Web Page 950

Top Picture: The Supremes
Second Picture: The Original line up of The Who

Rock ‘n Roll in America

Rock 'n' roll was an American invention but it is still constantly progressing, adapting and experimenting allowing it to remain relevant to each succeeding generation, but it maintains the same urgency and perspective it had when it was founded more than a half-century ago.

So let us look at the first half of the 1960’s and note the high spots of the music in the USA at that time.


1960

Eddie Cochran dies at 21 in a car crash while on tour in England with Gene Vincent.
The twist was launched and it has adults taking part as well as kids and it becomes the most widespread dance craze since the Charleston ruled the 20's.

The Shirelles launch the girl group era with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow".
Motown Records makes its first splash with "Shop Around" a No 1 R&B hit by The Miracles.

Roy Orbison has his first major hit with "Only The Lonely".

The Ventures hit instrumental "Walk - Don't Run" brings the electric guitar back into prominence.

Elvis Presley is discharged from the Army and immediately scores a series of hit singles and albums upon his return with a slightly less menacing, more mature persona.

1961

Del Shannon's "Runaway" was the first unadorned and up-tempo rocker to hit No 1 on the Pop Charts in almost a year. The song also introduces the "musitron", an early form of the synthesizer.

The Marvelettes "Please Mr. Postman" becomes the first No 1 Pop hit released on a black owned and operated label - Motown.

A widespread revival of the mid-50's vocal group sound results in the re-appearance in the charts and airwaves of dozens of songs from 1954.

Gary "US" Bonds has a hit with "Quarter To Three" with its emphasis on a frenzied atmosphere rather than on intricate production.

Soul music starts gaining a foothold with hits by Sam Cooke, James Brown, Solomon Burke and former Drifters lead signer Ben E. King, who's "Stand By Me" is a No 1 R&B record.

Elvis Presley gives his last live performance for eight years.

1962

Motown continues to expand its power-base scoring No 1 R&B hits by both Mary Wells and the Contours and while attracting musical talent from all over Detroit that will soon result in the label becoming the biggest in the country.

Southern soul has its first major hit with the instrumental "Green Onions" by Booker T. & The MG's.

Ray Charles successfully melds country music with soul and crosses into the pop realm with the album "Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music".

The surf music craze, begun by instrumentalists in the previous few years, adds vocals when the Beach Boys score their first hit "Surfin' Safari".

Surf-rock guitarist Dick Dale debuts the new Fender Reverb amplifier.

The Four Seasons vocal harmonies explodes on the scene with three consecutive No 1 hits in the waning months of the year.

50's legends Fats Domino, Clyde McPhatter, The Everly Brothers, LaVern Baker and Bo Diddley score their final major hits after a decade in the spotlight.

1963

Surfing music lands dozens of guitar led instrumentals on the charts while the Beach Boys dominate the airwaves with a string of hit singles and three Top Ten albums in this year alone and are joined on the scene by Jan & Dean who notch the only surfing No1 hit with "Surf City".

The Girl Group sound explodes as Phil Spector becomes the dominant producer in rock churning out hits by the Ronettes, Crystals and Darlene Love, while others such as Lesley Gore and The Chiffons top the charts as well.

Motown leads a revitalization of R&B with huge successes by Martha & The Vandellas, The Miracles, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye and the first hit by the 12 year genius "Little" Stevie Wonder.

James Brown's album "Live At The Apollo" becomes the first LP by a pure R&B artist to hit the Top Five on the album charts.

Early records by the Beatles fail to make an impact in America when they are released by various companies who note the limited interest and decline to pick up their distribution option.

1964

Rock 'n' roll has its first major shakeup in nearly a decade when in late January "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles tops the US Pop charts.

In February The Beatles appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show receives record ratings as Beatlemania explodes worldwide.

Four of the six No 1 records between February and June are by the Beatles, a feat surpassed only by Elvis Presley in 1956.

English bands now flood American shores with the Merseybeat sound taking over the airwaves in June that year, resulting in the term "The British Invasion". By summer however American acts regained their footing with the two resident hit-makers The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons topping the charts in July.
The Beatles first film, "A Hard Day's Night" opens to rave reviews.

The next wave of the British Invasion featuring groups which were based in blues and R&B such as the Rolling Stones, Kinks and Animals follows by mid-summer.

The second musical explosion of the year happens when Motown strikes back with its biggest hits to date by the Temptations, Four Tops and its newest group The Supremes who score three No 1's in the final five months of the year.

Feminist stances are taken in Dionne Warwick's "Don't Make Me Over" and Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me", marking the first time in mainstream rock that hit records included these emerging viewpoints.

Sam Cooke, soul music's biggest star, is shot and killed by a woman at a hotel on December 10th. It is rock music's most publicized casualty since Buddy Holly's death in early 1959.

1965

Folk-rock is ushered in by The Byrds doing a cover of "Mr. Tambourine Man" which help introduce its author Bob Dylan to a wider audience.
Bob Dylan "plugs in" at the Newport Folk Festival marking the shift from acoustic folkie to rock 'n' roller.

Protest-rock follows focusing on such topics as the escalating war in Vietnam with "Eve Of Destruction" by Barry McGuire, to the civil rights battles in America by "People Get Ready" by the Impressions, to anti-authority songs such as the Rolling Stones No 1 hit "Satisfaction".

Martha & The Vandellas "Dancing In Streets" is used as a rallying cry when racial riots start during the summer.

Blues-rock hits its high point with The Yardbirds, The Who and The Pretty Things turning out acclaimed records in this aggressive style.
Southern soul scores its first major breakthroughs with Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Solomon Burke notching huge hits that cut across racial boundaries.
James Brown makes a startling and abrupt shift from pure soul to a rhythm-based new invention of his own making called "funk" with the hits "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" and "I Got You".

The Beatles and Elvis Presley meet for the only time at Presley's Los Angeles home. While there John Lennon asks his idol why he doesn't record rock 'n' roll anymore.
Alan Freed, who coined the term "rock 'n' roll" and introduced it to white America a decade earlier, dies broke and forgotten at age 44 of alcoholism.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:
Griff Writes:-

I was with Barry Dunnaway when the "Homemade Bomb" was planted by us in the sewerage works behind Kinross Crescent area. The other person I remember being in attendance and hiding behind the large earth mound as the fuse was lit was Robert ( Bob) Webster,
The "bomb" fuse was model aircraft Jetex fuse wire which was slow 'ish burning and the bomb ingredients were the usual cocktail of sugar and weed killer etc. , The resultant explosion was enormous and all I can remember of the event was running away as fast as my legs would carry me as all the adjoining neighbours came out to see what the loud explosion was all about. The hole left was enormous! That was my last interest in making homemade bombs.



News and Views:
He's not leaving the Rolling Stones, but Mick Jagger is recording with a "supergroup" (called Super Heavy) composed of Joss Stone, Damian Marley, Dave Stewart and movie music composer A.R. Rahman. An album is expected in September.



On this day 24th June 1960-1965.

On 26/06/1960

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 26/06/1961

the number one single was Surrender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was 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 26/06/1962

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 26/06/1963

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. The big news story of the day was Kennedy declares Ich bin ein Berliner

On 26/06/1964

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 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 26/06/1965

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 948

Top Picture: The Odeon at the top of Cosham High Street





Second Picture: The bunker from the Starfish Project.

Things that go bang

What is it about young boys that make them fascinated by things that go bang? When I was in my early teens I was given a chemistry set for my birthday as was a neighbour, John Marsalsea who lived just down the road. We spent hours in one of his fathers’ garden sheds putting both sets together and creating weird and wonderful smells, plastics and other strange concoctions. We soon learnt that we could make basic explosives with some of the ingredients we had to hand. But that was not enough. We needed to make something that would produce a bigger bang and so with a little research and prompting from older boys we reckoned we could make a weedkiller and sugar bomb. But where were we to get the ingredients? Sugar was easy, it came from Mums’ larder and the weedkiller was obtained from the local ironmongers in Drayton, I cannot remember if it was Nappers or Lights, but I think it was from Lights. The final ingredient, saltpetre was to be a problem until we discovered there was a chemist in on the corner of Queens Road and Kingston Road, Glanvilles, who sold all sorts of chemistry things such as glass tubing, distillation coils, rubber bungs, Bunsen burners and chemicals. So off we set off on our bikes down to Glanvilles and nervously asked for an ounce of saltpetre which, much to our surprise, was sold to us with no trouble at all.

Back at home we were now ready to experiment so having gathered the other apparatus which was needed, an empty Golden Syrup tin with a hole in the lid, a home made wick and cotton packing as wadding for the tin we set to in John’s shed and made our first bomb. We took it down to the bottom of his large garden, well out of the way of adults eyes and buried the device. It most certainly worked making a very loud bang but actually causing very little damage.

After a bit of research and culling information from other lads, we discovered that there was one essential element missing from this explosive cocktail to make it more destructive. We, along with many other boys in the area had long ago discovered the old armaments dump to do with the wartime Starfish Project, which was on Farlington Marshes and was abandoned and never properly decommissioned after the war. This was to provide the final ingredient we needed. After a little digging, in what must have been, a very unstable mass we managed to extract some of the buried Cordite from the armaments. (it turns me cold now thinking about what we did then).

Now we had all that was needed and putting all the ingredients together we prepared our device put it in our saddlebags and cycled down to the Marshes. Here we buried it in the mud at low tide and set the fuse burning. We only ever did this once because the resulting enormous bang and the pounds of sloppy mud that was thrown feet into the air from this terrific explosion scared us to death. We mounted our bikes and peddled furiously away and vowed never to play with explosives again. And we didn’t!

Even though we had not caused any damage to anyone or anything apart from the mud and a few crabs, it scared us so much that our chemistry sets were soon forgotten.

The whole story was resurrected from the dark recesses of my mind recently when I was talking to Barry and he was telling me of his adventures with these weed killer and sugar bombs. He thinks, although he is not sure, that it was one of his groups’ bombs, which had been placed in the coke filter beds at the Sewage Works that caused the bed to ignite, so much so that the fire brigade had to be called to put it out!!!!!

I am sure that if our parents knew what we were up to dire consequences would have followed but they never knew and now after my conversation with Barry whenever I drive past Farlington Marshes I remember that afternoon when we blew an enormous hole in the mud. But as they say on the telly, “Don’t try this at home children”.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

From the Pages 9 years ago


That Sporting Life

Sport at school was never one of my major priorities and apart from remembering that I was a member of Masefield House whose house colour was green, not a lot immediately comes to my mind on this subject. The only sport I pursued for a time was swimming. I, along with many others, was taught to swim in the Hilsea Lido outdoor pool by Mr Young. My, that place was certainly cold even in the height of summer. Then in the winter we were taken by bus down to the old Victoria baths in Park Road that had the distinction of being situated right next door to the City Mortuary (very handy). Does anyone else remember those beach hut type changing rooms that were built along the side of the pool? Rooms with half saloon type doors, giving very little privacy and very little elbow room, it was here we had to change and then dry ourselves off as quickly as possible so we could get back on the bus to return to school. This pool was the home of the Northsea Swimming Club, which I joined and trained with for a few years and eventually became fairly proficient in middle distance swimming almost reaching County standard but not quite. The funny thing is that I now hate anything to do with swimming and would not go willingly to a swimming pool if you paid me.

I was also never very keen on football but somehow I was picked three times for the School team and played outside left and, as far as I remember, and made very little contribution to any of the games I played in. Some of the names I remember from the team are Steve Carter in goal, Alan Clarkson, David Harris, Phil Ward, Morrell and Frankie Howells. But as I said I only every played three times and that was all in one season. For some reason I also seem to remember playing in an all boys netball team whilst still at Solent Road Junior School.

Sports lessons now come to mind. Hoards of us climbing into a Corporation bus outside Court Lane School and being driven, whilst changing into sports kit, to and from East Lodge to spend the afternoon at our sporting pursuits. Most of this is just a blur, and I have very vague memories of cricket and field sports. However I do remember one particular day when we had an ambulance roared onto the playing fields because one lad had thrown a javelin at another and it lodged in his foot.

I also remember a sports day or maybe it was two that were held on the running track in Alexandra Park at Tipner, why it was there and if I took part in anything I just cannot remember. But I do remember it was a windy and cold spot which seemed miles from anywhere and we were glad to go home.

However I do remember that I enjoyed, and was reasonably good, at cross country running and came in third on two separate occasions in the School cross country championships no medals, no prizes but just very surprised looks from several teachers. No I did not take a short cut or get the bus!

Then there were the sessions in the hall on the various instruments of torture that were produced from the equipment cupboard, the vaulting horse and the box to name just two. I could never get on with either of these items, likewise the wall bars, and I could not climb a rope to save my life. After an hour of strenuous activity came the march back to the changing room and in the boys section at least those ghastly walk through communal showers. As you can read from above I was never a very sports minded person, I was more interested in the social life after school. People such as Larraine was well into the Sporting Life of the School.

One cannot mention sport at school without mentioning Jim Fox, the Olympic Pentathlon Champion, who won a gold medal at the Montreal Olympics. Jim was a couple of years younger than us but I dimly remember him in my role as Deputy Head Boy taking late duties and minding classes when the teacher was absent, and also as a Patrol Second at Scouts. But neither I, nor our old Scout leader at the time Skipper Bill Mustoe, remembers Jim ever showing any leaning to sporting activities whatsoever. It just goes to show how wrong you can be.

I am sure that a perspective of the Sports Scene from the female point of view would be interesting to us lads, so come on girls, put pen to paper.

You Write:

Steve Writes:

I was a Army cadet at Tudor Crescent in the mid 60s, are cap badge was the Wessex Wyvern, this was taken from the 43rd Wessex Brigade which was a South coast Brigade it is famous as the British Army Brigade that went to the support of the Paratroopers at the ill fated Bridge to Far in Arnham. The Bridge over the creek at Peronne road was known as the Peronne Road Military Bridge.

News and Views:

James Arness, who died on June 3 aged 88, played Matt Dillon, the square-jawed, heroic marshal of Dodge City in Gunsmoke, which became one of America’s most durable television series. Critics hailed the show — which ran from 1955 to 1975 and was known in Britain as Gun Law — as “the grimy, gritty version of the reality of frontier life” and as “television’s first adult Western”. A strong supporting cast included Milburn Stone as Doc, Amanda Blake as the saloon keeper and Dennis Weaver as Dillon’s gullible deputy Chester Goode and from 1962 to 1965 a youthful Burt Reynolds was recruited to play Quint, the lusty, honest Dodge City blacksmith.

On this day 19th June 1960-1965.

On 19/06/1960

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 19/06/1961

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 19/06/1962

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 19/06/1963

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 USSR puts first woman in space.

On 19/06/1964

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 19/06/1965

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.

Web Page 946

Top Picture: Anthony Newley




Second Picture: The Kings Theatre Southsea in the 1960’s

Anthony Newley

Anthony George Newley, who died at age 67, was an actor, singer, songwriter and director of unusual versatility; his career spanned more than 50 years and embraced film, repertory theatre, comedy revues, music hall, television and had to be one of the most unlikely rock ‘n roll stars of the 1960’s.

He was the original East End boy made good, born illegitimately in Hackney and leaving school at 14. He then found success as a child actor, most notably as the Artful Dodger in David Lean's 1948 film OLIVER TWIST at the age of 17 He made his U.S. debut in 1956, appearing in six films that year. In the 1950s and 1960s, he seemd to be everywhere on television and, seven times, in the top ten.

He made his theatre debut in 1946 in WINDS OF HEAVEN at Colchester and his West End debut in 1955 in the revue CRANKS, which dispensed with sets and relied on John Addison's music, clever lyrics and surprise tactics to hold the attention. CRANKS fired his imagination, and in 1960, after his success in IDLE ON PARADE, he began his career as a director with his own television show, THE STRANGE WORLD OF GURNEY SLADE, a comedy about a social misfit. A programme which had a cult following the theme music being written by Max Harris.

His singing career came about almost by accident. In 1959, he took the part of rock and roll star Jeep Jackson - a spoof on Elvis Presley - in the film IDLE ON PARADE. A ballad from the film, I've Waited So Long, took him to the top of the British charts and started a three year run of hits which included Personality, If She Should Come to You, And The Heavens Cried and the novelty numbers Pop Goes the Weasel and Strawberry Fair. He also had two No 1s, with Why and Lionel Bart's Do You Mind? To say nothing of ‘Right said Fred’ and ‘Hole in the Ground’. "So overnight I had this incredible power," he said years later. "I was a rock and roll singer and it lasted for ten wonderful years."

His film appearances included DOCTOR DOLITTLE and THE COCKLESHELL HEROES. But he is likely to be best known for co-writing and starring in the hit musicals STOP THE WORLD - I WANT TO GET OFF and THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT - THE SMELL OF THE CROWD, as well as a number of best-selling hit singles, including What Kind Of Fool Am I?, The Candy Man and Goldfinger. In 1987 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.


In the United States he became one of the very few British crooners to make it big on the US cabaret circuit (In Las Vegas he commanded the same attention as Tony Bennett, Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra) and his Cockney rags-to-riches story made him a chat show favourite. In 1977 he was voted the Male Musical Star of the Year in Las Vegas. Even the Mafia gave him a special welcome. "They said to me, 'We'd like to buy you a gift', so I asked for a Jaguar and they drove a Jaguar onto the stage," he recalled. He was also an influence on David Bowie among later performers.

He was married and divorced three times. His first marriage in 1956, to Elizabeth Ann Lynn, was dissolved in 1963, the same year he married Joan Collins; they divorced in 1971. His third wife was an air hostess, Dareth Dunn, whom he divorced in 1989. He was survived by his mother, Grace, 96 (with whom he lived in Surrey since 1992 after 22 years living in the U.S.), and four children, a boy (Sacha) and girl (Tara) with Joan Collins and another boy (Christopher) and girl (Shelby) with Dareth Dunn.

He was a lifelong home movie enthusiast and even filmed his first date with John Collins. Twenty years later they teamed up again in London to appear in two of Noel Coward's one-act plays for BBC Television. He also appeared on BBC television in cameo appearances in the drama series THE LAKES and as an amorous used car salesman in the soap EASTENDERS.

Ill health had plagued him for many years. He was first diagnosed with renal cell cancer in 1985, and had one kidney removed. The cancer returned in 1997, this time attacking his lungs, then spreading to his liver.

He died in April 1999.


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Chris (Biff) writes:

I hope we are not that old

Penicillin = Alexander Fleming in 1928
Split atoms =The discovery of nuclear fission occurred in 1938
Ball-point pens =The first patent on a ballpoint pen was issued on 30 October 1888
Air conditioners =In 1906, Stuart W. Cramer

Peter Writes:

The name of the news Agents at the top of the High Street was Dodd & Reads. I also used to be a paper boy there mornings and evenings from about 1955 to 1959

John Writes:

Just another of them long distance thoughts, and maybe someone may have some local knowledge.
I was a member of the Army Cadet Force (ACF) at the Drill Hall on Tudor Crescent, There are two questions I would like if possible the answers to.

1. Can anyone remember the name of the bridge that run from Tudor Crescent towards Perrone road before the M27 was build, I believe that this bridge was build during the 2nd World War as a way of moving heavy armour towards the harbour prior to D Day.

News and Views:

Kathy Kirby died on May 19th in London after a short illness. "The Golden Girl Of Pop," as she was dubbed, was 72. Kathy amassed two top ten hits (her biggest a version of "Secret Love" that she sang representing England in the Eurovision song competition in 1965) and three more top 40 records. She did have her own television program in Britain. Her last public appearance was in the early '80s and in recent years she had become somewhat reclusive.

On this day 12th June 1960-1965.

On 12/06/1960 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 12/06/1961 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 12/06/1962 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. The big news story of the day was 3 convicts dig out of Alcatraz with spoons.

On 12/06/1963 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 12/06/1964 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 12/06/1965 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.

Web Page 944

Top Picture: The tennis courts at Hilsea Lido





Second Picture: Remember these readers from school?

The end of term

I heard a discussion the other day between two people of our age who were discussing what the routine was at the end of term at their our junior schools and I came to realise that we did the same sort of things at our Junior school.

Term always finished on a Thursday afternoon, I don’t know why it was not Friday maybe it was something to do with giving the teachers a long weekend! But that last day of term we could take books and games into school for the afternoon session; but we had to work for it in the mornings.

We were all expected to take along a small tin of furniture polish and a rag so that we could polish our desks ready for the new class after the holidays. I think that either the Bettaware or the Kleeneze company, I cannot remember which, had this all sewn up as they used to give out very small sample tins of polish. These tins were about a third of the size of a tin of shoe polish and so were idea for putting into your shoe bag and taking to school.

Desk cleaning could be fun but the job we all hated was cleaning the inkwells. If you remember when we were at Junior school we had to use powdered ink which had to be made up each morning. This was bad enough but come the end of term the inkwells and the long spouted pouring jug had to be cleaned. All through the term kids had been filling the inkwells with little pieces of blotting paper, now came the time to clean it out and so with a short stick some of us had to hook the pieces out whilst others had to wash the inkwells in a big bowl of cold water. Lucky that ink was soluble as it went everywhere in hair, on noses and onto clothes! When the well washers were finished they had fore arms that looked as though they had fallen into a blackberry patch but this necessitated at trip to the boys toilets where amongst much laughing and giggling the arms were cleaned.

Come the afternoon the mood totally changed as we were allowed to play, under supervision and without making too much noise with the games we had brought into school with us that morning


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

John Writes:-

I love reading the Manor Court updates, every time you put an article on to the page it brings back more memory's, The mention of St Coleman's Church on the Havant Road brought back some memories when I was paperboy for a Newsagent at the top of Cosham High Street unfortunately the name of the shop escapes me.
I can clearly remember when I had to deliver the Sunday Newspapers to the area around the Church and because of all the Sunday supplement's my bag would weigh a ton!

The only answer to preventing a long lasting back problem was to go into the front foyer of the Church and divide my load into the streets/roads that I had to deliver to, I then stored them their until I had finished each road. I made sure that all the newspapers were delivered before the Church was opened up for the Sunday morning service's and getting caught by the Vicar,
Thanks for the memorys and keep reminding us of the good old days


News and Views:

Peggy Sue Gehron, for whom Buddy Holly named his song, "Peggy Sue," is selling the first car Buddy ever bought, a 1958 Chevrolet Impala, on Ebay. With 3 1/2 days to go, the current bid is over $111,000. However, the reserve price has not been met.


On this day 5th June 1960-1965.

On 05/06/1960 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 05/06/1961 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 05/06/1962 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 05/06/1963 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. The big news story of the day was Profumo resigns.

On 05/06/1964 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 05/06/1965 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.

Web Page 942

Top Picture: A publicity picture from the early 1960’s promoting the mini skirt, who would have thought it would have lasted so long?




Second Picture: This postcard says award winning Portsmouth, how wrong could anyone be, I think most of the residents of Portsmouth were glad to see the Tricorn go.

Fashion


I know that fashion is a subject that I have looked at a couple of times before but very recently I have had three different conversations with ladies of my own age and they all came out with the same basic fashion story. I wonder if ladies you can relate this tale that they all related?

“My Father was dead against modern fashion but Mum usually managed to pour oil over troubled waters whenever I came home with a new dress or skirt that Father did not think ‘proper’. Eventually we came to a compromise as to the length of my skirts and for a time we drifted along on an even keel. However once Father had got used to seeing, and accepting, the skirt length of my favourite skirt I thought that I could quietly make the odd alteration without him noticing. How wrong I was! During the weekday evenings, when I was in my room supposedly doing my homework, I was actually unpicking the hem of my smartest skirt and taking it up about an inch at a time. I though this was very clever as when I went out on Saturday evenings Father had got used to the skirt and passed no comment. But I was not prepared for the observation powers of Father because over three or four weeks the hem of that skirt went up by about an inch at a time and I thought I was very clever getting away with it. But, as we all know, parents are cleverer than we give them credit for and one Saturday evening as I was coming down the stairs getting ready to go out Father looked up at me, then looked at the hem and said ‘there is no way a daughter of mine is going out wearing a skirt like that, it makes you look like a tart, go up and change.’ Of course in those days Fathers word was law so I meekly went up and changed into my second best, longer skirt and he was happy, but he never, ever let me wear that skirt again.”

Does this tale ring any bells girls?

Mind you it was not only you girls who suffered fashion problems. I myself came across it. My mother was dead against winkle picker shoes and I was told that all the time I was at school and they were buying my clothes I would have what they wanted me to wear. Like most of us I managed to get a part time job when I was in my latter years at school, I worked in a garage, for the Post Office and in a record shop. The upshot of this was that I had money of my own. So one Saturday afternoon I plucked up my courage and cycled into Cosham and bought myself a pair of winklepickers, sorry Mary-Ann I did not buy them from your fathers shop, Christophers. Having got them I felt very proud but on the way home I realised that I somehow had to get them into the house and not only that when I wanted to wear them I had to get them out again. I had not thought the problem through. On the way home it dawned on me we lived in a semi detached house and I could get past the kitchen window and into the back garden and from there into the large shed we had half way down the garden. So I developed a plan to creep past the kitchen, up the garden and hide the shoes in the back of the shed. This I successfully managed and I wandered into the house as if nothing was wrong. The two things that I had forgotten were that whenever I wanted to wear the shoes I had to say goodbye, go out the front door get down on my hands and knees and crawl past the kitchen window and once I had reached the shed, which had no electrical power in it, I had to rummage around in the dark until I found the shoes. Of course I had to reverse the process when I came home. This worked well during the winter months and early spring but come the lighter evening my father would often spend some time outside gardening and in so doing putting the retrieval of the shoes impossible. Still by the time the summer came and I was getting ready to go to college the ‘in’ footwear were sandals, Mum did not mind them and so the winkle pickers were left in the back of the shed. I cannot remember ever retrieving them when I left home or even when my parents moved, so if the shed is still being used there could well be a 50 year old pair of winkle pickers wrapped in newspaper jammed between the boards in the back left hand corner! If they are I don’t think I will claim them back!!!

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

More from Jonathon:

The chap I reported into on a daily basis at the Coop Bakery was a charge hand called Alex Rose, a dour middle aged Scot.

Did you ever work there. I don't recall names well but there were certainly some characters on my shift. One was a chap who was not completely all there because of his war experiences. He was a POW in WW2 who got involved in one of the infamous "death marches" from central Germany into Russia, he was as tough as old boots and used to do several jobs around the clock. His idea of a summer holiday was lifting potatoes at a farm on Farlington Marshes!!!!!

There were a number of different jobs that I got tasked to do at the bakery. The least favourite was in the Proving space, where you were cut off from the rest of the staff and received a constant stream of machine kneaded dough "lumps" that had to be placed in tins on moving shelves on one side of the space that had been vacated by moving the tins of proved dough and on the other sides's shelves.

Humping huge sacks of flour in the mixing attic was another and my commonest job "oven hand" where I would physically lift and bang out baked bread and simultaneously load proved dough into the oven......2 tonnes an hour!!!!!!

Some days we had the treat of preparing sweet cakes for the coop, this involved taking the cake sponges about 8 inches in diameter. Slicing them through the middle and filling them with cream and jam before boxing them.

News and Views:

Pete Townsend of the Who has announced that he is writing an autobiography. The as-yet untitled tome will be published in Autumn 2012 by HarperCollins.

On this day 29th May 1960-1965.

On 29/05/1960

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. The big news story of the day was Sterling Moss wins Monaco Grand Prix.

On 29/05/1961

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 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 29/05/1962

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 London share values crash.

On 29/05/1963

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 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 29/05/1964

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 29/05/1965

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 940

Top Picture

: A Chinese Checkers Board from the 1950’s

Second Picture:

The outside of the Odeon, North End. This is now a bargain store.

Table Games

I thought in this electronic age I would take a look at the simple games that we played with as kids, games that could be played indoors and on a dining room table and did not need to be plugged in or fitted with batteries.

The first game that came to mind was Chinese Checkers, a game I never really took to and could see little point in, mind you the same went for Ludo and Solitaire! However looking for sheer tension and excitement you really could not beat a good game of Snakes and Ladders even though you nearly always landed on the long snake that was just before the winning square. Chess, Draughts, Monopoly, Totopoly and if you were posh Backgammon sets some or all of these were normally hidden somewhere in the toy cupboard as were the many and varied card games. Now let’s see how many of these card games I can remember. Old Maid, Happy Families, Snap, Pit, Lexicon and Kan-U-Go, there must be more!

Getting towards maths based games we come across some old favourites domino’s, shove halfpenny, bagatelle and cribbage, all of which are still very popular games today although now they have moved away from the children and out of the homes because they are now mainly played in rural public houses.

Back to children’s games on the table, if we were lucky enough to have a largish dining table out would come the Table Tennis or Ping Pong set and after fixing the net onto the table with the clamps, making sure that they did not scratch the polished surface, fast and furious games would ensue until someone stepped on the last ball and flattened it. End of game. The other full tabletop game was Blow Football, this was before Subuteo superseded it. How well I remember placing the goals in the right places, checking my blowing tube or straw and then attempting to huff and puff and blow the ping pong ball into the opponents goal. But children being what they are, the blow tubes soon filled up with spit and dribble and very soon the whole of the table top was covered with little wet pools. This meant the game had to stop the pitch cleaned and dried before the second half could begin. Yuk!!!

While sitting round the table we could of played a game we knew as Housey, Housey, little did we know that with a name change to Bingo this game would sweep the country in a few years time.

Games involving only pencil and paper were always popular noughts and crosses, Beetle, Hangman, consequences, and battleships to name just a few.

My grandmother was a card fanatic, off she would go to the Whist Drive three or four times a week in different hall in the area, but she also played card games with us at home. Beat my Neighbour, Matrimony, 21’s and of course whist were all favourites, others come to mind such as Rummy and patience, I never did get the hang of Bridge and my grandmother and her friends would spend hours around the table playing a game called Bezique, a game I never understood at all!

Then there were the hoards of board games which were very loosely based on popular radio and TV programmes. Do you remember the Dixon of Dock Green Game, the Lone Ranger Game and the Wells Fargo Game? No nor do I but they were all around when we were young!

These are just a few of the games that were around I am sure you can add more to the list, Pick-a-Sticks, has just come into my mind and so has Yahtse. So come on get you thinking caps on and see if we can drag up a few more bygone games.



Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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


Web page from 9 years ago

We the Over 50's

Maybe I am getting cynical in my old age but ….
We were born before mass television was popular, before penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, plastic bags, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill. We were born before credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ball-point pens; before dishwashers, tumble dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip dry clothes.......
We got married first and then lived together. We thought "fast food" was what you ate in Lent, a "Big Mac" was an oversized raincoat, and "crumpet" was what you had buttered for tea. We existed before househusbands, computer dating, dual careers, when a "meaningful relationship" meant getting along with your cousins, and "sheltered accommodation" was where you waited for the bus. We had never heard of FM radio, tape decks, word processors, yoghurt, pizzas, or young men wearing earrings. For us a "chip" was piece of wood or a fried potato, "hardware" meant nuts and bolts and "software" wasn't even a word. The term "making out" referred to how you did in exams, "stud" was something that fastened your clothes with and "going all the way" meant staying on the double-decker bus to the depot.........
In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, "grass" was mown, "coke" was kept in the coal shed, and a "joint" was the piece of meat you ate on Sundays or a connection in a water or gas pipe. "Rock music" was a lullaby for a baby and a "gay person" was always the life and soul of the party.
No wonder we are so confused. And how old are we? We will soon be just hitting 65+! But don’t you tell anyone!!


You Write:

Mary Writes:-

The new stained glass window in St Colmans Church was donated by the Daly girls, and also Lady Daly who was Lady Mayoress during the war. The Daly girls were all past pupils at Daly School in Kingston Crescent. The window is of St Teresa, and at the bottom there is the Guildhall on fire during the war, and the searchlights, very effective I think.





News and Views:

Plans to restore Wymering Manor have received a boost after two heritage groups offered to support a campaign to save the Manor. Both English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund have said they believe the building’s refurbishment should be a priority for the city. English Heritage has agreed to add the deteriorating historic landmark to its ‘at risk’ list, and confirm it as its ‘number one priority’ Portsmouth building. And representatives from the Heritage Lottery Fund have told Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt plans she has developed with local campaigners would be something they could look to fund. The manor, in Old Wymering Road, was built in 1581, and last used in 2006, when it was a youth hostel. It has repeatedly been offered for sale by the council, but has failed to reach its £350,000 minimum price – in part because of woodworm and water damage. Tom Southall, the council’s head of property, said: ‘Wymering Manor is important to Portsmouth’s heritage and we’ll do whatever we can to preserve it. The options available are limited, but we’re looking again at options that will help prevent deterioration.’


On this day 22nd May 1960-1965.

On 22/05/1960 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 22/05/1961 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 22/05/1962 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.

On 22/05/1963 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 22/05/1964 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 22/05/1965 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 938

Top Picture

: The Sunshine Inn. Maxi’s Café was where the brick building is on the left.

Bottom Picture

Christophers shoe shop, Cosham High Street





Business Again

Last weeks page about small business really sparked off your interest, so much so that the whole of this weeks page is comprised of two emails I have had, one from Jonathan and one from John. I hope you enjoy them. Also I have added a few comments of my own now and again.

Memories from Jonathan

You mentioned working for a small store and being paid in records and it reminded me of some of the jobs I did as a young teenager growing up with requirements that outstripped the pocket money my parents could afford.

I used to work at an off licence in Cosham stacking bottles on shelves and remember the delightful smells of beer that adhered to the place; but I cannot remember the name of the store. ( could it have been Smeeds ? Peter)

I delivered meat for the Farlington butcher Frank Vine, on a bicycle with a big wicker basket on the front to some of the large houses along the Havant Road. (sounds a bit like Granville to me, Peter)

I delivered Newspapers on my Lambretta scooter for the Newsagents opposite the Sunshine Inn in Farlington now a Tesco's I think. ( was that Bevis ? Peter)

For three years running in my long vacations from college I slaved as a nightworker at the Coop Bakery in Drayton near the railway triangle....I think it is a housing development now. I worked as an oven hand. I know that I used to work in atrocious conditions probably not allowed by Health and Safety these days. The heat and humidity were tremendous and l would lose 2 stone in weight each long vac. My job was to take tins of baked bread out of an open oven, knock out the bread onto a belt and load the empty oven shelf with tins of proven dough. The trays were always moving past the operating opening and if you got it wrong you got burns on the back of your forearms. (I think the head baker at that time was Mr Osborne, Peter.)

I worked at Drings stripping stacks of box blanks so that the boxes could be assembled.

I worked as a guillotine operator at Power Brakes in Paulsgrove. My job was to use a magnetic clamp to lift a sheet of metal from a stack by trapping air under it and sliding it smoothly from the stack onto the guillotine bed then cut pieces to size.....that job used to earn me nasty cuts all over my hands and arms. One poor lad I worked with accepted my output to roll the cut sheets in a set of rollers to form cylinders that would be welded into air reservoirs for lorry braking systems. One day he caught his fingers in the rollers. The protection for the operator was non existent. By the time we heard his screams and the foreman switched off the rollers his arms were up to his wrists in the damned thing and I believe he lost his hands that day.....................my God how things have changed.

I worked as a parcel sorter on nights at the Post Office at Christmas ( so did I, Peter) while I was at college. We used to wait for the train to come in with huge bags of parcels to be sorted into frames filled with sacks for onward delivery to other areas. I persuaded my colleagues to work really hard for half an hour after delivery so that we could play bridge for half an hour before the next train came in.

I worked as a navvy for Charlie Wager on his Caravan Site on Hayling Island called the Odd Spot digging out excavations for septic tanks for his individual caravan sites. I used to dig them so deep that his son Tony used to have to pull me out on completion. 5 shillings an hour.

My very last part time job that I recall was working for the Admiralty as an Assistant Experimental Officer at Gosport Admiralty Experiment Works (AEW) for 6 months between being expelled by the Headmaster of the Southern Grammar School for smoking and refusing to be caned and going up to Emmanuel College. I think I was the only boy in the history of the school who had a place at Oxbridge and got fired!!!!!!!!!

Anida remembers:


I remember Chapman's very well indeed since my Mums best friend lived in their staff accommodation which was a dark and gloomy block of flats next door to the works in Kingston Crescent so we were frequent visitors. I actually knew the area around Kingston Crescent very well since my Great Aunt lived in Malins Road and my Nan in North End. Looking back there were some very lovely houses in the crescent which had been allowed to go to rack and ruin I recall - one reputedly had a ballroom! On the corner of course was Burtons the tailors, I well remember hanging around while the long drawn out process of choosing the material and being measured for a suit was ceremoniously carried out - the Burton chain was started by Montague Burton but did you know that in 1945 they produced the demob suits for men leaving the services which were known as the 'Full Monty' since they consisted of a three piece suit shirt and tie!

As a child a treat was to go and have tea in the cafe above Smith and Vosper in North End, it was all silver service and very posh or so it seemed! Another of my favourite North End shops was McIlroys and I can remember spending many a Saturday afternoon there, possibly before going to the Odeon to see one of the block buster films that you had to buy a ticket for beforehand. I also remember that next door to the Odeon was I think a dry cleaners but they used to have a lady who mended stockings sitting in the window. How far removed are we in this throw away society from having somebody mend the hole in your stockings, no such things as tights then of course!

Verrechias in North End was by the bus stop and as a child I was also fascinated by the enormous ice cream cone advertising piece that stood in the doorway, and of course the Chocolate King was the place for a treat after going to the pork butchers next door but one, another unimaginable shopping experience - a butchers shop that sold the pig, the whole pig and nothing but the pig!

Oh well back to ordering my groceries on line for home delivery - a nod to the past there of course but instead of a boy on a bike its a man in a high tech refrigeratored van, but at least it means I don't have to slog to the shop with all the packing and unpacking that involves!

As for Cadena Cafe, there was one in Southampton, Above Bar, and a Cadena Cake Shop in Waterlooville.


John remembers:-

Another of the food outlets that also spring to mind before McDonald's, KFC & The Pizza Hut was Bert's Cafe on the Southampton Road just west of the Harbour, I was a Paulsgrove boy before moving to Highbury and can vividly remember my Nan who worked for a while at the old Smith Crisp factory opposite Bert's cafe take myself my sister and brother for fish & chips.

Oh well another institution gone.

(Hey how about Maxi’s next to the Sunshine Inn at Farlington, that was another transport café like Berts. Peter)

Thanks for those memories, stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Mike Writes:

Observations on Growing Older

Your kids are becoming you...and you don't like them...but your grandchildren are perfect!

Going out is good. Coming home is better!

When people say you look "Great"... they add "for your age!"

When you needed the discount, you paid full price. Now you get discounts on everything but you're too tired to use them.

You forget names .... but other people forgot they even knew you!!!

The 5 pounds you wanted to lose is now 15 and you have a better chance of losing your keys than the 15 pounds.

The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.

You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV on than in bed. It's called his "pre-sleep".

Remember when your mother said, "Wear clean underwear in case you GET in an accident"? Now you bring clean underwear in case you HAVE an accident!

You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..

You used to use more 4 letter words ... "what?"..."when?"... ???

You have a night out but are home by 9:00 P.M. Next week it will be 8:30 P.M.

You read 100 pages into a book before you realize you've read it.

Everybody whispers.

But old is good in some things: old songs, old movies, And best of all, OLD FRIENDS

News and Views:

People magazine that Paul McCartney and his girlfriend for the last four years, Nancy Shevell, are engaged to be married. It would be 68 year-old Paul’s third marriage, 51 year-old Nancy’s second.

On this day 14th May 1960-1965.

On 14/05/1960 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 14/05/1961 the number one single was Blue Moon - The Marcels 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 14/05/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 14/05/1963 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 14/05/1964 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 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.

On 14/05/1965 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 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 936

Top Picture: Cox’s Hotel, Little Charlotte Street



Bottom Picture: ‘Take a Brick Home’ was the slogan of Neilsons Ice Cream.

A Little Bit of Business

Whilst looking through a book on Portsmouth the other day my eye alighted on the shops and trade names in the background and I soon became aware that many of the names and businesses had long ago disappeared so I thought I would try to remember some of them.

Being a teenager in the 1960’s one of the first shops to come to mind was Weston Harts especially the one in Cosham High Street. It was here that I bought my first record, a 78rpm of Tommy Steele singing Nairobi, now that dates me! However my allegiance to Weston Harts soon waned as I started to work for RA Fraser in Dayton and he had a record department. I served in the shop made deliveries and generally helped out. I did not get paid I received records instead, which started my record collection. Mind you we sold more than records we sold old-fashioned needles (steel and fibre), styli, record cleaners and racks, posters and pictures. Mind you Bob Frazer did sell other things such as vacuum cleaners and fridges as well. Incidentally Steve Carter and his brother Nicky also worked in this shop for a time. One other record shop that I remember was one, which dealt only in second hand records of all sorts. This was the House of Wax in Lake Road but I think this disappeared when that area was redeveloped.

In this modern age where we buy most things from the supermarket we tend to forget the family and larger businesses that our parents relied on when we were kids. Take bakers for instance. What happened to Campions the bakers, Greens, Smith and Vosper and the Coop. They all had shops and they all had regular rounds and would deliver to your door.

Another collection of names, which have now long gone, are those of laundry’s and drycleaners. Now who remembers Chapmans with their works in Kingston Crescent. The Convent of the Cross a strange business for a Convent to be in I always thought. Then there was Brunswick, Bollom and dear old Daisy Dampwash.

As a family we never went out for a meal so the likes of the Swiss Café were never within our grasp but I do remember having tea in the first floor Black Cat Café in Commercial Road and having a milk shake in Marys Milk bar later to become the Palm Court in Cosham High Street. One other name that comes to mind is the Cadena Café but I cannot remember where it was. As I grew up my tastes, along with most youngsters changed and I frequented the first Wimpey bar in Portsmouth, the Manhattan coffee bar in Southsea and of course Verrechias in the Guild hallSquare.Much has been written about this place but I often wonder just how many people remember that there was actually a branch in London Road, North End? Also in the same area were two well known Portsmouth sweet shops, Maynards and The Chocolate King.

As youngsters we did not need petrol and very often the only time we went to a garage was to buy paraffin, but even the petrol company’s have changed. Where did Regent and National Benzole with its cheap grade of Power at 3/10d a gallon go? How do I remember the price? We I like many other kids, Adrian Gee included worked in Smiths garage in Farlington for a time. Anyone who worked in a garage would remember the phrase ‘Four gallons and four shots lad’. The four shots were of an upper cylinder lubricant called Redex, it cost 1d a squirt and was supposed to protect the valves of the engine!

Whilst petrol based we no longer see Southdown buses or coaches or White Heather Luxury Coaches on mystery tours, Byngs Coaches, Portsmouth Corporation service buses or Meatyards Coches and taxis. All gone!

Maybe someone can answer this question for me. Why did top class tobacconists like Finlay’s in Commercial Road always sell walking sticks. It was a long standing tradition but I have no idea how it started.


Now here is a question for you. Who remember Tony’s Crisps? Who owned the company and where were they based.

With demise of the traditional street market in Charlotte Street so much was lost in the redevelopment of the area. Who now remembers the Charlotte Street Cellars and the Cox’s Hotel in Little Charlotte Street? One of the shops on the south side of the street was The Shirt King who sold nothing but shirts, ties, handkerchiefs and socks, there was also a branch in Cosham High Street and I remember buying many a fashion shirt in there.

Every kid liked ice cream but whatever happened to Neilson Cornish ice cream or Eldorado’s drink on a stick?

I suppose the most famous advertising animal act must have been the TV Chimps of Brooke Bond Tea. They toured the country making personal appearances. In fact I understand that back in the 1960’s my step sister in law had her photograph taken with those chimps. An Evening News photographer took the picture so her picture was published in the following days paper.


The more you look back the more you remember Green Shield stamp shops, Timothy Whites & Taylors the chemist, the Home & Colonial Food Stores, Pinks, David Greig the grocer and Liptons were just a few, as were Weaver to Wearer, Hepworths Taylors and Dunns the hatter.

It was a totally different world then.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Griff Writes abut ‘our ‘enry

" I must be one of the few people who has given Sir Henry Cooper a smack in the face and lived to tell the tale.
In 1972 I was entering Woolworths in Commercial Rd on a very wet and dreary Saturday afternoon. and as I went through the glass swing door my wet hand slipped on the glass door and the door swung back with some force and struck the person behind me who only turned out to be Henry Cooper.
I looked back and apologised profusely. "Oh! I am so sorry Mr. Cooper but my wet hand slipped on the door and I couldn't stop it" Henry replied in his that well mannered fashion of his. That's alright Son, my nose has had bigger things smash into it"
Henry was going into Woolworths to promote Brute aftershave. He use to be the front advertising man for Brute and we all remember the selling catchphrase......"Splash it All Over !"
But not me. I preferred "Tabac" aftershave in those days.

RIP Sir Henry Cooper.

News and Views:

Marie Osmond re-married her first husband on Wednesday May 4th in a ceremony at the Mormon Temple in Las Vegas. The two had been married from 1982 to 1985 before she divorced him for "mental cruelty." Marie wore the same wedding dress as 29 years ago.

On this day 8th May 1960-1965.

On 08/05/1960 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 08/05/1961 the number one single was Blue Moon - The Marcels 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 08/05/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was London trolley buses decommissioned

On 08/05/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Labour 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 08/05/1964 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 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 Comedian Max Miller dies.

On 08/05/1965 the number one single was Ticket to Ride - 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.

Web Page 934

Top Picture: Don Lang and his Frantic Five appearing on the 6.5 Special.



Bottom Picture: Southdown Bus Garage, Hilsea

Don Lang

To most of us the name Gordon Langhorn means absolutley nothing but mention the trombone playing group leader of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Don Lang, our minds rush back to programmes like the 6.5 Special.

Gordon Langhorn (Don Lang) was born in Halifax on 19th January 1925 and died in London on 3rd August 1992.

DON LANG was that rare species, a popular entertainer and household name during his heyday in the late 1950s who still retained the respect of his fellow jazz musicians and the critics alike. A natural performer, he could stir an audience to cheers with one of his 300-words-a-minute patter songs (remember The Auctioneer?) and the next instant pick up his beloved trombone and play a sublime jazz ballad in the style of his favourite artist, Bill Harris.

Don had the large physique even as a child to follow his father and also his grandfather into professional rugby football but preferred first the piano, then double bass, only progressing to trombone at 21 after hearing recordings of the American jazzman Jack Teagarden. An obvious natural, he was soon asked to play with the local dance bands while still working daytime as an electrician. But his first fully professional engagement, on the Isle of Man in 1947 and this really set the course for the rest of his life.

He spent engagements with several bands especially the Peter Rose and the Teddy Foster orchestras which led to a telephone call from Vic Lewis who was then putting together what he termed a 'progressive' big band to tour Europe and he wanted someone with a creative trombone style. As a featured soloist, he cut a series of fine solos on Vic Lewis recordings such as 'Sunday Girl' and 'The Man I Love'.

It was during the next four years when he was with the Ken Macintosh Orchestra that he began to sing regularly, initially as a gag with the in-house vocal quartet called the Macpies but, as his confidence grew, also as a solo and he often broadcast as a vocalist. It was with Ken Macintosh that he co-wrote and recorded the hit instrumental 'The Creep', which was covered no less than 17 times in the US alone, notably by Stan Kenton.

Encouraged by his success and tired of spending his life 'up and down the A5', Don decided to form his own group and develop his style. After producing his own demonstration record in his own style he was immediately signed up by HMV in 1955 and the resulting record, 'Cloudburst', was an instant success. Now renamed Don Lang, this name was chosen on the premiss that 'the shorter the name, the bigger the billing', he was chosen with his band the Frantic Five to be one of the cornerstones of the new BBC informal 'teenage' show The Six Five Special in 1959. As most of us will remember he also sang the theme song to the show, ( Over the points, over the points, Over the points etc)

After signing for the BBC Don appeared for two years as resident accompanist on the show and he also performed in his own right every week on live television. His repotoire included such hits as 'Six Five Hand Jive', 'Red Planet Rock' and 'I Want You To Be My Baby'.

Whilst enjoying his popularity and a firm believer in giving the public what it wanted, on the demise of the Six Five Special he retained his firm foothold in the jazz and big-band fields, but continued to make successful records like 'The Witchdoctor'. As a music reading musician the popularity of the Merseybeat did not affect him as badly as many of the other rock-and- rollers: indeed it helped him to survive, in fact when he was working as a session man on the recording on the Beatles ‘White Album’ John Lennon actively sought him out to say hello.

Working in cabaret with his own band and as a featured soloist with larger bands he worked throughout the Seventies and early Eighties, but the last few years saw him in virtual retirement, apart from the occasional rock-and-roll revival show and some rehearsal band workouts just to keep his lip and trombone in good shape.

He was a strong but gentle man, who could keep people amused for hours over a long lunch, he retained the affection and respect of both the public and the many musicians in all spheres who knew him. Typically his long fight with cancer was born bravely and with humour. He died in London on 3rd August 1992.


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Mary Writes:

Hi Peter, just read your site. Many thanks for a very interesting morning - I have spent a lot of time reminiscing! St Colmans Church - my next door neighbour is very involved there, and they have been fundraising for a very long time for a new stained glass window, which has now been installed.


Cosham Park House was for further education and I attended there for a calligraphy course, it is now a Doctors surgery.

I also regularly went to the Savoy on Friday's Big Band nights.

I moved into Kinross Crescent in 1956 I think we were the second people to buy it, and I have at the back of my mind that it was one of the show houses, the block of 3 numbers 1,3, & 5.

My son Gordon went to a Nursery School in Court Lane, just opposite the Manor House, and another pupil was the son of Drs Stock and Lunt who lived in Magdala Road. They were our Doctors, and they sold their practice just over 30 years ago to Dr Allcock, who is still our Doctor and has his own Health Practice in Cosham, where his 2 daughters are also dentists.

Gloria writes:-

My husband says Bond made the three wheeler cars featured last week.



News and Views:

What a shame to here of the death of ‘Our ‘enry’.

Sales of specially-designed Keith Richards T-shirts have raised $138,000 for victims of earthquake-and-tsunami ravaged Japan, according to his web site.

On this day 1st May 1960-1965.

On 01/03/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed and the box office smash was Some Like It Hot. 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 First plain paper photocopier introduced.

On 01/03/1961 the number one single was Sailor - Petula Clark. The top rated TV show was The Army Game (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. The big news story of the day was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada).

On 01/03/1962 the number one single was Rock-a-Hula Baby/Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was 93 die in New York plane crash.

On 01/03/1963 the number one single was The Wayward Wind - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Labour 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 01/03/1964 the number one single was Anyone Who Had a Heart -Cilla Black and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was 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 01/03/1965 the number one single was I'll Never Find Another You - Seekers 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.

Web Page 932

First Picture: Now who remembers those odd three wheelers like this one? But who manufactured them?


Second Picture: Another picture of the Southsea Miniature Railway





Bring back any memories? I like these they make you think!!!

Some younger person asked me the other day, 'What was your favourite 'fast food' when you were growing up?' I said, 'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,' and I informed him. 'All the food was slow.' 'C'mon, seriously’. He said ‘ Where did you eat?' I answered 'It was a place called 'home,'' I explained. 'Mum cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate, I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.' By this time, the lad was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer some serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table.

But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I'd figured his system could have handled it:

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore jeans, set foot on a golf course, travelled out of the country or had a credit card. My parents never drove me to school. I had a bicycle and had to use it. And my mother never did learn to drive.

We didn't have a television in our house until I was 10. It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at 10 pm, after playing the national anthem and epilogue; it came back on the air at about 6 a.m. And there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people...

I never had a telephone in my room because we never had a phone!

Pizzas were not delivered to our home... but milk and paraffin was. All newspapers were delivered by boys and girls, seven days a week. Most of them getting up at 6AM every morning.

Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

Film stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the films. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or almost anything offensive.

If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing


MEMORIES from a friend:

My Dad was cleaning out my grandmother's house and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a group of holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something similar. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.

How many of these do you remember?
Headlight dip-switches on the floor of the car.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Hand operated chokes
Trouser leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
Soldering irons you heated on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn indicators.

Older Than Dirt Quiz:

Count all the ones that you remember, not the ones you were told about.

Ratings at the bottom.


1. Sweet cigarettes
2. Coffee shops with juke boxes
3. Home milk delivery in glass bottles
4. Party lines on the telephone
5. Newsreels before the movie
6. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning.. (There were only 2 channels [if you were fortunate])
7. Peashooters
8. 33 rpm records
9. 45 RPM records
10.78 RPM records
11. Hi-fi's
12. Metal ice trays with levers
13. Blue flashbulb
14. Cork popguns
15. Wash tub wringers
16. Spud guns
17. Making your own bow and arrows
18. Going out to play and going home at 'meal time'

If you remembered 0-3 = you're still young
If you remembered 3-6 = You are getting older
If you remembered 7-11 = Don't tell your age If you remembered 12-15 = You're positively ancient!
I must be 'positively ancient' but those memories are some of the best parts of my life.

Don't forget to pass this along!!

Especially to all your really OLD friends... I just did!!!!!!!!!

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

School Report.

Web Page from 9 years ago.

The School TripIt is strange but I have very little recollection of school trips or visits when normally you would think that any event that took us out of school during term time would be indelibly impressed on the brain. Those I do recall are only very sketchy memories. A trip to London, one to Wookey Hole and one to the Isle of Wight, I know some of our year went to Paris, but I do not remember being offered that and I seem to remember that some people in lower years went on the ‘SS Uganda’ sailing round the Med. But not me.

The reason for the visit to London I believe was to visit the Royal Tournament and the day that was picked was one of the days when the Portsmouth Field Gun Crew raced, so I supposed we cheered ourselves hoarse, but I don’t remember if they won or not. What else comes to mind from that day ? We stopped at the café at Hindhead on the way up and back and we had lunch outside the then almost brand new Royal Festival Hall and now comes the only clear memory of the day. Here I took a snap of Reg Davies and Bill Greer as they talked outside the hall. This photo is the eighth picture posted in the Manor Court pictures section of the Friends Reunited Web Site. There are also some pupils in the shot but who they are ………..? I have no idea, but I believe that both Steve Carter and Melvyn Bridger were amongst the happy band on this trip.

The Wookey Hole visit is the one that caused me acute embarrassment, nothing of the visit remains in my memory except being sick in the coach coming home. I was looked after by one of the female teachers, I do not remember whom, and eventually was sick into an old school towel. When we got back to school I was given the towel in a bag to take home and have washed. I was so embarrassed that I could not bring myself to tell my mother what had happened so when I got home I sneaked up the garden and hid the towel under the hedge. I never took it out so I suppose someone years later had a nasty surprise. I went to school for the next few days dreading being asked for the newly laundered towel, luckily this request never came much to my relief.

The visit to the Isle of Wight is equally as vague but I do remember that June Blitz was one of the accompanying teachers, why do I remember that? No idea. I we visited Carisbrook Castle and watched the donkey on the treadmill then on to Blackgang Chine but the only clear memory I have of the trip is climbing the steps up to the light at St Catherines Point whilst talking to Peter Westcott, Melvyn Bridger and June Blitz.

There were also visits to the Portsmouth Schools music festival in a church somewhere in Copnor Road and School Prize giving in the Northern Grammar School hall before we moved into Manor Court itself. A visit to the Kings Theatre to see Macbeth and as Melvyn Bridger reminded me the bus trips to East Lodge on sports days where we all had to try and change in the bus on the way, very tricky.

Obviously School trips were wasted on me no lasting impressions were made and memories stored. What do you remember? Can you fill in the gaps in my memory banks?


You Write:


Griff Writes re renaming the school:-Best guess is that the Secondary Modern title was dropped when the school became a Comprehensive School so Portsmouth Education Council probably decided to change the name at the same time.

If anyone knows what link "Springfield" has to the siting of the school or the area then I would like to know myself because it doesn't relate to anything I know about the area whereas Manor Court does.

What they have achieved by name changing is to basically air-brush out the previous 20 years of the school when it was called Manor Court thus destroying any school heritage......It's like we never existed!

They have school reunions held at the present School but only if you attended as Springfield student/pupil.

News and Views:A collection of hundreds of letters and postcards written by John Lennon will be published in October in the appropriately-titled "The Lennon Letters,". The book, apparently the first in a series, has been authorized Yoko Ono.



On this day 24th April 1960-1965.
On 24/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Armchair Theatre (ABC) 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 3000 killed in Persian earthquake.

On 24/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was 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 24/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 24/04/1963 the number one single was How Do You Do It? - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Labour 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 Mandy Rice-Davis arrested.

On 24/04/1964 the number one single was A World Without Love - Peter & Gordon and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Liberal 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 Hunt on for Nazi fugitive.


On 24/04/1965 the number one single was Ticket to Ride - The Beatles and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.