Conran, Michon, and Strummer

Joe Strummer lived in the top floor room of this large terraced house in 1976, as a guest of world-famous designer Sebastian Conran, a student at the time, who – as the union treasurer at St Martin’s College – had booked the Sex Pistols for their first gig on the 5th of November 1975.

The Roxy

The Roxy was started by Andrew Czezowski, Susan Carrington and Barry Jones in December 1976. The first show, on the 14th of December, was Generation X, a band Czezowski managed. The second on the following night was The Heartbreakers. The third, on 21 December, featured Siouxsie and the Banshees and Generation X. However, it was The Clash and The Heartbreakers that headlined the official gala opening on the 1st of January 1977 – which was filmed by Julien Temple and finally screened on BBC Four on 1 January 2015 as The Clash: New Year’s Day ’77.

101 Walterton Road

Here on 101 Walterton Road once stood the famous squat that gave birth and name to Joe Strummer’s pub rock band The 101’ers in 1974 (although it was for a time rumoured that they were named after “Room 101”, the infamous torture room in George Orwell’s novel 1984).

Joe Strummer’s Squat

For a few years, Strummer helped make a strip of West London an unlikely punk hotspot. His like-minded neighbours included The Slits, who hung out a few doors down at number 43, two of the Sex Pistols and Malcolm McLaren, who lived round the corner on Bell Street, and The Damned who practised nearby.

Screen On The Green

Aside from being a cinema, this place is probably most widely known for its ‘Midnight Special’ on Sunday 29 August 1976, when The Clash and Buzzcocks supported The Sex Pistols in a showcase event organised by Malcolm Maclaren…but there’s more to it!

The Clash’s Album Cover

In late 1976, The Clash shot the front cover of their debut album in Camden.
It was taken in an alleyway by their recording studio – Rehearsals Rehearsals – which was in a rundown British Rail goods yard that’s now part of Camden Market. Much of the album, released in April 1977, was recorded in the venue.

Joe Strummer’s Mural

A mural commemorating The Clash’s Joe Strummer by Emma Harrison and Gary Loveridge – which was supposed to be permanent – was situated at the junction of Portobello Road and Blenheim Crescent between the 13th of June 2013 and…2017.