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Europe[]

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France[]

Jim Morrison’s Apartment (17 rue Beautreillis, Paris)[]

Jim Morrison moved to Paris in the early 70s, to escape his notoriety in America, and to focus on his poetry. He settled into this apartment block on the Right bank, near the trendy Bastille district. He died under mysterious circumstances one morning in July 1971, and was found in the bath by his girlfriend.

Pere-Lachaise Cemetary (16 rue du Repos, Paris)[]

Jim Morrison is buried in this cemetery (the grave is not hard to find, just follow the graffiti, or the smell of dope). Lots of other really interesting people are buried here, including Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Marcel Proust and Isadora Duncan (you can buy a map to navigate among the grave stones).

Germany[]

Star Club (Grosse Frieheit 39, Hamburg, Germany)[]

The Beatles sharpened their skills in the clubs of the Reeperbahn - the red light district near the Hamburg dock - clubs like the Kaiserkeller (at number 36), and the Star Club (at number 39).

The Star Club is possibly the most famous - it was featured on the cover of John Lennon’s 70s solo album Rock and Roll. Also, a live recording released in the 80s featured an early shambolic performance by a very young Beatles.

The Beatles played at the club for the first time in April 1962, three days after their ex bass player Stu Sutcliffe had died. Other memorable performances at the Star Club included Jimi Hendrix in 1967, and Black Sabbath, who were the house band in 1969.

Kling Klang Studios (Dusseldorf, Germany)[]

Kling1

This yellow building, located near the central train station, is the home of the enigmatic Kraftwerk. The band emerged out of the prog rock scene of the late 60s - formed by a couple of music students.

They became interested in the emerging electronic technology in the early 70s, and found success with a novelty tune, Autobahn. The band soon developed a whole aesthetic around the idea of robotic music, devoid of personality. The band sparked an entire musical and cultural revolution in the 80s.

Schloss Norvenich (Cologne, Germany)[]

Can was created by a couple of students and a music academic, who were keen on exploring repetition and spontaneous improvision. They borrowed this castle from a friend and set up a studio in the late 60s. From this studio, emerged a new kind of music that influenced punk rock, house music and indie music in the eighties and nineties.

Switzerland[]

Cabaret Voltaire (1 Speigelgasse, Zurich)[]

The industrial band from Sheffield England, took their name from this small club in Zurich, where the Dada movement was born during the First World War. The Cabaret Voltaire was started by a group of art students at the Hollandische Malerei bar. They were angry about the madness of the war raging around them and expressed their anger through absurd and outrageous performances, which became very popular with the students in town.

Rock academic Griel Marcus believes that the spirit of the Cabaret Voltaire was the same spirit that generated the punk rock movement in England sixty years later.

At the time the Cabaret Voltaire was performing, early in 1917, Lenin lived just up the street at number 14 shortly before returning to Russia, to oversee the revolution of October 1917.

Scandanavia[]

Roskilde (Denmark)[]

Every year in June this quiet village, just west of Copenhagen, hosts one of the largest rock festivals in Europe. The festival is organised and run by thousands of local volunteers, and profits go towards good causes around the world.

Ibiza[]

During the 60s, the Spanish island of Ibiza was popular with hippies. Two decades later, the island became popular with hip young British tourists on their summer holidays.

In the summer of 1987, a combination of good weather, good DJ’s, a plentiful supply of new electronic dance music from Chicago and Detroit, and massive quantities of a brand new drug called Ecstasy, combined to create an amazing party scene all summer long.

The second summer of love was brought back to Britain by the returning holiday makers, who put on Ibiza reunion parties, such as Paul Oakenfold’s Project club. So was born the Acid House revolution, which stole the banner of youth rebellion from guitar based rock music.


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