Cliff Richard is 70!
And it would appear he’s still performing and getting a reasonable review in the Daily Telegraph. They gave him four stars.
He was one of the few pop idols of the 1950s and 1960s, that I never saw live. But I did see Adam Faith, Joe Brown, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and many others.
Edward Elgar and the First Football Chant
This may seem surprising, but it’s reported in the local paper.
A Steve Hillel Special
Steve was a friend from Minchenden Grammar School. I think he was in the party on at least one occasion, when we went to see some of the latest bands at the Regal Edmonton. I can remember seeing The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Nashville Teens, Chuck Berry, Adam Faith and Joe Brown in a long gone venue, that is now a supermarket. He may have actually got the tickets, but it is now nearly fifty years ago.
But Steve’s other claim to fame, was that he was a rather eccentric right back in the school football team, with a penchant for scoring own goals.
Ipswich’s first goal today was one that was straight out of his manual. Sorry Steve, if you read this, but Adam Matthews’ own goal was one of the most spectacular I’ve seen. His header never gave the goalkeeper any chance.
I Like Michael Nyman
I’ve never really heard of Michael Nyman before. But he seems like my sort of man according to The Times.
Last November, Michael Nyman found himself unable to speak, play or compose music. This wasn’t writer’s block or some kind of avant-garde art experiment, but something far more serious. During a routine medical operation, Britain’s most scorned and celebrated contemporary composer suffered a minor stroke.
He’s made a complete recovery, as I hope to.
Some though have been cruel to Michael.
In 2008, Nyman received the CBE at Buckingham Palace. The critic and composer Philip Clark delivered a damning verdict in The Times. “The loneliest man in British contemporary music has finally got the acceptance he craves,” he jeered. “Pity it’s not from anybody interested in music.” Ouch.
I sympathise!
Sexuality in the 1960s
The report by Dr. Linda Papadopoulos, that children are over-exposed to sexual imagery makes some good points, but it seems to give the impression that this is a new phenomenon.
I doubt it is.
Top of the Pops was one of the top BBC shows from the 1960s onwards until it faded away a few years ago. Before the advent of pop videos many of the bands played live, but in many cases when they couldn’t, a dance routine would be performed by Pan’s People. Tame they weren’t, and they did go out in the early evening on BBC1. So when the report talks about rating pop videos and banning some before the watershed, I say “What’s New?” Pan’s People got there fair share of complaints about exposing sexuality to the young.
The report also suggests that certain magazines should not be sold to those under 16. Will this make any difference? I doubt it. When I used to deliver newspapers as a fifteen-year-old, we always used to go back to the shop afterwards and thumb through the dirty magazines. And some were quite dirty! No not quite, very! We didn’t have the Internet, but it didn’t matter.
But what has changed is that in the 1960s and before, you had to beware paedophiles. Hadley Wood, which was near where I live, was full of them. All the kids passed messages between themselves, but we never told our parents as then we’d have been banned from going to the Woods to do things like train spotting on the Great Northern line to the north.
Thankfully, paedophiles seem to have gone from public places.
It’s a funny thing, but some of the most explicit photos I’ve ever seen, I saw when I worked in a factory as a vacation job from University in probably 1966. They didn’t involve children, but they did involve most other perversions.
Was it the same before the Second World War and even in Victorian Times?
Dr. Linda Papadopoulos has made a lot of good points, but I doubt that any will make any difference. Commercial pressures from MTV, Facebook and other American sites will mean that no legislation will be enforceable and kids are always curious and want to experiment. So it could be a losing battle.
What we must do is educate children properly, so that they take everything around themselves with a strong pinch of salt and choose the things that will enrich their lives and make them valuable members of society.
Moon River
Andy Williams was on Jools Holland last night and it made me think about his song, Moon River, which is strongly associated with him.
I hadn’t realised that kit was actually written for Audrey Hepburn to sing in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. But I do remember the Danny Williams version that predates Andy, being a bit hit in the UK.
It’s all here on Wikipedia.
Leader of the Pack
I had never heard of Ellie Greenwich, but I have heard many of her songs, like Leader of the Pack, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Kentucky Woman, Chapel of Love and River Deep, Mountain High, to name just a few.
Sadly she has died of a heart attack.
Her songs though gave me a lot of pleasure.
I particularly remember seeing Manfred Mann singing Do Wah Diddy Diddy at Liverpool University.
Thanks for all the memories.
How to Complain
Take a look at this video on YouTube.
Dave Carroll is a musician whose guitar was damaged/broken by United Airlines on a flight to Nebraska. He didn’t get any joy with the airline, so he wrote the song and put it on YouTube.
When I played it, it had over three and a half million hits and it was funny too!
United Airlines have decided to use the video for internal training.
But it does show, how if a company doesn’t act quickly to genuine complaints, then they can be on the end of a very big stick. They should remember too, that most cameras these days have a very professional video mode.
But be careful. My late wife was a barrister, who knew a lot about libel law. It’s why the BBC says allegedly so often!
Steve Race
Last month I missed that Steve Race had died. He was one of the last great broadcasters from the 1950s to the 1970s, who were at home doing everything. He was a jazz pianist, author, broadcaster and television panelist. And he even used to create the Quick Crossword for the Telegraph. I think too, that he was one of the original presenters of PM on Radio 4.
He was one of my favourite broadcasters and I know it is often said, but I don’t think we’ll see the like of him again.
The Anonymous Widower 