Such a sad video. It's heartbreaking to see the heart being torn out of London. Trouble is two and three storey creaky old buildings cannot achieve the rental income the big corporations want. Tourists come to London for its rich heritage and quirky areas. What happens when those quirky areas are destroyed and London becomes a bland city that could be anywhere.

So sad regarding Foyles Bookshop, I loved all the bookshops along the Charing Cross road.

Shocking, absolutely tragic. Breaks my heart to lose such historic, special treasures. My soul was shattered last time I came to Liverpool Street and couldn't recognise anything, could barely see the sky for Dubai style skyscrapers. Just appalling. I've been in Denmark Street so many times. Totally gutted.

I remember walking around that area back when I was about 12....1966.....and seeing my first 12 string guitar in a shop window. From there to the BBC studio to watch a radio show recording. ..Amazing memories. ps I did eventually buy a 12 string in Pioneer Market Ilford Lane...Rons Music Stores around 69 maybe...Another little bit of history.

Thanks John ,In the early seventies I used to work for Manpower Agency and worked in a lot of offices in this area,for about six months I worked for Rose Morris the instrument company also EMI,used to frequent the Marquee and the 100 club, saw Pink Floyd and Soft Machine at UFO club in Tottenham Ct Rd in the late sixties, went to bookshops and record stores in the area, was a messenger for a film office as well, loved the guitar shops, it seems like they're throwing the baby out with the bath water, another blow for history and performing arts, thanks for this John is very very sad ......

I am an American, and yes it is my dream to visit England. Post COVID, I want to focus my trip by immersing myself in the history of the "Old Country" and in visiting sites in "Old London". History can still be found in England. Neighborhoods like Kensington in London and places in England like Devon. I want to see the England of Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and C.S. Lewis. I know. I have romanticized England in my mind, since my childhood and from reading English literature.

As a singer/songwriter who played the 12 Bar & many other venues in the Soho area (&beyond!) this is nothing short of a national disgrace...people who care about money and nothing else are slaughtering the culture that is unique to the capital & it is really heartbreaking to walk around, as I did a few years back, and find how much of my past has been destroyed...truly shameful.

Another brilliant and fascinating film. Fantastic to watch. Again capturing a memory and mourning what London has lost to sheer greed. Tim Arnold nailed it when he said they have Crossrail to bring more people into London to see what? They are the destoyers of everything with character and grace. It only about money and money. Heritage and history and character mean nothing to them. Property Dvelopers have gutted the place.

Windmill in Brixton has been where I have spent most weekends as long as I've lived in London. Certainly tells the same tale at the moment. Can't tell you how important these places are to musicians and people who love music and culture in general.

Such a relief to watch and listen to content like this with zero BS....😐🤷🏼‍♂️this is quality and being on street level listening to people with real stories and history,so sad what has happened to London....RIP the Astoria 😔last gig there for me was Hanoi Rocks and Wednesday 13 on Halloween.

my pop would take me to Tin Pan Alley every time we were in London and it's broken my heart to see what it's become :(

Hi John Soho has had the heart ripped out of it, not just Tin Pan Alley but Berwick Street. The clubs, the record shops . Many years of history just wiped out. I have grave concerns for the music industry in this country. I run a small acoustic music club and I have real doubts that it will be able to re-open. I was horrified by Sunak's comments that people who work in the arts could retrain. Shows a complete ignorance of how long people have worked to get to a position where they are working within the arts. Its a very sad time. Gary

Bought my first acoustic guitar from a shop in tin pan ally in 1972 . Still have it today .

An important video Mr Rogers. Seriously, I think in years to come videos like this will become valuable historical documents of a time and place not through the context of some world shattering event but through the testimony of ordinary people. Thank you

Watching these little amazing films - it's so sad that Denmark St and it's surroundings being demolished. They call it progress, but sometimes 'progress' is always a good thing. So much heritage and history gone forever...sad...

I remember interviewing there 20 yrs ago, internet company. That street, definitely had a buzz. Always did!

Hi John , been following this from Edinburgh . Watched 'battle of soho' on amazon a lot sad times for soho and London . Keep up the good work .

I originally subscibed to your chanel for your walks around East London (Romford born, 60 years ago, and West Ham season ticket holder until 2 years ago), but also have been travelling to the West End from Norfolk for gigs for over 40 years. Miss 12 Bar, but glad the 100 Club is still going strong. A real thought provoking piece. Well done.

Argh, inner London is more than ever a soulless, anonymous, mirrored money-printing machine. It would break my heart to recall everything I have ever loved in and around Soho, Fitzrovia, Piccadilly, China Town, Charing Cross Road that has been replaced by some unapologetic glass obelisk to the cult of nameless corporate greed.

Thanks for posting this John and for your continued support for all that is great in London. May 7th 2014 indeed was the day the campaign to Save Denmark St began with some degrees of success, amid the Outernet a Blade Runner shopping mall

Soho changed beyond recognition. Intrepid Fox, Astoria, Crobar, 12 Bar Club, The Borderline... all gone. I remember the massive queues for the all dayer farewell gig at the 12 Bar Club back in Jan 2015.

My heart hurts. It just makes me think I don’t want to come back to London. It’s where I was born and lived until my 30s, working in the music industry. In the late 90s I worked on the top floor above Hank’s.

Talking of music venues I miss The Standard in Walthamstow. Derelict for years and then swallowed up in that high rise mega city that’s being put up between Tottenham Hale and Blackhorse Road.

Great film. I hope these shops survive. Many is the time that I've stared through these shop windows lusting after cool guitars.

What no water at the eros fountain. Long time since I have been to piccadilly circus. I know what being homesick is like, I feel a strong urge to return to England and see out my life there, not that I am planning on croaking anytime soon 😁😁Thanks John. Stay safe

Thanks John, a difficult watch, it's heartbreaking...

For any Brit who loves guitars and music you must visit Nashville and New Orleans in the USA where you can find lots of musical history. It is American music, but it fits in my view.

I miss old London.

I used to go and buy records in Soho, but when I told people I was going shopping in the CD shops in Soho, I used to get a strange look, as they thought I meant the seedy shops!!........ great video John 🤓👍

Was in Hanks the other day to buy some guitar accessories . Glad the video ends on a more positive spin. I really miss the 12 bar and the vibe from the all the surrounding music venues. It was good to perform once at the 12 bar club many years ago now.

Thanks for this John. Another example of how much of London is changing and not always for the better as is the case here. On that note, have you watched the video titled " Barging through old London in 1924. " I'm sure you will enjoy it , familiar scenes for you from yesteryear. Keep well.

awfull. makes one wanna cry. thanks for this video John

The heart and soul being ripped out of London. I only visit occasionally now - as I live in Tokyo, but it’s incredibly sad to see my old haunts being demolished and sanitized.

I actually felt physically sick, watching this. I love your work and the gorgeous way you present the programmes but the tome of dead buildings - old haunts made me weepy and when you got to Tge 12 Bar Club I was on the verge of being sick. 2015 was the year I left London ( or London left me!) and I have a ceramic light pull/ loo pull that reads ‘Old London.’ A friend had it made for me . It’s very sad to see the old and fascinating places that we took for granted, being destroyed and blimmin’ Ryvita buildings going up in their place. I wanted to show my descendants these places. Gorn!

I used to work at "Leeds Music" in Denmark street about 55 years ago!

Denmark Street is where I'd be in awe of the 'music creators' ie real musicians; as a break from my 'music player' hunting ground of Berwick Street for vinyl and accessories. These two streets share a sad note in the composition of progress, together succumbing to corporate sterilisation. The Berwick Street of old has largely disappeared (just like the old Carnaby) for glass and gloss. If Denmark Street holds onto its remaining architecture, that at least will be something.

this must be one of the saddest things Ive seen on KZfaq. All those bands I grew up listening to. Stones, Sabbath, Led Zep. Peter Gabriel and my first CD bought was the Sex Pistols. This is an important part of the history of Uk music

This is so sad. I literally have chills and tearful feelings. When I was temporarily living in London not all that long ago, I experienced some of the live music scene, particularly jazz and it was absolutely wonderful. What is "revamping" anyway? Gosh, there ought to be more historical and cultural oversight of developers so that this gutting of our shared cultural heritage is not entirely erased. Whew....many pockets need to be saved along with the stories they carry. Small music venues especially are vital to a sense of local creative community and historical sites are the "gems" in urban areas and should not simply be "disappeared."

Very destructive times we live in the shortsighted lure of the filthy lucre is so so sad xxxthank you for this human voice xxx

Very sad. I used to work in Dean street many many years ago and it breaks my heart watching this. This uniformity will take soul out of Soho. Very very sad...

So sad Soho is the soul of London I remember it in the 1970s it survived two wars for heaven's sake!

I use to walk around this area when l was an illustrator back in the 80's. So sad to see it destroyed and becoming more souless everyday.

Very informative and well made video! I learned a lot about history (and music history!) of Denmark street. I did not know about this negative impact of crossrail development before. I hope that after development is complete there will be a sustained effort to ensure that Denmark street/Soho is full of music again.

I've taken so many trips to London over the years, and the guitar shops of Denmark Street and Charing Cross Road were usually first on my agenda; even if you couldn't afford to buy anything they were like museums, brimming with cultural artefacts. Sad to see the character of the area devoured by the eldritch gods of dark money Johnson and his ilk worship above all else.

There is NO heart of London anymore: all it is, is real estate, intended for the construction of massive redevelopment projects _(in which foreign investors are given the first refusal on bidding to be the new leaseholders for the resulting builds)._ A view across the capital’s violated skyline shows up how this pattern has been repeated across two dozen former neighbourhoods with character; Battersea, Walthamstow, Nine Elms, Shoreditch, Southwark, most of the South Bank of the river for at least ten miles, and on and on... This isn’t intended to be a partisan point, just a factual one, but: *all this was enabled during the two-term London mayoralty, of the current Prime Minister.* The destructive/constructive reality on the ground, testified to in the video, was basically Boris Johnson’s vision for guaranteeing international money would still flow into London, in the aftermath of the GFC.

I agree with the comments on here about the physical destruction of Soho by cross-rail and corporate developers, but remember, its really the people that gave Soho its heart. Some of these people will still be there and will still visit, create, experience, carouse, perform and just be. I'll still be there from time to time, giving that old heart some CPR.

Frightening to see all the places I frequented in the 80's being treated like this. Perhaps one of the big names mentioned in this video should step up to the plate and be an ambassador for this campaign and challenge Cross Rail and it's share holders to invest in both the history and the area. No doubt another load of Costa's or Sweaty Betty's will be placed here though to drive high revenue returns!

i’ve only been to London twice-1991 and 2018. my fuzzy memory still retained much of what I saw that first trip and needless to say the “development” lacks in every way. I see the same money/property scramble happen in every city now. It’s incredibly sad

I haven't been to London for about 5 years now - and even then this area was a mess and quite different from how I remembered it. I saw the film of West Side Story at the Astoria with my mum in about 1964 and afterwards we went to a cafe nearby run, as they all seemed to be then, by ever happy Italians and had a cup of tea and a currant bun. Heaven! And when I was at school no trip to London was complete without a visit to Foyles. I came out of the shop once and nearly bumped into Kenneth Williams and another time the same thing happened with Danny La Rue! You hear so much about diversity these days - pity it doesn't apply to architecture because everywhere ends up looking the same. It's a disaster here in Berlin - one faceless building after another.

What a record of what's happening in London.

Denmark Street is merely a metaphor for days gone by. Heart-breaking. Great characters gone, replaced by plastic 'celebrities.' I'm glad that I'm old enough to have known much of it, but saddened that I'm too old to have John Rogers' babies! Swings and roundabouts as they say!

Bought many guitars,amps and effects from there over the years.Even played the 12 Bar...Greed has ripped the heart out of Soho and replaced it with ugly,soulless monstrosities.

Thank you John. Sad to read about that. I remember when I was a teenager going to the Kings Head pub in Romford where Black Sabbath and Hawkwind used to play before becoming famous but sadly the pub has now gone. Another venue was the Roundhouse in Dagenham which is still there but I don't know if they still have live music. Developers don't give a damn. Bob.

I have a lot of fond memories of going to the old Forbidden Planet comic shop there and also of some cracking nights out raving in The Astoria. It seems to me that once the government has made its mind up, no amount of protesting works. Remember the M11 link road for example? Money talks 99% of the time I’m afraid to say. People mean nothing to big business unless they are part of the profits.

Sad.....as a metal head musician I spent countless hours in Denmark St. & many many gigs at the LA1 & 2. Unfortunately it's the world over, destroying history & replacing it with faceless privately owned badly constructed clone buildings....all part of the 'great' reset in my opinion.

I was a musician in LONDON, I moved years back because of closing venues etc, the likes of Blair started the clear out of old LONDN even get rid of rock, blues music....seeing this just another piece of the broken heart ...of LONDON and me....

Love your videos

We're going through the same thing here in NYC.

hi guys great vid. have you research mudfloods and starforts this is also very facinating when you realize it is in plainsight everwhere.

It's a crying shame what happens in cases like this.

So sad :( seeing the end of great places in Soho

I have sadly become more than aware of the gradual encroaching destruction upon old London that does not come by way of progress but by greed and avarice. It is very disheartening to stand witness in my time to the pulling down of history, whether it be Georgian buildings or venues that encapsulate an era and an art form. This, after all, is London, the greatest of all cities, and London has this heart that can never be replicated if destroyed. . . or when destroyed. Tragic, really.

When it comes to building development its all down to how much money they can make out of the space, history counts for nothing, I saw so many great bands at the old Marquee club at 90 Wardour St from 1968 until it closed, also the Astoria theatre and the Borderline in Manette St, in London we are now lucky to see buildings last even 20 years, the Docklands Arena opened 1989 and was demolished in 2006 for housing, not forgetting Earls Court which was a great music and exhibition venue, being a bit of a guitar fanatic although not a great player I do visit Demark St quite often so its sad to see it engulfed in a sea of boring concrete and characterless new buildings.

Thanks john so sad whats happening oh my dear old London . All destroyed for Money, History lost , Just for Money, and nothing else, Preserver and pass on to the next Generation of talented people. Keep safe, Dave ❤

Fantastic ,keep the conservation up .

So sad looking back on this😢

Thank you for making this video. I am the 666 likes don’t know what that could mean? I am pleased to say that I had the pleasure of going on stage at the 12Bar club, great memories of the people and the other musicians. I hope that live music will grow again and give unknown acts a chance to be seen.

I played the Apollo myself in 1994 but, more important, places like the Marquee back in the 70s, so this development is such a concern to those of us who understand it's cultural importance.

I lived in London for many years. It does seem utterly soulless when I visit now. Very sad.

Well John, now you see what old farts like me keep banging on about , the demise of what we see as quality places, full of history, disappearing under the jack hammer . But of course there was an earlier time when previous generations watched in horror at their familiar places disappearing. I find it a difficult place to be, when I on one hand weep at the loss of what was so familiar and yet equally aware of someone's loss from yesteryear, and finally, knowing full well the new buildings will be a familiar and homely place for the coming generations. I have held the idea for a long time that life and cityscape that surrounds us is like a theatrical stage production that is slowly moving stage right; we become familiar with the current story and actors, and feel at home with it all, but soon comes a sense of loos as parts of the scenery and those we came to know disappear from view. Those folks that are newly arriving to their seat in the theatre are amazed and the new story arriving out from stage left....and so it goes on till their moment of loss comes to them. I hate to see all that I know disappear, but those developments will become another generations familiar places and become part of their history. Soapbox locked away for the night!

every time i go to London it saddens me, its identity, its essence more and more distilled, dispersed and diluted, soon it will be just another city, cut and paste. developers destroy, they say people want to live there but destroy the reason why people want to be there. manchester is now following this blue print, its edge has gone.

There is a role for retaining our heritage but I have a recording studio on my bedroom... No one needs centralised creativity anymore with gatekeepers of taste based in London..

Love Denmark Street and I hope it's survives, sadly much of it has died already.

So as we are now in 2020, what has happened to these places?

that looks like a great guitar shoppe! i imagine it's no longer at that location, is it?

The Running Grave detective series is set on Denmark Street

Hipgnosis. Peter Christopherson aka Sleazy, Psychic TV, Coil.

Who remembers the Tin Pan Alley bar owned by Frankie Fraser"s son & the dodgy Hot Dog trolley storage place on the corner of Denmark Street & St Giles High Street

I had to stop being a Sparkie as I felt soiled in my complacency in destroying so much of London. I know that London is always changing and evolving and I could not carry on taking money for destroying the city I love. Another loss to the Soho landscape was the closure of The Society Club (established in 1929), it was on Ingestre Place a back street, but they were pushed out because of rising rent which just increased a hundred fold. It was my favourite venue, and not just because I used to read my own poetic prose, along with other performers, to an appreciable crowd. Very sad loss to London life.

It's not just Denmark Street, every 'original' location in Britain is being ripped out. I remember one night in the 12 Bar Club, my mate's hair was set on fire by a candle. The guitarist on stage shouted "Yer hairs on fire..." and the gig continued, hair extinguished...

Denmark Street now is dead. Most of the music instrument shops are now closed, I think there are 3-4 left, so so sad what has happened. I’m not sure if it’s purely down to redevelopment and or shops closing down due to impact of lockdowns?

A bit of a heart break💔 I know, I know London like any other city has to move on but if you destroy the essence what is left? If all the cities look the same what difference would it make to visit any particular city? London is unique it should not look like NY or Tokyo it has it's own vibe John this is a remarcable film, documentary ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dear John. What buildings have actually gone since 2015. I can't figure it. Cheers Colin.

It is always the fine grain that retains culture and commuty--and that never happens with big box stores and towers and shopping malls. Whether it is London's Soho, or Toronto's Beaches, or Vancouver's Granville Island, it is the arts that suffers first when redevelopment threatens a streetscape. Loss of the arts is always the loss of the soul of a place: gentrification doesn't bring a connection or a cohesiveness, but rather a superficial, sanitized pseudo-culture that doesn't have a natural life of its own. The ongoing homogenization of unique neighbourhoods is a threat to the best quality of urban life, the places where a variety of housing stock exists with small venues, and independent businesses.

Absolutelu shameful!! The way London treats its history. And I'm not even British but this is a special place for all music lovers all over the world.

And Carl the guitar man?

I was down Denmark St a few months ago. Pretty soulless now. A real shame.

Quite sad to watch but thank you 😥

Heartbreaking. This is happening everywhere. I don't see what the end goal is? They're replacing creators with consumers. What will be left for the consumers to consume?

Happening all over the uk

i understand that something is lost but then again something new can be built in new part of the city. But I also understand if you tear down everything there is nothing see for those train passangers

... the first thing to get gentrified/property speculated on Denmark Street was the Job Centre.

are we getting a new video today John ?

Pulling the Astoria down was a fucking disgrace, pulling down Denmark St was even worse cultural vandalism. Being an old StMartins student, and a rep, we got wind of all of this “redevelopment” quite early in ‘99 because The London Institute sold everyone out to the developers. We didn’t even have chairs to sit on ffs.

Any support at all from those famous musicians who began their careers there?

Very sad to watch such legendary places no more replaced by developers' rubbish. We have a government with no pride in London whatsoever.

This systematic sterilisation of London is frightening, once it's gone, it's gone. Every aspect of London's rich culture is up for grabs by the uncaring, greedy, profit making establishment. Nothing is safe. Incredibly sad.

This is so so sad to see the Hart of London is Disappearing in this way ,How can this be Aloud to happen I expect it's because they don't care it's all about money. And foreign countries in vesting in the city. The lovely character a friend in this of the buildings of be replaced with cold heartless buildings.

sad though i think if soho is lost its not the end. these things come and go in cycles. if all these venues shut the psychogeography will remain, that the developers can't get their hands on

It is global corporate hell. It's happening everywhere. And it is sad and cold and depressing. All about money$$$. It's never enough for the greedy bastards.