Jukebox Jury
Retired
The MozTube Tour
For those of you in London for the Hyde Park gig and are interested in visiting a few London Morrissey / Smiths related sights, here is your 'Print off And Keep' Guide To Morrissey / The Smiths London that I produced in January.
You will need to purchase an off peak Travel Card (commences after 9.30am Monday - Friday and all weekend) and this is valid all day long on both the underground and buses.
If you wish to visit West Ham Boys Club then you will need a zone 1-4 card. If you do not intend going to the Boys Club (which is a little further out of the centre of London than the other sites) then you will only need zone 1-2 card, which is a little cheaper.
If you do intend going to the Boys Club, then see the ’Optional Extra’ at the end of this guide.
The Tour
Start at Euston Station.
Make your own way from wherever you are staying to Euston Station.
*Please note there is also an underground station called ‘Euston’ at the station and another one a short walk away called ‘Euston Square‘.
This is the British Rail main line station connecting London with north London suburbs, the midlands, the north west of England, North Wales and the west coast of Scotland.
The Smiths song ‘London’ includes the line ‘…train heave on to Euston’
To The Grave Maurice
From Euston station walk the short distance to Euston Square underground station and catch the east bound tube to Whitechapel Station on the Hammersmith & City line.
Exit the station and turn right, the pub is in front of you 30 meters away. The pub has now thankfully been renamed TGM after a brief flirtation under the name ‘Q Bar’. The Grave Maurice sign is still hanging from the wall and further up the name remains in the tiles on the building.
Morrissey posed outside the pub on the front and back cover of the single ‘Sunny’ and also on his ‘Under The Influence’ album.
Vallance Street
Carry on past the Grave Maurice and to the first set of lights and turn right onto Vallance Street. The Kray twins lived here in the late 50’s / early 60’s but the houses have all been demolished and rebuilt since then. Morrissey posed underneath the street sign under the railway bridge a few minutes walk down the street, the sign is at the far end of the bridge on the right hand side.
PLEASE NOTE When I visited in January, the street sign was not on the railway bridge
Tench Street / Reardon Street
Go back to Whitechapel Station and catch the south bound tube on the East London Line to Wapping.
Exit the station and turn left onto Wapping High Street, crossing over and turning right onto Wapping Lane. Take the third left, Green Bank, and the Turks Head pub is on the corner of Tench Street and Green Bank.
Tench Street
The pub, now a community café, appeared boarded up during the video to ’We hate it when our friends become successful’ and also when open at the beginning of the ’Introducing Morrissey’ video.
Reardon Street
Either cut through the park next to the Turks Head diagonally, or walk around the park on Tench Street, turning right at the end of the park and the first road on the left is Reardon Street. On the junction of Tench & Reardon you will see the leaning post.
This post was used by Morrissey and Boz & Co at the end of the video to ’We hate it when….’ and the street sign is shown covered in Morrissey related graffiti. Also a picture of Morrissey at this spot is on the inside sleeve of the ‘Bona Drag’ album . The street sign appeared briefly towards the end of the 60’s classic film ’To Sir With Love’, starring Sidney Poitier, who gets off a bus on Tench Street and turns into Reardon Street passing the road sign.
Sloane Square
Go back to Wapping Station, catch the north bound East London Line back to Whitechapel station. Change here and catch the West bound District Line to Sloane Square. Exit the station and you are at the square.
Sloane Square is name checked in the song ’Hairdresser On Fire’ and as you leave the station, on the row of buildings on your right there is a real hairdressers salon!
Suedehead house - 32 Chester Square.
If you were exiting the station at Sloane Square, turn left out of the station onto Holbein Place and turning first left onto Whittaker Street. Continue up Whittaker Street which then becomes Chester Row and then Chester Square. No 32 is on the left hand side.
This house was used at the beginning of the ‘Suedehead’ video where Morrissey’s nephew hands him a parcel. You will pass the church before reaching the house, the steeple is featured in the background of the video.
Oscar Wilde’s House - 34 Tite Street, Chelsea
Make your way back to Sloane Square and from the station catch the No 11 or 22 bus from the bus stop in front of you, (with the square on your right) travelling down Kings Road. The journey is only a few minutes long, ask the driver to drop you off at the Chelsea cinema which will be on the right. Once off the bus, remain on the same side of the road and go back a little way to the traffic lights at Flood Street and turn right onto Flood Street and take the second left, Redburn Street and first right, Tite Street. Continue along Tite Street on the right hand side, crossing over Royal Hospital Road and continuing along Tite Street until you reach No 34. There should be a plaque commemorating Wilde living there unless someone has pinched it!
Geales Fish Restaurant, 2 Farmer Street
Make your way back to the bus stop on Kings Road, heading back towards Sloane Square. Catch the west bound tube to Notting Hill Gate on either the Circle or District lines, but only the District line heading for Edgware Road.
Exit Notting Hill Gate tube station using the ‘South Side’ direction and ‘Exit A’. Go up the stairs and continue along the footpath in a forward direction. A very short distance away is the Gate Cinema on your left and just before the cinema is the narrow Farmer Street. Go down there and you will see the restaurant on your right as the road opens up.
This is the venue described by Andy Rourke as ‘the place where The Smiths broke up’. The story goes that during a group meeting here, Johnny Marr was seeking a break from band activities though this was interpreted by the others as the end of the road. Morrissey managed to persuade him to carry on and the band recorded a couple of B-sides, before Marr travelled to LA where the break up of the band unfolded in the music press.
Piccadilly Circus
Go back to Notting Hill Gate station and catch the east bound tube to Oxford Circus on the Central Line and then change onto the south bound Bakerloo line for one stop to Piccadilly Circus. Exit the station and the statue of Eros is in front of you as well as the famous big neon sign.
Does the song Piccadilly Palare ring any bells?
The Rock Garden, Covent Garden
Go back to the Piccadilly Circus station and catch the tube to Covent Garden two stops away on the north bound Piccadilly line. Exit the station which is on the corner of Long Acre and James Street. Go down James Street to the end and as you reach The Piazza, The Rock Garden restaurant is on your immediate right on the corner.
The venue for The Smiths first ever London gig. The band played on the floor in the basement as the main acts’ equipment took up the whole stage! If you ask politely, you may be given a brief tour down to the basement - it probably depends on how many people have got there before you that day!
End of the tour!
Optional Extra
West Ham Boys Club - The Black Lion pub, 59 - 61 High Street, Plaistow.
This is a little further out, if you wish to go there and have the extra time. From Euston, follow directions as if going to Whitechapel station for The Grave Maurice, but stay on the tube until you reach Plaistow Station. Exit the station onto Plaistow Road turning right and cross over to the other side of the road. Plaistow Road becomes High Street. Continue along High Street for a few minutes and the pub appears in front of you at the junction of Richmond Street. The club is in the courtyard of the pub situated to the left of the pub and opening times are 6 - 8pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 10am to noon on Sundays.
Morrissey wore West Ham Boys Club T-shirts during the Oye Esteban tour of 1999.
To pick up the rest of the tour, make your way back to Plaistow station and catch the west bound tube to Whitechapel station on either the District or Hammersmith & City lines and follow directions as described for The Grave Maurice pub from Whitechapel station.
If you do undertake the tour and there are any corrections to be made (as you can see, street signs disappear and pubs change names frequently!) please let me know.
Thanks
Phill Gatenby
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