Tag: Music

Thursday 31 January 1963

A mystery pong had hundreds of people sniffing around Mayfair yesterday. Police diverted traffic while gas men investigated. The pong lasted four hours. A Gas Board spokesman said, “There is no proof that it was a gas leek.”

Two bandits posing as policemen hijacked a mail van yesterday. The gang got away with £20,250, but only £250 of it – in fifty registered packets – is “ready” money. Police believe that the bandits’ helmets were hired from a stage props firm.

Disc sales are going “boom, boom, boom”. In the first eleven months of 1962 sales totalled more than £15,000,000. The complete 1961 figures were just over £16,000,000. December’s 1962 figures, always a high month, are expected to set a new summit. One reason for the increase in sales is that Britain is now producing a better type of pop. LP sales are rising too. So are sales of classical records. But pop is the thing that is really keeping the business ticking.

Record charts: number one – Diamonds by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan. New entries – at number sixteen, A Taste of Honey by Acker Bilk, and at number twenty-one, Please Please Me by the Beatles.

The “Lit-Up Lodger”, that’s what we call the television in our house.

Television highlights: Tales of Mystery, Crackerjack, Winifred Atwell Show.

Radio highlights: Pops at the Piano, Dresden in the 1920s.

Weather: cloudy with snow showers. Frost. Outlook – similar. Maximum temperature 0c, 32f.

Friday 1 February 1963

A big row between Canada and America blew up last night. “Canada will not be pushed around,” the Canadian premier Mr John Diefenbaker told parliament in Ottawa. The argument is over criticism of Canada’s defences.

Scenes from a club in Amsterdam where men dance with men, and women dance with women, will be shown on BBC television, on Panorama. However, the men will not be shown dancing together. A BBC spokesman said, “The subject will be treated as a serious topic for discussion.”

New houses built in Britain last year totalled 305,428. This is 9,366 more than were finished the year before.

Britain is drinking more wine and beer. And although we are smoking less we are spending more on tobacco. There was a drop in Pools betting, and during the year Customs caught 1,813 smugglers and seized watches worth £184,000.

A man who gave a policeman a V for victory sign was cleared of making an indecent gesture at court yesterday. The case was dismissed because under by-laws a V-sign must cause annoyance before it becomes indecent, and the policeman was not annoyed.

Television highlights: Captain Pugwash. Mantovani. French Feature Film – Hiroshima Mon Amour. 

Radio highlights: Eat No Meat – investigation into vegetarianism. Topical Tunes.

Taunton Rugby Club, whose players have not played for six weeks because of the Big Freeze, will play on the sands at Weston-Super-Mare. 

Weather: cloudy. Outlook – less cold. Maximum temperature 1c, 35f.

Saturday 2 February 1963

Britain’s On Ice Again. Back in the ice-box goes Britain. The brief thaw will be replaced by more freezing weather and snow. Some areas, including south Wales, have seen their heaviest snowfall since the Arctic weather began. One bright spot – with more coal at the power stations, power cuts are unlikely.

The deep-freeze that has refrigerated Britain’s outdoor sport has so far cost about £200,000,000. To date, 49 horse-racing meetings have been called off, more than 300 football games postponed, while some rugby teams haven’t played for six weeks.

The vegetable situation is still grim. Greens are very frosted and prices are very high. For a good-sized cauliflower you will have to pay up to 3s 6d. Some cabbages are reasonably priced at 9d, sprouts at 1s 2d per lb.

Chocolates and chocolate biscuits made by Cadbury’s will cost more from Monday. A 1/2lb box of Milk Tray will cost 3s 8d – 2d extra – while Turkish Delight will go up 2d to 2s 8d.

Three rounds of the FA Cup will have to be played in twelve days instead of the usual six weeks. Because of the Big Freeze, nineteen Third Round ties are still undecided. Managers are not happy about the fixture congestion. And the latest plan does not take into account the possibility of replays.

Television highlights: Bugs Bunny. Juke Box Jury with Sean Connery and Diana Dors. That Was The Week That Was. 

Radio highlights: Saturday Club. Recent Releases.

Weather: cold with snow. Outlook – cold with snow. Maximum temperature -2c, 28f.

Sunday 3 February 1963

A prelude to the Profumo Affair. What’s going on here? 🤔 See below ⬇️

Speed limits for several classes of vehicles will be raised from next Saturday. Goods vehicles will be able to go up to 40mph instead of 30mph, but they will still have to keep to 30 mph in built-up areas.

Scientists are working on sunglasses that darken in bright sunlight and automatically lighten again when the sun goes in. They coat the glasses with a light-sensitive dye, which might also be used to coat shop windows from the sun’s glare.

The smallest transistor radio in the world, 1 1/2 inches square and 1/2 inch deep, has been developed by Standard Ruby. It costs £21, runs on seven transistors, and has a plug-in earphone.

Plumbers will soon be able to clear blocked sinks in seconds with a pressure gun that blows blockages clear. The gun can be recharged with a bicycle pump.

Television highlights: Indoor Soccer, Living With Animals, Maverick.

Radio highlights: Billy Cotton, Jukebox.

Only four English football league games were played this weekend. All matches in Division One and Division Two were postponed. Results: Division Three – Brighton 0 Halifax 1, Swindon 1 Crystal Palace 0. Division Four – Oldham 5 Rochdale 1, Torquay 2 Hartlepool 0.

Weather: more snow. Very cold. Heavy frost.

Monday 4 February 1963

No female on television, with the possible exception of That Was The Week That Was’ Millicent Martin, has shattered the conventional image of her sex as devastatingly as tawny-haired Honor Blackman. As Cathy Gale in The Avengers, Miss Blackman is creating a new role model for women.

A vicar writes: “I would much rather the young people of my church visit a pub, spend time over a drink and a sandwich, than visit a cafe. Trouble begins in cafes when Teddy boys and girls sit for hours over a cup of coffee, having nothing more interesting to do. I’m quite willing to go to a pub, but you won’t get me in one of those sleazy cafes.”

Married life is not a piece of cake. Some basic advice for a happy marriage – be independent of both sets of in-laws; a young father must realise that his wife’s yearning for a job does not mean that she is fed up with her marriage or her home; some escape, even if it’s only a visit to the local library, is vital for a wife’s happiness.

Television highlights: Blue Peter. What’s My Line? World in Action.

The BBC received forty-seven complaints about their satirical programme That Was The Week That Was. However, 113 people rang up to say that they liked it.

Radio highlights: Housewives’ Choice. Woman’s Hour.

Happiest soccer club in the country – Ivanhoe of the Derby Welfare League. They beat West Hallam 4 – 1 in a cup tie after three months and seven attempts to resolve the contest.

Weather: very cold with snow. Frost at night. Outlook – little change. Maximum temperature 1c, 34f.

Available for pre-order, Songbird, my novel set in the winter of 1962-63

https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on over thirty occasions.

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Saturday 26 January 1963

The Freeze Latest – Weekend temperatures will not go much over freezing point and there will be severe frost at night. The slight thaw in the north is not spreading south yet. The outlook remains bleak.

All over Britain the near-Arctic conditions continued to play havoc yesterday. At Preston, Lancashire householders were rationed to a gallon of water per head from water carts, which toured the streets. Many areas were affected by power cuts and at Cambridge University, for the first time, girls were given permission to wear slacks under their academic gowns.

Growers have been tackling the frozen earth with crowbars and pneumatic drills to get fresh vegetables to the market. Prices are out of this world and you have to look carefully for unfrosted greens.

Agony Aunt: Question – I want my girlfriend to have a truth-drug test so that I can check on her past life. She is willing to undergo such a test. Where can it be carried out? Jane Adams’ reply – My advice to your girlfriend is to drop you like a hot brick.

Agony Aunt: Question – I have not yet had the courage to tell my future fiancée that I wear a wig. Are most women revolted at the thought of living with a man who wears a wig? Jane Adams’ reply – A woman in love with a man will not give a fig for his wig. Tell your girlfriend the truth at the first opportunity.

Television highlights: Juke Box Jury with Jane Asher, Pete Murray and Anna Neagle. Saturday Sportstime including the Pools Panel results. Chess Masterpieces.

Radio highlights: Desert Island Discs. Hit Parade.

Weather: still very cold. Outlook – little change. Maximum temperature -1c, 30f.

Sunday 27 January 1963

At least 50,000 people want to murder the president of the United States. President John F. Kennedy receives 1,500 obscene or threatening letters every month. America’s security men are full of wonder at the lack of “artillery” around Britain’s Queen, and that a possible assassination attempt is not taken more seriously.

Pat Moss, “the best female driver in the world”, offers some advice to motorists combating the Big Freeze: Frozen door locks – heat the key with a match or cigarette lighter. Iced windows – use a de-icing spray, a plastic scraper or a cloth dipped in anti-freeze. Wheel spin – if you can’t pull away on the ice, try making your own chains from rope, and fix them to the driving wheels. Also, sprinkle some sand or scrape some dirt from the underside of your wings and spread that under the wheels.

A restaurant in London’s West End has employed an artist to write and draw rude messages on the men’s lavatory walls…to save customers the trouble.

Mount a big mirror on the wall of a tiny hall and it will double the apparent size. Place it so that it catches the light from a window and it will also provide free illumination.

Television highlights: Pinky and Perky, The Saint, The Avengers.

Radio highlights: Tune a Minute, Top Twenty.

Soccer: the Pools Panel sat for the first time yesterday and invented 38 results. There will be no jackpot. For 24 points (eight score draws) on your coupon, you are likely to receive £3,750.

Weather: dry with some sunshine. Temperature 4c, 40f, the highest London temperature since 22 December 1962.

Monday 28 January 1963

It’s official – Britain’s women investors now outnumber the men, by 1,104,000 to 982,000. And they have a bigger stake on the Stock Exchange. The reasons – more women go out to work than ever before. Also, women live longer (five years on average) so, many of them inherit their husband’s savings.

Women are wild about the new smooth heroes, including Sean Connery, who is booked to play James Bond for seven years, and Simon (the Saint) Templar, John Steed of The Avengers, and Mike Strait from Man of the World, who share a tv audience of 30,000,000 each week.

A 16lb 5oz baby boy was born yesterday to Mrs Desmond Lyttle of Kempsey, New South Wales.

A daring team of thieves collected more than £40,000 worth of art treasures on the weekend in a raid on one of Britain’s showpiece stately homes – Buxted Park, Sussex. Detectives believe that the raiders were art experts, and that they could find some of the art treasures “too hot to handle”.

Television highlights: Panorama – America’s Playboy clubs. World in Action. Moment for Melody.

Radio highlights: The Archeologist. Calling the Tune.

Weather: cold with fog patches. Outlook – little change. Maximum temperature 3c, 37f.

Tuesday 29 January 1963

Two Killed in Soho Gun Fight. “Tony the Greek” shot in his club. The shooting happened in an upstairs room of the softly-lit club. It is believed there was a quarrel over several women. Detectives are questioning several people at the club.

“How does Britain stay at the top? Should we become the fifty-first state of the USA? The physical distance is formidable and the psychological objections are worse. No, we are Europeans. We live in Europe. Britain’s destiny lies as a leading partner in the largest association of the most intelligent, most skilled, most cultured people the world has ever seen grouped together.” – Woodrow Wyatt, MP.

France will be the first country in the world to operate a rocket mail service. They will shoot mail from the Riviera to Corsica, a distance of fifty miles. The rocket will be controlled by radio and have an undercarriage for landing on a runway.

Football: because of the Big Freeze, the season will be extended by three weeks. The fixtures will be played on Saturday evenings, to avoid clashing with the cricket.

Television Highlights: The World of Jacqueline Kennedy, No Hiding Place, Song Album.

Radio Highlights: People of the Railways, Topical Tunes.

Weather: mainly dry. Some frost and fog. Maximum temperature 3c, 37f.

Wednesday 30 January 1963

General de Gaulle has finally sabotaged Britain’s efforts to join the Common Market. Five of the six countries in the European Community – Belgium, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg and West Germany – supported Britain’s entry, but de Gaulle said, non! De Gaulle can momentarily prevent progress, but he will not prevent the eventual triumph.

Scotland Yard detectives probing the double shooting in Soho are looking for gangsters behind a “guns for sale” racket. One theory is that “Big Tony” Mella, aka “Tony the Greek”, and his manager Alfred Melvin shot each other in an argument over money.

Enough explosives to crack a hundred safes were stolen yesterday from an army depot. The haul – 35lbs of plastic explosives, 65 detonators and 40ft of safety fuse – were in the armoury at the Green Jackets depot, Winchester, Hampshire.

ITV may get a second channel, but only in the main population areas such as London, the Midlands and the North. Currently, there are not enough advertisements to support two ITV channels throughout the country.

Television highlights: I’m Going to Be…a Musician, careers advice. The Flowerpot Men. Tonight in Person, music with the Limeliters and Nana Mouskouri.

Radio highlights: Jazz. Postal Bingo.

Weather: rain or sleet turning to snow. Colder. Outlook – very cold, day temperatures near freezing.

Available for pre-order, Songbird, my novel set in the winter of 1962-63

https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on over thirty occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

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Monday 21 January 1963

Britain’s Biggest Ever Heli-Lift Rescue – 283 Flown From Fylingdales White Hell. Four RAF Whirlwinds flew again and again through an 80 mph gale, which at times whipped up a 50 foot curtain of snow, to rescue the men and women from the missile-spotting base on the Yorkshire moors.

The Electrical Trades Union last night called off their power men’s overtime ban. The unofficial go-slow also ended at midnight. But the electricity generating board warned that power cuts would not end immediately because of a “severe” backlog of work.

In a fantastic series of slips, slides and slithers more than fifty of the Monte Carlo car rally’s 298 competitors dropped out yesterday, beaten by Europe’s worst weather for nearly twenty years. Pat Moss, “the best woman driver in the world” remains in contention, driving a Ford Anglia Super.

Peter Ustinov’s play Photo Finish opens on Broadway on 12 February – the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated in his box while watching a play. Said Peter, “I have arranged that all the boxes in the theatre will be empty that night.”

Men are enthusiastic about such things as low-cut dresses and short skirts before they are married to the woman, but once they are married they feel their wives shouldn’t wear such things. Also, a wife is supposed to look pretty after five babies while men can get a paunch at thirty-five.

Television highlights: Dancing Club – learning the Bossa Nova, World in Action, Spin Along.

Radio highlights: Acker Bilk, Let’s Take a Spin.

Weather: mainly dry and very cold with persistent frost. High winds. Outlook – continuing very cold, some snow showers.

Tuesday 22 January 1963

Work is about to begin at the famous United States rocket base at Cape Canaveral, Florida, preparing Moonport One. From this new base US astronauts will blast-off for the Moon. The date of the first moon landing is not yet certain. It could be 1965, but a better guess is 1967.

Workers at the British Spinners Nylon Company are being offered bonuses to learn foreign languages, starting at £10 for one year rising to £75 for four years’ study.

London Airport yesterday had its first glimpse of the VC 10, the giant four-jets-in-the-tail airliner, which will be in operation with British Overseas Airways early next year.

Pat Moss, Britain’s top woman rally driver, dropped out of the Monte Carlo Rally yesterday because of mechanical trouble. She had been driving a Ford Anglia Super. Last night, more than ninety of the 296 starters were out of the rally.

Television highlights: Bookstand, Play of the Week, Background – on the dole.

Radio highlights: Listen to the Band, Moving to Music.

Weather: dry, sunny, very cold. Outlook – no change. Maximum temperature -3c, 27f.

Wednesday 23 January 1963

A spiteful wife put itching powder in her husband’s bed, emptied the bedroom of furniture, put sand, cement and bricks in the room, threw his washing in the mud, threw his dinner on the lawn and emptied his hot water bottle on the bed. She did this because her husband kept her short of money and was jealous. The judge granted the divorce.

Another strike at the trouble-plagued Ford car factory being built at Halewood, near Liverpool. Fifty-four electricians downed tools in protest over allegations of negligence about the mislaying of an electric drill.

Two raw eggs got British driver Peter Proctor to Monte Carlo yesterday in the final stages of the Monte Carlo rally. Proctor put the eggs in the radiator of his Sunbeam Rapier to seal a leak when the car blew a cylinder-head gasket.

A television college with tutors setting homework for viewers is urged by lecturers at Midland universities. The idea is to attract people who left school at fifteen and still want to learn.

Television highlights: I’m Going to Be…A Weather Forecaster, Bucknell’s House – how to decorate a bathroom, The Sky at Night.

Radio highlights: Come Into the Parlour, Teddy and Pearl.

Taunton rugby players, without a game for five weeks, are helping local farmers to bring in stranded sheep. Rescue tally to date – 300 sheep.

Weather: mainly sunny, very cold. Outlook – similar. Maximum temperature – 3c, 27f.

Thursday 24 January 1963

New Crisis – Gas Goes on Ration. Gas rationing brought new shivers to Britain yesterday. Supplies were cut over a wide area because of rising demand and dwindling coal stocks at the gasworks. On a brighter note, the Piccadilly Circus lights will be switched on again later today.

The TUC has decided to back proposals for Britain’s adoption of a decimal currency system.

Popland Goes British – eight of the top ten discs are British while fifteen of the top twenty are homemade.

Dr Blake Donaldson has arrived in Britain with advice for people who are overweight – walk for thirty minutes without stopping every morning, drink six tumblers of water a day and eat nothing but two lamb chops for 378 consecutive meals. Another doctor responded, “This diet could be dangerous.”

Watch the Beatles, a guitar-based instrumental quartet from Liverpool with a style of their own. Their first British disc, Love Me Do, hit the scene last October. It was a success and only this week made an exit from the charts. Now, here they come with their follow-up, Please Please Me – it should please you.

Television highlights: Perspective – is the day of the amateur over? Just Dennis. Roving Report.

Radio highlights: Railway Round-Up. As Time Goes By.

Weather: dry, very cold, fog patches. Outlook – dry and very cold. Temperature -6c, 21f.

Friday 25 January 1963

Business at the Three Magpies, a pub near London Airport, came to a halt for draught beer drinkers because the beer froze solid in the barrels. In 22 degrees of frost, lemonade and ginger beers also froze in the bottles.

Britain’s jobless total soared to a staggering 814,632 – a leap of nearly a quarter of a million since mid-December. The Big Freeze is partly to blame.

The East German Army yesterday put the Twist on its blacklist on the grounds that it is cheap, uncultured, unmilitary and in bad taste.

FIFA announced yesterday that South Africa’s soccer suspension has been lifted. The voting – 11 to 6. The suspension was imposed by FIFA in 1961 because of racial discrimination in South Africa.

Outright winner of the Monte Carlo Rally, for the second year running, is Swedish ace Eric Carlsson driving a Saab.

Television highlights: Gardening Club with Percy Thrower, Ashes and Diamonds – Polish feature film, True Adventure – Harpooning Giant Whales.

Radio highlights: They Are Foreign We Are English (discussion), Alan Freeman.   

Weather: there will not be a general thaw until the last week of February, said long-range weather forecasters last night. Up until then they expect more snow and frost. 

Available for pre-order, Songbird, my novel set in the winter of 1962-63

https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on over thirty occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂