Sounds of the Sixties and the Glamour of Provincial Towns

Its fun to try and think what music really brings back the atmosphere of the sixties but its more difficult than it seems. Not only was there so much good music around but over the decade there were a lot of changes. There was the beginning bit, 1960-1962, which seemed like an extension of the fifties. Then came 1963 and after the Beatles released Please, Please Me British bands dominated the air waves for quite some time, though this overpapped with Tamla Motown, Soul and the protesters like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. After this, from about 1966, came the American hippie sound with bands like the Doors and Jefferson Airplane and psychedelia on both sides of the Atlantic. In the late sixties, albums seriously took over from the three minute pop song and prog rock arrived just in time for the seventies. Well that's how it seems to me although I have left rather a lot out!

One thing that was interesting about the early to mid sixties were the high profile connections between British bands and some provincial towns. It was not only the Beatles and Liverpool but the Hollies and Manchester, the Move and the Moody Blues and Birmingham and a little later Joe Cocker and Sheffield. It gave those towns a real glamour for music addicts. I still feel excited by St Albans because I liked the Zombies. I don't think there was a Leicester band though-had to wait for Family in the seventies for that.

Media and Communications at Beijing

Information forwarded from Malcolm via Siobhan. The text is a copy of advertising material issued by the University of Leicester Sports and Recreation Service.

There is a series of free public lectures on Olympic and Paralympic Games themes to be held at the University of Leicester during the academic year 2010. On Monday 8 Novemeber 2010 at 5.30pm in Attenborough Lecture Theatre One, Professor Gary D. Rawnsley is giving a lecture entitled Media and Communications at Beijing. This is his abstract - 'The Beijing Olympic Games of 2000 are considered as China's 'coming out' party, representing the country's 'peaceful rise', astounding economic development and growing stature in the global community. On the other hand, it is clear that hosting the Olympic Games was a huge risk, with thousands of foreign journalists descending on Beijing, all of whom were promised unprecedented freedom of movement. China was in the world's spotlight like never before'.

This lecture provides an overview of Chinese publc diplomacy and soft power-China's attraction via national values and cultural appeal and tries to understand how the Olympic Games and their media coverage helped the projection of a modern dynamic and peaceful China.

for more information contact Tel. 0116 272 9144 email [email protected]

Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll? Leicester in the 1960s -The Playlist

Hi there pop pickers!

Another fabulous Lab lined up for you on Friday 5^th November, when we’ll be asking just how ‘swinging’ was Leicester in the 1960s?

We’ve got two very special guests lined up for you. Firstly, Colin Hyde, the brains behind the East Midlands Oral History Archive, will be sharing some of his oral histories collected from Leicester lasses and lads of the decade. Secondly, Prof. Stephen Wagg will be dropping in to discuss his article: Gonna Rock Around the Clock (Tower) Tonight, Leicester and the Coming of ‘the Sixties’ (it’s not even published yet, that’s how cutting edge we are at History Lab, Ladies and Gents!).

It promises to be a scream of a session, and to top it off we’re compiling an ultimate ‘swinging sixties’ playlist to blast out while we have our tea and cake. We want to capture all the colourful contradictions of the decade evident in the contemporary music scene, from sickly sweet pop to psychedelia we hope to provide you with a comprehensive aural-history mix!

Which song best sums up ‘the sixties’ for you? Let us know and we’ll add it to our playlist.

Groovy!