no empty Bench

I explore London a lot. I wander and am always fascinated by finding something new nearly everyday.

After an afternoon of poking around Soho while hunting for historical rock and roll factoids, I decided to find a bench in nearby Soho Square to sit and eat my recently purchased lunch.

Finding a vacant bench in Soho Square is no small feat but I managed to grab a side section of one by luck. (This was pre-pandemic when we could all still share space within a six foot radius). With the last sip of my soda washed down the gentleman to my left nodded a goodbye and went on his way. That's when I noticed the plaque on the back of the bench he'd been sitting in front of. I snapped a quick iPhone pic of it before the next person sat down. The name on the sign wasn't at all familiar to me but the line "No Empty Bench in Soho Square" certainly rang true. So much so that the spot's next occupant was giving me side eye as he wanted to have a seat and tuck in to his bag of recently purchased lunch as well. I apologized for looking like a looney, picture taking of anything, tourist and headed off.

I didn't give the bench or it's plaque's message much more thought. I went about walking the Capital for the day, soaking in as much as possible. It was later that evening when I was looking through the pics I'd taken that day that my curiosity of that plaque's message sent me to google.

Kirsty MacColl, my searches revealed, was a British folk musician that had enjoyed success in the 80s and 90s. A song called "There's A Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" contributed to her success as did a cover of The Kinks tune "Days" in addition to a handful of other songs. Kirsty's debut single "They Don't Know" found fame in the US when Tracey Ullman covered it and turned it into a Billboard Top Ten hit in the 80s.

When her record company went bankrupt in 1986 it rendered her unable to record her own music so MacColl became a session backup vocalist and sang on tracks by the likes of Robert Plant, The Smiths, Simple Minds and Talking Heads. A new record contract got her back in the studio and recording as a solo artist releasing the album Kite which included a collaboration with David Gilmore. Kirsty also recorded an album in 1991 called Electric Landlady, it's title a play on Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland. That album produced her most successful hit in North America "Walking Down Madison".

In 2000, after participating in a BBC radio program in Cuba, MacColl decided to vacation in Cozumel, Mexico with her two sons and boyfriend. On December 18, tragically, she was hit by a boat while diving and died instantly. She was 41.

In 2001 that bench I discovered was placed in Soho Square as a memorial to her. The words engraved on the plaque "One Day I'll Be Waiting There/No Empty Bench In Soho Square" are lyrics she wrote. Every year her fans gather near that bench on the Sunday closest to her October 10 birthday and sing her songs. I'm sure her lyric "I hope to see those pigeons fly in Soho Square on my birthday" are included in their tributes to her.

I went back to Soho Square early the next day to take better pictures and ponder the fact that there are stories in every nook and cranny of London. I guess that's one reason I love the city so much. What a great discovery this bench was even though there's rarely an empty one there.

©RockTourLondon