July 12th 1972 – The Penguin Science Fiction Covers Of David Pelham (1)

David Pelham has insisted that he’s dissatisfied with his cover for 1972’s first Penguin Books edition of Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. With Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of the novel generating both ticket sales and public debate, the rights to a paperback edition of the book all but guaranteed healthy sales. But with that came […]

July 10th 1972 – Neal Adams, Making Superheroes Out Of The Mighty Groundhogs

On this day in 1972, heavy-blues trio The Groundhogs continued their only American tour with a concert at the Pocono International Raceway in Blakeslee, Pennsylvania. Their sole excursion across The Pond was soon to be curtailed by band leader Tony McPhee’s fall from a horse. By the 21st of this month, they’d be back in […]

July 6th July – David Bowie’s Starman On Top Of The Pops

There seems little to add about Bowie’s famous break-through appearance on Top Of The Pops on this very day in 1972. It is, after all, one of the most of the most documented and discussed moments in the history of pop. But it’s also, in a broader sense, one of the key events in the […]

July 5th 1972 – The Approach Of Comicon

Given how the counter-culture had long embraced comic books, it should be little surprise to note that an early mention of 1972’s Comicon arrived in the pages of May 18th’s issue of the underground paper ‘IT’. There, amongst the pieces about Vietnam, rock festivals and Marcuse, and in the company of comic strips such as […]

July 1st 1972 – The Fantastical On The London West End Stage Today

So it’s a Saturday in the summer of 1972 and you’re looking to see a show in London’s West End. Here are your options, as long as you’re carrying a fair few pounds in your pocket. Top of the list is the acclaimed National Theatre Company production of Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers at The Old Vic […]