ISSUE FOUR
Doctor Who In The Sixties - Cybermen
Beatlespotting at the LIPA opening
Nostalgia TV - Quantum Leap - MIA
Most of you know the name Peter Blake and what he is most famous for, besides being an artist. For those who don't, well he is the man who gave us the timeless Sgt. Pepper album cover.
Peter Blake was born in Dartford, Kent in 1932, and says music always featured prominently in his life, mainly because his father was a great fan of big band swing. He has lists of honours, qualifications and a distinguished catalogue of international exhibitions spanning a 40 year career.
From the beginning Blake had sensed an affinity between art and pop music, although he had to wait a few years for popular taste to catch up. He first made the mistake of assuming that teenage fans would accept the fresh imagery of pop art as a natural accompaniment to the fresh sounds of pop music. He did a painting celebrating the 1960 Four Preps hit, Got A Girl. The singer is trying to kiss his girl and her wallet falls open to reveal pictures of Elvis, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell and Ricky Nelson. "Got A Girl" featured an actual copy of the record in a sleeve - which you could take out and play (Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester).
Blake with Richard Hamilton became one of the leading pioneers of Pop Art in Britain. His use of imagery from comics, pin-up magazines, consumer goods, and advertisements captures the flavour of the times in a manner that now evokes nostalgia for the ëswinging sixtiesí as was made clear during his enormously successful retrospective exhibition at the Tate Gallery, London in 1983.
Seven years later the idea was reversed when Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band arrived into the record stores wrapped in art - although, it appears, not quite as much art as Blake would have liked. Sgt. Pepper was going to be a double album complete with toys but Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane had been issued has a single, so Pepper ended up as a single album with gatefold.
One of Blake's most popular sixties pieces featured broken-nosed Babe Rainbow, a bright sexy icon that once seemed as essential to the ambiance of any self-aware basement bedsit as rising damp and songs of Leonard Cohen.
Blake once taught Ian Dury (of Ian Dury and the Blockheads fame) another former art student, and speaks of him and his songs with great warmth. Dury's song Peter the Painter was written to play continuously during a Blake exhibition at the Tate Gallery, London.
Less well known was Blake's continuing friendship with the Everly Brothers whom he first met in the sixties. The Blake family went to Nashville to stay with Don and to witness the Everly's Homecoming Concert in Central City, Kentucky. Central City made it an annual event and it featured guest stars like Tammy Wynette, The Kentucky Headhunters and John Prine.
More recently Blake has returned to the world of popular music, with yet another piece of his work gracing the shelves of record stores in the form of the cover artwork of Paul Weller's album, Stanley Road.
"Somebody get me a tin opener!" is my ritual cry whenever I see a Cyberman adventure from more recent times. This is because inside the Cyberleader costume is David Banks, (he's been in Brookside and Live TV's soap, Canary Wharf) but the Cyber-race has been with us for quite a while and undergone one or two changes.
The Cybermen have become part of the legend of Doctor Who, ranking as second most popular monster after the Daleks (of course). Their first appearance was in 1966, in the story entitled Tenth Planet. The story also marked the end of William Hartnell's tenure as the timelord, and the final episode saw his regeneration into Patrick Troughton. (The regeneration sequence is the only part of the episode that is still retained by the BBC.) The new enemy was created by writer Gerry Davies with the required scientific know-how coming from Dr. Kit Pedlar. The voices were provided by Roy Skelton (famous for being the voices of Zippy and George in Rainbow) and Peter Hawkins, both already on the payroll at the BBC as Daleks voices. When the Cybermen first spoke it looked mighty odd because the actor in the costume just opened their mouth, while the voice artists did the rest. Kit Pedlar's original vision of the new monsters was very sophisticated, involving metal plates under the hair, 'human' features, transparent forearms and exotic weapons. The budget would not stretch that far so the costumes, designed by Sandra Reid, were grey (or silver?) body stockings, a matching balaclava style mask and a breast plate that had everything, including the kitchen sink probably! Humans that got in their way were zapped by a big flash light housed on the breast plate and in a way that made these early Cybermen a little macabre, they had "human" hands. Even before their debut story aired producer, Innes Lloyd, told the writers he wanted a second story whether the Cybermen caught the public's attention or not. This was amazingly fore-sighted as the production office was soon flooded with mail asking when the metal menace would return!
By the time the next story (Moonbase) aired the breast plate was reduced, the masks were solid helmets and they had metallic hands with three fingers. They no longer flashed at their enemies, instead they emitted a crackle of electricity from their fingers.
Tomb of the Cybermen saw the introduction of a Cyber-side-kick, the Cybermats. These rodent-like robots were spies with the ability to get into small spaces, reaching the parts that Cybermen cannot reach! (Incidentally, in the New Adventure novel called Iceberg, by the afore mentioned Mr. Banks, it is inferred that the Cybermats are organic parasites cybernetically enhanced by their masters.)
The Cybermen stories of the sixties saw a few firsts for the series. Tenth Planet saw the first regeneration, Zoe's first adventure was Wheel In Space and the first ever UNIT story was The Invasion. The latter story contained some of the strongest imagery since the Daleks were spotted at Tower Bridge! It was also the final story to feature the Cybermen until 1975.
Book Review - Frinck a novel by Roger McGough
I adore Roger McGough's poetry especially the pieces in the Mersey Sound (Penguin Poets No.10) anthology from the 60s. However until recently I never knew he had written a novel. So, there I am in a second hand book shop in Cardiff, desperately trying not to spend any money when my pal waves this book under my nose. The cover is a colourful piece of psychedelia declaring the contents of the enclosed pages to be FRINCK - A NOVEL BY ROGER McGOUGH and SUMMER WITH MONICA - POEMS BY ROGER McGOUGH. The poems I was already familiar with, but the idea of the novel intrigued me. I spent the next five or so minutes wrestling with my conscience, knowing deep down that I couldn't really afford the book, but still finally handing over the £2.95. (Well, it was a first edition paperback and in fantastic condition!)
The blurb on the cover says that the book "...tells the story of 'crutch-happy Frinck' who rises from teenage obscurity to London stardom on one hit record before he is sent back to Liverpool - washed out and used up - and only 20 years old."
The novel is more like a long prose poem, with a liberal smattering of nonsense, (in the vein of Lennon's writings.) The cover blurb is accurate in its description of the plot, and to be honest there's not much to add, except that after reading it I forgave myself the expense! It's an amusing nonsensical tale parodying the music scene of the sixties, and bizarrely still relevant today!
US Debut - 10th January 1967 UK Debut - 21st January 1967
Created by Larry Cohen
Executive Producer - Quinn Martin
Regular Cast - David Vincent - Roy Thinnes
Guest Stars have included -
Ellen Corby, Roddy McDowall, Michael Rennie, Jack Warden, Burgess Meredith, James B. Sikking, Ed Asner and Anne Francis
When I began to study my A-Levels, The Invaders was enjoying a repeat run on BBC2 and it became a bit of cult within our section of the college communal area. We found a wonderful publicity shot of Roy Thinnes as David Vincent with a saucer in the background and stuck it on the corridor wall, adding a speech bubble proclaiming "I have seen their space ships!" These words quickly became something of a catchphrase with us, usually accompanied by a salute of a stiff little finger.
Currently the show is being re-run on the Sci-Fi Channel and the Fox Network in the states has aired a revival TV movie starring Thinness and Scott Bakula (best known for his role as Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap). All this has increased interest in this classic, if occasionally overlooked, cult series.
Produced by Quinn Martin, (the man who brought us that other cult, running man classic, The Fugitive), The Invaders is the tale of David Vincent, a man alone, battling aliens with human faces. In the pilot episode, Vincent stumbles across a regeneration centre where the "human" forms used by the aliens are recharged every ten hours. From then on the series revolves around his one man crusade against the invaders and him trying to convince others of their existence. His quest proves difficult because it is not easy to spot whether someone is human or alien. Tell-tale signs are stiff little fingers due to a defect in the bone structure, a lack of a heartbeat or no bones showing up on an x-ray. One of the biggest signs that someone was an alien was if you hit them hard enough or killed them, they had a habit of evaporating leaving nothing but a few ashes. At college we often pondered why Vincent didn't carry around a big stick and just whack everyone he met. If they evaporated they were aliens, if they just fell down they were okay. Mmmn....perhaps that wouldn't have really worked uh?!
Throughout the series, the audience was treated to many a fiendish alien plot to control the Earth. These ranged from bribery and corruption, through to mind control due to sleep deprivation and even carnivorous butterflies! (I kid you not!) The show ran for a mere two seasons before its untimely cancellation.
LIVE REVIEW - Joan Baez 27th October 1995 Royal Philharmonic Hall Liverpool
By John Trace
At Last! A chance to see a folk icon of my long lost youth. I could not believe it. Will the voice still be good after all these years? Will I still like folk music? After years of listening to pop could I still appreciate it? Questions rang round my head.
I must be dreaming. Front row seats in the centre? Thanks Stephen. The lights dim and a small figure in black arrives on stage flanked by three musicians. The audience erupts. Age has etched itself on her face but the smiling face immediately takes me back to visions of her standing on the Woodstock stage with that magnificent voice cutting into the night air contrasting to the cacophony of Hendrix and The Who.
She opens with Lily of the West and immediately the voice echoes around this acoustically magnificent hall. Nothing has changed - maybe a tone lower than I remember - but the effect is still the same. The musicians, headed by a guitarist who looks as if he had just stepped out of the Greenwich Village of the sixties, complement Joan beautifully. She follows Honest Lullaby with Bob Dylan's You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, enhancing her reputation, in my eyes, as the finest exponent of Dylan's music. Yes maybe even better than Bob himself.
At this point Joan announces to her band that she is going to sing The Altar-boy and the Thief while her voice lasts. This beautiful song fills the hall with ecstatic melody. Protest song time -And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda - an anti-war song about the war between Australia and Turkey (World War 1) highlights the futility of war and its effect on the young men involved.
An Irish voice from behind shouts out. 'Sing Carrickfergus'. Joan smiles and launches into Hello In There, a song asking young people to acknowledge the existence of the older generation by talking to them. Then the plaintive strains of Joe Hill rekindle thoughts of Woodstock and a tear appears in my eye. Help! I am not old enough to get emotional over songs am I? (What do you mean not old enough Dad? Haven't you seen me weeping buckets whenever I hear If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again ? - A-Mx)
Joan then talks about her early years and finishes the first section with an example of her early performances - an a capella version of the Do Wop classic "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" along with the band members who then go off for a well-earned break.
After a little guitar tuning, the lilting opening bars of "Carrickfergus" ring out accompanied by a loud "Oh Jesus" from just behind me. Another satisfied customer. Joan's solo set continues with "There But For Fortune", a personal favourite that charted in the UK but not in the States. The audience, whose participation had been minimal to this point, becomes a major force in the performance of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" providing rhythmic up tempo clapping choruses to complement Joan's slower a capella verses.
The band returns for the second Dylan number "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" complete with Joan's inimitable Dylan impersonation. The percussion player, whose antics had intrigued me all night, then plays a very active role in "Suzanne". Included in the next few songs is the autobiographical "Diamonds and Rust" with a subtle change of words at the end when Joan decides to take diamonds now.
The concert concludes with the encore number "Gracias a la Vida" rounding off a very special night for me for which I must thank Anne-Marie and Stephen who made it possible. The voice held out for the night and I am not disappointed; in fact I am trembling as I head home back down the motorway.
Beatle Spotting - The Opening Of LIPA - 30th January 1995
Beatles fans are a hardy species. Let's face it they have to be! If they are not being starved of new information about the individual fabs, then they are being bombarded from all sides by news and the inevitable merchandising. (Did I say that!)
Probably the hardest aspect of fandom is Beatle Spotting, (concerts don't count!) as I experience for myself on a very cold January day in Liverpool.
The event was the opening of the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts, or LIPA to its mates! The odds of a Beatle being in attendance were high due to Paul McCartney's close involvement with the project. Still, there were rumours rippling around that he may not be coming due to Linda's recent illness. This did not deter a throng of fans who gathered at the LIPA gates from nine in the morning to wait in freezing weather for the arrival of that day's target a few hours later. In the mean time the rumours persisted. The whispers said that Paul was already inside the building, that the security at this gate was a decoy so he could arrive at another entrance, plus because George Harrison had put money into the project he may turn up too!
Excitement built up as security increased and we were moved onto the pavement to clear the gates for the arrival of various local dignitaries. The security guards were bizarrely helpful and kept us informed as to when Paul would be arriving. One suggested that I stand on the opposite side of the road for a better view. This would have been good advice but for the fact that the car came the other way so I missed it. However it did give me a great view of the waiting fans.
Certain sections of the crowd (you know who you are!) provided entertainment by chanting most of the script to "Help!" (That poor photographer probably has no idea why he was told to get sacrificed!) Meanwhile I glanced down the street and spotted a rather familiar face which I dismissed as just another regular in fandom. It wasn't until he was walking past me that I realised that it was Neil Aspinall! Others recognised him and after he had consulted security about where he should have been going, he paused for a while to chat and be photographed.
For me, McCartney's arrival was all a bit of a blur, followed by a dash across the road to catch a glimpse of him before he disappeared into the LIPA building. Moments later Mike McCartney drove up and wound down his car window to greet fans before he too went inside. Other famous faces to be spotted included Adrian Henri, Ben Elton, Peter Sissons and George Martin, all of whom were queuing to gain entry into the opening ceremony.
Realising that there would be nothing to see for quite a while, thus making it a tad pointless hanging around in the cold, we all headed off on our separate ways. Some went off into the town centre to do a spot of shopping, some went off to get their photographs developed, and Jean and I tagged along with a group of Americans who were off to Ye Cracke for a mug of coffee and something to eat. We stayed there for over an hour defrosting our poor frozen fingers and toes, before heading back to watch everyone leave. I wonder if those inside thought we'd all waited in the cold the whole time? Beatle fans may be daft, but they're not that daft!
We could see Paul preparing to leave through the big glass doors. He seemed to take forever to say good-bye to everyone. When he did come out he made straight for his car, accompanied by his son, Jamie, who got into the vehicle right away. Paul obligingly posed for photographs for the fans who heralded his appearance with a crescendo of shouts and screams. Moments later he was in the car and heading for the gates. Most people flew across to the other side of the road for one last glimpse. They were rewarded when Paul wound down his window and some of them were able to shake his hand. I stayed were I was and watched the phenomenon. Once the car was out of sight and you began to look around you realised how much the day had meant to so many shivering fans. Whether they had travelled from Japan, the US, Southern England or even just across town, they were over-awed, some even in tears, that they had seen or actually touched a Beatle! Mind you when you look at the final list of Beatle people spotted in just one day, it was amazing. We not only got a Beatle, but also a Beatle son, a Beatle brother, a Beatle producer and the great Beatle god of Apple Corp.!
Nostalgia TV - Quantum Leap - MIA
Sam's leap into what he believes is a woman ('...not high-heels, not a woman again...') but is in fact an undercover male cop, belies the true nature of this episode. Knowing what is to come I settle down with a couple of bags of crisp, some Pepsi and a big box of hankies.
The leap begins on 1st April 1969, and provides an insight into the character of Al, Sam's holographic aide. (The Sancho to his Don Quixote!) We discover that despite his friendship with Sam and his desire to get his friend back home, Al is willing to risk his chances in order to regain his first and probably only true love, his first wife Beth.
This episode is often quoted as a favourite among Dean Stockwell fans (of which I am one), and it is apt that should a character developing piece should be scripted by the show's creator, Donald P. Bellisario.
Throughout the course of the episode we watch Al slowly degenerate as he desperately tries to manipulate Sam to serve his own cause, while the real problem Sam is there to put right develops. (The bad guys are going to shoot the partner of Sam's host body using a small child as a distraction.) Al pretends that Ziggy is giving him tips to pass on to Sam to gain Beth's trust and dissuade her from falling for a lawyer, who she will eventually marry.
Al wandering around Beth's house, contemplating what might have been, gives Sam his first hint that things aren't quite what they seem, especially as when he and Beth arrive Al makes a hasty retreat and waits outside. The usually dapper Admiral becomes unshaven, dishevelled and more and more desperate, but despite his attempts Beth still falls for the other man.
When Sam sees Al's photo in Beth's house he realises what Al has done and the two friends confront each other. By now Al is a broken man, fighting to hang on to his "one-shot at true love." The confrontation is a truly moving scene, as Al finally comes to realise that the real reason Sam is there is more important, and in the nick of time the cop's life is saved.
The end of this episode definitely calls for a fair few tissues as Al is given a chance to see Beth before the leap. She can't see or hear him, but he tells her how he feels. Then Beth dances to the strains of "Georgia" sung by Ray Charles, giving Al the opportunity to holographically "dance" with her. We all know she still has him declared dead while missing in action in Vietnam, which fills his pleas for to wait for him with a bitter irony.
I usually spend the closing credits attempting to compose myself, but on a recent watching I noticed something that puzzled me. The photographed of a young Dean Stockwell that was used, was apparently provided by Roddy McDowell (Planet of The Apes, Fantastic Journey) I wonder why?