Wednesday 20 April 2016

1962, Car Spotting: Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, Sint Pieterskerk

Front to back:

Car passing by: 
unidentified, probably Ford Zodiac / Zephyr Mk II

First parked row, left to right: 
Citroën 2CV, Ford Taunus 12M or 15M (P1), Citroën 2CV, Renault 4CV, Opel (Olympia) Rekord (P1), Fiat 600 and Opel (Olympia) Rekord (P1).

Second parked row, left to right: 
Citroën 2CV, Ford Taunus 15M (“Weltkugeltaunus”, P1), Fiat 500 Topolino C Belvedere and DKW F93/94 (Sonderklasse / 3=6).

Parked in the street leading to the church, left, front to back:
Peugeot 403 and Renault 4CV.

Parked in the street leading to the church, right, front to back: 
Volkswagen 1200 (Beetle), Peugeot 403, DKW F93/94 (Sonderklasse / 3=6) and unidentified car probably Mercedes-Benz W120/W121.

Wednesday 13 April 2016

1961, Music: Eurovision Song Contest

The 6th Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday 18 March 1961 at the "Palais des Festivals et des Congrès", Cannes, France. It was the first contest to take place on a Saturday night. Jacqueline Joubert presented the festival for the second time and of the 16 participants Jean-Claude Pascal won for Luxembourg with "Nous les amoureux". Luxembourg won for its first time. Three countries debuted in 1961: Finland, Spain, and Yugoslavia.
 

Jean-Claude Pascal and Tessa Beaumont (interval dance act performer)
Draw Country Artist Song Place Points
01 Spain Conchita Bautista "Estando contigo" 9 8
02 Monaco Colette Deréal "Allons, allons les enfants" 10 6
03 Austria Jimmy Makulis "Sehnsucht" 15 1
04 Finland Laila Kinnunen "Valoa ikkunassa" 10 6
05 Yugoslavia Ljiljana Petrović "Neke davne zvezde" (Неке давне звезде) 8 9
06 Netherlands Greetje Kauffeld "Wat een dag" 10 6
07 Sweden Lill-Babs "April, April" 14 2
08 Germany Lale Andersen "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" 13 3
09 France Jean-Paul Mauric "Printemps, avril carillonne" 4 13
10 Switzerland Franca di Rienzo "Nous aurons demain" 3 16
11 Belgium Bob Benny "September, gouden roos" 15 1
12 Norway Nora Brockstedt "Sommer i Palma" 7 10
13 Denmark Dario Campeotto "Angelique" 5 12
14 Luxembourg Jean-Claude Pascal "Nous les amoureux" 1 31
15 United Kingdom The Allisons "Are You Sure?" 2 24
16 Italy Betty Curtis "Al di là" 5 12

First place: Jean-Claude Pascal with "Nous les amoureux"
Second place place: The Allisons with "Are You Sure?"
Third place place: Franca di Rienzo with "Nous aurons demain"

Jean-Claude Pascal sings "Nous les Amoureux"

Monday 4 April 2016

1960, Television: “Maigret”

31 October 1960 "Murder in Montmarte", the first episode of the British television series "Maigret", is broadcast on the BBC. The series is based on the Maigret books by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon. Following a pilot episode, "Maigret and the Lost Life", in 1959, the series ran for 52 episodes from 1960 to 1963.

The series stars Rupert Davies as the Sûreté detective Commissaire Jules Maigret, with Ewen Solon as Lucas, Helen Shingler as Madame Maigret and Neville Jason as Lapointe. The theme music was composed by Ron Grainer.
Rupert Davies Jules Maigret
Georges Simenon and Rupert Davies
Rupert Davies as Inspector Maigret and Neville Jason as Lapointe
Helen Shingler as Madame Maigret and Rupert Davies as Inspector Maigret
Main cast
  • Rupert Davies as Inspector Maigret
  • Ewen Solon as Lucas
  • Neville Jason as Lapointe
  • Helen Shingler as Madame Maigret
  • Victor Lucas as Torrence
Annette Carell as Sylvie and Rupert Davies as Jules Maigret in the episode
"Liberty Bar" (1960)
John Slater, Ewen Solon as Lucas, Philip Latham and Rupert Davies as Jules Maigret
in the episode "The Wedding Guest" (1962)

"Maigret" opening credits (1960)

Friday 1 April 2016

1977, Belgian Comics: “Kiekeboe”

In 1977 the first "Kiekeboe" (English, "Jo & Co") album "De Wollebollen" is published by "J. Hoste". The story was pre-published in the newspaper "Het Laatste Nieuws". The comic series "Kiekeboe" was created by Merho (Robert Merhottein) in 1977. Before starting his own comic series, Merho worked five years as an assistant on the Willy Vandersteen series "Jerom" and "Pats". Main characters are Marcel Kiekeboe, his wife Charlotte, his daughter Fanny and son Konstantinopel.


De Wollebollen
  • black and white
  • never published in English
  • never published in French
  • story and drawings by Merho (Robert Merhottein)
No 1: "De Wollebollen"
Synopsis
During their holidays the family Kiekeboe meet the “Wollebollen”, little red creatures cleaning the forests. A witch, however, forces them to rob banks. Marcel Kiekeboe discoveres that Baron de Bruze Agan and Balthazar are the diabolical masterminds behind it all...
Marcel and Charlotte Kiekeboe
Wollebol and Fanny Kiekeboe
Main characters
Marcel Kiekeboe, Charlotte Kiekeboe, Fanny Kiekeboe, Konstantinopel Kiekeboe, Balthazar, baron de Bruze Agan, the fat lady, Danny.
The fat lady and Marcel Kiekeboe
Fanny Kiekeboe and Danny
Balthazar and Konstantinopel Kiekeboe
Trivia
  • "Baron de Bruze Agan" refers to "the Bruges à Gand", a famous line from Jacques Brel's song "Marieke" (1962)
  • the construction firm "Haemerrechts" is a pun on the Antwerp builder François Amelinckx
Baron de Bruze Agan, Balthazar, Konstaninopel, Marcel and Fanny
construction firm "Haemerrechts"
Cars
  • Opel Kadett (C1)
  • Citroën Dyane
  • British Leyland Mini
  • Lancia Stratos
  • BMW 1602 (02-series)
  • unidentified car, probably Mercury Cougar 1971 – 1973
  • Datsun (Nissan) Cherry F-II Coupé
  • Citroën GS 
Citroën Dyane and Opel Kadett C1
British Leyland Mini
Lancia Stratos
BMW 1602 (02-series)
unidentified car, probably Mercury Cougar 1971 – 1973
Opel Kadett C1, Datsun (Nissan) Cherry F-II Coupé, Citroën GS