Web Page 964

Top Picture: Cliff Richard as pictured in Rave magazine



Second Picture: Who remembers the old ABC Cinema?



The Pop Magazine Explosion

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

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

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

These magazines created an all-inclusive, environment and reading them today, they are historical documents yet retain the fervour of the moment.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

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

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

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

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

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

Now how many of those magazines did you remember?

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:
Christine Writes:

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


News and Views:

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

On this day 12th August 1960-1965.

On

12/08/1960

the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First communications satellite launched.


On

12/08/1961

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


On

12/08/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

12/08/1963

the number one single was Sweets For My Sweet - Searchers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

12/08/1964

the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Novelist Ian Fleming dies.


On

12/08/1965

the number one single was Help - The Beatles and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Riviera Police (AR) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First woman High Court Judge.

Web Page 960

Top Picture: Windy Blow in stage outfit





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







Charles Cole


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

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

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

Steve asks:-

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

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




News and Views:

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

On this day 29th July 1960-1965.

On 29/07/1960 the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Elvis Is Back - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1961 the number one single was Temptation - Everly Brothers. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was No Hiding Place (AR).

On 29/07/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Pot Luck - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1963 the number one single was Confessin' - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1964 the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1965 the number one single was Mr Tambourine Man - Byrds and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 952

Top Picture: Stars of the 50’s and 60’s, how many do you remember?


Second Picture: Street Hop Scotch

REMEMBER WHEN:

I am very much indebted to Chris for sending me a ‘Remember When’ article which has served as a basis for today’s page. So thanks Chris!

Now, remember when some girl’s schools in the City still insisted on their pupils wearing those ugly gym slips, however that was not all, some of the girls also had to wear big hats or hard straw boaters or, in Pam’s case at the Southern Grammar, a Deportment Sash if they carried themselves well!!! I think that we lads got off lightly only having to put up with collars and ties and school caps. Talking about collars and ties I expect we can all remember when all male teachers wore collars and ties and female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels, especially Jill Cogan!!!!!

With all our progress over the years, don't you wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savour the slower pace of life and share it with the children of today and tell them that, to us, being sent to the headmaster’s office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home when your parents found out that you had been there. The days when the teachers kept a cane or slipper in the cupboard and some teachers even threatened to keep children back a year if they failed the school yearly exams. . . And they did to! On your way home you thought nothing of reaching into a muddy gutter or puddle to retrieve a penny, nobody owned a purebred dog and nearly everyone's Mum was at home when the kids got back from school.

In those days summers were filled with bike rides, cricket, football, Hula Hoops, cap guns, skating and visits to the Lido or the beach; playing Hop Scotch or just playing on the Rec or on the Hill or in the Marshes. The days of eating lemonade powder, sherbet dabs, flying saucers and liquorice sticks. From that period of time how many of these do you remember? Coca Cola in bottles, Blackjacks and bubble gum, home milk delivery in glass bottles with tinfoil tops (actually, we still do have this but only three times a week now, not daily), Hi-fi's and 45’s and even 78’s. Remember spinning round and round and then getting dizzy and falling down in fits of laughter? Playing cricket with no adults to help with the rules of the game and playing 25 a side football with coats as goal posts! Do you remember when decisions were made by going 'Eeny-meeny-miney-moe'? and a 'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest?

Catching tadpoles could happily occupy an entire day and it wasn't odd to have two or three ‘Best Friends’? Taking drugs meant orange - flavoured chewable aspirin and the ultimate weapon was not the catapult but the water bomb; and talking about weapons having a weapon in School meant being caught with a slingshot or catapult not a knife or blade.

Bottles came from the corner shop without safety caps and hermetic or childproof seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger. We were happy but maybe deep down we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs etc. it was our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we survived because their love was always greater than the threat.

Remember when father would go into the living room several minutes before we sat down to watch the television because the set took at least five minutes to warm up

If your family was luck enough to own a car no one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked. When you pulled into a filling station you got your windscreen washed and cleaned, oil checked and petrol served, without asking and all this was free every time. The AA or RAC man would salute you if you were displaying an AA or RAC badge and the Ford Zephyr or Zodiac was everyone's dream car...

These were the days when it was considered a very great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents (actually I cannot ever remember being taken out for a restaurant meal when I was a child).

As far as relationships went people went ‘steady’ and were not just ‘an item’ and the worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was 'chickenpox'?

Ah! All so long ago!

Thanks again Chris that made a really good article.


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

David writes:

Jim Fox was older then us he was born in 1941 and lived in Lower
Farlington Road.

News and Views:

Convinced that her dream of a museum will not come to fruition, Debbie Reynolds began auctioning off her collection of Hollywood costumes and memorabilia on June 18th, Marilyn Monroe's white "subway grate" dress from "The Seven Year Itch" went for $5.6 million. Two other Marilyn dresses brought the total to $8 million. A blue cotton dress and ruby slippers made as tests for Judy Garland in "The Wizard Of Oz" and never actually used in the film went for almost $1.75 million. The guitar from "The Singing Nun" was auctioned for $140,000. Even a Charlie Chaplin bowler hat fetched $110,000. It was the first in a series of auctions of Debbie's extensive collection.

On this day 1st July 1960-1965.

On 01/07/1960 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.The big news story of the day was Neale Fraser wins Wimbledon men's singles. British Somaliland becomes Somalia, Fidel Castro nationalizes Esso, Shell and Texaco in Cuba, Ghana becomes a republic, U.S.S.R. shoots down U.S. RB-47 reconnaissance plane

On 01/07/1961 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. Haleakala National Park established in Hawaii, Diana, Princess of Wales was born.

On 01/07/1962 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. Burundi & Rwanda gain independence from Belgium, Burundi became independent as did Rwanda.

On 01/07/1963 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. Beatles record "She Loves You" & "I'll Get You". The British Government admits that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent. ZIP Codes are introduced for United States mail.

On 01/07/1964 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.

On 01/07/1965 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 956

Top Picture: Cliff and The Shadows. L to R. Jet Harris, Bruce Welch, Brian Bennett, Cliff, Hank Marvin in 1961. (Tony Meehan had left in 1960)



Second Picture: Who remembers the ill fated Portsdown Park?




Jet Harris

Jet Harris who died on the 18th March aged 71 was a founder member of the Shadows and played bass on such hits as Apache, Kon-Tiki and Wonderful Land, and backed Cliff Rich¬ard on many more.

Arguably the first British pop group of the rock'n'roll era, the Shadows were responsible for several other firsts. While the lead guitarist Hank Marvin became Britain's first guitar hero, Jet Har¬ris was the first British musician to record with an electric bass guitar, in place of the traditional upright acoustic double bass as was seen in groups such as Bill Haley and the Comets, this was in 1958.

However Jet Harris left the Shadows at the height of their fame in 1962, just before the rise of the Beatles. Unfortunately his departure was triggered by depression and alcoholism. But after leaving the band he enjoyed further success with the 1963 the chart-topper Dia¬monds, recorded with another ex Shadows member, the drummer Tony Meehan. On the record he made groundbreaking use of the bass guitar as a lead instrument. But after a couple more hits with Tony Meehan, Jet’s career ground to a halt following a bad car ac¬cident and his continued drinking.

He attempted a solo comeback in the mid-1960s but when that flopped, he drifted away from music and worked in various manual jobs. He resumed re¬cording in the 1980s and enjoyed some success on the nostalgia circuit.

He was born Terence Harris just before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 in Kingsbury, North London. His first instrument was the clarinet, which he played in school bands. But by 1956, influenced by jazz and the skiffle scene, he had made his own double bass, which he played in a jazz trio named the Delinquents. He then bought a professional double bass, and began playing with the jazz drum¬mer Tony Crombie, who in 1958 urged him to experiment with an electric bass guitar, an instrument that was unknown in Brit¬ain at the time.

He had a Framus Star bass im¬ported from West Germany and intro¬duced the instrument in the Vipers skif¬fle group before joining Cliff Richard's backing group, the Drifters, in 1959. With the Drifters, he played on the singer's early hits, including his first number one, Living Doll. The group re¬ceived no royalties, only a session fee for playing on Cliff's records, and so in 1959 the Drifters landed an EMI re¬cording contract of their own, while continuing to back Cliff.

It was now that the American vocal group the Drifters threatened to sue over the use of the name, Jet Harris suggested they be¬come the Shadows and so the Shadows they became.

Apache, (a record that Hank Marvin always said was his pension fund) was their second release under the name and it gave them their first hit in 1960, when it knocked Cliff's Please Don't Tease off the number one slot. It was followed by further hits including Man of Mys¬tery. The Stranger, FBI, The Frightened City, Kon-Tiki, which became their second number one in 1961, The Savage and Wonderful Land, which topped the charts in early 1962.

By then the Shadows had also backed Cliff on further hits includ¬ing The Young Ones, and Jet along with other group members ap¬peared in the 1961 film of the same name. But away from the happy-go-lucky character depicted on the film set Jet Harris was a troubled figure. Unhappy in his marriage, he was drink¬ing heavily, and after a series of disa¬greements with the rest of the group, he parted company with the Shad¬ows in April 1962.

He recorded two singles, Besame Mu-cho and The Man With the Golden Arm, both of which reached the charts in 1962, before forming a duo with the drummer Tony Meehan, who had left the Shadows shortly before Jet had. The duo's first single, Diamonds, which also featured the then unknown Jimmy Page as a ses¬sion guitarist, replaced the Shadows' Dance On at number one in the charts in January 1963.

Before the year was out, the Harris and Meehan Duo had two further hits, Scarlett O'Hara and Applejack. But serious inju¬ries suffered in a car crash in 1964 ground Jet’s career to a halt. He returned to make a handful of un¬successful singles in 1966-67 and was considered for the bass role in Jeff Beck's group. But his heavy drinking wrecked any chance of a serious come¬back. Over the next decade he was vari¬ously reported to be working as a la¬bourer, a bricklayer and a bus conduc¬tor.

He eventually returned to making music, performing with a backing band called the Diamonds and with the Shadows tribute band the Rapiers. He also teamed up from time to time with former members of the Shadows at vari¬ous events and reunions, although he was hurt not to be invited to join the Shadows for their 50th anniversary, at the Royal Variety Performance in 2008.

He was appointed MBE in the 2010 New Year Honours and spent his last years living in a cottage in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight but died at the home of his partner Janet Hemingway, in Win¬chester. What a sad nd to a troubled life!


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Griff Writes:

School Careers.

I'm with you Peter!

They were virtually non existant weren't they. I remember the trips out for the Boy's to look at what was on offer and how dismal the prospects were and as far as I remember the boys I looked around employment places with were Keith Conlon, Barry Dunnaway and Bob Webster.
Depressing work places we visited as a group to say the least and the one that will always stick in my mind was the trip to Portsmouth Corporation Bus Servicing /Overhaul Centre at Eastney. I actually walked out the front door after 5 minutes for a ciggie because the place just overwhelmed me with an instant depression and it was at this point I think I had made my decision to do something a bit more exciting with my life and to do this I needed to join the RAF or the Navy. I had been accepted as an Apprentice at De-Havillands located next to Portsmouth Airfield but with my Dad dying from the Big C the previous year ( he was a Manager for DH.... nothing like a bit of nepotism eh! ) and with the DH factory moving to Hatfield that was now out of the question.
To be fair I had always been interested in aircraft from a young age so career wise it turned out to be a good choice and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed my 25 years service of flying and excitement with just the odd exception which is normal in any job over a period of time.
It's true Norman Folland did encourage ALL his boys to join the RAF as he was ex-RAF (so was Bert Ray & Ray Dobson ) and I remember Norman saying to me in a very short 1 minute career advice room interview " Wise choice Melvyn! ".......and that was that.
Manor Court and Court Lane provided the Armed Forces and in particular the RAF with a lot of new entrants.
5G Miss Blit's class provided 3 of them alone Myself, Alan Clarkson & Martyn Smith. If your reading this Melvyn Bridger I always thought at the time you, as a top ATC Cadet would have tagged along with us all into the great unknown.

Cheers Everyone ....Melvyn ( Griff )Griffiths.



Paul Writes:-

I think the Furniture Factory for the Careers visit was White & Newton at Milton.

News and Views:

A case of bacterial pneumonia has forced Jerry Lee Lewis to postpone his show in Chicago

On this day 15th July 1960-1965.

On

15/07/1960

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. The big news story of the day was Italian cyclist wins Tour De France.

On

15/07/1961

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

15/07/1962

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

15/07/1963

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

15/07/1964

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. The big news story of the day was Donald Campbell breaks land speed record.

On

15/07/1965

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.

Web Page 954

Top Picture: London Road, North End, looking north in the 1960’s. Note the Odeon on the right.



Second Picture: Southsea Common postcard 1963.

The Rest of Your Life

I don’t know about you, but the only thing that I felt really let down about at Manor Court was in the field of Careers Advise. As far as I can remember I actually had none at all. In the back of my mind is the fact that Norman Folland was the Schools Careers Advisor for the boys and Joyce Pipe was the Advisor for the girls. Personally, I cannot ever remember having a careers interview with Norman Folland and those few lads that did, I seem to remember that he invariably recommended that most of them took the RAF Entry Exam. If it comes to that I don’t even remember having assemblies when prospective employers came along and spoke to us about their firms and the prospects within them. Maybe it is an uncharted blank in my memory and it actually did happen, but I do not remember it ever happening. Looking at the girls in the school, maybe it was that Joyce Pipe made a bigger impact on you girls if so come on and let me know!

Preparation for the world work was something that was almost ignored, although there was encouragement for some of us to go to college. To encourage us boys to think about work there were the odd outings to various employers during our 4th year but very little else.

I remember a group of us lads being bussed down to Stanhope Road to look at the printing process of the Portsmouth Evening News. We were taken to see the giant rolls of paper and the enormous printing presses. These were the days of the Comptometer operators who used the "touch typing" system, in the same way that typewriters and computer keyboards are used. After having typed the article it was set up using the hot lead method of casting type and the paper was set to rolling. I remember that it was a noisy, dirty and very unattractive workplace and I think I am right in saying that none of us were impressed and none of us went into the printing business. What really stuck in my mind was that as the company was printing so many news papers that day and on six days they did not even give us one to share on the bus going home.

Another visit was to a hand made furniture factory, again somewhere in Portsmouth. I have an even vaguer memory of this probably because my woodworking skills were terrible. I cannot remember the name of the company or where the factory was, I just remember the sweet smell of newly worked wood.

One group of lads went off to inspect the Dockyard Apprentice School at Flathouse Quay but I was not among their number.

I also remember a school visit to Hilsea Gas Works but I cannot remember if it was a science visit to see how Town Gas was made or a careers visit to see if we fancied working there, all I know is that it stank of sulphur, was filthy dirty and very unpleasant and we did not get to ride on the steam trains that worked there and that we had to clean the coke off of the soles of our shoes before we got back on the bus.

I understand that some of you girls had the delight of being taken to view the wonders of the Twilfit factory. Actually my late step mother in law was, for a time, a senior seamstress in the Twilfit factory and specialised in making corsets (something that our schoolgirls didn’t need I am sure, no samples there either!), later she transferred to that other well known corset maker in Portsmouth, Vollers. Of course today corset making has a completely different profile, they are no longer flesh pink foundation garments (only within the narrow surgical field) they are now very much fashion statements thanks to the pop stars like Madonna etc.

Work to us was important, especially if you were not going on to College but the help in attaining a job seemed very limited.

However the whole world of work was vastly different then. If you had a job and had an argument or disagreement with the boss and resigned or left on the Friday, you knew that with a look in the Portsmouth Evening News that night or a quick trip to the Labour Exchange on Monday morning you would be back in work again within a day or two. How things have changed!



Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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



You Write:
Barry asks;

Whatever happened to 'bang' the fourth rice crispy brother?


News and Views:

Ottilie Patterson 1932-2011.She was once one of the UK's best-known blues singers but when she was laid to rest in Co Down, it was in complete obscurity. Ottile was buried in her native Comber after dying on June 20th in Ayr. She shot to stardom in the 1950s as a vocalist with the Chris Barber Jazz Band, marrying him in 1959. As early as 1963 she began to suffer throat problems and stopped appearing regularly with Chris Barber and retired in 1973. She became dogged by ill health and suffered the breakdown of her marriage. She had been living almost as a recluse in the Rozelle Holm Farm Care Home in Ayr for the past 30 years. Her death has gone unreported in the media as it seems to have been her own wish that there would be no fuss and she was given a private burial in the family grave. Chris Barber, now 81, is currently on a UK tour with The Big Chris Barber Band.

On this day 8th July 1960-1965.

On 08/07/1960 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 08/07/1961 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 Mario Dubois born.

On 08/07/1962 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. The big news story of the day was 94 die in Bombay air crash.

On 08/07/1963 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 08/07/1964 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 08/07/1965 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 952

Top Picture: Stars of the 50’s and 60’s, how many do you remember?




Second Picture: Street Hop Scotch


REMEMBER WHEN:

I am very much indebted to Chris for sending me a ‘Remember When’ article which has served as a basis for today’s page. So thanks Chris!

Now, remember when some girl’s schools in the City still insisted on their pupils wearing those ugly gym slips, however that was not all, some of the girls also had to wear big hats or hard straw boaters or, in Pam’s case at the Southern Grammar, a Deportment Sash if they carried themselves well!!! I think that we lads got off lightly only having to put up with collars and ties and school caps. Talking about collars and ties I expect we can all remember when all male teachers wore collars and ties and female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels, especially Jill Cogan!!!!!

With all our progress over the years, don't you wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savour the slower pace of life and share it with the children of today and tell them that, to us, being sent to the headmaster’s office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home when your parents found out that you had been there. The days when the teachers kept a cane or slipper in the cupboard and some teachers even threatened to keep children back a year if they failed the school yearly exams. . . And they did to! On your way home you thought nothing of reaching into a muddy gutter or puddle to retrieve a penny, nobody owned a purebred dog and nearly everyone's Mum was at home when the kids got back from school.

In those days summers were filled with bike rides, cricket, football, Hula Hoops, cap guns, skating and visits to the Lido or the beach; playing Hop Scotch or just playing on the Rec or on the Hill or in the Marshes. The days of eating lemonade powder, sherbet dabs, flying saucers and liquorice sticks. From that period of time how many of these do you remember? Coca Cola in bottles, Blackjacks and bubble gum, home milk delivery in glass bottles with tinfoil tops (actually, we still do have this but only three times a week now, not daily), Hi-fi's and 45’s and even 78’s. Remember spinning round and round and then getting dizzy and falling down in fits of laughter? Playing cricket with no adults to help with the rules of the game and playing 25 a side football with coats as goal posts! Do you remember when decisions were made by going 'Eeny-meeny-miney-moe'? and a 'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest?

Catching tadpoles could happily occupy an entire day and it wasn't odd to have two or three ‘Best Friends’? Taking drugs meant orange - flavoured chewable aspirin and the ultimate weapon was not the catapult but the water bomb; and talking about weapons having a weapon in School meant being caught with a slingshot or catapult not a knife or blade.

Bottles came from the corner shop without safety caps and hermetic or childproof seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger. We were happy but maybe deep down we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs etc. it was our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we survived because their love was always greater than the threat.

Remember when father would go into the living room several minutes before we sat down to watch the television because the set took at least five minutes to warm up

If your family was luck enough to own a car no one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked. When you pulled into a filling station you got your windscreen washed and cleaned, oil checked and petrol served, without asking and all this was free every time. The AA or RAC man would salute you if you were displaying an AA or RAC badge and the Ford Zephyr or Zodiac was everyone's dream car...

These were the days when it was considered a very great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents (actually I cannot ever remember being taken out for a restaurant meal when I was a child).

As far as relationships went people went ‘steady’ and were not just ‘an item’ and the worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was 'chickenpox'?

Ah! All so long ago!

Thanks again Chris that made a really good article.


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

David writes:

Jim Fox was older then us he was born in 1941 and lived in Lower
Farlington Road.

News and Views:

Convinced that her dream of a museum will not come to fruition, Debbie Reynolds began auctioning off her collection of Hollywood costumes and memorabilia on June 18th, Marilyn Monroe's white "subway grate" dress from "The Seven Year Itch" went for $5.6 million. Two other Marilyn dresses brought the total to $8 million. A blue cotton dress and ruby slippers made as tests for Judy Garland in "The Wizard Of Oz" and never actually used in the film went for almost $1.75 million. The guitar from "The Singing Nun" was auctioned for $140,000. Even a Charlie Chaplin bowler hat fetched $110,000. It was the first in a series of auctions of Debbie's extensive collection.

On this day 1st July 1960-1965.

On 01/07/1960

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.The big news story of the day was Neale Fraser wins Wimbledon men's singles. British Somaliland becomes Somalia, Fidel Castro nationalizes Esso, Shell and Texaco in Cuba, Ghana becomes a republic, U.S.S.R. shoots down U.S. RB-47 reconnaissance plane

On 01/07/1961

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. Haleakala National Park established in Hawaii, Diana, Princess of Wales was born.

On 01/07/1962

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. Burundi & Rwanda gain independence from Belgium, Burundi became independent as did Rwanda.

On 01/07/1963

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. Beatles record "She Loves You" & "I'll Get You". The British Government admits that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent. ZIP Codes are introduced for United States mail.

On 01/07/1964

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.

On 01/07/1965

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 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.