Posts tagged The Jam
The Beatles and The Jam at Chiswick House in “RockSpots Go Live!”

On Friday 20th May 1966, The Beatles went on location at Chiswick House, the 18th century house and gardens in west London, to film promotional films for their forthcoming single/45 "Paperback Writer/Rain."

Fifteens years later, on Monday 31st August 1981, The Jam (serious Beatle-nuts) also went on location to Chiswick House to shoot photos for their forthcoming single/45 "Absolute Beginners/Tales From the Riverbank." Superfan/photographer Derek D'Souza got invited to take the photos!

So, I put them together!

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The Jam and Martyn Goddard at Frank’s Cafe (1978)

There are numerous iconic photos of The Jam, and all Jam fans have their favourites, but, for me, it was the Frank’s Café ones that always grabbed me. I think it might be something to do with the fact that they are doing something that we all do: eat. Until I saw that photo, it had never occurred to me that The Jam would, like, eat. I noticed, years later, that only Bruce and Rick appear to be eating in the photo, but maybe Paul had just finished.

Push forward 38 years, and I’ve started to enjoy doing this RockSpot thing; placing old photos on top of new ones to see how much has changed. Trouble is, I could find NO trace of Frank’s Café anywhere in Soho, let alone on Beak Street. Several trips to Beak Street itself gave me no clues, so I asked Twitter.

Twitter couldn’t help, either, although lots of people sent me messages saying that they had always wondered where it was; many of them having gone looking for it in the past.

Then I asked Kevin Mottram @mott_73 on Twitter, because he has access to an Ancestry account that traces old addresses by name; surname, shop name or otherwise. He couldn’t find anything on Ancestry, but suggested that I contact the photographer – Martyn Goddard – to see if he could shed some light.

Nothing to lose, I guess, so I emailed Martyn.

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