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Wednesday 31 December 2014

A Big Ben Fix 1923 and 1988 !

For many years I have enjoyed seeing in the New Year with the chimes of Big Ben. And what a coincidence to find that one of Jimmy's fix it's involved the great clock at Westminster. It wasn't aired on New Years Eve but I thought you'd like to hear about it anyway ! 

The accompanying video clip of the fix broadcast in March 1988 has been removed from the BBC online archive 
But, had I not stumbled across that I would not have been led to this rather charming story of how the beeb first captured and broadcast BB's wonderful sound for the first time on New Years Eve 1923 !
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/bigben/7502.shtml
Shame we are no longer allowed to watch programs that we and our parents paid to have made but at least we KNOW that they were made. My burrowing led me to another great resource that called 'TV Cream' ! It has not removed it's tributes to Sir Jimmy
http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=27947#comments
I can hear Big Ben on my radio or online later tonight. I doubt the tv listings will be as good, or as popular as they were thirty years ago !
 http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?tag=sir-jimll

I love the 'tags' by the way TV cream ! 
 Tags: ,

Oh, and btw did you know that Rick Wakeman among others combined to make a remix of 'The age of the train' featuring our Jim - 'as it happens'. Totally off-topic but I love it and I'm sure you will too ! 
  http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=25869#more

Happy New Year all - Join me and Big Ben later !


 

1 comment:

  1. I was watching a Jim'll from 1978 that someone kindly sent me a copy of and Jimmy had the little sister of one of his Fixits, who had attached herself to him. He was laughing his head off at her antics and kept calling her Fred as he tried to do his scripted intro's. Then, she interrupted him, loudly saying, "My names not Fred!" It was hard to imagine many of the smoothie TV presenters allowing themselves to be upstaged by such a munchkin. Later in the show she had transferred herself to sit on the arm of what was plainly a prototype for his "Fix-It" chair. The little girl in that pic you have is a dead spit of the sort of little-un she was but I suspect that one may be a year or so older.

    I also got sent a Clunk-Click from 1974 and realised the programme was actually being used as a vehicle for that year's Eurovision songs. Olivia Newton-John was singing weekly it seems and then the audience had to vote for the song to represent GB. Olivia must have been headed for Brighton and the Scandinavian avalanche that would be ABBA! I probably watched that show because, although I was no big fan of Jimmy, I had a crush on Olivia back then... along with about 20million others I expect... :-D

    This whole Duncroft/Establishment shakedown is not only immoral but utterly destructive of some really nice things about Britain and it's past.

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