THURSDAY BACKTRACK: Music and news from 60 years ago - week ending 28 October 1961

  Cliff Richard storms in at #2 with 'When the girl in your arms is the girl in your heart':

Some memorable events (via Wikipedia):

22 October: 'Chubby Checker performed his 1960 #1 hit, "The Twist" on The Ed Sullivan Show, reigniting the popularity of both the dance and the record. The song returned to the Top 100 three weeks later, and became the first and only hit single to reach #1 twice.'

 Also on that day: 'Presidential and legislative elections were allowed to take place in Haiti by dictator François Duvalier, but only Duvalier supporters were allowed to run for office. Duvalier had his name printed on each ballot paper, with the result that he was re-elected unanimously.'

24 October: 'A group of prominent campaigners for the preservation of the Euston Arch, including James Maude Richards, went to see British prime minister Harold Macmillan to argue for it to be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere. Their arguments were unsuccessful, and the arch was demolished two months later.'

    https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/nov/07/euston-arch-rail-london-demolished-1961

But it may come back. Bits of the original were recovered a few years ago:

    https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/euston-arch-finds-its-way-back-home-after-50-years-3493664

    ... and if the money can be found, it may be rebuilt:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3900478/Euston-Arch-set-rise-nearly-60-years-Government-declares-war-cult-ugliness-modern-public-buildings.html

25 October: the first edition of the UK satirical magazine 'Private Eye' is published. (History)

27 October: 'Berlin Crisis: Five days after the initial incident involving Albert Hemsing, 33 Soviet tanks drove to the Brandenburg Gate to confront American tanks on the other side of the border. Ten of the tanks continued to Friedrichstraße, stopping 50 to 100 metres from the checkpoint on the Soviet side of the sector boundary. The standoff between the tanks of the two nations continued for 16 hours before both sides withdrew.'

Image source

UK chart hits, week ending 28 October 1961 (tracks in italics have been played in earlier posts)

Htp: Clint's labour-of love compilation https://www.sixtiescity.net/charts/61chart.htm

Epipanicacademic attack - flu vs Covid

This from the Daily Telegraph:

Flu deaths could hit 60,000 in worst winter for 50 years, say experts

More than 35m people will be offered jabs after health chiefs warn that lockdowns and social distancing have led to a drop in immunity

ByLaura Donnelly, HEALTH EDITOR8 October 2021 • 12:01am

_____________________________________________________________

'Coughs and sneezes spread diseases' was the old slogan; now the implication of the above is we should mingle, mingle, mingle to keep up our natural immunity.

So why does this not apply to Covid?

Or is the warning something to do with what He Who Must Not Be Named has suggested, i.e. that our immune systems have been weakened by having to deal with the deliberate infection by injection of the various anti-CV cocktails?

Tell me whatever story you like - but keep it logically consistent, please.

I'm provisionally prepared to accept that, on balance, I may be less at risk having a vaccination than not; but I don't know where to look for a fully reliable and unbiased quantitative assessment of the relative risks, with appropriate admissions of uncertainty.

If you can't trust us with the truth, don't be surprised if we have difficulty in trusting you.

BACKTRACK: Featured hits of 1961

Click the link for the record, and news of the time:

1961

Kenny BALL - Midnight In Moscow

Shirley BASSEY - Reach For The Stars

Acker BILK - Stranger On The Shore

BROOK Brothers - Ain't Gonna Wash For A Week

Dave BRUBECK - Take Five

Petula CLARK - Romeo

Jimmy DEAN - Big Bad John

EVERLY Brothers - Temptation

Billy FURY - Halfway To Paradise

Billy FURY - Jealousy

The HIGHWAYMEN - Michael Row The Boat Ashore

Eden KANE - Well I Ask You

Cleo LAINE - You'll Answer To Me

John LEYTON - Johnny Remember Me

John LEYTON - Wild Wind

Ricky NELSON - Hello Mary Lou

Sandy NELSON - Let There Be Drums

Elvis PRESLEY - Are You Lonesome Tonight

Elvis PRESLEY - His Latest Flame

Elvis PRESLEY - Surrender

Elvis PRESLEY - Wild In The Country

Cliff RICHARD - A Girl Like You

Cliff RICHARD - I Love You

Cliff RICHARD - When The Girl In Your Arms Is The Girl In Your Heart

The SHADOWS - Kon-Tiki

Del SHANNON - Runaway

Helen SHAPIRO - Walking Back To Happiness

Helen SHAPIRO - You Don't Know

Johnny TILLOTSON - Poetry In Motion

Frankie VAUGHAN - Tower Of Strength

Bobby VEE - Take Good Care Of My Baby

Danny WILLIAMS - Moon River

1962

Kenny BALL and His Jazzmen - March of the Siamese Children

Pat BOONE - Johnny Will

Chubby CHECKER - Let's Twist Again

Bobby DARIN - Multiplication

Billy FURY - I'd Never Find Another You

Eden Kane - Forget Me Not

Elvis PRESLEY - Rock-A-Hula Baby

Cliff RICHARD - The Young Ones

Cliff RICHARD - Wonderful Land

Leroy VAN DYKE - Walk On By

FRIDAY MUSIC: Paddy Moloney, a tribute, by JD

 Paddy Moloney of Irish tradtional folk group The Chieftains has died; he was 83.

"With a career spanning six decades, the Chieftains remains one of the most influential and heralded music groups to emerge from Ireland - and all led by Paddy Moloney, the charismatic performer at the heart of the group.

"In 1975, influential music publication Melody Maker ran its annual poll running down its best of the year, and there, claiming the honour of group of the year, was the Chieftains, beating the likes of Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and Queen.

"That's a folk group, that performed largely vocal-less Irish traditional music while sitting down and whose image was largely 'guys in the back corner of a pub', beating some of the biggest groups to ever plug in an amplifier."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58914486

Paddy Moloney, The Chieftains founder, dies (1938 - 2021) RIP

PADDY MOLONEY VIRTUAL IRISH FESTIVAL OF OULU PERFORMANCE, NOV 21, 2020

The Chieftains also travelled to Galicia on several occasions and shared the stage with Carlos Nuñez in some very lively concerts. These two videos have appeared here previously but there is no harm in posting them again!

Below: Concerto de The Chieftains en Ortigueira 2014 con Phil Cunninghan, Milladoiro e a Escola de Gaitas; and beneath the video was this tribute to Paddy in the comments:

"Maybe that was the last chance to enjoy the live music of The Chieftains in Galicia, at least that was my last one. Now Paddy goes on his way to Tir na nOg, to meet there the greatest bards of all times. Galicia owns you many thing Paddy, as well as all the Celtic music world. Até sempre!"

THURSDAY BACKTRACK: Music and news from 60 years ago - week ending 21 October 1961

 At #4 this week is Cleo Laine's 'You'll Answer To Me':

Some memorable events (via Wikipedia):

17 October - The 'Paris Massacre': 

    'More than 140 demonstrators were killed by French police in what would become known as the "Paris Massacre", after law enforcement officers fired on a crowd of about 30,000 people who were protesting a curfew applied solely to Algerian Muslims. 

    The actual death toll would be suppressed for more than three decades until the man who had ordered the crackdown, Police Chief Maurice Papon, was put on trial in 1988 for collaboration with Nazi occupiers during World War II. 

    There were 11,538 arrests, with the detainees held in stadiums on the outskirts of the city. The bodies of 74 of the victims were thrown into the Seine River and washed up on its banks later, while another 68 simply disappeared.'

18 October: 'The film West Side Story was released, with its world premiere at New York City's Rivoli Theatre. It would go on to become the highest-grossing film of 1962, and would win ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture.'

https://www.westsidestory.com/1961-film

    On the same day: The Council Of Europe's 'Social Charter' (not the EEC/EU's) is open for signature in Turin.

    'The Charter was established to support the European Convention on Human Rights which is principally for civil and political rights, and to broaden the scope of protected fundamental rights to include social and economic rights.

    'The Charter also guarantees positive rights and freedoms which concern all individuals in their daily existence.

    'The basic rights set out in the Charter are as follows: housing, health, education, labour rights, full employment, reduction of working hours, equal pay for equal work, parental leave, social security, social and legal protection from poverty and social exclusion, free movement of persons and non-discrimination, also the rights of migrant workers and that of the persons with disabilities.'

    On the same day: '1961 South African general election: In the first parliamentary elections since South Africa became a Republic, the all-White electorate cast more than 2/3rds of its votes in favor of the National Party, led by apartheid proponent and Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd. The Nationalists captured 105 of the 156 seats, with the United Party (led by De Villiers Graaff getting 49.'

20 October: 'The first launch of an armed nuclear warhead on a submarine-launched ballistic missile took place, when a Soviet Golf-class submarine (Project 629) fired an R-13 (SS N-4 Sark) missile from underwater. The 1.45 megaton warhead detonated on the Novaya Zemlya Test Range in the Arctic Ocean. Although the U.S. had test-fired unarmed Polaris missiles, the first American SLBM nuclear detonation would not take place until May 6, 1962.'

UK chart hits, week ending 21 October 1961 (tracks in italics have been played in earlier posts)

Htp: Clint's labour-of love compilation https://www.sixtiescity.net/charts/61chart.htm

1	Walkin' Back To Happiness	Helen Shapiro	Columbia
2	Wild Wind	John Leyton	Top Rank
3	Michael Row The Boat	The Highwaymen	HMV
4	You'll Answer To Me	Cleo Laine	Fontana
5	Sucu Sucu	Laurie Johnson	Pye
6	When The Girl In Your Arms Is The Girl In Your Heart	Cliff Richard and The Shadows	Columbia
7	Jealousy	Billy Fury	Decca
8	Kon*Tiki	The Shadows	Columbia
9	Hats Off To Larry	Del Shannon	London
10	Wild In The Country / I Feel So Bad	Elvis Presley	RCA
11	Bless You	Tony Orlando	Fontana
12	Together	Connie Francis	MGM
13	You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby	Karl Denver	Decca
14	Get Lost	Eden Kane	Decca
15	Johnny Remember Me	John Leyton	Top Rank
16	My Boomerang Won't Come Back	Charlie Drake	Parlophone
17	Michael Row The Boat / Lumbered	Lonnie Donegan	Pye
18	Let's Get Together	Bobby Darin	London
19	Hit The Road Jack	Hayley Mills	Decca
20	Sea Of Heartbreak	Don Gibson	RCA

COVIGRID - Covid vs vaccine: fill the grid!

Does any particular Covid vaccine do more harm than it prevents? If so, in what situations?

The fog of claim and counterclaim, emotive language etc leaves us groping for the truth, or at least for the detailed judgment of the person or organisation making the assertions. Perhaps a colder, number-based approach would help. 

I give below a sketch of how we might describe and (when we have enough data) test the stance of any pundit, health expert or conspiracy theorist. 

There could be more categories/grids, e.g. pregnant women, people with immune systems weakened by illness or chemotherapy, possibly different ethnic groups or blood types, social class etc; but let's start fairly simply. 

In each box, let's put in two figures, the first for the risk involved in taking Vaccine X, the second for the risk involved in being infected while having previously remained unvaccinated, however mildly or seriously (we shall assume that sooner or later everyone will be exposed to the virus.)

Would a picture emerge, suggesting when (if at all) it would do less harm to stay un-jabbed?

What would your figures look like?

Non-Covid deaths are on the rise in the UK - why?

'NHS bosses are apparently puzzled by the fact that there are, in the UK, thousands of excess deaths at the moment. These excess deaths are not caused by covid-19,' writes retired GP and pundit Dr Vernon Coleman on his website (14 October https://vernoncoleman.org/articles/scary-stuff-you-should-know .)

I noticed this independently and posted an ill-written piece about that a couple of days earlier (https://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.com/2021/10/death-rates-rising-in-uk.html .) 

Before I go on to that, let's review the pandemic so far. The first registered deaths from Covid-19 in England and Wales occurred in Week 11 last year; first 5, then 103 in Week 12 and 539 in Week 13. Then the disease took off and for the second quarter-year the average ran at a frightening 3,766 per week.

The first week of the third quarter (Week 27) saw the Covid toll drop back down to 532 and it tailed off from there, averaging out at 205 per week. From Week 40 (when officially the 'flu season' begins) to the end of the year it shot back up to an average 2,040 per week, and even higher in the first quarter of 2021 (4,296 per week.)

To avoid arguments about deaths 'from' Covid and deaths 'with' Covid, all the figures are for where the diease was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate. Last year the distinction was not made, but this year the statistics note separately where Covid was the 'underlying' (i.e. principal) cause of death. Having said that, of the 65,535 Covid-related deaths noted so far in 2021, in over 87% (57,152) of cases Covid was identified the underlying cause, so there is not a great deal to argue about.

In the second quarter of 2021, Covid-related fatalities dropped down to 168 a week; but in the third quarter just ended the average has risen again to 577 a week (as compared with 205 for the same period in 2020). Why should this be? Is it to do with the new variant of Covid, or the relaxation of restrictions on the public? Given that the median time from identifying the illness in hospitalised patients to subsequent death is only one or two weeks https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/928729/S0803_CO-CIN_-_Time_from_symptom_onset_until_death.pdf , the infections leading to the third quarter Covid deaths come well after the 'flu season' (ends Week 20) and it must be worrying that we are seeing what looks like the start of a new spike at this time.

Perhaps even more concerning is what Dr Coleman noted above, that if we strip out all deaths where Covid was named at all, we still see an unusual excess.There is a rising trend in deaths from all causes from 2010 onwards, perhaps because our population is increasing in numbers and also growing older; but even ignoring the pandemic, the weekly non-Covid figures for Q3 of 2021 are clearly above that trend:

There is also a total of 992 cases in Q3 where Covid was mentioned but not named as the underlying cause, so if anything the anomaly is slightly higher than shown.

How do we explain this? Is it the indirect result of the disruption to GP and hospital services, and/or of the disruption to normal social and working life and people's behavioural responses to that? Should we speculate that the 'worst cold ever' reportedly raging in e.g. Devon https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/worst-cold-ever-rips-through-6041062 is a sign of immune systems weakened by restricted lifestyles and even possibly by mass vaccinations?

At what point is the cure worse than the disease?