The Velvet Hammer!

"Barney Garrett and Jack Marsh are two members of an extraordinary profession. They are part of the Special Squad, a unit of the C.I.D., which is armed and prepard for an eventuality at a moment's notice.

"But though Garrett and Marsh are intelligent, dedicated, expert marksmen, and rained in judo and karate, they are, nevertheless, men with their own private dramas - Garrett with his promiscuous wife, and Marsh with his ever-feuding girl friend.

"THE VELVET HAMMER is an authoritative novel dealing with a section of the police force not generally known to the public. It is also a close and revealing study of two men who have to reconcile their domestic happiness with a job involving murder, drugs, blackmail and prostitution."

No-nonsense stuff from author Donald Franklin and New English Library, published in 1974.

 

Channel Four launches in the TV Times

On November 2nd, 1982 at 4.45pm, Channel Four launched in the UK, giving us a whopping four channels of choice  - at least in peak viewing time. In the early days, C4 broadcast evenings only. The opening show was indestructible quiz show Countdown (with long forgotten hostesses Beverley Isherwood and Kathy Hytner) and other highlights of the first half-week included The Paul Hogan Show, The Comic Strip Presents... Five Go Mad In Dorset, the rather grim documentary The Animals Film, The Munsters, The Tube, Pleasure Palaces (a series about cinema going) and Woodstock. None of these things seem to involve Hot Gossip, who nevertheless get a nipply shot on the front cover.

 

Famous First Issues: The Daily Star

It's hard to believe now, but the launch of the Daily Star was big news. When this first issue appeared on November 2, 1978, it was the first British national newspaper to launch for 75 years. Very much in the tradition of The Sun and the Daily Mirror, it was a mass-market tabloid (produced in Manchester, though that didn't last) and featured its very own version of the Page 3 Girl, The Starbird, who appeared across the whole of page 7 (Karen Richardson was the debut pin up). The cover story was about a non-fatal window plunge by model Kitty Percy, and other vital stories included nightclub boss Louis Brown skipping the wedding of Bruce Forsyth and Anthea Redfern, a boozy confession from Jimmy Geaves, a story about a vicar who likes to paint naked girls and the opportunity to double your wages to £100 a week. There are also letters of support from top celebrities like Stuart Hall, Cilla Black, Tom O'Connor, Tim Brooke-Taylor and... erm... Ronnie Dukes.

 

 

The Sweeney paperback collection

Popular 1970s TV series The Sweeney spawned nine paperback tie in novels (all original stories) plus a novelisation of the the second film spin-off. 

Note the incorrect spelling on the cover of the first book (corrected in later editions). The first novel was originally printed as Regan earlier in 1975 (the title of the original Sweeney pilot) and it still referred to under that title inside.

While the first novel is credited to series creator Ian Kennedy Martin, the rest are by 'Joe Balham', who may be a pseudonym of crime writer Alan White. These all appeared between 1975 and 1978.

 

Mine-a-Long-a-Max - When Max Bygraves and the National Coal Board joined forces to Do It The Safety Way

1976 saw the release of this curio - a health and safety 7 inch single produced by the National Coal Board (this may be the sole release of NCB Records), where the unlikely figure of Max Bygraves - who I suspect has never been down a coal mine in his life - sings a jaunty ditty telling miners that "common sense saves accidents, do it the safety way". he's backed by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band - sadly the only collaboration from these giants of the entertainment world.

Singalong fans will be thrilled to know that the lyrics appear on the back cover, and include gems like "Unless the roof's supported / it's odds on it will fall / And if you're underneath it / it's not very nice at all", which frankly sounds a bit of an understatement. The lyrics were by Coal News competition winner Jack Birchall, administrave officer at Lancashire's Bickenshaw Colliery. The music is by Ron Goodwin.

According to the sleeve notes, "the special sing-along style of Max Bygraves gives the whole arrangement hit parade appeal". An ambitious boast.

Marvel Superheroes

A free poster given away with the first issue of Marvel UK weekly The Titans, October 1975. Now framed and on the wall!