1 9 4 9 – 1 9 5 4 (USA) 15 minute episodes This early presentation of the Bob Clampett created characters of Beany (a freckle-faced young boy), Cecil (the seasick sea serpent), Horatio K. Huffenpuff – also called Uncle…

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1 9 9 7 (USA) 10 x 60 minute episodes A non-profit teen crisis centre at 413 Hope Street in New York saw counsellors, doctors, psychologists and social workers – and wealthy businessman Phil Thomas (Richard Roundtree), who established the centre…

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Formed in Bakersfield, California, in 1993, Korn pioneered the nu metal genre and brought it into the mainstream. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1994, followed by Life Is Peachy in 1996. Their first experience of mainstream success came…

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Founded in 1982 in Düsseldorf, Germany, Warlock gained popularity and some commercial success in Europe in the mid-1980s due to the personality and stage presence of lead vocalist Doro Pesch. If Rob Halford is the Metal God, Pesch is the…

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Formed in New York City in 1989, Helmet came out of the noise-rock underground, debuting on the Minneapolis punk label Amphetamine Reptile with the cold-eyed assault of 1990’s Strap It On, fusing orchestrated noise, metal precision, tricky time signatures, avalanche…

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Less than a decade after This Is Spinal Tap (1984) lovingly lampooned heavy metal, Chris Rock starred in the mockumentary CB4, a send-up of gangsta rap. Rock plays a wannabe rapper named Albert Brown, who assumes the identity of a…

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Beginning in 1958, Sparkle tells the (fictional) story of three singing sisters who climb up from the Harlem ghetto and fight their way to superstardom. Fresh new 17-year-old talent Irene Cara starred in the title role. Costarring as her sisters were…

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1 9 9 2 (USA) Adapted from the hit British comedy series Birds Of A Feather, this programme revolved around sisters Rochelle (Melissa Gilbert) and Lorraine (Rosie O’Donnell). Rochelle’s husband, Roger (Sam McMurray), had been an apparently successful builder of sunrooms and…

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1 9 6 0 – 1 9 6 1 (USA) 38 x 60 minute episodes Luke Perry (Wayne Rogers) and Simon Kane (Robert Bray) were drivers for the Overland Stage Coach Line in the Old West, carrying passengers back and forth…

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1 9 7 0 (USA) 13 x 30 minute episodes Timothy “Spud” Barrett (Tim Conway) was the clumsy, oafish, but well-meaning chief pilot for a small airline called Triple-A (“Anywhere Anytime Airline”). He was the chief pilot primarily because he was…

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Sid Vicious was self-destructive; Johnny Rotten was snotty; Rollins was furious; and Johnny and Dee Dee were cartoon-like. Darby Crash was all of these things. A charismatic and confrontational frontman, many considered him barking mad (many happened to be right).…

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Unashamedly middle-class, and older than most of their contemporaries, Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert and Robert Gotobed (born Mark Field) – who weren’t mates – were introduced via mutual friends, formed their group in October 1976, then learned to play. Apart…

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Although their first gig – at The 100 Club’s ‘Punk Fest’ in September 1976 – was with The Sex Pistols, The Clash and Siouxsie and The Banshees, Subway Sect would later name check Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer. The astute-minded Vic Godard…

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The Coyne brothers (Peter and Chris), who founded The Godfathers, grew up in South London in a large close-knit Irish family. Although they drew early inspiration from The Beatles and Elvis Presley, the Coynes became standard-bearers in the late-70s punk revolution. Following a string…

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Formed in 1981 outside Seattle, Washington, Queensrÿche were one of the most artistic and creative of the hard rock bands during the decade, and released one of the most enduring and influential albums in the genre, Operation: Mindcrime, the story of…

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Blue Cheer emerged in 1967 under the cover of the San Francisco psychedelic scene, but there was nothing remotely lyrical about the three-piece from North Dakota who were laying the foundations for heavy metal in the USA at the same time as Black…

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With songs galore throughout the whole film, we are thrown headfirst into America’s country music capital whilst witnessing the machinations of the presidential candidate elections. Comebacks, showdowns, backstabbing and heartbreak are all par for the course in this all-singing, all-dancing…

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The story begins in Florida in 1935. Lounge singer Ruby Claire (Piper Laurie, fresh from her role in Carrie) is having a romantic encounter near a swamp with her gangster boyfriend Nicky (Sal Vecchio). They’re about to get on a…

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1 9 2 4 – Current (UK) “Rockall, Malin, Hebrides. Southwest gale 8 to storm 10, veering west, severe gale 9 to violent storm 11. Rain, then squally showers. Poor, becoming moderate.” One of the oldest and most curious radio broadcasts…

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Born on 25 January 1949 in Salford, Manchester, John Cooper Clarke enjoyed a brief vogue as a ‘punk poet’ with his 1965-style Bob Dylan in sunglasses look and quickfire verbal delivery, with his compositions showing the influence of the punning…

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1 9 5 9 – 1 9 7 7 (UK) This long-running BBC radio sitcom was set aboard a (fictional) Royal Navy frigate named HMS Troutbridge.  Premiering on 29 March 1959, the 30-minute episodes were initially transmitted on the BBC Light…

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1 9 4 9 – 1 9 6 2 (USA) No fewer than six actors played the character of Johnny Dollar – the private eye “with the action-packed expense account” who tracked down people’s missing relatives and solved murders and…

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1 9 5 3 – 1 9 5 6 (USA) Sharp-tongued satirists Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding had such an excellent on-air rapport as staff announcers at a local radio station in Boston that they were offered a national network show…

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1 9 4 0 – 1 9 6 7 (UK) This daytime radio programme featuring live popular music was broadcast by the BBC twice daily on workdays from 23 June 1940 until 29 September 1967. The programme began during World War…

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1 9 4 1 – 1 9 6 4 (UK) This BBC radio music, comedy and variety programme was originally transmitted in May 1941. Intended as a morale-booster for industrial workers in Britain to relieve the monotony of factory production lines…

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1 9 4 2 – Current (UK) The long-running BBC radio series Desert Island Discs was first broadcast on the Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. The 30-minute show was devised and originally presented by Roy Plomley. Each week a guest…

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Average Weekly Wage (male): $149.93 Average Weekly Wage (female): $138.71 3-seater sofa and 2 x leather-look armchairs: $259.00 Chrome and Glass Coffee Table (Square): $29.00 62cm Colour TV: $779.00 4-piece stereo system: $599.00 2-door fridge: $499 Electric frypan: $39.95 Toaster: $19.95…

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January 01 – Czechoslovakia is peacefully divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the so-called “Velvet Divorce”. 01 – The European single market is created by the European Economic Community (EEC), eliminating trade barriers within the EU. 03 -…

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January 02 – Rebels in El Salvador shoot down an American Army helicopter and kill all three crew members. It is believed that two crew members initially survived and were executed on the ground. 08 – Def Leppard guitarist Steve…

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January 01 – David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City’s first black mayor. 02 – World population passes five billion. In 1960 it was three billion. 03 – Manuel Noriega surrenders to US forces, ten days after taking…

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January 02 – Ideological purity reaches the superficially cosy world of the nursery. In an attempt to excise any taint of racism, all new editions of Enid Blyton’s Noddy books will be shorn of the traditional black golliwogs, who will…

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January 01 – Spain and Portugal join the European Economic Community (EEC). 04 – Thin Lizzy bass player and vocalist, Phil Lynott dies of heart failure after laying in a coma for a week following a drug overdose. He is…

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January 01 – Dusty Hill of ZZ Top is accidentally shot in the stomach by his girlfriend, Jane Ellen Henderson. She is pulling his boots off when his gun falls to the floor and discharges. 02 – Paul McCartney turns down a…

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January 01 – Greece becomes the 10th member of the Common Market (EEC). 02 – Fire breaks out at La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy. 02 – Former Platters vocalist David Lynch dies. 03 – Princess Alice, the last surviving grandchild…

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