Web Page 970

Top Picture: Billy Bunter




Second Picture: The old IOW car ferry.

Gerald Campion


Gerald Campion, this name probably does not mean much to you but if I say Billy Bunter in the BBC's early television series about the Fat Owl of the Remove and his antics at Greyfriars and that Gerald Campion played the part for 10 years was itself something of a tour de force, since he was a 29-year-old father of two when he began to play the part and aged nearly 40 when he finished.

The producer of the series, Joy Harrington, had almost despaired of finding a suitable candidate for the part when a friend suggested she took a look at Gerald Campion, who was lunching at the Under 30 Club. She decided at once that his button nose and general appearance were perfect, and immediately went shopping for a pair of pince-nez spectacles.
As she saw it, his only drawback was that he was not fat enough in fact he who stood 5 ft 5in tall and weighed 11st 12 lb, having recently been on a diet. "He simply isn't fat enough in the tummy," Joy Harrington declared. Gerald Campion later claimed that, to regain weight, he had gorged himself on home-made jam tarts; judicious padding did the rest, as well as protecting him during Bunter's regular kickings and beatings.

When the series began, in February 1952, each episode was screened twice - at 5.40 pm for children, and at 8 pm for adults - and each was performed live. At the same time he was running his own theatrical club at night, and it was said that, in order to cope with so demanding a schedule, he had to resort to taking amphetamines. On the day following transmission of the first episode, the Daily Sketch declared it "dull, dated, boring" - only to be submerged by an avalanche of complaints from readers whose children had loved it.

Until the series ended in 1961, he continued to endure the attentions of the gimlet-eyed Mr Quelch ("Bend over, you wretched boy") and Bunter's sadistic school chums; and the nation's sitting rooms echoed to his cries of "Geroogh", "Yarooh", "Crikey", "Ouch", and "Leggo, you beasts". Meanwhile, during the 120 episodes, Quelches came and went (the first was played by Kynaston Reeves), as did Bunter's schoolmates, among them Michael Crawford and Anthony Valentine.
As Gerald Campion outlived them all, he found himself, to his horror, one of television's earliest celebrities, recognised everywhere he went. "Sweet shops were the worst," he complained later. "I'd be in them and blokes would manhandle their kids round to face me, and point at me and shout: 'Look there - that's Billy Bunter!' "

After the series was axed following the death of Bunter's creator Frank Richards, Gerald nonetheless sent in some scripts of his own in an attempt to revive it. One had Bunter captured by cannibals, who put him in a cooking pot and invited him to eat a large clove of garlic; he received no reply.

The son of the scriptwriter Cyril Campion, Gerald Theron Campion was born at Bloomsbury, London, on April 23 1921; one of his godparents was Sir Gerald du Maurier. After attending University College School, Hampstead, Gerald went to RADA aged 15. After the Second World War, in which he served as a wireless operator with the RAF in Kenya, he resumed his career as an actor - by the time he was chosen to play Billy Bunter, he had made 12 television appearances.

At the same time he embarked on a parallel life, in 1950 opening The Buckstone, a theatrical club opposite the stage door of the Haymarket theatre. On one occasion he was irritated to find that a visiting artist had doodled on one of the tablecloths; he threw it out, only to discover later that the culprit had been Annigoni.
In 1956 he started The Key Club - to which each member had his own key - close to the Palladium; and this was followed by Gerry's, in Shaftesbury Avenue, whose members included Michael Caine, Keith Waterhouse, Tony Hancock and Graham Hill.
After the demise of Bunter, he continued to work as an actor, although without the same success. Among his film roles were parts in Carry On, Sergeant; Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; and Half A Sixpence. He also appeared in television series such as Minder, Dr Who, and Sherlock Holmes.

He was a lover of French cuisine, and in later life he developed a new and successful career as a restaurateur, running a series of establishments in London and the Home Counties. Among them were Froops, in north London; Bassetts, in Tunbridge Wells; and The Woodman's Arms Auberge, a hotel/restaurant at Hastingleigh in Kent which he ran with his second wife Suzie. In 1989, when he was involved with The Woodman's Arms, he reflected: "I suppose it is fitting that the man who played Billy Bunter should end up in the Good Food Guide." In 1991 he and his wife retired to France, where he died on 9th July 2002.
Gerald Campion married, first, in 1947, Jean Symond. After their divorce he married, in 1972, Suzie Marks, who had worked as a dancer at Gerry's; she, and three children from his first marriage, survived him.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Stephen Writes:

Your story on the Tracks & Paths did bring back lots of great memories, Before moving to the Highbury Estate we used to live up in Paulsgrove so spent my childhood exploring Portsdown Hill the chalkpits and beyond.
One place that was a magnet for the kids was to walk over the hill to what used to be HMS Dryad the Royal Naval base and Southwick House home to the D Day maps, we often climbed over the old wall that went around the site to scrump for apples and any other goodies we could get our young hands on, one of the best games we would play was to bait the Royal Naval Police who patrol the area by getting them to chase us over the wall, we where far to young and agile for them to catch us, but if they did a clip around the ear was always forth coming.

As I mentioned I used to live on the Highbury estate which was a long walk or bus ride to Manor Court, we often used to go down into Drayton Park after school and risk are lives climbing over the fence and running over the railway tracks by the triangle, then use the bus fare we saved to buy sweets.

Another great place with hidden paths was along the Hilsea fortifications and Portscreek, if you knew were to look you could find old buried military bits & bobs or just watch the courting couples doing their thing. All in all a great place to grow up with Hills the Sea and the countryside not to far away and it was safe for kids to play and learn, its a shame that kids today cannot enjoy what we experienced.

Its been over 35 years since I lived in Pompey, but when I go back to visit my family I find places I knew have change out of all proportion,
I would love to explore around Hilsea again, so next time I’m back home I just might have a mooch around for good old time sake.

Jonathan Writes:-

Your Blog of the 50's and 60's was as ever evocative of memories. I so well remember cutting across the farms in Farlington to get to the marshes. There was a level crossing at the railway where we used to place pennies on the rail lines to get the trains to flatten them.

The marshes themselves were a great place to explore.........they still are. Recently when I was over in England I went for a run around the sea wall and on the way back found a little untouched enclave just close to the motorway and north of it accessed by an unused dirt road underpass. There was a pond there with a bench next to it and a sad little sign stating that a young boy had drowned there some years previous.

The marshes were a great place to fill out the I Spy book about the country side. You did a recent blog on I Spy books if I remember aright and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

As boys we used to wade out in the mud up to our knees, probably unwise but what the heck, we were boys.

I used to be allowed to ride from Rectory Avenue in Farlington along the Havant Road to Bosham to visit my Aunt and cousins who lived close to the water's edge in a lovely bijou cottage.

The chalk pits were great weren't they. Do you remember the cave that was about 15 foot up one of the vertical faces. I never dared crawl in lest I got stuck and couldn't reverse out.

We used to go sledging in winter if it snowed at "The Devil's Footprint" just a bit east of the chalk pits.

The water works always had a malodorous smell from the filter beds.

We used to play cricket until it was too dark to see the ball up at the Recreation Ground between the end of Solent Road and Woodfield Avenue. I once split my younger brother's eyebrow open when a ball bowled by me at about 10 p.m. collected his specs.

News and Views:

Elvis Presley's granddaughter, model Riley Keough, will star in Steven Soderbergh's upcoming film, "Magic Mike."

On this day 2nd September 1960-1965.

On

02/09/1960

the number one single was Apache - The Shadows 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 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

02/09/1961

the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Blackpool Tower Circus (ATV) 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

02/09/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was 20000 killed in Iran earthquake.

On

02/09/1963

the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer 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

02/09/1964

the number one single was Have I the Right? - Honeycombs and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) 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

02/09/1965

the number one single was I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. 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.

Web Page 968

Top Picture: The Gun emplacement near Fort Purbrook. On a fine evening I could lay in bed at home and se this through my bedroom window in the distance.






Second Picture: Farlington Marshes

Trails and Tracks

Some time ago I read these words ‘paths and tracks that only old men and young boys know’ and this really set me to thinking about how we, as young boys, used to find our way around the area whatever the domain without the benefit of maps or satnavs.
This knowledge extended across the hillside, the countryside and the marshlands as well as the urban paths and byways around the City of Portsmouth.

I will start with a look at the rural scene. I wonder just how many people today know of the pathway hidden behind the clinging ivy and the undergrowth in the chalk pit by the waterworks at the top of Gillman Lane. This was a well known path to us, it took us along the chalk face way up so we were able to see into the blackbirds nests and collect the eggs, which we were allowed to do in those days. This pathway was known only to the lads of the area but was till wee used. There was also several other paths within the other chalk pits in the area and as far as I can remember there were at least three paths up the face of the chalk pit in Upper Drayton Lane and one that took you round the back of the hermits hut in the chalk pit by the George. Mind you this path was always fraught with danger because if the hermit saw you he would chase you. He lived in a kind of green corrugated iron bungalow in the bottom of the pit and he disliked visitors. I wonder who he was and what happened to him?

But it was not only the chalk pits we knew our way around on the hill. We had our own paths through the undergrowth to varying favoured sites to play in. Then underneath the ground touching branches of some bushes made great dens and these were often protected by brambles and thorns. Even in the summer, when the grass was almost as tall as us we could still find our way about the hill for a meeting, a game or a cookout or maybe to explore some of the military installations that were still around.

But it was not just the hill we knew. Farlington Marshes were also our playgrounds. Most of us knew how to identify solid mud from soft mud and so safely navigate our way across the Marshes. We all knew the best spots to catch crabs, find ex government ordinance and to fish. Some of us even knew of a swan’s nest we could watch, mind you we did not try to take their eggs!!!

The area known to us as the Railway Triangle was also a spot for adventure. This was sandwiched between the Portsmouth to London railway line, the Eastern Road and Portscreek and was a mass of bushes, brambles and hidden places all joined together by narrow paths we explored on our bikes.

Talking of bikes. In the 1960’s I would pride myself that I could cycle from home in Farlington to Southsea sea front with only travelling on a main road for about half a mile and that was the stretch between the married Quarters at Hilsea opposite the Coach & Horses until I turned right off of Copnor Road to Amberley Road just past Rugby Camp and then it was back streets, back roads and back alleys all the way to Southsea. I bet that could not be done today!
I suppose that one of the best areas for tracks and trails was on the site where the school stands now. Before building the school, and for some reason I do not remember it being built, the area was composed of derelict allotments. The whole area was a maze of paths, tracks and walkways, an area where many of us travelled miles on our bikes exploring and racing. At the Old Manor Way end of the site were two prefabricated buildings one was an unused Territorial Army Centre and the other I believe was owned by Colt Engineering and had a row of, what looked like steel snails along the roof as ventilators. Does anyone remember them wonder?

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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


From the site 10 years ago:-
And now for a short break...
We really are the first of not only the television age but the mass advertising age, just think back.

Televtsion advertising painted a whiter-than-white portrait of modern Britain. Advertisements held up a mirror to a society in which life revolved around home and family.

The Britain of the 2-minute commercial break was a reassuring place to live. Here was Katie who always used two Oxo cubes to give a meal ‘man appeal’, and sat down to watch her husband Philip drown his roast meat in gravy. On another street in safe, respectable suburbia, an immaculate and manicured housewife could be found making light of her spring cleaning with Flash (‘all around the house, all around the house, all around the house, Spring Clean with Flash’), or soaking in a foaming bath, safe in the knowledge that she would look a little lovelier each day with fabulous pink Camay, the soap which contained ‘perfume that cost 9 guineas an ounce.

Hands that did dishes could be soft as your face; Omo washed not only clean, not only white, but bright; and Hoovers beat as they swept as they cleaned. And after all that effortless housework, you could have a break, have a KitKat with a nice cup of Brooke Bond — tea that you could taste right to the last drop.

Men drove fast cars, played golf, went fishing. They drank beer and — for the first half of the decade — smoked cigars, cigarettes, pipes. Ever chivalrous, they would spring up to light the cigarettes of female companions in sparkly earrings. The more heroic of their sex anonymously braved hair-raising dangers, James Bond-style, all because the lady loved Milk Tray. Dads set out for the office (they went to work on an egg) with bowler hat and rolled umbrella, or shinned up ladders, whistling in time-honoured, salt-of-the¬ earth, cheery-chappie fashion.

Until the banning of TV tobacco advertising in 1965, smoking was widely but not always successfully promoted. The moody, black-and-white ad for a new cigarette, which vouchsafed that ‘You’re never alone with a Strand’, was much enjoyed, and the background music, ‘The Lonely Man Theme’, became a hit in its own right, spending two weeks in the pop charts in 1960. But the campaign was a spectacular failure. Who, after all, would buy a cigarette with connotations of loneliness? Better to smoke Anchor, after which a man at sea would so hanker that he even sang a shanty about it.

Pints of bitter were quaffed at the bar, while suave toffs in dinner jackets sipped vermouth (‘Do ‘ave a Dubonnet’). Martini was ‘for people who have a taste for excitement’. And when Pete Murray went to meet his friends at the Hilton what did he say? — ‘Noilly Prat’!

Catchy jingles ran around in the head so that the viewer might suddenly find himself singing that Double Diamond worked wonders, (sorry Gloria!), or tripping down the scales to the words ’Boom-boom-boom, Esso Blue’. Sublty was not copywriter’s stock in trade, this powder washed whitest, a special toothpaste would give you tingling fresh breath or a ring of confidence, this frozen pea would be as sweet as the moment when the pod went pop. Commercials played on insecurities: would your best friend tell you if you had BO? And what horrors lurked around the hidden bend?

As the decade marched on, television advertising took ever stronger hold upon the national consciousness. In school playgrounds jingles were sung, and the best-known selling lines (‘Graded grains make finer flour’; ‘Put a tiger in your tank’) became catchphrases which were almost better known than the products they promoted. And after 1964, when an Old English sheepdog was first used to market emulsion paint, the breed itself became popularly known as the Dulux dog.


You Write:

Steve Writes:-

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. And we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. --And, we were OKAY..

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents. We would get spankings and no one would call child services to report abuse. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers, and inventors ever.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.


If YOU are one of those born between 1940-1970, CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

News and Views:

Update on the Monkee’s tour. The remainder of the US tour has been cancelled. In a statement, a spokesman for Micky Dolenz said, "Management had booked a number of dates with the venues without running them by the group first... so we had to cancel the remaining dates.

On this day 26th August 1960-1965.

On

26/08/1960

the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) 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

26/08/1961

the number one single was You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. 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 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Burma becomes world's first Buddhist republic.

On

26/08/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

26/08/1963

the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer 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

26/08/1964

the number one single was Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Manfred Mann and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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

26/08/1965

the number one single was I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. 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.

Top Picture: The Practical Householder




Web Page 966


Second Picture: Barry Bucknell

DIY

We grew up just as the movement to do it yourself was starting to make inroads into the average household. Men who had never previously held a paint brush were starting out on the home decoration road and painting and wallpapering became more and more popular, with some.

One incident comes swiftly to mind to me took place at home in the late 1950’s. We had a kitchen table which we had inherited but its surface was in poor condition so it was decided to catch the bus into Cosham and buy a length of sticky backed Fablon. This we did every summer without fail renewing the Fablon to keep the table looking nice. But then my father heard about Formica and he decided that the next time the table was covered it would be with Formica and this would last for years and years.

Mother and I were set to peal off the old Fablon whilst Dad caught the bus into Cosham with the Formica measurements. All went well our end but I think that the thing that had slipped Dad’s mind was that you cannot roll up Formica like Fablon and bring it home on the bus. So two hours later he arrived home with Formica sheet under one arm and tin of Evostick under the other. He was not best pleased!!
Then came the fitting, after a sufficient rest, and the table was carried out onto the back lawn because we read that the glue had heady fumes which could cause drowsiness. The able top was all prepared and Dad opened the can of Impact Adhesive and found out almost instantly why the glue was so called because he managed to knock the onto the sticky surface and had a devil of a job to get it off again. However the job which should of taken about and hour had taken nearly all day. To finish off he managed to use his new Surform plane to smooth off the edges. I never remember him Formicaing anything ever again!

Into this world of amateur builders and decorators, as they say: Cometh the hour, though, cometh the man, and the supposed hero of this particular hour in Britain’s domestic history was a Barry Bucknell. There are still men out there who are now in their late 80’s and cannot rememeber what they had for lunch, but they remember Barry Bucknell all right. ‘The TV DIY man,’ they cry the minute his name is mentioned.

Barry Bucknell, was a trained mechanical ¬engineer, and first appeared on the nation’s black-and-white TV screens in 1956 in a popular afternoon ¬programme for practical housewives, About The Home. He got his own show, Do It Yourself, in 1958, and was soon receiving upwards of 35,000 letters a week from viewers desperate for top tips on putting up shelves, papering ceilings and building plywood porches.
Boosting its audience, no doubt, was the fact that the programme went out live, resulting in a regular flow of amusing mishaps. At each of them, Barry would cheerily cry: ‘Ah! Well, that’s how not to do it.’ This is what people remember most!
Barry’s monument, however, was without doubt Bucknell’s House, a 39-part weekly series in 1962 and 1963 in the course of which he completely renovated a derelict Victorian house in Ealing that the BBC had acquired for the purpose. The building, at 79 The Grove, had not been touched for decades, ¬suffered from extensive dry rot, wet rot and woodworm, and a surveyor had strongly advised against ¬purchasing it. But Barry Bucknell, with the nation watching open-mouthed, transformed it into a bright, attractive family home featuring every ¬modern gadget and design idea. A house that still stands today, I wonder how many residents realise that this particular address was once a TV star?
Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Nothing this week !!!!!

News and Views:

The remainder of the Monkees tour was apparently cancelled Monday (August 8). While no real official word has been issued, Davy's web site lists no Monkees dates after the July 23 concert in Milwaukee. Pollstar and at least one of the venues say dates in August and September were cancelled. And the Davy Jones Facebook page has a message annoucing the cancellation and asking that the band's privacy be respected. The ony reason reportedly given was the standard "unforeseen circumstances" and further speculation is useless.

On this day 19th August 1960-1965.

On

19/08/1960

the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) 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

19/08/1961

the number one single was You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

19/08/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

19/08/1963

the number one single was Sweets For My Sweet - Searchers 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

19/08/1964

the number one single was Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Manfred Mann and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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

19/08/1965

the number one single was Help - The Beatles and the number one album was Liverpool. 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 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. Watts race riots in US and the big news story of the day was Riviera Police (AR)

Web Page 964

Top Picture: Cliff Richard as pictured in Rave magazine



Second Picture: Who remembers the old ABC Cinema?



The Pop Magazine Explosion

Dozens of pop magazines sprang up in the early 60s to cover the growth of pop music.
In February 1963 The Beatles were No 2 in the charts with Please Please Me and an anonymous reporter from Boyfriend went to interview them for "an exclusive scoop" and her impressions are very revealing.

"They are almost frightening-looking young men," she said, "but when they smile, which is not often, they look wholesome and nice. But the rest of the time they look wicked and dreadful and evil, you almost expect them to leap up and chant magic spells." The Boyfriend article was one of the first in-depth articles about the group. It was well-written and made it clear just how weird the Beatles were when they first arrived.

The magazine was aimed at young women, with colour pin-ups, ads for cosmetics and hair lacquer, and plentiful picture stories. Boyfriend picked up on the hysteria surrounding the Beatles and invested heavily in the British pop boom.
In summer 1963 the magazine produced "Big New Beat", the first of several pop supplements "about the Northern Raves". The Beatles were on the cover and inside were group shots and candid close-ups with large type comments: "They have a knack of looking as if they'd just landed on this planet. They're otherworldly, that's what they are." Between 1963 and 1965, Britain had a vigorous pop and teen press, with at least a dozen weeklies and/or monthlies all bringing their readers the latest pop news. Selling between 70,000 copies up to 200,000 a week The Record Mirror and The New Musical Express charted the unprecedented rise in singles sales reaching a peak of more than 70million in 1964.

These magazines created an all-inclusive, environment and reading them today, they are historical documents yet retain the fervour of the moment. By the early 1960s, there were already several weeklies catering to the teenage female market; who remembers Marilyn, Mirabelle, Romeo, Roxy, and Valentine. Boyfriend was launched in 1959, with Marty - based on the popularity of Marty Wilde - following in 1960.

The newer titles were more pop-heavy: as well as "love scene" picture stories and problem pages. The star staples were Elvis, Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, John Leyton and Eden Kane. Launched in 1926, Melody Maker was the longest-running pop magazine with its leanings to jazz, folk and blues, it was not pure pop; that was taken up by the New Musical Express, Record Mirror and Disc All were in black and white with weekly charts and much pop news: and it was aimed at young men as well as women.
Melody Maker was serious about music and it made headway during the early 60s trad boom. The New Musical Express had great insider gossip, "Tail-Pieces by the Alley Cat" and Disc was poppier, with prominent charts and front-page news stories.
Two important new weeklies were launched in January 1964. Jackie ("for go-ahead teens") ", was a streamlined version of Boyfriend: all the same elements but with larger pages and unusual, candid shots of stars like the Beatles. It was a winning mixture: by the late 60s, its circulation was up to half a million. Fabulous was a new tabloid pop paper it contained at least one pin-up of the Beatles in every issue for two years. Several issues, like that of 15 February 1964, were almost totally devoted to the group with 11 colour pages, and a central double-page poster (now hard to find, as they were usually stuck on the wall). Selling for a shilling, Fabulous was pricier than the competition but it had more pages, better quality paper and a regular team of photographers. It also introduced a more direct rapport between the stars and their audience. Features showing stars in their own homes were interspersed with old school photos and pop stars' musings on ideal girls. At the same time, Fabulous had guest editors: the Kinks, the Animals, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, Manfred Mann and the Who. Fashion was given prominent space, not only in the adverts, but in spreads directly related to star "gear".

With the British pop invasion of the USA Fabulous published its "Shaking London Town" issue, with a spread about Ready Steady Go!, as well as Vicki Wickham's and a "POP guide to London", which featured hairdressing salons, recording studios, clubs, mod shops, and the Fabulous offices themselves.

This view of pop culture saw the launch of another magazine in 1964. At 2s 6d, Rave was five times as expensive as the weekly music papers, but in return you got an 80-page quality monthly.The first issue showed the Beatles with 007 badges, inside were Dusty's (not me) fashion tips, a feature on star holidays articles by Alan Freeman's and Billy Fury.

Like Fabulous, Rave prominently featured young women writers. Cathy McGowan was a regular. However, if the ads for guitars were anything to go by, Rave also appealed to young men and it had a circulation of 125,000 by 1966.
During 1966, Fabulous became Fabulous 208; Boyfriend merged with the newly launched Petticoat, Marilyn with Valentine. Disc joined forces with Music Echo (which had already taken over s Mersey Beat) and went colour on the front and back pages.

Would you believe there was actually a film made in 1952 starring Margaret Rutherford and Richard Hearne (Mr Pastry) where the whole story revolved around the publication of a magazune called "The Teenager"

Now how many of those magazines did you remember?

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:
Christine Writes:

In clearing out the loft this week I found a box of old school stuff which contained a programme (signed by Bill Greer!) of the Messiah performance. It was interesting to read all the names listed and of course wondering what happened to some of them.


News and Views:

A foreclosed property owned by Connie Stevens in Indian Springs, Wyoming will be auctioned by a bank there August 25. Connie reportedly still owes around $2.8 million on the property.

On this day 12th August 1960-1965.

On

12/08/1960

the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) 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. The big news story of the day was First communications satellite launched.


On

12/08/1961

the number one single was You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Top Secret (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

12/08/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

12/08/1963

the number one single was Sweets For My Sweet - Searchers 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

12/08/1964

the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles 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. The big news story of the day was Novelist Ian Fleming dies.


On

12/08/1965

the number one single was Help - The Beatles and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Riviera Police (AR) 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. The big news story of the day was First woman High Court Judge.

Web Page 960

Top Picture: Windy Blow in stage outfit





Second Picture: Windy Blow at home as David Cecil entertain the local children







Charles Cole


David Cecil or Charles Cole are not a name from the 1950’s that immediately come to mind but if I mention the Children’s Television silent clown, Windy Blow, who sculptured balloons I am sure most of you will say ‘Ah! Yes, I remember him now’.
David Cecil was a pioneer of British film cartoons, but it was much later in life that he became known as television's first balloon act, twisting balloons into animals birds and other shapes.
In fact way back in the 1950’s, no TV variety show was complete without Windy Blow, the pram-pushing clown who made animals out of balloons and never spoke a word.
It is true he did appear on the TV in the 50's as a clown but his career was vast. In the early 1940's he was a renowned cartoonist and film footage can be found on the British Pathe Web site under his cartoonist stage name of Charles Cole. But it was as Windy Blow that he made his name a household word, so much so that his son Windy Blow junior also went on to perform on TV in 1977 in the magic circle. He was very involved in show business and was secretary of the British Actors Equity Union during the 1970's
It was Windy Blows lung power that saved his life and won Dave Cecil a regular TV date. But there was a time when Windy Blow, the clown who blew up three hundred balloons every show - and had just started a series of regular spots on B.B.C. Television - could not blow out a match. Ten years earlier, as a soldier with one lung he had only a year to live, the doctor threw him a packet of balloons as he lay in a hospital bed. "Have a go!" he said, "Might do some good. Stick at it!" Dave Cecil stuck at it but it was a long time before he could blow up a single balloon. When at last he managed it he began to shape balloons to amuse other patients. He made swans, giraffes, dogs and silly hats. He decided then that if he lived, he would make his living by blowing up balloons on the stage.
Windy Blow, the silent tramp-clown known and loved by children everywhere made his stage debut in 1952. His young audiences loved him and loved to take part in the act and win a balloon toy to take home. He appeared on Children's TV in August, 1953, and was in the first TV Music Hall of 1954. "I get through eighteen gross of balloons every week," he said "and my wife, Blanche, and I have had to start a small balloon factory in the garage behind our flat in Finchley. When I was in hospital, the man in the next bed gave me the formula for making balloons. I would have liked him to help in our factory, but he didn't recover."
Windy Blow only spoke once in public - at a party given by U.S. servicemen. He had given some balloon toys to a little Negro girl. As she returned to her seat some white children deliberately burst them. "Windy saw red! He'd never spoken before, but he said something then. He called that little girl back and made every toy he knew - especially for her. As she went back to her place a second time, she handed nearly all of them to the white children!"
The Cecil's flat was always swarming with the neighbours' children, who knew him simply as "the man inside Windy Blow". "Uncle Windy” as he was known was never short of eager young pupils wanting to learn how to model balloons.
But how did Windy Blow conduct his act? The balloons were all blown up to a certain size, depending on the room temperature – the blowing knack utilising the skill that Windy learned while developing his one surviving lung whilst in hospital after losing the other lung at the Anzio beach-head. David Cecil was born in 1910 and died in the eighties.
So folks of you go, get a packet of balloons and start modelling.
Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Melvyn reminds me of two of the coach companies that operated from Southsea Sea Front in the 1960’s. Who remembers ‘Rambler’ and ‘Shamrock’?

Steve asks:-

If any Manor Court weekly readers know the whereabouts of the following names please email me STEVETIMMS9@AOL.COM

David Costick, Rex Whistler, Roger Lillywhite, Michael Macari, Michael Hawes and Malcolm Smith.




News and Views:

The Fortunes have announced that they are to join The Searchers, Gerry and The Pacemakers on next year's Sixties Gold tour.

On this day 29th July 1960-1965.

On 29/07/1960 the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Elvis Is Back - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (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 29/07/1961 the number one single was Temptation - Everly Brothers. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) 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.The big news story of the day was No Hiding Place (AR).

On 29/07/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Pot Luck - 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 29/07/1963 the number one single was Confessin' - Frank Ifield 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1964 the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1965 the number one single was Mr Tambourine Man - Byrds 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.