Thursday, August 03, 2023

Welcome to Planet Tooting

Always somewhere to go for a good time, Tooting has an astonishing musical heritage... Marc Bolan, Sadie Crawford, M.I.A., Dennis Bovell and the reggae superstars at TMC Studios, Girlschool, Harry Lauder, Mad Professor, Status Quo, Mud, UK Subs! Unbelievably, this summer it will be 70 years since Frank Sinatra alighted here on the opening date of his first UK Tour! But perhaps no story resonates more than 1st June 1963, the night The Beatles accompanied by Roy Orbison and Gerry and The Pacemakers kicked off the swinging sixties when they came to play The Granada and crashed out in Trevelyan Road! Discover the venues, hear the stories, tread the streets and relive the sounds! From the Wimpy Bar where Marc Bolan flipped burgers to the TMC recording studio beloved by some of the biggest names in reggae and where Dennis Bovell first heard Janet Kay and the seeds of lovers rock were planted on Mitcham Road. From the salon where the Godfather of Punk worked as a hairdresser to the pub where Status Quo invented their heads-down stance. Hear about Charlie Watkins, the Tooting Market stall-holder whose ear-splitting amps powered The Stones in Hyde Park. Discover the Tooting Tamil connection to the Grammy-winning soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire! This tour not only takes you to these locations but Geoff and Tooting Rasta Cycle Club will be illuminating them further by blasting out a relevant tune at each one. Its a unique party-on-the-street experience that should not be missed.

I am very tempted by this on Friday.

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