Marquee Club
The Marquee is a legendary music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962.
The 1960s: Rock roots
In 1964, the Marquee moved to its best known venue, 90 Wardour Street where all the great and good sweated on the tiny stage, and almost every major rock band played over the next 25 years. Residencies during the late 1960s alone included The Moody Blues, The Who, Yes, David Bowie, Jethro Tull, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Pink Floyd who played on Sunday afternoons as part of the Spontaneous Underground. To find out who was playing on any given night, you could just call in next door at The Ship pub to see who was at the bar. In 1964 Moody Blues manager/producer Alex Murray used a home-made studio in the garage at the back of the club to produce the classic "Go Now" single, which shot to No.1 at Christmas 1964, and filmed the first ever purpose-made UK Pop Video Promo in the club itself to promote it. The development of Marquee Studios was largely financed from profits on this record.
The Rolling Stones made a return to the club on 26 March 1971 after an eight year absence to film a television special.
In 1961 the Marquee's owner, Harold Pendleton, launched the National Jazz Festival in Richmond, Surrey, the precursor to the Reading Festival.
The 1970s: The new Punk order
Although never a seminal punk venue, the Marquee embraced the burgeoning punk rock movement of the late 1970s regularly promoting punk and new wave nights into the 1980s. Bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Boys, Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Stranglers, Generation X, London, The Police, The Sinceros, Buzzcocks, The Jam, Joy Division and The Cure all trod the famous Wardour Street stage.
The 1980s: New wave of British heavy metal and prog revival
During the early to mid 1980s the Marquee became an important venue to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). NWOBHM bands such as Angelwitch, Diamond Head, Witchfynde and Praying Mantis were regulars and Iron Maiden were filmed playing there for LWT documentary "20th Century Box" (introduced by a very young Danny Baker).
The Marquee was also the central venue of the progressive rock revival of the early 1980s. It was here that the then unsigned Marillion began to gain a wider fan base and press interest playing frequent 2 night residencies to a sold out crowd. Other progressive rock acts of the time regularly playing the club included Pendragon, Solstice, Twelfth Night, IQ, Haze, Cardiacs and Liaison (who were not strictly prog but seemed to become linked to the movement).
'Secret' gigs
The historical importance of the club led to a number of bigger, established artists playing 'secret' gigs at the venue often as one off 'fan thank you's', warm up shows or just because they liked the intimate atmosphere. These 'secret' shows were often promoted under an assumed name designed to be recognised only by hardcore fans. These included appearances by Marillion (under such names as Skyline Drifters and Lufthanser Air Terminal), Prince, Genesis, Iron Maiden (appearing as guests on a bill headed "A Fun Night With The Entire Population of Hackney"), Squeeze and Mötley Crüe (In the Charing Cross Road venue as The Four Skins- seen in the video of their cover version of "Anarchy in the UK", and to the derision of those who arrived at the venue expecting the skinhead band of the same name). The venue also prominently featured in the 1985 video for the Wham! single "I'm Your Man". Metallica played a secret gig 1990 supporting Metal Church on their Blessing in Disguise Tour. They performed as Vertigo and Mike Howe (Metal Church vocalist) introduced them as a new band that had only played a couple of shows.
Current developments
In 1988, the Wardour Street site was sold for redevelopment (it is now Meza and Floridita with a cigar retail shop Spanish restaurant and Cuban restaurant and some flats) and the Marquee Club moved again to a larger venue at 105 Charing Cross Road. During this period, American progressive metal band Dream Theater recorded their first live album, Live At The Marquee, at the venue. It was bought for redevelopment and the club closed in 1996. A pub now occupies the building.
In 2001, the Marquee name was bought by entrepreneurs (including Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics who owned the brand rights) and affixed to a new club, located in a purpose-built space in Islington, now the Islington Academy. It hit financial difficulties and closed in 2003, less than a year after it opened.
The name was then used for a new venue at 1 Leicester Square in the heart of London's tourist district, opening in 2004. But that venture also folded after less than 18 months.
In August 2007, the Marquee re-opened yet again, this time on Upper Saint Martins Lane in Covent Garden. However, it closed its doors for the last time on 10th February 2008, with Colchester based rock act Torn Asunder being the last ever band to headline at The Marquee.