Americana in Rural England

[Tomasso]

Fans of rock 'n' roll and rockabilly gathered at Seacroft Holiday Camp in Hemsby in eastern England on Sunday to dress up in period clothing and relive the 1940s and 50s.

 

[HadleyH]

Very nice! Thank you for posting!

 

[scotrace]

I don't know that you'd see anything that carefully put together in the states. Wow.

 

[Two Types]

I'd be interested to know the thoughts of other Brits on this:

I have always felt that the very strong enthusiasm for such events in the UK always seemed to have a close connection with areas in which there were US airbases. I remember travelling around eastern England and the closer one came to airbases, the more examples of locals driving around in old American cars etc. From that, there seemed to be a connection to the whole 1950s image.
Maybe it was just my perception based on geography. I'd be interested to know whether anyone else had noticed this.

 

[Edward]

Looks like a fun event. When in the year does that one happen? I've considered it in the past (I think it was that one), though money was too tight. I finally made it to Rhythm Riot last year, and am totally sold on that one now. Thinking of trying out the Rockabilly Rave next year - it'd be nice to get to something at a warmer time of year than mid-November - Rye by that point in the year is too cold for most of my favourite leathers!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

If I remember correctly, the Superman movies were filmed in Milton Keynes and environs because the locale was thought to resemble America the most.

 

[Benny Holiday]

I had the pleasure of performing at the Hemsby Weekender a few years back. The weather was abysmal but the turnout was great and the camaraderie between musicans, DJs and people into the Rockabilly and Teddy Boy scene was brilliant. Had a great river cruise with Levi and Bernie Dexter who are just great people and Levi put on a rockin' show. Had some brilliant musicians to back me, Wayne Hopkins on bass and Mark Sprex on drums. Great guys too!

If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it!

 

[rocketeer]

I'd be interested to know the thoughts of other Brits on this:

I have always felt that the very strong enthusiasm for such events in the UK always seemed to have a close connection with areas in which there were US airbases. I remember travelling around eastern England and the closer one came to airbases, the more examples of locals driving around in old American cars etc. From that, there seemed to be a connection to the whole 1950s image.
Maybe it was just my perception based on geography. I'd be interested to know whether anyone else had noticed this.

Not so common now that the cold war has ended. Many of the cars in these areas were left behind when the Americans returned home from their tour of duty.
I had a 1960 Cadillac that came from this area with some kind of old military base sticker in it. I had awful trouble getting it insured as a 1960 car as it was first registered in the UK in 1967. But remember these were just old cars back then, it may have been a 1960 Cadillac but to a homeward bound American serviceman it was just an old car.

I had the pleasure of performing at the Hemsby Weekender a few years back. The weather was abysmal but the turnout was great and the camaraderie between musicans, DJs and people into the Rockabilly and Teddy Boy scene was brilliant. Had a great river cruise with Levi and Bernie Dexter who are just great people and Levi put on a rockin' show. Had some brilliant musicians to back me, Wayne Hopkins on bass and Mark Sprex on drums. Great guys too!
If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it!

Levi Dexter has been around since the 1970s and came from my town(I think) Basildon
A great get together is Hemsby, it's been happening for about 28 years. As a Ted I went to the late 1970s weekenders at Caister. Then when the 'Hep Cat' scene took off it moved to Hemsby Pontins. Now, weekenders are happening most months somewhere to please everybody's music tastes.
I went to Hemsby around 1999 to 2003, all at Pontins. The weather was gorgeous every year,sorry to gloat but global warming had only just been thought up then. And you have never seen so many 40 year old teenagers in one place

I don't know that you'd see anything that carefully put together in the states. Wow.

Dont know if you are aware but the guy that runs the Viva Las Vegas show is Tom Ingram, a Hep Cat Disc Jocky from the Downham Tavern in south east London back in the 1980s

John(Long time rock n roller from the 1970s), And yes, I was one of those 40 year old teenagers.

 

[Edward]

VLV is on my hit list.... one year.... I was only in Vegas the once, back in 2000, for the launch of the Rocky Horror Picture Show on DVD. Crackin' few days there, would love to go back, and I hear such good things about VLV...

I'd be interested to know the thoughts of other Brits on this:

I have always felt that the very strong enthusiasm for such events in the UK always seemed to have a close connection with areas in which there were US airbases. I remember travelling around eastern England and the closer one came to airbases, the more examples of locals driving around in old American cars etc. From that, there seemed to be a connection to the whole 1950s image.
Maybe it was just my perception based on geography. I'd be interested to know whether anyone else had noticed this.

Well, if an immigrant (careful, now! ) can chime in... I think you have a good point there. I think it originally was to do with the direct influence of the base. As I hear it, when the Yanks arrived in the early Forties, they might as well have come from another planet. Heck, I remember being a child in the early eighties in Northern Ireland, and hearing people talk about having gone to the US to visit Disneyworld - a once in a lifetime trip back then - was like hearing them talk about going to the moon. The American flyboys must have been so exotic back then that they must have made a big impact with their alien popular culture. (Best as I can see, even with the influence of Hollywood, pre-internet there wasn't the same level of pervasiveness of US pop culture as a universal phenomenon that there is now). As WW2 and the life of the air bases thereafter has faded into the past, I think part of what keeps it going round those areas is simply that folks grow up knowing about that aspect of the area's history, it sparks an interest for some, and so a whole new interest in a subculture is born in a new generation.

Course, it could also be that those areas are full of old punks and goths on the Rockabilly Retirement Plan...

If I remember correctly, the Superman movies were filmed in Milton Keynes and environs because the locale was thought to resemble America the most.

It's the grid system. The place most reminds me of Dawn of the Dead.... though that's less for the grid and more for other reasons, the mall and the march of consumer-capitalism especially.