Category Archives: Legendary Londoners

Keith Flint: A Tribute to The Firestarter

By View from the Mirror on March 6, 2019 | 2 Comments

Earlier this week it was announced that Keith Flint– the lead vocalist for 90s electronic dance band, The Prodigy– had been found dead in his home after committing suicide.

He was 49 years old.

Keith Flint in 2009 (Image: Wikipedia)

Keith was born in the London Borough of Redbridge in 1969 and his family moved out to Essex a few years later. His early years were humble and after leaving school Keith worked as a roofer.

It was in 1990 that Keith met Liam Howlett; a keyboard player and songwriter who’d just formed The Prodigy. The two hooked up and musical history was made.

As The Prodigy’s blistering frontman, Keith cut an electrical, terrifying figure with his spiked hair, darkened, bulging eyes and protruding tongue.

Keith Flint (image: Birmingham Mail)

The general public were first confronted with his intimidating avatar in 1996 with the release of ‘Firestarter’, the video for which was filmed deep beneath central London in the old abandoned Aldwych tube station.

Click below to view:

In reality Keith’s sneering, demonic persona was purely theatre and the polar opposite of his true character.

In real life he was widely known to be a kind, generous and self-deprecating soul who’d always set time aside to talk to fans and would even venture into the crowd to give his supporters a hug.

Rest in peace, Keith.

Keith Flint 1969-2019 (image: Wikipedia)

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If you’re struggling with depression, please contact The Samaritans who are free and available 24/7

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Posted in: Legendary Londoners, London Music, Spooky London | Tagged: Aldwych station filming location, Firestarter, Keith Flint, Keith Flint The Prodigy, Liam Howlett, London Borough of Redbridge, The Prodigy, Where was Firestarter filmed?

Introducing the View From the Mirror Archive- a new contents page

By View from the Mirror on February 23, 2019 | 5 Comments

To date, I’ve written and posted over 270 articles on this site.

Due to the nature of blogging software these posts get pushed further and further back as time progresses meaning it can be tricky to discover older content.

To overcome this problem I’ve developed a new contents page where links and brief descriptions of every single article can be found.

Please click here or on the link in the menu bar above to access…

Enjoy!

Nelson’s Column… see Buffing Nelson’s Column

Tube poster advertising ‘2001 a Space Odyssey’, 1968… see A Monolith in St Katharine Docks

Entrance to Lower Robert Street… see a Ghostly Tunnel in the Heart of London

The Dublin Castle, Camden- see Euston Station, Part 1

Bill Sikes… see Fear & Loathing in Shad Thames

The Sweeney… Euston Films’ Greatest Hits

Mural of Vincent Van Gogh, Stockwell… see Van Gogh’s London

St Alban’s Tower

Ship’s figurehead… see Tobacco Dock: Wapping’s Ghostly Mall

Basing Hill, north London… see Suburban SOS: An Early Aviation Disaster

The Caning on Conduit Street… see Lord Camelford: Gentleman Thug, Part 1

An old London cab… see London Taxis in 1960

God’s Own Junkyard… see The Man Who Made Soho Glow

Artist, Francis Bacon drinking in The French House, Soho… see Disturbing Daubs: Francis Bacon’s London (image: The Guardian)

Two mice eating cheese… see London’s smallest statue

Tunnel on Abbey Street…see Secrets of the Viaducts, Part 2

David Bowie Mural, Brixton… see

Brydges Place… see Covent Garden’s Cramped Alley

George Washington’s statue… see Trafalgar Square’s American Patch

Victorian depiction of the Waterloo & City Line… see Waterloo Station Part 3

The Battersea Peace Pagoda

Quintessential London film, The Long Good Friday… see a Tribute to Bob Hoskins

Jimi Hendrix posing on Montagu Place… see Jimi Hendrix’s London, Part 1

The Tower of London in the 1600s… see The Gunpowder Plot

Posted in: Cabbie's Curios, Candid Capital, Glimpse of the past, In the Back, Legendary Londoners, London History, London Music, Metro Blogs, Roads of Renown, Spooky London, Stressful Streets, Tales From the Terminals, The Cruel Capital, Time Out blog, WW1 100: London's Memorials | Tagged: archive, contents, London, London cabbie, London Taxi Driver

An Oral History of London’s Dock Workers

By View from the Mirror on February 1, 2019 | 6 Comments

In 2017 I had the privilege of participating in ‘Sherbet Dab‘; a project in which London schoolchildren conducted interviews with cabbies and created a film charting the history of the London taxi trade.

The same team have now created ‘Brass Tally Men‘ which examines the work and culture of London’s dock workers between the 1930s and 70s.