Web Page 1196

2^nd November 2013

Top Picture: Mods and Rockers at Brighton

Bottom Picture: The First edition of The Sun.

Firstly welcome to a new school friend Anne Fido.

The Summer of 1964

The summer of 1964 was a strange time. Most of us had left school and started work or college and were beginning to make our way in the World. But what a diverse World it was. Here are two stories about the summer of 1964 that I am sure you will remember.

The place was Brighton sea front, the date was the Easter Monday Bank Holiday and it was the day that all hell was let loose between the Mods and the Rockers. These well-documented battles between the two adolescent groups puzzled many people. For the average person looking in the only point of difference between the two groups appeared to be their dress and modes of transport. The ensuing violence scared hundreds of holidaymakers while gaining the attention of hundreds more on lookers. In fact the watching crowds obstructed police in their efforts to restore order.

Fifty-nine teenagers were arrested for throwing stones, for carrying offensive weapons (including a starting pistol, a leather belt with brass buckle, a cricket bat, a golf club, chains and stones), for obstructing the police, for damaging deck chairs, for using threatening behaviour and for using obscene language. A stone was thrown through the window of a police van, slightly injuring a policeman inside; five girls were taken to hospital after one skirmish.

The magistrates' court sat throughout the whole of the day, hearing 35 cases and passing the maximum sentences of three months' imprisonment on defendants whose ages ranged from 16 to 21. Several were fined £5 for obstructing the police.

All weekend the two rival groups started to arrive in Brighton. The Mods and Rockers had their main battle during the Bank Holiday morning. After sleeping on the beach, the teenagers were being forced eastwards by the police when some hundreds of them broke away and reached the Aquarium Sun Terrace. Here a fight took place with deck chairs as weapons, until some 20 Rockers jumped clear. They continued to be the targets for litter, and some heavy looking litter baskets were thrown from above before the police took control.

In a crowd as dense as this police control could not be easily maintained, and fights and rowdiness continued sporadically. Amid the masses of teenagers, however, there was no difficulty talking to individuals, most of whom shared the desire to keep away from physical violence. The only boy who said he regretted that he had not yet been involved in a fight was speaking in front of several girls.

A statement was widely believed, that any youth in a leather jacket would be in danger on the Brighton front was nonsense. Many wearing the Rocker outfit went unmolested. But any group of Rockers became a challenge, which the Mods could not resist - particularly if there was a large crowd near by to watch.

By the evening a corner of the beach, overlooked by the promenade and by the Palace Pier, had become a kind of battle field. After several fights, the police surrounded the area and moved ce into the crowd on the beach. They thus stopped the fighting but did not remove the tension, nor the feeling that here, as in medieval tournaments, some young people liked to fight publicly for a cause and some older people liked to watch them.

The number of teenagers in Brighton that day was variously estimated at between 2,000 and 3,000. Of those in court in the afternoon, nine lived in London, seven in Surrey, five in Brighton and Hove, one in another part of Sussex, two in Essex, one in Kent, and one in Warwickshire.

Brighton policemen were reinforced by nearly 40 officers from Eastbourne. Mobile patrols were strengthened by mobilising civil defence vehicles. Returning teenagers crowded trains back to London, but the railways reported no serious rowdyism.

On a totally different subject

The first editions of the "Sun," newspaper, the successor of the "Daily Herald," and the first new mass sale daily newspaper to be published in Britain for 34 years, rolled off the presses in Covent Garden at 10 40 p.m. on 15^th September 1964.

The front page gave prominence to a policy statement which claims that the "Sun" was politically independent, informative and gay - "a paper for those with a zest for living." The statement continues with statistics of increased affluence - cars, refrigerators, holidays abroad - intended primarily, it may be thought, for the advertising agents seeking a wealthier market than the traditional readership of its predecessor.

After seeing the first edition of the new newspaper - the initial print run was 3,500,000 - Mr Hugh Cudlipp, its chief architect, said he believed the first issue of a newspaper, like a bride, was never perfect. "But I think this is an excellent start," he added.

But it is not the first edition that we need to get hold of it is the second. Why? Because it featured a photograph of the whole of the school. I have never seen the picture and on application to the Sun, they claim the do not have copies of the first weeks editions. Does anyone out there have a copy they could scan in? I will hasten to add that the photo was somewhere inside the paper and not on page 3! 

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

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News and Views:

Noel Harrison, son of actor Rex Harrison, who also starred as Stephanie Powers' sidekick Mark Slate in the "Girl from UNCLE" and who charted twice in the '60s with "A Young Girl" (No 51-1966 but No 5 in Canada) and "Suzanne" (No 56-1967), died Sunday October 20 at his home in Devon at the age of 79. He performed in Devon on Saturday but suffered a heart attack afterwards. In England, his recording of "The Windmills Of Your Mind" from the movie, "The Thomas Crown Affair" was a No 8 hit in 1969. He represented Great Britain as a skier in two Winter Olympics.

On this day 2^nd November 1960-1965

On 2/11/1960 the number one single was Only the Lonely - Roy Orbison and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 2/11/1961 the number one single was Walkin' Back to Happiness - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 2/11/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was The Royal Variety Performance (BBC) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 2/11/1963 the number one single was Do You Love Me? - Brian Poole & the Tremoloes and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 2/11/1964 the number one single was (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me - Sandy Shaw and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 2/11/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.