My Cool Sixties - The Exhibition

If you can remember the Sixties, they say you couldn’t have been there. But now you CAN be there, whatever your memories, for one whole month - courtesy of Eastbourne Under Ground Theatre.

Throughout April, under the umbrella title “My Cool Sixties”, the theatre foyer will be displaying a set of photographs of iconic Sixties pop and rock stars by photographers Barry Norman, Chris Walter and Dave Kindred – while the regular Saturday morning onstage music will come exclusively from that magic decade.

The pictures all feature in an autobiography, with the same title, by former rock journalist Tony Norman, and have rarely been seen in public. Look and wonder at the Who, the Stones, the Kinks, John and Yoko, the Hollies, the Searchers and more – all still in the first flush of youth. Photographer Barry Norman recalls taking pictures at the cult TV show, “Ready, Steady, Go”, but, he says, they were never published at the time.

The exhibition will be open to the public every Friday and Saturday, from 10am until 4pm. Entry is free. Coffee and tea will be on sale throughout – usually with home-made cakes!

Tony Norman himself will be on stage at the Under Ground on the morning of the final day of the exhibition, Saturday April 27th, sharing his memories of growing up in London as a rock writer and as a member of a mod group who dreamed of pop celebrity. He’ll also be demonstrating his considerable guitar and vocal talents with distinctive acoustic versions of some great Sixties songs, alongside Al Collins (harmonica) and Bruce Pont (percussion). The other 60s events will feature Cornflower Blue & Friends (April 6th), the Botticellis (13th) and Shadows tribute band The Boys (20th).