Electric Avenue is a street in Brixton, London built in 1888.[1] It was the first market street to be lit by electric lights.[2][3] Today, Electric Avenue contains national retail chains (Boots, Greggs, and Iceland), plus various local food and housewares retailers. It also hosts a part of Brixton Market, which specialises in selling African, Caribbean, South American, and South Asian[4] products. It is located just around the corner from Brixton Underground station (1972). The street originally had cast iron Victorian canopies[5] over the pavement, which were damaged in World War 2 and removed in the 1980s.
History
editThe road is referenced in Eddy Grant's 1983 single "Electric Avenue", which reached #2 on both the UK and US singles charts.[6] The song itself was inspired by the 1981 Brixton riot.[7]
On 17 April 1999, the neo-Nazi bomber David Copeland planted a nail bomb outside a supermarket in Brixton Road with the intention of igniting a race war across Britain.[8] A market trader became suspicious and moved the device to a less crowded area of Electric Avenue, where 39 people were injured in its explosion.
In 2016 Eddy Grant was invited to switch on a new illuminated street sign installed as part of a £1 million refurbishment.[9] Afterwards, Grant was given one of the previous signs as a keepsake.[10]
References
edit- ^ "History". Brixton BID. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ "Eddy Grant To Switch On Brixton's Electric Avenue Lights". Londonist. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ "life-of-a-song: electric-avenue". ft.com. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ Mayne, Marcia (8 February 2016). "Rocking Down Electric Avenue, Brixton". InsideJourneys. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ "The History of Brixton's Most Diverse Market". Brixton Village. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ "Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" Lyrics Meaning". Song Meanings and Facts. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
- ^ Simpson, Dave (3 September 2018). "How we made Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- ^ "Profile: Copeland the killer". BBC News. 30 June 2000. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
- ^ "Eddy Grant to switch on illuminated Electric Avenue sign in Brixton tonight, 17th Oct". Brixton Buzz. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "How We Made: Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue". The Guardian. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
External links
edit- Electric Avenue Photos from 1904 and 2003 urban75.org, Brixton local history
51°27′44″N 0°06′50″W / 51.46229°N 0.11377°W
