Marquee Club
The Marquee is a legendary music club first located at 165
Oxford Street,
London,
UK when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and
skiffle acts.
In 1964, the Marquee moved to its best known venue, 90
Wardour Street where all the great and good sweated on the tiny stage, and almost every major rock band played over the next 25 years. Residencies during the late 1960s alone included
The Moody Blues,
The Who,
Yes,
David Bowie,
Jethro Tull, The
Jimi Hendrix Experience and
Pink Floyd who played on Sunday afternoons as part of the Spontaneous Underground. To find out who was playing on any given night, you could just call in next door at
The Ship pub to see who was at the bar. In 1964
Moody Blues manager/Producer
Alex Murray used a home-made studio in the garage at the back of the club to produce the classic
Go Now singlewhich shot to No.1 at Christmas 1964 and filmed the first ever purpose-made U.K. Pop Video Promo in the club itself to promote it. The development of
Marquee Studios was largely financed from profits on this record.
Although never a seminal punk venue, the Marquee embraced the burgeoning punk rock movement of the late 1970s regularly promoting punk and new wave nights into the 1980s. Bands such as The
Sex Pistols,
Eddie and the Hot Rods,
The Stranglers,
Generation X,
London,
The Police,
Buzzcocks and
The Jam all trod the famous Wardour Street stage.
During the early to mid 1980s the Marquee became an important venue to the
New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). NWOBHM bands such as Angelwitch, Diamond Head, Witchfynde and Praying Mantis were regulars and
Iron Maiden were filmed playing there for LWT documentary "20th Century Box" (introduced by a very young
Danny Baker).
The Marquee was also the central venue of the progressive rock revival of the early 1980s. It was here that the then unsigned
Marillion began to gain a wider fan base and press interest playing frequent 2 night residencies to a sold out crowd. Other progressive rock acts of the time regularly playing the club included
Pendragon, Solstice,
Twelfth Night, IQ, Haze and Liaison (who were not strictly prog but seemed to become linked to the movement).
The historical importance of the club led to a number of bigger, established artists playing 'secret' gigs at the venue often as one off 'fan thank you's', warm up shows or just because they liked the intimate atmosphere. These 'secret' shows were often promoted under an assumed name designed to be recognised only by hardcore fans. These included appearances by
Marillion (under such names as Skyline Drifters and Lufthanser Air Terminal),
Prince,
Genesis,
Iron Maiden (appearing as guests on a bill headed "A Fun Night With The Entire Population of Hackney") and
Squeeze. The venue also prominently featured in the 1983 video for the
Wham! single "I'm Your Man".
In 1988 the Wardour Street site was sold for redevelopment (it is now
Meza and Floridita with a cigar retail shop Spanish restaurant and Cuban restaurant and some flats) and the Marquee Club moved again to a larger venue at 105
Charing Cross Road. The move was unsuccessful however and the club closed shortly thereafter. In 2001 the Marquee name was bought by entrepreneurs (including
Dave Stewart of the
Eurythmics who owned the brand rights) and affixed to a new club, first briefly located in a purpose-built space in
Islington and then at 1
Leicester Square in the heart of London's tourist district. Despite these relaunches trying to build on its former reputation, music aficionados have largely abandoned the club and it is a pale imitation of its former self.
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TheMarqueeClub.net - Historical Tribute Site of the Old Marquee Club*
London Venue Marquee Hire
