In this episode Danny sits down with music mogul, author, public speaker and filmmaker Simon Napier-Bell, who has managed some of the world´s biggest bands, including The Yardbirds, Marc Bolan and T Rex, Japan, Sinead O´Connor and Wham! 

Simon was born in 1939, so he was a true war baby; in fact, a pre-war baby, who saw how the war and world events impacted the way his birth city, London, evolved and grew through 8 decades. He shares memories of air raid shelters, steam trains, spivs on Oxford Street, the start of the teenage music scene, East End weddings, working in the early music film industry, the Marquee club and much more.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Simon’s earliest memory is of going down the stairs at Harrow on The Hill station, with the air raid siren going off, to get on a steam train to be evacuated to Devon.
• Simon still loves London. He feels completely at home and loves the way slums have given way to beautiful spaces.
• Trad jazz was the first music teenagers listened to that their parents didn´t.
• In the 50s, every musician who did not have regular work went to Archer Street on a Monday to get gigs. The street was jam packed.
• The songs played at East End weddings were always the same.
• The Establishment on Wardour Street looked very seedy outside but inside it was a classy club filled with film and music stars.
• Simon likes modern music, and the innovative approaches used to produce it.
• Every successful performing artist is looking for love and respect.
• The way the music industry works has not changed much, just the technology.
• Every band still wanted to play the Marquee Club.
• Rock and Roll inspired young people to go out and follow their dreams.
• The music industry has broken down societal boundaries.

BEST MOMENTS

“At five years old, I was going off myself on my bicycle.”

“London was my place to sit and dream.”

“Coronation Street readied us for wanting a teenage idol with a with a regional accent, so the Beatles did well.”

“The essence of being a musician is to play live.”

“Drugs have always been interrelated with music.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

Simon Napier-Bell Books - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Simon-Napier-Bell/author/B000APTQZA

Archer Street history / https://www.muhistory.com/from-the-archive-4-archer-street-london

HOST BIO

Historian, performer, and mentor Danny Hurst has been engaging audiences for many years, whether as a lecturer, stand-up comic or intervention teacher with young offenders and excluded secondary students. Having worked with some of the most difficult people in the UK, he is a natural storyteller and entertainer, whilst purveying the most fascinating information that you didn't know you didn't know. A writer and host of pub quizzes across London, he has travelled extensively and speaks several languages. He has been a consultant for exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum and Natural History Museum in London as well as presenting accelerated learning seminars across the UK. With a wide range of knowledge ranging from motor mechanics to opera to breeding carnivorous plants, he believes learning is the most effective when it's fun. Uniquely delivered, this is history without the boring bits, told the way only Danny Hurst can.

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