Arguably the most fabled rock venue in the world, Marquee details the London club's 30-year story, as well as the national music festival that grew out of it.
Go behind the scenes with every band imaginable who played there, many of whom share amazing anecdotes about the experience. For instance, the Who began their career with the "Maximum R&B" residency at the Marquee. Co-written by the son of the club's founders.
The Melody Maker went so far as to dub the Marquee "the most important venue in the history of pop music."
Beginning as a jazz club on Oxford Street before relocating to Soho's Wardour Street, the Marquee moved with the times, presenting R&B with Alexis Korner, the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds, transitioning to hard rock with the Who, Cream, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. The club nurtured progressive rock with Jethro Tull, Yes and Genesis before giving its stage over to the bands that trashed them: the Sex Pistols, Stranglers, Damned, Sham 69 and Generation X. The Marquee became home to the new wave (Adam and the Ants, the Jam, the Police) and to the New Wave of Heavy Metal (Iron Maiden, Def Leppard).
International superstars including AC/DC, Bryan Adams, Faith No More, Guns n' Roses, INXS, Metallica, R.E.M. and ZZ Top all played there.
Marquee: The Story of the World's Greatest Music Venue is packed with dates, memories, wild stories, musical milestones and behind-the-scenes drama, as told by the musicians, management, staff and fans who were there.
About the Author :
Robert Sellers is the author of numerous books on entertainment and popular culture, including biographies of Oliver Reed, Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Peter O'Toole. Nick Pendleton is the only child of Marquee founders Harold and Barbara Pendleton. He is the chairman of design and event production company Chameleon Live, and chairs Entec Sound & Light, the music production company developed by his parents.
Review :
"...not only a tome worthy of the legendary venue but also delivers a broader account of popular music in post-war Britain and beyond." --Shindig! magazine
"...a fine tale, well told, with just the right amount of entertaining, often enlightening, anecdotes to moderate what is essentially a chronological name drop." --music journalist and author Chris Charlesworth
"It eagerly captures the excitement, allure and pleasures of the London club where so many of us spent our youth discovering an amazing array of bands, groups and musicians -- not to mention mega stars of the future." --music journalist Chris Welch
"The history of one of London's most famous venues is laid bare, featuring the luminaries of rock, jazz and clubland turned riotously up to eleven." --Louder Than War
"The club's story is well told, with plenty of detail and a cast of characters that changes constantly as the decades whizz by." --author and journalist Richard Williams
