NFR The Hammersmith Appollo

[ron]

Ah, the Toby Jug........

Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation in a fairly small venue.....at thousands of decibels!

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

'69 I enrolled on the BSc Econ course at Kingston......lasting from September until the mid-sessional exams in the first year when stultifying boredom got the better of me and I went to Heathrow Airport and got a job with wages at last.  Memorable from those days for me was like RogerP my first pint of Newcastle Brown in the Students Union (as well as their excellent meat pies) and seeing Don Partridge in the SU one evening.

...and of course one of my favourite gigs those days which was the refectory building at Brunel Uni Uxbridge, where the list of bands playing was legendary...Fairport, Fleetwood, Moodies, and so many more.

very special days......and I did graduate eventually.....32 years later!

Hi,
I worked at Heathrow from 1969-1974 for BEA Export Cargo.  Ww won the inter-departmental Heathrow Cup - The Derlanger Cup
Played for the Heathrow team in the Asia Cup, winning in Jersey and Prague, then at home to KLM before getting beaten by BEA, Birmingham (for F*** sake) whose next round game was JAL in Tokyo......GRRRRRRRR

[Logicalman]

They were indeed both music venues in the mid-late 70's.
Apart from the 'biggies' like the Rock Garden, Roundhouse, Dingwalls, the other old cinema
in Camden.   etc
the Nashville Rooms on the Cromwell Road was a great venue. It spawned bands like
Racing Cars, Meal Ticket, Cado Belle, Moon, Kokomo, Shanghai and the George Hatcher Band

If by the way anyone remembers George Hatcher he's now living in North Carolina (about 2/3 hours from me)and still performing
I keep promising myself I'll get to one of his 'gigs'

Also some exciting news if anyone remembers Meal Ticket.........

I was gonna mention the Nashville, as everyone kind of moved there after the RC closed down I believe. That was around the time I moved away from London to the great outback, aka Oxfordshire.

[Snibbo]

My mum used to work at the Hammersmith Gaumont - remember the girls who used to come out at the intermissions, and walk down the aisle to the front, with trays of ice cream, juice etc.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

They were indeed both music venues in the mid-late 70's.
Apart from the 'biggies' like the Rock Garden, Roundhouse, Dingwalls, the other old cinema
in Camden.   etc
the Nashville Rooms on the Cromwell Road was a great venue. It spawned bands like
Racing Cars, Meal Ticket, Cado Belle, Moon, Kokomo, Shanghai and the George Hatcher Band

If by the way anyone remembers George Hatcher he's now living in North Carolina (about 2/3 hours from me)and still performing
I keep promising myself I'll get to one of his 'gigs'

Also some exciting news if anyone remembers Meal Ticket.........

I was gonna mention the Nashville, as everyone kind of moved there after the RC closed down I believe. That was around the time I moved away from London to the great outback, aka Oxfordshire.

They were indeed both music venues in the mid-late 70's.
Apart from the 'biggies' like the Rock Garden, Roundhouse, Dingwalls, the other old cinema
in Camden.   etc
the Nashville Rooms on the Cromwell Road was a great venue. It spawned bands like
Racing Cars, Meal Ticket, Cado Belle, Moon, Kokomo, Shanghai and the George Hatcher Band

If by the way anyone remembers George Hatcher he's now living in North Carolina (about 2/3 hours from me)and still performing
I keep promising myself I'll get to one of his 'gigs'

Also some exciting news if anyone remembers Meal Ticket.........

I was gonna mention the Nashville, as everyone kind of moved there after the RC closed down I believe. That was around the time I moved away from London to the great outback, aka Oxfordshire.

"Outback"  just as well you didn't move to Barnoldswick, Carlisle or Lands End.

[bulgariawhite]

The pubs down Kings street, Hammersmith in the 60's were The Hop Poles, The Brick Layers arms. Wagon and Horses, The Salutation, and Hampshire Hog. The other cinema in the Broadway was the Classic so there were 3 in Total. The Swinging Blue Jeans played at The Classic King Street in between films. The film I remember at the Gaumont was Whiskey Galore. I must have a lay down now as my memory is exhausted.
I forget the Windsor Castle which became the first Tesco's in Hammersmith

[Peabody]

The pubs down Kings street, Hammersmith in the 60's were The Hop Poles, The Brick Layers arms. Wagon and Horses, The Salutation, and Hampshire Hog. The other cinema in the Broadway was the Classic so there were 3 in Total. The Swinging Blue Jeans played at The Classic King Street in between films. The film I remember at the Gaumont was Whiskey Galore. I must have a lay down now as my memory is exhausted.
I forget the Windsor Castle which became the first Tesco's in Hammersmith


The Broadway was the other one in The Broadway. The Classic was definitely in King Street, just past BHS and because it was a true flea pit, was demolished in the 1950's. Close by was a sports shop and by the Town Hall was the Regal, closest pub was The Salutation.

[bulgariawhite]

There was another classic behind M&S opposite The Grape poles pub I think. It did get knocked down early on though could have been the 50's, but my memory is fading quite a bit now, but they were good days. Thanks for stirring them up.

[RaySmith]

I remember the 'Nashville' , as I knew it - and often to used to go their to see  bands, like the Carol Grimes Band, The Kursaal Flyers, Q Tips with Paul Young.

I also remember seeing a new , young London/Irish band, who performed a song that name checked Hammersmith Broadway, though the Clash had already immortalised The Hammersmith Palais.

The song I heard was Dark Streets of London by the Pogues-
http://youtu.be/WvhyyPqDxNM

[Burt]

I remember working at the Hammersmith Odeon during my Oratory school days to help feed my hi-fi addiction. Specifically cleaning up after gigs. It was a good job - free concerts, and finding all sorts of interesting things once the punters had gone. The amount of interesting substances found after ACDC had played there was quite interesting!

[filham]

My memory is fading fast and I just can't think of the name of that little cinema in Walham Green (Fulham Broadway) tucked alongside the underground station and fondly known as The Flee Pit, was it The Broadway ?,yes I think it was.

Anyway that offered a different type of film to the main cinemas but I think it is now long gone.

[Peabody]

Some of you have mentioned the Saturday Morning Pictures at the Gaumont/Odeon/Apollo. Well I joined when it first started up after the war. For my sins, I remember that the very first programme included a serial called The Headless Horseman and a feature length cartoon called Hoppity goes to town.

However, the best bit was during The Festival of Britain, they promised us that next week, there would be a very special guest would be attending, so we all went and who walked out.... Only John Wayne. We all jumped and shouted, cor John Wayne was on at our Saturday morning pictures.

[Twig]

Who can remember when the Appollo was The Guamont, even before it was The Hammersmith Odeon? That was before they built the flyover and just over the road was another cinema called The Broadway.?

You can tell I'm getting bored can't you?

My grandparents lived close by in Shortlands Mews.  Half of which (their side) was pulled down to build a Hotel (can't remember the name).  The houses were typical working class homes but these days those that remain are worth a fortune.

On the music related theme, my favourite venue was the Roundhouse when it was Middle Earth each Sunday.
There was also a good pub venue (an upstairs room) in a pub off Tottenham Court Rd very close to Goodge Street Stn. I remember seeing East of Eden, Caravan and a band called Mandrake Paddle Steamer there.   Anyone remember the name?

[Peabody]

Who can remember when the Appollo was The Guamont, even before it was The Hammersmith Odeon? That was before they built the flyover and just over the road was another cinema called The Broadway.?

You can tell I'm getting bored can't you?

My grandparents lived close by in Shortlands Mews.  Half of which (their side) was pulled down to build a Hotel (can't remember the name).  The houses were typical working class homes but these days those that remain are worth a fortune.

On the music related theme, my favourite venue was the Roundhouse when it was Middle Earth each Sunday.
There was also a good pub venue (an upstairs room) in a pub off Tottenham Court Rd very close to Goodge Street Stn. I remember seeing East of Eden, Caravan and a band called Mandrake Paddle Steamer there.   Anyone remember the name?

Shortlands was in Great Church Lane, which was demolished and replaced by The Flyover and A4

[Woodlawn]

The Greyhound was used every Friday in the 60's by artist playing on The Saturday club  show on the bbc. The producer Jimmy Grant was a regular . many household names would sing there  Engelbert, The Viscounts, Georgie Fame alan price Matt Munroe  etc etc

[Kent Cassandra]

Hello Peabody, Spent many an hour in all of the above cinemas, your right about the Classic, we called it the 'Bug Hutch' and when it rained the roof leaked.  People laugh at me when I tell them this but do you remember there was a horses trough in the middle of the Broadway you could get a drink there in a metal cup on a chain.  Is my memory deceiving me but didn't the Gaumont have an organ?

[Steven Ageroad]

It was originally called the Gaumont Hammersmith as I used to go to school through the broadway from Fulham to Wood Lane. It was when trolley buses were the main transport through the Broadway and it was 2 way traffic not one as it is today, The driver of the trolley bus had to get out of his cab and produce a long bamboo pole that he used to change power lines when he wanted to go in a different direction.

The Gaumont had many big names on there. I seen the following acts there, Modern Jazz Quartet, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, Peabo Bryson (One for the soul lovers), The Rolling Stones,before they were really famous, they were the 1st act on! Saw The Animals play "House of the Rising Sun" for the 1st time. Saw the best soul show ever there with Ottis Reading with Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd and Booker T and the MG's as the backing band I remember being one of the only white faces in the audiance when I saw Frankie Beverly and Maze. It was a great venue and I lived just a short bus ride away.

[The Bronsons]

I saw AC/DC play the Nashville sometime in the mid 1970s. Eddie and the Hot Rods were going to play but cancelled, and they put on "some Aussie band" and it was free admission...

Just a few years later I had a few mates who worked at the Hammersmith Odeon and they used to bunk me and a couple of mates in for nothing - again, saw AC/DC two or three times there.

The Nashville, the Red Cow (The Lurkers!), the Greyhound, the basement club on Hammersmith Broadway (The Broadway? - saw Tom Robinson there), the Golden Lion (The Pumphouse Gang, Lew Lewis)... what a great time for live bands that was.

[Peabody]

Yup, I remember the horse trough, just by the Metropolitan Line Station. (Now The Hammersmith and City).

I believe the very first live act on stage at The Gaumont/Odeon was Buddy Holly and The Crickets, my favourites, that was in 1958 and I was away in Cyprus doing my National Service.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

Yup, I remember the horse trough, just by the Metropolitan Line Station. (Now The Hammersmith and City).

I believe the very first live act on stage at The Gaumont/Odeon was Buddy Holly and The Crickets, my favourites, that was in 1958 and I was away in Cyprus doing my National Service.

That horse trough became quite famous.
Does anyone remember the old eccentric who used to sit beside it fishing.
When people, particularly tourists came up and asked "OK how many you caught today then"
He used to look up and reply  "You're the third"