For half a century The Marquee remained the centre of London’s thriving music scene. Providing an early platform for such legendary artists as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and The Clash, the venue became an iconic hotspot and the must-see club for up-and-coming bands. But its later reputation was a far cry from its more humble beginnings, having been founded in Soho in the late 1950s to cater to the rhythm and blues and jazz audience. The Marquee was the brainchild of Harold Pendleton, a former accountant who had ties to the National Jazz Federation and had wanted to open a club that would appease to a similar crowd. Its doors first opened on April 19th 1958 in the basement of the Academy Cinema, located at 165 Oxford Street in the centre of London. The room used for the venue was a ballroom that the owners of the cinema had little use for, prompting Pendleton to hire it out to launch The Marquee.
Although some of the first acts to appear at the club were relatively unknown, Pendleton was soon able to recruit up-and-coming musicians like Muddy Waters, a blues guitarist hailing from America who had first entered the industry a decade earlier and was to make his UK debut at The Marquee, performing alongside trombonist Chris Barber. As the 1960s began to venue began to gain momentum and would provide many artists with their first big break. In 1963 the Rolling Stones made their debut at The Marquee, having formed in London a year earlier and yet to sign to a label.
Around the same time another local group new on the scene known as the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers also performed at the club. Soon afterwards they would change their name to Manfred Mann, and scored a number one hit with the song Do Wah Diddy Diddy. On March 5th 1964 another soon-to-be-legendary act would perform at the club. The Yardbirds were, like many of the acts that would appear at the club, relatively inexperienced and had only recently formed. Among their numbers was a young guitarist called Eric Clapton who would later become one of the most respected musicians in the industry, both as a solo artist and through his work with Cream.
This would become a milestone in the history of the venue as it would be the last night that it would operate on Oxford Street. After only five years of The Marquee being based on Oxford Street Pendleton was notified that the ballroom was no longer available and so in 1964 he was forced to relocate from the Academy Cinema to new premises at 90 Wardour Street, where the club would remain for the next two decades. Despite talk of The Marquee closing, this new beginning would mark the dawn of a new era and the start of the venue’s most successful period. The new location would be designed to resemble that of Oxford Street in an effort to keep the locals interested, and in just eight days The Marquee had moved to its new home. The opening night would see The Yardbirds return, this time to record what would become their debut album, Five Live Yardbirds. Among the material they performed during their set were covers of classics by Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry and John Lee Hooker.
The Who, who had released their debut single in July 1964, made their first of many appearances at The Marquee the following January to great acclaim. A review of one of their show by Melody Maker stated, “These four young musicians present their own brand of powerful, stinging rhythm-and-blues which, last Tuesday, quickly stimulated and enthusiastic audience.” It would be through their shows at The Marquee that The Moody Blues would attract the attention of Decca Records (who would also re-release The Who‘s debut My Generation in 1966), resulting in their debut album The Magnificent Moodies being released that summer.
Other acts who would begin to make a name for themselves through their performances at the club were David Bowie, then still a teenager, the Spencer Davis Group and Pink Floyd. Clapton would return to the stage once again with Cream, while American guitarist Jimi Hendrix made three appearances during the late part of the decade. In April 1968 The Who made a return to celebrate the tenth anniversary of The Marquee, in which Pendleton would reflect on how his company had progressed from its beginnings on Oxford Street to its current status as a hip and popular live venue. In October 1968 former Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page had launched a group which he had named the New Yardbirds and took his line-up to The Marquee. Following their acclaimed show, the band later renamed themselves Led Zeppelin and would return to the club in later years under their new moniker.
The 1970s would mark another successful era for the venue, featuring appearances from Yes, AC/DC, Jethro Tull and Thin Lizzy. In the latter half of the 1970s punk rock began to dominate the London music scene and this was reflected in the choice of artists that would grace the stage of The Marquee; The Clash, Joy Division, The Cure, the Sex Pistols, The Damned and Siouxsie and the Banshees. During the early 1980s this scene was eventually replaced by new wave and new romantics, as well as what the press would dub as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Once again The Marquee would attract a host of up-and-coming acts, including Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Marillion and the Lords of the New Church, as well as Finnish glam rockers Hanoi Rocks, whose live album and home video All Those Wasted Years would be recorded at the club. The end of another era would take place on July 18th 1988 when guitar legend Joe Satriani performed at what would be The Marquee’s swan song on Wardour Street after twenty-four years. The reason for this was due to the building being scheduled for demolition.
With the club having to move once again to new premises Pendleton decided to step down as the director. The new location for the venue would be at 105-107 Charing Cross, where it would remain for the next seven years. Kiss, who had reinvented themselves as a MTV-friendly hair metal band, performed on the opening night, which took place on August 16th. During the late 1980s and early 1990s the popular late-night music show Raw Power (formerly The Power Hour) was filmed at the club and broadcast each Friday night, introducing The Marquee to a new generation of rock fans. But this era would prove to be a disappointment for the owners and the doors would close once again in December 1995. It would be a further seven years before The Marquee would open once again, this time based at the Islington Academy, although this would last a mere four months. Over the next few years the club would relocate twice again, once at Leicester Square in 2004 and again in 2007 at 14 Upper St Martin’s Lane, both located in Soho.
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