weather is tonight I think we may be due another one! 😬
Very interesting and lots of work done to create it. Much appreciated.
Thank you Anil ☺️
hi rob a great vlog of carnaby street a lovely street in dear old london town still vibrant today cheers rob
Thanks as always Richard 😉 Much appreciated
my pleasure rob well done sir
@@Robslondon
I once saw Sarah Alexander walking along Carnaby Street. That is my only Carnaby Street story.
🤔
Another well researched video.
Glad Inderwick's got a mention, i liked their My mixture pipe tobacco . And as i mentined before Imperiàl Russion ciggies, although i couldnt afford them as a regular smoke being hand made. I still have a couple left but i would expect them to be WELL passed their use by date.
I wonder how many folks can remember driving down Carnaby street, as i do.
Wow…. Great comment and memories Chris, cheers 😉
Your story about the cholera pump was in the BBC?/PBS show Victoria.He did very detailed research to get to that pump and stop the outbreak. Sometime dramas do have correct information in between the drama.
Ah, interesting, I’d like to see that
Hi Rob. Another fantastic video, these are so well researched! I love all the street name history references. Your channel is brilliant I’m so glad I found you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and hard work ❤
Bless you Project Womble, that is so kind of you to say. It's lovely to have you here 🙂
Another great video, Rob. You weren’t in the Red Lion on Kingly Street per chance? Saw the Sam Smiths beer glass and it instantly transported me back to the mid 80s when I met up with college mates there - Sam’s was the cheapest beer in London back then.
Thanks! No, I was in the John Snow, although the Red Lion is a great pub too 😉
The Small Faces had charge accounts to all the shops. Both Kenney Jones and Ian Maclagan have said they wished they kept all the clothes they bought because it would all be worth a fortune.
Another great video, Rob. Thanks.
Gosh, yes can you imagine?! 💰 Cheers!
Went to the 69 cup final aged 12, coach dropped us off in Piccadilly for a wander round, couldn't work out why there were so many people on the streets at 5am, different planet to Manchester in them days
Nice memory ;-)
Thanks
Bless you Roderic, thank you so much! 😊 Stay well
Love seeing a robslondon video pop up on a Sunday and this was a good one
😄 Much appreciated, thank you!
Excellent video as always! I really love hearing about all the lesser known facts about London ❤
Thank you so much as ever Louise ☺️ Hope you’re keeping well
Another excellent Sunday night video.
It’s a pleasure Paul ☺️
Brilliant video Rob. I have spent many an hour in that area, usually looking for pubs
Thank you D B 😉
It's funny thinking about somewhere now in central London was once rural enough to be a hunting ground.
Yep! Apparently “Soho” was also a hunting call!
Yet again, Rob, another well researched and informative video
Must admit, though, in its heyday I was not living in London, and came upon purely by chance when out walking, oh and said Carnaby street. Keep up the good work
😂 Cheers Butch!
Fascinating as usual. Thank you.
Thank you for watching ☺️
Good work on this. So much history that was unknown to me. Thank you
Thank you! And thanks for watching 😉