April 2016 is Music Month on The Daily Constitutional!
A London commemorative plaque for every day in 2016.
The plaques are selected from all walks of life, and all points of the London compass – and I'm taking requests too!
DROP ME A LINE or leave a comment below if you'd like to nominate a plaque for inclusion in the series
Commemorating Mods and Rockers in Carnaby Street W1…
Pop and rock impresario Don Arden was born Harry Levy in the North of England. He earned the nickname “The Al Capone of Pop” in the 1960s for his often heavy-handed management style. His daughter Sharon went on to marry Ozzy Osbourne.
Arden is said to have once held Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood over a balcony of a fourth story window in an attempt to discourage Stigwood from poaching one of his clients away from him.
Among his charges in the 1960s were The Small Faces, the East London mods who rose to international fame with such hits as Itchycoo Park, a satire on the Hippie mores of the late 60s with a title inspired by an East London park (possibly Little Ilford Park, possibly Wanstead Flats).
It’s an odd commemoration in that one of the five people named on the plaque is still alive – Kenney Jones, the Small Faces drummer, who unveiled the plaque.
The plaque also marks Carnaby Street as the epicentre of Swinging London style.
A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
