The histroy OF DENMARK STREET

Let’s take a walk down Denmark Street. Turn the corner from Charing Cross Road in central London, and you’re faced with 100 yards of musical history. Right now, though, you’d be better off with a hard hat than a hard case. The street is under siege from a massive redevelopment, and the never-ending Crossrail development already engulfs a good deal of the surrounding area. Today, Denmark Street is in the process of transformation.

Continue your walk and, as you shield your ears from construction noise, carefully dodge the builders’ trucks and navigate the many pedestrian diversions, you may be able to sense the historical importance of this place, especially if you have a vivid and active imagination and a keen eye for architectural detail. Today, though, some of its premises are boarded up, and most of the shops that are open have seen their proprietors’ lives turned almost literally upside down.

Through the years, Denmark Street has had at least three important musical lives. The first, lasting from the 19th century well into the late 20th, was as the home of the professional song business. The second, and the one we’re most interested in, began in the mid-1960s, as the street started to attract music-shop owners and thrived in the following decades as a key destination for guitarists and would-be players. The third of Denmark Street’s lives is underway right now and planned for the near future. Once the dust has finally settled, the street frontages will remain but there will be a series of new venues. Hopefully, there will still be plenty of guitar shops among them.

In December 2014, Pete Townshend wrote an open letter. “In the 60s, I bought fuzzboxes and strings for my guitars from Macari’s guitar shop in Denmark Street,” he said. “The Who did