Web Page No 858

Top Picture: A Player Please sign often seen on the pavement outside tobacconists back in the days when most of the population smoked. Very non pc now!








Bottom Picture: du Maurier the cigarette of the moment.












Time for a Fag.

I just got to thinking the other day about the reduction in number of smokers nationally (I myself have not smoked for over 35 years) and the loss in revenue that the tax and duty man must be feeling, I suppose we all now make up the shortfall some in some other way! But moving on from the subject of money there are now a whole range of products and services that we saw around as children that have now become rare or have almost completely disappeared.

To start with take a major manufacturing firm like Ronson who must have sold millions and millions of cigarette and table lighters in its time, their business must have fallen off almost completely. But think about it, it was not just the lighters that they produced but also lighter flints, replacement lighter wheels and wicks, not forgetting lighter fuel and later on lighter gas. (I bet you all remember your mother getting bicycle or other greasy marks off your clothes with one of thos plastic amber lighter fuel pods?) Ronson were not the only lighter producing company though, I seem to remember there was Colbi from France who also produced lighters as did the American company Zippo (Zippo lighters became a cult accessory at one time). An indication of the reduction in smoking is the fact that nowadays cars are no longer fitted with cigar or cigarette lighters but accessory power points for your satnav etc.

Starting with cigarettes especially the hand-rolling sort, how often do you see a Rizla cigarette-rolling machine with its boxes of filter tips around today. I know my grandmother, for a time in the late 1950’s, used to roll her own using one of these machines, I sometimes tried to do it for her but was useless. Hand rolling has not completely died out and Rizlas red and green papers can still be bought but how about the black liquorish ones, are they still about?

Other things that have long disappeared, or at least have gone into a deep retreat are leather and plastic tobacco pouches and wooden, china or Bakelite tobacco jars, wooden spills for the fire, pipe cleaners and pipe bowl reamers, metal cigarette cases and ivory cigarette holders, advertising book matches and fancy match box covers, tins of snuff and plain and fancy ashtrays. The last one must really have hit the retailer at the popular tourist resorts really hard, as taking granddad home an ashtray from your holiday was one of the accepted things.

Mouth hygiene must also have been hit. Can you still buy Eucryl Smokers Toothpaste and tooth brushes I wonder? The major suppliers of menthol must also have felt the pinch as no longer can cigarettes be described as being as ‘Cool as a Mountain Stream’. In some posh circles Cocktail Cigarettes were all the rage, these came in a flat box and were made in pretty pastel colours with gold filter tips, not exactly a box you could pass around the public bar of The George on a Friday night! Then there were those terrible things called herbal cigarettes; not being made of tobacco and so contained no nicotine it was claimed that you could smoke these without any fear of infection or disease. I must say that way back in the 1960’s I did actually buy a packet and try them, it was like smoking a bonfire, hot, dry and tasted terrible. BUT I understand that they are still on the market!!!

Naturally we are all too young to remember Cigarette Cards but I do remember collecting unusual match boxes (White Heather and Collis being just two) and I suppose the pipe manufactures must have had a big down turn in trade as well, which probably saved a good few mature Briar bushes!!

When we were kids smoking was the norm at home, at work, in the pub or in the cinema where up on the screen the glamorous Hollywood actress always posed with a cigarette in a holder and the smoke drifting languidly upwards.

Now today, as far as I can remember, I have only two friends that smoke, I do not even have an ashtray in the house and as I look around at the young people these days I am sure that there are more girls who smoke than men. Finally do you remember the old no smoking advert that used to say it must be ‘like kissing an ashtray’.


Keep in touch

Peter

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

You Write:

Melv asks:

When we moved from Court Lane to Manor Court did the Headmasters secretary move with us or did she stay behind in Court Lane. I think the Secretary at Manor Court was Mrs Richardson but I am not sure, can anyone help?

News and Views:

Handwritten lyrics by John Lennon for the Beatles' "A Day In The Life" sold for $1.2 million at a New York City auction on June 18th. The winning bid was placed by phone and the buyer remained anonymous.

On this day 30th July 1960-1965.

On 30/07/1960 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 30/07/1961 the number one single was Temptation - Everly Brothers and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. 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 £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 No Hiding Place (AR).

On 30/07/1962 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 30/07/1963 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 30/07/1964 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 30/07/1965 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.

Web Page No 856

Top Picture: Frankie Lyman in his Hey Day





Bottom Picture: The Long Haired Lover from Liverpool, Jimmy Osmond





Child Stars
One who fell by the wayside and one who progressed



Frankie Lymon was born in New York on 30th September 1942 and died in the same city on 28th February 1968 at that time he had been married to Emira Eagle for only eight months.
He most noted for the song "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" which he sang with a group of school friends in a group called the Coupe de Villes, later renamed the Teenagers. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," was released in 1955 and the following year he and the group appeared in films Rock, Rock, Rock and Mr. Rock and Roll, During late 1955 and early 1956 they toured Britain but after a musical disagreement Frankie Lymon left the group the following year. From then on he decended into the world of drugs and in 1961 entered a drug rehabilitation program. A reunion and reworking of their music was tried in 1965 but did not succeed.
Frankie Lymon's short life took him from modest beginnings, to international stardom at 13 then down a long descent into drug addiction and an early death. He was the first African American teen heartthrob and inspired a host of other young musicians, such as Michael Jackson. Frankie Lymon's career was born at the very beginning of the rock and roll era and the song with which he remains identified, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, is now considered a classic. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" was released in January of 1956 and shared the charts with Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins, it reached Number One on the R&B charts and Number Six on the pop charts and became a hit in England reaching Number One. Despite competition from cover versions by white singers, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" topped the charts for several weeks.
However he could not cope with his sudden fame and who spent the final years of his life battling drug addiction. He worked hard to resurrect his career and took drumming lessons. However, his attempts at a musical comeback were overshadowed by his abuse of drugs and in 1964, he was arrested on drug charges. In February 1968 he left for New York to make a publicity appearance. When his wife tried to contact him she was unsuccessful. On February 28th, he was found dead of a heroin overdose in his grandmother's Harlem apartment.
Following his death, a bitter court battle ensued to determine ownership rights to "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" All of the Teenagers filed suit and two of the members, Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant, eventually won the case. At the same time, two women who claimed to have been married to Frankie Lymon battled his widow, Emira, for rights to his estate. The court determined that Emira was the sole heir to Lymon's fortune.
Despite Lymon's troubled life and tragic death, the popularity of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" has not diminished. It is considered a rock and roll standard and many artists, including Diana Ross, have recorded versions of the song. The song also appeared on the soundtrack of George Lucas's 1973 hit film American Graffiti. In 1998 his life became the subject of a movie, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," which showcased both his years of stardom and the miseries of his later life.

Jimmy Osmond is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, who has had success on and off stage. Through his vast experience and knowledge in the entertainment industry he has produced and promoted record breaking world-wide tours, ice shows, a variety of commercials and coordinated celebrity commercial endorsements. He is the youngest member of the famous Osmond family and received his first award at when only seven receiving a gold record for a song he recorded in Japanese, “My Little Darling.” The same year he was named Japan's “Male Vocalist of the Year.” As a solo artist he has six gold records, one platinum record, and two gold albums. In addition, Jimmy and his family have sold over 100 million records and share 51 gold and platinum recordings along with numerous other awards.
Before he was 15, Jimmy had developed and supervised most of the Osmonds' merchandising business and launched a successful advertising agency that handled production campaigns for corporations such as Yamaha and Coca-Cola. Also he starred in his first film, “The Great Brain” and went on to feature in two award winning episodes of “Fame”; plus also starring in his own show to sell-out crowds in Madison Square Garden.
In addition to live performances, Jimmy and his companies have produced over 1100 hours of programmes including films, TV movies, TV specials, music videos, commercials and industrial videos for major corporations. Jimmy served as the executive producer of the ABC television movie, “Inside The Osmonds” and as a consultant to Warner Brothers. He was also asked by the Chinese government to be the producer and consultant for live entertainment shows in China.
In 1992 he married Michelle Larson and they have four children. Soon after they were married, Jimmy moved his operations from Los Angeles, to Branson, Missouri and since then Jimmy’s production company, Osmond Family Theater Productions have been hugely successful. Jimmy was honored by the US Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans in 1999. Other Outstanding Young Americans in the past include John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Dan Quayle, Al Gore, Howard Hughes, Elvis Presley, and Christopher Reeve.
Throughout his time in the business, Jimmy has continued to tour with the family. In 2004 he made his solo debut in a musical performing in “Boogie Nights” for the summer season in the seaside resort of Blackpool. The show broke box office records and paved the way for Jimmy to take his “Jimmy Osmond’s American Jukebox Show” back to Blackpool the following year, brothers Jay and Wayne joined him in this variety show. Whilst in Britain he appeared in ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’, ‘Celebrity Family Fortunes’, ‘Everybody Dance Now’ and ‘Celebrity Come Dine With Me’. In December 2008, Jimmy made his debut in Pantomime as Buttons in ‘Cinderella’ and made his debut in the West End in “Grease” in January 2009.
He is also an accomplished artist and cartoonist, holds numerous board positions, and as a member of the National Board of Governors for the Children's Miracle Network, he has assisted in raising over 4 billion dollars to benefit Children's hospitals in the US. His passion for the work of this charitable foundation has resulted in him accepting a position on the UK Board and he is working with them to bring the same benefits to Children’s Hospitals in the UK.
This young entrepreneur has not rested on his laurels but has continued to live under the strict Mormon discipline guidelines of integrity, wholesome entertainment, and hard work. Whether it's family, business, or civic duties, Jimmy Osmond strives to be the best

Keep in touch

Peter

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

You Write:

Roland Writes:- The New Inn was a great centre for the young element of Drayton. It was to the New Inn that one would go to hear about up-coming weekend parties and to meet new and old friends.


News and Views:

Roy Rogers horse fetches $266,500 Trigger, the stuffed horse belonging to actor and singer Roy Rogers, has fetched $266,500 (£174,000) at an auction. Christie's auction house, which ran the sale along with Western auctioneer High Noon Americana, said the collection of items related to Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evan's roles on television and in the movies brought in $2.9 million. Trigger, the palomino horse which Roy Rogers had stuffed after it died in 1965, was bought by rural US cable television station RFD-TV for $266,500, while his saddle fetched $386,500 (£252,000) from a private buyer. Other top sellers included Roy Rogers' 1963 Pontiac Bonneville. The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum, which was based in Branson, Missouri was closed in 2009. Roy Rogers died in 1998 at age 86 and Dale Evans in 2001. The more than 300 items included in the sale ran from Roy's sunglasses to a sterling silver belt buckle to a Roy Rogers director’s chair.


On this day 23rd July 1960-1965.

On 23/07/1960 the number one single was Good Timin' - Jimmy Jones 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 Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On 23/07/1961 the number one single was Temptation - 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 23/07/1963 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 23/07/1964 the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Postal strike ends.

On 23/07/1965 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

Web Page No 854

Two more pictures from the Barlow collection. These two show the demolition of Widley Street which was about 30 yards north of Havant Road opposite the Red Lion. The big house in the foreground, belonged to Coopers Scrapyard.

Kellys.

Not long ago I bought a 1964 copy of Kelly’s Street Directory for Portsmouth. Not only did it remind me of where people lived and who their neighbours were, it also gave me an insight, through the advertisements, as to the business community in the City. Names that I had long forgotten.

Here are a few:-

Some of the best known Estate Agents were Field & Palmer, Chartered Auctioneer and Estate agents of Hampshire Terrace, Bush & Tidy of Grove Road, Southsea, Hall Pain and Foster and Butler and Cooke had branches all over town as did Whitehead & Whitehead, Medlam had a branch in Drayton and Waterfield and Stanford a branch in North End.

Tony F Newell Builder and Decorator of 3 Drayton Lane, I knew his brother Brian, Tony’s sales slogan was ‘You name – we do it, a bit of an inflated claim I would have thought! There was also the Builders Guild where I believe a young Steve Long started work straight from school.

Cawte’s Express Valet Service had shops all around the area as did Brunswick Cleaners, Chapmans, the Royal Laundry and the Snowdrop Laundry and the Convent of the Cross also ran a laundry service.

Norah’s Dress Hire in Arundel Street was the place to hire that special outfit or dress suit, whilst
U-Need-Us with their slogan ‘Goods for Fun’ was still going in Arundel Street for those who were into practical jokes and fancy dress.

Handley’s on Handley’s Corner in Palmerston Road, Southsea was an institution as was Will Brown’s on the London Road in North End and Melanie’s.

If you wanted to move house you had the choice of Charles Ellis, Ashley’s (I knew Peter Ashley for several years), Curtiss & Son, Manchip or White & Co. and of course the internationall known movers, Pickfords.

Furniture was supplied by, among others, Whitmore Jones, Marriot’s, White & Co and Mendel’s as well as the Department stores and the Co-op (PIMCO) , where your mum got her Divi. Who can remember their mum’s Co-op number? I can, not that it does me any good today !

For those with a sweet tooth there was Maynards in Kingston Road and the Chocolate King in North End and Commercial Road and any number of bakers shops; Campions, Greens, the Co-op, Smith and Vosper and Wilkins to name but a few.

Coach outings were undertaken by White Heather, Dons or Byngs and you kept what little pocket money you had in the Portsmouth Trustees Saving Bank or the Post Office. Talking of money there were several banks in town which have now long gone; Martins, National Provincial and the Westminster all now absorbed into much bigger conglomerates.


Then there were one off industries such as the City of Portsmouth Workshops for the Disabled where they made wicker baskets; Ruston’s on the Havant Road in Drayton who were bed manufacturers; Lindsays for Surgical Appliances; Dunns of Commercial Road specialized in making men’s hats. The Hants, Wilts & Dorset Bottle Exchange and the Southsea Bottle Company made bottles and there was only one chimney sweep, Western Electric Sweep & Brush who actually used a vacuum to clean your chimney. There were fifteen Cinemas listed and two theatres (the Kings and the Twyford Theatre). Taubman & Sons were Tripe Dressers and Parsons Portmanteau and trunk makers whilst Underwood concentrated on the typewriter trade. There were 84 Schools and Colleges listed and one Secretarial College, Underwoods and just one dance and theatrical suppliers, the Stage Door in Marmion Road.

One world that none of us knew about was the world of the Private Enquiry Agents. There were actually three in the area Bray’s in Southsea, Holloways in London Road and Silvesters in North End, a dark world I knew nothing about!!!

To buy a new car was almost unknown to us but a quality second hand one could be obtained from Lennox Motors, Gordon Motors or Henley Motors. Actually in my case it was Righton & Bennetts at the end of the Eastern Road where I bought my first car, a blue Standard 10 9295 BP a cat that I kept for just over a year.

I wonder just how many of the above business are still trading and if so re they still trading under their own names.

Keep in touch

Peter

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

You Write:

Bobby Rydell writes that he is just back from an incredible tour in Australia. What amazing fans there, amazing audiences and wonderful people, food and country

News and Views:

Monday (July 12) was declared "Pat Boone Day" by the state of California. Pat was presented with the proclamation at a showing of his film, "State Fair" at a Senior Citizens Center in Hollywood

On this day 16th July 1960-1965.

On 16/07/1960 the number one single was Good Timin' - Jimmy Jones 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 Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/07/1961 the number one single was Runaway - Del Shannon and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. 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.

On 16/07/1962 the number one single was I Can't Stop Loving You - Ray Charles 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 Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/07/1963 the number one single was I Like It - Gerry & the Pacemakers 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. The big news story of the day was UK Ministry of Defence proposed

On 16/07/1964 the number one single was It's All Over Now - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/07/1965 the number one single was Crying in the Chapel - Elvis Presley 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. The big news story of the day was Mont Blanc Tunnel officially opened.

Web Page No 852

I have recently receive some great pictures of Cosham from Peter Barlow, they mainly cover demolition. Here are the first two. Goodbye to the East Cosham Tavern.

The Mouth Organ

One of the strange phenomemums of the 1950’s & 60’s was the popularity of the harmonica. Almost every cowboy in the 1950’s seemed to played one (it was easier to carry than a guitar), and here in England several exponents of the art came to the fore especially the Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang but none was as well known as the American who came to live in London, Larry Adler.
Lawrence ‘Larry’ Cecil Adler was born to a Jewish family in Baltimore USA on 14th February 1914. By the time he had started High School he had taught himself to play the harmonica (which he always preferred to call a mouth-organ) and he began playing professionally at the age of 14. In 1927, the harmonica was so popular an instrument that the local Baltimore paper sponsored a contest and Larry’s rendition of a Beethoven Minuet won him first prize. Spurred on by this and his success in performing a year later, he ran away from home to New York. After meeting and being referred by Rudy Vallee he got his first theatre work, and caught the attention of the orchestra leader who placed him in a vaudeville act as "a ragged urchin, playing for pennies". From there, he was hired by Florenz Ziegfield and then by Lew Leslie (again to appear as an urchin). He seemed to be saddled with the image of a waif and stray on stage but he finally managed to break the typecasting and appeared in a dinner jacket in the 1934 Paramount film Many Happy Returns. It was because of this performance that he was hired by British theatrical producer C.B Cochran to perform in a London revue. It was here in the UK and throughout the British Empire, that he found stardom where due to his influence, harmonica sales increased twenty-fold. (we all had one a children didn’t we?)
Larry Adler was one of the first harmonica players to perform major works written for the mouth organ, often being written expressly for him: he also performed transcriptions of pieces written for other instruments by some of the worlds best composers including Bach and Vivaldi.
During the 1940s, he and the American virtuoso dancer, Paul Draper got together and formed a very popular act, touring nationally and internationally. However Larry was forced to leave the United States by false accusations of communist sympathies during the McCarthy witch hunt era and these accusations made it impossible for him to find work in the US so he moved to the UK in 1949, and settled in London, where he remained for the remainder of his life. The accusations, although totally without foundation, led to a general sentiment of disregard towards him in the USA during the 1950s and early 1960s which took a long time to heal.
The 1953 film British comedy Genevieve (this is where most of us first heard his music) brought him an Oscar nomination for his work though his name was originally kept off the credits in the United States it was thought that his name would harm the popularity of the film.
Larry Adler continued to work regularly all through the 1950’s, 60’s and on into the 80’s In 1994 for his 80th birthday Larry Adler, produced an album of Gershwin music including his most enduring piece, Rhapsody in Blue. In fact Pam remembers her and I sitting in our front room at home listening to this when she and I were courting in 1966.
His last recording was a duet of Young at Heart with Cerys Matthews from the Welsh pop band Catatonia. They recorded a version of Tony Bennett's The Autumn Leaves together . She joked at the time that she preferred older men.
He died peacefully, he had been fighting cancer for some time, in hospital in London at the age of 87, on August 7, 2001. He was still keen to perform and had been discussing a forthcoming tour of China only three weeks before. He was an atheist and his body was cremated with no ceremony at the Golders Green Crematorium where his ashes remain.
He had four children, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren, one of whom was Peter Adler who fronted a band called The Action in Dublin, Ireland in the late 1960s.
At the beginning of this article I mention the Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang; this was an act that was very popular in the 1940’s and 50’s and was the starting ground for at least one performer. Dave King being one, he had had a variety of jobs before becoming a stooge and washboard player in Morton Fraser's Harmonica Gang from where he went on to develop his own act. I remember meeting him when the Showbiz Eleven played a Hospital team in a Charity match in the mid 1970’s and I and my staff had to prepare a buffet for the players.
PS: I never did get the hang of playing the harmonica!!!
Keep in touch

Peter

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

You Write:

Griff Writes:-

Looking at Pete's photograph of a 1950's front room I can see 2 things missing from my lounge and that was the television and the phone. OK most people had a TV by 1960 but a phone? ... sheer luxury I reckon to have a phone.

Peter has put up the photo's of the Program of the "One Act Plays" which were held at Court Lane in 1958 and I think I am right in saying this was in our 1st year at Court Lane? Now I should know the answer to this really as I was actually in the play "Noah" and secondly I played the Elephant. Poor Anida had to play the Cow how she must long to forget this part.....lol

The wonderful Bill Greer was the after-school drama teacher in charge of production of School Plays at Court Lane and he sought to make Thespians of us all at some time or other and I had appeared in another previous production by Bill a few months earlier but I can't remember what the play was called now and no program to refer back to either. The School did have some very good "actors" amongst the senior pupils as I recall and one I can mention was Beverly Hatch who appeared in one or two stage productions at Court Lane.
This particular play "Noah" was put up before the judges at the Portsmouth Schools Drama competition in the following February where we performed it, I think, at Paulsgrove School but I believe we only came third in the competition.
I can only recall ever one drama type play at Manor Court and that was Gilbert & Sullivan's "Trial by Jury" with Alan Cox taking the lead as the judge and from what I remember he was so very good at playing that part especially as it was a singing part. I didn't take part in this production but I was helping out with the stage production team behind the scenes. I wonder if anyone has a program on that play at all?

News and Views:

CAN YOU HELP? BBC Bristol are working on the early stages of a new series titled 'Rewind: The 1960's'. Each programme will be looking at one of the key issues from the decade, everything from Liberalisation, Civil Rights, Modernity, Consumerism, Youth and Music, War etc. They are looking for really personal stories from everyday people who lived and loved (or hated!) the Sixties and want to hear from people on a number of topics. One of the stories that they are going to be looking at is 'Swinging London', for example Ally Pally, the music, the fashion, Carnaby St,... they want to know if London really was as 'swinging' as it was claimed to be and was it relevant to the rest of the country? They are also looking for people who went on package holidays in the 1960's. Was this the first time they had been abroad? What was it like? Do they have any film or photos from this holiday? If you can help or want to be part of this programme, please e-mail Claire Parry@bbc.co.uk

On this day 9th July 1960-1965.

On 09/07/1960 the number one single was Good Timin' - Jimmy Jones 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 Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/07/1961 the number one single was Runaway - Del Shannon and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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 09/07/1962 the number one single was Come Outside - Mike Sarne with Wendy Richard 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 Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/07/1963 the number one single was I Like It - Gerry & the Pacemakers 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 09/07/1964 the number one single was House of the Rising Sun - Animals and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Room at the Top (ITV) 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 09/07/1965 the number one single was I'm Alive - Hollies 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.

WEB PAGE NO 850

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A new friend joins us this week and we welcome Chris from Oxford.







FIRST PICTURE: King of the Wild Frontier, Davy Crockett




SECOND PICTURE: Anyone remember this magazine ‘Fabulous’ I am sure I don’t?






Fess Parker

After the death of Fess Parker, known to all us lads as Davy Crocket, in March Griff thought that I should take a look at his career might be interesting. The television series Davy Crockett was made by Disney and was first screened in 1954. Fess Parker got the part after Walt Disney had seen him earlier that year in the science fiction film Them!, in which he played a pilot who was sectioned after claiming that his aircraft had been attacked by giant flying ants. As Davy Crockett, the 6ft 6in tall Fess Parker was immediately idolised by young boys the world over, who ran around their gardens in fur hats made from old fur coats bought I the local Jumble Sale and carrying replicas of the Davy Crockett’s rifle, "Old Betsy".
Meanwhile, the title song – The Ballad of Davy Crockett – went to No 1 in the charts for Bill Hayes, and a version by Fess Parker himself reached No 5. In 1955 the three television episodes were blended into a film, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, and a second movie, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, came out the following year. Here in Britain, the television episodes were screened by ITV.
Although Disney stuck to the historical facts by allowing Davy Crockett (in the third episode) to be killed at the battle of the Alamo (1836), such was the public outcry that the TV show was resurrected, with further Davy Crockett exploits, in 1955-56.

After this success, Fess Parker might well have sunk without trace, were it not for his portrayal in another television series – between 1964 and 1970 – of the other great folk hero of the American frontier, Daniel Boone. He then abandoned his acting career to go into the property business, and later became one of California's best-known wine makers.

He was born Fess Elisha Parker into a farming family on August 16 1924 at Fort Worth, Texas. (Davy Crockett had been born a day later, on August 17, in 1786). In the Second World War he served with the US Marines, then studied History at Texas University. His life nearly ended in 1946, when he was stabbed by a drunk driver after a traffic accident. After deciding on a future in acting, he took a drama course at the University of Southern California, and in 1952 made his debut on the big screen in Springfield Rifle, an American Civil War drama starring Gary Cooper.
Among his other films were The Kid From Left Field (1953); The Great Locomotive Chase (1956); Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956); Old Yeller (1957); The Light in the Forest (1958); and Hell for Heroes (1962), with Steve McQueen and James Coburn.
In the late 1980s he established a 2,200-acre vineyard at Los Olivos, California, and went on to win many awards for his wine. Needless to say that at the vineyard's gift shop he sold Davy Crockett memorabilia. He was a close friend of Ronald and Nancy Reagan and in 1985 he was sent to Australia to represent the President at a ceremony. He was subsequently asked by the White House if he would like to serve as American ambassador in Canberra, but declined. He is survived by his wife, Marcella, whom he married in 1960, and by their son and daughter.



Take care

Yours

Peter

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

You Write:

Anida Writes :

Wow! Forgotten all about the play, yes I was the cow in Noah and I don't want any comments relating to my future behaviour!!! I had a rather unflattering brown fabric all in one body with a papier mache head and recall getting into a bit a flap when one of my horns broke.

Now if anyone has any photographs of 'Trial By Jury', that would be another theatrical triumph!!

Mary Writes:-

I remember the Ship in Cosham High Street at Christmas time. A huge Christmas tree was nearby and the Sally Army used to play carols. My father often parked the car outside the pub as it was handy for shopping. We would get some food in Gaimens as my mother had taught David Gaimen during the war. She always got a big welcome from him. We bought fruit and veg from a proper veg shop. We also grew veg in our garden, and so did our grandparents. We always had a box of veg every Saturday from Grandad, who was an amazing gardener. We kept chickens in Farlington, and there is nothing like collecting new laid eggs! Later when we moved to the Denmead/Hambledon area we kept chicken, ducks, pigs and even a goat and when I remember looking after these animals it’s with a great deal of happiness

News and Views:

Who remembers Don Partridge? He was the Bournemouth born one-man band busker who had a big hit with ‘Rosie’ in 1968. After a few years as a professional musician he decided that was not the life for him and went back to working on the streets. Recently a friend showed me a head and shoulders picture he had taken of Don whilst he was performing. In the conversation afterward Don told my friend that he did not mind his picture being taken but please don’t publish were he is now because working the way he does now, unknown, makes him happy these days.
On this day 2nd July 1960-1965

On 01/01/1965 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 02/07/1961 the number one single was Runaway - Del Shannon and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. 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 Author Ernest Hemingway commits suicide.

On 02/07/1962 the number one single was Come Outside - Mike Sarne with Wendy Richard 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 Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 02/07/1963 the number one single was I Like It - Gerry & the Pacemakers 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 02/07/1964 the number one single was It's Over - Roy Orbison and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Club Night (BBC) 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 President Johnson signs Civil Rights Act.

On 02/07/1965 the number one single was I'm Alive - Hollies 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

WEB PAGE NO 848

FIRST PICTURE

: Who remembers The Ship In in Cosham High Street? As far as I can remember this was not a pub I ever ventured into!!!

SECOND PICTURE

: Sorry about the size of the picture but it is the only one I have showing the Paulsgrove area before the estate was built.

The Electric Guitar

Have you thought where would Rock ‘n’ Roll have been without the electric guitar? And what is the history of this form of guitar any rate!

The amazing popularity of the guitar over the last 50+ years is really nothing new because guitars (the word deriving from the Greek instrument the kythara) and guitar-like instruments date as far back as 2500 BC. The guitar as we know it today has its roots in Spain, where by the 19th century it was respected as a proper classical instrument rather than the 'tavern instrument' as it became known as by the rest of Europe. After a time larger far more resonant guitars were developed to meet the demands of the concert hall, and after a time it was these type of instruments that became the favoured by the growing blues and folk movements.

In 1931 George Beauchamp together with the engineer Adolph Rickenbacker invented the electric guitar by attaching a magnetic pickup to the guitar's body. It made a new sound but there were still problems - this new electrified guitar produced literally mountains of noisy, unpleasant feedback due to its hollow body; so in the late 1940’s Les Paul, a Chicago jazz musician, who sadly passed away last year, and Leo Fender, a Californian inventor both independently developed their own solid-body guitars, and in so doing revolutionising and popularising the instrument.

Les Paul (whose first solid-body guitar, which he called the Log, was created from a 4x4 plank of wood) would go on to work with the Gibson guitar manufacturers, while Fender founded the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company to mass-produce his new guitar the Broadcaster which he renamed the Telecaster.

With the invention of the solid body, it no longer mattered how a guitar was shaped - the sound would remain the same, a fact that led to some very odd designs and creations over the years.

But five of the classic electric guitars have to be these I have listed below:-

The Fender Telecaster, 1950. The Telecaster was the first mass-produced electric guitar, with a simple design that made it light, cheap and easy to repair or modify it soon became very popular. Though superceded by Fender's Stratocaster a few years later, the Telecaster still has a massive fan base even today owing to its unique twangy, bright sound.

The Fender Precision Bass, 1951. This was the first mass-produced bass guitar, the Precision gradually replaced the cumbersome double bass from the classical or jazz worlds, whose sound was being drowned out by the amplified guitars that Fender had released a year earlier. The Precision, with its clean, focused tone, remains popular among professionals and amateurs, and has been used by almost every great bassist with two notable exceptions: Paul McCartney, who played a Rickenbacker, and John Entwistle, who played the harder Fender Jazz Bass.

The Gibson Les Paul, 1952. Ostensibly a collaboration between the Gibson Guitar Corporation of Nashville, Tennessee and legendary inventor Les Paul (although the Gibson company claim that Les Paul's only contribution was limited to choosing the gold colour for the first instruments), the ‘Les Paul’ was designed as a classier, more upmarket alternative to the popular Telecaster.

The Fender Stratocaster, 1954. This has to be the world's best selling and most copied guitar in the World. The Strat, as it is known, was created after complaints that Fender's Telecaster was uncomfortable to hold and play. It was on this model that the first vibrato arm and the new curvy, lightweight design were introduced, but the most important change was technical and this was the addition of an extra - third - pickup, which gave a new versatility to the guitar's sound.

The Rickenbacker 300 Series, 1958. Adolph Rickenbacker, inventor of the electric guitar in 1931, introduced the Capri series - later known as the 300 series - to compete with Fender and Gibson for the attentions of the new rock 'n' roll musicians. It worked: the guitars' distinctive sound became synonymous with the Sixties and I am sure you have seen hundreds of pictures of player holding one, even though you did not recognize it.

Well I tried but never mastered the guitar, how about you? Are there any closet Hank Marvin’s out there?

Take care

Yours

Peter

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

You Write:

Tina Writes: I was just catching up on your blog when the picture of Drayton Institute hall reminded me that my mother and father used to run old time dance evenings there. Every Tuesday evening I used to go with them, up until I was about 16, then going out with friends took over. I wonder if anyone remembers if their mum and dad used to go. I don't remember for sure but I think they had to give it up in 1966/67.

News and Views:

Paul McCartney tour bus was reportedly threatened by gangs after his Mexico City concert in May 28. Security called police and the thugs scattered when they heard the sirens.
On this day 24th June 1960-1965
On 24/06/1960 the number one single was Three Steps to Heaven - Eddie Cochran 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 Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 24/06/1961 the number one single was Surrender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. 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 24/06/1962 the number one single was Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley 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 Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 24/06/1963 the number one single was I Like It - Gerry & the Pacemakers 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 24/06/1964 the number one single was You're My World - Cilla Black and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. 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 24/06/1965 the number one single was I'm Alive - Hollies 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.

Web Page No 846

Top Picture:

Demolished over forty years ago Widley Street on the north side of the Havant Road at Coham stands abandoned ready for the bulldozers.

Bottom Picture:

Did your front room look like this at home? I know that there are some elements of the picture I recognise.

Fields, Circus’ and Chimneys.

I was passing the King George V playing fields the other evening and I started to remember firstly the estate of prefabs that sprung up there during the war (I don’t remember them being built!!!) and then I remembered standing by the playing fields in June 1953 as the Queen drove by on her Coronation tour. I vaguely remember that when the prefabs were flattened the area was turned into a rubbish tip for a while as some of the bomb holes etc were filled in; this resulted in the whole area being flattened by tractors with its attendant flock of seagulls. Of course after this the area was flattened to provide the playing fields and later, in the southwest corner, the building for the use of the Income Tax Offices, Lynx House. At least once the circus came to town and set up the Big Top on the field. Billy Smarts Circus actually paraded through Cosham High street all the way to the field and the lasting memory of this was the line of elephants all holding the one in fronts tail and ‘the Gov’ner’ riding along in a flash, white, open topped American car. The following day I was taken to see the Menagerie tent where one of the elephants trumpeted and scared me to death.

One of the things from the days of coal and coke fires that are almost a distant memory are those dreaded Chimney fires. One could smell the distinctive smell of burning soot streets away and it was a well known phrase to see someone sniff and then hear them say “someone’s got a chimney fire”. A chimney fire is definitely something that a householder did not want, not only because of the mess it made in the grate, on the hearth rug and the carpet BUT if the fire brigade were called and they attended, they doused the flames with a hose pipe up the chimney making even more mess. On top of all this they then would send the home owner a bill for attending. I can only ever remember us having one chimney fire at home which was promptly dealt with by my father who quickly marshalled us all out of the room and then stuffed wet sacks (where did they come from?) up the chimney to cut off the air supply and successfully putting out the fire and reducing the amount of mess that followed. These days of open fires certainly made sure that our parents either swept the chimney regularly themselves or, as they put it, ‘get the sweep in’.

My folks never attempted to sweep the chimney themselves as some parents did, they always relied on a man in a sooty black van and a large vacuum cleaner type machine and a set of brushes. We always knew when the sweep was coming as mother always pushed all the movable furniture as far away from the grate as possible and then covered everything she could with, dust sheets, old curtains, old sheets and the like. I remember it was a fascination for us kids to see the way he sealed the hearth and then started pushing rods up the chimney and asking us to go outside and let him know when the brush came out of the chimney pot. It never dawned on us that this was a ploy just to keep us out of the way, he must have known when the brush was clear through the change in resistance he felt in the chimney, but as I said, it kept us out of the way. But we were pleased to do it because, especially in December, because this meant that Father Christmas had a nice clean chimney to come down. When the chimney sweep had finished I often wondered, as he made his way back to his van with his bag of soot, what did he do with all the soot he collected?

I also remember something called a Chimney Imp which was a very volatile product that was supposed to burn off the soot within the chimney, but I know my father never trusted this and so never used it.

This talk of open fires opens up a completely new area of memory. The coalman, cutting fire wood to light the fire, making spills out of newspaper etc but I have dealt with all of these subjects on earlier in earlier postings.



Ah well back to today,

Keep in touch

Peter

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

You Write:

Nothing this week!

News and Views:

Engelbert Humperdinck was inducted into the Walk of Fame in Leicester, on Sunday April 25th.

On this day 18th June 1960-1965.

On 18/06/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (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 Arnold Palmer wins US Golf Open.

On 18/06/1961 the number one single was Surrender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. 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 18/06/1962 the number one single was Good Luck Charm - 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 18/06/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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. The big news story of the day was Cassius Clay defeats Henry Cooper in London.

On 18/06/1964 the number one single was You're My World - Cilla Black and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. 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 18/06/1965 the number one single was Crying in the Chapel - Elvis Presley 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. The big news story of the day was UK drink-drive alcohol limit to be introduced.

Web Page 846

First Picture: NME front cover

Second Picture: Bill Haley and the Comets

STOP PRESS. After trying on and off for the last 8+ years at long last I have been asked to assist some of the support staff at the old school in writing the history of the school !!!!!!! I will keep you all informed.

I came across this report of a concert in 1957 by Bill Haley and the Comets. The article first appeared in The Observer over 53 years ago. It really shows how different life was in the 1950’s.

Bill Haley and His Comets, 1957

'This way for the elite,' shouted the teddy-boy, clutching his guinea tickets in the foyer of the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road, for the first night of Bill Haley and his Comets. The front stalls, all at a guinea, were an odd mix-up of people. There were rows of teddy-boys and teddy-girls, usually segregated - the boys, nearly all short with hairbrush hair; the girls in tight black skirts or tartan trousers, with their thick thatches of hair over-hanging their foreheads like lettuces, making their intent, small faces look oddly the same.

Bang next to them were sedate elderly people, expense-account businessmen or bored-looking middle-aged couples, drawn to Bill Haley by some mysterious motive - seeking their youth perhaps, or a cure for boredom, or just watching how the other half lived. The other half didn't like being watched; the 'cats' looked at the 'squares' as if they were snooping schoolmarms. ...
Would there be any trouble? 'There's a couple here needs watching,' he [the cinema commissionaire] said, looking down at a lively couple by the exit who had been jiving, deftly and elegantly, without actually leaving their seats. (The management said that if they started jiving in the aisles, the show would have to stop.)

The curtain went up and there was the famous chubby-faced man with a kiss-curl, wearing a red tartan coat, smiling like a shy schoolboy, strumming at his guitar, pointing it dramatically towards the audience like a cheerful machine-gunner. He had an innocent greedy look, slipping his tongue round his mouth and looking upwards with boyish eyes, like a Fat Boy eyeing a huge ice cream. His band, all red, thumped and wailed round him, doing circus tricks with their instruments. 'Hullo Bill,' yelled the Circle.

The audience began to get worked up, but they watched one another carefully. The girl next to me nodded and stared at Bill Haley intently, mouthing every word of the jargon lyrics... 'K from the "kick" of a "rim-shot beater".'

The pair by the exit jived, still in their seats, swaying lower and lower. The boy next to the aisle bent right back onto the floor. A cinema official hurried up, bending down at the bent body to make sure it hadn't left the seat, and smiling with admiration....

At last came the oldest and greatest favourite:
One, two, three o'clock four o'clock rock...

It was too much. The couple by the exit rose in a trance from their seats. Others followed. In the back stalls a phalanx of teenagers rose solemnly, like a protest meeting, and shouted 'ROCK ROCK.' Tall, steely-eyed men appeared from nowhere, and looked menacing. The jivers by the exit sat down quickly. Then suddenly the curtain went down, without a goodbye or a thank you, after only 30 minutes of Bill Haley.

The Phalanx started clapping rock rhythm, and shouting 'We Want Bill.' More people stood up. More tall men appeared, looking more anxious. But there was still a weapon left. Over the loudspeakers at full strength blared out 'God Save the Queen'. There was a brief, anxious battle between 'God Save the Queen' and 'We Want Bill'. The Queen won. Never had the monarchy seemed so impressive. The teddy-boys slouched out, defeated.

It's a long way from the bad old days last September, when Rock 'n' Roll was causing juvenile delinquency in South London. Then it was regarded as something nasty, sexy, suggestive and un-English. Local councils banned the film. Bishops disapproved of it.

Now, it seems, it is all very different. Mr. Haley turns out to be a nice kid, just like us, who drinks milk and wants to make young people happy. Rock 'n' Roll is a recognised cure for frustrations, repressions and boredom. Even Prince Charles's dancing teacher gives lessons in Rock 'n' Roll. It shows that Britain is still virile and robust. Like Marilyn Monroe, Rock 'n' Roll has become respectable.

Written by Anthony Sampson, 10 February 1957

Out of interest Bill Haley's landmark 1954 track 'Rock Around the Clock' is considered the first popular rock 'n' roll record.

How things have changed! I, along with most of us, was not even a teenager when Rock ‘n’ Roll first began but I think it did not stop me appreciating the music and I do remember all the fuss associated with Rock ‘n’ Roll concerts.

Boy, I must be getting old!!!!

Keep in touch

Peter

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

You Write:

Had this sent to me-----
The BBC has hired Lulu to serve as host for ten programs entitled, "Rewind The 60s," which will explore the music, culture and television of each year in the decade. The shows will use archive footage and first-hand accounts.

Ray Writes:-

It is a long time since I last contacted you on any of your myriad subjects, but have long been meaning to ask you a question about one of your previous teachers.

As you may remember from when I have written before I attended, not Court Lane Schools but, Copnor Infants and then Copnor Junior Mixed Schools before moving to Northern Grammar School. It was whilst I was in the Junior School in my penultimate year, 1954/55 , age 9/10 years, class 3A we had a teacher in charge of this class called Mr. Greer, never knew a christian name as they were always Mr. Mrs or Miss. in those days. Having seen your photos. of your "Bill Greer" I have wondered, often, if it would be the same gentleman. There is certainly a strong resemblance, as I remember him and "Greer" is not what I would recall as being a particularly common name.

I remember he used to arrive at Copnor riding a push-bike which had one of those small petrol engines connected to, and driving the rear wheel, a real advance in technology at the time, altho' the name of this particular contraption evades me for the time being (Oh! what time does to the memory).
I also seem to remember that he lived either in Gosport or the Isle of Wight from where he commuted each day.
I do remember him with a great deal of affection and respect and wonder if you can confirm that it is the same person.

Trust that you are keeping well, and that you will continue to allow me to share your pictures and photographs of an age long since departed, stirring as they do such long held, wonderful memories.

Of course it was the same Bill Greer!

News and Views:

Francis Rossi of Status Quo has made a substantial investment in the 196 year-old Glen Rossie whiskey brand and the spirit will switch to a label featuring what looks like a guitar pick in his honour. Francis has been drinking the whisky for ten years after a waiter noted the similarities in their names.

On this day 11th June 1960-1965.

On 11/06/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (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 11/06/1961 the number one single was Surrender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Probation Officer (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

On 11/06/1962 the number one single was Good Luck Charm - 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 11/06/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles 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 11/06/1964 the number one single was You're My World - Cilla Black and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. 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 11/06/1965 the number one single was Long Live Love - Sandie Shaw 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. The big news story of the day was Beatles in Queen's Birthday Honours

Web Page: 842

Top Picture:

The end of the Highbury Estate in the 1960’s

Bottom Picture:

News magazine of the 1950’s




Another new school mate this week, welcome to

Chris Ashby

who says:- I was only there for one year, what was then the 'first year' at secondary school. Out of the three secondary schools I attended I always thought Manor Court was one of the friendliest and was the one I liked the most.

Venues

I have been thinking about bands and pop venues in the 60’s, so I have put together some memories that you might find interesting. It takes in venues and some of the local bands who played around the clubs and ballrooms in the sixties, which, after all was a golden era for Pompey venues and bands.

Now lets see who remembers any or all of the following:- The Classics basically a Gosport band who matured into Simon Dupree (nee Simon Clifford from Lee on Solent) and the Big Sound, Manfred Mann which again leaned heavily on an input from Gosport's Mike Hugg and Paul Jones (nee Pond) as its leading members. These bands became well know but how about Sons of Man, St Louis Checks, Rory Storm and Harlem Speakeasy (previously Harlem Soul Band). I know the members of Manfred Mann are still performing but I think all of the Big Sound have retired but I understand that Rory Storm is still going in the north of England.

And now the venues:-

The infamous Birdcage Club moved around the town and ended up in Milton Road next door to the pub near Bransbury Park on the corner of Henderson Road, the Birdcage was certainly infamous for the music it hosted and pills that could be bought, to say nothing of the regular Police raids!!!. However The Birdcage was the only place that I have seen The Who appear live. I understand that the Birdcage re-invented itself and turned into the Brave New World at the beginning of '68.

The Savoy Ballroom had its dance floor on the first floor dance floor and was opposite the South Parade Pier where concerts were held in the theatre and on the odd occasion’s pop cruises which would leave from the Pier head for a float around the Solent for the evening. The Savoy hosted many varying bands both from the pop world and the Trad Jazz world, I remember seeing the Clyde Valley Stompers there along with the Graham Bond Organisation and Georgie Fame amongst many others.

The South Parade Pier theatre, when there was no Summer Show on, saw the likes of Julie Felix, Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball but the concerts here were always very formal affairs and this is before Ken Russell got his hands on the place.

I, along with what seemed to be hundreds of others (probably on 150), crammed into the Railway Hotel in Fratton on a Saturday evening to see Manfred Mann and other R&B bands; in fact the Railway also turned into a jazz club on Friday evenings and amongst the bands I remember seeing there are the Back o’ Town Syncopators, the Down Town Syncopators with Alexander Murray-Smith, the Bourbon Street Six with Jo Collinson (who, every performance dressed in a different costume) and Gerry Brown and his Jazzmen. I understand that on one of the folk evenings, a young American carrying a guitar came in off the train from Fratton station to try to get a gig. The promoter gave him an impromptu audition but the music was not to his taste and told the young man to try somewhere else !!! The name of the young man Paul Simon ! Later to find fame with his singing and song writing partner Art Garfunkel, I wish I had been there!! One other thing that I do remember about The Railway is that it was one of the first pubs in Portsmouth to have a video juke box which was turned off on live music nights.

The Locarno in Arundel Street ran pop shows but I never remember going there also the St Marys Institute in Fratton Road (where in later years radio Victory was to find a home) hosted gigs in the Sixties as did Kimbells in Southsea.

The Guildhall was a good venue for 60’s pop featuring the best in the music world. I regret that I did not see The Beatles there (I could not afford to go that week) but I did see the live broadcast of Juke Box Jury. Over the other weeks I remember seeing Helen Shapiro, Del Shannon, Billy Fury, Gene Vincent, Louise Cordet and many other bands who were touring at that time.

Other local bands and groups I remember from this period are; Dave Dee and the Bostons who became Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch - from Salisbury, The Troggs from Andover. Jimmy James and the Vagabonds where regular visitors to the area and who would believe that Lulu and the Lovers appeared at the Thorngate Hall in Gosport as did Johnny Kidd and the Pirates.

The Odd Fellows Hall in Kingston Road ran R&B nights on Saturdays, the Animals played here and Kimbells as did Chris Farlow and Long John Bawldry.

Ahh the days of my youth!!!!!!

Keep in touch

Peter

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

You Write:


Sue Writes:

I remember the excitement when Fine Fare opened in Cosham High Street. It was advertised that the first 100 customers would receive a free chicken. My mother sent me, with £1 to queue up but I was too late.

News and Views:

After 50 years Bobby Rydell’s entire album collection with Cameo Records are being re-released in digital stereo remasters.

On this day 4th June 1960-1965.

On 04/06/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers 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 04/06/1961 the number one single was Surrender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. 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 04/06/1962 the number one single was Good Luck Charm - 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 04/06/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles 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 04/06/1964 the number one single was You're My World - Cilla Black and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. 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 04/06/1965 the number one single was Long Live Love - Sandie Shaw and the number one album was Bringing It All Back Home - Bob Dylan. 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.

Web Page: 840

Top Picture: In the centre of the picture can be seen the conveyor which transported spoil whilst the Paulsgrove Estate was being built.







Bottom Picture: A traffic easing solution tried in Commercial Road in the early 1970’s. Note the Dockyard School on the right and the pub on the corner was the Friary Meux Jolly Roger with its poem on the sign which read ‘This sign hangs high and hinders none, refreshment take and then jog on’.

Cheers

Talking about pubs I tend to think that the older I get the more I fondly remember things from the past. I began to think, the other day, about the popular drinks that we no longer see or hear asked for over the bar in the local, that’s if you have still got a local! I know that I have already talked in the past about the fancy drinks such as Babycham, Pony and Cherry B etc., but now let’s look at those drinks that were usually poured by the barman behind the public bar.

For example when was the last time you heard of someone walk up to a bar and ask for a Brown Split (half bitter and half brown ale), a Boiler Maker (a pint of bitter with a shot of Whisky or Vodka) or a Black Velvet (stout and it should be Champagne or a Sparkling Wine but in our case it was only Cider). Speaking of Cider does anyone remember a Bats Blood (Cider and Blackcurrant Juice) or for those who did not like the bitter taste of commercial Bitter ale, a Lemon Top (bitter with a dash of lemonade in it), and when was the last time that you saw a pint of Mild being served, a Little Bricky or any of the Brickwoods Sunshine Ales? Or even bought a 7 pint can of Pitkin or have gently downed a Merrydown Cider. I bet today’s modern bar staff would have little or no idea what these drinks are and as for Bernard Miles forever telling us that ‘It looks good, it tastes good and by golly it does you good’ they would be completely lost. But not as much as if they ever heard the Stanley Unwin ‘keggy in a blufflade’ advert.

Now looking towards the ladies and their tastes in drinks. For a time, for those who did not want anything alcoholic, a Tomato Juice with salt, pepper and Worcester Sauce was the ‘in’ thing or maybe a St. Clements (orange juice and lemonade). If the lady wanted something with a little punch an Egg Flip or Egg Nog or a Snowball might have been ordered or maybe a rum and black or a whisky Mac. Port and Lemon was often the drink for the older ladies, as was Dubonnet, Sweet Martini or Martini Bianco or maybe even a sweet sherry could have been the drink of choice. I remember that my grandmother occasionally liked a bottled Guinness, a product still on the shelves today but the likes of Milk Stout and Porter are long gone these days I think.

Country and fruit wines were also the ‘in’ drink in the mid 1960’s. Many of these were promoted by the Gales Brewery of Horndean (now gone). Lots of pubs had these wines behind the bar and I can remember the long line of them ranged along the back of the bar in the original Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the Havant Road in Cosham. I know I, along with others, managed to work our way all along the line and complete the full range. We even started again but then the landlord changed and a new one came in and the wines disappeared from their place on the shelf behind the bar, never to return.

I think the area we all lived in and went to school in was not over endowed with pubs and those that were there in are teenage years still appear to be there today. The New Inn ( the place where you would find a little knot of teachers on a Friday Lunchtime), the Sunshine ( Iseem to remember a Jazz Club running out the back of this place for a short while) , the Old Manor and the Shaftsbury are all still in business, as is the Railway (sometime known as the Rocket), the Portsbridge (being the nearest pub to Highbury College it was often frequented by students in term time), The Red Lion, the George and the Wymering Arms. But the likes of Uncle Toms Cabin, the East Cosham Tavern, the Ship and the George and Dragon in Cosham High Street, which had the distinction of being the first pub in Portsmouth to install a condom machine in the gents, the Clacton, the Beacon, the Old House at Home and the Beehive in Paulsgrove have all gone. To say nothing of the Harlequin in Portsdown Park. Before you think that I have forgotten the Churchillian, it took a long time to open and was not serving refreshments until 1957 and is still there. There has only been one pub opened in the area as far as I am aware and that is the First Post in Cosham High Street, but this is a designer pub and not a real boozer with a Bottle & Jug or Off Sales.

In those days the posh wine was Mateus Rose or Leibfraumilch and of course we are back in the days of frothy coffee!!! But that is another story that I explored on the site a long ago.

Ah well back to today,

Keep in touch

Peter

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

You Write:

From Anon:-



I am an Ex Manor Court boy, I do remember Mr Bennett’s woodworking classes and bringing home the mis-shaped coffee table, there were good times & bad times but it was a good school but it was a shame the name was changed. I too remember the Model Shop in Wayte Street, Cosham where we used to go and buy model aircraft kits and balsa wood. The plastic Airfix kits were always bought from Woolworths. The model shop traded under the name of Haywards and belonged to the parents of a Manor Court girl called Barbara Quinnell who lived in the Tudor style house in Central Road.

News and Views:

"Unchain My Heart," a stage musical of the life and music of Ray Charles, will open on Broadway November 7, with previews beginning October 8. No cast has yet been announced.

On this day 26th May 1960-1965.

On 26/05/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers 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 26/05/1961 the number one single was You're Driving Me Crazy - The Temperance Seven and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. 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 £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 26/05/1962 the number one single was Good Luck Charm - 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. The big news story of the day was Panic on Wall Street.


On 26/05/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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 26/05/1964 the number one single was Juliet - Four Pennies and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. 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 26/05/1965 the number one single was Where Are You Now (My Love) - Jackie Trent and the number one album was Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. 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.

Web Page 838

Top Picture: Everybodies father used this!!!









Bottom Picture: A youthful Bob Monkhouse advertises Mars.






Welcome This week we welcome Geoff Ranger to our circle, if anyone wishes to get in touch with Geoff, let me know and I will forward your messages on.


ALSO, don’t miss Peter’s memories in the You Write section.

Back to School

How many of those strange and obscure measurements that we learned at school, or were printed on the back of our exercise books can you remember? We learnt that there were 12 inches to the foot and 3 feet to the yard, OK so far? Good! But how about five yards and one foot six inches to the rod (or pole or perch), 4 rods (or poles or perch) to the chain, 22 yards or 100 links to a chain, 10 chains to the furlong, and 8 furlongs to the mile. I am now getting a little confused how about you? I think that probably the only people who use these unusual measurements these days are jockeys, race horse owners for furlongs, cricketers for chains and I understand that allotment are still rented out in rods!

Near me when I lived in Farlington, as in many other parts of the country, was an area called 40 acres, this being the ancient area of land that one man could work on his own. Now who remembers that one acre is 4,840 square yards, which is equivalent to the area of a rectangle one furlong in length and one chain in breadth. I certainly cannot!

Down at the local other measures were used gills, pints, quarts and gallons. Of course gallons have always been somewhat confusing, as Americans visiting this country for the first time quickly discover, but the confusion isn’t confined to the difference between an Imperial gallon of petrol and an American gallon of gasoline, oh no! The volume of a gallon of wine is 231 cubic inches, whereas that of a gallon of beer is 282. Now in Scotland the chopin was half a standard pint and, at 51.7 cubic inches, was close to the English quart at 57.75 cubic inches. A mutchkin was half a chopin. You didn't know about mutchkins and chopins did you? Neither did I! Well not to worry two generations on from now no British schoolchildren will know about gills and quarts either. They will be lost in the mists of antiquity and we will not even go into the sizes of Firkins (9gallons), Kilderkin (18gallons) and barrel (36 gallon), Hogshead (1.5 barrels), a puncheon (2 barrels), a Butt (3barrels) or even a Yard of Ale.

Now to other things. Down at the fishmongers our mothers bought a pint, or half pint of shrimps, why not a pound or half pound? Or a pair of kippers, why not a couple? In the grocers eggs were boxed in long hundreds even though there were only 360 in the box, A Bakers dozen was always 13 and if you bought a box of tomatoes it was a chip. I remember that certain grocery stores, Pinks being one of them, sold loose sherry which meant that you had to take along an old sherry or wine bottle and have it topped up, but the loose liquid was sold by the pint and not by the bottle or half bottle.

Off now to the sweet shop where we lined up to buy a quarter of humbugs, or if we were a little short of pocket money just two ounces. Whatever quantity you wanted they were weighed out in little Avery scales which only weight up to one pound, the sweets were then slid into a little paper bag before we could get out hands on them. Of course money was different then and we could buy candied shrimps at four for a penny or even one for a farthing! Ah! this is back in the days of shillings, florins, half crowns and guineas, EMI even produced a line of LP’s under the title of the Golden Guinea range at just £1 1s. 0d each.

Nautically speaking I have never understood that particular terminology, just what is a fathom or a league, a cable or a nautical mile.

And we thought that going metric was a problem!!!
Take Care and keep in touch

Peter

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


You Write:

Peter writes:-

I notice that one of your recent memory pictures was Uncle Toms cabin on Havant Road at Cosham. I remember that stretch of Road before that. It was basically a long Terrace of buildings from the top of Park Lane round to the top of Cosham High Street. At the top of Park Lane, was an Off Licence called Smeeds, ( they had several branches throughout Portsmouth ). At the time I am talking about, late 50's early 60's I believe the Manager was a Mr Pugsly. They also had a shop in the middle of Cosham High Street which was run by a Mr Vacary. I went to Court Lane with his daughter Jacky Vacary.

Coming along Havant Road from Park Lane in this long terrace, was the old Uncle Toms Cabin and right next door, The East Cosham Tavern. Their fronts were a 4ft pavement width from the road. Just beyond that, was an Esso Garage called Lettons. They served Petrol on the frontage from the old fashioned tall pumps and had workshops behind. My father Mr Barlow, who owned Bakers of Cosham, ( the chemist ) always got his petrol there for his 1936 Morris Eight and then his 1949 Vauxhall Wyvern and then his 1958 Ford Zodiac Executive. Wherever he was, he would never use any other Petrol than Esso.

The terrace continued on towards the High Street with houses and I always remember one of them had a bedridden lady in the front room where the window was always wide open so that she could see the people and traffic passing by. As you came into the High Street was Dodd & Reads Newsagents where I had my Paper Round. Seven days a week Morning and evening I got 14 shillings.

On the other side of the road where there are now Flats, there was a raised area which was the back of Widley Street. Along that raised area, was a Cobblers shop called Kelseys. On the North East top corner of the High Street was a Scrap Yard called Coopers. I remember them well because they had to big Conker Trees in their Yard. One Sunday afternoon when all was quiet, me and a couple of school friends climbed over their wall with a sack to collect conkers. Unfortunately we got caught and they accused us of nicking scrap even though the sack had conkers in it. They called the police and we were marched down to the new Cosham Police Station. Looking back on it, I am sure that both they and the Police knew we weren't nicking scrap but they certainly gave us a rough time and a clip round the ear.

I hope this gives a bit more insight into how it was at the top of the High Street back in the 50s & early 60s ( The Good Old Days )


News and Views:

At The Hard on 26th March a statue to commemorate the Portsea Mudlarks was unveiled. It was commissioned through the work of the Portsea Action Group, worked tirelessly for nine years to raise the money for a permanent reminder of the cherished childhood memories.The names of some of the mudlarkers now have a place in history as their names have been etched onto plaques around the plinth. I ex Mudlarker said "I first saw my wife when I was a mudlarker. She used to come over from the Isle of Wight with her mum and threw money down. Years later she recognised me and that's when we got together." The ceremony was opened by MP for Portsmouth South, Mike Hancock, who said, "As a kid, I was one of those who messed about in the mud for money and got a good hiding for it when I got home."

More News and Views:

An auction of Buddy Holly memorabilia, including a recording of songs made weeks before his death, was held on April 9th in Dallas. Buddy's widow, Maria Elena, was there to talk about both the items and Buddy himself.


On this day 19th May 1960-1965

On 19/05/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Royal Variety Performance (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 19/05/1961 the number one single was On the Rebound - Floyd Cramer and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. 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 £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 19/05/1962 the number one single was Nut Rocker - B Bumble & the Stingers 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 Marilyn Monroe sings Happy Birthday for JFK.

On 19/05/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Liberal Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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 19/05/1964 the number one single was Don't Throw Your Love Away - Searchers and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. 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 Microphones found in Moscow's US Embassy.

On 19/05/1965 the number one single was King of the Road - Roger Miller and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Queen visits West Germany