One of rock n’ roll’s most iconic instruments has found a new home: Paul Simonon’s bass, as seen being smashed on the cover of The Clash’s London Calling, is heading to the London Museum’s brand new site.
The London Museum announced on Thursday (Jan. 18) that it would open its new Smithfield Market site to the public on Nov. 28. The regeneration of the historic Smithfields Market has been several years in the making and was announced in 2016.
Simonon’s Fender Precision bass will appear on loan at the new museum site. The instrument was damaged by the Clash member during a concert at The Palladium in New York City on Sept. 20, 1979, and photographed by legendary snapper Pennie Smith. The bass guitar was housed at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for many years.
The bass guitar met its end when Simonon smashed it in frustration at the venue bouncers who were not allowing the audience to stand for the show. “That frustrated me to the point that I destroyed this bass guitar,” explained Simonon in a 2011 interview with Fender. “Unfortunately you always sort of tend to destroy the things you love.”
It’s one of the many musical items set to be housed at the new museum site, alongside the tablas belonging to British Bhangra pioneer Kuljit Bhamra, the genius behind cult favorite album Punjabi Disco.
Elsewhere, the museum will house King Charles I’s execution vest (1649), Banksy’s Piranhas artwork, parts of the Whitechapel Fatberg and a number of other local artefacts.
First opened in 1976, the Museum was housed at a site at the London Wall before plans were revealed to head to Smithfield Market in Farringdon. The latter has been a part of London life for almost a thousand years, first as a livestock market and most recently as a wholesale meat market.
Music and culture will play a huge part of the Museum’s new offerings with local club Fabric set to curate and throw regular house parties on a monthly basis.
Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox
Sign Up
