Rainbow Valley
Rainbow Valley - The Sixties Podcast. Telling the stories from the decade that shook the world. The Apollo One Disaster January 27th 1967, US astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee way made their way into a brand new spacecraft perched atop a large powerful Saturn Five rocket at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. A routine dress rehearsal, and one of many, for their approaching launch into orbit less than a month away. All three astronauts were experienced pilots, all harbouring dreams of one day setting foot on the moon. But little did they know, nor did...
info_outline Episode 029 - The Button Down Mind Of Bob Newhart (1960)Rainbow Valley
On August 1st 1960, an album on the Warner Brothers label reached number one in the Billboard Mono Action Albums Chart. It was the debut album for this particular artist and would remain at the top for fourteen weeks. The album would stay in the chart for two years selling over 600,000 copies near release and ranking as the 20th best selling album of all time on the Billboard charts. Its total running time was just short of thirty two minutes, it consisted of just six tracks, and was a recording of a live performance It won album of the year at the 1961 Grammy awards as well as best new...
info_outline Episode 028 - The Aberfan DisasterRainbow Valley
The Aberfan Disaster 9:13am on October 21st 1966, Pantglas School in the small Welsh mining village of Aberfan Inside the school, more than 200 children and nine teachers were waiting for their first lesson of the day to begin when the air was filled with the sound of a distant rumble. A massive coal tip - a mountain of waste generated by the town's mines that employed 8000 people had collapsed and a landslide of mud and debris flooded into the classroom, burying the school and engufing everyone inside 116 children and 28 adults were killed It was one of the worst industrial...
info_outline Episode 027 - 1966: The Year We Won...And Lost The World CupRainbow Valley
1966: The Year We Won...And Lost The World Cup As we head rapidly towards the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, you may be forgiven for thinking that this episode must surely recount the tale of how England won the world cup in the summer of 1966. You wouldn’t be far off though as this episode of Rainbow Valley is the story of not how we won the World Cup that summer, but how we lost it. Three months before the World Cup finals were due to take place, the much coveted solid gold Jules Rimet trophy sat proudly on display in central London only to be stolen in what could only be...
info_outline Episode 026 - The Big FreezeRainbow Valley
The Big Freeze Boxing Day evening 1962 The Christmas Number One at the top of the hit parade was Return to Sender by Elvis Presley All around the country, families were settling down after a busy two days of eating, drinking and making merry. Small screen entertainment on the tv that evening included a hilarious variety show from the London Palladium featuring Bruce Forsyth and Norman Wisdom and the BBCs big Boxing Day movie was Moulin Rouge starring Jose Ferrer and Zsa Zsa Gabor And then, it began to snow. A day late and tantalisingly close to giving the country a proper White Christmas, but...
info_outline Episode 025 - The Making Of Zulu (1964)Rainbow Valley
WE’RE BACK!! Our first episode in two years is finally with you – and it’s a cracker. Join Scott as he tells the story of the making of the movie Zulu. RAINBOW VALLEY – THE MAKING OF ZULU Rainbow Valley is a monthly podcast where your host, Scott takes a look at key events and personalities that shaped one the most influential, vibrant, tumultuous and swinging decades in history. Join us as we celebrate the 1960’s with the stories surrounding the music and news events of the decade that shook the world. 22nd January 1879, Rorkes Drift, Natal, South Africa. A remote mission station,...
info_outline Episode 024 - Hits and Headlines of 1964Rainbow Valley
Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of the Hits and Headlines of 1964.
info_outline Episode 023 - The Theft Of The Duke Of WellingtonRainbow Valley
Rainbow Valley - the sixties podcast - telling the stories from the decade that shook the world:
info_outline Episode 022 - Tammi TerrellRainbow Valley
Join us as we tell the story of one of Motown's greatest stars. The story of a life cut tragically short, but thankfully a life that brought us one of the greatest soul singers of all time.
info_outline Episode 021 - The Zapruder FilmRainbow Valley
Join me as I tell the story of the most famous home movie ever…22 seconds of film that captured the death of the most powerful man on the planet in November 1963.
info_outlineWE’RE BACK!!
Our first episode in two years is finally with you – and it’s a cracker. Join Scott as he tells the story of the making of the movie Zulu.
RAINBOW VALLEY – THE MAKING OF ZULU
Rainbow Valley is a monthly podcast where your host, Scott takes a look at key events and personalities that shaped one the most influential, vibrant, tumultuous and swinging decades in history. Join us as we celebrate the 1960’s with the stories surrounding the music and news events of the decade that shook the world.
22nd January 1879, Rorkes Drift, Natal, South Africa. A remote mission station, the setting for one of the most famous, battles in British history.
But until 1964 and the release of the movie Zulu, the story of the events of those ten hours were not particularly familiar to the British public.
In reality, 100 British soldiers defended a series of attacks by approximately 4000 Zulu warriors. By the end of the battle, which lasted from late afternoon until dawn the following morning, 15 soldiers were dead, two mortally wounded and surrounding them, the bodies of some 350 Zulus
Possibly one of the most celebrated and documented battles in British history you might think. But you would be wrong, for if it were not for the release of the movie 85 years later, it’s likely it would have remained a mere postscript in the annals of military conflict.
The story of the making of Zulu begins with a magazine article written in 1958 and takes us on a journey that will change the lives of many people along the way. People such as director, Cy Endfield, producer and actor Stanley Baker, Zulu tribal leader, Chief Buthelezi and a certain young actor from south London called Michael Caine.
A movie that remained on cinema screens almost constantly for 12 years before becoming one of the most regarded and best loved British movies of all time, the story of its creation is almost worthy of a movie in its own right.
Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of the making of Zulu.
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Thanks for listening
Scott
@scophi
NEXT TIME – THE BIG FREEZE OF 1963