Camden, in north London, where Amy Winehouse lived, psychedelia thrived and Britpop flourished, is to host a Hollywood-style Music Walk of Fame from next spring.
The walk, an official spin-off from the star-studden attraction on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, will run between Chalk Farm and Mornington Crescent and will be laid with granite slabs commemorating more than 400 artists over the next 20 years.
British music promoter Lee Bennett came up with the idea while he was living in California and noticed the UK had no equivalent to the Hollywood walk. “Camden has more music history than anywhere else in the world, so it was a no-brainer to create the walk here,” he says. “Most bands have played here early in their careers – from Pink Floyd, to Nirvana, and Madonna – and Prince even opened a shop here in 1994.”
While the Hollywood Walk of Fame charges $40,000 (£30,000) for the placement of each named paving slab, with money raised by record labels, film studios or fan clubs, Bennett has so far funded the Music Walk with his own money. “This will be one of the highest accolades in music,” he says. “Hollywood has over 2,500 stones, so it becomes less about kudos and more of a PR exercise. Whereas ours is voted for by an international committee of 40 industry professionals and the public.”
Bennett plans to fund future stones and upkeep with one-off events surrounding the unveiling of new artists being honoured, along with merchandise and brand partnerships. Bennett is in talks with companies such as MTV and Dr Martens to secure the project’s future, although he is keeping the list small. “This is about preserving heritage, not making Camden the Disneyland of music,” he says.
The first eight artists to be commemorated will be revealed in March, when their one metre-square commemorative slabs are laid along Camden High Street. Bennett hints that they will honour “prominent figures in the history of Camden’s music”, but also has his sights on featuring international acts such as Fela Kuti, Sérgio Mendes and Pink Floyd record sleeve designer Storm Thorgerson.
Jonathan Simpson, Camden’s councillor for promoting culture and communities, said: “We’re really excited for this project, as it has been over five years in the making. This is an opportunity to celebrate Camden and it will allow the community to come together.” The president of the Hollywood chamber of commerce, Leron Gubler, said Camden was a “natural fit” as a partner to Hollywood because of its musical heritage.
Visitors to Camden’s walk will be able to download an app to produce a “virtual museum” as they cross the slabs. “We’re going to digitally replicate iconic venues like the Caernarvon Castle pub that aren’t here any more,” Bennett said.
As well as preserving heritage, he hopes the Music Walk will look to the future. “We want to create new moments in music history,” he said. “We want to get bands back together to play after their stone is unveiled. We’ve had conversations with Noel and Liam Gallagher and Liam said if he got a stone he would love Oasis to play again. That’s something people thought they’d never see.”
Areas such as Camden have historically developed thriving music scenes through their independent venues – for example the Roundhouse, Underworld and Electric Ballroom. Yet, between 2007 and 2015, London lost 35% of its grassroots venues. A recent UK live music census found that 40% of small independent venues, such as Camden’s Dublin Castle where Amy Winehouse worked, and Dingwalls where the Clash, the Ramones and the Sex Pistols played, were threatened by escalating business rates. A third of respondents said they experienced problems with property development in the vicinity of their premises.
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