Rainbow Valley Scott

Rainbow Valley - The Sixties Podcast.
Telling the stories from the decade that shook the world.
 
The Apollo One Disaster
 

 
January 27th 1967, US astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee way made their way into a brand new spacecraft perched atop a large powerful Saturn Five rocket at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. A routine dress rehearsal, and one of many, for their approaching launch into orbit less than a month away.
All three astronauts were experienced pilots, all harbouring dreams of one day setting foot on the moon. But little did they know, nor did anyone else, that once they entered the spacecraft that chilly winters day, they would never leave it alive.
The Apollo programme would be dangerously close to cancellation before it even got off the ground.
The Apollo spacecraft was condemned from the start, comprising of miles of uninsulated wiring, tons of flammable materials confined in an atmosphere consisting of pure oxygen, and a hatch that wouldn’t open.
Public opinion was already turning against the space race, and the events of that January evening did nothing to boost their confidence in the programme.
It is a story not only of how America continued to fulfil its destiny of placing a man on the moon, but also a valiant tale of the three American heroes who lost their lives in a horrific accident
Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of Apollo One.
 

Don't forget you can also listen to our weekly sixties chart show evey Sunday on Mixcloud.
Link below:
https://www.mixcloud.com/scophi/rainbow-valley-sixties-chart-show-5th-march-2023/
 

On August 1st 1960, an album on the Warner Brothers label reached number one in the Billboard Mono Action Albums Chart. It was the debut album for this particular artist and would remain at the top for fourteen weeks. The album would stay in the chart for two years selling over 600,000 copies near release and ranking as the 20th best selling album of all time on the Billboard charts.
Its total running time was just short of thirty two minutes, it consisted of just six tracks, and was a recording of a live performance
It won album of the year at the 1961 Grammy awards as well as best new artist for its performer. Yet this was no pop, folk or rock album. It was the first comedy album to win album of the year and the only time that a comedian had won best artist.
That comedian was Bob Newhart and this particular album saved the struggling Warner Brothers Records label and changed the face of modern comedy and the way the world experienced stand up forever.

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of The Button Down Mind Of Bob Newhart.
 
Don't forget you can also listen to our weekly sixties chart show evey Sunday on Mixcloud.
Link below:
https://www.mixcloud.com/scophi/rainbow-valley-sixties-chart-show-5th-march-2023/
 

The Aberfan Disaster
 

9:13am on October 21st 1966, Pantglas School in the small Welsh mining village of Aberfan
Inside the school, more than 200 children and nine teachers were waiting for their first lesson of the day to begin when the air was filled with the sound of a distant rumble.
A massive coal tip - a mountain of waste generated by the town's mines that employed 8000 people had collapsed and a landslide of mud and debris flooded into the classroom, burying the school and engufing everyone inside
116 children and 28 adults were killed
It was one of the worst industrial disasters Britain has ever seen. An accident that could and should have been prevented and a tragic account of a mistake that cost a village an entire generation of its children.

 
You can follow the podcast on Twitter @rv_podcast 
Join our Facebook group at Facebook/rainbowvalleypodcast 
 
Or send us your thoughts and feedback to rainbowvalleypod@gmail.com
 
You can also listen to our weekly sixties chart rundown at:
https://www.mixcloud.com/scophi/rainbow-valley-sixties-chart-show-1st-january-1960/
 
This has been a Stinking Pause production.
 
Thanks for listening
 
Scott

1966: The Year We Won...And Lost The World Cup
 
As we head rapidly towards the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, you may be forgiven for thinking that this episode must surely recount the tale of how England won the world cup in the summer of 1966.
You wouldn’t be far off though as this episode of Rainbow Valley is the story of not how we won the World Cup that summer, but how we lost it.

Three months before the World Cup finals were due to take place, the much coveted solid gold Jules Rimet trophy sat proudly on display in central London only to be stolen in what could only be described as a daylight robbery.
Fast forward a week or so and the thief is apprehended but no sign of the most famous sporting trophy in world….until an incredible canine steps in to save the day.
Ladies and gentlemen Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of Pickles-the unlikely hero of the 1966 World Cup final

You can follow the podcast on Twitter @rv_podcast 
Join our Facebook group at Facebook/rainbowvalleypodcast 
 
Or send us your thoughts and feedback to rainbowvalleypod@gmail.com
 
This has been a Stinking Pause production.
 
Thanks for listening
 
Scott

 

The Big Freeze

Boxing Day evening 1962
The Christmas Number One at the top of the hit parade was Return to Sender by Elvis Presley
All around the country, families were settling down after a busy two days of eating, drinking and making merry.
Small screen entertainment on the tv that evening included a hilarious variety show from the London Palladium featuring Bruce Forsyth and Norman Wisdom and the BBCs big Boxing Day movie was Moulin Rouge starring Jose Ferrer and Zsa Zsa Gabor
And then, it began to snow. A day late and tantalisingly close to giving the country a proper White Christmas, but snow nevertheless. The temperature dropped…..and it continued to snow.
And it snowed and snowed, and it got colder. And it snowed and it snowed some more
And that was how it would be for the next one hundred days or so as Britain was plunged into an icy wilderness that would last until the following March.
Industry ground to halt as businesses and schools were forced to close. There was widespread panic as ambulances and fire crews were unable to respond to emergencies. Essential supplies and medication failed to get through to hospitals and over half the natural wildlife population died in the freezing temperatures, unable to forage to food.
Nothing could be done to stop the bitter temperatures and the relentless snowfall
 
Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of The Big Freeze
 

 
You can follow the podcast on Twitter @rv_podcast 
Join our Facebook group at Facebook/rainbowvalleypodcast 
 
Or send us your thoughts and feedback to rainbowvalleypod@gmail.com
 
This has been a Stinking Pause production.
 
Thanks for listening
 
Scott

WE’RE BACK!!
Our first episode in two years is finally with you – and it’s a cracker. Join Scott as he tells the story of the making of the movie Zulu.
RAINBOW VALLEY – THE MAKING OF ZULU Rainbow Valley is a monthly podcast where your host, Scott takes a look at key events and personalities that shaped one the most influential, vibrant, tumultuous and swinging decades in history. Join us as we celebrate the 1960’s with the stories surrounding the music and news events of the decade that shook the world.
22nd January 1879, Rorkes Drift, Natal, South Africa. A remote mission station, the setting for one of the most famous, battles in British history.
But until 1964 and the release of the movie Zulu, the story of the events of those ten hours were not particularly familiar to the British public.
In reality, 100 British soldiers defended a series of attacks by approximately 4000 Zulu warriors. By the end of the battle, which lasted from late afternoon until dawn the following morning, 15 soldiers were dead, two mortally wounded and surrounding them, the bodies of some 350 Zulus
Possibly one of the most celebrated and documented battles in British history you might think. But you would be wrong, for if it were not for the release of the movie 85 years later, it’s likely it would have remained a mere postscript in the annals of military conflict.
The story of the making of Zulu begins with a magazine article written in 1958 and takes us on a journey that will change the lives of many people along the way. People such as director, Cy Endfield, producer and actor Stanley Baker, Zulu tribal leader, Chief Buthelezi and a certain young actor from south London called Michael Caine.
A movie that remained on cinema screens almost constantly for 12 years before becoming one of the most regarded and best loved British movies of all time, the story of its creation is almost worthy of a movie in its own right.
Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of the making of Zulu.

 
You can find all our previous episodes everywhere you download your podcasts.
Follow us on Twitter @rv_podcast
Join our Facebook group
Or drop us a line at rainbowvalleypod@gmail.com
 
Thanks for listening
Scott
@scophi
 
NEXT TIME – THE BIG FREEZE OF 1963