The Spitfire and the Battle of Britain
We examined the roles of the Spitfire and the Hurricane, together
with the role of strategy, in the winning of the Battle of Britain
and try to explain why the contribution of the beautiful and
remarkable Spitfire is often exaggerated. |
James Power's
thought-provoking piece on the battlefields of the First
World War, now the subject of great interest for visitors. |
Frankie Howerd
Howard Pitfield told us about his tribute to comedian Frankie
Howerd, probably best remembered for his role as Lurcio in Up
Pompeii! and as characters such as 'Francis Bigger' in Carry On
Doctor. His dry, sardonic, stumbling, hesitant, clumsy style
nevertheless warmed him to the nation with his familiar catchphrases
"Ooh no, missus" and "titter ye not." |
Philip Townsend
We looked at the amazing portfolio of sixties photographer Philip Townsend
who photographed just about everybody you can think of in London and beyond in the swinging sixties,
including The Beatles, The Stones, models, actors and high society.
|
Tommy Cooper
Digger talked to Clive Greenaway, who is keeping the memory of
Britain's most loved magician/comedian Tommy Cooper very much alive.
With his Tommy Cooper Remembered magic act, Clive is reminding us of
what a great talent we have lost.
|
Burt Bacharach
The man who wrote Walk On By, Always Something There To
Remind Me, Anyone Who Had A Heart, Alfie, Do You Know The Way To San Jose?, The Look Of Love, What's New Pussycat?, Blue On Blue, I
Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, I Say A Little Prayer, I'll Never Fall
In Love Again, Make It Easy On Yourself, This Guy's In Love With You,
What The World Needs Now Is Love, Wishin' and Hopin', Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa and a huge catalogue of further hits and themes has
written the lyrics to his songs for the first time. At This Time is the title and here Digger
reviewed this album. |
Patrick McGoohan
The Prisoner and Portmeirion - we looked at Patrick McGoohan's Cult 1960s TV series and at Portmeirion - the beautiful setting for the series originally created by Clough Williams-Ellis in the 1920s. |
Tara Hanks
Tara's novella based around the events of the Profumo Affair featuring Christine Keeler. |
Pop culture Quiz
Fifteen questions to test your knowledge of Sixties pop culture, people and events.
|
Pop culture Quiz
Fourteen more questions to test your knowledge of Sixties pop culture, people and events.
|
Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton
Twiggy and The Shrimp. Bill Harry presented an article on the two
leading models of the 1960s - Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton.
|
The British Invasion
The so-called 'British Invasion' of America in 1963/64 by the
British beat music and associated pop culture such as film, fashion,
TV, photography and so on was the result of an explosion occurring
in Britain following years of austerity and post-war gloom. The
Beatles had people like Lonnnie Donegan and Hank Marvin to thank for
their inspiration. Here we looked at how and why this all came about. |
Digger presents an A-Z of British bands, songwriters and musical
movers & shakers of the sixties - part one - A-B
|
Digger presents an A-Z of British bands, songwriters and musical
movers & shakers of the sixties - part two - C-D
|
Digger presents an A-Z of British bands, songwriters and musical
movers & shakers of the sixties - part three -
E-H
|
Digger presents an A-Z of British bands, songwriters and musical
movers & shakers of the sixties - part four -
I-L
|
Digger presents an A-Z of British bands, songwriters and musical
movers & shakers of the sixties - part five - M-P
|
Digger presents an A-Z of British bands, songwriters and musical
movers & shakers of the sixties -
part six - Q-S
|
Digger presents an A-Z of British bands, songwriters and musical
movers & shakers of the sixties -
part seven -T-Z
|
Same difference
Our west coast American correspondent Dan Hollombe looked at songs which were hits
in the US and the UK - but for different artists on both side of the
pond.
|
Cathy McGowan
Ready Steady Go! The Pop show that led Cathy McGowan to be
Queen of the Mods and moved British music television into a new era,
paving the way for The Tube and The Word. |
Stars as Babies
Digger set you a challenge - can you work out who these children turned into?
|
Part one of Digger's A-Z of British movies of the Sixties, this section featuring films from
A - E
|
Part two of Digger's A-Z of British movies of the Sixties, this section featuring films from
F - K |
Part three of Digger's A-Z of British movies of the Sixties, this section featuring films from
L - R
|
Part four of Digger's A-Z of British movies of the Sixties, this section featuring films from
S - Z |
Mike Potts - genealogy
We interviewed Mike Potts of ancestors.co.uk on the intriguing
topic of genealogy and the tracing of family history and roots. |
The Satire Boom
We looked at the legacy of the Satire Boom of the sixties - Beyond The Fringe, Not Only But Also and David Frost/Ned Sherrin's That Was The Week That Was. |
Christine Keeler
We looked at the Profumo Affair of 1962 and how this sex/spy scandal
still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, despite attempts by Christine Keeler to
put the record straight from her point of view. |
CINEMA RETRO
brings you great exclusive interviews with ‘reel’ stars of
cinema past and great articles on movies from the 60s and 70s.......
|
Pink Floyd
Photographs of Pink Floyd 'before they were famous' in 1966 by Peter
Mercier. |
This Day in Music
is the ultimate, essential, online music history
resource for all those serious about their trivia.
|
The Ugliest Cars In Britain
We take a look at the hilarious (unless you are a retired car designer) website - The Ugliest Cars in Britain. |
Brigitte Bardot
B B - Beyond the Age Bar - By Bill Harry |
Barbarella
Bill Harry looks at Jane Fonda's Cult movie Barbarella, now
over forty years old. |
The Rolling Stones
Rare images of The Rolling Stones available at The Strato Archive. |
Hammer Horror Glamour
The glamour of Hammer Horror by Bill Harry. |
Ukulele and Banjo
- The Revival! |
Cortina
Simon Jones has created a Website dedicated to the Cortina name |
London to Brighton car run
Wendy Nash looks at the historic London to Brighton veteran car run,
taking place again this year |
Bobby Graham
"The man who turned down The Beatles"
is also Britain's top session drummer of all time having
recorded for The Animals, The Kinks, Petula Clark, Dusty
Springfield, Tom Jones, The Dave Clark Five and a host of
others. Here, Digger explores Bobby's fascinating 1960's. |
 Robert
Altman
An exclusive interview with legendary Rolling Stone magazine photographer,
Robert Altman. |
The Busby Babes
The tragedy surrounding The Busby Babes, The 'dream team' of Manchester
United footballers who died in the Munich air crash of 1958. |
An Eagle Eye
- A letter from America from David Lincoln Brooks.
David presents a
Stateside view of British Pop Culture and the relationships/influences/differences
between the cultures of the US and the UK. |
Denise Allen
Archaeologist, historian and travel expert, pondered why we are so interested in the past and why we love to travel around
the world to sample historical locations for ourselves. Here, she
describes several such places which her travel tours visit regularly.
|
Sara Wilson
Vintage fashion enthusiast, discussed the fashions of
the 1950s. |
A history of the development of the seaside holiday in Britain
by
Steven Braggs and Diane Harris. |
Diane and Revard Vordenbaum
provide fascinating reminiscences of life
in middle America in the 50s and 60s. |
Cliff Richard
An exclusive interview with Carol Hall, President of the Cliff Richard
fan club for London and Surrey. |
Adam Ant
An exclusive interview with Madam Stan, founder of the Ant Liberation
Front - fan club for Adam Ant aficionados. |
Autograph dealer Mick Spring
registered dealer with the Universal
Autograph Collector's Club, gave some advice about collecting autographs.
|
The lost groups
An article about four of the forgotten groups of
the sixties in Britain who should have been big and have now achieved
cult status amongst collectors; The Action, The Creation, The Idle
Race and The Timebox. |
Lords and Ladies
- roll-up and get yourself a title to improve your
social standing. |
Bob Boyer
Rock and rare vinyl expert Bob Boyer reviewed four of his favourite
albums from the sixties. |
Stephen Maycock
An exclusive interview with Stephen Maycock, specialist of the Rock
and Roll memorabilia auctions at Sotheby's, the world's leading auction
house. He gives practical advice about collecting and provides a fascinating
insight into the world of auctions. |
Michael Caine – from Alfie to Zulu
Digger, rather retrospectively,
reviewed two of Michael Caine’s most famous films. |
Turn! Turn! Turn!
Celebrated and respected music journalist Richie Unterberger's account
of Folk/Rock, from The Lovin' Spoonful and The Byrds to The Mamas
& The Papas, via The British scene, is called Turn, Turn, Turn!
This excerpt will whet your appetite so that you will want to Turn,
Turn, Turn to the end of his book! |
Digger headed to Liverpool
on a weekend when the city bustles with
Beatles-related activity. The site of some of The Beatles' first performances
- The Casbah Coffee Club, home of original drummer Pete Best and his
family, re-opens after forty years with accompanying razzamatazz.
The Mathew Street Festival, with bands from over 20 countries and
The Adelphi Hotel Beatles convention complete the Beatlemania. Now
includes interview with Pete. |
George Harrison
We retrospectively reviewed the George Harrison masterpiece, All Things Must Pass
and considered George's contributions to our musical well-being. |
Rob Pingel
Our American features writer David L Brooks talked to successful Los
Angeles lawyer Rob Pingel about his fascination with popular music.
|
Peter Cook
Digger discussed the late, great, Peter Cook with Peter Gordon, the editor of 'Kettering: the magazine of elderly British Comedy'
- see also our feature The Satire Boom of the Sixties..
|
Peter Moore, the London
Town Crier
We profiled retrosellers' most retro fellow! |
The Red Telephone Box
We looked at a design classic - the red telephone box. |
50 years of Pop
Digger reviewed Mike Kelly's book '50 Years Of Pop.' |
Eric Stewart
We reviewed Eric Stewart's Do Not Bend album. |
Paul McCartney
We reviewed Paul McCartney's Back In The World tour and album. |
Carol White
Fan and look-alike Amanda Hallay gave us her insight into the life
of actress Carol White, one of our most undervalued and overlooked
stars, who came to fame via groundbreaking TV plays Cathy Come Home
and Up The Junction. |
The Avengers
A taster of David Smith's magnificent website which focuses on the
classic cult TV show The Avengers. |
Digger's top 50
Digger presented his top 50 singles of all time and points you to
some related websites for further reading. |
Rockin' Robin
A study of the outlaw Robin Hood's links with popular
music. |
Sooty speaks!
Our intrepid reporter Pete Pointon (who actually worked on the show for some time) interviews glove puppet icon Sooty! |
Tony Hart
The late Tony Hart inspired Britain's youth to create and draw on programmes
such as Vision On and Take Hart. |
