Croydon has a rich musical heritage, spanning the eras, from Samuel Coleridge Taylor to Stormzy and from Kirsty MacColl to Nadia Rose. The cutting edge sounds of Punk, Dubstep, Grime and Drill, runs through our DNA, with their origins rooted in Croydon. Our music scene crosses many genres with jazz and soul in the 60s, punk & indie rock in the 70s, electronic club scene in the 90s and Grime and Drill in the 2000s and 2010s.

Like many London boroughs, many of our music venues that supported music making through the decades have closed, been redeveloped or knocked down and a lot of our music heritage has been lost. This includes the Davis Theatre where Bill Hailey, Buddy Holly and Etta James performed and The Underground where The Stranglers, The Fall and Sputnik played. The venues might be lost but the memories of music lovers from that time are still with us and if we don’t record their memories and stories now, they will be lost forever.

With funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Museum of Croydon are setting out to create a music trail highlighting these music sites, both past and present, and we need the residents of Croydon to help us by sharing their music memories.

The trail will highlight music sites celebrating venues, artists and events across five music genres:

  • Bass Music (Reggae/Grime/Dubstep/Dancehall)

  • Punk/Rock/Indie

  • Blues/Jazz

  • Indian music (Classical to Bollywood)

  • Classical music

Do you have a musical memory of note? Were you part of the Croydon Club scene? Are you a live music enthusiast? We are looking to share your stories and memories as part of the Music Heritage Trail. We are accepting quotes and stories up to 350 words about a performance, club, venue, or event that you participated in. Selected stories will be chosen and showcased on our upcoming Music Heritage Trail App—or there are opportunities to participate as an Oral History subject. We will accept stories throughout March 2023. A first name, location, and date relevant for the story is required to be considered. If you would like to be a participant in supporting our collection of Oral Histories for the Music Heritage Trail then please email Abby Pendlebury: Abby.Pendlebury@croydon.gov.uk with your details and a brief summary of the story you would like to submit.