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  • Unexpected Gem: Carl Douglas & the Big Stampede – Crazy Feeling

    • 1960s, Unexpected Gems • 3413 Views

    To most of us Carl Douglas is mainly considered a one-hit wonder with his homage to 1970s martial arts movies ‘Kung-Fu Fighting”. It was not only the biggest-selling record of 1974 but it also sold a quite staggering 11 million copies worldwide and is the 20th best-selling single of all time. Sterling work there Carl. However, rather than focus on the big sellers here what we like to do is dig out the rarer nuggets or the unexpected gems as our title suggests. Continue Reading

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  • Palm Beach Pop – 1969 Style

    • 1960s, Music • 18303 Views

    Now this must have been one hell of a weekend even if it was held at the end of November and the weather was, well let’s just say it was typical festival conditions. It was the only US festival the Rolling Stones played in 1969, almost all the original Woodstock line-up turned out and the icing on an already pretty impressive cake was that one of our favourite bands played too – the mighty Rotary Connection.

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  • Up, Up & Away – Hey Kids it’s the Skycar

    • 1960s, Futuristic, Transport • 5151 Views

    Who of us hasn’t, when sat in a never-ending traffic jam, imagined the delight to be had in rising above the cars, trucks and fumes and gliding off into the sunset without a care in the World. Well, wonder no longer kids because we might just have the very vehicle you’ve all been dreaming about – yes it’s the aptly named Skycar, a vehicle that pokes gravity in the eye and takes you above the treetops and ahem, up, up and away. Continue Reading

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  • Sssshhhhh…..It’s Retro Library Posters

    • 1960s, Literature • 22965 Views

    Quite what the future holds for our humble local libraries is a difficult one to call what with the old World Wide Web and almost any information we want available at our fingertips via smart phones and the like.

    We’d like to think that libraries are still the kind of peaceful, quiet, cerebral places people like to frequent just to get away from it all for a couple of hours, so hopefully they won’t completely disappear in the future. Continue Reading

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  • Guido Crepax – Pop Art Milanese Style

    • 1960s, Art • 6443 Views

    Welcome to the world of Guido Crepax – an artist probably best-known for his erotic cartoons and the Valentina character he created in 1965. However, here at VoEA we don’t really do erotic art and all that so instead we are going to take a look at the other side of Signore Crepax – his love of pop art, jazz and the cinema.

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  • Motown’s Marvelous Marketing Machine

    • 1960s, Retro Advertising • 24034 Views

    We’ve mentioned Berry Gordy’s commercial acumen and eye for a promotional opportunity before when we looked at The Supremes Special Formula White Bread although if we’re honest that was probably not his finest marketing moment. Putting that to one side however, when it came to promoting and controlling the Motown brand Gordy was somewhat of a commercial genius and knew exactly what it took to get his message across to the record-buying public at large.

     

    Here we take a look (in no particular order) at how Detroit’s finest promoted their acts through the 1960s and the advertising evolved from the basic beginnings to the pretty sophisticated in a few short years.  Continue Reading

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  • Sixties Antipodean Pulp Fiction

    • 1960s, Book Covers • 22832 Views

    Let’s take a trip down-under mate and have a sneaky peak at the Australian pulp fiction scene of the 1960s where Horwitz Publishing were kings of the outback (well, Sydney) and churned out books at a mind-bogglingly prodigious rate.

     

    Horwitz Publications were set up in 1921 by husband and wife Israel and Ruth Horwitz. The business was still family run and owned until a few years ago but is still trading and by all accounts is in rude health. They started out publishing trade journals and sporting magazines for the first 20 years of their existence and then moved into the highly lucrative pulp fiction and comic book markets in the mid-20th century. Continue Reading

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  • Jazz Matches – Have You Got a Light Boy?

    • 1960s, Ephemera • 11647 Views

    Just the thing for when you’re having a crafty jazz woodbine round the back of the bike sheds – yes, we bring you the ultimate in hip and cool smoking paraphernalia – jazz matches.

    Featuring all your favourite crooners, pluckers, blowers and bangers we believe these originated in Holland in the 1960s although much more than that we don’t know.

    Suffice to say if you are partial to a crafty smoke, enjoy a bit of modern jazz and don’t possess a cigarette lighter then these jazz matches are right up your street.  Continue Reading

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  • The Avengers 1971 London Stage Play

    • 1960s, 1970s, Television • 22710 Views

    OK you lot. Who out there knew The Avengers once had their own stage play? Well, neither did we until we stumbled across some rather interesting photos and decided to dig a bit deeper. It was 1971; the stage play was technically tricky and massively ambitious as was the producer, John Mather. He claimed it would “blast the British theatre into the Seventies” but unfortunately the critics, combined with numerous technical issues meant the play was an unqualified disaster and closed down within weeks of first showing. Continue Reading

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  • Spacelander – Space Age Cycle

    • Transport • 16890 Views

    Sometimes a new concept comes along that is radical, works well, makes sense and looks good but for one reason or another doesn’t sell and is consigned to the annals of history marked Unfortunate Failure. When it first hit the streets in 1960 the Spacelander bicycle ticked all the right boxes but unfortunately never made it commercially – shame really because it looks rather lovely. Continue Reading

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