WITH THE EVER INCREASING INTEREST IN BOTH CHARLES SALVADOR’S ARTWORK AND KRAY MEMORABILIA …. PLEASE DO BEWARE OF DODGY AUCTION HOUSES THROUGHOUT THE UK ….
HERE BELOW ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF GENUINE CHARLES SALVADOR ITEMS AS CAN BE VARIFIED BY CLOSE FAMILY MEMBERS AND THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL …. SO ALL BUYERS AND INVESTORS PLEASE DO BEWARE OF ALL THE FAKE STUFF THAT IS OUT THERE …
Set in Lancashire in 1974, the film follows Matt and John as they leave behind a humdrum life of youth clubs and factory lines to chase a dream of travelling to the US, unearthing unknown soul 45s and establishing themselves as top DJ’s on the Northern soul music scene. Their dance and amphetamine fuelled quest brings them into contact with some of the darker elements of the scene and tests their friendship to its limits
A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE GREAT MANY EXHIBIT ITEMS ON THE NORTHERN SOUL FRONTS ON DISPLAY AT THE “TASTE OF NORTHERN SOUL DOWN HERE IN THE SOUTH EXHIBITION “….INCLUDES ORIGINAL WIGAN CASINO, TWISTED WHEEL AND OTHER NORTHERN SOUL MEMBERSHIP CARDS, FLYERS, ORIGINAL AND VINTAGE WOVEN CLUB PATCHES , VINTAGE PATCHED SPORTS HOLDALLS,VINYL AND OTHER ASSOCIATED MEMORABILIA .
Because of the scarcity of the original single and the high quality of the music (it was one of the most popular records in the Northern Soul movement), it has been championed as one of the rarest and most valuable records in history (along with other “impossible to find” records by such acts as Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and the Five Sharps).
HERE BELOW IS A VERY , VERY BRIEF INSIGHT GALLERY INTO A FEW OF THE ORIGINAL NORTHERN SOUL MEMORABILIA ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY . DO COME VISIT TO SEE WHAT IS UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE LARGEST PRIVATE COLLECTIONS OF SUCH SOUGHT AFTER MATERIAL .
DO SEE MORE PICTORIAL CONTENT IN SOME OF OUR PREVIOUS POSTS ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE AS TO FURTHER EXHIBIT ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY IN OUR “A TASTE OF NORTHERN SOUL DOWN HERE IN THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND EXHIBITION”
| Northern soul | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Soul Rhythm and blues Gospel |
| Cultural origins | Northern England |
| Typical instruments | Strings Horns Guitar Vocals |
| Mainstream popularity | From late 1960s onwards |
| Derivative forms | Modern soul, Madchester, Mod revival, rave culture |
| Other topics | |
| Motown Records, Mod subculture, Skinhead | |
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound. The northern soul movement, however, generally eschews Motown or Motown-influenced music that has met with significant mainstream success. The recordings most prized by enthusiasts of the genre are usually by lesser-known artists, and were initially released only in limited numbers, often by small regional United States labels such as Ric-Tic and Golden World (Detroit), Mirwood (Los Angeles) and Shout and Okeh (New York/Chicago).
Northern soul is also associated with particular dance styles and fashions that grew out of the underground rhythm & soul scene of the late 1960s, at venues such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester. This scene (and the associated dances and fashions) quickly spread to other UK dancehalls andnightclubs like the Catacombs (Wolverhampton), the Highland Rooms at Blackpool Mecca, Golden Torch (Stoke-on-Trent), and Wigan Casino. As the favoured beat became more uptempo and frantic, by the early 1970s, northern soul dancing became more athletic, somewhat resembling the later dance styles of disco and break dancing. Featuring spins, flips, karate kicks and backdrops, club dancing styles were often inspired by the stage performances of touring American soul acts such as Little Anthony & The Imperials and Jackie Wilson.
During the Northern soul scene’s initial years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, popular Northern Soul records were usually not recent releases, and generally dated from the mid-1960s. This meant that the movement was sustained (and “new” recordings added to playlists) by prominent DJs discovering rare and previously overlooked records. Later on, certain clubs and DJs began to move away from the 1960s Motown sound and began to play newer releases with a more contemporary sound.
[edit]Photograph of a sew-on patch featuring the clenched fist symbol adopted by the northern soul movement
The phrase northern soul emanated from the record shop Soul City in Covent Garden, London, which was run by journalist Dave Godin.[1] It was first publicly used in Godin’s weekly column in Blues and Soul magazine in June 1970.[2] In a 2002 interview with Chris Hunt of Mojo magazine, Godin said he had first come up with the term in 1968, to help employees at Soul City differentiate the more modern funkier sounds from the smoother, Motown-influenced soul of a few years earlier. With contemporary black music evolving into what would eventually become known as funk, to differentiate the tastes of the die-hard soul-lovers of the north, whose musical preferences seemed to have stalled somewhere in that classic mid-’60s era of Motown-sounding black American dance, Godin referred to their requests as ‘Northern Soul’:
I had started to notice that northern football fans who were in London to follow their team were coming into the store to buy records, but they weren’t interested in the latest developments in the black American chart. I devised the name as a shorthand sales term. It was just to say ‘if you’ve got customers from the north, don’t waste time playing them records currently in the U.S. black chart, just play them what they like – ‘Northern Soul’.[3]
The venue most commonly associated with the early development of the northern soul scene was the Twisted Wheel in Manchester and the Room at The Top in Wigan. The club began in the early 1950s as a beatnik coffee bar called The Left Wing, but in early 1963, the run-down premises were leased by two Manchester businessmen (Ivor and Phil Abadi) and turned into a music venue.[4] Initially the Twisted Wheel mainly hosted live music on the weekends andDisc Only nights during the week. Starting in September 1963, the Abadi brothers promoted all-night parties at the venue on Saturday nights, with a mixture of live and recorded music. DJ Roger Eagle, a collector of imported American soul, jazz and rhythm and blues, was booked around this time, and the club’s reputation as a place to hear and dance to the latest American R&B music began to grow.
Throughout the mid-1960s, the Twisted Wheel became the focus of Manchester’s emerging mod scene, with a music policy that reflected Eagle’s eclectic tastes in soul and jazz, and featuring live performances by British beat musicians and American R&B stars. Gradually, the music policy became less eclectic and shifted heavily towards fast-paced soul, in response to the demands of the growing crowds of amphetamine-fuelled dancers who flocked to the all-nighters. Dismayed at the change in music policy and the frequent drug raids by the police, Eagle quit the club in 1966
Commemorative sew-on patch similar to those worn by Twisted Wheel members.
By 1968 the reputation of the Twisted Wheel and the type of music being played there had grown nationwide.Soul fans were traveling from all over the United Kingdom to attend the Saturday all-nighters, with resident ‘All Niter’ DJ Bob Dee compiling & supervising [5] the playlist and utilising the newly developed slip-cueing technique to spin the vinyl between 1968 and the club’s eventual closure in 1971 .[6] [7] After attending one of the venue’s all-nighters in November 1970, Godin wrote: “…it is without doubt the highest and finest I have seen outside of the USA… never thought I’d live to see the day where people could so relate the rhythmic content of Soul music to bodily movement to such a skilled degree!”[8] The venue’s owners had successfully been able to fill the vacancy left by Eagle with a growing roster of specialist soul DJs.
The Twisted Wheel gained a reputation as a drug haven, and under pressure from the police and other authorities, the club closed in January 1971. However, by the late 1960s, the popularity of the music and lifestyle associated with the club had spread further across the north and midlands of England, and a number of new venues had begun to host soul all-nighters. These included the King Mojo in Sheffield, The Catacombs in Wolverhampton, Room at the Top in Wigan and Va Va’s in Bolton.
Commemorative sew-on patch similar to those worn by Golden Torch members.
Northern soul reached the peak of its popularity in the mid to late 1970s.[9] At this time, there were soul clubs in virtually every major town in the midlands and the north of England.[10] The three venues regarded as the most important in this decade were the Golden Torch in Tunstall, Stoke (1971 to 1972), Blackpool Mecca (1971 to 1979) and Wigan Casino (1973 to 1981).
Although Wigan Casino is now the most well known, the best attended northern soul all-night venue at the beginning of the decade was the Golden Torch, where regular Friday night soul “all-nighters” began in late 1970. Chris Burton, the owner, stated that in 1972, the club had a membership of 12,500, and 62,000 separate customer visits.[11] Despite its popularity, the club closed down due to licensing problems in March, 1972 and attention switched to soul nights at Blackpool Mecca’s Highland Room, which had started hosting rare soul nights in late 1971.
Commemorative sew-on patch similar to those designed by Russ Winstanley and sold at the Wigan Casino.
Wigan Casino began its weekly soul all-nighters in September 1973.[12] Wigan Casino had a much larger capacity than many competing venues and ran its events from 2am until 8am. There was a regular roster of DJs, including the promoter Russ Winstanley. By 1976, the club boasted a membership of 100,000 people, and in 1978, was voted the world’s number one discotheque by the American magazine Billboard.[13] This was during the heyday of the Studio 54 nightclub in New York City. By the late 1970s, the club had its own spin-off record label, Casino Classics.[14]
By this time, Wigan Casino was coming under criticism from many soul fans. Contemporary black American soul was changing with the advent of funk, disco and jazz-funk, and the supply of recordings with the fast-paced northern soul sound began to dwindle rapidly. Wigan Casino DJs resorted to playing any kind of record that matched the correct tempo.[15] Also, the club was subjected to heavy media coverage and began to attract many otherwise uninterested people whom the soul purists did not approve of.[16]
Blackpool Mecca was popular throughout the 1970s, although the venue never hosted all-nighters. The regular Saturday night events began at 8pm and finished at 2am, and initially, some dancers would begin their evenings at Blackpool Mecca and then transfer to Wigan Casino. In 1974, the music policy at Blackpool Mecca sharply diverged from Wigan Casino’s, with the regular DJs Ian Levine and Colin Curtis including newly released US soul in their sets. Whilst the tempo was similar to the earlier Motown Records-style recordings, this shift in emphasis heralded a slightly different style of northern soul dancing and dress styles at Blackpool Mecca and created a schism in the northern soul movement between Wigan Casino’s traditionalists and Blackpool Mecca’s wider approach, which accepted the more contemporary sounds of Philly soul, early disco and funk.
Other major northern soul venues in the 1970s include The Catacombs in Wolverhampton, Va Va’s in Bolton, the ‘Talk of The North’ all-nighters at The Pier and Winter Gardens in Cleethorpes, Tiffany’s in Coalville, Samantha’s in Sheffield, Neil Rushton‘s ‘Heart of England’ soul club all-dayers at The Ritz in Manchester and the Nottingham Palais.[17] As the 1970s progressed, the northern soul scene expanded even further nationally. There was a notable scene in the east of England with all-nighters at the St. Ivo Centre in St. Ives, the Phoenix Soul club at the Wirrina Stadium in Peterborough and the Howard Mallett in Cambridge.[18] Other towns with notable northern soul venues at this time included Kettering, Coventry, Bournemouth, Southampton and Bristol.[19]
When Wigan Casino closed in 1981, many believed that the northern soul scene was on the verge of disintegrating. However, the 1970s mod revival, the thriving scooterboy subculture and the acid jazzmovement produced a new wave of fans. The popularity of the music was further bolstered in the 1980s by a wave of reissues and compilation albums from small British independent record labels. Many of these labels were set up by DJs and collectors who had been part of the original northern soul scene. The 1980s — often dismissed as a low period for northern soul by those who had left the scene in the 1970s — featured almost 100 new venues in places as diverse as Bradford, London, Peterborough, Leighton Buzzard, Whitchurch, Coventry and Leicester. Pre-eminent among the 1980s venues were Stafford‘s Top of the World and London‘s 100 Club.
Today there are regular northern soul events in various parts of the United Kingdom, such as The Nightshift Club all-nighters at the Bisley Pavilion in Surrey and the Prestatyn Weekender in North Wales.[20] In an August 2008 article in The Times, broadcaster Terry Christian argued that northern soul was undergoing a distinct revival in the late 2000s.[21] Christian cited the popularity of regular revivals of Twisted Wheel soul all-nighters at the original venue (in Whitworth Street, Manchester) plus the Beat Boutique northern soul all-nighters at the Ruby Lounge and MMUnion in Manchester. Many of those who ceased their involvement in the late 1970s have now returned to the scene and regularly participate in such events.[22][23] As of 2009, Paul O’Grady has included a Northern Soul Triple in his weekly BBC Radio 2 show. He plays three northern soul hits, often at the request of his listeners.[24]
The northern soul soul movement has inspired the movie Soulboy (2010), directed by Shimmy Marcus, and at least one novel: Do I Love You? (2008) by Paul McDonald[25][26] [27] In June 2010, theatre director Fiona Laird wrote and directed Keeping the Faith, a musical based on the Wigan Casino scene and featuring northern soul music. It was staged at the Central School of Speech and Drama’s Webber Douglas Studio, with a revival at the same venue in September 2010.
Photograph of the original release (left) and a re-issue copy (right) of Gloria Jones‘ Tainted Love
In the book Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: the history of the DJ, the authors describe northern soul as “a genre built from failures”, stating: “…Northern Soul was the music made by hundreds of singers and bands who were copying the Detroit sound of Motown pop. Most of the records were complete failures in their own time and place… but in northern England from the end of the 1960s through to its heyday in the middle 1970s, were exhumed and exalted.”[28]
The music style most associated with northern soul is the heavy, syncopated beat and fast tempo of mid-1960s Motown Records, which was usually combined with soulful vocals. These types of records, which suited the athletic dancing that was prevalent, became known on the scene as stompers.[29] Notable examples include Tony Clarke’s “Landslide” (popularised by Ian Levine at Blackpool Mecca)[30] and Gloria Jones’ “Tainted Love” (purchased by Richard Searling on a trip to the United States in 1973 and popularised at Va Va’s in Bolton, and later, Wigan Casino).[31] According to northern soul DJ Ady Croadsell, viewed retrospectively, the earliest recording to possess this style was the 1965 single “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” by The Four Tops, although that record was never popular in the northern soul scene because it was too mainstream.[32]
Other related music styles also gained acceptance in the northern soul scene. Slower, less-danceable soul records were often played, such as Barbara Mills’ “Queen Of Fools” (popular in 1972 at the Golden Torch)[33] and The Mob’s “I Dig Everything About You”.[34] Every all-nighter at Wigan Casino ended with the playing of three well-known northern soul songs with a particular going home theme. These came to be known as the “3 before 8” and were: “Time Will Pass You By” by Tobi Legend, “Long After Tonight Is Over” by Jimmy Radcliffe, and “I’m On My Way” by Dean Parrish.[35]Commercial pop songs that matched the up-tempo beat of the stompers were also played at some venues, including The Ron Grainer Orchestra’s instrumental “Theme From Joe 90” at Wigan Casino[36] and The Just Brothers’ surf-guitar song “Sliced Tomatoes” at Blackpool Mecca.[37]
As the scene developed in the mid and late 1970s, the more contemporary and rhythmically sophisticated sounds of disco and Philly Soul became accepted at certain venues following its adoption at Blackpool Mecca. This style is typified musically by the O’Jays‘ “I Love Music” (UK #13, January 1976), which gained popularity prior to its commercial release at Blackpool Mecca in late 1975. The record that initially popularised this change is usually cited as The Carstair’s “It Really Hurts Me Girl” (Red Coach), a record initially released late in 1973 on promotional copies – but quickly withdrawn due to lack of interest from American Radio stations.[38] The hostility towards any contemporary music style from northern soul traditionalists at Wigan Casino led to the creation of the spin-off modern soul movement in the early 1980s.
As venues such as the Twisted Wheel evolved into northern soul clubs in the late 1960s and the dancers increasingly demanded newly discovered sounds, DJs began to acquire and play rare and often deleted US releases that had not gained even a release in the UK.”[39] These records were sometimes obtained through specialist importers or, in some cases, by DJs visiting the US and purchasing old warehouse stock.[40] Some records were so rare that only a handful of copies were known to exist, so northern soul DJs and clubs became associated with particular records that were almost exclusively on their own playlists. Many of the original artists and musicians remained unaware of their new-found popularity for many years.[41]
As the scene increased in popularity, a network of UK record dealers emerged who were able to acquire further copies of the original vinyl and supply them to fans at prices commensurate with their rarity and desirability.[42] Later on, a number of UK record labels were able to capitalise on the booming popularity of northern soul and negotiate licenses for certain popular records from the copyright holders and reissue them as new 45s or compilation LPs. Amongst these labels were Casino Classics, PYE Disco Demand, Inferno, Kent Modern and Goldmine.[43][44]
The notoriety of DJs on the northern soul scene was enhanced by the possession of rare records, but exclusivity was not enough on its own, and the records had to conform to a certain musical style and gain acceptance on the dance floor.[45] Frank Wilson‘s “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” has been rated the rarest and most valuable northern soul single.[46]
Many songs from the 1960s that were revived on the northern soul scene were reissued by their original labels and became UK top 40 hits in the 1970s. These include The Tams‘ 1964 recording “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me” (UK #1, July 1971) – which was popularized by Midlands DJ Carl Dene –The Fascinations‘ 1966 single “Girls Are Out To Get You” (UK #32, 1971), The Newbeats‘ 1965 American hit “Run Baby Run” (UK #10, Oct 1971), Bobby Hebb‘s “Love Love Love” which was originally the B-side of his 1966 U.S. #1 “Sunny” (UK #32 August 1972), Robert Knight‘s “Love On A Mountain Top” of 1968 (UK #10, November 1973), and R. Dean Taylor’s “There’s A Ghost In My House” from 1967 (UK #3, May 1974).
The northern soul scene also spawned many lesser chart hits, including Al Wilson‘s 1967 cut “The Snake” (UK #41 in 1975), Dobie Gray‘s “Out On The Floor” (UK #42, September 1975) and Little Anthony & The Imperials‘ “Better Use Your Head” (UK #42 July 1976).
A variety of recordings were made later in the 1970s that were specifically aimed at the northern soul scene, which also went on to become UK top 40 hits. These included: The Exciters’ “Reaching For The Best” (UK #31, October 1975), L.J Johnson’s “Your Magic Put A Spell On Me” (UK #27, February 1976),[47] Tommy Hunt’s “Loving On The Losing Side” (UK #28, August 1976) and “Footsee” by Wigan’s Chosen Few (UK #9, January 1975).[48]
“Goodbye Nothing To Say”, by the white British group The Javells, was identified by Dave McAleer of Pye’s Disco Demand label as having an authentic northern soul feel. McAleer gave a white label promotional copy to Russ Winstanley (a Wigan Casino DJ and promoter), and the tune became popular amongst the dancers at the venue. Disco Demand then released the song as a 45 RPM single, reaching UK #26 in November 1974. To promote the single on BBC’s Top Of The Pops, the performer was accompanied by two Wigan Casino dancers.[49]
In 2000, Wigan Casino DJ Kev Roberts compiled The Northern Soul Top 500, which was based on a survey of northern soul fans.[50] The top ten songs were: “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” by Frank Wilson, “Out on the Floor” by Dobie Gray, “You Didn’t Say a Word” by Yvonne Baker, “The Snake” by Al Wilson, “Long After Tonight is Over” by Jimmy Radcliffe, “Seven Day Lover” by James Fountain, “You Don’t Love Me” by Epitome of Sound, “Looking for You” by Garnet Mimms, “If That’s What You Wanted” by Frankie Beverly & the Butlers, and “Seven Days Too Long” by Chuck Wood.
African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos performed their Black Powersalute at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City
A large proportion of northern soul’s original audience came from within the 1960s mod subculture. In the late 1960s, when some mods started to embrace freakbeat andpsychedelic rock, other mods – especially those in northern England – stuck to the original mod soundtrack of soul and Blue Beat. From the latter category, two strands emerged: skinheads and the northern soul scene.
Early northern soul fashion included strong elements of the classic mod style, such as button-down Ben Sherman shirts, blazers with centre vents and unusual numbers of buttons, Trickers and brogue shoes and shrink-to-fit Levi’s jeans.[51] Some non-mod items, such as bowling shirts, were also popular. Later, northern soul dancers started to wear light and loose-fitting clothing for reasons of practicality. This included high-waisted, baggy Oxford trousers and sports vests. These were often covered with sew-on badges representing soul club memberships.
The clenched fist symbol that has become associated with the northern soul movement (frequently depicted on sew-on patches) emanates from the Black Power civil rights movement of the 1960s in the United States. The symbol is related to the salute given by African-American athletes at the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City.[52]On his visit to the Twisted Wheel in 1971, Dave Godin recalled that “…very many young fellows wore black “right on now” racing gloves … between records one would hear the occasional cry of “Right on now!” or see a clenched gloved fist rise over the tops of the heads of the dancers!”[53]
In 2007, Andrew Wilson (lecturer in criminology at the University of Sheffield) published the extensively researched sociological study Northern Soul: Music, drugs and subcultural identity. This work details in some depth the lifestyles associated with the Northern soul scene and the extensive use of Amphetamines (otherwise known asspeed) by many involved. Wilson argues that, whilst a significant proportion did not use drugs, drug usage was heavily ingrained in the fast-paced culture of the northern soul scene and contributed to participants’ ability to stay up all-night dancing. Many clubs and events were closed down or refused licences due to concerns of local authorities that soul nights attracted drug dealers and users.[54] Roger Eagle, DJ at the Twisted Wheel club in Manchester, cited Amphetamine usage amongst participants as his reason for quitting the club in 1967. Of the regular attendees he said, “All they wanted was fast-tempo black dance music… [but they were] too blocked on amphetamines to articulate exactly which Jackie Wilson record they wanted me to play.”[55]
The northern soul movement is cited by many as being a significant step towards the creation of contemporary club culture and of the superstar DJ culture of the 2000s.[56] Two of the most notable DJs from the original northern soul era are Russ Winstanley and Ian Levine. As in contemporary club culture, northern soul DJs built up a following based on satisfying the crowd’s desires for music that they could not hear anywhere else. The competitiveness between DJs to unearth ‘in-demand’ sounds led them to cover up the labels on their records, giving rise to the modern white label pressing. Many argue that northern soul was instrumental in creating a network of clubs, DJs, record collectors and dealers in the UK, and was the first music scene to provide the British charts with records that sold entirely on the strength of club play.[57]
A technique employed by northern soul DJs in common with their later counterparts was the sequencing of records to create euphoric highs and lows for the crowd. Many of the DJ personalities and their followers involved in the original northern soul movement went on to become important figures in the house and dance music scenes.[58] Notable among these are Mike Pickering, who introduced house music to The Haçienda in Manchester in the 1980s, the influential DJ Colin Curtis, Neil Rushton the A&R manager of the House music record label Kool Kat Music and the dance record producers Pete Waterman, Johnathan Woodliffe, Ian Dewhirst and Ian Levine.
Northern soul has influenced several notable musicians. Terry Christian — in his 2008 article about northern soul for The Times — wrote, “There’s an instant credibility for any artist or brand associated with a scene that has always been wild, free and grassroots.”[59] Soft Cell had chart success with covers of two popular northern soul songs, “Tainted Love” (originally recorded by Gloria Jones) and “What?” (originally recorded by Judy Street). Soft Cell member Dave Ball used to occasionally attend soul nights at Blackpool Mecca and Wigan Casino.[60] Moloko‘s video for “Familiar Feeling” is set against a northern soul backdrop and was directed by Elaine Constantine, a longstanding northern soul enthusiast. The video was choreographed by DJ Keb Darge, who rose to prominence at the Stafford Top Of The World all-nighters in the 1980s.[61]
London based rapper turned soul crooner, Plan B’s second album The Defamation Of Strickland Banks displayed a very significant Northern Soul influence. [62][63] [64]The single Stay Too Long featured Northern Soul style dance moves such as spins, flips and backdrops. The Album sleeve also featured “Plan B sew-on patches”.
IN MEMORY OF CAROLINE ROBERTS …
R.I.P. CAROLINE …. SADLY PASSED AWAY AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER ONLY A FEW WEEKS AGO AT THE AGE OF 61
HAVING PERSONALLY KNOWN CAROLINE FOR A GREAT MANY YEARS … SHE WAS ALWAYS A VERY BRAVE, CARING, MUCH LOVED LADY AND MOTHER WHO HAD SURVIVED APPALLING TORTURE AND ABUSE AT THE HANDS OF EVIL SERIAL KILLERS FRED AND ROSE WEST .
CAROLINE WOULD NEVER SHY AWAY FROM TELLING HER TRAUMATIC LIFE STORY AND ALWAYS FELT A STRONG SENSE OF GUILT THAT SHE SURVIVED WHILST MANY OTHERS DID NOT.
OUR SINCERE CONDOLENCES TO HER DAUGHTER KELLY , FAMILY AND CLOSE FRIENDS .
ABOVE AND BELOW : A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO AN ARRAY OF LOCAL AND NATIONAL NEWSPAPER COVERAGE RELATING TO THE SAD DEATH OF CAROLINE , AGED ONLY 61 .
Early image of Caroline Roberts , at or around the time of the Fred and Rose West’s abuse whilst she was employed as a nanny by them at both 25 Cromwell St and The Green Lantern Cafe in Southgate St , Gloucester
It was good to meet up again with Caroline for a catch-up and a chat . Also for having kindly giving consent to do a few personal collage pieces about her torture and abuse at the hands of serial killers Fred and Rose West, i.e. some signed magazine articles etc as seen below .
These being featured in, amongst and alongside …. The Fred and Rose West 25 Cromwell Street , Gloucester Exhibition .
Early image of Caroline Roberts , at or around the time of the Fred and Rose West’s abuse whilst she was employed as a nanny by them at both 25 Cromwell St and The Green Lantern Cafe in Southgate St , Gloucester
It was good to meet up again back in April 2016 with Caroline for a catch-up and a chat . Also for giving consent to do a personal piece, for which she kindly signed a few articles etc . To be featured in and amongst and alongside …. The Fred and Rose West 25 Cromwell Street , Gloucester Exhibition .
POLICE OUTSIDE THE FRONT OF NO 25, CROMWELL STREET, GLOUCESTER KEEP AN EYE OUT AS THE SEARCH CONTINUES IN THE REAR GARDEN.
When Caroline Roberts accepted a job at 25 Cromwell Street, the infamous address of Fred and Rose West, she was only 16. Realizing that there was something very malevolent about the couple, she left their employment soon after, glad to be rid of them. The story should have ended there, but a month, later she was abducted by the Wests and suffered violent sexual abuse at their hands before being told that she would be killed and buried. Through a combination of luck and quick thinking, despite the trauma of what happened, Caroline managed to escape to freedom.
BELOW IS SOME INTERESTING AND IN DEPTH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY INSIGHT INTO THE HORRORS OF FRED AND ROSE WEST , ALSO FEATURING CROMWELL STREET SURVIVOR … CAROLINE ROBERTS.
BELOW IS SOME INTERESTING AND IN DEPTH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY INSIGHT INTO THE HORRORS OF FRED AND ROSE WEST , ALSO FEATURING CROMWELL STREET SURVIVOR … CAROLINE ROBERTS
Caroline’s autobiographical book
HERE ARE PARTS 4-6 OF THIS “MUST SEE” IN DEPTH INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE INTO THE LIVES AND CRIMES OF FRED AND ROSE WEST INCLUDING ROSE WEST PROSTITUTING HERSELF AT HOME AT 25 CROMWELL STREET , GLOUCESTER . VIDEOED BY HER HUSBAND FRED WEST
WHILST VERY INTRIGUING AND INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE …. PLEASE BE WARNED THAT THERE IS CONSIDERABLE FOUL LANGUAGE IN SEVERAL PARTS FROM BOTH FRED AND ROSE WEST .ALSO IN THE MAIN , VERY DISTURBING CONTENT
HERE AT THE JAIL WE EXHIBIT AND DISPLAY A NUMBER OF PERSONAL ITEMS , WORN CLOTHING AND ALSO TOOLS OF THE TRADE USED BY FRED WEST . THIS BEING A SMALL PART OF OUR TRUE CRIME COLLECTIONS
DO COME VISIT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL AND SEE OUR EXTENSIVE AND DIVERSE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF TRUE CRIME MURDERABILIA , MEMORABILIA , THE TABOO AND MUCH MUCH MORE .
AS WE ALWAYS SAY …… IF EASILY OFFENDED, DISTURBED OR OF A SENSITIVE NATURE PLEASE DO AVOID VISITING THE JAIL
HERE ARE THE LAST THREE PARTS OF THIS “MUST SEE” IN DEPTH INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE INTO THE LIVES AND CRIMES OF FRED AND ROSE WEST INCLUDING ROSE WEST PROSTITUTING HERSELF AT HOME AT 25 CROMWELL STREET , GLOUCESTER . VIDEOED BY HER HUSBAND FRED WEST
WHILST VERY INTRIGUING AND INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE …. PLEASE BE WARNED THAT THERE IS CONSIDERABLE FOUL LANGUAGE IN SEVERAL PARTS FROM BOTH FRED AND ROSE WEST .
HERE AT THE JAIL WE EXHIBIT AND DISPLAY A NUMBER OF PERSONAL ITEMS , WORN CLOTHING AND ALSO TOOLS OF THE TRADE USED BY FRED WEST
DO COME VISIT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL AND SEE OUR EXTENSIVE AND DIVERSE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF TRUE CRIME MURDERABILIA , MEMORABILIA , THE TABOO AND MUCH MUCH MORE .
AS WE ALWAYS SAY …… IF EASILY OFFENDED, DISTURBED OR OF A SENSITIVE NATURE PLEASE DO AVOID VISITING THE JAIL
The world of brutality and degradation sank to a new low with the series of grisly discoveries at Cromwell Street, Gloucester in 1994. The occupants, Rosemary and her husband Fred West, were accused of murdering 10 women and young girls over a 16 year period ending in 1987. They had taken pleasure in luring away vulnerable runaways with offers of rides, lodging or jobs as nannies. Once in their clutches inside the House of Horrors the young women were stripped, bound with tape, abused, tortured, then killed, some were dismembered and buried.
The killer couple was arrested at their home, 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, in 1994. Police, armed with a search warrant, dug up the remains of the Wests’ 16 year old daughter, Heather, who vanished in 1987. Further excavations under the house and in the garden produced eight more female bodies and a further body was found under the kitchen of a former home in Gloucester.
The Wests shared a fascination with BDSM. Police found pictures and tapes of Rose bound, gagged and whipped. They also found a wide variety of apparatus including gags, hoods, and huge dildos. Their victims were often abducted, then bound and gagged before being subjected to hideous torture over a period of days in their cellar.
Rosemary it seems loved to torture by the insertion of huge dildos and they both had a fascination with an exteme form of bondage and suffocation. When they went too far, as they often did, Fred would dismember and bury the bodies. Even their own children were abused, raped and tortured by this wicked couple, being used as guinea-pigs for their sexual experimentation. Rose would usually do the tying up, and the children would be tied naked and spread-eagled on a metal bedframe. One of the children said later ” She had canes and whips, including a cat of nine-tails. She might use all of them or just a selection. When she had completed her experiments on us she would encourage Dad to rape us or insert objects into us herself”. It was a standing joke amongst the children that one of them, Charmian, was buried in the garden under the patio that Fred had laid. This family joke eventually led police and social workers to discover the whole grisly truth.
Fred was born in 1941 in the village of Much Marcle, approximately 120 miles west of London, to Walter and Daisy West. It is believed that incest was an accepted part of the West household and Fred claimed that his father had sex with his daughters, using the logic, “I made you so I’m entitled to have you.” Fred left school when he was fifteen, almost illiterate, and went to work as a farm hand.
Fred’s troubles with the police began in 1961 when he was fined for minor thefts in Hereford. A few months later, he was accused of impregnating a 13-year-old girl who was a friend of the West family. Fred was uncooperative and didn’t see that there was anything wrong with what he had done.
This attitude and the ensuing scandal caused a serious breach with his family. Fred was ordered to find somewhere else to live and it wasn’t long before he was caught stealing from the construction sites where he worked and having sex with young girls.
When Fred was seventeen, he had been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. After his recovery from the accident, he met the pretty 16-year-old Catherine Bernadette Costello, nicknamed Rena. They were to marry 4 years later, in November 1962. By then Rena was pregnant by another man. Her daughter, Charmaine, was born in March 1963, and in July 1964 Rena bore Fred a daughter named Anne-Marie.
Even though Rena had been a prostitute at various times, she was not happy to be a prisoner to the voracious sexual appetite of Fred West. Colin Wilson in The Corpse Garden tells how Fred’s interest in “normal sex” was minimal. “He wanted oral sex, bondage and…sodomy…at all hours of the day and night.”
Fred started a job driving an ice cream truck which afforded him unlimited access to many young women. For someone as highly sexed as Fred, it seemed like paradise. His politeness, apparent trustworthiness and sincerity, and his ability to spin interesting tales made him attractive to the teenagers who flocked around his ice cream truck. His continual seductions turned Rena and Charmaine into afterthoughts. One young girl he met was called Anna McFall
who, in early 1967, became pregnant with Fred’s child. She was trying unsuccessfully to get Fred to divorce Rena and marry her.
Fred’s response to the stress of her demands was to kill her and their unborn child,and then to slowly and methodically dismember her corpse and bury her along with the foetus. Oddly enough, he cut off her fingers and toes, which were missing from the gravesite. It would be his ritualistic signature in future crimes.
The following year Fred met Rose Letts, on November 29th, 1968, her fifteenth birthday.
Rosemary Letts was born in November 1953 in Devon, England. Her father was a violent domestic tyrant who demanded unconditional obedience from his wife and children. He enjoyed disciplining them and seemed to look for any excuse to beat them.
.Rose was not a star performer in school and was known as ‘Dozy Rosie’. Also, she was overweight, which made her the butt of cruel jokes by her peers. She lashed out at them and attacked anyone who teased her. Consequently, she became known as an ill tempered, aggressive loner.
As a teenager, Rose showed signs of being sexually precocious, walking around naked after her baths and climbing into bed with her younger brother and fondling him sexually. Her father’s rules forbade her to date boys her own age and her heaviness and temperament kept boys from being interested in her. She focused her interest in sex on the older men of the village.
When she met Fred West there was an immediate sexual attraction but her father objected strongly to the relationship, and resorted to contacting Social Services and threatening West directly, but to no avail; she was soon pregnant with West’s child and found herself looking after his two children by Rena Costello, when West was sent to prison on various petty theft and fine evasion charges. She gave birth to daughter Heather in 1970. With three children to care for, a boyfriend in jail and constant money problems, Rose’s temper flared constantly. She resented having to take care of Rena’s children and treated them badly.
After Heather’s birth, and shortly before Fred’s release, it appears that Rose killed Fred and Rena Costello’s daughter, Charmaine. Since Fred was in jail when Charmaine was murdered, his involvement probably extended to burying her body under the kitchen floor of their home on Midland Road where it lay undiscovered for over 20 years. Before he buried Charmaine, he took off her fingers, toes and kneecaps.
Rena Costello was killed in August 1971 by Fred West. Fred saw that he had no choice but to kill Rena. In all likelihood, he probably got her very drunk and then strangled her at his house on Midland Road. He then dismembered her body and mutilated it in the same odd way that he had Anna McFall’s body: he cut off Rena’s fingers and toes. Then he put her remains into bags and buried her in the same general area as he buried Anna McFall.
On 29 January 1972, Fred and Rosemary married in Gloucester, and on 1 June that year, Rose gave birth to their daughter, Mae. Like Fred, Rose came from a family where incest was considered normal and even after the birth of her fourth child Rose’s father, Bill Letts, with Fred’s approval, would often visit the West’s for sex with his daughter.
The Wests were both indulging their unconventional sexual appetites by this time, with Rose matching her husband in her extreme sexual needs. She had a voracious sexual appetite and enjoyed extreme bondage and sadomasochistic sex. She was bisexual, and many of their victims were picked up for both her and her husband’s sexual pleasure. West also worked as a prostitute (often while Fred watched).
Fred West himself had an almost insatiable appetite for bondage and violent sex acts on underage girls. He fitted out the cellar at No 25 as a torture chamber, and his 8-year-old daughter, Anne-Marie, became one of its first occupants, subjected to a horrifically brutal rape by her father whilst her stepmother held her down. This became a regular occurrence, and the child was threatened with beatings if she told anyone of her ordeal.
In December 1972 the Wests carried out a sexual assault on 17-year-old Caroline Owens whom they had hired as a nanny. Caroline was very attractive, so much so that Rose and Fred competed with each other to seduce her. When Caroline told them she was leaving the couple abducted, stripped and raped her. Caroline escaped and reported the couple to the police. As a result the Wests were fined for serious sexual assault in January of 1973.
Over the next five years eight young girls were lured to an horrific death in the Wests’ cellar. Lynda Gough, Lucy Partington, Juanita Mott, Therese Siegenthaler, Alison Chambers, Shirley Robinson and 15-year-old schoolgirls Carol Ann Cooper and Shirley Hubbard, all became victims of the West couple’s insatiable appetite for violent sex. After brutal sexual attacks, all were murdered, dismembered and buried in the cellar under No 25, having first had their fingers and toes removed.
Bondage was becoming a major thrill for Fred and Rose. Shirley’s head had been wrapped entirely with tape and a plastic tube was inserted in her nose so that she could breathe. Juanita had been subjected to even more extreme bondage and her body had been suspended from the beams of the cellar.At least one girl, Lucy Partington, was sexually abused for over a week before her death.
Rose continued to produce children at regular intervals and the birth of daughter Louise in November 1978, brought their offspring to six, although not all were fathered by West. Barry joined the brood in June 1980, with Rosemary Junior following in 1982 and Lucyanna in 1983. They were aware to some extent of the activities in the house, but West and Rose exercised strict control over them.
West’s incestuous interest in his own daughters continued, and when Anne-Marie moved out to live with her boyfriend, he switched his attentions to younger siblings, Heather and Mae. Heather resisted his attentions and, in 1986, committed the cardinal sin of telling a friend about the goings on in the house. The Wests responded by murdering and dismembering her, and burying her in the back garden of No 25, where son Stephen was forced to assist with digging the hole.
Given that the West’s vicious sex acts did not result in murder every time, and the sheer number of attacks, it was inevitable that someone would expose their activities, which resulted in them coming to the attention of Detective Constable Hazel Savage, who led a search at Cromwell Street in August of 1992 that found pornography and clear evidence of child abuse. West was arrested for rape and sodomy of a minor, and Rose for assisting in the rape of a minor.
In the course of the investigation DC Savage uncovered the abuse of Anne-Marie, as well as the disappearances of Charmaine and Heather, that warranted further investigation, as well as rumours about what might be buried under the patio. The younger West children were taken into care, and Rose attempted suicide at this time, although she was found by her son, Stephen, and revived.
On 24th February 1994 a warrant was obtained to search the Cromwell Street house and garden, and police found the remains of two dismembered and decapitated young women, one of whom the police suspected might be Shirley Robinson. West claimed sole responsibility for the murders and, when Rose heard of the confession, she denied all knowledge of Heather’s death.
As the case against them developed, Rose tried increasingly to distance herself from West, claiming that she was also a victim, but police were not convinced of her innocence, given the sheer number of murders which had occurred, and her participation in the rapes.
On 13th December 1994, West was charged on twelve counts of murder, and he was taken into custody at Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, pending trial where, on 1st January 1995, he hanged himself in his cell with knotted bed sheets.
Rose West went on trial on 3rd October 1995 in the glare of media frenzy. Witnesses including her daughter Anne Marie and Caroline Owens, one of their first victims, testified to her participation in sexual assaults on young women. Her defence counsel tried to argue that evidence of assault was not evidence of murder but, when Rose testified on her own behalf, her violent nature and dishonesty became clear to the jury, and they unanimously found her guilty on ten separate counts of murder on 22nd November 1995. She was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in jail. Rose West’s sentence was later extended to a “whole life” sentence by the Home Secretary, effectively removing any possibility of parole.
No 25 Cromwell Street, or the “House of Horrors”, as it was dubbed by the media, was eventually razed to the ground in October 1996, and in its place is a pathway that leads to the town centre.
There remains a widespread belief both with the public and within the police that Fred and Rose West’s victims numbered far more than the twelve with which they were charged and it is still considered highly likely that Fred West maintained another burial site yet to be discovered. And 12 women and children are definitely gone, forever, and two of their unborn babies, and we’ll never know how many more, simply listed as ‘missing’ during the Sixties and Seventies.
R.I.P. FORMER HAWKWIND AND MOTORHEAD LEGENDARY FRONTMAN IAN “LEMMY” KILMISTER ( 1945 -2015 )
Wide eyes staring out above sunken cheeks, Motörhead frontman Lemmy looks a shadow of his hell-raising younger self in these two photographs taken just days before his death.
In one image, posted on Twitter by Sebastian Bach, frontman of heavy metal band Skid Row, Lemmy is seen propped against a bar in what appears to be a black military uniform.
A second picture, apparently taken that same night, shows the 70-year-old rocker with two young female fans. The women flash their smiles at the camera while Lemmy looks dutifully into the lens.
On Boxing Day, just 10 days after these images were shared online, Lemmy was told he had an aggressive form of cancer, though it is still not known what kind.
Forty-eight hours later the heavy metal icon died while sitting in front of his favourite poker video game at his Los Angeles home, surrounded by family.
Frail: Lemmy on December 16 in a photo posted by Sebastian Bach, frontman of heavy metal band Skid Row. The picture was captioned with Ace of Spades lyrics, ‘you win some, you lose some, it’s all the same to me’
His death was announced in a statement on the Motörhead Facebook page, which remembered a ‘mighty, noble friend’ and called on fans to play his music loud and ‘have a drink or few’.
The news has sent shockwaves through the music industry, with Ozzy Osborne, Billy Idol and Brian May among those paying tribute to their friend.
Committing himself to music after watching the Beatles perform at Liverpool’s Cavern Club when he was a teenager, Lemmy’s life has become the stuff of industry legend.
He worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and played bass in space rock band Hawkwind – before being kicked out for his drug use – before founding Motörhead in 1975.
Cementing his rock-and-roll credentials, he boasted about sleeping with more than 1,000 women and claimed he drank a bottle of Jack Daniels every day for years.
He also became known for his controversial collection of Third Reich memorabilia.
Ozzy Osbourne tweeted: ‘Lost one of my best friends, Lemmy, today. He will be sadly missed. He was a warrior and a legend. I will see you on the other side.’
Grammy award-winning band Motörhead, who released 23 studio albums over a 40-year period, announced Kilmister’s death on their official Facebook page.
The post read: ‘There is no easy way to say this…our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer.
‘He had learnt of the disease on December 26th, and was at home, sitting in front of his favorite video game from The Rainbow which had recently made it’s way down the street, with his family.
‘We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness, there aren’t words.
‘When we say “one of a kind” in rock’n roll, Lemmy was the epitome of that — one of the most beloved characters in rock’n roll.
‘I can’t think of anyone who didn’t adore Lemmy; you can’t say “heavy metal” without mentioning Lemmy.
‘If you’re a 13 year old kid learning to play bass, you want to play like Lemmy. He was one of a kind.
‘And I will personally miss seeing him out on the road. We did many shows together and we looked forward to it every time we were touring with Motorhead.
‘Rock’n roll heaven just got heavier.’
‘We will say more in the coming days, but for now, please…play Motörhead loud, play Hawkwind loud, play Lemmy’s music LOUD. Have a drink or few.’
His death comes just over a month after the passing of his bandmate Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor.
Tributes have poured in for Kilmister from well-known artists and figures within the rock and metal community following his death on Monday.
Sharon Osbourne tweeted: ‘My dear friend, Lemmy, passed away today. I’ve known him for 38 years. He will be so missed but he will never be forgotten.’
While musician Billy Idol posted: ‘Lemmy RIP…. @mymotorhead my condolences to his family..’
Queen guitarist Brian May said: ‘Sitting here, Re-Tweeting, distracted, and wondering what I can possibly say about our utterly unique friend Lemmy’s passing. Ouch.’
Black Sabbath founding member Geezer Butler said: ‘Very sad to hear of Lemmy’s passing. We’ve lost a true, true legend. RIP.’
Ex-Motorhead guitarist ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke, who played with the heavy metal group between 1976 to 1982, also paid tribute to his friend, saying ‘he was like a brother to me’.
‘I am devastated. We did so much together, the three of us. The world seems a really empty place right now. I am having trouble finding the words … He will live on in our hearts. R.I.P Lemmy!’
Kiss star Gene Simmons said: ‘Lemmy: Rest In Peace. Shake the heavens, my friend.’
Nikki Sixx, of US band Motley Crue, added: ‘I’ll miss you buddy and our conversations. You were always a pillar of dignity. RIP Lemmy.’
Rock band Judas Priest tweeted: ‘Words about Lemmy can never be enough so we will simply say farewell Lord Lemmy thank you for the music, the shows.’
Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer added: ‘RIP #Lemmy heaven is Rockin tonight.’
Heavy metal band Metallica posted: ‘Lemmy, you are one of the primary reasons this band exists. We’re forever grateful for all of your inspiration. RIP’.
Motorhead frontman Lemmy will be remembered not only for his great music, but also for his many memorable quotes.
‘They would come on stage [The Beatles] and you were just awestruck. They had that presence, which is very rare. Hendrix had it, Ozzy Osbourne has it to an extent. You’ve either got it or you haven’t’ –
From an interview with The Independent.
‘I like being the centre of attention as much as anybody so I didn’t mind. I was in it for the girls, to tell the truth. I think if more musicians told the truth, that would be the reason why most of them are in it. When you’re young and you’re desperate to get laid, you work out that being a bricklayer isn’t that attractive.’
From an interview with The Independent.
‘There’s only two kinds of music I can’t stand: rap and opera. Opera because it’s too overblown and rap because I just don’t hear it. I just don’t get it’
From an interview with Rolling Stone online
‘I was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix for seven months, so I’m pretty hard to f*****g impress, man. You’d have to beat Jimi Hendrix to impress me and I don’t see anybody doing that’
When asked by Rolling Stone if he listened to younger bands during a 2012 interview
‘I don’t know any happily married couples, not even my parents. There was a magazine in England who said I screwed 2,000 women and I didn’t, I said 1,000. When you think about it, it isn’t that unreasonable. I’m not even married, and I’ve been doing this since I was 16. And I’m now 66, so that’s like 50 years. I could’ve done more if I’ve tried, I guess’
From an interview with Spin in October 2012
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea wrote: ‘Lemmy got let in on the big secret. One of the greatest rockers of all time. Amazingly unique incredible bass player. My hero. Wow.’
‘My friend died today. We’ll all miss you. Your name was Lemmy, and you played Rock n Roll. Rest in Peace, my man. #RIPLemmy’, shared Slipknot’s Corey Taylor.
Mötley Crüe vocalist Vince Neil shared, ‘Wow just heard, Lemmy was a friend and legend. #Rip’.
Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan added: ‘Rest In Peace Lemmy. A hell of a man who suffered no fools. U shall be missed brother, and, THANK u 4 the years of unwavering kick ass R&R.’
But his unique brand of heavy metal resonated with fans outside the genre.
Rapper Ice T said: ‘Just got the sad news about the loss of Lemmy from MOTORHEAD….. RIP ‘Raise Hell Homie …
‘I got to hang with Lemmy.. Did a song and this video for a movie. LEGEND.’
Beverley Knight, who is starring as Grizabella in Cats the musical, said: ‘That wonderful gravelly voice now silenced.’
And author Neil Gaiman added: ‘RIP Lemmy, a man I saw playing the fruit machines in late night dives, and once thanked for getting me in to one.’
Figures from the world of wrestling, with which the band had a close affinity, posted messages of sorrow.
WWE star Triple H said: ‘RIPLemmy One life, lived your way, from the beginning, till the end See you down the road my friend … Thank you for the gift of your sound.’
Ex-WWE wrestler ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, added: ‘Damn just heard Lemmy passed away. Swig of beer to one bad ass original rocker. Motorhead one of the all time influential bands.’
And Bubba Ray Dudley, also a WWE star, tweeted: ‘Who would win in a fight GOD or #Lemmy? Very sad. RIP brother. Glad to have met you and drink Jack n Cokes with you!!’
The news of Kilmister’s death in Los Angeles was originally broken by respected rock DJ Eddie Trunk via a series of posts on his Twitter account.
His post read: ‘Sorry to report that I have confirmed Lemmy @mymotorhead has passed away just now at the age of 70. RIP to a true original icon of rock.’
He followed it with: ‘Sadly this news is 100% confirmed and just happened. Let’s celebrate a true rock warrior and icon who gave us timeless music! #RIPLemmy’.
Reaction: Tributes to Kilmister have poured in from well-known artists and figures within the rock and metal community following his death on Monday. Here he is pictured playing in Helsinki earlier this month
Kilmister, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent on Christmas Eve 1945, founded Motorhead in 1975. The group later became one of the defining metal bands of the 1980s.
He wrote in his autobiography, White Line Fever, that he had been fired from his previous band Hawkwind for ‘doing the wrong drugs’.
His exit followed his arrest at the Canadian border for possessing cocaine and spent five days in prison, causing the band to cancel some of a US tour.
Famous for his hard-rocking lifestyle, Kilmister said he drank a bottle of Jack Daniels every day for many years, and also claimed to have slept with more than 1,000 women.
He said he had never married because the love of his life, a woman named Susan Bennett, had died of a heroin overdose aged 19. He dedicated his autobiography to Ms Bennett.
But he had struggled to quit his vices in his later years, according to the band’s manager Todd Singerman.
Kilmister was also known for his extensive – and controversial – collection of Third Reich memorabilia.
He even had an Iron Cross encrusted on his bass, leading to accusations that he had Nazi sympathies.
But he maintained he ‘only collected the stuff. [he] didn’t collect the ideas.’
In one interview, he said: ‘By collecting Nazi memorabilia, it doesn’t mean I’m a fascist, or a skinhead. I just liked the clobber.
‘I’ve always liked a good uniform, and throughout history, it’s always been the bad guys who dressed the best: Napoleon, the Confederates, the Nazis.’
Ace in the pack: Kilmister, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent on Christmas Eve 1945, founded Motorhead in 1975 after being fired from previous band Hawkwind
The musician, who suffered from diabetes, had been plagued with health problems in recent times and the band were forced to postpone a string of shows earlier this year.
In an interview with Decibel magazine last year, Singerman revealed: ‘He’s been up and down — he’s got a really bad diabetic problem and it changes on a daily basis.
‘A lot of it is fighting the bad habits, the things he’s not supposed to do any more. He’s stopped smoking, but he probably sneaks Jack and Coke here and there — he’d be lying if he said he’d stopped.’
Hours before appearing at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Brazil in April, Kilmister was reportedly taken ill with gastric distress and dehydration.
And in 2013, the band were forced to postpone shows in Italy and Austria after the rock veteran suffered a haematoma.
In the same year he was fitted with a defibrillator to correct heart problems.
In a recent interview with German magazine Lust For Life, Kilmister said he had been ‘close to death’ during his last surgery.
‘It was the only moment I was stalked by the devil called doubt. I wondered if I’d make it. I’m not afraid of death – I often sing about it.
‘So I wasn’t shaking in my bed, but I did have the feeling I wasn’t done yet. I still wanted to do shows and make records. That feeling pulled me through all this.’
Motörhead were set to tour the UK in January in support of their 23rd album ‘Bad Magic’, which was released in August of this year.
In June, the band graced Glastonbury festival for the first time in their 40-year history, playing a triumphant afternoon set on the Pyramid Stage.
Motörhead are perhaps best known for their single Ace Of Spades, while the fanged face that appears on their album artwork has become one of rock’s most recognisable figures.
It took several years for the band to break into the popular charts, which came when they achieved critical acclaim with the 1980 Ace Of Spades album, which reached number four in the UK chart.
Ladies’ man: Lemmy with tattoo artist and TV personality Kat Von D at a 2012 event
Many a hell-raiser has boasted of a life filled with booze, sex and drugs, but very few have lived it with the conviction and defiance of Lemmy, Motörhead frontman, who has died aged 70.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent on Christmas Eve, Ian Kilmister committed himself to rock-and-roll after watching the Beatles at Liverpool’s Cavern Club as a teenager.
He worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, played bass in space rock band Hawkwind – before being kicked out for his drug use – and founded Motörhead – all on a bottle of Jack Daniels a day.
He also boasted of sleeping with 1,000 women, built up an impressive – if controversial – collection of Third Reich memorabilia and entertained millions despite an ever-growing list of health problems.
The most recent diagnosis was on Boxing Day, when Lemmy was told he had an aggressive form of cancer. Just 48 hours later, the rock icon lost his life to the disease, surrounded by family at his Los Angeles home.
After his father left just three weeks after his birth, Kimister was brought up by his mother and grandmother. It was apparent from an early age he would not follow a conventional path in life.
In his autobiography, he wrote: ‘I had problems at school right from the start. The teachers and I didn’t see eye-to-eye: they wanted me to learn, and I didn’t want to…
‘I played truant constantly, and that was it from day one, really.’
He picked up his nickname aged 11, when he moved to Anglesey, north Wales, with his mother and her second husband.
After finishing school, and a brief stint working at a riding school, Lemmy worked at a washing machine factory.
He later Stockport in Manchester where he became involved in the local music scene, eventually joining a band called The Rockin’ Vickers.
He left the group in 1967 and moved to London in search of fame and fortune. He also spent seven months travelling with Jimi Hendrix as a roadie.
Five years later he became a bassist for Hawkwind.
In 1975 he formed Motorhead, but after two years of little recognition and living in squats, the group decided to split and played farewell show at the Marquee Club in London.
But a record producer at the gig offered the band some time in studio to record a single.
The group made the most of the opportunity, eventually recording 13 tracks that formed their first album. Called Motorhead, it reached number 43 in the UK charts.
The Grammy-award winning band took several years to break into popular consciousness.
But it all changed in 1980 with the release of their fourth album, Ace of Spades, which went on to become one of their biggest hits. Over the the next 30 years released a further 17 albums.
Motörhead’s loud, fast style was a pioneering force in heavy metal, with Kilmister’s vocal growl and aggressive bass inspiring countless other bands.
Lemmy with Billy Idol, right, and a female friend at the Royal Albert Hall, in London in 1989
The group recently celebrated their 40th year by releasing their 23rd studio album, Bad Magic, and were set to play dates in the UK and Europe over the next few months as part of a world tour.
Lemmy attracted much controversy throughout his career, never making any secret of his alcohol and drug intake, and openly posing in Nazi paraphernalia in 2008.
But he defended the move claiming he did not support the ideology, and was simply a fan of the uniforms.
Lemmy was an avid collector of German military regalia, and had an Iron Cross encrusted on his bass, leading to accusations that he had Nazi sympathies.
However, in a 2010 interview he said: ‘I only collect the stuff. I didn’t collect the ideas.’
Ruth Ellis (9 October 1926 – 13 July 1955) was the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom, after being convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely.
Original oil painting of Ruth Ellis by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman , on display at The Crime Through Time Collection , Littledean Jail , Forest of Dean , Gloucestershire , UK
BELOW IS A BRIEF ORIGINAL NEWSREEL FOOTAGE SURROUNDING THE CONTROVERSIAL EXECUTION OF RUTH ELLIS ON THE 13TH JULY 1955BELOW IS AN ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN AND SIGNED LETTER FROM RUTH ELLIS TO A PREVIOUS VISITING LADY FROM CHELTENHAM AND SENT FROM HER CONDEMNED CELL AT HMP HOLLOWAY 2 MONTHS PROIR TO HER EXECUTIONNOW HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL , FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK
THIS IMAGE (BELOW ) IS TAKEN FROM THE FILM – PIERREPOINT DEPICTING THE SCENE OF THE EXECUTION OF RUTH ELLIS. 
A FILM TRAILER FOR THE FILM- PIERREPOINT THAT TOUCHES UPON THE EXECUTIONER WHO HANGED RUTH ELLIS …… ALBERT PIERREPOINT
Ruth Ellis (9 October 1926 – 13 July 1955) was the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom, after being convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely.
From a humble background, Ellis was soon drawn into the world of London nightclub hostessing, which led to a chaotic life of brief relationships, some of them with upper-class nightclubbers and celebrities. Two of these were David Blakely, a racing-driver already engaged to another woman, and Desmond Cussen, a retail company director, who gave her a gun, apparently to attack the violent Blakely.
On Easter Sunday 1955, Ellis shot Blakely dead outside a public house in Hampstead, and immediately gave herself up to the police. At her trial, she took full responsibility for the murder, shielding Cussen from blame, and her courtesy and composure, both in court and in the cells, was much noted in the press. She was hanged at Holloway Prison, London, by Albert Pierrepoint.[2]
The case attracted great controversy, since the anti-hanging debate was already in full cry, and she might have won a reprieve had she taken her solicitors’ advice. The picture of the attractive blonde murderess remains one of the iconic images of 1950’s London.
Ellis was born in the Welsh seaside town of Rhyl, the third of six children. During her childhood her family moved to Basingstoke. Her mother, Elisaberta (Bertha) Cothals, was a Belgian refugee; her father, Arthur Hornby, was a cellist from Manchester who spent much of his time playing on Atlantic cruise liners. Arthur changed his surname to Neilson after the birth of Ruth’s elder sister Muriel.
Ellis attended Fairfields Senior Girls’ School in Basingstoke,[1] leaving when she was 14 to work as a waitress. Shortly afterwards, in 1941 at the height of the Blitz, the Neilsons moved to London. In 1944, 17-year-old Ruth became pregnant by a married Canadian soldier and gave birth to a son,Clare Andrea Neilson,[1] known as “Andy”.[3] The father sent money for about a year, then stopped. The child eventually went to live with Ellis’s mother.[4]
Ellis became a nightclub hostess through nude modelling work, which paid significantly more than the various factory and clerical jobs she had held since leaving school. Morris Conley, the manager of the Court Club in Duke Street, where she worked, blackmailed his hostess employees into sleeping with him. Early in 1950 she became pregnant by one of her regular customers, having taken up prostitution.[4] She had this pregnancy terminated (illegally) in the third month and returned to work as soon as she could.
On 8 November 1950, she married 41-year-old George Ellis, a divorced dentist with two sons, at the register office in Tonbridge, Kent.[5] He had been a customer at the Court Club. He was a violent alcoholic, jealous and possessive, and the marriage deteriorated rapidly because he was convinced she was having an affair. Ruth left him several times but always returned.
In 1951, while four months pregnant, Ruth appeared, uncredited, as a beauty queen in the Rank film Lady Godiva Rides Again. She subsequently gave birth to a daughter Georgina, but George refused to acknowledge paternity and they separated shortly afterwards. Ruth and her daughter moved in with her parents and she went back to hostessing to make ends meet.[4]
In 1953, Ruth Ellis became the manager of a nightclub. At this time, she was lavished with expensive gifts by admirers, and had a number of celebrity friends.[4] She met David Blakely, three years her junior, through racing driver Mike Hawthorn. Blakely was a well-mannered former public school boy, but also a hard-drinking racer. Within weeks he moved into her flat above the club, despite being engaged to another woman, Mary Dawson. Ellis became pregnant for the fourth time but aborted the child, feeling she could not reciprocate the level of commitment shown by Blakely towards their relationship.[6]
She then began seeing Desmond Cussen. Born in 1921 in Surrey he had been an RAF pilot, flying Lancaster bombers during the Second World War, leaving the RAF in 1946, when he took up accountancy. He was appointed a director of the family business Cussen & Co., a wholesale and retail tobacconists with outlets in London and South Wales. When Ruth was sacked as manager of the Carroll Club, she moved in with Cussen at 20 Goodward Court, Devonshire Street, north of Oxford Street, becoming his mistress.
The relationship with Blakely continued, however, and became increasingly violent and embittered as Ellis and Blakely continued to see other people.[6] Blakely offered to marry Ellis, to which she consented, but she lost another child in January 1955, after a miscarriage induced by a punch to the stomach in an argument with Blakely.[6]
The Magdala today
On Easter Sunday, 10 April 1955,[7] Ellis took a taxi from Cussen’s home to a second floor flat at 29 Tanza Road, Hampstead, the home of Anthony and Carole Findlater and where she suspected Blakely might be. As she arrived, Blakely’s car drove off, so she paid off the taxi and walked the quarter mile to The Magdala,[8] a four-storey public house in South Hill Park, Hampstead, where she found Blakely’s car parked outside.
At around 9:30 pm David Blakely and his friend Clive Gunnell emerged. Blakely passed Ellis waiting on the pavement when she stepped out of Henshaws Doorway, a newsagent next to The Magdala. He ignored her when she said “Hello, David,” then shouted “David!”
As Blakely searched for the keys to his car,[9] Ellis took a .38 calibre Smith & Wesson Victory model revolver from her handbag and fired five shots at Blakely. The first shot missed and he started to run, pursued by Ellis round the car, where she fired a second, which caused him to collapse onto the pavement. She then stood over him and fired three more bullets into him. One bullet was fired less than half an inch from Blakely’s back and left powder burns on his skin.
Ellis was seen to stand mesmerised over the body and witnesses reported hearing several distinct clicks as she tried to fire the revolver’s sixth and final shot, before finally firing into the ground. This bullet ricocheted off the road and injured Gladys Kensington Yule, 53, in the base of her thumb, as she walked to The Magdala.
Ellis, in a state of shock, asked Gunnell, “Will you call the police, Clive?” She was arrested immediately by an off-duty policeman, Alan Thompson (PC 389), who took the still-smoking gun from her, put it in his coat pocket, and heard her say, “I am guilty, I’m a little confused.” She was taken to Hampstead police station where she appeared to be calm and not obviously under the influence of drink or drugs. She made a detailed confession to the police and was charged with murder. Blakely’s body was taken to hospital with multiple bullet wounds to the intestines, liver, lung, aorta and windpipe.
No solicitor was present during Ellis’s interrogation or during the taking of her statement at Hampstead police station, although three police officers were present that night at 11:30 pm: Detective Inspector Gill, Detective Inspector Crawford and Detective Chief Inspector Davies. Ellis was still without legal representation when she made her first appearance at the magistrates’ court on 11 April 1955 and held on remand.
She was twice examined by principal Medical Officer, M. R. Penry Williams, who failed to find evidence of mental illness and she undertook an electroencephalography examination on 3 May that failed to find any abnormality. While on remand in Holloway, she was examined by psychiatrist Dr D. Whittaker for the defence, and by Dr A. Dalzell on behalf of the Home Office. Neither found evidence of insanity.
On 20 June 1955, Ellis appeared in the Number One Court at the Old Bailey, London, before Mr Justice Havers. She was dressed in a black suit and white silk blouse with freshly bleached and coiffured blonde hair. Her lawyers had wanted her to play down her appearance, but she was determined to have her moment. To many in the courthouse, her fixation with being the brassy blonde was at least partially responsible for the poor impression she made when giving evidence.
It’s obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him.[10]—Ruth Ellis, in the witness box at the Old Bailey, 20 June 1955.
This was her answer to the only question put to her by Christmas Humphreys, counsel for the Prosecution, who asked, “When you fired the revolver at close range into the body of David Blakely, what did you intend to do?”[10] The defending counsel, Aubrey Melford Stevenson supported by Sebag Shaw and Peter Rawlinson, would have advised Ellis of this possible question before the trial began, because it is standard legal practice to do so. Her reply to Humphreys’s question in open court guaranteed a guilty verdict and therefore the mandatory death sentence which followed. The jury took 14 minutes to convict her.[10] She received the sentence, and was taken to the condemned cell at Holloway.
In a 2010 television interview Mr Justice Havers’s grandson, actor Nigel Havers, said his grandfather had written to the Home Secretary Gwilym Lloyd George recommending a reprieve as he regarded it as a crime passionnel, but received a curt refusal, which was still held by the family. It has been suggested that the final nail in her coffin was that an innocent passer-by had been injured.
Reluctantly, at midday on 12 July 1955, the day before her execution, Ellis, having dismissed Bickford, the solicitor chosen for her by her friend Desmond Cussen, made a statement to the solicitor Victor Mishcon (whose law firm had previously represented her in her divorce proceedings but not in the murder trial) and his clerk, Leon Simmons. She revealed more evidence about the shooting and said that the gun had been provided by Cussen, and that he had driven her to the murder scene. Following their 90-minute interview in the condemned cell, Mishcon and Simmons went to the Home Office, where they spoke to a senior civil servant about Ellis’s revelations. The authorities made no effort to follow this up and there was no reprieve.
In a final letter to David Blakely’s parents from her prison cell, she wrote “I have always loved your son, and I shall die still loving him.”[11]
Ever since Edith Thompson‘s execution in 1923, condemned female prisoners had been required to wear thick padded calico knickers, so just prior to the allotted time, Warder Evelyn Galilee, who had guarded Ellis for the previous three weeks, took her to the lavatory. Warder Galilee said, “I’m sorry Ruth but I’ve got to do this.” They had tapes back and front to pull. Ellis said “Is that all right?” and “Would you pull these tapes, Evelyn? I’ll pull the others.” On re-entering the condemned cell, she took off her glasses, placed them on the table and said “I won’t be needing these anymore.”[12]
Thirty seconds before 9 am on Wednesday 13 July, the official hangman, Albert Pierrepoint, and his assistant, Royston Rickard, entered the condemned cell and escorted Ruth the 15 feet (4.6 m) to the execution room next door.[13] She had been weighed at 103 pounds (47 kg) the previous day and a drop of 8 ft 4in was set. Pierrepoint carried out the execution in just 12 seconds and her body was left hanging for an hour. Her autopsy report, by the pathologist Dr Keith Simpson, was made public.[14]
The Bishop of Stepney, Joost de Blank, visited Ellis just before her death, and she told him, “It is quite clear to me that I was not the person who shot him. When I saw myself with the revolver I knew I was another person.” These comments were made in a London evening paper of the time, The Star.
The case caused widespread controversy at the time, evoking exceptionally intense press and public interest to the point that it was discussed by the Cabinet.[15]
On the day of her execution the Daily Mirror columnist Cassandra wrote a column attacking the sentence, writing “The one thing that brings stature and dignity to mankind and raises us above the beasts will have been denied her—pity and the hope of ultimate redemption.”[16] A petition to the Home Office asking for clemency was signed by 50,000 people, but the Conservative Home Secretary Major Gwilym Lloyd George rejected it.[16]
The novelist Raymond Chandler, then living in Britain, wrote a scathing letter to the Evening Standard, referring to what he described as “the medieval savagery of the law”.[17]
Legacy
The hanging helped strengthen public support for the abolition of the death penalty, which was halted in practice for murder in Britain 10 years later (the last execution in the UK occurred in 1964). Reprieve was by then commonplace. According to one statistical account, between 1926 and 1954, 677 men and 60 women had been sentenced to death in England and Wales, but only 375 men and seven women had been executed.[18]
In the early 1970s, John Bickford, Ellis’s solicitor, made a statement to Scotland Yard from his home in Malta. He was recalling what Desmond Cussen had told him in 1955: how Ellis lied at the trial and how he (Bickford) had hidden that information. After Bickford’s confession a police investigation followed but no further action regarding Cussen was taken.
Anthony Eden, the Prime Minister at the time, made no reference to the Ruth Ellis case in his memoirs, nor is there anything in his papers. He accepted that the decision was the responsibility of the Home Secretary, but there are indications that he was troubled by it.[19]
Foreign newspapers observed that the concept of the crime passionnel seemed alien to the British.
In 1969 Ellis’s mother, Berta Neilson, was found unconscious in a gas-filled room in her flat in Hemel Hempstead. She never fully recovered and did not speak coherently again. Ellis’s husband, George Ellis, descended into alcoholism and hanged himself in 1958. Her son, Andy, who was 10 at the time of his mother’s hanging, suffered irreparable psychological damage and committed suicide in a bedsit in 1982. The trial judge, Sir Cecil Havers, had sent money every year for Andy’s upkeep, and Christmas Humphreys, the prosecution counsel at Ellis’s trial, paid for his funeral.[3] Ellis’s daughter, Georgina, who was three when her mother was executed, was adopted when her father hanged himself three years later. She died of cancer aged 50.[20]
The case continues to have a strong grip on the British imagination and in 2003 was referred back to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The Court firmly rejected the appeal, although it made clear that it could rule only on the conviction based on the law as it stood in 1955, and not on whether she should have been executed.[21]
The court was critical of the fact that it had been obliged to consider the appeal:
We would wish to make one further observation. We have to question whether this exercise of considering an appeal so long after the event when Mrs Ellis herself had consciously and deliberately chosen not to appeal at the time is a sensible use of the limited resources of the Court of Appeal. On any view, Mrs Ellis had committed a serious criminal offence. This case is, therefore, quite different from a case like Hanratty [2002] 2 Cr App R 30 where the issue was whether a wholly innocent person had been convicted of murder. A wrong on that scale, if it had occurred, might even today be a matter for general public concern, but in this case there was no question that Mrs Ellis was other than the killer and the only issue was the precise crime of which she was guilty. If we had not been obliged to consider her case we would perhaps in the time available have dealt with 8 to 12 other cases, the majority of which would have involved people who were said to be wrongly in custody.[22]
In July 2007 a petition was published on the 10 Downing Street website asking Prime Minister Gordon Brown to reconsider the Ruth Ellis case and grant her a pardon in the light of new evidence that the Old Bailey jury in 1955 was not asked to consider. It expired on 4 July 2008.[23]
Ellis was buried in an unmarked grave within the walls of Holloway Prison, as was customary for executed prisoners. In the early 1970s the prison underwent an extensive programme of rebuilding, during which the bodies of all the executed women were exhumed for reburial elsewhere. Ellis’s body was reburied in the churchyard extension of St Mary’s Church in Amersham,Buckinghamshire. The headstone in the churchyard was inscribed “Ruth Hornby 1926–1955”. Her son, Andy, destroyed the headstone shortly before he committed suicide in 1982. The family later reportedly removed her remains and reburied them at a secret location because of the attention that the plot at St Mary’s was receiving.
The remains of the four other women executed at Holloway, Styllou Christofi, Edith Thompson, Amelia Sach and Annie Walters, were reburied in a single grave at Brookwood Cemetery.
Coincidentally, Styllou Christofi, who was executed in December 1954, lived at 11 South Hill Park in Hampstead,[24] with her son and daughter-in-law, a few yards from The Magdala public house at number 2a, where David Blakely was shot four months later.
In 1980, the third episode of the first series of the ITV drama series Lady Killers recreated the court case, with Ellis played by Georgina Hale.
The first cinema portrayal of Ellis came with the release of the 1985 movie Dance with a Stranger (directed by Mike Newell), featuring Miranda Richardson as Ellis.
Both Ellis’s story and the story of Albert Pierrepoint are retold in the stage play Follow Me, written by Ross Gurney-Randall and Dave Mounfield and directed by Guy Masterson. It premièred at theAssembly Rooms as part of the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In the film Pierrepoint (2006), Ellis was portrayed by Mary Stockley.
THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION .... HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK 