music hall

Donegan was the first person to become famous playing skiffle in the United Kingdom, and went on to have an influential hit in Britain and the U.S.A.. At the time he sang and played both guitar and banjo for Chris Barber's Jazz Band, and began providing what he called a "skiffle" break during the intervals. With a washboard, a tea-chest bass and a cheap Spanish guitar, he had a lot of fun entertaining the audiences with folk songs and blues by artists such as Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie, casually giving the impression that anyone could do it ...

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Lonnie Donegan, Lonnie Donegan - Early life and trad jazz, Lonnie Donegan - Skiffle, Lonnie Donegan - Quotations, Lonnie Donegan - Discography, Lonnie Donegan - Trivia

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However the MBW had very little affection from the people of London. Its status as a joint board insulated its members from any influence of popular opinion, though all property-owners had to pay for its work as part of their local government rates. Worse, the very many building contracts issued by the MBW made membership of it desirable for anyone wishing to bid for them. The MBW took most of its decisions in secret. There were a succession of corruption scandals in the la ...

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Metropolitan Board of Works, Metropolitan Board of Works - Background, Metropolitan Board of Works - Creation, Metropolitan Board of Works - Activities, Metropolitan Board of Works - Sewage, Metropolitan Board of Works - Streets and bridges, Metropolitan Board of Works - Embankment, Metropolitan Board of Works - Organisation, Metropolitan Board of Works - Scandals, Metropolitan Board of Works - Subsidiary corruption, Metropolitan Board of Works - Royal Commission, Metropolitan Board of Works - Replacement, Metropolitan Board of Works - Abolition, Metropolitan Board of Works - Reputation, Metropolitan Board of Works - Chairmen of the Metropolitan Board of Works

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Throughout 2004, Alistair performed live at over 50 gigs up and down the UK and appeared on numerous television programmes, including Top of the Pops. In March of that year he also competed in the European 'WorldBest' competition in Cannes, singing live with Phil Collins. In May 2004, he abandoned his record company's 'pop style' backing tracks and his former 'boyband' image and started working with the already established rock band 'Riccardi' who regularly acted as his backing band. His solo acoustic sessions at London music venue, 'The Bedford ...

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Alistair Griffin, Alistair Griffin - Early Career, Alistair Griffin - Fame Academy, Alistair Griffin - A New Direction, Alistair Griffin - Public Perception, Alistair Griffin - Fans, Alistair Griffin - Quotes, Alistair Griffin - Discography, Alistair Griffin - Singles, Alistair Griffin - Albums, Alistair Griffin - Compilations, Alistair Griffin - Reviews, Alistair Griffin - Other Links and Information Sources

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George Orwell set out to report on working class life in the bleak industrial heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Orwell spend a considerable time living among the people and as such his descriptions are detailed and vivid. Chapter One describes the life of the Brooker Family, a more wealthy example of the northern working class. They have a shop and cheap lodging house in their home. Orwell describes the old peopl ...

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The Road to Wigan Pier, The Road to Wigan Pier - Part One, The Road to Wigan Pier - Part Two, The Road to Wigan Pier - Name of the Book

Read more here: » The Road to Wigan Pier: Encyclopedia II - The Road to Wigan Pier - Part One

The Waste Land - Writing. Eliot probably started work on the poem that was to become The Waste Land late 1920 or early in 1921. On 7 February, 1921, Wyndham Lewis told Sidney Schiff that he had seen a new long poem of Eliot's, in four parts, and marking a new departure in style. In May that year, Eliot told John Quinn that he wanted to finish a long poem that was still incomplete. Richard Aldington in his book of memoirs Life for Life's Sake relates that "a year or so" before Eliot read him t ...

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The Waste Land, The Waste Land - Composition history, The Waste Land - Writing, The Waste Land - Editing, The Waste Land - Publishing history, The Waste Land - The Manuscript Drafts of the Poem, The Waste Land - Structure, The Waste Land - Style, The Waste Land - Sources, The Waste Land - Critical reception, The Waste Land - Bibliography

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Todd first appeared in a penny dreadful called The People's Periodical, in issue 7, dated November 21, 1846. The story in which he appeared was called "The String of Pearls: A Romance" and was probably written by Thomas Prest who created a number of other gruesome villains. He tended to base his horror stories on grains of truth, sometimes gaining inspiration from real crime reports in The Times. However an episode in the legend of Saint Nicholas may represent yet an even earlier version. This episode, which likely developed in ...

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Sweeney Todd, Sweeney Todd - Early history, Sweeney Todd - Modern history

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In 1935 Cardiff graduated to camera operator and occasional cinematographer, working mostly for London Films. He was the first to shoot a film in the UK in Technicolor: Wings of the Morning (1937). When the war began he worked a cinematographer on public information films. The turning point in his career was as a 2nd unit cameraman on Powell & Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943); they were impressed enough to hire Cardiff as cinematographer on their post-war Technicolor masterpiece A Matter of ...

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Jack Cardiff, Jack Cardiff - Cinematography, Jack Cardiff - Directorial work

Read more here: » Jack Cardiff: Encyclopedia II - Jack Cardiff - Cinematography

Since 1969, Sesame Street had given Jim Henson's creations invaluable exposure; however, Henson began to perceive that he was being pigeonholed as a children's entertainer. He sought to create a program that could be enjoyed by young and old alike. Two specials were produced and aired that are considered pilots for The Muppet Show. Neither led to the sale of a prime-time network series. However, the prime-time access rule had just been enacted, which took the 7:30 to 8pm ET time slot from the networks and turned it over ...

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The Muppet Show, The Muppet Show - History, The Muppet Show - List of Muppet Show characters, The Muppet Show - Recurring skits, The Muppet Show - List of guest stars, The Muppet Show - Home video, The Muppet Show - Spin-offs

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The decision move to England stemmed from their support slot on Roxy Music's first Australian tour in 1974. The Enz caught the attention of the visiting band, who were only just becoming known in Australia but were already one of the most successful 'art rock' bands in the UK. Roxy's guitarist Phil Manzanera was particularly impressed, and offered to produce their next album for them in London. They managed to secure a UK record deal with Chrysalis Records, and in April 1976 ...

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Split Enz, Split Enz - New Zealand 1971-74, Split Enz - Australia 1975-1976, Split Enz - Britain 1977-1980, Split Enz - The Eighties, Split Enz - After Split Enz, Split Enz - Discography

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Dalston has always been an important transport nexus and shopping centre. It was also, at one time, an important entertainment centre, with four or five cinemas within a radius of half a kilometre, and the old music hall on Dalston Lane (later the Four Aces blues club and the Labyrinth nightclub, now disused and shortly to be demolished prior to the opening of the East London Line extension). Hackney Council plans to build, among other things, a multi-screen cinema on the site of this historic theatre. Local residents have formed a campaign group known as Open Dalston to protest against the underhand way their area is b ...

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Dalston, Dalston - Redevelopment and future, Dalston - Entertainment, Dalston - Shopping, Dalston - Area profile

Read more here: » Dalston: Encyclopedia II - Dalston - Entertainment

The word appeared in the Middle Ages as a variant on the older and coexisting form Birmingham - spelt Bermingeham in the Domesday Book - and was in widespread use by the time of the Civil War. Its negative use appears to have originated with the city's brief 17th century reputation for counterfeited groats. It passed into political slang in the 1680s. The Protestant supporters of the Exclusion Bill were called by their opponents Birminghams or Brummagems (a slur, in allusion to counterfeiting, implying hypocrisy). Their Tory opponents were known as anti-Birmi ...

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Brummagem, Brummagem - History, Brummagem - 19th century, Brummagem - Modern usage, Brummagem - US usage, Brummagem - Brummagem in song

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Dan was born in London, England where his parents had been music hall entertainers. He made his debut at the Cosmotheca Music Hall in Paddington when he was billed as Little George, the Infant Wonder, Contortionist and Posturer. In the 1880s he became probably the most popular music hall act in England, performing in up to 20 shows a night. He was a very good clog dancer and actually became World Champion Clog Dancer in 1880. When audiences began to turn away from that, he set about creating various characters, includes dames, ...

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Dan Leno, Dan Leno - Life and career, Dan Leno - Legacy

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Mercer was born in Staffordshire, England. Her mother was a young, white English music hall performer, and her father was a black American jazz musician whom Mabel never knew. At age fourteen, she left her convent school in Manchester, and toured Britain and Europe with her aunt in vaudeville and music hall engagements. She was the toast of Paris by the 1930s, and her admirers included Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. S ...

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Mabel Mercer, Mabel Mercer - Early life and career, Mabel Mercer - Late career, Mabel Mercer - Honors, Mabel Mercer - The Mabel Mercer Foundation

Read more here: » Mabel Mercer: Encyclopedia II - Mabel Mercer - Early life and career

The Smiths recorded what was to be their final studio album at the Wool Hall studios in Bath, England. Although still firmly an indie record, it finds the band (and especially musical director Johnny Marr) pushing the envelope as far as possible within those constraints, experimenting with overtly synthesized saxophone and string arrangements and drum machine additions. Had this not been the band's final album, it would have been considered a transitional effort. Between the record's recording in March and its release in September, 19 ...

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Strangeways Here We Come, Strangeways Here We Come - About the album, Strangeways Here We Come - Cover, Strangeways Here We Come - Track-by-track description, Strangeways Here We Come - Track listing, Strangeways Here We Come - LP, Strangeways Here We Come - Compact disc, Strangeways Here We Come - People involved, Strangeways Here We Come - The band, Strangeways Here We Come - Additional musicians, Strangeways Here We Come - Technical staff

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Main article: History of The Beatles John Lennon formed a group, The Blackjacks, who became The Quarrymen, in March 1957. On July 6 that year, John met Paul McCartney through a mutual friend while playing at the Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete, and the two were soon playing music together, with Colin Hanton on drums, and Len Garry on "Tea-Chest" bass. In February 1958 the young guitarist George Harrison joined the group, which played under a variety of names. Recordings of John, Paul and George from that year still exist. During this period, members constantly joined, and left the line up. John, Paul and George were the only ...

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The Beatles, The Beatles - History, The Beatles - Studio style evolution, The Beatles - In film, The Beatles - Influences and music, The Beatles - Band members, The Beatles - Early members, The Beatles - Song catalogue, The Beatles - Trivia, The Beatles - Song samples

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John Buchan wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps while he was ill in bed with a duodenal ulcer, an illness which remained with him all his life. The novel was his first "shocker", as he called it: a story combining personal and political dramas. The novel marked a turning point in Buchan’s literary career and introduced his famous adventuring hero, Richard Hannay. He described a "shocker" as an adventure where the events in the story are unlikely and the reader is onl ...

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The Thirty-Nine Steps, The Thirty-Nine Steps - The Novel, The Thirty-Nine Steps - Background, The Thirty-Nine Steps - Plot Summary, The Thirty-Nine Steps - Full Plot, The Thirty-Nine Steps - Acclaim and Criticism, The Thirty-Nine Steps - In Film, The Thirty-Nine Steps - 1935, The Thirty-Nine Steps - 1959, The Thirty-Nine Steps - 1978

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In 1963 Talbot Rothwell took over the role of screenwriter. The films became more ambitious, often parodying well-known films or genres. Coinciding with the sexual revolution, they featured more explicit sexual jokes and situations. The films made in colour in the '60s remain among the most popular of the series. At one point, Talbot Rothwell sought and received permission to borrow several one-liners and quotes that Frank Muir and Dennis Norden had written for the successful radio comedy series Take It From Here. They include ...

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Carry On films, Carry On films - Early films, Carry On films - Classic Carry On, Carry On films - Into the 1970s, Carry On films - Decline, Carry On films - Revival, Carry On films - Regular actors, Carry On films - Memorable quotes

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The origins of the jester are possibly in prehistoric tribal society. Pliny the Elder mentions a royal jester (planus regium) when recounting Apelles' visit to the palace of the Hellenistic King Ptolemy I. However, jesters are mainly thought of in association with the Middle Ages. All jesters and fools in those days were thought of as special cases whom God had touched with a childlike madness—a gift, or perhaps a curse. Mentally handicapped people sometimes found employment by capering and behaving in an amusing way. In the harsh world of medieval Europe, people who might not be able to survive ...

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Court jester, Court jester - The art of the jester, Court jester - History, Court jester - The jester in literature, Court jester - The jester in other media, Court jester - Shakespearian jesters, Court jester - The jester as a symbol, Court jester - Books, Court jester - Other uses

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Stand up comic Andrew Dice Clay has performed "vulgar" versions of old standards in his act. The humor was often based on shock value and abrupt resolutions which identified a more practical or realistic result. As an example, in Clay's version of "Jack and Jill", Jill is implied to be a prostitute: Jack and Jill went up the hill, Both with a buck and a quarter. Jill came down with two-fifty. Other rhymes Clay has modified are "Three Blind Mice", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe", "Little Boy Blue", ...

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Nursery rhyme, Nursery rhyme - List of nursery rhymes, Nursery rhyme - Popular culture

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In 1963 Talbot Rothwell took over the role of screenwriter. The films became more ambitious, often parodying well-known films or genres. Coinciding with the sexual revolution, they featured more explicit sexual jokes and situations. The films made in colour in the '60s (with the exception of unsuccesful attempts to change the formula, like "Follow that Camel") remain among the most popular of the series. At one point, Talbot Rothwell sought and received permission to borrow several one-liners and quotes that Frank Muir and Dennis Nord ...

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Carry On films, Carry On films - Early films, Carry On films - Classic Carry On, Carry On films - Into the 1970s, Carry On films - Decline, Carry On films - Revival, Carry On films - Regular actors, Carry On films - Memorable quotes

Read more here: » Carry On films: Encyclopedia II - Carry On films - Classic Carry On

Geordie derives much less influence from French and Latin than does Standard English, being substantially Angle and Viking in origin. The accent and pronunciation, as in Lowland Scots, reflect old Anglo-Saxon pronunciations, accents and usages. Pronunciation of personal pronouns differs markedly from Standard English: Geordies use "yous" (IPA: /juəz/) for plural "you", "me" (/mi/) for "my", "uz" (See also:

Geordie, Geordie - Derivation of the term, Geordie - Geographical coverage, Geordie - The Geordie dialect, Geordie - Vocabulary, Geordie - Geordie in the media, Geordie - Famous Geordies

Read more here: » Geordie: Encyclopedia II - Geordie - The Geordie dialect