Really excellent video! I have lived in London for over 40 years and Denmark Street has always been close to my heart (and also Charing Cross Road, the Astoria especially). It's all quite different now, although pockets of it's original atmosphere still remain (not that I was around at the time when it was really happening)!! I love this video, really interesting insights which have placed the street into a context I was previously unaware of. Thanks so much :) btw, all your videos are awesome !!
A lovely documentary. Very nostalgic for me - I worked for DJM booking agents in the mid to late 70s (I think it was above what had been Mills Music). I remember many a happy fry-up in the Gioconda with Sid Vicious looking grumpy in the corner. Happy days!
Loved this video and Paul’s impact on your social media and UA-cam in particular. Bought my first standard series Martin off of Paul at Westside on Denmark Street years ago. Time to buy an Atkin off him 😄
Wow - this takes me back Alister! My first job, in the mid 1970s, was not far from there and I would spend my lunchtimes in Denmark St, Monmouth St (Honest Jons, and Collets Jazz), occasionally I would go along to the Fender Soundhouse in Tottenham Court Rd. Mainly I'd just stare through the windows at guitars, or at Moogs and early Roland synths. And just dream. Others days I'd wander round to Oxford St and go to the small Virgin Records shop upstairs above Shellys Shoes - well before Branson hit the big time. They were happy days for this weird teenager. Its changed a lot around there (that yellow building past the end of Denmark St wasn't there back then, but its great that there are still these shops around. Simon K.
Trip down memory lane where my misspent youth was spent working in Rhodes Music and totally remember when you first came into the shop Paul with your dad and shredded...great times! ;-{ >
Great video and happy memories. I used to mooch around Denmark St guitar shops in the early 80s where I bought my first Gibson 335. A good few years later I used to visit the vintage guitar shops like Vintage and Rare (Chris Trigg). It certainly has changed a lot since then!
Oh yes. I worked for Chris for a day in Earls Court and then came home and realized I needed to make my guitars. He’s a great guy. And had some wonderful guitars. You don’t see the like of those up there mush anymore. ❤
A wonderful trip down memory lane - thanks! I regularly visited Denmark Street in the 1970s. Did you know that the entrance to Cormoran Strike's office is next to No Tom Guitars? For those who might not be aware, Strike is the fictional detective in the books written by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame). His Denmark Street office is featured in Television adaptations of the books, most recently 'The Ink Black Heart.'
What a lovely little film this is - and an essential one as the original, intoxicating magic of the place becomes increasingly diluted by corporate development and unsustainable rent demands. I remember chatting (and haggling - occasionally successfully) with Paul in a number of those venues, past and current. So...well done to all involved. And is it me or is Alister developing a touch of the Alan Whickers? More, please!
A fantastic video, very nostalgic " Tin Pan Alley " was always the first place to visit when in London. A wee addition, it was one of the guy's who owned Sound Control that started Guitar Guitar.
Sorry, Alister but the church where "The Omen" was filmed was All Saint's Church, Fulham ( by Bishop's Park) NOT St Giles- in the Fields at Denmark Street. I love your guitars, by the way - some of the very best made in the UK.😊 Denmark Street certainly isn't what it used to be, but I still go and visit for old time's sake.🤔
Like you, Denmark Street was a place I would go and hang out as a teenager in the 90s. My friends and I used to pretend we had money and try the different guitars! It's changed a lot, but thank goodness it has retained a little something of it's identity. Thanks for the video.
Used to hang around Denmark street in the 60’s when Move. Amen Corner and many others so loved this video brought back memories! now live in Hoath but have been back recently whilst in London for a day!
That was a trip down Amnesia Lane for me. I used to spend lots of time there in the 70's. My brother was a manager at the Fender Soundhouse in Tottenham Court Road back in the 70's....No he didn't have anything to do with it burning down (Although he did give me some 'smoke damaged' gutar necks and bodies) Thanks for that video, happy days.
I used to go to the original Marquee in Wardour St back in the ‘80s. Saw some great garage & psych bands there like the Playn Jayn and the Sid Presley Experience. It was basically a little room with v.little character but fantastic acoustics. The Eurythmics dude bought the name and re-opened it in a shopping mall in Islington in the 2000s - totally un-rock and roll. I saw the Jon Spencer Blues Exp there in 2001 or 2002, great band sure, but the experience of having this icon in a shopping mall killed the vibe totally.
Remember going there early 80’s from Crewe in Cheshire, staying with my big sister and buying a brand new Sunburst Les Paul custom for £425! Can’t remember which shop but Denmark Street was Guitar Mecca just like Tottenham Court Road was for electronic gadgets. Happy days. Must do it again for old times sake like you have done. May even have a look at that Atkin Wall in Mak’s for something 0-28 Martin style 🤔🤔
Spent way too much money down this street. And ripped off by Andys (in the end I had to take another guitar in lieu of my sold Hummingbird). But Andy's did have one of the best repairers I've ever known in the basement.
Yes, I don’t think Andy could help himself. I seem to remember at the end he disappeared quickly leaving loads of people in the shit. 😮 the rest of the staff were great.
I think you've somehow got dates and/or places mixed up - here's why: Hank's was founded by a gentleman by the name of Keith Sellars. It began by him selling off his guitar collection via a private advert in the Melody Maker magazine in 1988. As a result, I bought a Martin from him in early 1989 (I still have a copy of the receipt, but not the guitar). He'd set set up his business in a room at the back of a clothes shop run by his daughter on Tottenham Court Road, and that's where I went to buy the instrument. He gave me his business card, and it bore the Hank's logo. Keith's aim was to make vintage guitars affordable - the prices were already getting silly. There was a feature about Hank's in 'Guitarist' magazine at about that time, and the business in Tottenham Court Road was mentioned. Not too long afterwards, Keith moved Hank's to Denmark Street. The business was later sold, but I don't know when.
Really excellent video! I have lived in London for over 40 years and Denmark Street has always been close to my heart (and also Charing Cross Road, the Astoria especially). It's all quite different now, although pockets of it's original atmosphere still remain (not that I was around at the time when it was really happening)!! I love this video, really interesting insights which have placed the street into a context I was previously unaware of. Thanks so much :) btw, all your videos are awesome !!
Great vid thanks. Love the old London.
Excellent to see content like this being uploaded! Much appreciated!
A lovely documentary. Very nostalgic for me - I worked for DJM booking agents in the mid to late 70s (I think it was above what had been Mills Music). I remember many a happy fry-up in the Gioconda with Sid Vicious looking grumpy in the corner. Happy days!
Loved this video and Paul’s impact on your social media and UA-cam in particular. Bought my first standard series Martin off of Paul at Westside on Denmark Street years ago. Time to buy an Atkin off him 😄
Wow - this takes me back Alister! My first job, in the mid 1970s, was not far from there and I would spend my lunchtimes in Denmark St, Monmouth St (Honest Jons, and Collets Jazz), occasionally I would go along to the Fender Soundhouse in Tottenham Court Rd. Mainly I'd just stare through the windows at guitars, or at Moogs and early Roland synths. And just dream. Others days I'd wander round to Oxford St and go to the small Virgin Records shop upstairs above Shellys Shoes - well before Branson hit the big time.
They were happy days for this weird teenager.
Its changed a lot around there (that yellow building past the end of Denmark St wasn't there back then, but its great that there are still these shops around.
Simon K.
Trip down memory lane where my misspent youth was spent working in Rhodes Music and totally remember when you first came into the shop Paul with your dad and shredded...great times! ;-{ >
Great video and happy memories. I used to mooch around Denmark St guitar shops in the early 80s where I bought my first Gibson 335.
A good few years later I used to visit the vintage guitar shops like Vintage and Rare (Chris Trigg). It certainly has changed a lot since then!
Oh yes. I worked for Chris for a day in Earls Court and then came home and realized I needed to make my guitars. He’s a great guy. And had some wonderful guitars. You don’t see the like of those up there mush anymore. ❤
Ah yes, the Earls Court shop was cool. Bought my first vintage strat from there
That explains why my recent trip to Rose Morris was quite a bit different than I remember it! it's now in a different location :-)
Nice roving report old memories 🎉
A wonderful trip down memory lane - thanks! I regularly visited Denmark Street in the 1970s.
Did you know that the entrance to Cormoran Strike's office is next to No Tom Guitars? For those who might not be aware, Strike is the fictional detective in the books written by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame). His Denmark Street office is featured in Television adaptations of the books, most recently 'The Ink Black Heart.'
What a lovely little film this is - and an essential one as the original, intoxicating magic of the place becomes increasingly diluted by corporate development and unsustainable rent demands. I remember chatting (and haggling - occasionally successfully) with Paul in a number of those venues, past and current. So...well done to all involved. And is it me or is Alister developing a touch of the Alan Whickers? More, please!
A fantastic video, very nostalgic " Tin Pan Alley " was always the first place to visit when in London. A wee addition, it was one of the guy's who owned Sound Control that started Guitar Guitar.
Thanks for watching that, I realised that once I watched it back.
Love this video. Great knowing the history of this area.
Sorry, Alister but the church where "The Omen" was filmed was All Saint's Church, Fulham ( by Bishop's Park) NOT St Giles- in the Fields at Denmark Street. I love your guitars, by the way - some of the very best made in the UK.😊 Denmark Street certainly isn't what it used to be, but I still go and visit for old time's sake.🤔
@@paulwhiteside1805 🤣 well done.
I wondered how long it would take for someone to know that. Great film. 🍻
@@Atkinguitarcompany Happy New Year, btw! 😎😉🤩🎸
spent many days around that area while living in London (and continue to visit!) good to see that Mak's has continued with Archtops, a lovely shop!
Really enjoyed this, Alister. Happy New Year.
Great video 🙏
Like you, Denmark Street was a place I would go and hang out as a teenager in the 90s. My friends and I used to pretend we had money and try the different guitars! It's changed a lot, but thank goodness it has retained a little something of it's identity. Thanks for the video.
Used to hang around Denmark street in the 60’s when Move. Amen Corner and many others so loved this video brought back memories! now live in Hoath but have been back recently whilst in London for a day!
Single door air fryer made me cackle! I window shopped here all the time as a teenager. Great video, cheers
That was a trip down Amnesia Lane for me. I used to spend lots of time there in the 70's. My brother was a manager at the Fender Soundhouse in Tottenham Court Road back in the 70's....No he didn't have anything to do with it burning down (Although he did give me some 'smoke damaged' gutar necks and bodies) Thanks for that video, happy days.
I used to go to the original Marquee in Wardour St back in the ‘80s. Saw some great garage & psych bands there like the Playn Jayn and the Sid Presley Experience. It was basically a little room with v.little character but fantastic acoustics. The Eurythmics dude bought the name and re-opened it in a shopping mall in Islington in the 2000s - totally un-rock and roll. I saw the Jon Spencer Blues Exp there in 2001 or 2002, great band sure, but the experience of having this icon in a shopping mall killed the vibe totally.
Remember going there early 80’s from Crewe in Cheshire, staying with my big sister and buying a brand new Sunburst Les Paul custom for £425! Can’t remember which shop but Denmark Street was Guitar Mecca just like Tottenham Court Road was for electronic gadgets. Happy days. Must do it again for old times sake like you have done.
May even have a look at that Atkin Wall in Mak’s for something 0-28 Martin style 🤔🤔
Oh was that Cormoron Strike I saw 😆
in my teens in the 80's, I would take a bus or train to London from Cambridge, look in the windows of the shops and then go back home....
Great video ! 🎸🎸🎸
Didn’t Hipgnosis the album cover design team have a studio in Denmark Street too ?
Yes they did. I forgot about that on the day. We are covering some of their work in an up coming video. 🍻
It’s changed so much, we used to visit every few months and look at all of the stuff we couldn’t afford 🤦🏻🎸
That was the best part. You could dream. Dreaming about them is almost better than owning them. It’s free! 😊
@Atkinguit😂arcompany
Man that area in the 80s the marquee and the Astoria, they ripped the soul from that area and London in general it’s lost its culture
Spent way too much money down this street. And ripped off by Andys (in the end I had to take another guitar in lieu of my sold Hummingbird). But Andy's did have one of the best repairers I've ever known in the basement.
Yes, I don’t think Andy could help himself. I seem to remember at the end he disappeared quickly leaving loads of people in the shit. 😮 the rest of the staff were great.
The guitar isn’t taken seriously by today’s youth sadly any more. Most songs don’t even have a guitar solo any more.
So hard to get money out of Andys!
hanks. The biggest rip off merchants ever in that street. ffs
Thanks Alister … Got my 50’s Texan in Hanks ..about ‘65. wishI still had it. but since I got an Atkin …. Just don’t care!
I think you've somehow got dates and/or places mixed up - here's why: Hank's was founded by a gentleman by the name of Keith Sellars. It began by him selling off his guitar collection via a private advert in the Melody Maker magazine in 1988. As a result, I bought a Martin from him in early 1989 (I still have a copy of the receipt, but not the guitar). He'd set set up his business in a room at the back of a clothes shop run by his daughter on Tottenham Court Road, and that's where I went to buy the instrument. He gave me his business card, and it bore the Hank's logo. Keith's aim was to make vintage guitars affordable - the prices were already getting silly. There was a feature about Hank's in 'Guitarist' magazine at about that time, and the business in Tottenham Court Road was mentioned. Not too long afterwards, Keith moved Hank's to Denmark Street. The business was later sold, but I don't know when.