I'll be developing a feature on this page in
the future.
For the time being, here's
what Sir Cliff had to say at the unveiling of a plaque on the site of
the 2Is coffee bar on 18 September 06.
Sound
file courtesy of Vince Eager.
The Daily Mail reported: Stars from the
earliest days of British rock 'n' roll gathered at the spot widely
regarded as its birthplace.
Singers and musicians, including Sir
Cliff Richard, were present at the unveiling of a commemorative plaque
at the 2 i's Coffee Bar in Old Compton Street, in London's Soho.
The venue opened in 1956 and audiences
crammed into the tiny basement to see acts such as Sir Cliff, Tommy
Steele, The Shadows and Adam Faith.
Sir Cliff told other performers and fans
outside the venue, now the Boulevard Bar and Dining Room: "I wish
this restaurant well and I hope people who come and eat here will have a
ghostly vibe about what used to go on down below."
The venue had been the nucleus of rock
'n' roll in Britain, he said. "There were so many of us that loved
rock 'n' roll and wanted to do it and some of us got lucky.
"When I look at the old photographs,
I wonder how I ever got started - I was a greasy slob who couldn't sing.
"It's a great idea to have a plaque
here because it's too easy to forget how we got where we are now."
Councillor Robert Davis, cabinet member
for planning on Westminster City Council, which put up the green plaque,
said: "In the early days of rock 'n' roll in this country, before
The Beatles had even formed, pretty much every act that made it big cut
their teeth at the 2 i's.
"It is only fitting that, half a
century since it opened its doors, it is commemorated with a plaque so
that the thousands of people who walk along Old Compton Street every day
know they are passing the place where British rock 'n' roll was
born."
Performers present included Bruce Welch
of The Shadows, who said: "It was an exciting time. It was a
hotchpotch of wannabes."
And Clem Cattini, drummer with The
Tornados, whose Telstar was a smash hit, said: "You'd never get
away with it now, with today's health and safety rules. But it was
incredible, fantastic."
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