'Tropicalia' 40th Anniversary
2010 marks the anniversary of the arrival of Brazilian superstars, Gilberto Gill and Caetano Veloso in London as political exiles, fleeing their country's military dictatorship of the time. Over the following three years, London became their base and that of many others from the wider Brazilian arts scene. They intermingled with the British rockers, being influenced and influencing in their turn. After returning to Brazil, Gilberto Gill, who is performing as part of the South Bank's Latin American festival in July, eventually went on to become Brazil's Minister of Culture. In September, Access All Areas will honouring the anniversary of the wider 'Tropicalia'  movement with a series of tours discovering 'The Musical heritage of Gill and Veloso in London'. These tours will be great fun for those who already know the music and for those who'd enjoy their music horizon's being widened! For details, email reservations@londonrocktour.com

Rock anniversaries in 2010
40th Anniversary of Jimi Hendrix Death
Rock greatest guitar talent (at least according to Rolling Stone) died 40 years ago September 2010. We’re commemorating the occasion with a series of special Hendrix focused tours and special events. Click here for full details.

50th Anniversary of Eddie Cochrane ('C’mon Everybody’ & ‘Summertime Blues’)
Car crash on the A4 near Chippenham, England. He died of head injuries at St. Martin's Hospital, Bath, 17 April 1960. A plaque marks the spot. Thankfully, fellow passenger, Gene Vincent survives to play another few years.

30th Anniversaries of the passing of Ian Curtis (Joy Division), Bon Scott (AC/DC) and John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)

25th Anniversary of Live Aid.

The British Music Experience is now fully open. Housed at the amazing The O2 Centre (previously known as the Dome), the BME is a permanent exhibition dedicated to the history of popular music in Britain and is an enthralling, technologically unrivalled and seriously cool sonic trip through time.

What you get is a first of all a great collection of previously unseen rock memorabilia, grouped by era and accompanied by description and stories to put it into its context. The approach to display is opposite to the rather jumbled, uniformed way it’s done at the Hard Rock Café memorabilia vault. So, fans of Glam Rock get a whole case of costumes worn by Slade, Marc Bolan, Sweet and Bowie. In another case there’s Boy George’s ‘Karma Chameleon’ outfit, and a collection of Elton’s outrageous glasses. In a metal section, stage suits worn by Jimmy Page line up with artefacts from Ozzy and Deep Purple. There’s one of Keith Richard’s guitars and loads of Beatle stuff. And Queen. And the Who. And punk. And great to see that early influential rocker’s like Lonnie Donnigan, Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard. Brilliant!

What makes the place extra special, however, is their use of state of the art effects and interactive technology to show how pop, dance and other genres were formed and have influenced the last sixty years of British culture. You can step into audio visual spaces that explore specific trends, and hear/see fascinating one-off interviews between the biggest stars. There’s a chance to download tracks, record songs, learn instruments, make your own record! There’s a fun place where you get to see, and replicate if you’re game for it, various popular dances of the last 50 years! Twist, anyone?

Inevitably, there’s a merchandise area but, and well done to them, the stuff is actually quite cool and not the tacky stuff often offered. One great idea is their series of T-shirts as worn by, and associated with various rock stars themselves.

The BME is easy to get to - either on the Jubilee underground line (at North Greenwich), or by taking a river ferry. You’ll need to allow at least a couple of hours to get the best from it.

Norway Rocks!
Norwegian rock fans should visit http://www.audiofil.org. This is the home page for a group of knowledgeable rock fans who hold monthly meetings to share musical notes over a few beers! They also organise an annual rock pilgrimages to the UK and the site has reports back on what they see and do. On their current site is an amazing collection of rock star with their parents! Boy; that throws a new light on a few famous faces!  This fun bunch also add music to their mix by being members of the Norwegian Ukelele club and the site has a great link to McCartney & Harrison, with uke, doing ‘Ain’t She Sweet’. Magic!

Great Present For Someone!
Tour plus annual subscription to Classic Rock Magazine
For just £45 (UK) 55€ (Euro) or US$80 (USA) you can buy that special person a ticket on our afternoon Classic London Rock Tour and include a year’s subscription to Classic Rock Magazine!  That’s less than the cost of just buying Classic Rock at the newsagent every month. It’s a Christmas present that last a whole year with a fantastic afternoon (date of your choice) visiting London’s rock landmarks.

Tour plus entrance to the fantastic British Music Experience (O2 in Greenwich)
£40 (UK) 50€ (Euro) or US$75 buys a great Rock’n’Roll day out with our half-day tour and a ticket to the BME. Visit this great new interactive museum of rock memorabilia, films and photos and see the locations where it all took place on our afternoon tour. To purchase, contact reservations@londonrocktour.com

Pink Floyd's Cambridge and London 'Magical History Tour' DVD released
A new Access All Areas tour exploring Pink Floyd's musical heritage in London and Cambridge has been launched for 2009. The tour visits sites connected with all members of the band in both cities.

A DVD of the tour has been released by 'Magical History Tour' as part of their series of rock related DVDs.

'Missing Chords' - the ones that got away
The usual good and the great are always listed there in Rock's Pantheon but there are hundreds of bands that either fell into obscurity after brief spells in the limelight, or folded due to lack of commercial success or changing musical fashion, but who deserve to be remembered and the hidden gems of their recorded history rediscovered. This special section of 'More Stuff' goes in search of a those missing chords ...(we highlight in blue sites included on our tours). 'More Missing Chords'.

> Great site for Hendrix fans!
> Mojo, The Music Magazine
> Classic Rock
> Classic Rock Magazine
> Uncut
> Q Magazine
> Record Collector
> Kerrang!

Here's a 'must-visit' web site for all rock fans:

This Day in Music!

Check out what happened on this day in rock history. There are some cool books for sale too!