Radio Leeds

[Gray]

Hi All

Yesterday afternoon Radio Leeds had a 'look back' feature to the UK charts, this week, in 1961.
Matt was at number 7, down from last weeks number 6 position, with My Kind of Girl.
Also in the charts were Bobby Darin 'Up a Lazy River' and Elvis was Number 1 with Wooden Heart.

Cracking chart.

Gray

[michduncg]

Ahh - I used to love these charts shows when jimmy Saville used to do them in the 1980s on Radio 2 (I think it was called Savilles Time Travels)

He used to pick 8 years each year, and then play the top 20 from 2 of them every Sunday throughout the year . I can remember avidly reading the Radio Times at the start of a year to work out which years he would be covering for the next 12 months. If it was the late 50s and the 60s I was happy - it was great discovering all those wonderful songs and singers that I'd read about but never actually heard. He used to play a lot of Helen Shapiro, COnnie Franceis, Elvis, Adam Faith, Bobby Darin, Cliff as well as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who, etc - a great musical education, interrupted by Jimmys madcap DJ style!

That was a great choice on Radio Leeds Gray, 'My kind of girl' is a great track which (I beleive) Matt sang first. And 'Up a lazy river' is a perfect summers day song - especially when song by Bobby Darin!

'Wooden Heart' was a great European style pop song, in the days when it was cool to sing in a foreign language (or was it just a way of stretching out the song without writing any more lyrics!). Its a catchy tune which show a more tender side to Elvis - was it from one of his films featurings GIs in Germany or something like that?!

[Gray]

Hiya

Thanks for replying, yup Wooden Heart was from GI Blues I think, I hope so anyway because I've just ordered it to rent from an online dvd service!
I think my munchkins will like the sequence where Elvis sings the tune, at a punch and judy show if memory serves.
I also used to listen to the look back shows, that helped cultivate my love of oldies!

It's the last day of my hollibobs today and I am taking the children to glorious Scarborough.
I intend to be one of those six foot tall men you see parading up and down the sea front clutching half a dozen cuddly toys won on the grabbing machines
A bit like proving yourself in days of old by pulling Excalibur from the stone, you're not a success today unless you've successfuly defeated the mighty Tinky Winky Teletubby.

Gray

[Lena & Harry Smith]

Hi Gray, an arm full of fluffy toys can make one feel victorious, but the challenge is tougher with those luscious Rolex looking watches. You know your fate when those claws open up about Three seconds from the finish every time
Have a great day.

[Gray]

Hi Lena & Harry

Failed miserably today with the grabbers, but I did give up after a couple of tries as the mechanism was definatley out of kilter!
Had a good day, we ended up in Filey, played on the beach, had a fabulous fish and chips dinner and got the girls to sing along to 'Honey on the Vine' on the way home.
It was a beautiful day.

Work for me tomorrow - all good things must come to an end

Gray

[paul jh]

Gray - Absolutely wonderful that you are exposing your daughters to such fine music as Matt Monro's Honey On The Vine. What a perfect song to close out a fun day!

Where are Scarborough and Filey? Are they on the sea or a lake? Should they be added to my list of places to visit in the UK?

[michduncg]

Gray - what a great county Yorkshire - beautiful countyside and lovely beaches! Haven't been to Scarborough for donkeys years - but always take Mum and Dad to Whitby if I'm 'home' in the summer. And we always end up in Helmsley too as I think J have mentioned before! Glad to hear you make the kids sing in the car - my dad used to make us sing to 'Do you love me (now that I can dance)' or 'O'Raffertys motor car'!

Fairground grabbers always make me think of 'Toy story' now - I'd have loved a Buzz Light year as a child!

Sounds like you had a champion day out!

[michduncg]

Jeff - Scarborough and Filey are on the East Coast of Yorkshire, on the North Sea (=cold water!). Never been to Filey but think that it used to be home to a 'Butlins' Holiday camp (Butlins started in the 1930s, and offered holidays for the masses in the days before package holidays abroad. They became a British institution with a chain of the huge complexes with swimming pools, ballrooms, ice cream parlours, bowling alleys etc all one site).

Scarborough was fashinable resort in the Victorian times. Its on the edge of the stunning Yorkshire Moors and, along with its close neighbour, Whitby is well worth a visit on a sunny day. Whitby has a huge ruined 14th century Cathedral perched on top of a cliff, and was the setting for Bram Stokers 'Dracula'. Another local landmark used to be the Fylingdales Early Warning System - 3 huge white glass spheres about 150 ft high each, that were built in the 1960s and were an awesome sight. Sadly, they have now been replaced by smaller galss pyramids that are nowhere near as imposing!

nowadays, The area around Whitby is better known to the British TV viewing public as 'Heartbeat' country after the cosy 1960s based cop drama, that has actually been on the air for nearly 20 years - twice as long as the 60s it depicts.

[paul jh]

Thanks for the description of those places in Yorkshire, Michael. Most Americans really don't know anything about the UK except London and Edinburgh, but there are so many other interesting sites to see. Sarah Kennedy recently went to Whitby for a week-end and reported it was quite cold. I had no idea where Whitby was. Sounds like an interesting area to visit. My problem is I can't get tired of London and its show, sheet music stores, and record stores, so I often don't make an effort to visit other parts of the UK. Mark Twain was right when he said a person who tires of London is tired with life. But Yorkshire does sound lovely, and I can almost taste the fish and chips right now!

[michduncg]

Sarah Kennedy is a favourite customer of the 'Guisborough Bookshop' in my hometown of ... Guisborough, which is about 20 miles from Whitby. She occasionally refers to it in her shows as the best Bookshop in the country! Its not the biggest bookshop in the world but it offers fantastic service.

[michduncg]

You forgot Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon in your list of Americans perception of the UK lol. And its not uncommon for tourists to think that they can pay a day trip to Edinburgh from London.

I'm glad you still love London Jeff, it is a great city, but as we've told you before, there is a lot more to Britain

[mariana44]

Bath and Stratford are really lovely places--as are Chester, York---lots of good places to visit. !!

[Gray]

Jeff

You will of heard of Whitby I'm sure, it's where a certain Count Dracula was washed ashore.
Fantastic description of areas of North Yorkshire, Michael.
Jeff, you must come and visit.

Gray

[michduncg]

Mark Twain was right when he said a person who tires of London is tired with life

Did Mark Twain say that - in the UK that quote is usually accredited to the 18th Century diarist Dr Samuel Johnson -not quite sure what he did but I think he had a hand in the 1st English Dicitionary? (or am I thinking of an episode of Blackadder the Third?! My contrafibularities if I am wrong )

[Gray]

I wonder if Jeff would like to suggest to us 5 places we must visit in the US please?
(I hope he includes his house where we could all stay for a fortnights vacation )

Gray