Top 5 Landmark Rock and Roll Buildings
News last week that Battersea Power Station in London was up for sale prompted me to think of other iconic buildings that have been associated with great moments in Rock and Roll History. Battersea Power Station is significant to most people around the world for having been featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1977 LP “Animals”, not forgetting an appearance in the 1965 Beatles film “Help!”.
So what other buildings hold such a deep nostalgia for music fans as Battersea? Here’s my Top 5 buildings with a top rock and roll nostalgia:
5) 96 and 98 St. Marks Place, New York
Featured on Led Zeppeli’s LP “Physical Graffiti” released in 1975
4) Beverly Hills Hotel, Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles
Famous for so many celeb-related escapades both past and present but most famously featured on the cover of The Eagles’ 1976 LP “Hotel California”
3) Whisky A Go-Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, California
The Doors were the house band here for a spell and the Byrds, Love and Buffalo Springfield all played here. Otis Redding recorded “Live At The Whisky” in 1966. To get a true taste of California rock and roll in the sixties, be transported back to the Whisky in 1967. Fast forward 25 years and Nirvana played here. The spirit of rock and roll on the Sunset Strip lives on.
2) The Chelsea Hotel, New York
Bob Dylan holed up here to write “Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands” for his wife Sara; Arthur C. Clarke wrote “2001: A Space Odyssey” here in the 1960s; and most famously, Sid Vicious’ girlfriend Nancy Spungeon was found stabbed to death in Room 100; and Madonna shot photographs for her book “Sex” in Room 822.
1) St. Peter’s Church Hall, Woolton, Liverpool
A landmark building for a landmark moment in the history of Popular Music and Culture - it was the site of the first meeting of Paul McCartney and John Lennon on 6 July, 1957.
