♫ British Pop 1968. Amen.

1968 was a great year for British pop groups.

My friends at school each had their favourite pop groups: Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Love Affair, The Herd, Amen Corner - and our soon-to-retire English teacher liked Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch! Note the heavy emphasis on British groups in that list.

My personal favourite was Amen corner. Their first album, Round Amen Corner, included their first three singles: Gin House Blues and The World of Broken Hearts - both blues numbers with a jazz sound - plus their first pop song hit, Bend Me Shape Me. Every track was good! The seven strong group from Wales had a unique sound; featuring two saxophones and the falsetto voice of Andy Fairweather-Low.

Others British groups popular at that time included Traffic, Marmalade, The Equals, The BeeGees (sort-of British) and, of course, The Beatles were still together.

Top of the Pops: Bend Me Shape Me - Amen Corner

60s teen

♫ British Pop on the Radio 1967

Before off-shore stations Radio Caroline and Radio London began broadcasting, Radio Luxembourg was the only Pop Music station but reception in the UK was generally terrible.

I was a dedicated Radio Caroline fan; listening to Keefer's Commotion while getting dressed for school, spending the evening with Robbie Dale (theme tune: I was Kaiser Bill's Batman) and going to bed with Johnnie Walker under my pillow - not the whisky. I even listened to Tony Prince on Radio Caroline North when visiting my grandparents during school holidays.

It was on Radio Caroline that I first heard "Last Train to Clarksville" by the Monkees. It was Radio Caroline that played "Ooh La La" and "Going Home" by Australian singer Normie Rowe.

The day that the Labour Party alienated a generation of future voters was 14 July 1967, when the Marine Broadcasting Offences Bill became an Act of Parliament.

Then, an iconic moment in time: BBC Radio 1 was launched on 30 September 1967, with ex Radio London DJ Tony Blackburn playing 'Flowers in the Rain' by The Move.

Did we all defect to 'the establishment'? No! We continued to listen to Pirate Radio Caroline as long as we possibly could.

For any other Radio Caroline 259 Fans, here is 'Caroline' by The Fortunes. Enjoy!

 

Recommended Music Blog: soundsandvision 

 

Beebopalula

British Comedy Awards 2012

I'm pleased that my new BFF Jo Brand won an award and Lee Mack was deservedly Best TV Comic (male).

However... many of the nominations/awards went to programmes that I've never even heard of!!! Hunderby - what/when/why? If this was completely off my radar, despite TV promos, twitter and internet browsing, who voted for it?

Also, the clips shown for nominated sit-coms that I hadn't seen certainly didn't make me feel I'd missed anything. Were they badly selected or can un-funny stuff win awards? (Well, yes it can.)

I'm disappointed that I couldn't agree with most nominations or winners but, because I hadn't seen these (new?) programmes, I couldn't disagree either. Weird.

Hurricane Sandy Relief Rock Concert

Woke up this morning to the news of Hurricane Sandy Relief Rock Concert being a huge success last night. Either it was the best kept secret ever or I've been in a coma recently - this was the first I'd heard of it!

Who wouldn't want to have been there (not that I had a chance)? I hope it will be televised in the UK - or did I already miss that too?

I don't know the full list of participants but some of the legends included:

• Bruce Springsteen
• Bon Jovi
• The Who
• The Rolling Stones
• Eric Clapton
• Paul McCartney

plus 'newer' artists

• Chris Martin
• Alicia Keys
• Kanye West

Wow! Now that's what I call Music.

Link to Bruce Springsteen rockin' for New Orleans - Go listen, it's Brilliant!

BP2

It's (nearly) Chriiiiiiiiis-maaaaas!

Christmas 2012
Most of my family and friends are too polite to tell me if my gift choices are naff so I thought I'd try to elicit the opinions of others, prior to buying some 'surprises'. Please feel free to comment and help me out!

1. Italian Cooking & Language Lesson, £69 per person + optional meal (held in London). I'm thinking of booking this for husband & son (ulterior motive - they can cook me some yummy Italian food)

2. My husband uses Canon camera but has some old lenses for Olympus so I'm looking for  a converter so that they will work together.

3. Son likes The Riddler and Big Bang Theory: how about this T-shirt?

4. Amazon lets me print off vouchers and/or email them to multitudes of teenage nieces and nephews who can then shop on-line so I lazily opt for this. Other shops are losing out because they don't offer this flexibility.

5. Gino D'Acampo's latest book, "La Dolce Diet" - maybe for myself? Seems a bit rude to give someone a book with 'diet' in the title unless it's actually on their wish list!

6. Very impressive selection of stocking fillers -  wallet tools from TouchOfGinger.com

Other than that, I'm still searching...

Rape of Schoolgirl in North London

2012: a recent news story made me reflect on my years as a schoolgirl and the lucky escape I had at that time, not far from there.

1970: Two teenage boys were walking a few paces behind my friend and me. As we reached the entrance to playing fields, they caught up with us and pulled us away from the street. I was being physically overpowered but trying to distract the boy with conversation while my friend, who managed to escape, went to get help from a house opposite.

The man from the house shouted and the boys then ran off.

I never told my parents as I didn't want them to worry or over-protect me. I'm now a parent...

Red Lion, Welwyn, Herts

Tuesday 6th November 2012: with a few minutes thought, we suddenly found ourselves heading out to dinner in the Welwyn area. Having not tried the Red Lion (just south of the village) for a couple of years, we decided to give it a try and, from a possible 5 stars, it rated a decent 4.

Arriving at 8.20pm, there was ample parking and, on entry, a welcoming atmosphere. Recently decorated and nicely furnished. Possibly understaffed as we tried for 3 or 4 minutes to find someone to ask if we could have a table for two.

It was about half-full and we had a choice of tables. The waitress was pleasant and friendly, the menu looked good with a variety of food and a range of prices. Because we didn't have a starter, there was a bit of a wait for the main course, enough time to finish the first drinks and replenish as the main course was served.

We chose a mushroom tagliatelle - excellent - and organic sausage with crispy bacon, pureed potatoes and butterbeans - also good. For pudding, one of us had frozen yogurt with fresh berries and the other one chose cappuccino which, unfortunately, did not arrive by 9.40pm when we had to leave.

Summary: atmosphere, decor, food and drink all good, maybe slightly understaffed but the staff we encountered were good. Website: www.theredlionwelwyn.co.uk