The Pheasantry
Not long after his meeting with Clapton, Martin moved into The Pheasantry at 152 Kings Road, Chelsea, an historic Georgian building. As the name suggests, the site was originally used to raise pheasants for the royal household. In the early 1900s (decade), it was the home of Eleanor Thornton, the favourite model of artist and sculptor Charles Sykes. Thornton is believed to have been the model for Sykes' most famous work, his Rolls Royce mascot the Spirit of Ecstasy.
In the 1920s and 1930s it housed the studio of renowned dance teacher Serafina Astafieva, who trained several of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes dancers and who taught prima ballerinas Alicia Markova and Margot Fonteyn. By the time Sharp moved in there, The Pheasantry was a well-known 'artists' colony', its rooms rented out as apartments and residential studio space. The basement also housed a nightclub which operated into the 1970s. The Pheasantry nightclub was the venue for early UK gigs by Lou Reed, Queen and Hawkwind, among others, and was the place where singer Yvonne Elliman was discovered by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, leading to her role in the original soundtrack recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. The Pheasantry currently houses apartments, shops and a pizza restaurant, which has retained Madame Astafieva's mirrors and practice barre as a feature on the first floor.
Sharp shared this remarkable domicile with some remarkable people, including Eric Clapton (who moved in not long after Sharp did), Germaine Greer, filmmaker Philippe Mora, artist Tim Whidborne, prominent London "identity" David Litvinoff (later an adviser on the production of Nicolas Roeg's Performance), writer Anthony Haden-Guest (author of The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco,and the Culture of the Night) and Martin's friend Robert Whitaker, photographer of choice for many leading rock groups on the scene, including The Beatles. Whitaker was already famous/infamous for the controversial "butcher" photo used on the original cover of the Beatles' album Yesterday and Today.
Many years later, Sharp recalled the story of his meeting with Clapton:
"I visited the Speakeasy Club in London one evening (1967). I saw a girl I knew, Charlotte, who was sitting at a table with two young men who I didn't know. Being alone I asked if I could join them and I was made welcome. I remember that there was a discussion about a controversial article which had appeared in The Idealist concerning the assassination of President Kennedy. I gathered that the young men were musicians and as I had just written a poem which I thought would make a good song, I mentioned this fact, and one of the musicians replied that he had just written some music. In grand show business tradition I wrote the lyrics on a paper serviette and gave them to him with my address. I was sharing a studio off the Kings Road Chelsea with the photographer, Bob Whitaker, at the time. I was pleasantly surprised when the musician, who turned out to be Eric Clapton, arrived at the studio with a 45 r.p.m. record with "Strange Brew" on the A-side and my song, "Tales of Brave Ulysses" on the B-side." "Soon after I moved to a nearby studio in "The Pheasantry", Kings Road, Chelsea, and needing someone to share with I asked my new friend if he would care to share the space and experience. Chelsea was an exciting place to live and Eric agreed. (David Litvinoff, a well-known and extraordinary character in the music and art world had found the studio.) It was a perfect place to work and live. Charlotte eventually moved in with Eric. Later we were joined by my girlfriend, a Finish model called Eija Veka Aho, and a young friend from Melbourne, painter and filmmaker, Philippe Mora, and his girlfriend, Freya. David Litvinoff worked in Tim Whidbornes' studio downstairs... Anthony Haden-Guest had a flat there...Germaine Greer was writing "The Female Eunuch" in a room there... there were photographic studios...it was quite a special and creative building...it was called "The Pheasantry" because in the old days the land had been used for breeding pheasants for the King's table. "Eric asked me to design the cover for "Disraeli Gears". I loved record cover art and was very happy to do it. I commissioned my ex-studio mate, Bob Whitaker, to take some photos which were used in a collage on the back cover. I believe the photo used on the cover was a publicity shot that I got from Eric. I was using fluorescent paints at the time. It was the height of psychedelia. "Some of the ingredients in the cover are made up from Victorian decorative engravings. It was done in black and white first and then painted with fluorescent colors. I tried to capture the warm joyful liveliness of Cream's songs. I later went on to design the cover for "Wheels Of Fire" for Cream and also for Ginger Baker's "Airforce", a band called Mighty Baby...Jeannie Lewis' "Free Fall Through Featherless Flight" and a few of my own releases of Tiny Tim, "Chameleon", "Keeping My Troubles To Myself", and "The World Non-Stop Singing Record." "In the basement of The Pheasantry was a club of the same name and often one's sleep was disturbed by the R&B bass notes...so I was reacting by listening to a lot of old songs that had been re-released. Al Jolson, Al Bowly... the dance bands of the war years and earlier. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and "Hutch" (Leslie Hutchinson). Eric had seen Tiny Tim perform at The Scene in New York City and knowing I loved the old songs he urged me to go and see Tiny in his first London performance at the Royal Albert Hall. I'd never heard Tiny before and I was completely amazed by his extraordinary, joyful persona and his absolute mastery over the whole language of popular song. I felt I would love to work with him, but thought he was destined to the heights of stardom. I never felt the opportunity would arise. Over twenty years later I write this on letterhead from the film, "Street of Dreams" I have been making with Tiny over the last 12 years, thinking of the hundreds of songs and conversations I have recorded with him over the years. Thus was my entry into the world of popular song. "The meeting of musician and artist directly without intermediaries is, and always has and will be, a fruitful one. Such was the goodwill that existed in London during the late '60's that a painter from Australia could meet a great musician from England and informally give him some lyrics which would become a song, a friendship, a career with Tiny Tim, and a record cover."
Freed from the constraints of nine-to-five work thanks to a timely inheritance from an aunt, Sharp found himself at the centre of London's counter-cultural life and the Underground scene and quickly became one of its leading lights. When Richard Neville arrived in London in September, and he and Sharp joined forces with Felix Dennis and jointly established London Oz, which soon proved itself even more controversial than its Australian parent. Sharp became its Art Director and chief cartoonist.
This period in London and his work with Oz brought him international renown. As well as his Oz artwork and his famed album covers for Cream, he produced famous posters of musicians—Bob Dylan, Donovan and his classic 'exploding' Jimi Hendrix poster, based on a photo by Linda McCartney. These and other works like the poster for the "Legalise Pot" rally are keynote graphic works of the period and originals are now highly prized collector's items. He also designed at that time a controversial poster titled "Rasputin & his London Popes" for an antique shop in Barcelona ran by a young Spanish photographer named Alexis de Vilar.
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