Brook Street & The Bee Gees
Following the recent, sad death of musician, Robin Gibb, I thought now would be a good time to share the following plaque with you:
Robin Gibb of course, along with his brothers Maurice (who passed away in 2003) and Barry, formed The Bee Gees, the much celebrated group who wrote and performed many hits from the 1960s onwards.
The green plaque pictured above can be found at 67 Brook Street in the heart of London’s exclusive Mayfair district. It was unveiled by Robin himself in May 2008.
As the commemorative disc shows, the Bee Gees spent a considerable amount of time at this address for a period of 12 years between 1968 and 1980.
The reason the brothers were so well acquainted with this residence is that 67 Brook Street was the home of Robert Stigwood; manager of the Bee Gees and head of ‘RSO Records’. Stigwood, an Australian by birth, used the exclusive Mayfair address as both his home and office.
The RSO label had great success, dealing with the release of numerous soundtracks including Grease, The Who’s rock opera, Tommy and the scores for the original Star Wars films.
The famous RSO Records logo
The Bee Gees worked on many of their most famous hits at this address, including tracks for the 1977 film, Saturday Night Fever– indeed, it was at 67 Brook Street that they first met the movie’s lead role, John Travalota (who I’m sure would have felt quite at home on Brook Street as the American Embassy is only a few hundred yards up the road on Grosvenor Square).
Excerpts from How Deep is Your Love? and Stayin’ Alive can be heard during Saturday Night Fever’s end credits:
During their time at 67 Brook Street, the Bee Gees also put together their hit 1979 album, Spirits Having Flown which went onto sell over 20 million copies. They also penned the songs, Heartbreaker which was used by Dionne Warwick in 1982, and Chain Reaction, would later prove a successful hit for Diana Ross.
The Bee Gees weren’t the only musical greats familiar with Brook Street.
A little further up the road, number 23, during the late 1960s, was home to legendary guitarist, Jimi Hendrix (another story altogether of course!) and, next door to Jimi- although many, many years previously, there lived the great, 18th century composer, George Frideric Handel.
Today, Handel’s house is a museum; open to the public- click here for the link.
Cabbie’s Curios: A Ghostly Canine…
This is the Central Criminal Court, more commonly known as the ‘Old Bailey.’
The present building, which opened in 1907, stands on the site of the former Newgate Prison; a gaol notorious for its appalling conditions and general wretchedness. As the 18th century writer, Henry Fielding once summed up, Newgate was a “prototype of hell”…
Newgate Prison, shortly before demolition
Tucked behind Newgate was a narrow alleyway known as ‘Deadman’s Walk’, so called because the passageway was used to convey condemned criminals as they were led towards their execution.
Today, Deadman’s Walk is known as ‘Amen Court’; a quiet courtyard off of Warwick Lane.
However, despite the far gentler renaming, Amen Court is home to one of London’s most fearsome ghosts… the petrifying ‘Black Dog of Newgate’.
This sinister legend is said to have originated in 1596 when a chap was thrown into Newgate for dabbling in sorcery. Unfortunately for him, his incarceration coincided with a great famine which had struck London.
Starving to death, some prisoners within Newgate had turned to cannibalism; a nasty turn of events which the sorcerer quickly fell victim to; gruesomely slaughtered by his cell-mates who promptly tucked in hungrily- rather like the zombies in the classic 1968 cult film, Night of the Living Dead…
(WARNING the following short clip is rather gory!)
Unsurprisingly, the sorcerer was a bit peeved at being made dish of the day and, several nights after his murder, his spirit managed to conjure up a chilling vengeance; the nemesis coming in the form of a terrifying black dog….
Artist’s (or rather my!) impression of the Black Dog of Newgate
It is said that this wild creature tore into Newgate several nights in a row, ripping limbs off of prisoners and causing others to perish from pure fright. All very far-fetched of course, but it seems that something around this time did indeed cause considerable panic, because a number of guards were murdered by convicts, desperate to escape before the beast returned.
Several of those who managed to flee were guilty of snacking on the sorcerer and, once they’d broken out of Newgate, were promptly hunted down and slain by the fearsome pooch.
Once all of those implicated in the sorcerer’s death had been dealt with, the dog’s nocturnal rampaging came to an end.
A 16th century portyal of the Black Dog of Newgate
However, to this day, the ghastly canine’s presence continues to be felt.
It is said that Amen Court is haunted by the dog, with numerous accounts reporting that its ghost appears as a shapeless, black form, slithering along walls and giving off a hideous odour. Whenever this apparition appears, witnesses often state that the visitation is accompanied by the sound of dragging footsteps.
Why not pop along to Amen Court one night and take a peek for yourself?…
Metro Blog
Recently, I was kindly asked by Metro newspaper to guest blog about the Olympics.
To read my first article, please click the logo below!
View from the Mirror 