THE CARPETBRAGGER : RUG'n'ROLL

THE MID 1950'S FINALLY SAW CLOTHING BECOME AVAILABLE AND REASONABLY AFFORDABLE FOLLOWING THE END OF WAR RATIONING IN 1954. THE BIRTH OF ROCK AND ROLL BROUGHT IN NEW FASHION TRENDS THAT REQUIRED MADE-TO-MEASURE SUITS IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED AS BEING 'WITH IT' BY YOUR PALS. BRILLIANT INNOVATIVE ADAPTATIONS SUCH AS HAVING SMALL CHROME CHAINS SEWN ATOP ONES OLD SHOES HELPED BRING A COOL LOW COST INDIVIDUALITY TO ONES FASHION STATEMENT...OR SO I THOUGHT.

IT WAS THE AGE OF AMERICANA IN MUSIC WITH BILL HALEY, CHUCK BERRY, BO DIDDLEY, FATS DOMINO, ELVIS PRESSLEY, LITTLE RICHARD, BUDDY HOLLY, GENE VINCENT - AND SO MANY MORE AMERICAN STARS - DOMINATING THE MUSIC CHARTS. THE FABULOUS BEAT OF ROCK'n'ROLL REVOLUTIONISED POPULAR MUSIC FOREVER. FOR THE MANY TEENAGERS IN THE DESIGN STUDIO, IT WAS A 5 DAY WORK WEEK PLUS 2-3 NIGHTS OF ART CLASSES. BUT THIS WAS OUR EQUIVALENT OF HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR SECONDARY AND COLLEGE YEARS ALL ROLLED TOGETHER...AND WE MADE THE MOST OF IT! WE WERE POOR BUT PROUD AND VERY, VERY LOUD...

...................... YAHOOOOOO!!! LET'S RUG'N'ROLL!!!

.................. Jim Rafferty

Left: Ian Campbell Right: Hector McKechnie

Jim Rafferty

Alex Holmes

STAFF DANCE: HELEN HILL - LIZ GREER - JEAN BARCLAY - ANN HAMILTON - ELLA SPIERS

Byrne behind glass.

Left: Bill Murray. Right: Buddy Holly. Or wis it Buddy Murray & Bill Holly?

JRaff'n'2Margarets

Left: Alistair McRae

THE REGAL RULES

....................... Right: David Grimason

Monday Morning after 'Weekend Scrumpy Party'

Jim Rafferty, John Byrne, Alex Holmes, Martha Fulton.

Left: Ian Cowper. Right: Billy Brown.

Ian Cowper & Billy Brown

Left- Ann Hamilton & Margaret Grant. Right: Jean Barclay. Bottom right:Ian Cowper - Billy Brown - Alex Holmes - Indoor fitba' in El Cantina

Right: Jean Barclay-Helen Hill-Martha Fulton.

Left: Helen Hill - Jean Barclay.

LIZ GREER - HELEN HILL - MARGARET GRANT - JEAN BARCLAY

Helen Hill, Liz Greer, Margaret Grant, Jean Barclay, Jean Hunter.

JRAFF2

McPhail Lang

Right: Jim Rafferty. Left: Rodger McDowall, Jim McGarry, George Grant, McPhail Lang, John Byrne. Bottom Left: Alex Holmes. Bottom Right: Bill Haley & Comets

Left: George Johnson.

WELL THANKS FOR JOINING ME IN OUR PICTORIAL STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE...BUT BEFORE YOU LEAVE...WHY NOT HIT THE HYPER LINK BELOW THE JUKEBOX TO HEAR THE SONG THAT STARTED THE ROCK'N'ROLL REVOLUTION, BILL HALEY AND THE COMETS - ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK...THEN YOU CAN ACCESS ALL THE OTHER GREAT HITS OF THE 1950'S AS WELL. ENJOY!

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............................... http://upchucky.com/JukeCity/1954/player.html
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FAB AMERICANA 1950'S SITE

http://objflicks.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.htm

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REGAL PALLADIUM LASCALA

GLOBE PAVILION KELBURNE

ASTORIA NEWALEX WESTEND

PICTURE HOUSE

http://filmsandtimesofyesteryear.blogspot.com/?zx=e1a5846fcaa2209e

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LINK TO THE GREAT FILMS AND STARS OF1955-1959!

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http://oldfortyfives.com/thoseoldwesterns.htm

TRIBUTE TO THE OLD WESTERN STARS

http://oldfortyfives.com/thoseoldwesterns_part2.htm

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TV OR NOT TV...

MAYBE FOR SOME...BUT NOT FOR ME!

TV IN THE 1950'S WAS REALLY CRAP IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. DESPITE THE FACT THIS MEDIA PHENOMENON, INVENTED BY SCOT, JOHN LOGIE BAIRD, HAD IT'S FIRST PUBLIC BBC TRANSMISSI0N IN 1929 IN LONDON, IT WAS NOT BROADCAST IN SCOTLAND UNTIL 1952. MY FAMILY DID NOT GET OUR FIRST TV SET UNTIL 1956, WHICH MIGHT BE ABOUT AVERAGE FOR WORKING CLASS FAMILIES IN SCOTLAND AT THAT TIME. LIKE MOST FOLKS, I FIRST SAW LIVE TV IN STORE WINDOWS AND MY FIRST ACTUAL SIT-DOWN VIEWING WAS THE CORONATION OF HRM ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF SCOTS / ELIZABETH II OF ENGLAND, IN 1953. THAT WAS IN A CROWDED CHURCH HALL, PEERING AT FLICKERING TONES OF MUTED GREY ON AN EXTREMELY SMALL BLURRY SCREEN FOR OVER TWO HOURS OF MIND NUMBING BOREDOM.

MY OTHER TV RECOLLECTION OF THAT SAME YEAR WAS AT MY GOOD FRIEND IAN COWPER'S HOUSE, WHERE 6-7 JHS TEAMMATES, WATCHED ENGLAND LOSE 3-6 AT FOOTBALL TO HUNGARY AT WEMBLEY. THIS WAS ENGLAND'S FIRST EVER HOME LOSS TO A 'FOREIGN' SIDE. INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, WE WERE ALL SUPPORTING ENGLAND IN THAT GAME, CONTRARY TO WHAT MIGHT BE EXPECTED TODAY. I PUT THIS CHANGE IN SUPPORT DOWN TO THE CONSTANT BIAS IN THE BBC [BRENGLAND BROADCASTING CORPORATION] AND THE TOTAL DOMINANCE OF THE LONDONCENTRIC MEDIA.

OTHER THAN SPORTS, WHICH WERE NOT VERY WELL COVERED AT THAT TIME, I DID NOT FIND A LOT TO INTEREST ME. I DESPISED GAME SHOWS - AND STILL DO - AS WELL AS MOST WEEKLY SIT-COM SHOWS. I LIKED WESTERNS [SURPRISE-SURPRISE] BUT FOUND THE TV VERSIONS DISAPPOINTING COMPARED TO THE BIG SCREEN FILMS. THE EXCEPTION TO MY DISLIKE OF 1950'S TV WAS THE FABULOUS PHIL SILVERS SHOW, FEATURING THE ONE...THE ONLY...SERGEANT BILKO!

THE ATTEMPTS AT POP MUSIC SHOWS WERE CRINGE WORTHY EMBARRASSING WITH POSH VOICED TUBES TRYING TOO HARD TO BE COOL, SHOWCASING INFERIOR BRITISH TALENT. AAARRRRGGHHHH! 'SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM' DID BRING RARE GLIMPSES OF OUR AMERICAN ROCK'N'ROLL HEROES. ONE OF THE FIRST STARS I REMEMBER WAS MARVIN RAINWATER [PICTURED BELOW] WITH HIS 'WHOLE LOTTA WOMAN' AND 'RUNNING BEAR' HITS. THEN THERE WAS THE ONE AND ONLY APPEARANCE IN THE UK OF THE GREAT BUDDY HOLLY AND THE CRICKETS. THAT MADE SUFFERING INSUFFERABLE MC'S LIKE BRUCE FORSYTHE ALMOST WORTHWHILE.

SCOTSPORT

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............................................ 1959 SCOTTISH CUP FINAL
.......................................... ABERDEEN...1-3...ST.MIRREN