Notting Hill

Notting Hill
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Samarkind Hotel (22 Landsdowne Crescent)

Jimi Hendrix's girlfriend, Monika Danneman lived in the basement flat of this apartment block. Hendrix died here on 18 September 1970, after a night at Ronnie Scott’s club, where he spent the evening jamming with Eric Burdon’s group War.

Marc Bolan’s Flat (57 Blenheim Crescent, Ladbroke Grove)

Marc Bolan and his girlfriend June Child moved into this building in mid 1968. They lived first in the attic flat, then in the slightly larger flat on the floor below, where Bolan build a recording studio soundproofed with egg cartons, which he christened "Toadstool Studios".

All Saints Hall (Powis Square)

This church hall became the centre of the underground hippie movement in London for a few months in 1966. It all started in September 1966 with weekly fund raising dances to help out the Notting Hill Free School (located just up the street, in the basement of 22 Powis Terrace) which had run into serious debt.

These "Sound and Light Workshops” featured a young band called “The Pink Floyd Sound”, and the dances became very popular. A few months later, the club moved to a larger venue in central London, which was christened UFO.

Nearby, at 81 Powis Square, is the house featured in the cult movie Performance. In the film, Mick Jagger portrays a fading rock star named Turner (a character that appears to have been closely based on Brian Jones).

Joe Strummer’s Squat (101 Walterton Rd, Maida Vale)

This was Joe Strummer’s squat in the mid 70s, and provided the name for his first band, pub rock pre-punks, the 101ers. The band ran their own club on Wednesday nights above a nearby pub, The Chippenham (cnr Malvern and Shirland Rds). The club, which ran from December 1974 to April 1975, was named “The Charlie Pigdog Club” (in honour of the squat's mascot). The club is now a snooker hall.

Mick Jones’ Tower Block (111 Wilmcote House)

Mick Jones lived (on and off) with his grandmother on the 18th floor of this block of council flats from 1973 to 1980. It became an inspiration for several Clash songs, including London's Burning (which includes a reference to the flat's views over the scenic Westway motorway). However, Mick Jones did not write any songs about his life before he moved in with his Gran in the 18th floor council flat, when he was growing up with his Auntie in an art deco mansion block complete with porters and swimming pool.

London SS’s Flat (47A Warrington Crescent)

This was where seminal punk band London SS rehearsed (the band’s members went on to form The Clash and The Damned). This large bright basement squat (formerly occupied by a colony of hippies in the 60s) became a home base for a variety of local musicians from 1972 to the mid 70s.

Damon Albarn’s Notting Hill

Damon Albarn, singer with Blur and more recently Gorillaz, lived near Portobello Rd in the mid 90s during the height of the Brit-pop revolution. It is a place he knows well, his parents were Notting Hill hippies in the 60s. Back in the mid 90s, Albarn was known to frequent the Portobello Cafe (67 Wornington Rd), a favourite for breakfast, Mandola (139 Westbourne Grove), his favourite romantic restaurant, and The Star Pub (near Portobello Rd), which was quite close to his house.

Rough Trade (130 Talbot Rd),

This is where the Geoff Travis started the Rough Trade Empire, and it is till a decent record shop.

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