Lost In Music

With the demolition of Hammersmith Palais, we’re set to lose another tangible link to our area’s musical past.

There are now just a few examples left of these grand halls which in their heyday hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. T&L bids a fond farewell to the Hammersmith Palais and remembers two more of our iconic lost music venues.

Hammersmith Palais

When the Palais de Danse first opened its doors in 1919 it was showcased as the capital’s premier destination for ballroom dancing, but it quickly evolved into a venue for all types of music and especially jazz. In the 1930s the Palais site was also home to an ice rink and the London Lions ice hockey team. During World War II it was converted into a plant for the manufacture of tanks and even a storage yard for trams. By the 60s it had been restored to its former glory and entered its musical heyday with The Cure, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Sex Pistols all helping to re-establish the Palais’ cult status. By the 1980s it was once more in decline, though, and went through a number of further incarnations as a nightclub until it eventually closed for good in 2007.

Tooting Granada Cinema

Behind the façade of Gala Bingo lies one of the most spectacular examples of theatrical architecture in the country and a vital, if forgotten, piece of the Capital’s architectural and music heritage. This art deco building, designed by the legendary theatre designer and Russian prince, Theodore Komisarjevsky, who also designed its sister building on St John’s Hill in Clapham Junction (now, converted into flats), was hailed as one of Britain’s most luxurious cinemas. With its marble columns in the foyer, grand staircase, hall of mirrors and staggering Wurlitzer theatre organ, the Granada drew crowds from across London when it opened in September 1931. For the first 30 years it showed films and variety shows, until in the sixties rock ‘n roll arrived and the Granada reinvented itself as a stage for some of the biggest names in world music, including Roy Orbison, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra and Jimi Hendrix. Today the building has a Grade I listing – the same as the Tower of London - and is home to Gala Bingo.

Wimbledon Palais

‘Palais’ is certainly a grand description for what was essentially a barn on Merton High Street - but that didn’t stop this venue playing host to some of the biggest acts of the 50s and 60s, as well as regular music nights, including Radio London Night and Melody Maker’s Beat Time competition. The most famous visitors were the Beatles who played what some fans rate as their best ever gig here on 14 December 1963, behind chicken wire and on a rickety stage. Such was the crush at the front that Lennon quipped that if they kept pushing they’d come through as chips!Unfortunately for the Palais, that was as good as things got, and just four years later the venue closed for good and, in a glaring parallel to the current plans for the Hammersmith Palais site, it was later demolished to make way for flats.