35-629: The Pheasantry , 152 King's Road , Chelsea, London, is a Grade II listed building that was home to a number of important figures in 1960s London and a small music venue in the 1970s where a number of bands were able to play their first gigs. The original buildings, now largely demolished, may have been constructed in 1766 or 1769. The site gets its name from the business of Samuel Baker who developed new breeds of oriental pheasants as well as cattle and foxes. Advertising appeared in The Field in 1865 offering pairs of birds for 15 guineas. The current building
70-564: A Heated Fork and Dr. Crow . Aside from his own work, he provided lyrics for various musician friends over the years. He collaborated with Ian Fraser Kilmister ( Lemmy ), co-writing "Lost Johnny" for Hawkwind , and "Keep Us on the Road" and "Damage Case" for Motörhead . With Larry Wallis , he co-wrote "When's the Fun Begin?" for the Pink Fairies and several tracks on Wallis' solo album Death in
105-468: A back room where the doors were closed and people went on drinking, and I think there were gangsters involved." According to Miles, one King's Road character who lived at the Pheasantry had a pet rabbit, which he dyed bright green and may have given acid to, that "committed suicide" by leaping from the roof. Miles said: "He was a fucking mad idiot. I mean, there were a lot of people like that, particularly at
140-427: A private road used by King Charles II to travel to Kew . It remained a private royal road until 1830, but people with connections were able to use it. Some houses date from the early 18th century. No. 213 has a blue plaque to film director Sir Carol Reed , who lived there from 1948 until his death in 1976. Thomas Arne lived at No. 215 and is believed to have composed " Rule Britannia " there. Ellen Terry lived in
175-436: A reputation for being one of London's most fashionable shopping streets. Other celebrated boutiques included Granny Takes a Trip . 484 King's Road was the headquarters of Swan Song Records , owned by Led Zeppelin . The company was closed and the building vacated in 1983. King's Road was the site of the first UK branch of Starbucks , which opened in 1999. In 1984, Keith Wainwright , a pioneer responsible for starting one of
210-530: A showcase for the band, did not go well. Phil Reed remembered that the band were "unpolished" and the venue was mainly a disco, "once the disco had stopped and Queen went on everyone went to the bar." In addition, none of the record company A & R people who had been invited, turned up. Thin Lizzy performed there and were described as "playing to a handful of posey people sitting there drinking cocktails." Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice found Yvonne Elliman at
245-563: Is also within easy reach of the western end of King's Road, with river bus services provided by London River Services and Thames Executive Charters to Putney and Blackfriars . Further east, the same services are also provided at Cadogan Pier, only a few blocks south of King's Road near the Albert Bridge . 51°29′15″N 0°10′08″W / 51.48737°N 0.168874°W / 51.48737; -0.168874 Mick Farren Michael Anthony Farren (3 September 1943 – 27 July 2013)
280-471: Is associated with 1960s style and with fashion figures such as Mary Quant and Vivienne Westwood . Sir Oswald Mosley 's Blackshirt movement had a barracks on the street in the 1930s. King's Road runs for just under two miles (3.2 km) through Chelsea, in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea , from Sloane Square in the east (on the border with Belgravia and Knightsbridge ) and through
315-478: The Constitution . He began writing fantasy literature in the 70s. Farren wrote eleven works of non-fiction, including a number of biographical (including four on Elvis Presley ), autobiographical and culture books (such as The Black Leather Jacket ), and much poetry. From 2003 to 2008, he was a columnist for the weekly newspaper Los Angeles CityBeat . In his 3 May 2010 Doc40 blog, Farren announced that he
350-520: The proto-punk band The Deviants between 1967 and 1969, releasing three albums. During 1970 he released the solo album Mona – The Carnivorous Circus , which also featured Steve Peregrin Took , John Gustafson and Paul Buckmaster , before ending his music business to concentrate on writing. During the mid-1970s, he briefly revived his musical career, releasing the single "Play With Fire" featuring Marky (soon-to-be Ramone) Bell, Jon Tiven, and Doug Snyder,
385-576: The 22 are the only routes which run the entirety of King's Road, with the 22 being the only route that runs all the way from Sloane Square to the end of New King's Road in Fulham. The western end of King's Road is close to Imperial Wharf railway station on the London Overground network, with connections to Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction . Southern also run direct rail services to Milton Keynes Central and East Croydon from this station. At
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#1733093365709420-528: The Chelsea Design Quarter (Moore Park Estate) on the border of Chelsea and Fulham. Shortly after crossing Stanley Bridge the road passes a slight kink at the junction with Waterford Road, where it then becomes New King's Road, continuing to Fulham High Street and Putney Bridge ; its western end is in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham . King's Road derives its name from its function as
455-620: The EP Screwed Up , album Vampires Stole My Lunch Money and single "Broken Statue". The album featured fellow New Musical Express (NME) journalist Chrissie Hynde and Dr. Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson . He also contributed song ideas and music for short-lived Ladbroke Grove ensemble Warsaw Pakt's 1977 Needle Time LP. He sporadically did musical work after that, collaborating with Wayne Kramer on Who Shot You Dutch? and Death Tongue , Jack Lancaster on The Deathray Tapes and Andy Colquhoun on The Deviants albums Eating Jello With
490-658: The Guitafternoon . He provided lyrics for the Wayne Kramer single "Get Some" during the mid-1970s, and continued to work with and for him during the 1990s. During the early 1970s he contributed to the UK Underground press such as the International Times , also establishing Nasty Tales which he successfully defended from an obscenity charge. He later wrote for the mainstream New Musical Express , for which he wrote
525-514: The Heartbreakers from the 1981 album Hard Promises and is name-checked in the song "Dick a Dum Dum (King's Road)" which was a hit for Des O'Connor in 1969. In Ian Fleming 's novels, James Bond lives in an unspecified fashionable square just off King's Road. In the 1960s radio series Round the Horne , in the 'Jules and Sandy' section, their establishment (named 'Bona...'), is often located in
560-646: The King's Road (for example, Bona Books in series 4). Pet Shop Boys met in an electronics shop on King's Road in August 1981. The eastern part of King's Road is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. King's Road is part of A3217. Buses 11 , 19 , 22 , 49 , 211 , 319 , 328 , and C3 all go down King's Road, yet most of these turn off the street at one point or another. The 11 and
595-467: The Park. 51°29′20″N 0°09′51″W / 51.4890°N 0.1642°W / 51.4890; -0.1642 King%27s Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road , especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham , both in west London, England. It
630-490: The Pheasantry as his British studio. Following the retirement of Felix Joubert in 1932, the basement became a bohemian restaurant and drinking club patronised by actors and artists, including Augustus John , Dylan Thomas , Humphrey Bogart , and Francis Bacon . It was run by an Italian called Reny De Meo. Lynda Bellingham recalls that in the 1960s Anthony Hopkins would "hold court" there doing an impression of Richard Burton doing Dylan Thomas. The club closed in 1966 after
665-475: The Pheasantry, as a result of which she featured in the original soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar . Sparks played their first British gig there. In the 1970s John Betjeman led a campaign to prevent the redevelopment of the site. The building now houses a branch of the Pizza Express restaurant chain. In the basement is a cabaret club The Pheasantry which opened in 2010 after the closure of Pizza on
700-459: The Pheasantry, it was really filled with them." The Pheasantry nightclub hosted early gigs by Lou Reed , Queen and Hawkwind . The venue was small, however. According to John Hewlett, "It was a naff place to play. It was the sort of place you played if you get The Marquee ." It was a gig in London, however, and unsigned bands were grateful for that. The 1972 gig by Queen, which had been intended as
735-522: The article "The Titanic Sails At Dawn", an analysis of what he considered the malaise afflicting then-contemporary rock music and which described the conditions that subsequently resulted in punk . He wrote 23 novels, including the Victor Renquist novels and the DNA Cowboys sequence. His 1989 novel The Armageddon Crazy dealt with a post-2000 United States dominated by fundamentalists who subvert
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#1733093365709770-466: The artist and interior decorator Amédée Joubert". The London Green Guide noted in 2012 that only the facade and portico survive. The firm of Amédée Joubert & Son provided services of upholstery, gilding, the importation of Aubusson tapestry , Lyons silks and oriental carpets and the manufacture of French bedding, chairs etc. and continued until 1932, lastly under Felix Joubert who also made dolls' house furniture for Queen Mary . By 1914, however,
805-517: The building was a ballet academy run by the dance teacher Serafina Astafieva (1876–1934), great niece of Leo Tolstoy . Astafieva trained Alicia Markova who came to Diaghilev 's attention when he visited the school in 1921 and went on to join his Ballets Russes . Anton Dolin and Margot Fonteyn also trained there. From 1950, the Italian painter Pietro Annigoni spent six months a year in Britain using
840-643: The death of the owner Mario Cazzani, and the building was converted into apartments and the basement into a nightclub. Among those living at The Pheasantry in the 1960s were David Litvinoff who worked in Tim Whidborne's studio there, the writer Anthony Haden-Guest , the musician Eric Clapton and Martin Sharp of Oz magazine who shared a studio there, Germaine Greer , Robert Whitaker , Philippe Mora , Freya Mathews and Nicky Kramer . Clapton only escaped being arrested on drugs charges by Norman Pilcher , who rang
875-403: The doorbell to announce "postman, special delivery", by escaping from the rear of the building. By this time, the building was starting to deteriorate. One visitor, Mick Farren , recalled: "It was falling down. It had gone through its popular phase, but no money had been put back into it to fix the roof and stuff, and the roofs were leaking and everything was kind of coming apart". The sound from
910-460: The eastern end of the street is Sloane Square , and Fulham Broadway lies at the western end, on the boundary between Chelsea and Fulham. King's Road, and the area of Chelsea as a whole, is known for having poor links to the London Underground . Due to this, the route of Crossrail 2 is proposed to have an underground station in this area, called King's Road Chelsea . Chelsea Harbour Pier
945-441: The first men's hairdressers catering for the longer men's styles of the time, with such clients including Roy Wood , Cat Stevens and The Walker Brothers , opened the salon "Smile", at 434 King's Road. 535 King's Road was the headquarters of Cube Records , an independent record label of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The label folded in the mid-1970s, becoming part of Elektra Records . The building has since been demolished but
980-411: The new building on the same site still houses a record company. The corner of Kings Road and Manresa Road was occupied from 1895 to 1985 by Chelsea College of Science and Technology before it was subsumed into King's College London and immediately sold into private hands. The road has been represented in popular culture on various occasions: "King's Road" is the title of a song by Tom Petty &
1015-508: The nightclub in the basement could be heard through the floorboards in the studios above. The club had seen better days. Barry Miles recalls it as a venue where "the likelihood of having your drink spiked with acid was pretty high". Another said: "It would be an R & B club for a bit ... then it'd become a gay club for a while ... [it] always seemed to be hosting various floating crap games, some of which were R & B, some of which were folk music and some of which were gay. I think also it had
1050-630: The same house from 1904 to 1920, and also Peter Ustinov ; the house is commemorated by a blue plaque also. Photographer Christina Broom was born in 1862 at No. 8. The world's first artificial ice rink , the Glaciarium , opened just off King's Road in 1876, and later that year it relocated to a building on the street. During the 1960s the street became a symbol of mod culture , evoking "an endless frieze of mini-skirted, booted, fair-haired angular angels", one magazine later wrote. Mary Quant opened her boutique BAZAAR at 138a King's Road in 1955. King's Road
1085-519: The showroom was closed and the rest of the building rented out as studios with only the basement in use by the Jouberts as a workshop. In the early 1900s, one occupant of the Pheasantry was Eleanor Thornton (drowned 1915), a favourite model of artist and sculptor Charles Sykes . Thornton may have been the model for Sykes' most famous work, his Rolls-Royce mascot the Spirit of Ecstasy . From 1916, part of
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1120-501: Was an English rock musician, singer, journalist, and author associated with counterculture and the UK underground . Farren was born in Cheltenham , Gloucestershire , and after moving to Worthing , Sussex , attended Worthing High School for Boys , which was a state grammar school. In 1963, he moved to London, where he studied at Saint Martin's School of Art . Farren was the singer with
1155-471: Was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century. The Jouberts bought the building in 1880 and it seems that they added significant amounts of architectural decoration around that time. According to Nikolaus Pevsner and Bridget Cherry , the building includes a "flamboyant Louis XV façade and a triumphal entrance arch to its front courtyard with caryatids and quadringa ... the odd, extremely heavy display of Grecian enthusiasm were added to an earlier house in 1881 by
1190-529: Was home in that decade to the Chelsea Drugstore (originally a chemist with a stylised chrome-and-neon soda fountain upstairs, later a public house , and more recently a McDonald's ), and in the 1970s to Malcolm McLaren 's boutique Let It Rock, which was renamed SEX in 1974, and then Seditionaries in 1977. During the hippie and punk eras it was a centre for counterculture , but has since been gentrified . It serves as Chelsea's high street and has
1225-628: Was writing another Victor Renquist novel, with the working title of Renquist V . In 2013, he worked with digital imprint Ink Monkey Books on audio inserts (with Andy Colquhoun of The Deviants) for reissues of The Texts of Festival and the DNA Cowboys sequence . Farren organised the Phun City Festival in 1970. He has long been associated with the Hells Angels (UK), who provided security at Phun City; they even awarded Farren an "approval patch" in 1970 for use on his first solo album Mona . He
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