DEC4

01/02/2025

Remembering the last of Dad's Army's 'Magnificent Seven', Ian Lavender (Private Pike), who passed away February 2nd, 2024, aged 77. 🙏

Leading UK television historian, publisher, author and podcaster, Oliver Crocker, joins us to share his thoughts on this very talented gentleman, and to recall his own memorable experience working with Ian Lavender on a segment for ITV’s This Morning.

Although Private Pike remains his most enduring and universally beloved creation, we also take a wider look at Ian Lavender’s remarkable career beyond Dad’s Army, encompassing television, radio, feature films and theatre.

Find us wherever you get your podcasts, or on our website with some accompanying background information, images and links, as well as some suggested additional media.

In this episode we pay tribute to the last of Dad’s Army’s ‘Magnificent Seven’, Ian Lavender (Private Pike), who passed away on February 2nd, 2024, aged 77. Leading UK telev…

25/01/2025

In this clip from our podcast series taking a deep dive into Elvis' January 1973 satellite concert broadcast, Aloha From Hawaii, our leading contributor Gary Wells (Vintage Leisure) joins us to discuss Wayne Harada's review of Elvis' Hawaiian shows in late 1972, as well as local entertainment writer Eddie Sherman's charitable initiative, the Kui Lee Cancer Fund.

The complete series is available on SoundCloud, (link below) or wherever you get your podcasts, with additional background at our website. 😀

In this clip from our podcast series taking a deep dive into Elvis' 1973 satellite concert broadcast, Aloha From Hawaii, our leading contributor ...

17/01/2025

Marty Pasetta (1932-2015) was perhaps the top producer and director of event, variety and entertainment television in the 1970s and 80s. In 1972 he was brought in to work with Elvis, and helm the pioneering satellite live concert broadcast, Aloha From Hawaii, which would go out to an international audience in January, 1973.

Pasetta was not one to compromise in the cause of creative excellence. With his staging designs rejected by Colonel Parker, he asked to present his plans directly to Elvis himself.

In this clip from our 2022 podcast series taking a deep dive into Aloha From Hawaii with Gary Wells (Vintage Leisure), we learn more about Marty Pasetta, how his plans came together, and of a slightly bizarre meeting with Elvis and the Memphis Mafia.

Find the complete series wherever you get your podcasts, or on Soundcloud (Link below). 😀

In this clip from our podcast series taking a deep dive into Elvis' 1973 satellite concert broadcast, Aloha From Hawaii, our leading contributor ...

11/11/2024

In this our second Elvis and the Press episode, we’re joined once again by our leading contributor, Gary Wells (Vintage Leisure), to take a deep dive into the coverage of Elvis’ New Year’s Eve performance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the end of 1976. This was the second consecutive New Year’s Eve Elvis had worked, with touring now continuing throughout winter by financial necessity. Elvis’ Pittsburgh show, concluding a very well-received, high energy tour over just five nights, proved to be a remarkable moment in time, and was widely considered one of the best performances of his later career.

Gary takes us through some of the show’s highlights, and we consider in detail a thoughtfully compiled review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by music columnist, Mike Kalina, who observed that Elvis ‘had perhaps the most captive audience since Johnny Cash played Folsom Prison, and rarely did he lose his iron grip on the crowd during his 90 minutes on stage’.

We also learn more about Mike Kalina, and in our post-credits segment right at the end, Gary recalls his most recent visit to Memphis, and what can only be described as an 'interesting' stay at Days Inn.

This episode's dedicated webpage has additional background, including the audience recording of the show in full, as well as research notes and links to our sources, with some suggestions for further reference - see the link in the comments below. 😀

Find us on Soundcloud, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.

In this our second Elvis and the Press episode, we’re joined once again by our leading contributor, Gary Wells (www.soulrideblog.com), to take a deep dive into the coverage of Elvis’ New Year’s Eve pe

17/09/2024

It's a great thrill and privilege this episode to welcome multi-talented actor, writer and music artist, Andrew Mackintosh, who carved his own special niche in British television history as DS Alistair Greig, a key character in over 300 episodes of one of the most successful and influential television dramas of all time, The Bill.

But as we discover, there's so much more to his varied career, encompassing acting, music and writing. We learn about Andrew's current project, the hit fiction podcast, Letter from Helvetica, talk about his early life and how his professional journey in music and acting began, and he shares with us some of his creative influences.

We explore his continuing musical collaboration with Joe Dooley, and get to grips with some general acting and career matters, including authenticity in casting, accents, received pronunciation and the art of speech, and the mixed blessing of being in a long-running series. We also discuss opportunities for mature actors and, inspired by an unstoppable generation of rock and roll performers, if perceptions of age are evolving in a positive way within the arts and beyond.

Our companion webpage for this episode has some additional career details, images, links and recommendations for further reading, viewing and listening. Link in the comments below.

Special thanks to Oliver Crocker (The Bill Podcast) for making this episode possible.

Find us on SoundCloud, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. 😀

https://soundcloud.com/georgefairbrother/a-conversation-with-andrew-mackintosh

12/08/2024

Our leading contributor Gary Wells (Vintage Leisure) has been back in Memphis, and has posted a great multimedia presentation on his website, including details of his latest visit to Graceland and other important cultural sites. Lots of fascinating insights, travel tips, images and video to enjoy. 😀

https://soulrideblog.com/2024/08/10/elvis-world-walking-in-memphis/

In 2022, Gary recounted some earlier Memphis experiences in our podcast episode, From Memphis to Vegas: A Vintage Leisure Tour. Link to the audio in the comments below. 👍

My family and I first made the drive from Southern Ontario to Memphis, Tennessee in the summer of 2005 when my two sons were still quite young. The thing that really helped in making the decision t…

02/08/2024

Gainesville Band hard at work...👍🎸

Special thanks to these fine musicians for providing our original theme and incidental music...

28/06/2024

In this supplement to our episode on the Winter Dance Party tour, headlined by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson (the Big Bopper), our leading contributor, Gary Wells, (Vintage Leisure), joins us to discuss in more detail some of the friendships and professional relationships forged during the tour.

We examine the culpability of the promoters taking into account the context of the time, and learn that the Ritchie Valens biopic, La Bamba, might have been a very different movie if not for a notable intervention. We also look at how the tragedy shaped the future of JP Richardson’s family, and share some personal thoughts on the often forgotten fourth occupant of the plane; the young pilot, Roger Peterson.

Find this and the original episode, additional background, as well as detailed research notes and links to our sources, with some suggestions for further reference, at a dedicated page at our podcast website. Link in the comments below.

We're on all the usual podcast places. 😀

In this supplement to our episode on the Winter Dance Party tour, headlined by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson (the Big Bopper), our leading contributor, Gary Wells, joins us to discuss

01/06/2024

Actor and playwright Frank Williams passed away June 26th, 2022, just short of his 91st birthday. He is remembered with enormous fondness by generations of fans as Timothy Farthing, the perpetually exasperated Vicar in the BBC’s Dad’s Army, on television, radio, stage, and in two feature films separated by almost half a century.

This is a clip from our complete tribute episode which was released to coincide with the first anniversary of Frank Williams' passing. His friend, leading television historian, author, podcaster and publisher, Oliver Crocker The Bill Podcast, joined us to share some personal memories of this incredibly talented, generous and exceedingly kind gentleman.

In this clip we sample some very special audio of Mr Williams himself, reminiscing about the adventures and misadventures of a working actor as a film extra, on live television, and in Dad's Army. This was part of a longer segment on the original episode, courtesy of Oliver's personal archive.

Find the complete episode along with some additional background, images, research notes and links, at our podcast website (Link in comments).

Very special thanks to Oliver Crocker. Find us on all the usual podcasting platforms.😀

Actor and playwright Frank Williams passed away June 26th, 2022, just short of his 91st birthday. He is remembered with enormous fondness by generations of fans as Timothy Farthing, the perpetually ex

04/05/2024

In this sample audio clip from our podcast catalogue, our leading contributor, Gary Wells (Vintage Leisure), recalls a visit to Sun Studio, Memphis.

In the complete episode, available on our podcast website and the major platforms, we also visit the Stax Museum, Al Green’s Full Gospel Tabernacle Church, Beale Street, and we explore Elvis Presley’s Graceland in detail, of which Gary says, “It’s a hundred percent worth it, and what you get is the feeling, the experience. Elvis worked, lived, operated here. This is his home. It really does add an intangible and a strong dimension to your pursuit of the man and his world.”

We then reconvene in Las Vegas to investigate a colourful history, from its early beginnings as a wild west desert railroad stopover, to its post-war glory years as the ultimate gambling and entertainment destination; epitomised by the Flamingo and the Sands, Bugsy Siegel, the Rat Pack, Elvis and the Showroom Internationale. We also seek out some undaunted traces of vintage Vegas, still to be discovered amongst the corporate splendour of the Bellagio and the MGM Grand.

Find the Soundcloud embed and some additional background, images and links at our podcast website: 😀
https://dec4podcast.com/2023/02/26/gary-wells-from-memphis-to-vegas-a-vintage-leisure-tour/

08/04/2024

In this episode we pay tribute to the last of Dad’s Army’s ‘Magnificent Seven’, Ian Lavender (Private Pike), who passed away on February 2nd, 2024, aged 77.

Leading UK television historian, publisher, author and podcaster, Oliver Crocker The Bill Podcast, joins us to share his thoughts on this very talented gentleman, and to recall his own memorable experience working with Ian Lavender on a segment for ITV’s This Morning.

Although Private Pike remains his most enduring and universally beloved creation, we also take a wider look at Ian Lavender’s remarkable career beyond Dad’s Army, encompassing television, radio, feature films and theatre.

There's more background, as well as images and links to further reading, viewing and listening, at this episode's webpage, see the link in the comments below.

Find us on Soundcloud, YouTube Podcasts, and all the usual places.😀

In this episode we pay tribute to the last of Dad’s Army’s ‘Magnificent Seven’, Ian Lavender (Private Pike), who passed away on February 2nd, 2024, aged 77. Leading UK television historian, publisher

23/02/2024

In this podcast episode our leading contributor, Gary Wells (Vintage Leisure), joins us to take an in-depth look at the Winter Dance Party tour of early 1959, and explore what led up to a critical midtour decision to charter a light plane for a late night, 300 mile flight from Mason City, Iowa, to Fargo, North Dakota. Around five miles northwest of Mason City Airport the plane crashed on private farmland, killing the pilot, Roger Peterson, along with his three passengers, touring musicians Buddy Holly, Jiles Perry ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson, and Ritchie Valens.

Drawing primarily from personal, first-hand accounts in a variety of credible sources, we examine how the hopelessly mismanaged tour came together, the inhuman travel conditions in ageing, inadequately maintained buses crisscrossing the frozen Midwest; a joyous night in Iowa during which around 1500 teenagers - and many parents - packed Clear Lake's Surf Ballroom, and the terrible chain of events that immediately followed.

We also look beyond mythology and cliché, and examine the longer term consequences of the tragedy with our focus on those most directly affected.

There's additional background, as well as detailed research notes and links to our sources, with some suggestions for further reference, at this episode's page at our podcast website - link in the comments below.

Find us in all the usual podcast places - and a few others as well. 😀

In this episode our leading contributor, Gary Wells (https://soulrideblog.com/), joins us to take an in-depth look at the Winter Dance Party tour of early 1959, and explore what led up to a critical m

10/01/2024

In this audio clip, only on YouTube Podcasts, we revisit our earlier episode, From Memphis to Vegas: A Vintage Leisure Tour, in which our leading contributor, Gary Wells (Vintage Leisure), takes us on an audio journey to some of the important cultural sites in Memphis and Las Vegas.

Here we recall Gary's visit to 1034 Audubon Drive (the Presley family's first home in Memphis), and to Sun Records. In the complete episode, available on our podcast website and the major platforms, we also visit the Stax Museum, Al Green’s Full Gospel Tabernacle Church, Beale Street, and we explore Elvis Presley’s Graceland in detail, before finding out if any vintage Las Vegas remains intact.

The original episode included Gary's account of his visit to Graceland's Meditation Garden. This was recorded prior to the passing of Lisa Marie Presley. 🙏

The full episode is on the usual platforms, and our website (link in the comments) has some additional local information and background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUo2HRs4Cao&t=5s

In this clip, we revisit our earlier podcast episode, From Memphis to Vegas: A Vintage Leisure Tour, in which our leading contributor, Gary Wells (https://so...

02/01/2024

In this clip compiled from our 2022 Beach Boys Book Club episode, with our leading contributor, Gary Wells (Vintage Leisure), we focus on Timothy White's wide-ranging 1994 biography, The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience. Gary explains what sets this apart as more than just a rock and roll bio, we discuss Timothy White's assessment of family patriarch Murry Wilson, and how, in the early 1960s, emerging artists in Southern California transformed the corporatised music scene.

In the original 62 minute episode, we expand a little on Timothy White's distinguished career as a music writer and industry advocate (he sadly passed away in 2002, aged just 50), and provide some additional context from other sources on the Wilson family dynamic...

Find us on Soundcloud, YouTube Podcasts, Spotify, Apple and all the usual places. (And a few unusual ones as well). 👍😀

More detail, background and some suggested additional reading and media at our podcast website. Links in the comments below.

In this clip compiled from our 2022 Beach Boys Book Club episode, with our leading contributor, Gary Wells (www.soulrideblog.com), we focus on Timothy White's wide-ranging 1994 biography, The Nearest