LOSE YOURSELF IN 1960
17 APRIL – EDDIE COCHRAN IS KILLED IN A CAR CRASH
During the night of 16 April, Eddie Cochran was travelling in a Ford Consul MkII taxi along the A4 when a tyre blew. The car crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill, and the singer was thrown from the car. He was taken to St Martin’s Hospital in Bath, where he died in the early hours of 17 April.
20 MAY – POP STAR JOHNNY GENTLE TOURS SCOTLAND WITH LIVERPOOL BACKING GROUP
Johnny Gentle, the latest signing of pop impresario, Larry Parnes, begins his tour of Scotland in Alloa in Clackmannanshire. His supporting musicians are The Silver Beatles, comprising Tommy Moore (drums), Stuart Sutcliffe (bass) plus George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney (guitars). Gentle was assisted by Lennon in his new composition, I’ve Just Fallen for
Someone, so this young chap from Liverpool might have had a future in songwriting…
15 SEPTEMBER – TRAFFIC WARDENS ARE FIRST DEPLOYED IN LONDON
40 of these officials went on patrol in the capital, armed with a snappy uniform and the authority to issue £2 fines. History relates that the first ticket was issued on the 19 September to a Ford Popular owned by one Thomas Creighton, a doctor attending an emergency call to a heart attack victim at a hotel in the West End; the subsequent public furore resulted in the penalty being rescinded.
9 DECEMBER – CORONATION STREET FIRST AIRS
Granada Television in Manchester began screening a new drama series about everyday life in a dowdy street. It was said at the time that if the programme did not prove to be a rating success, it would be cancelled after six episodes. If only they’d known…