In spring 1953, Britain was looking forward. After the trauma of the war and its aftermath, people were no longer focused simply on surviving. Thanks in part to the postwar settlement and welfare stat

BACK IN THE BAND WE PREDICT A RIOT ...

In 1970, I worked for the first and only time with Peter Bowles in The Ambassador, part of a TV series called Happy Ever After – no, no, not the comedy with Terry Scott and June Whitfield – but a dram

In 1966, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO brought together the worlds of avant-garde art, European cool and downtown rock’n’roll in one explosive package. Sixty years on, the survivors share tales of drugs, breakdowns, burnouts, blocked toilets and hospital beds – and, of course, the creation of some of the most important music ever made. “We only did things our way,” learns Tom Pinnock . “We were arrogant, perhaps, in thinking we knew best. We were also right. We did know best…”

Magic hexes, hotel robberies and cut-throat deals: band members and associates chronicle the heady days of 1972/73, when Led Zeppelin seized control of the industry and became the biggest rock band on the planet.

12 FEBRUARY