Sonic Boom: The Impact of Led Zeppelin. Volume 1 - Break & Enter. Frank Reddon
REDDON:
When you took photos at the Teen Club, did they want to have any of them for the purpose of putting them in an archive?
ANGEL:
Yes, that was one of the main reasons for having me as “the house photographer”. The photographs for the Teen Club Nyt were the whole deal really. For example, they wanted the photos so they could use them to announce coming attractions. This magazine had a circulation of about 6,000. To make the Teen Club Nyt more interesting, they wanted the photos. Because I took the photos, I had access to all areas. It was a wonderful job to have. That’s how I could get so many different unusual angles and perspectives.
REDDON:
As you said, there were all kinds of tasks that volunteers had to do to make the Teen Club a success. Which it obviously was, in a big way. I’m so amazed with the specific divisions of labour to make this whole endeavour work. It strikes me as “beehive-like”! In your case, taking the photographs sure beat having to clean the toilets, right?
ANGEL:
I should think so, yes! However, no one complained. Whatever had to be done, we just did it. We all worked together and it was so enjoyable to have a common goal like that. But I did have to pay for my own film and materials. They said I could come and wander around as I liked. For my part, however, I was to give them some photos in return. So that was a fair trade, especially afterwards!
The Executive Committee and its head, the chairman, would call around and ask, “Are you coming this Saturday?” You didn’t have to go. But in order to make sure they had enough people, the chairman would call around. And people would show up. It worked perfectly. Everyone cooperated and thoroughly enjoyed what the Teen Club represented and did.
When the shows ended, often at midnight, there was all the work about cleaning up. All the folding chairs had to be put away; the marquees and decorations had to be taken down. By Monday morning, it had to look like a school hall again. That took some time. After that, the reward came.
REDDON: What was the reward? The suspense is killing me.
ANGEL: People got a couple of sandwiches.
REDDON:
That’s great- not much beats food! But seeing The Yardbirds, the band that would soon become Led Zeppelin in a matter of weeks, give its first-ever public performance…well, what a reward that would be!
ANGEL:
Yes, it was. However, the sandwiches were considered the reward or payment. And, of course, there was the fact you got in free to see the show. When you were working there as a volunteer, you didn’t work straight like from six to midnight, for example. You had things to do when you were scheduled to work, of course. Maybe you’d be in the snack bar, selling soft drinks and chocolate bars for two hours. But you had done your job. And you could enjoy the rest of the evening. It was so much fun. What fantastic music and performances you got to see by being a volunteer!
REDDON:
Obviously, the Teen Club was very orderly and ran like clockwork. In North America in the late 1960s, as you know, the “Hippie Movement” started in San Francisco and spread across the United States and Canada. A drug culture also sprang up. Did you have any problems with drugs or alcohol at events at the Teen Club?
ANGEL:
Officially, the Teen Club was a drug and alcohol-free place. That was a condition for renting the hall. Of course, some would try and smuggle in the bottle. Or maybe empty a whole bottle of something before they came. So some would get sick, because they’d had alcohol before entering. But there were some professional security personnel; they were much more “soft” than other types of security. They were wearing a cap and you could see they were grown-ups. They were not tough. They were just there so people could see there were some grown-ups around and in control. Sometimes they would frisk someone if they could see that his pocket or coat was very thick, like there was a bottle in there.
In later years, the alcohol and drug problem escalated. Pot, cannabis or hash, as we called it over here, started creeping in. Things began changing. When people came to the Teen Club and smoked the hash, it changed the atmosphere of the club. Some people sat down on the floor in their Afghan coats and were very introverted and intellectual. They weren’t dancing or doing anything but just sitting there, being really cool and getting stoned.
That was one of the reasons the Teen Club stopped. The other reason was there were serious problems with what you could call “Hell’s Angels wannabes”. They were sixteen, seventeen year old kids, dressed in leather jackets, trying to look cool like James Dean. They didn’t have motor bikes but mopeds.
REDDON: I had one of those, too.
ANGEL:
Young kids were allowed to drive them. The maximum speed was twenty miles per hour. You could do something to them to make them go faster. But they were really cool, these kids; well, they thought so at least. They would often drive around looking for a fight. From time to time, they came to the Teen Club.
When Led Zeppelin played there for the second time, about sixty of these kids came on their mopeds. That was March 15, 1969. There were some big fights. In the end, they had to call the police to come and keep the troublemakers out.
After that, the people who ran the Teen Club didn’t want to do the “Club Nights” anymore. They could no longer guarantee the safety of the kids. It was very important that parents not be worried about a club function. The Teen Club always had a policy of inviting the parents to come in for free and have a look at what was going on. And they could see there was just cola and Mars bars…kids dancing, cheek-to-cheek. And then they weren’t so upset about their kids going there on a Saturday night.
But because of this stuff with the hash and these troublemakers, they decided they couldn’t guarantee the safety of the Teen Club Members. The last two or three concerts for that season were cancelled and that was basically it. After, they tried having a few nights here and there again. But the actual Gladsaxe Teen Club, as we knew it, was finished. When Led Zeppelin played at the Teen Club in March ’69, it was the club’s last day.
REDDON: What a shame to have to end such a great club.
ANGEL:
Yes, it was. Then some other people made a club, also in Gladsaxe. That was also the time the music changed.
It was an era inspired by the West Coast of the United States. The music they played just went on for hours. You weren’t really sure what song they were playing. So people were sitting on the floor of this new club, in their Afghan coats again! At this new club, Gladsaxe Beatforum, people were smoking hash or what have you, in pipes. For me, it became rather boring…I only went to that place a few times. I recall seeing MC5 there. This club had a couple of concerts but I was indifferent to them. I didn’t feel I belonged there because I’d been a part of that other community at the Gladsaxe Teen Club, which was much more fun.
REDDON:
Thanks very much for that historical perspective of the Gladsaxe Teen Club, Jørgen. Your absorbing, great account sets the stage for the next question.
It’s obvious that the Teen Club was a rock music hotbed for various English groups. You mentioned bands like Deep Purple and Ten Years After. Those were great bands. Why did they come to Denmark? How did the Gladsaxe Teen Club and Denmark in general, become such a popular place for English groups in particular to tour in the late 1960s?
ANGEL:
It was only an overnight boat trip from the UK to the west coast of Denmark. At that time in the late ’60s, it probably took about six hours to drive from the west coast to Copenhagen.
Also, having “English bands” was good for ticket sales in Denmark. If a promoter could put “England”