The American Squirm: British Invasion Pt. 5

...and an early afternoon train to London!...

Checked into The County Hotel,conveniently located a block from Euston station....

My Mojo-buddy Nick (Fuzzy),who lives near Muswell Hill, was kind enough to pick me up at the train station and we had plans to grab a bit to eat and head over to The Clissord Arms...which is famous for being the location of the first (1960) and last (1996) gigs by the mighty Kinks!!...They have a "Kinks Room" with photos,memorabilia,etc...Ive been a huge fan of The Kinks since I got the "Low Budget" album at 13 (1979) so I was excited to see the place!

.....BUT.....before we got there.....

Fuzzy casually mentions as we turn a street corner, "I think that's Ray Davies walking there.."....sure as shit!....he turns down a gangway and I say,crestfallen,"ah,there he goes".....but Fuzzy cuts around another corner...and there he is!.....Now,I have conversed with Fuzzy on the Mojo boards a lot,but Ive real-life known him for all of 2 minutes at this point....but I say 'STOP THE CAR!!".....I hop out,running down the street yelling RAY!!.....RAAAAAYYY!.....and whatcha know,Ray stops and chats!....

Me: "Ive come here from America to see Kinks stuff!"
Ray: "Well....I'M Kinks stuff!"

I didnt want to be a pest,but we chatted for a minute,and he agreed to a photo,but insisted on holding up his grocery bag...

No contest.....the ODDEST thing that happened on this trip!!!

After a great chicken burrito (it was called "The Flying Burrito"!) and a great chat with ol' Fuzzy...It was time to call it a night...a very momentous night!!
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Next day was Record Store Day!....which as far as buying over-priced junk,I wasnt too excited about....but in Soho there was going to be a fest (The Berwick Street Fest) with some good bands and a bunch of record shops to prowl...and I had plans to meet my Mojo-buddy Mark there.....

...so I decided to go early and its a good thing I did,because for the one-and-only time on my trip...I got LOST...no matter how many times a checked my phone map I was always 6-7 minutes away!....I found out later Soho streets kinda wind around,its a grid within itself....anyway,I just kept asking people while I walked and eventually heard crowds and music...I was there!

The record shops did not disappoint (as I mentioned,record stuff in a separate post!)...and playing when I got there was The Soho Hobo doing a song they worked up from 1912 called "The Piccadilly Trot"....well,I bought the single and have listened to the song a million or so times since!.....GREAT stuff!...

Check it out!

Next on the bill was Edwyn Collins....not heard a ton by him,but do like some of his stuff,and the story of how he came back from a life-threatening stroke a while ago is pretty amazing...the crowd showed the man a lot of love...

..By then Mark had shown up....we waited in line at Sister Ray records,had a drink at The Ship (Spenny recommended!) and next door is the site of the original Marquee Club!

After a fine day in Soho....we met another Mojo-ite,Matthew (DWashburn) for a fine Italian dinner,drinks and more music talk!....Great time spent with these two!!

..after they took their leave I decided to trek down to Camden Town....had a couple drinks but didnt really prowl around too much....for I knew I'd be back the next morning!..
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My last day of the trip,Sunday....and I was on my own.....

First stop was the Camden Market....WOW!....great food,lively folks and RECORDS!!.....and I basically had lunch on all the free samples they were pushing on me! (you try!...you like?...come back!!)....although I really shoulda got the Clinton Love Child Dog!..haha!!

Stopped at Abbey Road afterward,but not much to see.....and they actively discourage you from going near Abbey Road studios....so.....here it is!

..and back to the hotel to plot my next move (and I know my american friends wanna see an old building and a double decker bus....so I snapped both at once!)

...and decided to check out Piccadilly Circus for my last evening in the UK....VERY nice!....its the theatre district,as well as home to Capitol Radio (one of my favorite Clash songs!)....had a nice tex-mex dinner and a wander.....