Monday 23 January 2012

Where it all began.....

I was in London over the weekend on business. As it was also the eve of the Chinese New Year, I swung by Chinatown to pick up some delicacies that are unobtainable in Basel. Gerrard Street is in the heart of London's Chinatown.


Its claim to fame in history is that Led Zeppelin held their first ever practice session in a basement here in 1968. Unfortunately there isn't a blue English Heritage plaque commemorating this earth shattering event.......yet!

I stayed in a hotel in Knightsbridge, just around the corner from Harrods' incidentally, and the room commanded a view of London to the south. This was a rock and roll two-fer as I could see the unmistakable outline of the Battersea power station that was immortalised on the cover of Pink Floyd's "Animals".


Actually make it a three-fer. I also took a pic of the tunnel where the Floyd recorded the running footsteps heard on "On the Run" from TDSOTM.


Roger Waters: "This lead to the running footsteps that were done in a tunnel underneath the Cromwell Road in London, that runs from the science museum to Kensington to South Kensington Tube Station. It's long, about a half-mile long and it's lined with white ceramic tiles. if you get somebody in a pair of leather shoes running in it; it sounds great! Which is what is on the record."


Roger is right, that tunnel has got one great echo.

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