From Southend to Disney: The story of a life in movies!

I've said it before and I'll no doubt say it again, the Internet is an amazing thing! A couple of weeks back I was contacted by a guy called Stephen Pickard. He'd stumbled onto the site whilst searching for information on the Southend Odeon, and had came across my post. A few emails whizzed back and forth, and Stephen told me he used to live in the area. He has been a big film fan from a child, and eventually became a projectionist at the Odeon in the 60's. I chanced my luck and asked if he would be prepared to put a few words down from his time in Southend, and he kindly agreed. I found his story fascinating, and his recall of the times is simply amazing! Amongst many other tales you can hear about a Beatles world exclusive in Southend, an iffy 'initiation ceremony', and just who was that urinating in the Odeon dressing room??!

Stephen still remains in the industry, although rather than showing them, he makes them these days, and he currently works in LA for Disney Studios! So without further ado, over to you Stephen......



I moved to Eastwood with my family in January 1959, when I was 10 years old. At first my family took me to the various cinemas in Southend on the bus, but within a year I was going on my own. I had to find the courage to ask adults to take me into the cinema when they were showing 'A' certificate films, as being under 16 I had to be accompanied. As for the 'X' category, well that was a lot more difficult! I grew a liking for science-fiction fantasy and horror films as well as the traditional family films. I was a big Steve Reeves fan who was enjoying huge popularity around this time with his playing of Hercules and other muscular roles. I first saw Reeves in the initial "Hercules" film at the Southend Essoldo in mid 1959.

(Southend Essoldo, Warrior Square - Built 1909 (as a skating rink), Opened as a cinema 1911, closed 1960)

I recall walking down a long narrow alleyway off the high street which led to a tiny back road which ran down the side of the Essoldo. Directly opposite this alleyway was an alternative entrance with paybox to the auditorium. (the main entrance was on Warrior Square). I used to be fascinated by the walls of the alleyway and the walls of the cinema in the tiny side road as they were lined with glass frame cases of quad sized film posters of forthcoming releases. At this time, we were just coming out of the golden age of the fifties of science fiction and horror films and the Essoldo were running lots of them. What was distressing to me is that they were mostly 'X' certificate films and it would probably be years before I was able to see most of them. I did get to see "The Amazing Colossal Man", with my sister at the Essoldo, as it only had an "A' certificate. It's sequel, "Terror Strikes!" (aka: "War of the Colossal Beast") got an 'X'. Barred again!

In the early autumn of 1959, my family took me to the Southend Odeon.

(Southend Odeon, High Street - Opened 1935, closed 1998)

Each year the Odeon ran a live show of the crowning of the Carnival Queen, a Southend tradition. On these occasions the lucky lady was usually crowned by a member of the Film or TV Entertainment Profession. A new film was chosen, usually a new Rank release, and in this case it was "The Heart of A Man" starring Frankie Vaughan. He was also the guest chosen to crown the Queen. At this time I was a big Frankie Vaughan fan and was eager to see him live on stage. Right up to the arrival at the theatre we were expecting to see him but while sitting in the packed auditorium, a taped recording was played over the loudspeakers. It was Frankie Vaughan's voice in a very apologetic tone, apologising for not being present as he had been called away to Hollywood to star with Marilyn Monroe in 20th Century Fox's CinemaScope musical "Let's Make Love". So co-star Tony Britton took his place. We were all very disappointed that he was not present. It is also sad that Frankie's move to Hollywood did not prove successful, after only two films. On his return to Britain he did not find quite the level of success that that he achieved in the fifties.

Hammer Horror films were also achieving great success at this time, although I knew very little about them. They mostly ran at the ABC (Rivoli) Alexandra Street and the alternative Rank theatre on Pier Hill, the Ritz.

(The Ritz, Top of Pier Hill - Opened 1935, closed 1972, demolished 1981)

The Odeon rarely showed horror films as it was Rank's leading showplace in Southend. Hammer type films were distributed usually to the 'Guamont' circuit and the Ritz was the equivalent to that. My first exposure to Hammer Films was in January 1960 at the Rivoli.

(The Rivioli, Alexandra Street - Built 1896 (as the Empire Theatre), Opened as a Cinema 1920, Closed as a Cinema 1998, Now The New Empire Theatre)

It was "The Stranglers of Bombay" which had an 'A' certificate. My Mother took me to see it on the Monday afternoon before I returned to school on the Tuesday. I am ever grateful to my Mother for it was my official introduction to Hammer Films, I never got over it!

In 1960 my parents took me to the Empire, Leicester Square to see "Ben-Hur" in the West End of London and introduced me to big screen presentations. Southend at this time had no 70mm installations, so I visited the West End frequently from then on where they had plenty in supply. I saw most of the big 'Roadshow' reserve-seat presentations in the West End such as "How the West Was Won", "Lawrence of Arabia", "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "Mutiny on the Bounty", "Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" etc.

I used to go to the cinema two sometimes three times a week as, unlike today, there was a lot to choose from. By the time I was 14, in 1962, I could usually get into 'A's without much trouble. During this transitional period I was attending the 'Saturday Morning Pictures' at the Regal, Rayleigh and was caught up in the Batman serial.

(The Regal, Bellingham Lane, Rayleigh - Built 1937, closed 1973)

At the same time on Sundays they were running 50's science fiction and horror 'X' films (nobody under 16 permitted). So one Sunday afternoon I went along to the Regal and mustered up the courage and went up to the paybox and asked for a ticket. The little Scottish lady took one look at me and asked if I was sixteen and I replied yes. Immediately the ticket spat up out of the flat tray in front of me and I took the ticket and wasted no time in getting into the auditorium! The Regal was just a small cinema with no balcony but it had plenty of atmosphere. Soon, I had the courage and was able to get into 'X' films at most of the cinemas!

When the ABC (or Odeon) in Southend had finished their run the films would usually move to Westcliff (Essoldo) then Leigh (Coliseum) then Rayleigh (Regal) then Hadleigh (Kingsway). When the Rivoli closed for redecoration, most, if not all their releases went to the Westcliff Essoldo. The Mascot across the street usually ran 'B' films. All the 'roadshow' releases on the Rank circuit had unlimited runs at the Ritz on Pier Hill. The normal 'A' releases went to the Odeon. I kept a log, from 1963 for a year or so, of all the local cinemas and what they showed and I still have them.

(The ABC, Alexandra Street. Formally The Rivioli... see previous photo!)

(Westcliff Essoldo, London Road (picture taken when it was still the Metropole), Opened 1939, closed 1991)

(Leigh-on-Sea Coliseum, Elm Road - Opened 1914, closed 1965. Became a Bingo hall, and is now a hairdressers)

(Kingsway, London Road, Hadleigh - Opened 1936, closed 1970)

(The Mascot, London Road, Westcliff - Opened 1912, burnt down in 1964)

Movies were firmly in my blood and I knew that I wanted to get into the film industry. Due to the limitations set-up by the film unions it was a closed shop. The only way in was to enter a cinema training programme at the Wandsworth College once a week for 4 years and I would be employed at a cinema which would enable me to join the NATKE projectionist's union.

In January 1964 I started as a trainee projectionist for Granada Theatres at the Century Cinema in Pitsea.

(Century, Pitsea - Opened 1930's, closed 1970. No picture of the Century seems to remain. Here is a shot of it as a bingo hall in the 1990s).

It was a quaint little 'stalls only' theatre that ran 'second-run' films. I learned how to clean the projection room, which was no easy chore, polishing floors and brass, dusting everywhere. It was like being in the army. I worked twelve hours a day five days a week. The lavatory had an opening at the bottom of the door and my initiation ceremony was to be locked in and be exposed for a short time to the smoking burning fumes of nitrate film wrapped in burning newspaper! As it turned out, the Century was an ideal training ground and amongst the interesting experiences was to see a fellow projectionist partially mangle his finger in the intermittent sprocket, during the screening of the Norman Wisdom Comedy "A Stitch In Time", in an attempt to avoid stopping the film when the film ripped on the projector. The only time I saw this film in colour was when the film was being repaired on the rewind bench stained with his blood! During my time at the Century Cinema I had an offer to work at the Odeon in Southend, but felt I wasn't ready. In September 1964 I finally accepted and, looking back, spent the two happiest years of my working life there.

When I worked at the Odeon, everything was done right. I was trained properly. Showmanship and presentation really mattered. At first it was a frightening thought that I would be involved in presenting films to a maximum crowd of 2200 people, but surprisingly enough I gained confidence very quickly and moved up from trainee, who would 'float' between two shifts, to being assistant to Leonard Himsley, the second projectionist. The chief projectionist was George Gorham. Among the first films shown when I first started were Hitchcock's "Marnie" and Wilder's "Irma La Douce". We took a pride with presentation back then. We had 'carbon-arc' lamps for the screen light source. It was a sin if we showed the bare screen, or showed the film temporarily 'out-of-frame'. We had an 'act-drop', as it was called, instead of traditional curtains. These curtains floated to the top of the stage, although they could be opened the normal way which we did for live shows. There was 2,284 seats in all and they were often filled. It was a wonderful atmosphere. Audiences generally knew how to behave and they respected each other and as a result made a much more enjoyable cinema going experience.

We had a 52 foot CinemaScope screen and it looked great when we ran films like "Lawrence of Arabia", "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and the Fox films. Unfortunately we weren't equipped with stereo or 70mm, which came later after I had left when the theatre was twinned. We screened "Goldfinger" for five weeks, and I remember we had a new screen during that time as the old one was thick with cigarette nicotine. I also had my first and only film rip on that one. It was quite an experience as it played to packed houses for days. I would often go downstairs to the back of the circle on my break to hear the enormous crowd reaction. Audiences in large numbers knew back then how to behave and enjoy a film together. The Head projectionist's office had a glassless porthole so you could hear crowd reaction, quite something to behold when you had a full house with 2000 plus people!

As time went by and I gained experience, I would voluntarily come in early (7 to 7:30am) on the first day of the new week's films (Thursday) and put the entire program together. This involved taking the individual elements, (feature, second feature, short - usually "Look At Life" - adverts and trailers) and splice, examine and make out a condition report. Usually, being a 'pre-release' theatre we would get our films just after the London West End and, before the first leg of general release which was North London, they would be brand new 35mm prints, some I.B. Technicolor and others De-Luxe or Eastman.

In 1965 on July 29th we ran the Beatles' film "Help!" concurrently with the World Premiere run at the London Pavilion. They started the film in the evening, so we showed the first ever public screening of the film in the world! I made sure I made up the program that morning, screen the first performance entirely and the watch the next performance from the auditorium before the World Premiere performance that evening! The week prior we had a live show with Cliff Richard, and all the staff had their picture taken with him in the circle foyer. Afterwards I walked down the stairs to the main foyer with Cliff in full view of a huge banner of the following Thursday's program of "Help!" and he expressed great enthusiasm in seeing the film.

Stephen has kindly provided me with the following two photos taken at the Southend Odeon from his personal collection (he is standing next to Cliff Richard in the first photo, and standing in the middle at the back in the second) I remember helping out on the stage shows, either on the spot lights in the projection room or down on stage with the artistes, often walking in with the curtain so it wouldn't get caught on stage equipment. As well as Cliff Richard, I remember meeting Lulu and seeing one of the Hollies peeing into the wash basin in the dressing room, not always a luxury meeting pop stars!

By early 1966 I had the urge to move on. I had viewed many films first run in London's West End and visited many of the luxurious theaters' projection rooms. I visited the Dominion when they were playing "The Sound of Music", the Metropole, during it's run of "Lawrence of Arabia" and the Odeon Leicester Square when they showed "What's New Pussycat?". The Odeon Leicester Square was the Rank Organisation's 'flagship' theatre, it's beautiful interior and top notch presentation impressed me the most and I was determined to find employment there. Unfortunately, this was not to be. Due to the fact that the suburban and West End theatres were separate divisions I was prevented by Rank to cross over into the West End. Instead, in September, 1966 I went to work at the Odeon, Dalston to train on the new projection technology called 'projectomatic'.

By December, 1966 Rank would have ready a brand-new theatre in Elephant-and-Castle in South London, to replace the luxury Trocadero. This new theatre was intended as a preview of the future. No screen curtains. Instead, a 'floating screen' with no visible signs of support. The houselights turned off first from the rear and progressively worked their way toward the screen, leaving the floating screen filled with multi-colored lighting. Gone were the stalls and circle, instead, a stadium designed auditorium was built. The projectionist's duties were changed dramatically. Gone was the manual showmanship approach. In it's place was the latest in automatic projection technology. A large console stood in the middle of the floor which contained a rotating drum. It was full of holes where split pins would be strategically placed which would then trigger relays as the drum turned. Each relay controlled lights and all projector operations. Tiny pieces of metallic tapes placed on the edge of the film would pass over a roller and rotate the drum once. We still had carbon arc lamps, but each film reel ran a whole hour which enabled us often to have to leave the projection room to check heating and air-conditioning levels. This was a one-manned show which meant the projection room was often left empty for short periods of time, previously unheard of, if any technical problems arose in the theatre as there were no engineers. During this time we had a personal appearance of Oliver Reed to promote his film "I'll Never Forget Whats'isname".

I remained at this theatre for about fifteen months, but decided that the changing ways of theatres was not for me. So in April 1968 I moved into the film studios, at MGM Studios, Elstree in Borehamwood, Herts.


A big thank you to Stephen for a really interesting piece, and what a great memory too!! Stephen has also kindly provided me with a copy of his log of films shown in the Southend area in 1963, and I'll add a sample in a future post.

Piley

The Missing Piece Of The Jigsaw!

My dad is away at the moment, and I'm keeping an eye on his gaff.... When I popped round the other day I saw his box of old photographs and couldn't believe the one sitting right on top. Taken at a family party sometime in the latter part of the 1970's, it completes the saga of the Essex Brothers tapes a treat, as everyone involved is there!

• Front Row, either side of my nan and grandad are my uncles Mick and Don (The Essex Brothers);
• In front of them is Aunt Winnie (the Dagenham Girl Piper!);
• The gent in the middle at the back is Uncle Ted, the man who recorded that radio show on his reel-to-reel recorder;
• In front of him in the white is his wife (Aunt) Margaret, who will discover the tapes in the loft almost 50 years later!;
• Far right Is Uncle Alan and his Wife (Aunt) Kathleen - Alan has just unearthed a 78RPM record of the brothers;
• Back row in a white shirt is my uncle Tony and his wife (Aunt) Hazel - Tony has also recently found 2 records of Mick and Don (Tony and Alan were also twins oddly enough!);
• and finally, all squished up in that busy top left hand corner is my Dad (who wrote one of the songs unearthed on that reel-to-reel) and my much missed Mum.

Piley

Motorhead\Damned\Girlschool - Live Review

Here's another one of my belated live reviews:

Motorhead, The Damned and Girlschool. Live at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend - 24th November 2009.

Concerts are like buses sometimes... I'd had nothing for ages and then four of the buggers came along in one month. This was number 3 of my November gig-fest, and to be honest was one that I didn't really expect to be going to... Y'see, the News that Motorhead were playing in my home town had been announced several months before I purchased a ticket. But it wasn't until The Damned wee announced as the support that I all of a sudden became interested!

Some gigs can be better than you expected, others can be a disappointment. This one however panned out pretty much exactly as I expected...

There used to be an old adage about giving the support act a shit soundcheck so that the main band would sound that much better. That ploy was certainly in evidence on this night, and the sound quality for Girlschool was nothing short of rotten! The lead guitarist was so low in the mix that you couldn't even hear her (how can that happen these days?), and I have to say I felt a tad sorry her, as she was obviously oblivious to the fact that she was completely inaudible... She was giving it her all whilst covering every page of the book of rock guitar hero poses and face actions. Bless. Despite the weedy mix, the gals go down pretty well and exit to very generous applause.

Next up are the Damned... and the only reason I'm here really. It's over twenty years since they last played this venue (1985 and 1986 - I was at both), although lead singer Dave Vanian is the only member of today's line up that was present back then.

Their set is perhaps a little more one dimensional than when they headline, but it's completely understandable. They are, on the whole, not playing to their own audience on this tour, so have tailored the songs to suit a Motorhead audience... i.e. all the 100mph noisy ones! (New Rose, Neat Neat Neat, Looking At You, Love Song, Smash It Up etc etc). But to their credit they do still manage to slip in a couple of slower treats in the shape of 'Under the Wheels' from the latest album, and amazingly 13th Floor Vendetta from the Black Album.

As I've mentioned in a previous live review, this line-up of the Damned is quality. The Captain and Vanian steal the show (as always) but the input from Pinch (drums), Monty (keyboards) and Stu (bass) should not be underestimated. It's great to see them perform on a larger stage than they often get the chance to these days, and it gives Vanian a chance to prowl the boards like a tiger stalking its prey. Again, the set is marred by a poor mix and almost non-existent lighting, but the band themselves are mesmerising.

Motorhead are exactly what I expected... ridiculously loud (even with ear-plugs, my lug-oles are ringing for almost the next 48 hours).

For someone who I have always found to be such a great and unique character, I'm surprised at the lack of stage charisma emanating from Lemmy Kilmister. Other than actually walking on stage (and walking off again at the end!) the guy literally doesn't move for 90 minutes! He's like a waxwork dummy (although admittedly one that plays a pretty mean bass!), but then I guess he is an OAP these days, so I shouldn't really complain.

However, I do find the first few songs immensely enjoyable.... then the next few songs were OK... then the next few songs sounded like the last few songs..... and then I started to drift a little. After 45 minutes I actually popped off to finally bag the beers I'd attempted (and failed) to get on 3 separate occasions earlier in the proceedings. Oddly the bar wasn't as deserted as I was expecting it to be, and even more oddly there were big hairy fellas in Motorhead t-shirts propping up the bar having a chat... Are Motorhead a little samey even for the converted these days?
One of the highlights for me was when the band come out for the encore and play an acoustic number, Whorehouse Blues (I think!). This grabbed my attention once more, and the change in pace and noise was most welcome. But it was short-lived, and we were back to the more traditional sound (and speed!) with the very next song. If you're not particularly a Motorhead fan then, like me, you are likely to only know 3 of their songs, and predictably, we had to wait until the end for the pay-off of Bomber, Ace of Spades and Overkill (Ace of Spades was a cracker though!).
The two other members of Motorhead are great value for money, and are actually much more interesting to watch than Lemmy. They smack a little of 80's ROCKKKK cliches (with haircuts to match), but it's good entertaining fun.

Over the next few weeks I bump into literally dozens of people who were at this gig (at least 6 from my office were in attendance). The one thing I heard time and time again was how impressed people were with the Damned. In fact, even a couple who went along only for Motorhead came away thinking the Damned were better.

I'm glad I finally got to see Motorhead, although I'm guessing I probably should have seen them a few years earlier for best results....

Piley

Podrophenia - Show 8... Family

Well, you may have thought it was safe by now, but just as we lulled you into a false sense of security, Mondo and I are back with our first Podrophenia podcast of 2010! With a new year upon us, it was an ideal time to re-evaluate the format and update some of the features... which we did, briefly, before deciding to keep with much the same 'ol stuff and unscripted nonsense as last year.. This time around the theme is 'Family', so why not invite Auntie Joan and your cousin Fred round for a listen?

As well as all the usual waffle, you'll find 10 tunes (all related by relations), our Newsround (featuring two family (ish) related stories), and not so much a Wood-Watch, more a Watch-Woods-Wood... It'll all make sense when you hear it (possibly).

You can listen to it right here:


Or if you prefer, download it here:
Podrophenia Show 8

You can also pick it up on iTunes here:
Podrophenia Show 8 on iTunes

Piley

A Bit Harsh?

Today we went to the Cash and Carry (for which I have a rather dubious ticket) to stock up on the 'professional' size packets of washing powder... They are the size of a small bungalow, but boy do we get through the stuff!!

The outrageous sizes of some of the professional 'catering' packets and containers never ceases to amaze (and amuse) me. I'm easily pleased, and there's nothing quite like a 5 litre jar of seafood sauce or English mustard to make me snigger... Check out these 10 litre (yes, TEN!) tubs of mayonnaise for example! These tubs are the same ones that professional painters and decorators buy of magnolia! I'd love to have one in the cupboard (with a teaspoon inside), just waiting for the day someone asks for a dollop of dressing on the side...

But I digress... whilst walking down the fizzy drink isle (yes, I WAS on my never ending quest for Root Beer!), I spotted these crates of Doctor Pepper... now I have to confess that this drink would never be at the top of my list, but i thought the labelling that the Cash & Carry had added was a little unfortunate, and unlikely to drum up sales either....

Piley

PS - sorry for the poor quality pictures, I only had my mobile phone with me...

Hugh Cornwell - Live Review

I like to try and document the shows I go to, but there have been quite a few that have slipped under the bloggin' radar for one reason or another... Probably because

a) I had other posts on the go at the time, or
b) I couldn't quite be arsed!

Having now left it too long, much of the detail has now drifted away from my decaying noggin, leaving me with just a general overview of the event - but I'd like to log a few of 'em for posterity, and the delay might give a different slant on my usual style of review... So I'm going to try and drop a few of them in over the next few weeks. I'll start with the oldest one...

Hugh Cornwell Live at Basfest, 4th July 2009

I'll level with you, Basfest is no Glastonbury... hell, it's not even a Reading a Latitude or Guilfest. There is less of the on-site new age hippery and chilled atmosphere you have come to expect, and more undertones of violence and an unhealthy array of sexually transmitted disease tents (I actually did send a text to a mate saying "meet you by the chlamydia stall"). But Basfest is free, and very occasionally they will book an act worth turning out for. In 2008 we popped along to see the Bootleg Beatles (I didn't blog that one either!), which was officially Piley Jr's first ever gig. Basfest 2009 had the usual dire line up of tribute acts and talent show losers, but completely out of character with the rest of the acts was Mr Cornwell.

For all its faults, Basfest is very well run. Not interested in anything other than this one act we arrived around 5.15pm, drove straight on site and was directed by a helpful steward to a (free) parking space very close to the entrance. By the time we'd walked in a found a spot to sit it was about 5.40, and Hugh walked on 5 minutes later! Perfect!

What wasn't perfect though was the steady drift of people disappearing from the site from the moment he came on. Y'see 'ol Hugh has done it all wrong... He couldn't be bothered to apply for the X-Factor or some other reality TV show, and to me (and hundreds of other Basildon-ites by the looks of it) this shows his lack of ambition and lazy tendencies. Instead he took the easy route and cut corners via a 30+ year solid gold career consisting of no less that 26 album releases (incredibly 16 of those from his solo career). If you're not a singing dustman or a bunch of page 3 'stunnas' turned girlband, then frankly, Basildon is going to give you short thrift.



The exodus continued at an alarming rate, and after 3 songs I thought I'd try my luck at getting nearer to the stage to take some photos... and on doing so I walked straight to the barrier at the front of the stage! Scandalous! But those bare-chested red-faced locals heading for the kebab shop missed a real treat, as I have to say this performance was blinding. What a great performer Hugh Cornwell continues to be. His vocals and guitar playing were amazing and his between song banter was spot on. oh and the songs wern't bad either! Close your eyes and it could have been a 1977 Hugh up there... come to think of it, open your eyes (maybe squint just a little!) and it could have been a 1977 Hugh up there... The man can't have put an ounce on in the last 30 years. He's also been canny enough to build a rockin little outfit to support him. Caz Campbell (bass), and Chris Bell (drums) provide a powerful garage noise to complete the sound.

This was by no means a 'cashing in on the past' set either. Sure there were plenty of Stranglers classics on display, but there was just as much new material too. And I have to say the new songs were great. You could really see that Hugh believes in his latest work, as the intensity and passion of the performance of these tracks was very evident. He seemed genuinely excited about what he was doing.

I expected to come away from this gig pleased to have heard some classic Stranglers tunes... I did that, but my lasting memory was actually that I'd seen an artist with some bloody great new material. On returning home I fired up his official website and downloaded his new album (Hooverdam) for free, just as he had told us we could (and you can STILL get it for free there now). It may well have been free, but believe it or not this album is up there with some of the best of his career work.

So, not as good as Jedward or Olly Murs obviously, but if he sticks at it, I think Hugh Cornwell could make a go of this lark...
PS - since this gig took place I've read the excellent book "77 Sulphate Strip" by Barry Cain. The extensive 2007 interview with Hugh therein was a joy to read, and he comes over as a genuinely nice guy who remains every bit as passionate about his music as ever.


LINKS

If you fancy listening to Hoverdam for yourself, why not pop over to the Official Hugh Cornwell Website, where you can download it for free.

Piley

Get Out Of That!

Thanks to bloggin buddy Dan (from the excellent Blog of Eternal Disappointment) who tipped me off about this one. Due to the fact this happened in the early 1900's there is virtually no record of this event. However whilst researching the Southend Odeon and Laurel and Hardy in Southend posts a few months back, I did stumble across a couple of small pieces of information, so for what it's worth, here it is....

The legendary escapologist Harry Houdini was a regular visitor to these shores and appeared in theatres all over the UK almost yearly from 1900 to 1914, giving well over 600 performances in the process. His one and only visit to Essex was in 1911 where he appeared at the Hippodrome, Southend from Monday 27th March until Saturday 1st April. It was a routine performance all week, except for Friday 31st March, when Houdini accepted a challenge by 4 Southend carpenters, who had built their own wooden box for him to attempt to escape from! Alas there is no record of whether he was successful or not, although I'm guessing that as there was a performance the following day, he was!


The Edwardian Southend Hippodrome on Southchurch Road was built by Bertie Crew and opened on the 8th of November 1909. It was built on four levels and the capacity of the theatre at that time was 1750. For a number of years, The Hippodrome was thought of as the best theatre in town, and attracted some of the biggest variety stars of the time including Flanagan and Allen, George Robey and Gracie Fields. Performances were twice nightly (6.50pm and 9.00pm) and admission prices were 3d, 6d, 9d, 1' and 1'6. Boxes were 10'6 and 15'.

In 1928 the Theatre was bought by Gaumont Theatres who used it for both films and live theatre until 1933 when the building was closed and converted to a Cinema only auditorium. The changes made were vast, and as well as the building itself undergoing substantial alterations, the pavement outside the theatre was also relaid, and a huge canopy built. It re-opened on the 15th of January 1934 as The Gaumont Palace with a capacity of 1588. The entrance was manned by commissionaires with peak caps and braided coats... it really must have looked like something out of 1930's Hollywood! The opening film was 'Meet My Sister' starring Clifford Mollison. In 1937 it was renamed simply The Gaumont.

In 1948 the Gaumont achieved its biggest attendance record when 22,000 people watched the Norman Wisdom film 'Trouble in Store' in the space of 7 days! In February of 1954, now under the control of the Rank Organisation, a major fire destroyed the former stage of the building but remarkably the Cinema was back open again the following day... imagine how long it would be out of action for these days! The Cinema closed on 20th October 1956 when Rank modernised the Ritz Cinema in Southend which they also owned. The final film to be shown there was 'A Hill in Korea' staring Stanley Baker.

So what's the classy Gaumont in Southend looking like these days I hear you cry?! Well here it is in all its glory, snapped by me just the other day....

Yes, just like all the other 16 cinemas that used to be in Southend at one time or another, it is no more. The building was demolished in 1958 and a supermarket was built on the site. In the 80's (and possibly early 90's) I remember this building being a Halfords (a serial offender for taking over ex-cinemas in the area), more recently it has been the HFC Bank, Walmsleys Furniture Superstore and a tatty Christmas Shop. Currently an odd YMCA cafe and tat-shop all rolled in to one.

Interesting to see that the building to the left still remains - you can just catch it in the corner of the Gaumont picture above, then a restaurant, now a Slug and Lettuce pub.

Piley

The Essex Brothers.... At Last!

Well, finally, here is the last chapter of the saga about those 40+ year old 'reel-to-reel' tapes that were found in a family members loft. The tapes were marked 'Mick and Don' which implied they could contain recordings of my late uncles who were a singing duo in the late 50's and early 60's (the full post of the first part of the story here).

After much investigation I found a place in East Acton who would be able to restore the tapes and transfer any recordings to CD. After baking the tapes for several days, the company phoned me to say they had found approximately two and a half hours of recordings on the tapes and offered to convert some or all of it to CD. No knowing how much (if any) of it was relevant, I asked them to go ahead and do the lot (the full post of the second part of the story here).

At the back end of 2009 I picked up the completed CD's, and I must admit that I was a little nervous when I finally came to play them.... The results were not quite what we were expecting, and it turned out a little bit 'good news\bad news'.... but boy, was the 'good news' part a shock! (for me anyway).

When we were told that there were two and a half hours of recordings on the two tapes, we naturally assumed that it would be two and a half hours of my uncles... sadly, it wasn't. There were family recordings of children reciting nursery rhymes, another family member playing the electric organ, and lots of random shows recorded off the radio... comedy programmes, chart rundowns etc etc All very interesting in its own way, but not quite what I was expecting! After over an hour there was no "Mick and Don". It suddenly dawned on us that perhaps these tapes once had them on, but were subsequently recorded over, leaving only a sticker on the box as a reminder of what they once contained.

I have to say I was getting rather anxious when after and hour and a half, the CD lurched into yet another show recorded off the radio... this time a BBC music show called 'The Talent Spot'. By this time I was only half listening, already convinced that no recordings of my uncles remained on the tapes.... then just as that moment, the host of The Talent Spot says these words....

"1961 was a great year in our business for brother singing teams. Of course the Everly Brothers were always near the top of the hit parade, and the Brook Brothers got into the hit parade. We on Talent Spot hope that 1962 will be a great year for two twin 19 year olds, who are about to make their very first broadcast right now. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Essex Brothers!"

It's them! It's really them!! singing a lively cover of 'Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen"! I never even knew that they had performed on the radio, and even if I had, I'd never of thought there would ever be a chance of hearing it, but here it was!! and considering it had been sitting hidden in a loft for over 40 years, the sound quality was great! But the best was still yet to come... All the acts on The Talent Spot performed two songs, and right at the end my uncles reappeared to play their second song....

"here now are The Essex Brothers with their own composition, and it's a very apt title for such a late stage in our show, Running Away!"

My dads face lights up, and a broad grin stretches from ear to ear.... "I wrote that for them" he calmly informs me!!! How come I never knew my dad wrote a song??!! One that was performed on national radio no less!!

After all these years of being told about my uncles being a singing duo, it was weird to finally hear what they sounded like. The name everyone used to say they sounded like was The Everly Brothers, and as it turned out that was pretty accurate, and the harmonies on these two performances were very 'Phil and Don'.

Since obtaining this recording, I've been busy creating CD's of the whole show for the family. This episode has also resulted in me hooking up with long lost cousin Mark (Don's son). Apparently we had met once before when we were nippers (and my father has the photographic evidence to prove it!), but neither of us remembers it. So it was an absolute pleasure to finally meet Mark and his family, and I look forward to keeping in good contact with them from now on.

In the downtime I've also registered my dad as a member of the Performing Rights Society (PRS), and formally logged him as the composer of 'Running Away'.

Well, there you have it! Not at all what we were expecting, but at the same time, far exceeding what we dared hope for. It was perhaps initially a little disappointing to only get two songs out of all that tape, but not in my wildest dreams did I expect to find a live broadcast of my uncles performing on national BBC radio!! Mondo summed it up brilliantly when I told him the news later that day... he said discovering an hour or two of home recordings would have been nice, but ultimately, may not have been something you would perhaps play over and over. However what we actually uncovered may well have been the highlight of their career, and it's now safely preserved in the family vaults at Piley Towers.

So, very nearly 50 years after it was first (and almost certainly last!) broadcast, here are The Essex Brothers!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen:

Running Away:

FURTHER FINDS

Whilst sorting out his old records, my uncle Tony found a 78RPM single recorded by my uncles, as well as a small 5" 78RPM that they made in a recording booth on Southend seafront in the 1950's as teenagers (he also found another that my father recorded in the very same booth!). He also discovered a mini album that Mick recorded sometime in the 1960's.

My Uncle Alan too managed to locate a 78RPM recording of The Essex Brothers, containing the songs 'Takes a Worried Man', 'That'll be the Day' and another recording of 'Running Away'.

Meanwhile my cousin Mark is convinced that a copy of the album they made still exists in an attic somewhere, and has upped his search for it...

Mick's partner Kath has unearthed a collection of 11 cassettes of Mick singing in the 80's and 90's. I'm currently in the process of transferring them all to CD for her, and there is some fabulous stuff on them. Mick really did have a beautifully rich singing voice, which matured as he got older. The sound quality on these tapes is really good too. Kath also found this letter that was sent to the boys in March 1962, thanking them for attending an audition:

My father also recalled that the boys were booked by (and performed for) the Kray twins when they had a nightclub in Soho in the early 60's.

BBC HISTORY

Since discovering these recordings I've done a little research into BBC radio at that time... It's hard to imagine now, but at the start of the sixties there was no commercial or local radio in England. All that existed were just 3 BBC national networks:

"Home" (a legacy that started with the Home Service, launched in 1939)

the "Light Programme" (launched in 1945) and

the "Third programme" (launched in 1946).

That was it!!! The British youth were not catered for at all by these stations, but the boom in 'pop' music forced the BBC to review their strict playlist policy. At the beginning of the 60's, the BBC started to experiment with 'specialist' pop programmes featuring rock n roll music with titles such as The Beat Show, Easy Beat, From Us To You, Here We Go, The Ken Dodd Show, On The Scene, Parade Of The Pops, Side By Side, Steppin' Out, Let's Go, Swinging Sound '63, Teenagers Turn and The Talent Spot. These programmes often featured live music from a selection of acts as opposed to playing records. As most of these shows were broadcast live, a large number were never actually recorded by the BBC.

History remembers The Talent Spot (which was broadcast on the Light Programme) more fondly than some of the others, mainly because The Beatles performed on it three separate times. In fact, the earliest known performance of the Beatles performing Twist and Shout was on The Talent Spot in November 1962... a recording of which alas does not exist.

The Talent Spot was recorded at the Paris Theatre (also known as The Paris), 4 - 12 Lower Regent Street, London SW1. The BBC took over this former cinema during the war and converted it to a theatre. They were particularly keen on it as the auditorium was underground, thus broadcasting could continue when London was bombed. The Paris was the very first BBC performance studio to be equipped with stereo. The Beeb continued to use The Paris right up until 1995, when they finally replaced it with the purposed built Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House.

So what happened to those three BBC radio stations? Well, in 1967 "Home" was renamed Radio 4 and The "Third Programme" became Radio 3. All the 'pop' shows were taken away from the "Light Programme" for broadcasting by a brand new BBC station called Radio 1, after which The Light Programme was renamed Radio 2.

Here's the Beatles outside the Paris Theatre:

This photo was subsequently 'tweaked' to make the cover of the 'Beatles Live at the BBC' album:

And finally..... here's a picture that's been discovered of my dad (obviously on 'shore leave' from the Merchant Navy!) with the young twins.

Piley

SOS (P) ..... Send-Out-Service (Provider..)

Piley Towers is currently back in the dark ages with effectively no internet connection for the last 5 days... From Saturday until Tuesday the connection was dropping every one to 2 minutes, but as of last night it now drops every 1 to 2 seconds!!

This is the joy of TalkTalk I'm afraid. You know that old adage about "you get what you pay for"? Well never was that more appropriate.

This continual dropping of service is something I've had to accept (at least until my 18 months is up and I can escape), and often an evening is rendered a 'no net' night. But this is by far the worst bout, and incredibly frustrating. I've had a post pretty much ready to go since Saturday, but can't stay connected long enough to upload the pics etc.

Watch this space....