Category: Entertainment

Hammer Film Productions Ltd was formed in 1946, taking ‘Hammer’ from one of the owners of its parent company, who had taken it as a stage surname because he was living in Hammersmith. The company released its first gothic horror film in 1957 and this genre became its bread-and-butter for the next fifteen years.

A 17th-century country house beside the River Thames in Berkshire was purchased as a film studio. This was a perfect setting and every part of it was used at some point during the making of up to nine films per year. The first film, ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’, cost just £65,000 to make and subsequent films were likewise made in the most cost-effective way. Sometimes films were made back-to-back in order to maximise the use of available sets, cast and staff. Peter Cushing (1913-94) and Christopher Lee (1922-2015) starred in most of the Hammer horrors.

Audiences revelled in the other-worldly yet predictable stories of ghouls, werewolves, zombies, vampires and monsters typified by Frankenstein and Count Dracula. Hammer found a winning formula that endured until the early 1970s, when multi-million-dollar horror films went in a new direction which put Hammer in the shade. For a while though, horror was chilling but thrilling.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons / Public domain)

David Bowie, née Jones, (1947-2016) was an extraordinary songwriter and singer, musician, painter and actor of the 1970s-80s who became a cult figure for his avant-garde style. Using himself as the canvas, he presented several personas, including Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke, and was a pioneer of glam rock.

Born in Brixton, he began joining bands at age fifteen, though not successfully as he was a solo artist at heart. With a family history of schizophrenia coupled to his innate flair for performance, he described himself as a ‘collector’ of personalities. After a blow to his left eye, the pupil was permanently dilated, giving the appearance of having one blue and one brown eye, adding to his mystique.

Bowie sold 140 million albums with a huge following across the world. His first big hit, ‘Space Oddity’, was released to coincide with the first moon landing, in 1969. The space theme was one he returned to again, with hits such as ‘Life on Mars?’ (1971) and ‘Starman’ (1972). His songwriting talent gave Mott the Hoople their No.1 hit ‘All the Young Dudes’ (1972) and his voice was distinctively rich and refined, with a theatrical quality. He continued working through terminal illness until his death.

(Top image of David Bowie mural in Brixton: Louise McLaren at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

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)

Rock band Status Quo first formed in London in 1962 as The Scorpions. Co-founder Francis Rossi, OBE (1949-) from London, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, has only recently had his trademark long pony-tail shorn. He is also known for his waistcoat and his green Telecaster guitar, though this, too, had to be replaced after more than 40 years’ service.

The other original members of Status Quo, as the band was named from 1967 onwards (initially as ‘The’ Status Quo), were fellow Londoners Alan Lancaster (1949-2021) on bass guitar and John Coghlan (1946-) on drums, and Surrey-born Rick Parfitt, OBE (1948-2016) on guitar. This line-up was responsible for their move from psychedelic rock, as with their very first hit, ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’ (1968), to 12-bar boogie rock and for their string of hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, including ‘Caroline’ (1973), ‘Down Down’ (1975), ‘Rockin’ All Over the World’ (1977) and ‘Whatever You Want’ (1979).

They have had more hits than any other band in the UK and have sold over 120 million records worldwide. Their uncomplicated style has drawn derision from some highfaluting critics, but this is exactly what appeals to millions of fans. ‘The Quo’ give them good-time, classic, structured, solid rock and are still touring today.

(Top image: Sven Mandel at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sir Laurence Olivier (1907-89) was born in Surrey and became a highly revered, indeed legendary, Shakespearean actor and director, and had some success in Hollywood and on television. In 1984, after a long and illustrious career, he accepted the accolade of The Society of West End Theatre changing the name of their annual awards to the ‘Laurence Olivier Awards’. Today this is generally referred to simply as the Olivier Awards.

The Society is now the Society of London Theatre and any show at one of its member theatres which has a run of at least thirty performances is eligible for nomination for an award. The categories include most of the different types of show put on in London theatres, including opera, musical, dance and play. There are also awards for the Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director, as well as behind-the-scenes contributions in Set Design, Lighting, Choreography, Costume and Sound.

In 2011 there was a revamping of the Awards night towards a higher media profile and the recent venues of either the Royal Albert Hall or the Royal Opera House reflect this. Olivier himself received the Society’s Special Award in 1979, before the event was re-named in his honour.

(Image of statue of Olivier outside the National Theatre: Robert Wallace at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

In the 1970s, pubs were seeing their businesses decline due to people staying in to watch television every night. The pub quiz night was one way in which enterprising pub landlords and pub chains sought to bring back customers. The informal general knowledge game was thus put on a more organised, commercial footing.

The partnership of Burns & Porter first distributed pub quizzes in 1976 and soon had thousands of people playing each week. They were so successful that even the television companies commissioned them to supply questions and contestants for their TV quiz shows! The competitive spirit being what it is, there also sprang up several leagues and annual championships.

Quiz nights take place on any night except Friday and Saturday. There is a small entry fee per person. Teams are made up with either a fixed or a maximum number and they give themselves an amusing name, e.g. ‘No Brians’. The prizes are usually cash or drinks and there is a break between each round to allow for buying drinks at the bar. Papers are passed to another team for marking. Nowadays, there has to be a fair-play rule banning the use of mobile phones, as this could easily spoil the fun.

(Image: Julia Hiltscher at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

The rock band Queen was formed by lead vocalist extraordinaire, pianist and guitarist Freddie Mercury (1946-91), lead guitarist Brian May (1947-), bass guitarist John Deacon (1951-) and drummer Roger Taylor (1949-) when they were students in the late 1960s. Through hard work and bucketfuls of talent, by 1972 they had been signed up to a recording contract. They quickly rocketed to success and over the next nineteen years created twenty amazing albums and numerous unforgettable hit singles.

They started tours of the USA, Canada and Japan early on in the band’s career, in later years adding Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Their biggest-selling singles were the unusual ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975) and ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ (1980), said to be a frequent choice for funeral music! ‘A Kind of Magic’ (1986), ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ (1979), ‘We Will Rock You’ (1977) and ‘Radio GaGa’ (1984) are among other songs that have left an indelible mark.

Even when Freddie Mercury was slowly dying of AIDS, Queen continued working and Freddie maintained his tremendous vocal technique and flamboyance to the end. Three times they received awards for ‘Outstanding Contribution to British Music’ ~ the Ivor Novello in 1987, the British Phonographic Industry in 1990 and, after Freddie’s death, The BRIT in 1992.

(Top image: kentarotakizawa at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

Active from 1965 to 1995, Pink Floyd set the standard for pyrotechnics at rock concerts and were pioneers in psychedelic rock. Not for them the ‘silly love songs’ pumped out by pop stars, their lyrics contained wide-ranging social commentary and whimsy. This began with singles such as ‘Arnold Layne’ and ‘See Emily Play’ from 1967 and continued through ‘Money’ (1973), ‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)’  (1979) and ‘Comfortably Numb’ (1980), to name but a few.

They have sold more than 250 million copies of their albums, of which the most successful was ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ (1973). Their long instrumentals and use of new technology put them in the ‘progressive rock’ camp after the ‘psychedelic’ label went out of fashion in the 1970s. The Pink Floyd lifestyle had included large amounts of psychedelic drugs, but their lead man, Syd Barrett, left the group in 1968 with mental health and drug issues, and changes followed.

The group line-up remained stable for a while, with Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Rick Wright and Dave Gilmour, but there were disagreements, leading eventually to disbandment. However, this early video shows the English madcap youthful humour which first brought them together:-

(Top image: Paul Carless at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

The ‘Harry Potter‘ series of seven fantasy novels was written by Joanne Rowling (pen name J.K. Rowling) and has been a phenomenal success worldwide, with many fans still eager to indulge in the many spin-off products. The first novel was published in 1997 and the last in 2007. The series has set a global best-selling record of over 500 million copies, with the final novel achieving a staggering 11 million sales in its first day. It has been translated into 80 languages, including American English.

The concept famously came into its author’s head on a slow train journey in 1990. It combines all the classic features of British young adult literature ~ an orphan hero, a boarding school, dark forests, coming-of-age, romance, death, magic, scary adventures and surprise. It is set in Scotland at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in a parallel dimension.

The Harry Potter brand includes ‘loot crates’, clothing, studio tours, a theme park, a play, back-story books, websites, toys, games and films. Rowling became the first billionaire author but she has given a lot to charity. Some literary critics have been somewhat taken aback by her success, but she undoubtedly skilfully gave age-old tropes a fresh, contemporary airing.

(Image: Petra Šolajová at pixabay.com)

The Who have two surviving members of the original band ~ singer Roger Daltrey (1944-) and songwriter-guitarist Pete Townshend (1945-). With drummer Keith Moon (1946-1978) and bass guitarist John Entwistle (1944-2002), they became the most exciting and hard-working rock group to emerge from London in the 1960s. They have sold more than 100,000,000 records worldwide.

In 1964 they came together as The Detours, then changed the name to The Who, then The High Numbers, then back to The Who. At this time they were covering pop singles but when Townshend began writing their own songs, they leant towards the mod scene. He penned their first chart hit, ‘I Can’t Explain’, in 1965, followed by the classic ‘My Generation’. While Entwistle was the calm,  barely moving figure on the side, the other three displayed such energy on stage that it led to smashed instruments, which became a rather expensive gimmick for a while.

Townshend pioneered pushing the electric guitar to its limits and with Entwistle’s melodic bass, Moon’s pounding dynamism on the drums and Daltrey’s gritty call-to-arms voice, they produced a sound like no other. They are in the Guinness Book of Records for playing the loudest gig and were the first to create a rock opera, ‘Tommy’.

(Image: PanAmerican09 at Flickr.com / Public domain)