The Sixties had begun. Someone had apparently forgotten to tell the prosecution.

It is 1960. The Beatles are still playing clubs, the mini-skirt is some way off, Britain has yet to start swinging and much of the country still carries itself with the reassuring conviction that there is a proper way of doing things.

And then Penguin Books decides to publish Lady Chatterley's Lover.

D. H. Lawrence's novel had been written more than thirty years earlier, but its frank treatment of sex, adultery and class had ensured that British readers had never legally been offered the complete, unexpurgated version. Penguin intended to change that, producing an inexpensive paperback that could be bought by virtually anyone.

The establishment was not entirely delighted.

In October 1960, Penguin Books found itself at the Old Bailey, charged under the recently introduced Obscene Publications Act. What followed became one of the most famous obscenity trials in British history and, almost accidentally, a wonderfully revealing portrait of a country standing with one foot in the 1950s and the other edging rather nervously towards the modern age.

At the heart of the prosecution was a question that would become far more famous than anyone asking it could possibly have imagined:

"Is it a book that you would wish your wife or your servants to read?"

It was only one sentence, but somehow an entire disappearing Britain seemed to be contained within it.

This episode of Rainbow Valley tells the story of the book, D. H. Lawrence, Penguin's decision to publish it, the extraordinary cast of academics, writers, clergymen and lawyers who assembled at the Old Bailey, and the trial that turned a supposedly obscene novel into one of the most sought-after books in Britain.

Because the Sixties may have officially arrived on 1 January 1960, but attitudes do not change simply because somebody replaces the calendar.

The old Britain was still very much in evidence.

The new one was beginning to clear its throat.

So settle in as we return to London in 1960, when literature, sex, class, censorship and the British establishment unexpectedly found themselves sharing the same courtroom.

Rainbow Valley – bringing you the stories from the decade that shook the world.

This episode, along with all previous episodes of Rainbow Valley, is available wherever you get your podcasts and at:

https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/rainbowvalley

#RainbowValleyPodcast #RainbowValley #TheSixties #1960s #HistoryPodcast #LadyChatterley #DHLawrence #PenguinBooks #OldBailey #1960 #BritishHistory #Censorship

One raised eyebrow, one unmistakable voice and a perfectly innocent question that somehow sounds anything but.

This time on Seven Inches of History, we reach Anthony Newley and "Do You Mind?" – a record that took one of the most distinctive voices in British entertainment all the way to number one.

By 1960, Anthony Newley had already squeezed rather a lot into his 28 years. He had been a child actor, played the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist, worked his way through the British film industry, become a leading man and then, almost as an aside, discovered that the record-buying public rather liked hearing him sing.

And what a voice it was.

You only need a few seconds of Anthony Newley before there's really no doubt who you're listening to. Part crooner, part actor, part music-hall turn and entirely his own creation, he had a way of making even a straightforward pop song sound as though he were performing it directly to one particular person sitting somewhere in the third row.

After reaching number one earlier in 1960 with "Why", Newley returned to the top with "Do You Mind?", written by Lionel Bart, who was fast becoming one of the most successful songwriters in Britain. The record entered the charts in March 1960 and climbed to number one in April, becoming, rather neatly, the 100th number-one single in the history of the UK chart.

It's also a lovely reminder of just how gloriously odd the British charts could be in 1960. Rock 'n' roll was everywhere, American records were flooding across the Atlantic and teenagers were becoming an increasingly powerful audience. And right in the middle of it all was Anthony Newley, sounding like absolutely nobody else and still managing to walk away with a number one.

In this episode, we take another record from the pile and explore the remarkable career of Anthony Newley: child star, actor, singer, songwriter, composer, theatrical innovator and a performer whose influence would eventually stretch far beyond the British pop charts.

We'll also look at Lionel Bart, the story behind "Do You Mind?", Newley's sudden run of chart success and the extraordinary transformation that would soon take him from British film star and pop idol to the stages of the West End and Broadway.

There may also be an attempt to discover precisely how much eyebrow movement is required to sing an Anthony Newley song correctly.

Do you mind?

We rather hope not.

It can only be Seven Inches of History.

Rainbow Valley – bringing you the stories from the decade that shook the world.

All episodes of Rainbow Valley are available wherever you download your podcasts and at:

https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/rainbowvalley

#RainbowValley #SevenInchesOfHistory #AnthonyNewley #DoYouMind #LionelBart #1960 #SixtiesMusic #BritishMusic #UKCharts #MusicHistory #1960s #Podcast