Punk

LONDON

Reynolds: Map of Modern London; London

This tour would take you mainly through the streets of Camden: where the Sex Pistols and Amy Winehouse used to perform bringing the punks and latter the hipster kids to the neighborhood. The area is characterized by: industrial/contemporary architecture, street art and cool diverse shops. After the construction of the Regent Canal in 1820s plus the 4 railway stations around it; coal, raw materials and mass produced objects could now be exported or imported by sea or land from London. This let to the industrial development of East London where petrochemicals, clothes, and were being manufactured. What we now know as Camden Town was an industrial transportation link where you had: locks to regulate the height of the canal, wharehouses to store merchandise, and stables with 800 horses. But after WWII London’s manufacturing industry declined and the empire lost almost all their international territories; warehouses got abandoned, unemployment rose, and the UK went bankrupt. In 1974 the nation had to approached the IMF for a bailout and it was in these circumstances that the punks emerged transforming Camden into their town thanks to a weekly crafts market that started operating on Sundays at Camden Lock — setting the ground for what is to come. Also in 1974 Malcolm McLaren and Vivian Westwood opened their boutique SEX in Chelsea with a revolutionary look: ripped clothes, tartan fabrics and “chain” jewelry pair with a crazy hair-do. Malcolm suggested some of his clients to form a band, which became the Sex Pistols with him as the manager. The punk movement came as a reaction to the moral rigidity and materialism of the Victorian era, plus the resentment of a generation growing in a falling empire with a DIY ethos. Latter on other punks bands got formed like The Clash and The Adverts who along the Sex Pistols performed in different venues around Camden; and used their lyrics to revolt against the oppressing elite. Slowly the economic situation of the UK improved and the punk movement seized momentum by the 1990s with Amy Winehouse as the last “punk” musician to emerge from here; Lee Alexander McQueen as the last rebel British fashion designer; and Banksy as the remaining anti-system artist. The latter threw a Can Festival in 2008 at an old Eurostar construction tunnel where over 40 renowned international street artists (including Blek le Rat, Ben Eine, Vexta, and C215) transformed it into their canvas. Now is a sort of public museum/canvas for anyone who dares to grab a can, know as The Vaults. Camden Town evolved from punk to hipster, from british to international, from local to tourist trap; and thanks to urban renewal projects it has become luxurious. But what really killed the punk movement was that Queen Elizabeth declared 2016 the year of punk to celebrate 40th years of Punk Music. That same year Joe Corré, son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, burned his parents collection of rare punk memorabilia worth an estimated £5 million ($6–$7 million) during the anniversary of the “Anarchy in the UK” album to avoid the movement entering the museums. The tour suggest a British fashion walking tour a round Mayfair and Camden Street plus brunch in the morning; a street art walking tour plus shopping at the Camden Market with a break at regent canal in the after noon; and to end the day dinner at the Hawley Arms and the Vaults.

Stops:

1 British fashion tour Mayfair

2 Food at BoxPark

3 Little shops on Camden Street

4 Camden Market/Market Hall

5 Art Street Walking Tour

6 Regents Canal Towpath

7 The Hawley Arms

8 The Vaults

Andy Warhol: cover for The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers; 1971

Shirley Baker: Punks in Camden Street; London, 1986