Cass Elliot was the heavyweight of the 60s group The Mamas And The Papas in more ways than one. She had a fabulous voice and tremendous stage presence, but was also seriously obese. Cass died on 29 July 1974 at the age of 32 at Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place, Mayfair, London—the same flat where [more...]
The Brady Bunch was a saccharine-sweet television series originally aired from 1969 to 1974. It featured a family formed by the marriage of a widowed architect (Mike Brady) to a previously-married Carol. Mike brought with him three sons—Greg, Peter and Bobby—while Carol brought three daughters—Marcia, Jan and Cindy. Add a live-in maid (Alice) and a [more...]
Heavy metal music is a kind of hard rock music. It’s characterised by more than just its musical attributes, but music is the obvious place to begin… Most of all, heavy metal is loud. If it were played quietly as elevator music, it would be light metal music. It’s not the peak volume that counts, but [more...]
Polaroid cameras produce self-developing photos, so that you can see the photo within a minute or so. The technology was developed by Edwin Land in the 1940s. The cameras and film were sold by his Polaroid Corporation, and later by others. The earliest of these cameras, the Polaroid Land Camera, used rolls of film and developer [more...]
Today’s movie cinema format comprises a large chunk of previews and advertisements, followed by the main feature. But it wasn’t always like that. In the past there were three common formats: “shorts plus main feature”, “double feature” and “continuous screening”. “Continuous screening” was used for “blockbusters” where the cinema was expecting to operate near full capacity. [more...]
Radio Caroline began regular broadcasts during Easter 1964. The playlist was youth-oriented popular music, and served an audience which was not provided for by the government-controlled licensed stations. Because Radio Caroline operated from a ship in international waters off the United Kingdom, it did not require a licence. At their peak, Radio Caroline and the other [more...]
The traditional Australian milk bar enjoyed its heyday during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, when the influx of migrants from Italy and Greece brought new life to the old Welsh tradition of the Milk Bar. There are still a few around, though they’ve become rather thin on the ground now that Australians have access to [more...]