King’s Road · Denmark Street · Manchester · the Thames · Huddersfield
Where they were, 1971–2026
A band put together to sell a shop. Cut the letters out, glue up the name of a place, and it opens: a workshop off Charing Cross Road, a Manchester hall with forty people in it, a boat on the Thames, a Christmas party in Huddersfield.
Behind the poster: the band on stage. Paradiso, Amsterdam, January 1977. Koen Suyk, Nationaal Archief · CC0.
430 King’s Road · 1971–now
In 1975 Malcolm McLaren began managing a young band to spread the word about the shop. He named them the Sex Pistols. Glen Matlock, the band’s first bass player, worked in the shop as a sales assistant. Pick a label from the neck of the shop.
Sex, 1974.
In 1974 it became Sex: rubber, PVC and fetish wear, with huge pink padded letters spelling SEX across the front.
Still a Vivienne Westwood shop, World’s End, at the far end of the King’s Road. Walk in when it is open.
Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, January 1977. Koen Suyk, Nationaal Archief · CC0.
Scissors, glue, yesterday’s paper
Choose a note. Snip each letter out of the column, glue it down, and when the note spells the place, the place opens.
A blank note for DENMARK ST. Start snipping.
1970s · 6 Denmark Street, St Giles, WC2
McLaren rented the outbuilding behind number 6, once a silversmith’s workshop, for the band to live in while they recorded early demos.
Finish the note and the rest opens.
The front is a shop on Denmark Street. The workshop behind it is private: see the house from the street.
London
Live marketplace results for punk walking tours of Soho, Denmark Street and the King’s Road. Check each itinerary for the stops.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare tours83 Upper Street, Islington, N1
The cinema the band played in August 1976 still shows films on Upper Street. Pick a night from Everyman’s own listings.
See what’s onPeter Street, Manchester · 4 June 1976
Two Bolton students, Howard Trafford and Pete McNeish, soon Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks, invited them. No more than 50 people came. Roughly 40 people were there in June. The return a few weeks later drew hundreds.
Seven seats are numbered. Take one.
People in that first audience went on to form Buzzcocks, Magazine, Joy Division, the Smiths and the Fall.
Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner decided to form a band after the show. The Free Trade Hall is now The Edwardian Manchester, a hotel with 263 rooms.
The Free Trade Hall is a hotel now. Walk into the lobby, or stay the night.
Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester
A 263-room hotel inside the old Free Trade Hall on Peter Street, where the Lesser Free Trade Hall gigs happened in 1976.
See the hotelManchester
Live marketplace results for music history walks in Manchester, the city that came out of that night in 1976.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare tours
The Mall · 10 March 1977
On 10 March 1977 the band staged their signing to A&M in front of Buckingham Palace. The real contract had been signed the day before. A&M dropped them about six days later.
A&M had pressed roughly 25,000 copies of God Save the Queen and destroyed nearly all of them. The few left are among the most valuable records there are.
The Thames · 7 June 1977
On 7 June 1977, in the week of the Silver Jubilee, the band played on a boat on the Thames in view of the Houses of Parliament. Cast off and sail it, stop by stop.
Stop 1 of 6: Charing Cross Pier, 5.30pm. Guests arrive with their invitations.
The invitation said arrive at 5.30pm. The Queen Elizabeth would leave Charing Cross Pier at 6.15pm and be back at 11.45pm.
God Save the Queen came out on 27 May 1977 in a blue and silver sleeve, the colours of the Jubilee. Banned from radio and TV, it reached Number 2.
Stand on Westminster Bridge and look across at Parliament, or take a river boat past it.
Ivanhoe’s, Huddersfield · 25 December 1977
The band played Ivanhoe’s twice on Christmas Day 1977: an afternoon show for children, then one in the evening. It was a benefit for the families of striking firefighters, nine weeks into their dispute.
Six presents in the sack. Open one.
There was a giant cake with the band’s name on it. Lydon handed out T-shirts, badges, records and posters, and a pogo contest had a skateboard for a prize.
The club was part of Huddersfield’s Grand Picture Theatre, later taken into a supermarket.
The club has closed. The town’s music walk passes it: pick up the leaflet at Huddersfield Library.
Huddersfield
A town-centre walk made by the university’s history and music departments. It passes the former Ivanhoe’s; pick up a copy at Huddersfield Library.
About the walkFinal edition
AMSTERDAM, JANUARY 1977.
January 1977 · Weteringschans 6, Amsterdam
The official archive lists the Sex Pistols at the Paradiso club in Amsterdam in January 1977.
The building went up in 1880 for a liberal religious group, the Vrije Gemeente, and opened as a youth and music centre on 30 March 1968.
The Sex Pistols played here in the late 1970s, as did Blondie, the Police, the Ramones and Talking Heads.
A working concert hall near the Leidseplein. Buy a ticket for a show to go in.
Weteringschans 6, Amsterdam
The Amsterdam hall the band played in January 1977 puts on shows most nights. Choose one from its own programme.
See the programmeHighgate, London N6
Walk in to the East Cemetery to find Malcolm McLaren’s grave. Open daily, 10am to 5pm from March to October and 10am to 4pm from November to February; individual visitors need not book.
Plan a visit11 places you can visit. Ivanhoe’s in Huddersfield has closed and is named here, not mapped; the Lydons’ flat on the Six Acres Estate is private and left off.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Still a Vivienne Westwood shop, World’s End, at the far end of the King’s Road. Walk in when it is open.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The front is a shop on Denmark Street. The workshop behind it is private: see the house from the street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Now Foyles bookshop. Walk in from Charing Cross Road.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. See the front from outside the railings.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Stand on Westminster Bridge and look across at Parliament, or take a river boat past it.
World’s End, 430 King’s Road, Chelsea
Let It Rock opened here in 1971, selling rock and roll records and 1950s memorabilia at the back of a second-hand denim shop, Paradise Garage.
Still a Vivienne Westwood shop, World’s End, at the far end of the King’s Road. Walk in when it is open.
6 Denmark Street, St Giles, WC2
McLaren rented the outbuilding behind number 6, once a silversmith’s workshop, for the band to live in while they recorded early demos.
The front is a shop on Denmark Street. The workshop behind it is private: see the house from the street.
107 Charing Cross Road, WC2 (now Foyles)
The official archive dates the first Sex Pistols gig, at St Martin’s School of Art, to 6 November 1975.
Now Foyles bookshop. Walk in from Charing Cross Road.
The Mall, SW1
On 10 March 1977 the band staged their signing to A&M in front of Buckingham Palace. The real contract had been signed the day before.
See the front from outside the railings.
Westminster Bridge, SW1
On 7 June 1977, in the week of the Silver Jubilee, the band played on a boat on the Thames in view of the Houses of Parliament.
Stand on Westminster Bridge and look across at Parliament, or take a river boat past it.
Stay
The Free Trade Hall in Manchester is a hotel now.
Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester
A 263-room hotel inside the old Free Trade Hall on Peter Street, where the Lesser Free Trade Hall gigs happened in 1976.
See the hotelGo there
Punk London and Manchester walks, Highgate Cemetery and Huddersfield’s music walk.
London
Live marketplace results for punk walking tours of Soho, Denmark Street and the King’s Road. Check each itinerary for the stops.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursManchester
Live marketplace results for music history walks in Manchester, the city that came out of that night in 1976.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursHighgate, London N6
Walk in to the East Cemetery to find Malcolm McLaren’s grave. Open daily, 10am to 5pm from March to October and 10am to 4pm from November to February; individual visitors need not book.
Plan a visitHuddersfield
A town-centre walk made by the university’s history and music departments. It passes the former Ivanhoe’s; pick up a copy at Huddersfield Library.
About the walkWhat’s on
A film at the Screen on the Green, or a gig at the Paradiso.
83 Upper Street, Islington, N1
The cinema the band played in August 1976 still shows films on Upper Street. Pick a night from Everyman’s own listings.
See what’s onWeteringschans 6, Amsterdam
The Amsterdam hall the band played in January 1977 puts on shows most nights. Choose one from its own programme.
See the programmeTake it home
Four original posters from our store, three books and two records tied to these places.
An original 1977 poster for the only studio album, art by Jamie Reid. 25 × 36 in, rolled, previously folded, very good.
In stock
View posterAn original 1978 poster, art by Jamie Reid, for the single the band played on the Thames. 38.5 × 27.2 in, rolled, near mint.
Sold out · archive reference
View posterAn original 1976 poster, art by Jamie Reid. 38.5 × 27.7 in, rolled, near mint.
Sold out · archive reference
View posterAn original 1977 poster, art by Jamie Reid. 40 × 30 in, rolled, very good.
Sold out · archive reference
View posterJon Savage
A history of the band, the King’s Road shop and the London around them.
Find the bookJohn Lydon
Lydon’s own story, from Benwell Road to the band.
Find the bookSteve Jones
The guitarist’s memoir, Denmark Street and all.
Find the bookSex Pistols · LP, Virgin V 2086, 1977
The only studio album, out on Virgin in October 1977.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copySex Pistols · 7-inch, Virgin VS 181, 1977
The Virgin single of 27 May 1977. It reached Number 2.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
12 of 12 places · 15 of 15 Moments
World’s End, 430 King’s Road, Chelsea
McLaren and Westwood open Let It Rock at 430 King’s Road.
The shop becomes Sex, with pink padded letters across the front.
McLaren takes on a young band to spread the word about the shop, and names them.
6 Denmark Street, St Giles, WC2
The band live and record demos in the workshop behind 6 Denmark Street.
107 Charing Cross Road, WC2 (now Foyles)
The first Sex Pistols gig, at St Martin’s School of Art.
The Mall, SW1
A staged signing to A&M outside Buckingham Palace; dropped about six days later.
Westminster Bridge, SW1
The Queen Elizabeth sails from Charing Cross Pier and the band play as it passes Parliament.
83 Upper Street, Islington, N1
The band play the Screen on the Green in Islington.
Around the Emirates Stadium, Holloway, N5
John Lydon’s first home, on Benwell Road, until he is 11.
Finsbury Park, N4
The band play Finsbury Park.
Highgate Cemetery East, N6
Malcolm McLaren is buried in Highgate Cemetery East.
Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester
The Lesser Free Trade Hall, booked by two Bolton students; no more than 50 come.
Back at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, to hundreds.
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Two shows at Ivanhoe’s for striking firefighters’ families, the first for their children.
Weteringschans 6, Amsterdam
The band play the Paradiso in Amsterdam.
