Claudio ‘Klaus’ Di Matteo, formerly proprietor of Tops and Rocks in Carnaby Street, W1

ROCK stars from bands like Twisted Sister and Vanilla Fudge are unlikely to be found shoulder-to-shoulder with tourists shopping for shoes and make-up on the West End’s famous Carnaby Street today, but in the 1970s, it was a different story.

This week the Extra spoke to Claudio Di Matteo, better known as Klaus, former proprietor of Tops and Rocks, a shop that traded in tour T-shirts and leather gear on the pedestrianised parade for nearly 20 years.

“Everybody used to know me on Carnaby Street,” said Mr Di Matteo, 69, a professional drummer who ran the shop between playing on world tours with bands including Black Sabbath and Presence – an early venture by a founding member of The Cure.

“When I started, nobody was doing this stuff, nobody was selling the merchandise that I was,” he said. “I was doing the official stuff, T-shirts and sweatshirts, £6.99 and £12.99, the same price you got on tour.

“You know how many people have copied me? But now you put a T-shirt in the washing machine once and it peels off. All of mine have lasted.”

Mr di Matteo paints a picture of the past when rockers like Ronnie James Dio and Ritchie Blackmore would stroll through the West End unbothered by TikTokkers while browsing for tour tops.

Tour T-shirt

“We had everyone. They came to play in London and during the day they walked around and they always used to come to Carnaby Street,” he said.

“They heard rock music and came in automatically, then they would see their band on a T-shirt and come and talk to me.”

Mr Di Matteo set up shop in 1972 and closed in the early 1990s when the building changed hands and rent went from around £600 per year to £900 per month.

Of the price spike, he said: “You think I’m going to stay here and work for you? Give you my money? I left.”

One of Mr Di Matteo’s tops shows his face alongside other Black Sabbath members while on the 1989 “Headless Cross” world tour.

It had sell-out shows in Japan, Germany and all over this country.

His home, in Islington, is filled with paraphernalia from his touring days.

“Every day I touch my drumsticks because if you stop playing you lose your practice, your feet, they get rusty.

“Any instrument is the same, no matter what you play you have to touch your equipment every day.

“The day you stop playing you’re finished, doesn’t matter how old you are.”