Here comes spring again

A sure sign that winter is on it's way out is the appearance on our roads of classic cars, blinking in the sunlight after a period of hibernation tucked up in a garage somewhere. This 1973 MG Sprite has suddenly turned up in a road near to us, usually boxed in by other vehicles, but a clear shot was possible last Saturday. It has a round rear wheel arch and chrome bumpers, only available during 1972/73 and apparently is a desirable combination amongst enthusiasts. Roll on the rally season!

Ghosts of gigs past

I took this photograph in London (I can't remember exactly where, possibly around Waterloo), sometime in 1973. Groups featured include Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Springfield Revival, Ralph McTell and Barclay James Harvest. I only went to one London gig (did we call them that then?) during the 1970s, to see the ever excellent Colin Blunstone, supported by Highway and Brian Augers Oblivion Express at the Sundown, Edmonton.

I cannot remember how much it cost, although I have the ticket somewhere, but I bet it wan't much. In 1979 you could, for example, have seen John Martyn for just £1.50, which seems a bargain compared to Hawkwind (£3.00), Talking Heads/Human League (also £3.00) or Gallagher & Lyle or Ronnie Lane for £3.75. Mind you, Dr Feelgood plus supprort were on at the Queensway Hall in Dunstable, ten minutes walk away from my flat on 16 December. Yes I know I should have gone..........

The average price for a chart album in 1979 was £3.99.

Knit yourself a new wardrobe!

Three 1970s copies of Stitchcraft magazine, bought yesterday in a charity shop. I think that the couple on the middle cover are wearing their tops inside out........

Have it Awayday

Saucy goings-on in the British Rail publicity department in the 1970s; the cartoonist of the right hand,1975, leaflet, was Styx, otherwise known as Leslie Harding (1920-80).

Pimp My (1970s) Ride UK

I would imagine that car customisation began shortly after the invention of motoring itself, certainly it was popular between the wars with the advent of the hot rod, cars modified to get them to look better and go faster. The TV programme Pimp My Ride transferred this to the small screen in 2008 and spawned versions around the world, including the UK.

This little selection came from a series that appeared in the magazine Popular Motoring during the early 1970s, a bundle of which I have recently acquired.

A cheaper option is just to spray on some cool colours, even your old Austin Devon apparently......

Ford Populars are popular...........

Selling film

Three adverts from three decades, each having their own appeal.........

Picture Post, 7 November 1953

Punch, 20 April 1963

Photo Technique, September 1973

The 1970s office

Two adverts from Punch magazine, 9 July 1975.

All we need now is a secretary in a short skirt..................thanks Benny.

No Sex Please: We're British

The farce, No Sex Please: We're British, opened in the West End in 1971, the film version appearing two years later. Although a lot of changes were made to the screen version, the basic story remained the same. Ronnie Corbett plays Brian Runnicles, a clerk at Barclays Bank, who mistakenly receives a delivery of pornography which was supposed to have been made to a nearby sex shop, rather than the expected new calculator. The parcel is opened upstairs in the flat above the bank, where the assistant bank manager, David Hunter (Ian Ogilvy) lives with his new wife Penny, (Susan Penhaligon). The rest of the film is taken up with the trio trying to get rid of this, and subsequent packages, in ever more ludicrous ways, whilst trying to avoid the bank manager himself, Arthur Lowe, and David's mother (Beryl Reid), both anti-smut campaigners. The films ends with a chase sequence featuring a nice collection of British motors tearing around Windsor in pursuit of the final box of magazines,carried by Brian on the back of Cheryl Hall's scooter.

The opening scenes sees Brian power-walking through Windsor on his way to the bank, negotiating lots of  contemporary traffic; that Volga estate is a rarity! 

A pre-Confessions Robin Asquith gets a sticky cameo

Barclays Bank, High Street, Windsor; it's odd that it wasn't renamed for the film, I bet they have a few  jokers through the door afterwards "Psst! want any porn?!"

Hello Brian, want a look in my in-tray?

The first consignment of porn is discovered.

Brian Wilde (of Porridge) confronts Brian in the park.

Guess what, you can'y get rid of mucky films down the waste disposal!

Brian tries to return a box of 'blue films' to the sex shop, one with apparently hardly any stock except for a few old copies of Parade magazine.

1001 Perversions; Susan Penhaligon looks suitably appalled.

Michael Bates played an accounts inspector, receiving the attentions of Margaret Nolan (left) and Valerie Leon 

Now it's Brian's turn.

In the 1970s, it was compulsory for TV crooks to drive old white Jags.........

A good old British car chase; Ian Ogilvy rides shotgun in the moggie

The chase is over and what is in the box? An enormous calculator.......

Although this is a moderately entertaining little film, with a fine roll-call of contemporary comic actors and a number of neat little set-pieces, there are times when you just wish they would dump the porn in someone's bin and be done with it, rather than try to bury it, throw it in the river or feed it down the waste disposal system! Forty years on, the whole premise does seem a little outdated and as a sex comedy, there is little to upset grandma, this being only a PG certificate. High points are the cars and the street scenes of Windsor, not to mention Valerie Leon and Margaret Nolan as a couple of call-girls and the rather lovely Cheryl Hall, one of the bank assistants who has taken a shine to our Brian. Available on DVD at the usual outlets................

Gilbern Cars

An Advert for Fujicolor film dating from 1973 (remember when 100ASA was 'fast'?), appearing in the September issue of Photo Technique magazine. Gilbern Cars didn't last much longer than the advert, going bust some six months later. The car itself is a Mark III Invader model.