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The Grumbleweeds
The Grumbleweeds are an award winning British comedy act and band. They were mostly popular on radio and television in the 1980s, including '' The Grumbleweeds Radio Show'' which ran from 1979 to 1988 on BBC Radio 2,Graham Walker Dies, The Scottish Daily Record Retrieved 4 June 2013 and a later television incarnation, which ran from 1983 to 1988 on ITV (also known initially as ''The Grumbleweeds Radio Show'', the name of the television series was later changed to simply ''The Grumbleweeds Show''). Still active today, Robin Colvill is the only member who has been with the act from their formation to the present. History ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graham Walker (actor)
Graham Paul Walker (17 May 1945 — 2 June 2013) was an English comic, known for being a member of The Grumbleweeds. Career Walker joined The Grumbleweeds in 1962 at the request of Maurice Lee, who himself had just been asked to join by Robin Colvill. The Grumbleweeds turned professional in 1967 after appearing on Opportunity Knocks. The group would gain their own radio show, '' The Grumbleweeds Radio Show'', that lasted from 1979 to 1991 on BBC Radio 2, and later a television series. Walker appeared in Episode 5 of ''Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere'' in 2004, and portrayed Mike Leeman on one episode of ''Coronation Street'' in 2011. Walker portrayed former British prime minister Winston Churchill in a mini series from 2003 to 2004. (See more at Filmography) Death Walker died of cancer on 2 June 2013, sixteen days after his 68th birthday. His funeral took place on 12 June. At the time, the Grumbleweeds had been reduced to a duo, consisting of Walker and Colvill. Filmog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acker Bilk
Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014) was an English clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistcoat. Bilk's 1961 instrumental tune " Stranger on the Shore" became the UK's biggest selling single of 1962, spending 55 weeks on the charts and reaching Number 1. It was the first single to top the UK and US charts simultaneously, and the second No. 1 single in the United States by a British artist. In Canada it was number 4 for 4 weeks before peaking at number 3. Early life Bilk was born in Pensford, Somerset, in 1929. He earned the nickname "Acker" from the Somerset slang for "friend" or "mate". His parents tried to teach him the piano but, as a boy, Bilk found it restricted his love of outdoor activities, including football. He lost two front teeth in a school fight and half a finger in a sledging accident, both of which he said affect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Comedy Musical Groups
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** British Isles, an island group ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** British Empire, a historical global colonial empire ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) * British Raj, colonial India under the British Empire * British Hong Kong, colonial Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 until 1982) to Monday mornings at 6:00. From 1968 until 1992, when LWT's weekday counterpart was Thames Television, there was an on-screen handover to LWT on Friday nights (there was no handover back to Thames on Mondays, as from 1968 to 1982 there was no programming in the very early morning, and from 1983, when a national breakfast franchise was created, LWT would hand over to TV-am at 6:00am, which would then hand over to Thames at 9:25am). From 1993 to 2002, when LWT's weekday counterpart was Carlton Television, the transfer usually occurred invisibly during a commercial break, for Carlton and LWT shared studio and transmission facilities (although occasionally a Thames-to-LWT-style handover would appear). Like most ITV ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straight Man
The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The straight man is a foil, a contrasting character to the funny man. The direct contribution to the comedy a straight man provides typically comes in the form of a deadpan. A straight man with no direct comedic role has historically been known as a stooge. Typically, he is expected to feed the funny man lines that he can respond to for laughs (and is hence sometimes known as a feed), while seeking no acclamation for himself. History In vaudeville, effective straight men were much less common than comedians. The straight man's name usually appeared first and he usually received 60% of the take. This helped take the sting out of not being the laugh-getter and helped ensure the straig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool, borough of the same name. Blackpool was originally a small hamlet; it began to grow in the mid-eighteenth century, when sea bathing for health purposes became fashionable. Blackpool's beach was suitable for this activity, and by 1781 several hotels had been built. The opening of a railway station in 1846 allowed more visitors to reach the resort, which continued to grow for the remainder of the nineteenth century. In 1876, the town became a borough. Blackpool's development was closely tied to the Lancashire cotton mill, cotton-mill practice of annual factory maintenance shutdowns, known as wakes weeks, when many workers chose to visit the seaside. The town saw large growth during the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. By 1951 its popu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. He was nicknamed "The Enrico Caruso, Caruso of Rock" and "The Big O." Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers projected strength. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses. Born in Texas, Orbison began singing in a Country music, country-and-western band as a teenager. He was signed by Sam Phillips of Sun Records in 1956 after being urged by Johnny Cash. Elvis was leaving Sun and Phillips was looking to replace him. His first Sun recording, "Dick Penner#Ooby Dooby, Ooby Dooby", was a direct musical sound-a-like of Elvis's early Sun recordings. He had some success at Sun, but en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batley Variety Club
Batley Variety Club was a variety club in Batley, West Yorkshire, England. During its existence, the club staged concerts by performers including Louis Armstrong, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Roy Orbison, Eartha Kitt, Morecambe and Wise, Gene Pitney, Neil Sedaka, Ken Dodd and Helen Shapiro. At the peak of its success, the club had 300,000 members. It closed about 1978 and reopened as "Crumpets" night club. It closed again shortly afterwards and its contents were auctioned off. It reopened as the "Frontier" in the early 1980s and this eventually closed in 2016. On hearing the news that the building was no longer to be used as a venue, singer Shirley Bassey commented, "I have many happy memories of singing at the Batley Variety Club so sorry to hear it is closing." The building was converted to a gym in 2017. Origins The club was designed and built by James and Betty Corrigan in early 1967 on top of a disused sewage site on Bradford Road in Batley. The build was interrupted when loc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band in Western popular music and were integral to the development of Counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat music, beat and 1950s rock and roll, rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from Folk music, folk and Music of India, Indian music to Psychedelic music, psychedelia and hard rock. As Recording practices of the Beatles, pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the Baby boomers, era's youth and soc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Grumbleweeds Radio Show
''The Grumbleweeds' Radio Show'' was a comedy sketch show that aired for fifteen series between 1979 and 1988, starring The Grumbleweeds and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 (later repeated on BBC Radio 4). The show title was later shortened to ''The Grumbleweeds''. It also served as the name of a 1980s UK television programme starring the group. On radio (1979-1991) The radio programme was a mixture of fast-moving skits, impressions and sketches, linked by snatches of the band's signature tune "We Are the Grumbleweeds". Recurring sketches included 'Trouble at T'Mill' (a comedic parody of a working-class drama set in a Yorkshire mill at the turn of the 20th century), 'Oh Amanda' (a romantic soliloquy performed by Colvill to his fictional partner Amanda with a suitably humorous punchline) and a parody of Radio 4's ''Book at Bedtime'', where a soft-spoken narrator would attempt to read a story in spite of mounting technical problems such as constantly failing transmitter power, and wou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queens Hall, Leeds
Queens Hall was a concert and exhibition venue located in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was originally a tram and then a bus depot and had latterly become a venue hosting events such as the Ideal Home Exhibition and the 1981, 1982, 1988 and 1989 Great British Beer Festival, flea markets, travelling fairs and concerts. History The building was originally constructed at the turn of the 20th century and was known as Swinegate Tram Depot. The hall was refurbished as a music venue in 1961 and was a popular venue amongst students and the townspeople of Leeds with a capacity for 5,000 people. The very first event to be held there was the Yorkshire Ideal Home & Food Exhibition (5–20 May 1961), sponsored by ''The Yorkshire Post''. Over the years, the Queens Hall had been as a venue for popular music. Motörhead complained about the acoustics, and it was uncomfortably cold in winter, with ice forming on the retained tramlines. As far back as the 1980s there was talk of an aren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meanwood
Meanwood is a suburb and former village in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The area sits in the Moortown ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency. Origins and history The name Meanwood goes back to the 12th century, and is of Anglo-Saxon derivation: the ''Meene wude'' was the boundary wood of the Manor of Alreton, the woods to the east of Meanwood Beck.W. A. Hopwood (1981) ''Meanwood'' (private publication) Dwellings and farms near the wood were known by a variety of names including Meanwoodside until 27 August 1847 when the parish of Meanwood was established and the woods became known Meanwood Woods. A skirmish, between Royalist and Parliamentarian forces, took place in Meanwood, during the Civil War. It is said that the "beck ran red", with the blood of the fallen, hence, the place name "Stainbeck".''Leeds Mercury'' 22 September 1888 Local Notes and Queries no 507: Meanwood Valley The Meanwood Valley was a place of industry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
