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Wednesday 28 March 2012

Web Page 1028



Top Picture: Formica Topped Table







Second Picture: Duradio Paint

Formica

Several weeks ago someone commented on the blog that he would like to hear about Formica, so here goes. How well I remember my father making, carefully cutting and eventually wrestling with a very large sheet of Formica when he covered the kitchen table. The other vital ingredient was a large tin of Evo Stik. I seem to remember that it was highly inflammable and whilst my father was spreading the glue on the table with the serrated red plastic comb provided I can still hear my mother saying “Norman, do you think ou should be smoking whilst you are spreading that glue?” It made no difference, he finished his cigarette whilst till applying the sticky mess. Not only tables but work surfaces, the top of the dresser and the shelves in the larder all eventually ended up covered in Formica. Well all these memories started me thinking and looking and this is what I have managed to turn up about Formica.

Formica, was technically known as a wipe clean plastic laminate of paper or fabric with a melamine resin. It was invented a hundred years ago in 1912 by Daniel O’Conor and Herbert A Faber and today is produced under licence by the Formica Corporation in Newcastle upon Tyne.

At the time of the invention Daniel O’Conor and Herbert Faber were working for the Westinghouse of America and once they had perfected the process they then filed for a patent on it.

They originally conceived it as a substitute for mica which was used as electrical insulation. After the invention of Formica the two inventors left Westinghouse immediately afterwards to start their own business, enlisting lawyer and banker John G. Tomlin as an investor. Tomlin put up $7,500 and became a silent partner in the business. The company began operations on 2nd May 1913, and was immediately successful: by September, Formica Products Company had eighteen employees trying to keep up with the demand for electrical parts for Bell Electric Motor, Ideal Electric and Northwest Electric.

In 1927, Formica Insulation Company obtained a patent on an opaque barrier sheet that allowed the use of rotogravure printing to make wood-grained or marble-surfaced laminate, the first of many innovations that were to associate the name "Formica" with decorative interior products.

In 1938 melamine thermosetting resin was developed by American Cyanamid Company. It resisted heat, abrasion and moisture soon the Formica Corporation was buying the entire output of melamine from American Cyanamid.

During the Second World War Formica manufactured plastic impregnated wooden propellers and bomb parts. The company was headquartered in Cincinnati Ohio for many years.

With the end of WWII, the company entered the European market through a license agreement and production has never stopped. Since 2007, it has been a subsidiary of the Fletcher Building group and today Formica laminate can be found in everyday use in healthcare, retail, education, residential, corporate, industrial, transportation and sports and leisure environments. Offering an unrivalled collection of colours, patterns, wood-grains and surface finishes, Formica provides the perfect choice for architects and interior designers to create fashionable yet functional environments. There were other company’s who made similar products to Formica but none ever bettered it.

I also remember that strange sticky backed product that came on a roll, it was far less hard wearing than Formica and was called Fablon. How ever hard I try I cannot seem to find out the history of this product but I do remember my father using it somewhere in the house and spending hours rolling and pushing out the air bubbles in it!!! That was after trying to get it to lay straight after taking off the backing.
These were the days of home decorating paints we never hear of these days. Remember Household Paint sold by Woolworths, cheap, thin and covered very little. Other names that come to mind are Brolac, Duradio, Walpamur, Valspar and probably the only survivor to this day is Dulux. And whilst talking about DIY who remembers Rawlplug Paste? It was a fibrous dry powder which when wetted made up into a paste to fill holes and fix screws with. Also this product came with a special punch which was used, in conjunction with a hammer to make the required holes in the wall.
Ah well it is amazing how much we learnt by just looking over our dad’s shoulder!

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Bernard writes:


I lived in close proximity of the Odeon Southsea (criminal by the way to demolish it!) Such Architecture inside in the Auditorium and show piece in its day - the 1930s). On Saturdays as a small boy I recall having to pay 6d or if in the holidays on a Thursday it was 9p for a seat. If you were posh you could go upstairs for a bit more! The serials came on first - remember the baddie Gene Roth?! They were from about 1951 - Captain Video, Buck Rogers and the Ghost of Zorro? Then there was a short interval with the cinema speakers playing 'Lollipop Time' (this changed later on to 'Lollipop, Lollipop!' to enable the usherette to appear at the front of the auditorium and to sell iced lollies - I seemed to remember orange flavour lollies - mm delicious! If you were crafty you didn’t go when the queue was outside and you waited to the beginning of the serial after the yo-yo contestants sponsored by the Daily Mirror had had a go on the stage. Then the lights faded for the main feature - usually an old black and white movie - probably a western. Everyone used to whistle at any kissing, boo at the baddies or cheer at the goodies especially during a chase close to the end of the film! The manager of the Odeon was a distinguished My Leybourne who always stood erect close to the box office. It wasn’t half bright outside when you came out of the cinema at the end. We all re-enacted the film in the back alley when we returned home much to the annoyance of our parents! The adult prices in the mid fifties as I recall were 1s/3p, 1/9, 2/6 or 3/6 upstairs. If we missed a film after it had been shown, one could always catch 6 weeks later at the Essoldo near the Kings Theatre, Albert Road.

News and Views:

Horse Sand Fort and No Man’s Land Fort in The Solent have been sold to the same company, Clarenco, which bought Spitbank Fort in 2009 and has turned it into a hotel and conference centre in a £3m revamp. No Man’s Land Fort is over 35,000sq ft – three times the size of Spitbank Fort – and was converted into a luxury hotel in the 1990s. Horse Sand Fort was built between 1865 and 1880 to defend Portsmouth from the French and is almost an exact replica of No Man’s Land Fort. It has several armour-plated floors with 15ft thick walls all round. Clarenco will transform Horse Sand Fort into a museum showcasing the artefacts and history of the three forts.
Guests will reach the forts by Clarenco’s own flotilla of boats from the Royal Clarence Marina in Gosport.


On this day 29th March 1960-1965


On
31/03/1960
the number one single was Running Bear - Johnny Preston and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On
31/03/1961
the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Dickie Henderson Show (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On
31/03/1962
the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On
31/03/1963
the number one single was Foot Tapper - The Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On
31/03/1964
the number one single was Little Children - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On
31/03/1965
the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Web Page 1026



Top Picture: The Guildhall before rebuilding





Second Picture: Alexandra Palace TV mast

Firstly welcome to Pat Russell who has just joined us.

Remember 1960

The first quarter of the year 1960 was to turn out to be a very eventful and significant year musically, just take a look at what occurred that year.

In February the manufacturing of records changed dramatically when Columbia decided with the introduction of the 45rpm disc to stop the production of the 78rpm record. The artist who had the privilege of having his record become the last Columbia 10” 78rpm single was Russ Conway. The title of the record was ‘Royal Event’ a now long forgotten track but Columbia presented Russ Conway with a gold disc of the record to mark the occasion. Whilst in April RCA Victor Records announced that it would release all pop singles in mono and stereo simultaneously, being the first record company to do so. Elvis Presley's single, "Stuck on You," was RCA's first mono/stereo release.

The biggest star in the pop world made his one and only visit to the UK in March 1960. As a serving sergeant, he was only promoted to sergeant in January of that year, in the US Army the plane returning Elvis Presley back to the US to be demobed landed at Prestwick airport for 80 minutes just to refuel. This was the only time that Elvis ever set foot in the British Isles. A car soon whisked him away after he had had a very brief chat to a small group of reporters who were waiting at the airport. Elvis then made a flying visit to the nearby US bases’ NCO and teenage clubs. The visit allowed some of the local girls to actually glimpse him being only separated from him by a chicken wire fence several girls claimed that Elvis came over and kissed them, but this was treated with much scepticism by those at the back of the crowd. Elvis then reboarded the plane and disappeared off to the USA never to return to the UK. In April Elvis returned to Hollywood for the first time since coming home from Germany to film G.I. Blues.

Also in March Eddie Cochrane died in a car accident in which he and Gene Vincent were travelling. Eddie Cochrane and Gene Vincent were returning to London after a highly successful concert in the Hippodrome in Bristol when their Ford Consul taxi swerved and hit a lamppost on the A4 near Chippenham. One part of this tragic story is well know and has gone down as a pop legend and that is that the police cadet Dave Harman, who was later to become Dave Dee, was charged with taking care of Eddie Cochran’s guitar. But what is less well known is that three days earlier a young 13 year old lad called Mark Feld had carried that same guitar to Eddie Cochran’s waiting car, that lad became Marc Bolan!

In April the first fashion pair of Doc Martens boots went on sale.

The early 60s produced some of the best music of all time. Even today it is listened to not only by the 60s generation but by our children and grandchildren. Oldies stations playing the 60s are popping up everywhere. The music is as popular today as it was when we were kids.

On a more serious front. The last time Britain was hit by deflation was March 1960, when Cliff Richard was the latest pop sensation. He had already claimed the top singles spot with Living Doll. At the time, the average house price was £2,530, while a loaf of bread, which could finally be bought ready sliced, was the equivalent of 5p. A packet of 20 cigarettes would have set you back less than 25p in today’s money and a season ticket to see Manchester United, when Sir Matt Busby was manager and Sir Bobby Charlton a star player, cost £8.50. Mind you, the club paid its footballers a maximum wage of £50 a week.

Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan had delivered his historically important Wind Of Change speech to the parliament of South Africa. But later in the year Macmillan’s slogan – ‘Most of our people have never had it so good’ – began to seem increasingly hollow to the average man in the street.
This was the year of the Cuba missile Crisis, when Kruschov pounded the table with his shoe and when Cliff Richard had his first Christmas number One and the Beatles were formed.
Ahhh! I must be getting old

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:


News and Views:


Songwriter Robert Sherman, who with his brother Richard gave us such hits as Johnny Burnette's "You're 16," Hayley Mills' "Let's Get Together" and Annette's "Pineapple Princess" and "Tall Paul," died on Monday March 5 of heart failure in London at the age of 86. Together, they created the music for such Walt Disney productions as "Mary Poppins," "The Parent Trap," and "The Jungle Book" and non-Disney shows like "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

On this day 25th March 1960-1965


On
25/03/1960
the number one single was Running Bear - Johnny Preston and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On
25/03/1961
the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Dickie Henderson Show (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On
25/03/1962
the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was French Algerian War ends

On
25/03/1964
the number one single was Little Children - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was 10 found guilty of Great Train Robbery.

On
25/03/1965
the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Web Page 1024



Top Picture: The John Bull Puncture Outfit





Second Picture: Peter Westcott on his new bike


The Open Road on Two Wheels

Most of us as kids had a bike and several years back I talked about the different bikes and makes of bikes we all had including that ghastly thing the Pink Witch, but today I would like to look at the other side of Cycling.

If we had a bike we all knew the joy of the freedom it gave us as we travelled around the area and out into the countryside. But we also knew the despair of a cycle breakdown. How many of you can remember the trouble caused by a puncture especially if you were miles from home. The joys of sitting by the roadside prising the tyre off with a set of metal tyre levers, no plastic ones in those days. Then hauling the inner tube out and attempting to find the hole without a bowl of water handy. Having found the split then came the repair, providing that you have remembered to put your John Bull or Romac Puncture Repair Outfit in your saddlebag.

First came the rubbing of the surface with sandpaper to rough it up, applying the rubber solution and leaving it until it was almost dry and then applying the patch. Then came the dusting with talc or French Chalk and the repair was done, but this was not the end of it. Oh no! Then it was feeling round the tyre casing to find the thing that made the puncture in the first place and then removing it. Having done all that it was time to put the inner tube back into the casing and replace the tyre without pinching the tube, this could be tricky, many is the time I have put the tyre back on and have gone to inflate it only to find that by putting it all back together I had pinched the tube and caused another puncture. So it was a case of start again!!!!

For those of us who lived in the Drayton area Wynns the cycle shop was the place where we would go to buy our bikes, our spares and replacement pieces and also model cars and other toys. If you lived in Cosham the shop that was used was Seals on the corner of High Street and Magdalen Road opposite Mary Ann Christophrs shoe shop.

These cycle accessory shops were invaluable for buying the odd part that was needed to undertake a repair. I remember buying spring links to join the chain together again after it had spilt or needed to be shortened for some reason. When the brake cable snapped at the handlebar end the piece of equipment required was a solder less nipple which clamped the cable back into place within the brake lever and if you have every tried to replace a ball race or the ball bearings in a hub you will remember what a terrible job that was!

To us a three or four speed hub, a fixed wheel or derailuer gears were things to be fiddled with and adjusted, we were never interested in the Pifco electric cycle horn or siren, give us the good old bell and bulb horn!!

At that time lots of us had two types of bikes the usual standard models and the non standard old converted bikes we used for tracking (today this is known as BMX I think). These bikes were our own inventions with bits taken off and bits added on, different gear ratios, knobbly and smooth tyres, anything to make the bike go faster. Mine was an old Raleigh which I stripped down, painted grey added a low geared fixed wheel and racing saddle (all very uncomfortable). I even remember Steve Long building a bike with front swinging arm suspension and rear sprung suspension. This must have been in about 1960-61 maybe Steve can correct me on the date.

We were even law biding those days making sure that the bikes had a bell and reflectors, removable lights or dynamo lights for night cycling and we were conscious of the law and here we could cycle. I look around today and see people riding along the pavement, up pedestrian precincts, sometime more than one on a bike and nothing is said. I have even seen them cycle past a policeman on the pavement. I know that when we were you we did not dare to cycle like that we knew w would be in trouble with the law if we did. Still I must be getting old and grumpy and I don’t even own a bike these days let alone a pair of cycle clips!!!!

Finally, do you remember those bright yellow cycle capes and leggings? I remember someone riding home on a boiling hot day with his cape on because his trouser zip had split, do you remember that Willie?


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:


News and Views:


Tom Jones is currently filming his role as an aging British Teddy Boy in a television drama there. "King Of The Teds" is scheduled to air in the Spring.


On this day 14th March 1960-1965



On 14/03/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was The Explosive Freddy Cannon - Freddy Cannon. The top rated TV show was The Larkins (ATV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Plans for Thames Barrier.

On 14/03/1961 the number one single was Walk Right Back / Ebony Eyes - Everly Brothers and the top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £not very interesting and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was The Dickie Henderson Show (AR).

On 14/03/1962 the number one single was Rock-a-Hula Baby/Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/03/1963 the number one single was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/03/1964 the number one single was Anyone Who Had a Heart -Cilla Black and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/03/1965 the number one single was It's Not Unusual - Tom Jones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Web Page 1022



Top Picture: The School Choir which sang The Messiah





Second Picture: Pedal boat at Hilsea

Music at School

I was never very musical; in fact I have been known to find it difficult at times to just strike a chord. This, however, was no deterrent as whilst at Solent Road Junior School it was decided that the whole class would learn to play the recorder. To me this was a nightmare, my mother bought me a brand new recorder and off I went to school with my copy of the green coloured Recorder Tutor with music (the second book, which I never progressed to, had a blue cover). Well over the weeks I sat in the music lesson trying my best to play the scales and individual notes and only succeeding in making a terrible row. Even with hours of practice at home things never got any better. It got to the stage where when the class tried to play the March from Skippio my attempts let the whole session down. I was told to practice more but what ever I did I could not master the beast but then I realised that I knew the fingering and if I did not blow I did not make the terrible squeaks and whistles; so her was the answer every lesson I sat there at my desk and whilst everyone else blew away happily I held my breath an just fingured the notes and guess what it worked. Suddenly I was not being pick out by the music teacher and life seemed much better and what’s more the managed to keep this pretence up until I moved onto another class. Wow

My second contact with school music was at Court Lane but this was purely vocal. Here John Stevens, the music master, had high standards but he knew how to instil the love of music in pupils and to bring out the best in them. I know, because I have spoken to many of you with the same memories and they all revolve round such productions as Trial by Jury and The Pirates of Penzance. Each year we, as a school choir, were entered into the Portsmouth Music Festival where we competed against other school choirs and very often came away with a cup or some prize. Who remembers going to the Central Hall in Kingston Road for the competitions? And in one year the competition was actually held in the Guildhall. Great fun and an afternoon off school.

This all paled into insignificance when we moved to Manor Court and Mr Stevens decided we would perform The Messiah. What a performance it was with semi professional soloists, the whole school choir, parents and friends and relations all rehearsing for weeks for the big day. The orchestra came from somewhere in Portsmouth and was augmented by good local amateurs, I remember that much to our amazement Ray Dopson was spotted playing the violin. (incidentally many years later Ray’s son Paul spent many hours in his teenage years making his father a violin which, after it had matured, played very well).

The great day came and we all sang our hearts out and the performance was a great success and we all went home feeling a great sense of satisfaction. Now I have a question. On the day in question the whole performance was recorded on a reel to reel tape recorder and on occasions later in the year parts were played back to us but the recording seems to have totally disappeared. My question is does anyone know what happened to it?

All this was a wonderful grounding in the wonderful world of music both pop and classical. I understand that Mr Stevens moved off to Somerset after he left Manor Court, does anyone know what happened to him? I think there are many ex-pupils who would like to thank him for kindling their life long interest in music.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Mary Writes:-
R

EMEMBER WHEN
All the girls wore ugly gym slips

It took five minutes for the TV to warm up

Nearly everyone's Mum was at home when the kids got home from school

Nobody owned a thoroughbred dog

You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny

Your Mother wore nylons that came in two pieces

You got your windscreen cleaned, oil checked, and petrol served, without asking, all for free, every time.

It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents

They threatened to keep children back a year if they failed. . . And they did it!

When a Ford Zephyr was everyone's dream car...

And people went steady

No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked

Playing cricket with no adults to help the children with the rules of the game

Bottles came from the corner shop without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger.

And with all our progress, don't you wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savour the slower pace, and share it with the children of today.

When being sent to the head's study was nothing
compared to the fate that awaited the student at home

Basically we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of
drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we survived because their love was greater than the threat.

As well as summers filled with bike rides, rounders , Hula Hoops,
and visits to the pool, and eating sherbert with liquorice sticks.
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, 'Yes, I remember that'?

I am sharing this with you today because it ended with a
Double Dare to pass it on. To remember what a Double Dare is, read on.
And remember that the perfect age is somewhere between old enough to know better and too young to care.

Send this on to someone who can still remember the Lone Ranger and Sgt Bilko

How Many Of These Do You Remember?

Coca Cola in bottles.

Blackjacks and bubblegums.
Home milk delivery in glass bottles with tinfoil tops.

Hi-If's & 45 RPM records.

78 RPM records?

Adding Machines??

Scalextric.
Do You Remember a Time When..

Decisions were made by going 'eeny-meeny-miney-moe'?
'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest?

Catching tiddlers could happily occupy an entire day?

It wasn't odd to have two or three ' Best Friends'?

The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was'chickenpox'?

Having a Weapon in School meant being caught with a catapault?

War was a card game?

Cigarette cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle?

Taking drugs meant orange - flavored chewable aspirin?

Water balloons were the ultimate weapon?

If you can remember most or all of these, Then You Have Lived!!!!!!!

Pass this on to anyone who needs a break from their 'Grown-Up' Life.
and send it to youngsters that have "never lived"

I Double DareYou



News and Views:


Al DeLory, who gave us 1970's "Song From M*A*S*H" and co-wrote "Please Mr. Custer" died on February 5. He was 82 and Davy Jones lead singer with the Monkees died Wednesday (February 29) after suffering a heart attack at his home in Stuart, Florida. He was 66..

On this day 9th March 1960-1965


On 09/03/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was The Larkins (ATV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1961 the number one single was Walk Right Back/Ebony Eyes - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1962 the number one single was Rock-a-Hula Baby/Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1963 the number one single was The Wayward Wind - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1964 the number one single was Anyone Who Had a Heart -Cilla Black and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/03/1965 the number one single was I'll Never Find Another You - Seekers and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First public talking computer.