Author: Purple Brolly

Rightly dubbed ‘Mr. Entertainment’, Sir Bruce Forsyth, CBE (1928-2017) had a show business career from age fourteen to just a couple of years before his death. He was the consummate professional who was never stuck for words and who inspired confidence in his fellow performers.

Born in Middlesex, he started dancing lessons at age eight after seeing his hero, Fred Astaire, on the cinema screen. Sir Bruce was first seen on television in 1939 in a talent show and a few years later took to the stage with an act called ‘Boy Bruce, the Mighty Atom’, in which he sang, danced and played the accordion. He was multi-talented but is perhaps best remembered for his catchphrases and his genial, teasing way with TV game-show contestants. His comic exasperation with their efforts was pure genius.

His first big break was as host of ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’ from 1958. This was his favourite theatre and he continued taking roles in musicals and even a Disney film, ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’. From 1971 he was the host of the hugely popular ‘The Generation Game’ and after a few more game-shows he starred in ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ from 2004 to 2013.

(Top image: Michael Sharpe at Flickr.com / Public domain)

In 1968, around 15,000 people paid 25 shillings each to attend the first Isle of Wight Festival, featuring Jefferson Airplane, T-Rex and Fairport Convention. The organisers managed to book Bob Dylan for the 1969 event, attracting ten times more spectators, including members of The Beatles. The 1970 five-day spectacular remains the biggest festival ever, with well over 600,000 fans attending. However, the problems resulting from such a massive crowd meant that there were no more Festivals for thirty-two years.

It was a chance to see big names such as The Who, Jethro Tull, The Doors, Joan Baez, Moody Blues, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Chicago, Emerson Lake & Palmer and, famously, Jimi Hendrix, who would die a few weeks later. All these and more for just £3 a ticket, although it was soon declared free entry when people started viewing the show from the adjacent hilltop or simply smashing down the fences.

Hecklers, drugs, anarchists and logistical nightmares seemed to have put an end to the Isle of Wight Festival series, but future festival co-ordinators learnt lessons. The current Festival has run successfully every year since 2002. Tickets cost £175-£195 and there are camping facilities, discounts for residents, family arrangements, etc., and the event is shorter, with audiences only up to around 70,000.

(Image: Neil Theasby at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)