A Cellarful Of Noise

The 2 i’s and the birth of British rock By Owen Adams

TODAY, Old Compton Street in Soho is the hub of London’s gay scene, and a pertinent symbol of the laissez-faire. But, on 18 September last year, tourists, drinkers and fetish shop customers were met with the echo of an earlier revolution. Security barriers had been set up outside the Boulevard Bar & Dining Room, a trendy pre-theatre restaurant, and the police kept a crowd of excitable onlookers from blocking the road. Inside the cordon, a few dozen pensioners and a small media contingent gathered to witness a truly momentous event: the first official recognition of the birth place of British rock’n’roll, at the 2i’s Coffee Bar, 50 years ago. Most autograph-hunters were there for one reason: Cliff Richard, predictably the most Peter Pan-like of the gathering. But a hardcore of fans competed with photographers to see guests of honour Wee Willie Harris, the original incarnation of Marty Wilde’s Wildcats, The Shadows, Vince Eager, Chas McDevitt, Danny Rivers, Russ Sainty, Big Jim Sullivan, Tex Makins, Clem Cattini and other musicians who formed the frontline of British 50s rebel music, many of whom are still gigging today.

All were gathered for the unveiling of plaque pinpointing the site of the 2i’s Coffee Bar, the result of an 18-month campaign by …

by Owen Adams
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