One 2 Three
Patrick Sherring
Gill was married in St. Mary’s Shenfield in 1952 and with her husband Alan was running a sweet shop in Ingatestone in 1953. She described lives at that time as grey compared to now. There were still bomb sites in London, rationing and many items were virtually impossible to obtain. The death of King George VI was felt strongly as he was seen as a friend who had helped everyone get through the war. Gill described a period of national mourning, when men going to work would all wear black ties. The funeral of the king brought a change in the public mood as everyone looked forward to the Coronation of the young Queen. Gill’s parents had a 12 inch screen black and white television; the only people in their street in Shenfield to have a TV. Gill and Alan, along with many neighbours, crammed into the living room to watch the transmission from Westminster Abbey. Gill recalls her mother making a great many cups of tea for everyone. In Ingatestone there was a large marquee on what is now called Fairfield for a community picnic and a cricket match. They sold a variety of souvenirs in their shop in the High Street. We talked about the many changes over the seventy year period. Gill felt that the Queen had provided stability through all this time, with no scandals and a deep Christian faith.
Having been been around the time of the beginning of the Queen’s reign, in 1977 Robert had just joined the Civil service and was living in Blackmore. He recalled the signs of celebration in London stating, “everything was silver”. He remembered a visit to a brewery and sampling a special Jubilee ale. Lots of events happened in Blackmore, including the lighting of the beacon. He has a copy of an order of service for a Silver Jubilee service that was held on Fairfield, with all the clergy from across the denominations.
Listener John contacted with a detailed account of going to the Mall in 1977, which was a terrifying experience as it was such a huge crowd. With his fiancée Jackie they found themselves surrounded by some very large men. There must have been a signal, as the men descended on a man just behind them. He was handcuffed and whisked away. Apparently he was part of a gang of pick pockets.
Playlist
Music for the first 45 minutes was all from the 1950s. After the competition, all the music was from the first five months of 1977 and the chart in Silver Jubilee week.
Elvis Presley – Jailhouse rock. No 67 in the Rolling Stone 500 greatest songs of all time.
Eddie Cochran – Summertime blues. No 73 in the Rolling Stone 500 greatest songs of all time.
Bill Haley & the Comets – Rock around the clock . No 159 in the Rolling Stone 500 greatest songs of all time.
Gene Kelly – Singing in the rain. Gill recalled going to see the film when it opened in 1952. This was when Brentwood had two cinemas. The programme would be changed mid-week. She also commented that as most people did not have a television, many people went to the pictures twice a week.
Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby Well did you ever – from the soundtrack of the 1956 film – High Society
Cliff Richard – Schoolboy crush, Move it. These tracks were the original A & B sides of Cliff and the Drifters first 45 rpm release. Originally the record company planned to release School boy crush as the A side.
Birthdays competition.
Above, Kylie Minogue in the late 1980s.
Below, Kylie Minogue in 2022.
Kylie Minogue recently celebrated her 54th birthday. We heard her 2004 UK no 1 – I believe in you.
Lenny Davidson from the 1960s successful group, the Dave Clark Five, is 80 years old. We heard the 1967 track that he wrote and sang lead vocals on the recording – Everybody knows, a UK no 2.
Ceelo Green celebrated his 47th birthday. We heard his 2006 track as part of the duo, Gnarls Barkley – Crazy. This reached the Top 5 in twenty countries.
Our winner was Bob, who was with his wife Chris at Lords watching the Test match cricket. He was correct with Kylie Minogue and Ceelo Green. Chris was also correct with Kylie. David, first time player in Belgium, was correct with Lenny Davidson, saying it was a complete guess. The winner from the last two weeks, Chris in Guildford, said that Kylie was gorgeous, whatever her age. Multiple times winner Patrick in Ingatestone also took part.
Stevie Wonder – I wish. UK no 5 in January 1977.
David Bowie – Sound and vision – UK no 3 in March 1977.
Abba – Knowing me, knowing you – UK no 1 in April 1977.
Chart this week in
No 1 Rod Stewart – I don’t want to talk about it.
No 4 Barbra Streisand – A star is born (Evergreen)
No 11 Marvin Gaye – Got to give it up.
No 13 ELO – Telephone line
No 8 Van McCoy – The hustle
Join me on June 17th, when my guest Dan Pierce will be talking about the return of the Bradwell Pilgrimage.
