Back in 1981 a new sitcom was first shown on British television. Written by John Sullivan and starring David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst & Lennard Pearce, it went on to have 10 successful years.
The name of this sitcom? Well, it's was "Only Fools And Horses".
When it first started the show was very slow to win the hearts of the nation, but it eventually become the most popular TV show in TV history.
The program centered around the core 3 family members, Del Boy (David Jason), his plonker Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) & Grandad (Lennard Pearce). Backed by a excellent supporting cast, the show highlighted the humour, sadness and bond of a not so typical family life in London.
Living in a high rise council flat in Peckham, South London, the two brothers we local traders who would sell anything and to anyone with not much luck. However they did have a dream that "this time next year, we be millionaires". In their quest to become millionaires, they tried to sell Russian Army camcorders, luminous yellow paint and the famous sex dolls filled with explosive gas as part of their unregistered company of Trotters Independent Traders (T.I.T. for short).
The boys used their trusty, but very rusty yellow three wheeler Reliant Regal van to export their products. This car become as iconic as the show itself.
Although the show only ran for 10 years, the TV watching public were treated to a number of Christmas specials. 1996's "Time On Our Hands" took the record for the UK's highest rating show ever with 24.3 million viewers tuning in to sell Del Boy & Rodney finally becoming millionaires.
The beloved series also produced some spin-offs, which included The Green Green Grass & Rock And Chips. In addition, it also produced a wide range of merchandise, which I'm sure Del Boy would have been happy to sell out of his old suitcase down the market.
The BBC has recently announced that Del Boy & Rodney will be reunited for a one-off special sketch for this year's Sport Relief charity broadcast. David Beckham is also set to appear in this sketch.
Why did I start to write about this annoying "toy"?
Well, my two children had one each for Christmas and it brought back many frustrating memories of this puzzle.
I, too, had one when I was a child. However I think mine ended up in the bin after many years of tears whilst trying to solve this popular 80s past time. Wish I kept my original, just to show my children that I once suffered :)
So what is the rubix cube?
Invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik, who originally named it the "Magic Cube". In 1980 Rubik licensed the puzzle to the Ideal Toy Corp, who went on to produce the puzzle Worldwide.
The new product went on to become a huge success (and to date has sold over 350 million units). Also becoming one of the biggest selling "must have".
Youngsters & adults went crazy for the puzzle, with many new records being broken via many competitions set up. Media pushed the craze further with many people taking on their 15 minutes of fame by showing their skills with the puzzle. Thus was born "speedcubing".
The first world championship organised by the Guinness Book of World Records was held in Munich on March 13, 1981. All Cubes were moved 40 times and lubricated with petroleum jelly. The official winner, with a record of 38 seconds, was Jury Froeschl, born in Munich. The first international world championship was held in Budapest on June 5, 1982, and was won by Minh Thai, a Vietnamese student from Los Angeles, with a time of 22.95 seconds.
In addition to official competitions, informal alternative competitions have been held which invite participants to solve the Cube in unusual situations. Some such situations include:
Blindfolded solving
Solving the Cube with one person blindfolded and the other person saying what moves to make, known as "Team Blindfold"
Multiple blindfolded solving, or "multi-blind", in which the contestant solves any number of cubes blindfolded in a row
Solving the Cube underwater in a single breath
Solving the Cube using a single hand
Solving the Cube with one's feet
Solving the Cube in the fewest possible moves
Below are some the current World records :
Single time: The current world record for single time on a 3×3×3 Rubik's Cube was set by Mats Valk of the Netherlands in March 2013 with a time of 5.55 seconds at the Zonhoven Open in Belgium.
Average time: The world record for average time per solve was set by Feliks Zemdegs at the Melbourne Cube Day 2013, with a 6.54 second average solve time.
One-handed solving: A time of 9.03 seconds was made by Feliks Zemdegs at the Lifestyle Seasons Summer 2014. Michał Pleskowicz solved five cubes in an average time of 12.67 seconds at the Cubing Spring Grudziadz 2012.
Feet solving: Fakhri Raihaan solved a Rubik's Cube with his feet in 27.93 seconds at the Celebes 2012.
Group solving (12 minutes): The record for most people solving a Rubik's Cube at once in twelve minutes is 134, set on 17 March 2010 by school boys from Dr Challoner's Grammar School, Amersham, England, breaking the previous Guinness World Record of 96 people at once.
Group solving (30 minutes): On November 21, 2012, at the O2 Arena in London, 1414 people, mainly students from schools across London, solved the Rubik's Cube in under 30 minutes, breaking the previous Guinness World Record of 937. The event was hosted by Depaul UK
On November 4, 2012, 3248 people, mainly students of College of Engineering Pune, successfully solved the Rubik's cube in 30 minutes on college ground. The successful attempt is Recorded in the Limca Book of Records. The college will submit the relevant data, witness statements and video of the event to Guinness authorities.
Blindfold solving: The record for blind solving is held by Marcin Zalewski of Poland, who solved a cube blindfolded in 23.80 seconds (including memorization) at the Polish Nationals in 2013.
Multiple blindfold solving: The record is held by Marcin Kowalczyk of Poland, who successfully solved 35 of 41 cubes blindfolded at the Polish Nationals 2013.
Fewest moves solving: Tomoaki Okayama (岡山友昭) of Japan holds the record of 20 moves set at the 2012 Czech Open.
Non-human solving: The fastest non-human time for a physical 3×3×3 Rubik's Cube is 5.27 seconds, set by CubeStormer II, a robot built using Lego Mindstorms and a Samsung Galaxy S2. This broke the previous record of 10.69 seconds, achieved by final year computing students at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia in 2011.
How do you following up a multi-platinum album that help define a genre?
By releasing another master piece that sets the standard for all future recordings.
Hailing from Sheffield in England (UK), Def Leppard burst onto the music map as part of the NWOBHM scene. However, unlike their peers the band were influenced by the Glam rock of the 70s, amongst others which helped shape their sound.
In 1983 the band released their 3rd record, Pyromania, which shaped the sound of 80s rock and the approach to recording music. Hiring the talents of Robert "Mutt" Lange and writing the best songs of their career, the band produced this timeless classic.
However it would be another 4 years before the band would release the follow up and what a journey they had during that period.
Riding high on the success of their Pyromania release, the band spent the majority of their time on the road. Playing to sell out audiences across the globe. With it came money, success and plenty of vices.
The band also experienced a number of lows, the main one being Rick Allen's car accident that almost ruined his career. The drummer had lost his arm and this put his future in Def Leppard into doubt. How many one arm drummers are there?
However, Def Leppard were a group of "brothers" who supported and never lost faith in each other. The band allowed Rick to recover whilst they continued to work on their 4th album. During this time the band had already recorded an album with producer Jim Steinmen. Which was eventually scrapped due to the producer's methods of recording, the band weren't happy with him and the results that he produced. Therefore they teamed up with Mutt once again and worked hard to better their previous attempts.
The work on the album proved to be very difficult with Mutt pushing the band to give 100% plus much more. In addition they were concerned for Rick, who was making excellent recovery and was working on playing the drums again with only one arm.
Finally on the 3rd August 1987, Def Leppard released HYSTERIA. The album went onto sell over 20 million units around the World, with 12 million being sold in the USA. The album produced 7 hit singles, including the title track.
Rick returned to the band as their drummer and with the help of Simmons produced an electronic drum kit that allowed him to use his legs where he would have normally used his arms. Rick's comeback was sealed at the 1986 Monsters Of Rock festival at Donington's Race Track, with an emotionally charged ovation after his introduction by singer, Joe Elliot.
During the touring of the album the band played "In The Round". A stage that had 4 stage fronts. This was an unique stage and allowed the band to play stadiums and arenas as if they were clubs. The stage was centred in the middle of the venue and the band were transported to the stage in laundry baskets.
The album was also the last studio release that guitarist, Steve Clark, played on before his death in 1991. However songs written by Steve would appear on the band's follow up, Adrenalize which was released in 1992.
During March & April of 2013, Def Leppard celebrated the success of the Hysteria album with a run of shows at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The band performed the album in it's entirety and official running order. This has just been released as a live album and DVD / Blu Ray and is worth watching (see www.frontiers.it & www.defleppard.com for details)
*The band are planning another visit to play their Pyromania album in full.*
27 years on and the album still sounds fresh. I don't think that there has been album since that redefined the way music is produced. With a collection of great songs, every home should have a copy. Go on treat yourself to a copy.
