I joined ‘Melody Maker’ in 1964, but before that I used to go to the old Marquee when it was in Oxford Street, which had a bit of a plush jazz vibe, to see people like Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Laine. Then the club moved round the corner into Wardour Street and it became much funkier, much more rock and roll and R’N'B.

By 1965, there were dozens of amazing bands playing in clubs throughout Soho - you could spend the whole night, wandering around the streets, just checking out all these great bands. I remember a friend of mine, Nick Jones from ‘Melody Maker’, rushing back to the office and saying he’d seen this poster ‘Maximum R’N'B’ and being completely entranced by this image. That was a poster for the Who outside the Marquee and it was where they started really.

The Marquee was just a big, dark cavern. In a funny way, it was like going into an old fleapit cinema, with the little ticket booth at the door and a long queue outside - a very patient, well-mannered queue usually - waiting to buy their ticket for 5s 6d [approx. 27p] to see the Yardbirds or whoever.

Once you were inside the Marquee, it was this dark, gloomy, cavernous set-up, but the stage was quite well-lit. The stage was quite low - and your feet stuck to the floor! Bands did quite a few sets and they probably had a support as well, so you got value for money. And of course, there was a compere! Nowadays, you’d never have a cultured, posh gent as the compere in a rock club, but John Gee was the manager and also the compere.

It was very much like a family vibe with the National Jazz Festival running it, and everybody knew everybody else. And as a reporter for ‘Melody Maker’, I didn’t have to pay five and six - I got in for free!

But even then, I think we realised that it was a great deal, because the bands were all good, they were always interesting - even the support groups. I saw Led Zeppelin there for the first time, Cream, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Ten Years After, Joe Cocker, Jethro Tull, David Bowie… it was just unbelievable. The other thing was that people were there for the music - there wasn’t much dancing going on. It was like a continuous showcase.

Did you see bands at the Marquee in the Sixties? What were your impressions of the club? Share your memories here: