TIN PAN ALLEY, LONDON
MAKE SOME NOISE AT A HALLOWED MUSIC HUBDespite pushback from punk and rock purists, the remix
of Denmark Street, former hub of the British music
industry, promises to hit all the right notes. Once lined
with music publishers, recording studios, rehearsal
rooms and dimly lit clubs, the tiny street, nicknamed
Tin Pan Alley, helped launch the British punk rock
movement and legends like David Bowie, Elton John and
the Rolling Stones. In recent years, the music had all but
died, save for Denmark Street’s surviving guitar shops.
Now this iconic slice of music history is being revived
as part of Outernet London, the West End’s new £1bn
immersive entertainment district.
The retooled street retains pieces of its storied past:
restored 17th-century building facades; the heritage-
protected graffiti art of Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the
Sex Pistols (who lived here); the old-school music shops
(thanks to affordable, long-term leases).
Denmark Street also offers some smartly reimagined
spots to get into the new groove. There are busker areas
where street musicians can make their case for being the
next Adele (who debuted at Denmark Street’s original 12
Bar Club); a free-to-use professional-quality recording
studio for up-and-coming artists; and the new Chateau
Denmark hotel, spread across 16 buildings steeped in
music history.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVEL (US)CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Regent
Sounds Studio and guitar shop on
Denmark Street, London; an aerial
view of Cairo as the Nile snakes off
into the distance, Egypt; lobby at
IM The Hoxton Rome
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Jan/Feb 2022 91BEST OF THE WORLD