One of the most unusual and for a lot of people, one of the most popular programmes on the television in the 1960s was University Challenge presented by Bamber Gascoigne.
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University Challenge
The Snowball Cocktail
Discussing the upcoming Christmas festivities recently, we began to talk about Christmas drinks that were around in the 1960s and which today seem to be almost missing.
Avril remembers Babycham which you can, in fact, still buy in the supermarket but only, it seems at Christmas. Babycham, of course, is essential for adding to brandy for a little bit more of that Christmas spirit!
Let’s Jive
Ballroom dancing was one of my passions in the 1950s/60s and, until recently, I thought that it had almost disappeared. I need not have worried, however, for nothing from that era really dies, does it?
Looking through Flickr I chanced to see the photostream of Jive Addiction – the link is here – and suddenly it was 1960 once more and I was back in a ballroom. The photos portray the action so well that I spent a good half an hour looking through them, pleased to see that serious rock and roll jive is still alive and well.
Posted in Entertainment
Tagged 1950s, 1960s, 50s, 60s, ballroom, dance, Entertainment, jive, rock and roll
The Avengers
One of the most iconic and 1960s defining series ever to be screened on TV, The Avengers celebrates its 50th Anniversary – can it really be that old?
I have to admit that I rarely understood the plot in any depth but that really didn’t matter, it was the spectacle that was important. I can say that it was a story of secret agents and espionage during the Cold War and took place amid the backdrop of what was later called the Swinging Sixties. It was, of course, pure fantasy but what set it apart was the emphasis, especially later in the series, on fashion and style, giving it a look that is quintessentially both British and Sixties.
Morecambe And Wise On 1960s TV Now!
Despite the fact that we have several hundred TV channels I find I watch less and less TV as I get older but in the 1960s I did watch TV regularly even though we only had two (or was it three?) channels and it was mostly black and white! Of course, everyone’s tastes are different but one comedy duo I did watch, and watched constantly week after week was Eric and Ernie.
This article arose out of a desire to find some DVDs of 1960s programs to watch in the evenings and my wife suggested Morecambe and Wise as it was a program that we both liked. So the links below are all (at the time I wrote this) available on Amazon and a link to each is shown below so that you can have a look and see if that DVD is for you.
Posted in Entertainment
Tagged bbc, christmas specials, comedy, duo, m&w, morecambe, morecambe and wise, series, television, uk, wise
Britain In The Eurovision Song Contest 1969
Last year, 1968, was the year that we in Britain would rather forget when we were beaten at the post, as it were, so maybe we should let’s get on with the 1969 contest!
As Spain won, this year’s contest was held on 29 March 1969 in Madrid, Spain, at the Royal Theatre. You can see a picture of the venue by following this link here.
Incidentally, I have no idea why everyone on this photograph, taken in 2005, looks so sad. Maybe it’s me, but when I first looked at it, I was struck by the expressions on all the faces. Does anyone else think that, too?
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Posted in Entertainment, Uncategorized
Tagged 1969, 60s, britain, british entry, ebu, europe, eurovision, eurovision song contest, lulu, Music, sixties, song, television, track, uk, winner, winning song
Britain In The Eurovision Song Contest 1968
We won last year by a big margin with Sandie Shaw and the bouncy ‘Puppet On A String’ which went on to be a big hit. So, could we repeat the feat this year? Did we have a good enough song to make it two in a row?
As we won last year, the contest was held on 6 April 1968 at the Royal Albert Hall in London and presided over by lovely Katie Boyle.
Posted in Entertainment
Tagged 1968, 60s, britain, british entry, cliff richard, congratulations, ebu, europe, eurovision, eurovision song contest, Music, sixties, song, spain, television, track, uk, winning song
Britain In The Eurovision Song Contest 1967
We didn’t do very well last year, we had a good, strong, but maybe old fashioned song and we came about half way down the list and Austria won.
So, this year, a little later in the year on 8 April 1967, all 17 countries gathered at the lovely Great Hall in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna for the contest. (This really is a lovely place, click on the link here and then click on the picture at the top and carry on clicking until you get a full size version.)
Posted in Entertainment
Tagged 1967, 60s, britain, british entry, ebu, europe, eurovision, eurovision song contest, Music, puppet, sandie shaw, sandy, sixties, song, television, track, uk, winning song
