Brierly Hill 90210

Time continues to pass in the Miller household. It doesn't seem very long ago I was introducing episodes about impending parenthood, kids being born, sleeping habits of babies and interactions with other parents. But here we are with one son studying engineering in his second year of college and another in his last year of high-school with plans of becoming a doctor. I do now find myself consideri...

There's not much to laugh at in 2024. It was a year dominated by an escalating conflict in the Middle East, the continuing war in Ukraine and extreme weather events across the globe. Probably as an escape from reality, 2024 features some quite upbeat songs. There are some contrasting emotions in this episode. I hope you enjoy the ride.

As a youngster, on the way to my grandparents, there was a hill completely covered with trees except a small clearing in the middle and down one side. I remember thinking that it would be an ideal place to build a perfect house, white and overlooking the valley below. I only realized relatively recently that childhood memory stayed with me and subconsciously resurfaced when we saw a Victorian goth...

The iPhone debuts, Doctor Who blinks & a financial crisis is afoot. The Wombats dance to Joy Division & Tall Pony are your boyfriend now.

Becoming a first time dad at 40 was exhausting. I felt too old, yet knew I had been too immature to have done it earlier. Our son was NOT a good sleeper. People often asked how I had the time to record a weekly online radio show. But it was the perfect thing to do during those sleepless nights. I was getting sent so many demoes and suggestions that I always had something new to listen to and organ...

The year begins with George W Bush celebrating a second term as US president while the world mourns and prays for those effected by the massive Indian Ocean tsunami at the end of 2004. On the personal front, by February, we were pregnant again and, after many nervous months, this time it stuck. Looking back, I don't remember a direct connection but find it hard to believe it's a coincidence that I...

It's hard to imagine now but in the late 90s, Apple were on the verge of going out of business. Things changed with the return of Steve Jobs and the introduction of new software and services such as iTunes and new hardware such as the iPod. The iPhone was not even a twinkle in anyone's eye yet. In 2003, I liked what I was seeing from Apple, switched my home computer from Windows to Mac and bought...

BillBoard magazine describes 2000 as a “year that would bring a totally different sound befitting the turn of a new millennium” and John Peel described it as “a great year for music”. But I was too wrapped up in seismic personal changes to notice. We had been married 6 months and I broke out on my own to become a self-employed software developer. My first gig was in the US mid-west where Iowa, Neb...

Personal events will forever shape my memories of 2023. My father passed away in September, just shy of his 84th birthday. While I was pleased I got over to the UK the previous year to see him, I will always regret not going back again while he was ill. I did rush over to help out with funeral arrangements, and ended up staying for a month. Even though it was for a very sad reason, I did enjoy tha...

Brierly Hill 90210 presents... 1975 I was 8-years old as the year began so was mostly interested in riding my bike, climbing on the backs of tractors as the summer harvest was brought in, waiting until prompted to yell “Crackerjack” at the TV and thinking how much fun it would be to hang out with Jimmy Saville. I have a vague recollection that there was to be a referendum on the UK staying in the...

1973 is another of those years that feels like one chapter is ending as another begins. That may have something to do with personal memories. I turned 7 and, while I certainly have earlier memories, they're just glimpses and fragments. There are stories in this 1973 episode that have a concrete “time and place” to them. But there's a flip side to this. While I have distinct memories of Australia a...

My name is Jon Miller. I was born in 1966 in the idyllic countryside of the Cotswold Hills in the south west of England. I have a brother who is two years younger than me and soon after he was born, my parents moved from the tiny village of Salperton, to the slightly less tiny village of Hazelton about 2 miles away. I was 5 as 1972 begins and attended school at Northleach CofE. I spent most of my...

In this episode you going to hear from artists that are the epitome of 1970s music; T Rex, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, what have you. But there's a new sound creeping in that doesn't even have a name yet! Discotheques had been popping up in Europe as early as the second World War. The shortened term “disco” first appeared in 1964 to describe a fashion and a certain type of LA night clu...

The music of the early 70s does not have the greatest of reputations. You can judge for yourself if that is well-founded or not. But there certainly seemed to be less good songs to draw from as I put this episode together. But, if you're of a similar age to me, a child born of the 60s, there's something that starts to feel more familiar now. See if you agree.

One of the reasons for looking back to pre-rock'n'roll in this series was to learn more about the styles, trends and back-stories that shaped the music of the punk rock movement and beyond. I've mentioned before that there's clearly never an alignment to musical styles starting or ending with how the calendar falls. But there was almost a dividing line in the middle of 1968 that signified the end...

From the start of this series, I've included clips from television shows, mostly from when they first broadcast. Even though I was born in 1966, I have memories of shows that debuted as early as the mid-50s; The Woodentops, Andy Pandy, The Flowerpot Men. But as we get to the TV of 1968, I'm starting to have more direct recollection of watching them. As I was only 2, it may not have be right away....

As a child, I had a fascination with the year 1967. Why would that be do you think? Having plunged into the music and sounds of the year to bring you this episode, I'm still not sure I know the answer. It is undoubtedly a year of dramatic change. Musically, the best that the 60s had to offer transitions into the drippy, hippy nonsense that become the navel-staring self-indulgence of the early 1970...

Back in 1953, many British homes bought TVs for the first time so that they could watch the coronation of their new Queen. But there are also TV-related changes afoot in these episodes from the mid 1960s. Filmed news reels are increasingly being replaced by TV news coverage. Maybe this happened earlier and it's only becoming apparent because technology hadn't allowed earlier TV news to be retained...

As another year gets underway, there's a striking change in tone for stories that have been running for a while. There's a difference in the action taking place in Vietnam but also in the way it is being reported. Similarly, race relations are being addressed more directly as steps are taken, both forward and back, in all corners of the world.

1964 is a year without the single, big-impact story of other years. The assassination of President Kennedy is still a fresh, raw memory as Americans go to the polls later in the year. Political change is coming to the UK also with a general election on the horizon. Children are going missing in the Manchester area, close to Saddleworth Moor. That's a story that gets very little attention in '64 bu...

The year started with something I'd avoided to this point; I came down with COVID the first week of the year. I was very poorly for 24-hours but quickly recovered after that. Others have not been so fortunate. As is always the case as the calendar turns a page to January, one's never sure what kind of year it's going to be. I don't think any of us were expecting what 2022 would throw our way.

It's hard writing the introduction for an episode when you know a major news story will dominate it. While the focus will inevitably be on events in Dallas in November, there are other things happening in 1963, some significant, some less so. While the US has had a presence in Vietnam for the last few years, a coup changes the political complexion in that part of the world. At the same time, but m...

As a new year begins, the US continues to ramp up it's presence in Vietnam. But Americans are looking closer to home. The previous year had seen the failed invasion of Cuba by former exiles of that country. The invasion, though it wasn't known at the time, has been funded by the US government. Their response to this failure would be a trade embargo of Cuba early in 1962. Let's see how all these tw...

As a new year begins, tensions are rising between the US, led by newly elected President John F Kennedy, and Cuba, two years after the revolution that installed Fidel Castro as it's leader. On the other side of the world, pressure is also building as communism spreads in south-east Asia. The United States is keeping it's finger in that pie as well. Musically, while I didn't expect there to be the...

Something that's struck me throughout this series is the evolving use of language through the decades. It's a fascinating insight into trends and attitudes present in general society of the time. There's a real contrast from the language used in 1960 news reels and even in the TV news of race riots in the late 70s and early 80s to what you're likely to hear as you tune in for information in the 21...