Vintage photos of The Jam, Small Faces, The Sex Pistols, Tom Jones etc. feature in Carnaby Echoes exhibition

Tom Jones walking down a London street stroking a cheetah? Now, that is unusual. The Welsh crooner is with actress Christine Spooner near Carnaby Street in a photograph from a collection of previously unseen images of the area’s Sixties heyday.

The pictures also include Cat Stevens leap-frogging a bollard, the Sex Pistols leering in the street and a more recent image of Boy George revisiting former workplaces The Foundry and Street Theatre as part of a project by artist Lucy Harrison called Carnaby Echoes, which celebrates the musical and cultural history of Carnaby Street.

A mobile phone app has also been created that will give users a walking tour and includes interviews with famous faces about their memories of the street.

The app aims to bring stories, sounds and performances from the street’s history vividly back to life. A series of plaques have been placed at key locations, such as the site of jazz club Murray’s in Beak Street which kicked off the music scene in 1913.

There will also be an exhibition at 20 Foubert’s Place which will feature original clothing from The Foundry. It will run from September 5 to October 6, while the app will be available from the Carnaby Echoes site, the App Store or Google Play from September 2.