Hammersmith Palais

The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, later simply the Hammersmith Palais, was a ballroom and entertainment venue in Hammersmith, London, England that operated from 1919 until 2007. In 2009, the Hammersmith Palais was named by the Brecon Jazz Festival as one of twelve venues which had made the most important contributions to jazz music in the United Kingdom.

The Palais occupied a large site on the A219 at 242 Shepherd's Bush Road, London W6, near the circular system under the A4 Hammersmith flyover. The area, one of London's key communication nodes, has two London Underground stations, a bus station, and the road network at Hammersmith Broadway.

History

The Palais de Danse opened in 1919 in order to host ballroom dancing and various kinds of dance bands, among which were the new jazz bands. Many of the famous jazz stars of the day appeared in concert there including American jazz singer Adelaide Hall, who performed at the venue for one week from 27 March - 2 April in 1939, accompanied by the Florida Club Orchestra. The venue's dance floor, made of maple, cost £5,000 to install and was advertised as being "England's finest £5,000 maple floor". It remained a popular dance venue from its start to the early 1980s, from then on hosting mainly live pop music acts.

White man

White man or white men also (white guys) also may refer to:

See also

Hammersmith

Coordinates: 51°29′34″N 0°13′22″W / 51.4928°N 0.2229°W / 51.4928; -0.2229

Hammersmith is a district in west London, England, located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It is bordered by Shepherds Bush to the north, Kensington to the east, Chiswick to the west, and Fulham to the south, with which it forms part of the north bank of the River Thames. It is linked by Hammersmith Bridge to Barnes in the southwest. The area is one of west London's key commercial and employment centres, and has for some decades been the main centre of London's Polish minority. It is a major transport hub for west London, with two London Underground stations and a bus station at Hammersmith Broadway.

Neighbouring districts

History

In the early 1660s, Hammersmith's first parish church, which later became St Paul’s, was built by Sir Nicholas Crispe who ran the brickworks in Hammersmith. It contained a monument to Crispe as well as a bronze bust of King Charles I by Hubert Le Sueur. In 1696 Sir Samuel Morland was buried there. The church was completely rebuilt in 1883, but the monument and bust were transferred to the new church.

The Clash

The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, dub, funk, ska and rockabilly. For most of their recording career the Clash consisted of Joe Strummer (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Mick Jones (lead guitar, lead vocals), Paul Simonon (bass guitar, vocals) and Nicky "Topper" Headon (drums, percussion). Headon left the group in 1982, and internal friction led to Jones's departure the following year. The group continued with new members, but finally disbanded in early 1986.

The Clash achieved commercial success in the United Kingdom with the release of their debut album, The Clash, in 1977. Their third album, London Calling, released in the UK in December 1979, earned them popularity in the United States when it was released there the following month. It was declared the best album of the 1980s a decade later by Rolling Stone magazine. In 1982 they reached new heights of success with the release of Combat Rock, which spawned the US top 10 hit "Rock the Casbah", helping the album to achieve a 2× Platinum certification there. Their final album, Cut the Crap, was released in 1985.

(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

"(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was originally released as a 7-inch single, with the b-side "The Prisoner", on 17 June 1978 through CBS Records.

Produced by The Clash and engineered by Simon Humphries, the song was recorded for (but not included on) the group's second studio album, Give 'Em Enough Rope and was later featured on the American version of the band's debut studio album The Clash between the single version of "White Riot" and "London's Burning".

Inspiration and composition

The song showed considerable musical and lyrical maturity for the band at the time and is stylistically more in line with their version of Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves" as the powerful guitar intro of "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" descends into a slower ska rhythm, and was disorientating to a lot of the fans who had grown used to their earlier work. "We were a big fat riff group," Joe Strummer noted in The Clash's film Westway to the World. "We weren't supposed to do something like that."