At long last Worlds End Shop has finally got its own design of carrier bag made out of 100% recycled paper.
Author Archives: Ben Westwood
‘We Play Rock & Roll’ – Lemmy Kilmister RIP
A very Happy New Year to you all!
The break was nice but we begin this year with the loss of phenomenon, bass playing vocalist from Motorhead, Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister who sadly died on the 28th December, 4 days after his 70th birthday.
I mentioned Lemmy’s death to my mother as I know that she knew & liked him. She told me that he had come into the Kings Road shop often & that he was always trying to get her to take some sort of pill (he must have ‘fancied’ her). Once he had gone so far as to get one in her mouth which he tried to make her swallow but she spat it out.
At the time Lemmy & his bandmates had no money & they squatted & worked around Worlds End & Battersea (where they met guitarist ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke who joined the band in 76). They rehearsed whenever they could under a furniture shop in nearby Lots Rd.
However suddenly (& finally) in September 1978 they hit success with the release of their single ‘Louie, Louie’ & then hit the big time on March 4th 79 with the release of their album ‘Overkill’ which reached No 43 in the UK charts.
In looking for a memorial pic I found a photo on the net of him with Sid Vicious & Nancy Spungen (credit: Kerstin Rodgers) which must have been taken in 1977/78 (Nancy died 12th Oct 78, Sid 4 months later).
Lemmy had always said that Motorhead’s music was Rock & Roll & that they identified more with Punk than with Metal.
True pioneers, Lemmy’s technique of playing bass was more akin to playing guitar with heavy use of chords & Phil Taylor the drummer learnt to play two bass drums in a wall of pulsating sound (his drumming practicing inspired the track ‘Overkill’). They were the loudest band at the time, Lemmy’s voice fitted perfectly, sounding like a cement mixer in tune & his stance at the microphone was heroic like he was flying through a storm.
Stylish & Lovely, RIP Lemmy & thank you So much.
Glen Matlock – Interview
So, Tuesday the 24th November at 12 o’clock I meet Glen inside the Worlds End Shop. It’s a lot quieter inside after my other interviews in the street. He tells me the news that the Turkish have just shot down a Russian Bomber over Syria…What a mess…
The particular reason I wanted to interview Glen was because he had worked in the shop for two years starting in 1974 when the shop was transitioning from ‘Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die’ to ‘SEX’ (Glen helped make the pink PVC shop sign) & I wanted to ask him about this pivotal time.
I was sure I’d seen an early photo of Glen in the shop but I seem to have been mistaken.
Of course Glen is better known as the bass player in the early Sex Pistols & is credited with co-writing all but two of the tracks on the album ‘Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols’.
So another great privilege for us, Glen Matlock, 19 minutes…Let it roll!
Oh yes & by the way…A Happy Xmas to you All…Peace on Earth & Good Will to All Men …& Women ( & hopefully there will be a bit more of it in 2016 )
Shaker Aamer Interview
On the 30th October & after 5000 days plus of unjust detention in the inhuman & soulless American Naval Base Guantanamo, Shaker Aamer was finally freed & flown back to his home & family in Britain.
Shaker’s until recent ordeal must have been ‘beyond’ dreadful & it must be very strange & surreal for him to be free.
As usual there are mixed messages from the press & public regarding his ‘reputation’, his religion & his future here in the UK & so I feel that it is very important especially regarding the present world situation to show that the people of Britain stand for true justice & equality under it & that Shaker Aamer, an innocent man detained for 14 years is truly made welcome here.
Above is the first interview with Shaker since his release, filmed for BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire program & released on the 14th December.
An hour & a half long it is fascinating to hear his story.
Quite simply it is the story of a sane man in a completely insane environment.
& don’t forget, there are still 107 detainees in that place..
Curious – SEX
This week’s post is a blast to the past.
Some time ago a friend sent me some scans of a semi porn kind of shoot & interview conducted in 430 Kings Rd when the shop was known as SEX. Continue reading
Worlds End Style
A lot of new items have been coming into Worlds End Shop recently.
Modelling for us we have Davide who comes from Venice & who is assistant designer for the Red Label collection here at Westwood. We love his tattoos. Thank you Davide.
All items in this post are exclusive to the Worlds End & all are made here in the UK.
The exceptions to this are the items of unisex knitwear which are made in Italy.
The toga dress & the t-shirts are made from organic cotton.
One of the new items is the double fronted kilt. This is made in a specially produced lightweight wool & comes in different lengths, a longer one for men & two shorter ones for women. Lelu models the shorter kilt in a previous post.
This kilt uses the ‘Alien’ system developed in the 2005 Gold Label ‘Propaganda’ collection. This system involves having an insert panel inside at the front waist which buttons up to support the kilt, leaving the visible waist free to hang loose & drape down.
Other new items are the Alien Coat & Alien Jacket. These have been made in new fabrics. The coat & the jacket have been made in the same wool as the earlier Clint Eastwood Bomber.
The ‘Who the Fuck Needs Art’ & ‘Fuck everybody except US’ Tees are now back in stock (the latter being very topical right now with the Climate Change Forum in progress as we speak in Paris).
Lastly we have the new Toga Dress (originally developed for the 1983 collection) which is unisex & has lots of ways to wear.