[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Magic Bus Tour




Joseph:

The Magic Bus Tour is a great concept. I have taken 4 trips to England since
1985, including the time in 1992 when I left that notorious note in Pete's
mail slot. Shame, Shame on me!!!!! Anyway, here are a few suggestions to make
your trip more into the WHO groove:

1) Leeds and Charlton are pretty essential, as are Wembley Arena and Wembley
Stadium (the sites of many historic concerts by the WHO and other greats).
Also recommended are Hammersmith Odeon (really small and beautiful inside),
the Roundhouse (site of Pete's 1974 solo concert), the old Rainbow Theatre,
and the Royal Albert Hall. The Rock Circus (in Picadilly Circus, right across
from Tower Records) is a great wax museum with a WHO exibit. The Hard Rock
Cafe in London has a lot of WHO memorabilia hanging on the walls, including
some drawings by John E.. Also recommended for eating dinner in London is
Sticky Fingers, Bill Wyman's Hard Rock imitator. The food there is actually
better than the Hard Rock (sorry, no WHO stuff there: only the Stones get
that honor). The Marquee still exists, but has been moved from its original
location. I was at the original in 1985, and at the new Marquee in 1993. On
the later trip I saw a WHO tribute band, which was comprised of young men and
women, white, black and otherwise, acting out the 1989 Tommy in L.A.
performance with all the guest stars. The show was at times laughable, but was
notable for a Keith Moon imitator who LOOKED like a young Keith.

2) A walk through Twickenham is ESSENTIAL, though you don't have to camp out
on Pete's doorstep. I would definitely suggest stopping by Eel Pie Studios, on
Ranleigh Drive on the Thames river. In April 1992 my ex-wife and I contacted
Nicola Joss (Pete's assistant) and arranged a walk-through tour of the
studio. The staff was extremely nice (no Pete, though: he WAS in the studio
the night before working on music for Tommy at LaJolla), and they let us take
as many pictures as we wanted. Among the items mounted on the wall: the Who's
Missing cover art, the smashed Rickenbacker from the Join Together cover, and
a picture of Pete in the lady's room. My ex-wife said it felt like Pete was
watching her pee.

3) Phil Hopkins of the WHO fanzine GENERATIONS is a great guy, extremely sweet
and obviously a WHO subject matter expert. On that same 1992 trip we travelled
by train to Liverpool to see the Beatle sights (I am also a Beatles fan). I
looked Phil up in the phone book, and we had lunch together. He was very
gracious, and came bearing gifts, including all the back issues of Generations
which I paid him for ( I now have a complete set), rare pictures which he has
doubles of, and a two-tape DAT source bootleg of the WHO at Wembley Arena
10/23/89, the night when Pete smashed the same Rickenbacker which is hanging
on Eel Pie's studio wall. Since that meeting, Phil and I are good friends, and
I heartily recommend that you track the guy down. He's all heart, and a great
guy.

4) Keith Moon does NOT have a gravestone. His remains are at Golders Green 
Cemetery, in Golders Green (London suburb). According to employees at the 
cemetery's information desk, Keith Moon was cremated after his funeral, and 
his ashes were spread across a small bushy area of the cemetery. Incidentally,
Golders Green is also the cemetery of Marc Bolan of T-Rex. He was buried, and 
according to cemetery employees, his headstone has been stolen at least 6-7
times. Boy, I guess there ARE worse things than stopping at Pete's house. 

5) You should also check out the Camden Market, a huge open-air flea market
where anything and everything is on sale. Lots of bootleg tape dealers sell 
their stuff there. 

I hope that this information is informative to those of you planning to board 
your own Magic Bus to London. See ya!!!!!


Marty Secero