Music in Tower Hamlets

The books, images, pamphlets and cuttings in our library hold a wealth of information that can shed light on the history of music in Tower Hamlets. Explore the following library classification numbers to start your research with:

680.6: Musical instruments
780: Music (general)
780.1: Songs with local settings, street songs and cries
780.2: Bands, orchestras, pop groups, street musicians
780.3: Choirs, choral and operatic societies
780.4: Music concerts, festivals, concert halls
780.6: Associations, harmonic societies, music societies
781: Religious music
792: Public entertainments
795: Music halls
810.2: Educational music, dancing, festivals
850.33: Libraries – Music Library

Go to the Advanced Search page in our online catalogue and enter the number in the Class Field. For other classes consult our subject and classification guides.

Read other user guides which may be helpful in researching the history of music in the borough.

 

Local newspapers

Issues of The East London Advertiser from the 1960s to 1980s featured a pop music page with record reviews and interviews with artists hailing from or playing in the borough; there were also many advertisements for venues and pubs hosting live music which list the bands appearing. 

Our Sound collection contains a wide range of audio recordings on analogue and digital formats. These include:

• coarse groove shellac records
• microgroove vinyl records
• open reel tapes
• cassette tapes
• compact discs

Many are on old media and therefore not all of the collection is currently accessible. Plans are in place to create digital access copies.

We hold around fifty music recordings in the sound collection. To find them on our online catalogue:

1. Go the Advanced Search page
2. Enter ‘lcs*’ in the Reference Number Field
3. Enter ‘music’ in the Subject Keyword field
4. Hit the search button

Some musical genres represented in the collection include:

• Folk and traditional music – including Yiddish folk, sea shanties
• ‘World’ music
• Classical and religious music – including choral performances at local churches
• Blues and jazz
• Music hall and ‘pub music’
• Pop and rock
• Music by East End organisations or on local themes

Many of our musical recordings are extremely rare and unavailable online. To find out more contact us at localhistory@towerhamlets.gov.uk.

For a selected list of musical recordings, please see our Sound Collection user guide.

Our library and archive collections shed light on different genres of music played and enjoyed within the borough by its diverse communities. Examples include:

Asian Underground

• P/ULL/6 (series): Joi Bangla Banned, Bengali rock band papers and promotional material, kept by band member Ansar Ahmed Ullah. Includes P/ULL/6/2/7: Stage backdrop banners c. 1990. Archive. Fabric stage backdrops made to cover the entire back wall of a stage for Joi Bangla Banned concerts
• P50132: Members of Joi Bangla Krew pose within the ruins of the old Bishops Gate Goods yard, 1986
• P50133: Joi Bangla Krew dancers at the Half Moon Theatre on Mile End Road, c.1986

Bangladeshi

• P/ULL/4/4: 'Bengali Info: Young People Magazine' 1998-2006. Archive.

Magazines published by Swadhinata Trust. Initially the magazine was published by the Nirmul Committee. The magazine aimed at Bengali young people to inform them about community issues, career, youth culture-fashion, music, poetry, literature and Bengali history. Issues 13-14 (Mar 1998; Mar 1999 Independence Day Issue); Issue 3 (Mar 2000).

• I/SPP/4/9/5: Bangladesh Music and Drama Society, 1982. Archive.

Letter from Bill Blair, Spitalfields Project Co-ordinator, to the Bangladesh Music and Drama Society regarding application for membership to the Spitalfields Committee.

• LC194: The Arts Worldwide Bangladesh festival, 7-25 July 1999. Pamphlet.

Programme for the festival which aimed to promote understanding of the culture of Bangladesh. It included traditional singers, storytellers and dancers, as well as food and contemporary poetry, cinema, music, textiles, and paintings.

Chinese and Vietnamese

• I/THI/B/15/1/1: Gor Hoi Festival Production papers 1984-1987. Archive

Includes photocopies of typed and handwritten music, lyrics/verse, and prose/diary entries, and transcript (not verbatim) from taped performances at St Matthias Centre (17 July 1986). I/THI/B/15/1/1 Includes photocopies of typed and handwritten music, lyrics/verse, and prose/diary entries, and transcript (not verbatim) from taped performances at St Matthias Centre (17 July 1986).

• Images of musicians from the Chinese community can be found at class mark 410.

Choirs

• S/THO/2/14: Correspondence re Old People's Choir Festivals 1954 – 1965. Archive. Correspondence of the Stepney Old People's Welfare Trust re the London Council of Social Service, Old people's Choir Festivals.
• W/SGG/B/2/17: Choir Register, St Georges German Lutheran Church, c. 1920 – 1933. Archive.
• LC11421: The Bow and Mile End Harmonic Society, 1852. Rule book and list of patrons. Pamphlet.

Classical

• LCP00269: Spitalfields festival, 1987-2004. Serial.

Programme for the Spitalfields Festival, an annual festival of classical music performances. Tower Hamlets Local History Library has an incomplete set of this periodical.

• LC5943: Far From the Fashionable Crowd: The People's Concert Society and music in London's suburbs by Alan Bartley. Book, 2009.

History of many organisations that brought classical music to the working classes of the time and music by the great composers being given a reception by East-End audiences that amazed contemporary writers and commentators.

• L6126: Report of the Committee appointed by the governing body to investigate recent criticisms of the Centre, 1964. Book , 1964.

Annex II is the "Bridges report" which led to the setting up of the London Opera Centre. The Centre was housed in the old Troxy Cinema.

Grime

• LC14774: Grime kids: The inside story of the global Grime takeover by DJ Target. Book.
• LC15175: Teklife, Ghettoville, Eski: The sonic ecologies of black music in the early twenty-first century by Dhanveer Singh Brar. Book, 2018.

"How black electronic dance music makes it possible to reorganize life within the contemporary city” Closely analysing… the Grime scene in East London… Brar pays attention to the way each of these critically acclaimed musical projects experiment with aesthetic form through an experimentation of the social.”

• LC14786: Inner City Pressure: The story of Grime by Dan Hancox. Book, 2018.

Drawn from over a decade of in-depth interviews and research with all the key MCs, DJs and industry players, in this extraordinary book the UK's best grime journalist Dan Hancox tells the remarkable story of how a group of outsiders went on to create a genre that has become a British institution.

Jazz

• LC11409: Jazz Lunarcy at the Half Moon Theatre: Docklands Jazz Festival 10-15 December 1987, music programme. Pamphlet.
• P/GRS/1/6: Jazz Bands represented by Greenstock. Archive. One photograph of 'AL BERLIN and his Boys' and three photographs of "Sidney Chasid and Boy's (sic)".
• LC13658: Stan Getz's East End roots by Peter Gardner. Pamphlet.

Klezmer/Jewish

• LC14692: Whitechapel Noise: Jewish immigrant life in Yiddish song and verse, London 1884-1914 by Vivi Lachs. Book, 2018.
• LCS203: Whitechapel Mayn Vaytdshepl by Klezmer Klub. Digital audio disc and 10-page booklet. CD.
• LCF00636 / LCF00638 / LCF00637 / LCF00639: Songs Anthology volumes 1- IV by Majer Bogdanski. Books, 2003.

Scores, partly for voice and piano, partly unaccompanied melodies. Includes transliteration guide. Yiddish (Romanized) words; printed as text in Yiddish with English translations.

Reggae and Funk

• LC15643: Black Echoes Magazine, 11 December 1976, Pamphlet
• LCX10177: Article from ELA on “Typical Funky Band”, an eight-piece East End-based funk group, includes photographs., 1976, Cutting
• P/BSL/A/2/1/4: 'Roots: Live at the Saxon'. Poster for an evening of African and Caribbean music and culture at Saxon Road Youth Club, c.1977, Archive

Religious Music / Music performed at religious venues

• LC11422: Poplar and Bow Wesleyan Mission Circuit Eisteddfod programme and timetables, 1920-1951. Pamphlet.
• LCP00252: St John on Bethnal Green arts and music festival, 1996-1998. Serial.

Souvenir programme for the St John on Bethnal Green arts and music festival. Tower Hamlets Local History Library has an incomplete set of this periodical. We hold 3 issues only.

Rock & Pop

• LC14943: Church and Estate on Bromley Marsh by Andrew Wilson. Book, 2018. Includes information on St. Nicholas Church, Aberfeldy Street, which in the 1970s served as a vinyl record shop and hosted Iron Maiden’s first professional gig.
• P50130: Blur Mile End Stadium concert advertisement, 1995, magazine cutting
• LCX10177: Articles on the Foster Brothers and the establishment of Easy Street Studios from the East London Advertiser, with photos. 1977, Cuttings
• LCX10177: Article on Bow Gamelan Ensemble, East End-based experimental/industrial/performance art trio. 1989, Cutting
• LC11394: The Steamrooms : a community music project / London Borough of Tower Hamlets Inner Area Programme. Funded by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the Steamrooms opened in the Spring of 1984 and was one of the first community recording studios in Britain. c. 1986, Pamphlet
• IHT/P1195, IHT/P1193: Photographs of local skiffle bands from Isle of Dogs featuring Jack & Jackie Rump from Millwall, 1950s
• P50120, P50121, P50122: The Beatles, photographed on Wapping Pier Head and Wapping High Street

Somali

• LCS201: The new Somali sound. Audio CD + 1 booklet with colour illustrations. CD + booklet.

Traditional

• LC15286: Irish London: A cultural history 1850-1916 by Richard Kirkland. Book, 2022.

Kirkland makes resonant cultural connections between Irish and cockney performers in the music halls.

World music

• S/CSG/4/3/2: Grand Union Orchestra: 'Undream'd Shores'. November 2014. DVD.

Extracts of a live performance at Hackney Empire. Digital copy to be uploaded, contact staff as to updates on access.

• TH/10558: Records of Grand Union Orchestra and Red Brass, 1975-2023. Both founded by Tony Haynes. The orchestra brings together musicians and singers born or brought up in all major musical traditions worldwide.

Includes printed material, photographs music scores and recordings. These records were deposited in 2024. Access by appointment only, please contact staff for further details.

Explore biographical materials on musicians, composers and other musical personalities from Tower Hamlets in our library collections. class marks 100 (individuals) and 100.1 (collected). Examples are:

Collected biographies

• LC5892: London History: 100 faces of the East End by John Rennie. Book, 2011.Contains biographical sections on Marie Lloyd, Lionel Bart, Daniel Farson, Steve Marriott, Ronnie Scott, Peter Green, Helen Shapiro, Peter Grant, Billy Ocean, Jah Wobble, John Newton, The Blind Beggar.
• LC6738: Tower Hamlets' Talents: a select booklist about people living in Tower Hamlets in the twentieth century, compiled by Roger Harris. Pamphlet.

Lionel Bart

Composer (Stepney)

• LC5892: London history: 100 faces of the East End by John Rennie. Book, 2011.
• LC11403: Lionel: a musical created from the works of Lionel Bart, composer, London E1 / New London Theatre, 1977. Theatre programme. Pamphlet.
• LCX00116: Baron-Bartlett: cuttings and ephemera on biography.
• LC15275: East End Jews and left-wing theatre: Alfie Bass, David Kossoff, Warren Mitchell and Lionel Bart by Isabelle Seddon. Book, 2021.
• LC15423: Fings ain't wot they used t'be : the Lionel Bart story by David & Caroline Stafford. Book, 2011.
• LC15613: “I'd Do Anything”, from the Donald Albery (for Donmar Productions Limited) production Oliver! Book music and lyrics by Lionel Bart ; freely adapted from Dickens' 'Oliver Twist'. Sheet music. 1960
• LC15614: “Far away” from Lionel Bart's musical Blitz. Sheet music, 1960
• LC15423: Fings Ain’t Wot They Used t'be: The Lionel Bart Story by David & Caroline Stafford, Book, 2011

The Beverley Sisters (Joy, Babs and Teddie)

Popular singing and light entertainment group of the 1950s (Bethnal Green)

• P08647, P08646: Publicity shots, 1950s
• LCX10211: Cuttings and ephemera on council variety shows and concerts

Georgia Brown (Lilian Claire Klot)

Singer and actress (Whitechapel)

• LCX00137: Brooker-Bryce: Cuttings and ephemera on biography.

Al Burnett (Alfie Isaacs)

Impresario (Mile End)

• L1640: Knave of Clubs: an autobiography by Al Burnett. Book, 1963. The memoirs of a leading impresario and entertainer. Al Burnett was born Alfie Isaacs in Clark Street, Mile End.

Harry Champion (William Crump)

Music Hall artiste (Shoreditch)

• LCX00145: Chamberlain-Clapham: cuttings and ephemera on biography

Tina Charles

Pop singer (Whitechapel)

• LC15642: “I Love to Love (But My Baby Just Loves to Dance)”. 1975, Sheet music
• LCX10177, LCX10179: Cuttings and ephemera on music
• LCX00145: Chamberlain-Clapham: cuttings and ephemera on biography

James Andrew Clark

Musician (Poplar)

• P/CLA: Papers of James Andrew Clark (1868-1914) of Poplar and family, c 1900 – 1940. Archive. Mainly relating to Clark's activities as a semi-professional cornet player. Includes programmes and photographs.

Alma Cogan

Popular British singer of the 1950s (Whitechapel)

• LC15659: Alma Cogan: A Memoir by Sandra Caron. Book, 1991

Maxine Daniels (Gladys Lynch)

Jazz Singer in The Humphrey Lyttleton band, sister of entertainer Kenny Lynch (Stepney)

• LCX00163: Custard-Daniels: Cuttings and ephemera on biography.
• P50127: Black and white printed promotional poster for the Maxine Daniels single 'When it's springtime in the Rockies' / 'My Summer Heart'

Dizzee Rascal (Dylan Mills)

Grime music pioneer, member of Roll Deep Crew (Bow)

• LC14899: Tales from da corner by Dizzee Rascal and Alex Kitts. Book, 2011.
• LC14898: Bonkers: The story of Dizzee Rascal by Paul Lester. Book, 2010.
• LCX00173: Dickel-Donovan: Cuttings and ephemera on biography.
• P50124: A full page photograph of grime MC Dizzee Rascal standing with arms outstretched on the roof of 5th and Sunset Studios, London N1. Colour magazine cutting, 2002.

Sir Balthazar Gerbier

Sir Balthazar Gerbier was an architect who opened an academy in Bethnal Green in 1649 to teach music, dancing and 'declamation', despite the Puritan restraints of the time

• LCX00188: Sir Balthazar Gerbier: cuttings and ephemera on biography.
• P/MIS/143/1: Letter from B. Gerbier to C. Hughens, Private Secretary to the Prince of Orange, at the Hague; Addressed from Paris; text in French, 1648. Archive.
• Various images can be found at class mark 100.

Peter Green

Guitarist & singer, founder of Fleetwood Mac (Bethnal Green)

• LCX00194: Grant-Gregory: Cuttings and ephemera on biography.
• LC15390: Peter Green: Founder of Fleetwood Mac by Martin Celmins. Book, 2022.
• LC15649: “Albatross”. 1970, Sheet music

Jah Wobble (John Wardle)

Bass player in Public Image Limited, Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart (Whitechapel)

• LC8609: Memoirs of a Geezer: The autobiography of Jah Wobble: Music, mayhem, life by Jah Wobble. Book, 2009.
• LCX00333: Cuttings and ephemera on biography.

Kenney Jones

Drummer in Small Faces, The Faces and The Who (Whitechapel)

• LC14690: Let the Good Times Roll: The autobiography by Kenney Jones. Book, 2018.

Mike Laskey (Michael Jon Laskey)

Musician and songwriter, Tower Hamlets resident

• LCS204: England Fair: A tribute to Mike Laskey. CD + booklet.

Double CD collection of songs performed by local singer-songwriter Michael Jon Laskey, composed by Michael and his brother Stephen between roughly 1975 and 2000, includes a booklet with biographical notes on his life.

Joe Loss (Joshua Alexander Loss)

Dance band leader and musician (Spitalfields)

• LC15612: “In The Mood”. 1939, Sheet music
• P09232, P09233: Portrait and stage performance shots
• LCX00250: Loss: cuttings and ephemera on biography
• LC15558: Going down the Jewish East End with Aumie Shapiro. Includes section on Joe Loss. Video, 2006.

John Newton

Composer of the hymn "Amazing Grace", Wapping

• LC190: The Life of John Newton by Richard Cecil, edited by Marylynn Rouse. Book, 2000.
• LC15140: London, Metropolis of the Slave Trade by James A. Rawley. Book, 2003. Chapter 7 is a biographical study of Newton concentrating on his transformation from a former slaver to abolitionist

Billy Ocean (Leslie Sebastian Charles)

Singer and songwriter (Whitechapel)

• LCX00263: Newton-Ocean: Cuttings and ephemera on biography.

Ronnie Scott (Ronald Schatt)

Jazz saxophonist, jazz club owner (Aldgate)

• LC6699: Let's Join Hands And Contact The Living: Ronnie Scott and his Club by John Fordham. Pamphlet
• LC5892: London History: 100 Faces of the East End by John Rennie. Book, 2011.
• LCX00290: Scott-Scrutton: cuttings and ephemera on biography.

Helen Shapiro

1960s Singer (Bethnal Green)

• LCX00293: Sexton-Sheppard: Cuttings and ephemera on biography.
• LC5892: London history: 100 Faces of the East End by John Rennie. Book, 2011.
• P50123: colourised ‘autographed’ postcard, c. 1962
• LC15618: “Walkin' Back to Happiness”. 1961, sheet music
• LC15530: Walking Back to Happiness: My Story by Helen Shapiro with Wendy Green, with a foreword by Cliff Richard. 1993, Book

Ella Shields (Ella Catherine Buscher)

Music Hall artiste

• LC15615: “Burlington Bertie from Bow”. 1915, Sheet music
• LCX10178: Cuttings and ephemera on songs with local settings, street songs and cries

Suresh Singh

Drummer for 1970s punk band Spizzenergi, author (Spitalfields)

• O/IND/5: Suresh Singh. Archive. Two CDs containing the oral history interview recordings with Mr. Suresh Singh and hard copy summaries of the interviews.
• LC14806: A Modest Living: Memoirs of a Cockney Sikh by Suresh Singh; recipes by Jagir Kaur; photographs by Patricia Niven. Book, 2018. Suresh Singh tells the candid and sometimes surprising story of his father Joginder Singh who came to Spitalfields in 1949.
• SNG: Digital images of photographs by Suresh Singh, including of himself and family. Digital images.

The Stepney Sisters

Feminist Rock band of the 1970s

• LC15373: The Stepney Sisters by Nony Ardill - history of the band by the guitarist. 2011, digital publication
• LCS213: Stepney Sisters album, 2021, mp3 files
• P50095, P50096, P50101: Black & white photographs of the band
• LCP00441: Spare Rib magazine cover story about the band. 1972, Pamphlet
• LC15404: Hail Sisters of the Revolution by Caroline Gilfillan - poems and Andrew Scott - photographs. Includes history of the band. 2022, Book

Nat Travers

The 'King of the Coster Comedians' Jewish Music Hall singer and comedian. Lived on Bancroft Road, Mile End.

• LC15650: “For an A1 Nation Beer is Best”. 1935, Sheet music
• L8850: Limehouse days : a personal experience of the East End by Daniel Farson. Book

Queenie Watts (Mary Spenton)

Singer and actress, landlady of The Iron Bridge Tavern (Poplar)

• LCX00326: Watts, Queenie: Cuttings and ephemera on biography.
• IHT/p0278: Strattondale Street. Image. 1935 Jubilee party in Strattondale Street, outside the house of Mrs Spenton (Queenie’s mother).

Wiley (Richard Kylea Cowie)

UK Garage and Grime musician, member of Roll Deep Crew (Bow)

• LC14582: Eskiboy by Wiley. Book, 2017.

Our library collections hold a selection of musical scores and song collections. There are also programmes of local events and concerts.

Sheet music and song books

• LC159: Francis & Day's album of cockney songs. Book.
• L1376: Ballads - collected and arranged by Cecil J. Sharp. Book.
• Includes the words and music of "The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green".
• L1150: The Blind Beggar's Daughter: A ballad opera for young people of all ages: vocal score. Book, 1953. Story by Sheila Bathurst based on the traditional ballad; the libretto by Sheila Bathurst and Geoffrey Bush; music by Geoffrey Bush.
• LC1204: Limehouse Blues sung by Teddie Gerard; words by Douglas Furber; music by Philip Braham. Pamphlet.
• LC11388: The Ballad of Jack the Ripper and other great Cockney songs vol. 1. Pamphlet.
• LC11390: Two Trumpet Volunteers by John James. Sheet music for organ. Pamphlet.
• John James was organist at St George-in-the-East in the 1700s.
• LC11389: Limehouse Wharf for voice and piano-forte by H.V. Jervis-Read, words by Adrian Heard, 1921. Pamphlet.
• LC11391: Six Pedal Fugues (of which five are upon English Psalm tunes) for organ by Elizabeth Stirling, 1984. Pamphlet.
• Elizabeth Stirling was organist at All Saints, Poplar from 1839-1858.
• LC11407: A Selection of Camp Songs suitable for Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs by Rose L. Henriques. Pamphlet.
• LC11406: Camp Songs, Oxford & St. George’s Clubs Camp Songs, c.1926. Pamphlet.
• LC11405: Living in the City: a songbook by Dave Swift. Pamphlet.
• LCF00640: Below Bridges by Charles Ancliffe. Book. A Suite for Piano. Includes Wapping Old Stairs, Stepney Church and Poplar (Saturday night). Book.
• L8041: The Old Cryes of London: with numerous illustrations and musical examples by Sir Frederick Bridge. Book, 1921.
• LCP00101: Loshn un Lebn: Hoydesh Zshurnal Far Literatur, Teater, Kunst un Kultur, edited by A.N. Stencl. Includes an open page showing musical notation and Hebrew script. 1939-1981, Serial

Music and Events Programmes

• LCP00252: St John on Bethnal Green arts and music festival, 1996-1998. Serial. Annual Souvenir programme.
• LCP00269: Spitalfields festival 1987-2004. Serial.
• Programme for the Spitalfields Festival, an annual festival of classical music performances.
• LC7961: The Matchgirls, 1996. Pamphlet. Official programme of the musical by Bill Owen and Tony Russell directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne at the Globe Theatre, Shaftesbury Ave.
• L8553: Handbills of entertainment at Poplar Civic Theatre, 1950-1963. Book.

Events at the People’s Palace

• LC11411: The Youth and Community Section (Tower Hamlets) present a Metropolitan Police Sing-a-Long at the People's Palace, Queen Marys College, 7.00 pm on Thursday 15th November 1990. Pamphlet.
• LC11419: The People's Palace Choral Society 1960-1969. Pamphlet. History of the society and performances.
• LC11417: The People's Palace Choral Society 1960-1969. Pamphlet. Concert programmes from April 1960-April 1969.
• P/CLA/2/13: Programme of concert at the People's Palace, Mile End Road, 1916. Archive.
• L7532: People's Palace Choral Society programmes of concerts, 1955-[1983]. Serial.

 

 

The East End has a rich music hall history. It was the home of some of the first established Music Halls in London, including Wilton’s, The Foresters, The Paragon and The Garrick Tavern. Images of some of these historic venues can be found under class mark 795. Other reference items include:

• L9256: Music Hall by Roy Hudd. Book, 1976.
• L4620: Marie Lloyd & Music Hall by Daniel Farson. Book, 1972.
• L5603: British Music Hall: An illustrated Who's Who from 1850 to the present day by Roy Busby. Book, 1976.
• L4468: The Early Doors: Origins of the Music Hall by Harold Scott. Book, 1946.
• LC8304: The Edwardian Theatre: Essays on performance and the stage edited by Michael R. Booth, Joel H. Kaplan. Book, 1996. Includes “Varieties of life: the making of the Edwardian music hall” by Peter Bailey and “Beating the bounds: Gender play and role reversal in the Edwardian music hall” by Dave Russell.
• LC6566: The Mass, the Masses and the Music Hall: Stewart Headlam's radical Anglicanism by John R. Orens. Pamphlet.
• P/BSL/A/3/1/86: 'London Music Hall' [The London Music Hall Protection Society Limited], papers kept by Paul Beasley, 1979-1981. Archive.
• LCX10183: cuttings and ephemera on theatres, theatre groups, and music halls in Stepney, 1730-1996

The British Music Hall Society has published comprehensive guides for researching Music Hall artistes and songs.

Wilton’s Music Hall

• P/BSL/A/2/1/105: Wilton's Music Hall, 1975-1977. Papers covering, Half Moon Theatre - Proposed Acquisition of Wilton's, miscellaneous plans, documents, correspondence and papers. Archive.
• LC11594: Wilton's grand music hall sketch proposals. Photocopy of typescript. Pamphlet.
• L/THL/B/1/2/3: Correspondence with John Betjeman re future of Wilton's Music Hall, 1965. Archive.
• P25953: Wilton's Music Hall, 1967. Image (More images at class mark 795.1.).
• SW/1/151: Inside Wilton's Music Hall, 2009. Image.
• LC8246: John Wilton's Music Hall: The Handsomest Room in Town by Peter Honri. Book. Includes illustrations, facsimiles, plans, portraits.
• P/ROR/1/4/1/1: Annual Reports and Statements of Accounts, 1977-1984. Archive. A 'Joint Report on the Year's Activities', 1977 which contains updates about the campaign to regain Wilton's Music Hall as an arts and entertainment centre. The aim to make it the new home for the Half Moon Theatre.
• LC11593: An appeal by Miss Liza Minnelli for the restoration of Wilton's Grand Music Hall as the National Centre of Variety Entertainment at the Cafe Royal. 1979, Pamphlet
• LCX10189: Wilton's Music Hall: cuttings and ephemera on theatres, theatre groups, and music halls in Stepney. 1866-2009

Tower Hamlets has hosted many notable music festivals in its outdoor spaces, our collections include papers of organisations tasked with producing some of them.

Rock Against Racism, Victoria Park 1978

Between 1976 and 1981, the movement Rock Against Racism (RAR) confronted racist ideology in the streets, parks and town halls of Britain. RAR was formed by a collective of musicians and political activists to fight fascism and racism through music. The first large scale RAR festival was held in Victoria Park in April 1987.

• LCF00818: Rock against racism by Syd Shelton. Book, 2015.
• L8057: Beating Time by David Widgery. Book, 1986.
• LC14829: Never again: Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League 1976-1982 by David Renton. Book, 2019.
• LCX00003: Folder 3, 1978: Cuttings and ephemera on racism and religious prejudice, anti-racism.

I/SPF: Records of Spitalfields Festivals Ltd.

The organisation began as a classical music venture in 1976. In 2001, the Festival launched 25 different premieres, including music of Irish, Bangladeshi and Somalian origin. This archive collection includes minutes of meetings, cuttings, festival brochures and programmes, festival reports and newsletters.

• I/SPF/2: Cuttings files, 1998-2006, 18 folders.
• I/SPF/4: Festival programmes 1982-2007, 39 items.
• I/SPF/6: Newsletters 2004-2007, 4 items.
• I/SPF/9/1: Dissertation: Four Music Festivals and Opera in the Twenty-first Century by Jean-Mary Gatehouse.

We hold some material about other festivals held in the borough, including:

• LC11412: Tower Hamlets Music Festival 1986 report by Mike Schirn. Pamphlet. Includes budget reports.
• NON/4: 12 digital photographs of Field Day 2014, Victoria Park.
• LC14608: Spitalfields Music summer festival June 2-26, 2016. Programme of events. Pamphlet.

Tower Hamlets Arts Committee

We hold many records for this organisation, which was responsible for the administration of arts grants and projects within the borough. These can be found in both our archive and library collections. Examples include:

• S/THA/2/2: Folders re the East End Festival, 1985-1987.
• S/THA/2/11: File re Composer/Musician in residence scheme 1982-1986. Contains correspondence, minutes of meetings, reports, etc [composer/musician was based in St Paul's Way School].
• S/THA/2/13: File re Oxford House, 1984-1989. Includes material relating to the Oxford House Community Arts Workshop and Musician in Residence scheme.
• S/THA/2/17: Folder marked "Entertainments Meeting minutes, 1987-1990.
• Folder actually contains papers re events staged by Tower Hamlets Borough Council's Entertainments Service mainly at the Civic Theatre, Bow; include cuttings, programmes and photographs.
• S/THA/3/1/1: Tower Hamlets Arts resource directory, Spring 1979.
• S/THA/3/1/2: Campaign for a popular culture: a record of struggle and achievement; the Greater London Council's Community Arts Programme 1981-1986.
• P/BSL/A/3/1/8: Records of The Tower Hamlets Arts Committee, 1980-1982.
• Includes records around the East End Festival.
• LC11056: Minutes of annual general meeting of Tower Hamlets Arts Committee, 1988. Pamphlet Bound with Tower Hamlets Arts Committee constitution. General meeting for 1988 and 1989 only. Music in September and October flyers and Altab Ali Festival flyer.

Poplar Borough Council

• LC11449 - LC11452: Poplar Town Hall / Poplar Borough Council Entertainments posters. Serial.

Collection of 83 posters dating from 1948 to 1964 for variety show concerts, plays and events put on at Poplar Town Hall by Poplar Borough Council Entertainments, with dates of performances and names of artists.

Tower Hamlets Council

• L/THL/H/4/2/1-2: Records of Tower Hamlets Music Library. Includes documents relating to concerts given by Derek Bailey (1930-2005) at Bethnal Green Music Library at Mayfield House. 1980s, Archive
• See also P28579 image of music library and Central Library and P29386 image of Mayfield House

• P/RAM/2/1/5: (Clubs and cafes) Cable Street, file kept by Edith Ramsay, 1958-1962, Archive. Includes

Printed flyers and membership card for the Cosmopolitan Club, 9 Artillery Passage, Bishopsgate for dances including Deroy Taylor, 'West Africa's Leading Guitarist' and sextet featuring Ghana High Life Jazz, Cha-Cha and Twist

'Ghana Independence Day Celebration' at St. Louis Club, Commercial Road with Jimmy Scott, African Cubano Band Leader

• LC11404: The life and times of the ‘Turk’s Head’ barrel piano by Nigel Winfield, 1994. Pamphlet.
• LC11393: Sound advice by Nick Ryan. Pamphlet.

A feasibility study commissioned by the Atum Group to look at the possibility of providing a complex of studios, musical workshops, and disc cutting room at the Limehouse Library, 638 Commercial Road, London E14.

• LC11413: A Grand Coronation Musical Festival / Stepney Meeting House, 1902. Pamphlet.

Photocopy of programmes from Stepney Meeting House for June-December 1902, includes names of performers and musical selections.

• LC15330: Singing for Dear Life. Videocassette.

Part of a compilation of television programmes relating to Tower Hamlets recorded on videocassette between 1989 and 1992. Singing for Dear Life: London's East End at the turn of the century is brought to life as some of its eldest inhabitants recall their early lives through conversation and rarely heard popular songs of the time.

No digital public access copy is currently available, contact staff as to updates on access.

• P/CLA/1/10: Programme of concert for the Bromley Football Club in the "White Hart" Hotel grounds, Bromley-by-Bow, 1908. Archive.
• LC15383 & LC14384: London’s Lost Music Venues vols. 1 & 2 by Paul Talling. Books, 2020, 2022. Contain entries for vanished East London music venues.

The British Library
The British Library has a world-famous collection of printed and manuscript music, music recordings, concert programmes and books and periodicals on music.
Their collection guides include:
The British Library guide to Pop music recordings
The British Library guide to Black Britain: music and audiovisual
Their sound collections include examples of Classical & World and traditional music amongst many others.

The British Music Archive
The British Music Archive exists as a historical and cultural library of commercially unreleased sound recordings and associated memorabilia.

The Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music Library holds a range of historically and internationally significant items in addition to its comprehensive lending collection.

University of Liverpool Institute of Music
The Popular Music Archive contains a collection of over 80,000 vinyl records and thousands of reel-to-reels, as well as CDs, cassettes, and a substantial collection of paper archives.

The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library is England’s national folk music and dance archive, housing Cecil Sharp’s personal book collection. It is now a multi-media library of distinction, containing books, pamphlets, periodicals, press cuttings, broadsides, paintings, photographs, slides, artefacts, records, reel-to-reel tapes, phonograph cylinders, videos, cine films, compact discs, audio cassettes and more.

The Black Music History Library
This digital library contains well over one thousand entries in the form of books, articles, documentaries, series, radio segments, and podcasts about the Black origins of popular and traditional music, dating from the 18th century to the present day.