❤️ Triple J 🙏

"Triple J (stylized in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broadcasting Australian content compared to commercial stations. Triple J is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. History =1970s: Launch and early years= 2JJ commenced broadcasting at 11:00 am, Sunday 19 January 1975, at 1540 kHz (which switched to 1539kHz in 1978) on the AM band. The new Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) station was given the official call-sign 2JJ, but soon became commonly known as Double J. The station was restricted largely to the greater Sydney region, and its local reception was hampered by inadequate transmitter facilities. However, its frequency was a clear channel nationally, so it was easily heard at night throughout south-eastern Australia. After midnight the station would often use ABC networks – during their off air time slot – to increase its broadcasting range. Its first broadcast demonstrated a determination to distinguish itself from other Australian radio stations. The first on-air presenter, DJ Holger Brockmann, notably used his own name (a deliberate reference to his former work for top-rated Sydney pop station 2SM). Owing to 2SM's restrictive policies at the time, Brockmann, whose real name was considered "too foreign- sounding", had been forced to work using the pseudonym "Bill Drake" in prior positions. After an introductory audio collage that featured sounds from the countdown and launch of Apollo 11, Brockmann launched the station's first-ever broadcast with the words, "Wow, and we're away!", and then cued The Skyhooks' You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed. The choice of a Skyhooks song to introduce the station was significant, as it represented several important features of the Double Jay brand at the time. Choosing an Australian band reflected Double J's commitment to Australian content at a time when American acts dominated commercial pop stations. The song was one of several tracks from the Skyhooks' album that had been banned from airplay on commercial radio by the industry's peak body. Because Double J was a government-funded station operating under the umbrella of the ABC, it was not bound by commercial-radio censorship codes, and was not answerable to advertisers or the station owners. In contrast, their Sydney rival, 2SM, was owned by a holding company controlled by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, resulting in the ban or editing of numerous songs. 2JJ was a product of the progressive media policies of the Whitlam Government of 1972–75, and combined influences from several earlier ABC programs, such as "Room to Move", as well as the freewheeling programming policies of British pirate radio and BBC Radio 1, which was created to target the pirate radio audience. The inspiration gained from the UK led to Double J adopting the tradition of weekly, live-in-the-studio performances by pop and rock bands. Gough Whitlam was unable to also fulfill his aspiration for the establishment of a "National Youth Radio Network", as he was controversially sacked. 2JJ presenter, and the first female DJ on Australian pop radio, Gayle Austin, who was completing a Master of Arts(MA) on triple j's first 16 years in 2005, explained that 2JJ staff had also heard of other motivations for the founding of the station: > Word was the Whitlam government wanted to set the station up to woo young > voters. We also heard that the ABC was worried about its audience dying off > and wanted a station for young people who would grow up to be ABC listeners. Additionally, the station was one of a series of innovations that stemmed from the recommendations in the McLean Report of 1974. These included expanding radio broadcasting onto the FM band, issuing a new class of broadcasting license which finally permitted the establishment of community radio stations (the long-awaited third tier of the Australian radio industry), and the creation of two new stations for the ABC – 2JJ in Sydney and the short-lived 3ZZ in Melbourne. By the time 2JJ went to air, the Whitlam government was in its final months of office. Marius Webb, one of the station's co-ordinators recalls an ABC executive informing him: "You'll be on the air by January. Thank you very much, I've got another meeting." On 11 November 1975, Whitlam's commission was revoked by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, sparking a double dissolution of parliament. In the subsequent 1975 federal election, Labor was defeated by the Liberal-National Party coalition that was led by Malcolm Fraser. During the more conservative media climate that emerged in the Fraser years, 2JJ staff were frequently accused of left-wing bias. 2JJ was initially intended to be the first link in Whitlam's planned national youth network; but the expansion was greatly delayed by the election of the Fraser government and the subsequent budget cuts it imposed on the ABC. It was a historic moment in Australian radio, when the station decided to hire a female disc jockey and, excluding the first experimental FM licences, was granted the first new radio licence issued in any Australian capital city since 1932. In its early years 2JJ's on-air staff were mainly recruited from either commercial radio or other ABC stations. Later, in another first, the roster also featured presenters who did not come from a radio industry background, including singer-songwriters Bob Hudson and John J. Francis, and actor Lex Marinos. Francis commenced broadcasting in the Saturday midnight-to-dawn shift in 1975, and the program became so popular that it was expanded to include Friday and Sunday nights two years later. The foundation staff of January 1975 were: Webb and Ron Moss (co- ordinators), Ros Cheney, David Ives, Sam Collins, Holger Brockman (aka Bill Drake), Caroline Pringle, Bob Hudson, Mike Parker, Iven Walker, Arnold Frolows, Di Auburn, Margot Edwards, George "Groover" Wayne, Graeme Berry, John Arden, Colin Vercoe, Alan McGirvan, Pam Swain, Graeme Bartlett, Mark Colvin, Keith Walker, Michael Byrne, and Jim Middleton.Bruce Elder & David Wales, Radio With Pictures! The History of Double Jay AM and JJJ FM (Hale & Ironmonger, 1984), pp.6-7 Other popular presenters of the 2JJ period included Austin (a former producer for talkback radio king John Laws), Russell Guy, Mac Cocker (father of musician Jarvis Cocker), and Keri Phillips. Several of the original team developed successful careers at the ABC: Mark Colvin hosted ABC Radio National's current affairs show PM; Jim Middleton hosts Newsline with Jim Middleton on ABC Television; and Ros Cheney became Arts Editor of ABC radio until her dismissal in 2001 (during the controversial regime of Jonathan Shier). 2JJ's programming policies were considered a radical departure from the formats of commercial stations. In 2005 Austin published a recollection from Colin Vercoe, one of the station's first music programmers: "In those days it was the early disco stuff and if it was black they just wouldn't play it." 2JJ was also a pioneer in terms of its coverage of local music. Austin stated in a 2005 ABC radio special to commemorate the youth station's 30th anniversary: "There was very little Australian music. At that time Australian music didn’t have much production put into it because there wasn’t much money made out of it." 2JJ announcer Chris Winter explained that "there was enormous breadth of music around at the time" that was not played on radio, but could be heard in private gatherings or bought from specialist stores. Austin states that the original aim of 2JJ was to highlight "our own culture" and the staff were expected to "provide an alternative to the mainstream, with a heavy emphasis on Australian content". 2JJ consequently garnered a reputation for not only eclectic playlists, but also radical talk content: > ... it was in the talk area that the really radical work was done. Comedy > acts such as Chuck Chunder and the Space Patrol, Captain Goodvibes, Nude > Radio (Graham Bond and Rory O'Donoghue's show, which launched Norman > Gunston), Fred Dagg (aka John Clarke) and the legendary "anti-ads" informed > future program-makers on how humour could be used on radio. The station also sought to create a genuine dialogue with listeners, whereby the audience could claim a sense of ownership of the station, and announcers even played demo tapes recorded by listeners who were also musicians, the start of what is now known as triple j Unearthed. Austin explained in 2005: > In that first year we had a station policy of access all areas. In early > March, women took over the station as announcers to celebrate International > Women's Day. The listeners owned the station, too, and if they wanted to > come to the meetings and join the debate, they were welcome. This attitude > led to some interesting moments, such as when Holger Brockman's shift was > hijacked by three Aboriginal activists. They entered the studio and said > they were armed and hijacking the station. Brockman said: "Oh, OK. Well, > that's the microphone there, and here you are, have my seat." Brockman says > they were really polite. "They said their bit, which took about five or 10 > minutes, and then politely handed back to me - 'And now back to Holger.' > Respectfully, like family." The station played an unprecedented level of Australian content, as well as imported music, music brought in from the staff's personal collections, music purchased by overseas correspondents, and songs banned by other stations because of religious or sexual controversies. The first song played on air on the first broadcast day, "You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed" by the Skyhooks, was banned on commercial radio for its explicit sexual content. Double J also featured regular news broadcasts, current affairs programs, political commentary by noted journalist Mungo MacCallum, and audio documentaries like the controversial The Ins and Outs of Love (produced by former 2SM producers Carl Tyson-Hall and Tony Poulsen), which included frank interviews with young people about their first experiences of sex. The Tyson- Hall and Poulsen documentary had allegedly "breached community standards" and, although the ABC reportedly received few direct complaints about The Ins and Outs of Love (originally broadcast on Sunday, 23 February 1975), the documentary sparked a debate in the media and the Broadcasting Control Board (BCB) reportedly asked for talks with the ABC. Two days after the documentary was broadcast, Fairfax tabloid The Sun published an editorial calling for the station to be closed, and a week later, on 10 March 1975, the influential marketing/advertising industry journal B&T; followed suit, demanding that the station should be forced to undertake one of three options: (i) 2JJ should be closed down; (ii) 2JJ's programming should be completely revamped; or (iii) the removal of those staff responsible for "the present series of lapses".Elder & Wales, op. cit., pp.8-11 Austin explained in 2005 that Webb was largely responsible for shielding the station from external criticism. The station rapidly gained popularity, especially with its target youth demographic: media articles noted that in its first two months on air, 2JJ reached a 5.4% share of the total radio audience, with 17% in the 18-24 age group, while the audience share of rival 2SM dropped by 2.3%. Despite the poor quality of reception caused by the Sydney transmitter, the station still saw rapid growth.Dawson, 1995, op.cit. Austin explained that station staff threatened industrial action in July 1975 due to the transmitter issues, but officials of the BCB still refused to meet with 2JJ representatives. A new transmitter was not provided until 1980, following the transition to the FM band. 2JJ presenter George "Groover" Wayne, who hosted the show Cooking with George, became very popular, but was also part of the station's controversial reputation. Originally from South Africa, Wayne was fondly remembered by a listener for the 30-year anniversary event: "I remember George being booted off air. On night, reading the gig guide, he announced a fund raiser for NORML where the lucky door prize (or raffle) was a block of hash. I can't remember how long he was off air but he went home early that night." Former triple j DJ Ian Rogerson stated: "He had this fantastic voice and presence on air...He was just a great communicator...I really miss him." Controversy also emerged after the station hosted an open-air concert in Liverpool, in Sydney's south-west, in June 1975 (featuring Skyhooks and Dragon). A page-one headlineThe Sun, Sydney, 5 June 1975, p.1 in the Sydney Sun that read "Rock Concert Filth Uproar" introduced a story that claimed that many were "shocked" by "depictions of sexual depravity and shouted obscenities", which allegedly caused women in the audience to clap their hands over their ears, and reportedly prompted Coalition frontbencher Peter Nixon to call for the station to be closed down.Elder & Wales, op.cit., p.36 The station regularly sponsored live concerts and organised a number of major outdoor concert events in the late 1970s, culminating in an outdoor, all-day event in Parramatta Park, Sydney on 18 January 1981 to celebrate the end of Double J and the start of 2JJJ. Attended by 40,000 people, the historic concert featured Midnight Oil and Matt Finish. =1980s: National expansion= On 1 August 1980 2JJ began broadcasting on the FM band at a frequency of 105.7 MHz (again restricted to within the greater Sydney region) and became 2JJJ (later, triple j). Test transmissions in the lead-up to the FM launch used the innovative device of broadcasting stereo audio-verité recordings made by ABC staff, and, in a deliberate echo of the original Double Jay launch, the first song played on the new FM incarnation was another track then banned from commercial radio, "Gay Guys" by Dugites. Through the mid-to-late eighties, triple j continued to pioneer new music and developed a wide range of special-interest programs including the Japanese pop show Nippi Rock Shop, Arnold Frolows' weekly late- night ambient music show Ambience, and Jaslyn Hall's world music show, the first of its kind on Australian mainstream radio. On 19 January 1981, the AM transmissions ceased, and 2JJJ became an FM only station. It was not until the late 1980s that the ABC was finally able to begin development of the long- delayed national "youth network". In 1989 JJJ expanded nationally to: Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, and Perth. In 1983, four triple j presenters – Peter Doyle, Virginia Moncrieff, Tony Barrell and Clive Miller – began producing a fanzine with the inscrutable title of Alan. Designed in a manic collage style by David Art Wales, Alan featured programming information, pop trivia, and irreverent interviews with recording artists. Wales also supplied a comic strip featuring a boy sage named Guru Adrian. In a twist that added to the character's appeal, the Guru's face was that of a real child whose identity was never revealed, leading many to believe that he was in fact a real guru. Guru Adrian's philosophy, "Adrianetics", consisted of quixotic maxims, including: "Having fun is half the fun," "Gee, you are you" and "Realise your real eyes," which rapidly gained the character a cult following in Australia, with Wales making many radio and television appearances during the mid-1980s to discuss the Guru Adrian phenomenon. In 1984, Wales teamed with renowned Australian journalist Bruce Elder on the book Radio With Pictures: The History of Double Jay and Triple Jay.NLA Hale & Iremonger, publishers. National Library of Australia card no. In the late 1980s, Barry Chapman (Programme Director 2SM 1977–80, and Managing Director EMI Music Publishing 1983–89) was appointed as general manager to oversee triple j's network expansion. His tenure, and the expansion of the network, generated controversy, most notably in 1990, when a large portion of 2JJJ's Sydney-based on air staff was fired, (the so-called "Night of the long knives") including the most popular presenters Tony Biggs and Tim Ritchie, the station's dance-music maven. As details of the changes became public, there were accusations of a "JJJ Bland Out" (analogous to Harry Enfield's fictional British DJs Smashie and Nicey) and several protests were held outside its William Street studios. There was a public meeting that packed the Sydney Town Hall with angry listeners. The crowd spilled out onto the street as the hall was not big enough to hold everyone who felt that "their" beloved radio station had been hijacked. Concern was expressed about the introduction of a more highly programmed music format, and the appointment of Chapman was seen as an indication of a more commercial direction. Management responded that to launch a national network meant that the station must broaden its then almost-exclusive focus on the Sydney music scene, requiring the addition of new talent. When the dispute waned, the radio programming was not nearly as free-form as it had been before going national, but neither was it as highly programmed as its critics feared. In the pre- national era, there had been less emphasis on a structured playlist but the introduction of a tighter playlist allowed (at least initially) a degree of input from individual presenters that exceeded that usually permitted on a commercial station. The laissez-faire collective management style of the Double Jay days was gradually replaced by a more business-like top-down management style. Prior to the controversial appointment of Chapman, many of the 'old guard' were dismissed from the station and replaced by presenters who were more amenable to the increasingly structured format. Chapman oversaw a radical overhaul of triple j's programming and marketing. This basic format, though not dissimilar to the old Sydney based triple j, included: an early morning comedy breakfast program with duo presenters, a late morning talk and talkback program, and a light talk-and-comedy afternoon drive-time shift. Decades later the format remains substantially in place. Compared to the late 1970s, Chapman did not reduce the amount of comedy, documentaries and news. Although as he did at 2SM, Chapman maintained and strengthened the station's commitment to live music. In the late 1980s triple j was accused of ignoring the emerging hip hop scene and related genres, in favour of the more marketable rock-oriented grunge style that dominated American music at the same time. =1990s: Regional expansion= The number of news comedy programs and documentaries remained essentially the same in the 1990s as it was during the 1980s. The key changes were new programmes replacing old. Throughout the 1990s, triple j commenced expansion to more regional areas of Australia and, in 1994, it was extended to another 18 regional centres throughout the country. In 1996, the total was brought to 44, with the new additions including: Launceston, Tasmania; Albany, Western Australia; Bathurst, New South Wales and Mackay, Queensland. As of 2006, triple j's most recent expansion was to Broome, Western Australia. =2000s: Transition to online content= In May 2003, Arnold Frolows, the only remaining member of the original Double Jay staff of 1975, stepped down after 28 years as triple j music director. He was replaced by presenter Richard Kingsmill. In 2004, the station began to release podcasts of some of its talkback shows, including Dr Karl, This Sporting Life, and Hack. In 2006, triple j's coverage expanded when transmission began in Broome, Western Australia. As Broome was one of the largest towns in Australia to not receive triple j to this point, the station celebrated with a concert featuring many local bands, also simulcast on the Live at the Wireless programme. Also in 2006, triple j launched jtv, a series of television programs broadcast on ABC and ABC2, as well as being made available online. Programming included music videos, live concerts, documentaries, and comedy, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at triple j's studios. In 2008 jtv was rebranded as triple j TV. triple j TV's first 'spin- off' series The Hack Half Hour premiered on 22 September 2008, hosted by Steve Cannane. As of February 2009 triple j TV airs on 21:00 Mondays on ABC2, 11pm Fridays on ABC1 and can be downloaded at triplej.net.au. The series is hosted by The Doctor aka Lindsay McDougall and it features Hack reports from Antoinette Chiha, comedy from Sam Simmons, and the film segment Flicked with Marc Fennell. =2010s: Digital radio, Double J, Beat The Drum= In 2014, ABC's Dig Music digital radio station joined the triple j family and was re- launched as Double J on 30 April 2014. The new station features both new music and material from triple j interview and sound archives. Former triple j announcer Myf Warhurst, who hosted the inaugural shift, said "it's for people who love music, and also love a bit of music history." The station celebrated its 40th anniversary on 16 January 2015 with the seven-hour "Beat The Drum" event at the Domain venue in Sydney. Hosted by Peter Garrett, an Australian musician with Midnight Oil and former federal Environment Minister, the list of performers, all of whom are the beneficiaries of the station's support, included: Hilltop Hoods, The Presets, The Cat Empire, You Am I, Daniel Johns, Joelistics, Ball Park Music, Adalita, Vance Joy, and Gotye. The majority of performers played a combination of their own music and cover versions, including Sarah Blasko and Paul Dempsey's rendition of Crowded House's "Distant Sun", and The Preatures covering "At First Sight" by The Stems and The Divinyls' "All the Boys in Town". In ratings released in August 2015, triple j was the highest or equal first in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in the 25-39 demographic. Programming Bands playing at Triple J's "Come Together" festival. =Current programming mix= triple j frequently features new, alternative music and local Australian performers, and programming which used to show a bias against bubblegum pop and top 40 hits. triple j has nightly specialist programs in different musical genres (see the programmes section below). It also covers news and current affairs from a youth-oriented perspective, although this facet of its programming has been reduced considerably since the station's inception. In common with other Australian radio stations, triple j has also gradually increased the amount of talkback content in its programming. There are several reasons for this. Most importantly, it provides an inexpensive and popular source of program content, and also provides the appearance of listener interactivity and involvement. Like many other former 'all music' stations, triple j has had to respond to the advent of music file-sharing, digital music players, and other digital music innovations, which have drastically reduced listeners' dependence on radio as a means of accessing music. =Evolution of programming= The evolution of triple j's programming has always been contentious. In the Double Jay days, commercial stations and conservatives regularly cried foul over the station's free use of expletives on air and its ability to ignore the censorship restrictions that were in force for commercial radio. This situation stemmed from Double Jay's status as a special unit of the ABC which, at that time, was only answerable to the ABC Board and the Minister for Communications, unlike the commercial stations, which were subject to regulation by the old Broadcasting Control Board (now the Australian Communications and Media Authority) and by their own peak body, the Federation of Australian Commercial Broadcasters (FACB), now known as Commercial Radio Australia. Over the years the station gained considerable renown for breaking new local acts. Midnight Oil, the prime example of this, would almost certainly not have had the success they enjoyed without the help of Double Jay/triple j. The station also broke countless overseas acts who were being ignored in their home countries. Double Jay was virtually the only 'pop' station in Australia in the late Seventies to play: reggae, dub, punk rock, new wave, world music, electronic music, and ambient music. Over the years the station moved away from its early style, which featured a high level of news, features, documentaries, current affairs, and comedy, and was gradually steered towards a non-commercial version of the continuous music format that prevailed in commercial radio. Many original Double Jay segments including the nightly "What's On" gig guide, its extensive news and current affairs coverage, and its 'community noticeboard' segment, were gradually eliminated, as were almost all the character comedy spots that had been popular features in previous years. =Effect on mainstream media= The station also exerted a noticeable effect on local record companies. For many years, local record labels would only import recordings that they knew would earn a good commercial return, and they were often unwilling to take risks on local releases of unknown acts. Much new music was routinely available only as expensive imports in specialist shops. This began to change almost as soon as Double Jay came on air. A good example of the station's influence was in 1976 when Double Jay championed a new album, 801 Live, recorded by a one-off group that included former Roxy Music members Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno. Although the LP was hailed overseas as one of the best live recordings ever made, and set new standards of technical excellence, the Australian distributor at first refused to release it locally, in spite of the fact that it was one of the most requested items on the Double Jay playlist at the time. As a result of the import sales that were generated by Double Jay airplay – it became the highest selling import album that year – the company decided to release it locally. triple j routinely championed many local and overseas acts whose early recordings were ignored by commercial radio including: Midnight Oil, Models, Paul Kelly, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Pixies, Ben Folds Five, and hundreds more. As with the ABC's long- running pop TV show Countdown, the support of triple j in Australia also had a strong effect on the success of emerging overseas acts. A case in point is American group The B-52's. It is believed that Double Jay was the first radio station in the world to play their debut single "Rock Lobster". The support of Double Jay/triple j had a similarly significant effect on the worldwide success of many acts, including: Blondie, Devo, and more recently Ben Folds Five, Garbage, and especially Ben Harper, whose popularity in Australia, which was almost entirely the result of support from triple j, was instrumental in breaking him back in his home country, the United States. It is also notable that triple j was for many years routinely used as a free market research facility by commercial stations. As mainstream pop radio struggled to establish itself on the FM band, commercial stations like those owned by Austereo constantly monitored what songs and acts were doing well on triple j and would then introduce the most 'saleable' of them into their own playlists. Acts like Talking Heads, The Police, and Nirvana unquestionably owed their commercial success in Australia to the early support of Double Jay/triple j. In 1989, triple j had been playing N.W.A's protest song "Fuck tha Police" for up to six months, before catching the attention of ABC management who subsequently banned it. As a result, the staff went on strike and put the group's song "Express Yourself" on continuous play for 24 hours, playing it roughly 360 times in a row. In 2014, when launching Double J on digital radio, the station played nothing but "Express Yourself" for 48 hours. Presenters Many Double Jay and early triple j presenters went on to successful careers with commercial stations, the most notable being Doug Mulray, who honed his distinctive comedy-based style at the Jays before moving to rival FM rock station 2-MMM (Triple M) in the 1980s, where he became the most popular breakfast presenter in Sydney (and one of the highest-paid radio personalities in the country). Presenter Annette Shun Wah went on to host the popular Rock Around the World series on SBS and is now a program executive with SBS TV and producer of The Movie Show. =Current Presenters= * Bryce Mills * The Aston Shuffle * Bridget Hustwaite * Stacy Gougoulis * Sally Coleman * Lewis Hobba * Shantan Wantan Ichiban * Richard Kingsmill * Karl Kruszelnicki * Hau Latukefu * Lucy Smith * Josh Merriel * Jeddy Girham * Ebony Boadu * Gemma Pike * Nat Tencic * Dave Howie * Tim Shiel * Erica Mallet * Lochlan Watt * Karla Ranby * Declan Byrne * Michael Hing * Andy Garvey * David Woodhead Events =Hottest 100= The Hottest 100 is an annual poll of the previous year's most popular songs, as voted by its listeners. It has been conducted for over two decades in its present form, and in 2016 attracted 2.26 million votes from 172 countries. It is promoted as the "world's greatest music democracy" and has also spawned a series of compilation CDs, and more recently, music DVDs, released via ABC Music. The countdown of the poll had regularly taken place on Australia Day from 1998 to 2017. In response to controversy surrounding Australia Day celebrations and an extensive poll of triple j listeners, it was announced in November 2017 that future countdowns would be aired on the fourth weekend of January to avoid associations with the Australia Day holiday. =Unearthed= Unearthed, an ongoing project to find hidden talent, began in 1995. It originally focused on regional areas but now covers all of Australia. Many of these discoveries have been very successful. Some, such as Grinspoon, Killing Heidi, and Missy Higgins, have even been successful enough to receive commercial radio airplay. The Unearthed competition was inspired by the success of a talent search on SBS program Nomad called "Pick Me". This segment, co-produced by triple j, discovered a trio from Newcastle called the "Innocent Criminals", who later gained international fame under the name Silverchair. The most recent incarnation of Unearthed is run online, and allows listeners to rate and review songs uploaded by bands and musicians. Some on-air promotions for the first volume were recorded at the triple j studios in Ultimo by Darren McErlain in 1996. He was invited to record voice- overs for triple j, whilst completing an internship at ABC Radio News. On 5 October 2011 Triple J Unearthed was launched as a radio station available on digital radio and online. =Beat the Drum= triple j occasionally runs a competition known as 'Beat the Drum' - named for their logo of three drumsticks hitting a drum. It is a competition designed to promote the logo, whereby, whoever displays it in the most prominent place would win a prize. Notable entries include: * A girl who distributed postcards of herself with the triple j logo painted on her naked buttocks * A triple j T-shirt being waved behind the final lap of, and the presentation of a gold medal for Kieren Perkins' victorious 1500 m swim at, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics * One of the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony participants wearing a triple j T-shirt bearing the logo * The placement of a large triple j logo on the musicians' platform at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. * The winner in 2000 who drove his car, converted into a large 3D drum logo, across Australia. * A group of people erecting road signs with the triple j frequency all the way up the east coast of Australia * A farmer in Queensland who formed a drum logo shaped crop circle measuring 1 by 1.5 km in his wheat-fields. This entry won in the individual/small group category in 2004. * Students from the University of Tasmania's Hobart Campus stripping down to their underwear and painting themselves red to form the logo on the university's football oval which was then aerially photographed. In late 2004, the station's promotion for that year's Beat the Drum contest caused a brief but bitter controversy after it released a series of promotional images featuring the 'Drum' logo. Many were outraged by the inclusion of a mocked-up image of the former World Trade Center draped with a huge Drum flag. In 2015 no "One Night Stand" was held. Instead "Beat The Drum" was held. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of triple j a one-off concert was held on 16 January at The Domain, Sydney. Artists included: Ball Park Music, Vance Joy, The Preatures, You Am I, The Cat Empire, The Presets, Hilltop Hoods, and many special guests. =Impossible Music Festival= The Impossible Music Festival, broadcast in August 2005 was a celebration of 30 years of live music recordings made by JJ and triple j. Voted for by listeners from over 1000 recorded gigs/concerts, the broadcast went from 18:00 Friday the 26th to 01:00 Monday the 29th. The 2006 Impossible Music Festival was aired on the weekend of 7–8 October. The 2007 Impossible Music Festival broadcast from Friday 25 May to Sunday 27 May. The 2008 Impossible Music Festival was broadcast from Friday 19 September until Sunday 21 September. =triple j's One Night Stand= The One Night Stand, held annually since 2004, offers a small town the opportunity to host a free, all ages concert, sponsored by Triple J, featuring three or four Australian musical acts. Entries must include examples of local support, including community (signatures), local government (council approval), and a venue for the concert. =Aus Music Month= Each November on triple j is Ausmusic month, where Australian artists are heavily promoted. This includes a solid weekend of Australian music; some free, limited-entry concerts around the country; All-Australian feature albums; Live at the Wireless; and each day, a new "unknown" Australian band is featured and played several times during the day. =J Awards= The J Awards are an annual awards ceremony held at the start of December each year to celebrate Australian music. Awards include; the Unearthed J Award for best Unearthed artist, the J Award for Australian Music Video of the year, and the main J Award for Australian album of the year, judged by a panel of triple j presenters. Past winners of the J Award include; Wolfmother (2005), Hilltop Hoods (2006), and The Panics (2007). In 2008, The Presets took the award for Apocalypso. In 2009 the award was won by Sarah Blasko. In 2010, Tame Impala won the coveted J Award. The 2011 winner of best Australian album was Gotye. In 2012 Tame Impala won the award for a second time, this time with Lonerism. In 2013, the electronic artist Flume took out the award with his self-titled debut album. In 2019 Matt Corby was awarded album of the year for "Rainbow Valley" See also * List of radio stations in Australia * Triple J announcers (Category) * BBC Radio 1 * CBC Radio 3 * BBC Radio 6 Music * Le Mouv' * FM4 * MDR Sputnik References External links * - includes live audio streaming of the station's broadcast, as well as archives of recent editions of shows. * Conference paper: Fandom, Triple J and the Unearthed competition: a regional perspective by Kate Ames, Central Queensland University * Triple J's 30th Anniversary webpage featuring historical information about key events in the station's history as well as vintage audio and video * Jplay JJJ Playlists * Link to Triple J frequency finder * Meet the Team : Triple-J - [PIAS]'s Blog, 18 March 2015 Category:APRA Award winners Category:Australian comedy Category:Australian radio networks Category:Public radio in Australia Category:Radio stations established in 1975 "

❤️ The Wizard of New Zealand 🙏

"The Wizard of New Zealand (born Ian Brackenbury Channell; 4 December 1932) is a New Zealand educator, comedian, magician and politician. He is also known by his shorter name, The Wizard. Life and career = England = The Wizard was born Ian Brackenbury Channell on 4 December 1932 in London, England. Educated at Framlingham College, Suffolk and from 1945 to 1951 at Bromley Grammar School for Boys, now Ravensbourne School. From 1951 to 1953 he served in the Royal Air Force as an airman and in 1963 he graduated from the University of Leeds with a double honours degree in psychology and sociology; as a student at Leeds he was a member of the institution's University Challenge team. = Australia = Shortly after his graduation, he was recruited by the University of Western Australia Adult Education Board to run their community arts programme. In 1967 he joined the teaching staff of the newly opened School of Sociology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. During the student upheavals, which began at this time, he created a direct action reform movement called Alf (Action for Love and Freedom) and implemented this with what he announced to be "The Fun Revolution". In a condition of considerable financial hardship, he was able to persuade the Melbourne University Union Activities Department to appoint him their unpaid "Cosmologer, Living Work of Art and Shaman". The vice-chancellor gave him the use of the Old Pathology Lecture Theatre for his classes in synthetic cosmology and the director of the National Gallery of Victoria accepted the offer of his live body as a living work of art. At this time, shocked when the student pacifist society sent money to the Viet Cong, he founded Alf's Imperial Army devoted to sensational but non-violent warfare and regularly organised battles on campus. He founded the Imperial British Conservative Party to provide a counterbalance to international capitalism and the various forms of Nazism. = New Zealand = In 1974 the Wizard migrated to Christchurch in New Zealand and began to speak on a ladder in Cathedral Square. The city council attempted to have him arrested but he became so popular that they made the square a public speaking area. Wearing his costume as a false prophet of the Church of England, or his wizard's pointy hat, he has spoken there at lunchtimes in the summer months. The Wizard in December 2012 He confronted Telecom over the colour of public telephone boxes, played for the local rugby team, heckled Christian evangelist Ray Comfort, evaded the compulsory census and performed rain dances in Canterbury, Auckland and the Australian outback. With the help of the mayor, Vicki Buck, the city of Christchurch hosted a wizards' conclave in 1995 when visiting colleagues gathered to help build a wizard's nest on top of the university library tower, to witness the New Zealand Wizard hatching from a giant egg in the city art gallery, sky diving whilst chanting a spell for a major rugby match and performing various rituals round the city. Soon afterwards, accompanied by 42 assistant wizards, he came down by gondola from the Port Hills with tablets bearing the address of his new website. In 1982 the New Zealand Art Gallery Directors Association issued a statement that in their opinion The Wizard was an authentic living work of art and the city council appointed him "Wizard of Christchurch". In 1990 the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mike Moore, an old friend, appointed him the official "Wizard of New Zealand". He provided his services free until the Christchurch City Council granted him a modest annual honorarium. The Wizard has received financial support from his partner, Alice Flett. On 8 September 2003 The Wizard's large wooden house was destroyed by a fire, which Christchurch police treated as arson. The Wizard, his partner and two boarders were lucky to escape with their lives and The Wizard's extensive book and video collections were destroyed. The "Wizardmobile", constructed from the front halves of two VW Beetles, was also attacked and damaged. After the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, The Wizard planned to retire and permanently leave Christchurch, saying that the town he loved had gone and that it was the end of an era. After it was announced by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and the Anglican bishop that the remains of Christchurch Cathedral would be demolished, The Wizard returned to Christchurch to oppose the demolition. The Wizard continues to speak on the need to preserve Christchurch's heritage buildings. Since 2014, Ari Freeman has been The Wizard's apprentice. The Wizard was awarded the Queen's Service Medal in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours, for service to the community. The Wizard in front of Christchurch Cathedral in January 2007 Public speaking The Wizard performed in Cathedral Square on weekdays from 1–2pm from November to Easter. He now spends a significant amount of his time in Oamaru, which is famous for being a centre for arts and craftsmanship. He was present at the official re-opening of Oamaru Airport on 6 August 2006, and where he claimed to have cast a successful spell to disperse the fog that was preventing the first flight from landing.Oamaru back on the flight radar Archived video footage accompanying news item by TVNZ, 6 August 2006, TV ONE New Zealand Autobiography In 1998, an autobiography titled My Life as a Miracle was published.My Life as a Miracle Canterbury University Press, November 1998 () Cartography The Wizard produced an upside-down map using the Hobo–Dyer projection which placed New Zealand and Australia top-centre. Film The Wizard of New Zealand QSM, directed by Grant John Neville and Director of Photography Karlos Filipov, is an award-winning documentary that follows the life of the first man in the modern world to be appointed by a government as an official Wizard. The documentary includes interviews with The Wizard, Mike Moore and many others. The Wizard explores the Wizard's views that women cause wars through their shopping habits and that governments with monarchies are more stable, and explores the life of The Wizard of New Zealand. The film was awarded Best Short Documentary at the Beijing International Film Festival 2010, and Best Film about Real People at the Official Best of Fest 2010.http://www.wizarddocumentary.com The Wizard and the Commodore – Chathams Islands/New Zealand, directed by Samuel A. Miller follows The Wizard of New Zealand on a trip to the Chatham Islands, 600 miles off the Coast of New Zealand. The film premiered at the Jerusalem Cinematheque on 29 March 2018. Notes External links *Official web page * History page from Christchurch Library website * Entry in the Encyclopedia of New Zealand from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage website * Alf's Imperial Army website * Sign The Pledge – it's a wizard idea Category:1932 births Category:Living people Category:Academics from London Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds Category:New Zealand magicians Wizard, The Wizard, The Category:English emigrants to New Zealand Category:Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal Category:Contestants on University Challenge Category:Royal Air Force airmen "

❤️ The Magnificent Seven 🙏

"The Magnificent Seven is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges and starring Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach and Steve McQueen. The supporting cast features Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn and Horst Buchholz. The film is an Old West–style remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film Seven Samurai. Brynner, McQueen, Bronson, Vaughn, Dexter, Coburn and Buchholz portray the title characters, a group of seven gunfighters hired to protect a small village in Mexico from a group of marauding bandits (whose leader is played by Wallach). The film's musical score was composed by Elmer Bernstein. In 2013, the film was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Plot A gang of bandits led by Calvera (Eli Wallach) periodically raids a poor Mexican village for food and supplies. After the latest raid, during which Calvera kills a villager, the village leaders decide they have had enough. On the advice of the village elder (Vladimir Sokoloff), they decide to fight back. Taking their few objects of value, three villagers ride to a town just inside the United States border hoping to barter for weapons. They are impressed by Chris Adams (Yul Brynner), a veteran Cajun gunslinger, and approach him for advice. Chris suggests they instead hire gunfighters to defend the village, as "men are cheaper than guns." At first agreeing only to help them recruit men, Chris eventually decides to lead the group. Despite the meager pay offered, he finds five willing gunmen. They are the gunfighter Vin Tanner (Steve McQueen), who has gone broke after a round of gambling and resists local efforts to recruit him as a store clerk; Chris's friend Harry Luck (Brad Dexter), who assumes Chris is hiding a much bigger reward for the work; the Irish Mexican Bernardo O'Reilly (Charles Bronson), who has fallen on hard times; Britt (James Coburn), an expert in both knife and gun who joins purely for the challenge involved; and the dapper, on-the-run gunman Lee (Robert Vaughn), plagued by nightmares of fallen enemies and haunted that he has lost his nerve for battle. On their way to the village they are trailed by the hotheaded Chico (Horst Buchholz), an aspiring gunfighter whose previous attempts to join Chris had been spurned. Impressed by his persistence, Chris invites him into the group. Arriving at the village, they work with the villagers to build fortifications and train them to defend themselves. They note the lack of women in the village, until Chico stumbles upon Petra (Rosenda Monteros) and discovers the women were hidden in fear that the gunmen would rape them. The gunmen begin to bond with the villagers, and Petra pursues Chico. When Bernardo points out that the gunmen are being given the choice food, the gunmen share it with the village children. Three of Calvera's men are dispatched to reconnoiter the village; due to a mistake by Chico the seven are forced to kill all three rather than capture at least one. Some days later Calvera and his bandits arrive in force. The seven and the villagers kill another eight of their cohort in a shootout and run them out of town. The villagers celebrate, believing Calvera will not return. But Chico infiltrates Calvera's camp and learns that Calvera must return, as his men are short of food. Some fearful villagers thereupon call for the gunfighters to leave. Even some of the seven waver, but Chris insists that they stay, even threatening to kill anyone who suggests giving up the fight. The seven ride out to make a surprise raid on Calvera's camp, but find it abandoned. Returning to the village, they are caught by Calvera and his men, who have colluded with some of the villagers to sneak in and take control. Calvera spares the seven's lives, believing they have learned the simple farmers are not worth fighting for, and fearing reprisals from the gunfighters' "friends" across the border. Preparing to depart, Chris and Vin admit they have become emotionally attached to the village. Bernardo likewise gets angry when the boys he befriended call their parents cowards. Chico declares that he hates the villagers; when Chris points out he grew up as a farmer as well, Chico angrily responds that it is men like Calvera and Chris who made the villagers what they are. The seven gunmen are escorted some distance from the village, where their weapons are returned to them. They debate their next move and all but Harry, who believes the effort will be futile and suicidal, agree to return and fight. The gunmen infiltrate the village and a gunfight breaks out. Harry, who has had a change of heart, returns in time to save Chris's life, but is himself fatally shot. Harry pleads to know what they were fighting for, and Chris lies about a hidden gold mine to let Harry believe he died for a fortune; Harry smiles before dying. Lee finds the nerve to burst into a house where several villagers are being held, shooting their captors and releasing the prisoners to join the fight, but is gunned down as he leaves the house. Bernardo, shot protecting the boys he befriended, tells them as he dies to see how bravely their fathers fought. Britt dies after shooting at many bandits but exposing himself from cover. Chris shoots Calvera, who asks him, "You came back... to a place like this? Why? A man like you? Why?" He dies without receiving an answer. The remaining bandits take flight. The three surviving gunmen ride out of town. As they stop atop a hill overlooking the village, Chico parts company with them, realizing he wants to stay with Petra. Chris and Vin bid farewell to the village elder, who tells them that only the villagers have really won, whereas the gunslingers are "like the wind, blowing over the land and passing on." As they pass the graves of their fallen comrades, Chris admits, "The Old Man was right. Only the farmers won. We lost. We'll always lose."Transcript of script. Accessed May 1, 2012.The film's closing lines echo the last words of the source film, Seven Samurai, spoken by the character Kambei: "Again we are defeated. The winners are those farmers. Not us." Cast Cast publicity photo of "The Seven". Left to right: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Horst Buchholz, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, and James Coburn ;The Seven *Yul Brynner as Chris Adams, a Cajun gunslinger, leader of the seven *Steve McQueen as Vin Tanner, a drifter *Charles Bronson as Bernardo O'Reilly, the professional in need of money *Robert Vaughn as Lee, the traumatized veteran *Horst Buchholz as Chico, the young, hot-blooded shootist *James Coburn as Britt, the knife expert *Brad Dexter as Harry Luck, the fortune seeker ;Others *Eli Wallach as Calvera, the lead Mexican bandit *Vladimir Sokoloff as the old man *Jorge Martínez de Hoyos as Hilario *Rosenda Monteros as Petra *Rico Alaniz as Sotero *Pepe Hern as Tomás *Natividad Vacío as Miguel *Robert J. Wilke as Wallace *Whit Bissell as Chamlee, the undertaker *Val Avery as Henry, the corset salesman *Bing Russell as Robert, Henry's traveling companion *Valentin de Vargas as Santos, a Calvera Henchman Production =Development= Yul Brynner approached producer Walter Mirisch with the idea of remaking Kurosawa's famous samurai film. But once Mirisch had acquired the rights from Japan's Toho Studios and finalized a distribution deal with United Artists, Brynner was sued for breach of contract by actor Anthony Quinn, who claimed that he and Brynner had developed the concept together and had worked out many of the film's details before the two had a falling-out. Quinn ultimately lost his claim because there was nothing in writing. =Writing= Script credit was a subject of contention. Associate producer Lou Morheim commissioned Walter Bernstein, a blacklisted scriptwriter, to produce the first draft "faithfully" adapted from the original script written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni and Akira Kurosawa; when executive producer Walter Mirisch and Brynner took over the production, they brought on Walter Newman, whose version "is largely what's on screen." When Newman was unavailable to be on-site during the film's principal photography in Mexico, William Roberts was hired, in part to make changes required by Mexican censors. When Roberts asked the Writers Guild of America for a co-credit, Newman asked that his name be removed from the credits. =Casting= Sturges was eager to cast Steve McQueen in the picture, having just worked with him on the 1959 film Never So Few, but McQueen could not get a release from actor/producer Dick Powell, who controlled McQueen's hit TV series Wanted Dead or Alive. On the advice of his agent, McQueen, an experienced race car driver, staged a car accident and claimed that he could not work on his series because he had suffered a whiplash injury and had to wear a neck brace. During the interval required for his "recuperation", he was free to appear in The Magnificent Seven. James Coburn was a great fan of the Japanese film Seven Samurai, having seen it 15 times, and was hired through the help of co-star and former classmate Robert Vaughn, after the role of the expert knifethrower had been rejected by actors Sterling Hayden and John Ireland. Robert Vaughn, who died on November 11, 2016, was the last surviving member of the main cast. Rosenda Monteros was the last surviving cast member until her death on December 29, 2018. =Filming= The film was shot by cinematographer Charles Lang in a 35mm anamorphic format using Panavision lens. Location shooting began on March 1, 1960, in Mexico, where both the village and the U.S. border town were built for the film. The location filming was in Cuernavaca, Durango, and Tepoztlán and at the Churubusco Studios.Filming & Production of The Magnificent Seven on IMDb. The first scenes were the first part of the six gunfighters' journey to the Mexican village prior to Chico being brought into the group. During filming there was considerable tension between Brynner and McQueen, who was displeased at his character having only seven lines of dialogue in the original shooting script (Sturges had told McQueen that he would "give him the camera"). To compensate, McQueen took numerous opportunities to upstage Brynner and draw attention to himself, including shielding his eyes with his hat, flipping a coin during one of Brynner's speeches, rattling his shotgun shells. Brynner, who was only half an inch taller than McQueen, would often build up a little mound of earth to stand on when the two actors were on camera together, only to have McQueen surreptitiously kick the dirt out of place before retakes. When newspapers started reporting on the altercations on set between the two, Brynner issued a press statement, declaring, "I never feud with actors. I feud with studios." Soundtrack The film's score is by Elmer Bernstein. Along with the readily recognized main theme and effective support of the story line, the score also contains allusions to twentieth-century symphonic works, such as the reference to Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, second movement, in the tense quiet scene just before the shoot out. The original soundtrack was not released at the time until reused and rerecorded by Bernstein for the soundtrack of Return of the Seven. Electric guitar cover versions by Al Caiola in the U.S. and John Barryp.14 Billboard February 27, 1961 in the U.K. were successful on the popular charts.Cusic, Don (2011). The Cowboy in Country Music: An Historical Survey with Artist Profiles. McFarland. p. 226. A vocal theme not written by Bernstein was used in a trailer. In 1994, James Sedares conducted a re-recording of the score performed by The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, which also included a suite from Bernstein's score for The Hallelujah Trail, issued by Koch Records; Bernstein himself conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for a performance released by RCA in 1997, but the original film soundtrack was not released until the following year by Rykodisc. (Varèse Sarabande reissued this album in 2004.) # Main Title and Calvera (3:56) # Council (3:14) # Quest (1:00) # Strange Funeral/After The Brawl (6:48) # Vin's Luck (2:03) # And Then There Were Two (1:45) # Fiesta (1:11) # Stalking (1:20) # Worst Shot (3:02) # The Journey (4:39) # Toro (3:24) # Training (1:27) # Calvera's Return (2:37) # Calvera Routed (1:49) # Ambush (3:10) # Petra's Declaration (2:30) # Bernardo (3:33) # Surprise (2:08) # Defeat (3:26) # Crossroads (4:47) # Harry's Mistake (2:48) # Calvera Killed (3:33) # Finale (3:27) At the 33rd Academy Awards, the score was nominated for Best Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, losing to Ernest Gold's score for Exodus. Many decades later, however, the score for The Magnificent Seven was listed at 8 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 25 American film scores. =In other media = Bernstein's score has frequently been quoted in the media and popular culture. Starting in 1963, the theme was used in commercials in the U.S. for Marlboro cigarettes for many years. A similar- sounding (but different) tune was used for Victoria Bitter beer in Australia. The theme was included in a scene of the James Bond film Moonraker. Other uses include in the 2004 documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11; in the 2005 film The Ringer; in the 2015 film Hardcore Henry; as entrance music for the British band James, as well as episodes of The Simpsons that had a "Western" theme (mainly in the episode titled "Dude, Where's My Ranch?"). The opening horn riff in Arthur Conley's 1967 hit "Sweet Soul Music" is borrowed from the theme. Canadian band Kon Kan use the opening bars of the theme in their single "I Beg Your Pardon". Celtic Football Club (Glasgow, Scotland) used the theme music whenever Henrik Larsson scored a goal. The 2008 J-pop song "Ōgoe Diamond" by AKB48 also used part of the main theme. The Cheers episode "Diane Chambers Day" (season 4, episode 22) revolves around the bar denizens being invited to watch The Magnificent Seven, and ends with them singing an a cappella version of the theme. The Mick Jones 1980s band Big Audio Dynamite covered the song as "Keep off the Grass" (although this cover was not officially released). In 1995, the KLF also did a drum and bass cover of the main title as "The Magnificent"; it was released under the group alias One World Orchestra on the charity compilation The Help Album. In 1992, the main theme of The Magnificent Seven came into use on a section of the Euro Disneyland Railroad at Disneyland Paris. Portions of the theme play as the train exits the Grand Canyon diorama tunnel behind Phantom Manor, enters Frontierland, and travels along the bank of the Rivers of the Far West. The "Main Title" was used as an intro tune on many nights of Bruce Springsteen's 2012 Wrecking Ball Tour. The theme was played as the E Street Band entered the stage, adding to the dramatic atmosphere in the stadium. Release The film opened October 12, 1960 in a thousand theaters across the South and Southwest of the United States. Box office In the United States and Canada, the film earned in theatrical rentals and was a box office disappointment, but proved to be such a smash hit in Europe that it ultimately made a profit.Mirisch, Walter (2008). I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History (p. 113). University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin. . The overseas rental was almost three times as much as in the U.S. with a total of $7.5 million, giving it worldwide rentals of $9.75 million. In Western Europe, the film sold tickets in Italy, 7,037,826 tickets in France, and 7.7million tickets in the United Kingdom, becoming one of the top 100 highest-grossing films in the United Kingdom and in France. It was also successful in Germany. In the Soviet Union (where Brynner was originally from), the film sold 67million tickets, becoming the highest-grossing Hollywood film ever in the Soviet Union (where it was among only a handful of Hollywood films to become blockbusters there). In South Korea, it sold 80,870 tickets in Seoul City, and it was also successful in Japan. This adds up to a total of at least 89,118,696 tickets sold in overseas territories. Critical reception Contemporary reviews were mixed to positive. Howard Thompson of The New York Times called the film a "pallid, pretentious and overlong reflection of the Japanese original"; according to Thompson, "don't expect anything like the ice-cold suspense, the superb juxtaposition of revealing human vignettes and especially the pile- driver tempo of the first Seven." According to Variety, "Until the women and children arrive on the scene about two-thirds of the way through, The Magnificent Seven is a rip-roaring rootin' tootin' western with lots of bite and tang and old-fashioned abandon. The last third is downhill, a long and cluttered anti-climax in which The Magnificent Seven grow slightly too magnificent for comfort." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called the film "rough, tough, funny and splashy most of the way. There's a serious dip the final third, but Keith's newcomer offers shrewd, vastly enjoyable performances." Harrison's Reports praised the film as "A superb Western, well acted and crammed full of action, human interest, pathos, suspense, plus some romance and humor." A positive review from Charles Stinson in the Los Angeles Times praised the dialogue as "by turns, virile, rowdily funny and then, abruptly, not always predictably, it is pensive, even gentle. John Sturges' direction is superbly staccato; making a knife-sharp use of pauses and silences, it brings out both the humor and melancholy, the humanity as well as the evil inherent in the situation." The Monthly Film Bulletin called the casting of Yul Brynner and Horst Buchholz "curious" and thought Chico's decision to stay put was "the film's most completely unbelievable contrivance," but still thought that "the film manages to be both impressive and likeable." Akira Kurosawa, for his part, was reportedly so impressed by the film that he presented John Sturges with a sword. The film has grown greatly in esteem since its release, in no small part due to its cast (several of whom were to go on to become superstars over the decade following its release) and its music score, but also due to the quality of the script. As of September 19, 2018, it has a score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes based on ratings of 41 critics. It is the second most shown film in U.S. television history, behind only The Wizard of Oz. The film is also ranked 79 on the AFI's list of American cinema's 100 most-thrilling films. Sequels and adaptations Three sequels were eventually made: Return of the Seven (1966), Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969), and The Magnificent Seven Ride (1972). None was as successful as the original film. The film also inspired a television series, The Magnificent Seven, which ran from 1998 to 2000. Robert Vaughn was a recurring guest star, a judge who hires the seven to protect the town in which his widowed daughter-in-law and his grandson live. The 1980 science fiction film Battle Beyond the Stars was a remake of The Magnificent Seven set in space. A group of mercenaries, including ones played by George Peppard (as a character known only as "Space Cowboy") and Robert Vaughn (playing essentially the same character as in The Magnificent Seven) defend farmers from space raiders on the planet Akira (named after Seven Samurai director Akira Kurosawa). The 1980s action-adventure series The A-Team was initially devised as a combination of The Dirty Dozen and The Magnificent Seven. The show's pilot film plays much on the plot of The Magnificent Seven, and there are similar plot echoes in various other episodes. James Coburn was originally approached to play John "Hannibal" Smith, the team's leader, a role that ultimately went to George Peppard in the series; and Robert Vaughn was added to the cast in the final season as part of a revamp attempt to boost fading ratings. Remake A remake of the film, with the same title, was released in 2016, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier and Peter Sarsgaard. See also * List of American films of 1960 References Bibliography External links *The Magnificent Seven essay by Stephen Prince on the National Film Registry web site * Category:1960 films Category:1960s Western (genre) films Category:Adaptations of works by Akira Kurosawa Category:American films Category:American remakes of Japanese films Category:American Western (genre) films Category:English- language films Category:Fictional mercenaries Category:Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Category:Films adapted into television shows Category:Films directed by John Sturges Category:Films set in Mexico Category:Films set in Texas Category:Films shot in Mexico Category:Films with screenplays by Walter Bernstein Category:Seven Samurai Category:Siege films Category:United Artists films Category:United States National Film Registry films Category:Films with screenplays by Walter Newman (screenwriter) Category:Revisionist Western Category:Magnificent Seven films "