Sometimes London just thrills me. And it can be the smallest of things.
There I am wandering through my life in this city and then I turn a metaphorical corner and the realisation of the sheer fabulousness of London slaps me across the face. What a privilege it is to live here!
I met an industry colleague for a brief catch-up in The Charlotte Street Hotel on Tuesday night at 6pm. It was packed and buzzing with chattering media types transitioning from afternoon meetings over tea and cakes to early evening cocktails and fun. I got there early and was able to snag a couple of seats at the bar to enjoy the energy of the room and a spell of people watching before my colleague arrived. We had a gin and tonic, a gossip and caught up on what needed catching up on. Obviously with such a high-powered meeting, I would charge the drinks to expenses.
Then off to Waterstones on the Tottenham Court Road for the launch of David Hepworth’s new book, A Fabulous Creation, about the history and wonderful significance of the LP record. David was the guy Bob Geldof famously swore at when David was anchoring the Live Aid TV broadcast. There were a lot of old music industry people and music journalists at the event. Mark Ellen, David’s co-anchor on Live Aid and co-host of The Old Grey Whistle Test all those years ago was there. He and David have had a life of adventures in magazines and are always fascinating company. Mark Lewisohn, the world’s greatest Beatles expert and biographer gave me an update on progress with the second part of his trilogy on the Fabs. Don’t hold your breath, it’s still a couple of years away. Or so. The drinks were on the (publishing) house and I filled my boots. David made a good speech explaining the significance of where we all stood in the history of the LP record. The modern building that Waterstones sits within replaced several of the old hi-fi shops that used to litter the Tottenham Court Road. We were also a stone’s throw from Denmark Street, the tin pan alley of music publishing where many of the great rock songs had been published. And there had been record shops all over this area – the big Virgin and HMV megastores along Oxford Street and the more specialist shops on side streets and tucked down alleys. I bought a copy of the book which David signed. He asked me what my favourite LP was. I offered The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths or A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles and he included the later in his message when he signed the book for me as I said goodbye and thank you.
Because I was off again.
This time just up the road to The Social, a well-loved and long-lived bar on Little Portland Street which had recently been threatened with closure until an appeal raised enough to secure the lease, for now at least. The Social has been putting on music since the late 1990’s and I was here to see some.
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard are a new band from Cardiff beginning to garner a lot of interest who had been recommended to me. They are still at a very early stage, with just a solitary song on Spotify, although their playing and stage craft are precociously advanced. Tickets were only £4 – my only outgoing of the evening so far.
If I’d stopped there, I could have had a full night out with drinks and live music for just £4. Unbelievable.
Unfortunately I didn’t. Stop that is. The Social is a bar after all. And music does sound better with beer.
The band were brilliant, particularly so as I knew only the one song on Spotify. They sound like they have got a lot more in their pockets. The music is sinuous but swings – their debut LP should be a good one.
Around 11:30pm I headed home.
And that was when it hit me. What a lovely night. What a great night. All within a few hundred yards and all available for £4.
What a great city.
And isn’t beer great.
