Pretty Vacant

The rise & fall of Denmark Street, London

By Julia Revitt Photography

February 18^th, 2018

Denmark street, then...

It's a cold, windy Saturday morning in the 1980s. I'm getting on a train to cover the 60 miles to London from my home town of Northampton. I read an advert in my music magazine that one of the music shops in Denmark Street has the latest Roland TR505 drum machine. I meet up with my band mates on the hostile train platform and we eagerly wait for the train.

We had a map, the advert cut out from the magazine and a few pounds in our pockets. Negotiating the London Tube took planning as there were no apps to guide us and cost extra. So we took to the streets and walked to Denmark Street from the main train station.

The warmth of the shop hits me as I open the door and take a step inside. The smell is a mixture of new and old. I wander through the guitar section and make my way to the back of the store, down a tight staircase with posters of the latest and greatest musical equipment. Out into the basement I see it - the TR505. Out on display and ready to play, we can hardly contain ourselves. We have a go, smile and laugh a lot and then, with a mutual nod, return back up the stairs to the counter to part with that hard earned money. I leave with a box under my arm and get the train back home, eager to create music...

Denmark street, now...

It's 2018 and I just stumbled across Denmark Street accidentally. I was just passing on my way back from somewhere else. All thoughts of my band days and nights long gone from my mind but one look at Denmark Street and it all came flooding back to me.

Denmark Street has changed for sure but some of the shops are still there. They are being squeezed out by big business though and I'm not sure how much longer they can survive. Swanky new cafes and apartments are moving into the old buildings and massive modern office buildings block off the end of the street. Squeezed is definitely how it feels.

I open the door, the heat and smell are the same. I wander through the same guitar display to the back of the store and down the same tight staircase. The posters lining the walls are more vintage than current. The basement is full of keyboards but computers have replaced the drum machines. Progress.

The history

After rediscovering Denmark Street myself, I was surprised when a group of Japanese tourists were being led up the street. The only words I could recognise were 'Sex Pistols' as the tour guide pointed up to a first storey window.

Apart from my own history, Denmark Street was well known in the music industry as it housed many recording studios and famously, the Sex Pistols lived in number 6. Bands rehearsed, recorded, lived, ate, and hung out there. The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and The Kinks all recorded in Denmark Street.

To say this place has a lot of history is an understatement. Check out the video at the end of this story to delve back into the 70s.

Inside Regent Sounds Studio

The top shelf...

Full of the good stuff, the top shelf is where it's at. Worn and loved Fenders stand proud being the counter displaying eye watering price tags that hint at their illustrious histories. I find myself wonder who played them, have I seen any of them before, on the TV or in a concert hall. I bet they'd have a tale to tell.