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One of the most universally
desired sex symbols of Glam was Sally James, star of
probably the greatest Glam kids television show ever,
Tiswas. She is our guide to the dress habits of the great,
good and cor-blimey of Glam. |
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From 1968 to 1979, studio-based
musicians in the employ of Pickwick Records in Britain,
mimicked everyone from Diana Ross and The Sex Pistols to
Roxy Music and Funkadelic. Eight albums were issued every
year for 12 years, one every six weeks.
Strikingly housed in sleeves adorned with Pan's People
look-alikes, those collections of faceless impersonators
somehow shifted 300,000 copies at their peak. |
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Glam might have looked on the
surface as if it was a lot of blokes poncing about on high
heels in make-up but look a little closer and you'll more
often than not see that it isn't eye make-up, it's a black
eye.
Men wanted to look Glam but remain masculine and hard,
and The Sweeney offered two perfect male role models in
the shape of Jack Regan and George Carter. |
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Many TV shows are lubricated by
alcohol, and the big American soaps would dry up and stop
without it. The Rovers Return, The Queen Victoria and the
like, are the setting for so much important action, useful
places for characters to meet and a boon to writers.
What's the tipple of choice of some of the most famous
TV characters? It's your round . . . |
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Our ex-Prime Minister has
always been keen to skim over what has been called his
'lost year'. And one look at the photographs on this page
perhaps suggests why. Sporting shaggy, shoulder-length
hair, a tight Lurex shirt and brown flared jeans (with
patterned turn-ups), this is Tony Blair circa 1972.
Aged 18, he had thrown off the shackles of his Scottish
public school to dip his bare toes in the choppy waters of
the rock music business. |
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As a new decade began, the
Swinging Sixties became the Swapping Seventies. Well, that
is if you believe everything you saw on the big
screen.
Britain's film industry in the early 1970s consisted of
the odd James Bond film and two series of witless, though
gloriously politically incorrect films, which used the
double entendres as often as Slade used the A Major chord. |
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These beautifully produced
radio documentaries, presented by such luminaries as Brian
Cant, Sally James and Fred Harris, discuss the history of
TV shows including Crackerjack, Blue Peter, Vision On, The
Clangers, Camberwick Green, Pogles Wood and Magpie.
If you haven't yet heard these wonderful programs,
download them now and wallow in nostalgia. |
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It's no coincidence that
Britain embraced Glam at precisely the moment that colour
TV sets became affordable. It was a visual revolution
which would see metaphorical blood shed, and a new order
arise.
Out went any series which looked great in black and
white but lacked the imagination to capitalise on the
potential of colour images; Andy Pandy, Lamb Chop and Bill
And Ben stood no chance against the Glam appeal of Crystal
Tipps And Alistair, The Wombles and Follyfoot. |
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Once upon a time in a country
where school children were served warm milk for free, the
TV overlords surveyed the multitude of potential disasters
that awaited the feckless populace and decided that
"something must be done".
The result , via the Orwellian-sounding Central Office
of Information, was the production of a number of
instructive short films designed to cope with every
potential perilous situation, from slippery polished
floors and loose carpeting to the searing heat of a
nuclear apocalypse. |
| Sixties Speaking |
The Singles Boom
There were always more differences between albums and
singles than just the price and size. The advent of the New
Music in 1976 challenged the state of the industry by
returning artistic focus to the 45. Anarchy In The UK was,
like My Generation, an anthem single, a song, a brief
statement of anger.
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Seventies Speak
These 75 examples of "SeventiesSpeak" first
appeared in Life Magazine in December 1979 as part of a
review of the decade. |
Enter the Ford Capri
The Capri, Marina, Cortina, Granada and Princess were
family cars which doubled as a sports car for those Jason
King and Persuaders fans who had no chance of ever getting a
truly Glam car like a Jensen Interceptor, Ferrari Dino,
Aston Martin DBS or even Triumph Stag.
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Eighties Speak
So . . . "Awesome" is equal to or slightly better
than "Cool", certainly better than "Bad"
(or "Bitchin") and about on a par with
"Gnarly", but definitely nowhere near as good as
"Tubular" . . . well, that totally, like, rocks my
world dude! |
Get Your Skates On Mate!
1969: Neil Armstrong walks on the Moon, America bombs
Vietnam, and dozens of Minis bring Turin to a standstill. We
take you behind the scenes of The Italian Job - The greatest
caper movie of all time.
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How Out Of Touch Was Elvis In The
60's?
How out of touch was The King in the 1960s? Compare his hits
with the current events |
THE CURSE OF PLONK
The late Ronnie Lane - Someday his bad luck surely must
end! A look at the man and his memorial concert at London's
Royal Albert Hall in April 2004.
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C'est La Rock & Roll
The great majority of internationally acclaimed rock
& roll has always been produced in English-speaking
countries. Almost from the start other countries got in on
rock & roll, and it remains a fairly obscure fact that
the 60s produced much interesting rock from non
English-speaking countries.
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The Girl On The School Sign
She has what must be Britain's best-known silhouette - yet
for 40 years she has been anonymous herself. |
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