New York City serves as the setting for much of rock and roll history. From Buddy Holly’s impact on the Apollo in 1957, to the rise of the Beatles in 1964, to the rise of punk rock in the 1970s, and epic moments before and after.
An ordinary apartment building in the Big Apple has been struck twice by the divine hammer, first by Led Zeppelin and then by the Rolling Stones.
Along the way, it has become a rock music landmark, as well as a coveted selfie and Instagram photo spot.
Corned beef connoisseur Abe Lincoln of American Flavor St. Paul speaks.St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
It’s a nifty six-story temporary rowhouse recognized by rock fans the world over, located at 96-98 St. Mark’s Place in Manhattan’s now trendy East Village.
Legendary rock album designer Peter Colliston told Fox News Digital that “the building looked like it had been boarded up hard and left wet and cleared.”
The cover of Led Zeppelin’s album Physical Graffiti, released in 1975. (Alamy)
This facade appeared on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s smash hit two-disc set Physical Graffiti in 1975.
The old brownstone hooker’s stoop appeared in the Rolling Stones’ music video for “Waiting on a Friend” six years later.
“The building looked like it had been heavily boarded up and left wet.”
Coryston is an artistic connection that unites two of the greatest artists in rock history to the same address.
The connection between the two British bands, long-time rivals Zeppelin and the Stones, made St. Mark’s a must-see photo destination for rock fans around the world from 1996-98.
A 9-year-old New York girl bakes cakes to her heart’s content and earns a handsome income from tips alone.
Coryston collaborated with Led Zeppelin when he was tapped to help create an album cover that captured both the artistic complexity and brutal grit of the band’s music.
Renee Gaula van Gestel and her daughter Shaylene Rose van Gestel, tourists from Massachusetts. On top of St. Mark’s Place (1996-1998) in Manhattan, made famous by Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. (Kelly J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
“Led Zeppelin has depth and scale,” Colliston said.
He was struck by the idea of expressing their music by “trying to find some kind of depressed architecture with a lot of physical graffiti and a lot of stories inside.”
Meet the American who invented the electric guitar and inspired rock and roll
The St. Mark’s Place walk-up apartment buildings had both the tattered bravado of hard life and nuances of architectural aspiration, consistent with Zeppelin’s blues-based but increasingly progressive sound. Ta.
“Physical Graffiti” sold 16 million copies and put the image of an old tenement in the hands of music fans around the world.
San Marco Apartments is now commonly known as the “Physical Graffiti Building”. The shop at the foot of the stoop is “Physical Graffitea”.
Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page (left) in concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, 1973. Also, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones at a concert in the Netherlands in 1982. (David Redfern/Redferns, Rob Verhorst/Redferns, via Getty Images)
Mr Colliston worked for Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger in 1979 and helped design the cover for the band’s 1981 hit album, “Tattoo You.”
Click here to sign up for our lifestyle newsletter
It was the early days of MTV. The band needed a place to film the video for “Waiting on a Friend,” which became one of the most popular songs on the album.
Jagger bides his time on the St. Mark’s stoop from ’96 to ’98 as fellow guitarist Keith Richards struts through the crowded streets of Manhattan to meet him.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
A unique lion’s head relief on the hill at 96 St. Mark’s Place serves as a clue to the prize. They can be seen both on the album cover of “Physical Graffiti” and in the video for “Waiting on a Friend”.
There is one major difference worth noting. The St. Mark’s Place building is six stories high.
The “Physical Graffiti” image only shows the 5th floor. The floor was edited and structured to fit the square album cover.
For more lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle..
