Along with hundreds of interviews with musicians, artists, actors, writers this blog includes stories on making over 20 self-financed Tyneside social documentaries by Alikivi who has 30 years experience as a Film Maker based in Tyneside, UK.

Films include Wildflower about South Shields born Eileen O’Shaughnessy, wife of George Orwell, which was screened on the Isle of Jura where Orwell wrote 1984.

Little Ireland looks at Irish immigration into Jarrow, and a documentary on South Shields photographer & historian Amy Flagg, plus Tyneside ’80s rock music in We Sold Our Soul for Rock n Roll.

Secrets & Lies features the life of Italian born artist & author Baron Avro Manhattan who had homes in London, Spain and lived out his last years in South Shields. Why not check the Alikivi You Tube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkW7F_6t-GNVMCYLT4BNHfg

His photography collection was recently added to South Tyneside History website https://southtynesidehistory.co.uk/archive/photographs? 

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MUSIC & TV PRODUCTION FEATURES & INTERVIEWS:

BEDROCK NORTH EAST RADIO

BLAST (Newcastle recording studio)

CHAS CHANDLER  (The Animals, Manager Hendrix/Slade/21 Strangers)

CHRIS COWEY (TV music director Top of the Pops, The White Room, The Tube, Check it Out, Brit Awards)

CHRIS MURTAGH (Club manager Newcastle Dingwalls, UK promoter & musician)

CHRIS PHIPPS (TV music producer The Tube, Pebble Mill at One, author Forget Carter & Namedropper)

COLIN ROWELL (Stage Production Manager, Newcastle City Hall, Reading Festival, Knebworth, music programmes BBC, ITV, CH4 The Tube)

CHRIS SCOTT WILSON (author Backstage Pass & Boys in the Bands)

COLIN SMOULT (Sound & Lighting Engineer) 

DAVID WOOD (Wallsend Impulse Studio/NEAT record label)

GARY JAMES (presenter ’80s music TV show The Tube)

GEOFF DOCHERTY (Music author A Promoter’s Tale & Three Minutes of Magic & Promoter The Bay Hotel Sunderland)

GREG RENOFF (author Van Halen Rising, record Producer Ted Templeman)

GUARDIAN RECORDING STUDIO (Pity Me, Durham County) #1 Tygers of Pan Tang,  

#2 Spartan Warrior  #3 Steve Thompson 

#4 Mythra, Saracen, Hollow Ground 

#5 Peter Lee Hammond 

#6 Ghost Stories (Glenn Coates, Hollow Ground & Dave Wilkinson, Spartan Warrior)

#7 Battleaxe

HANS ZIMMER (Film/TV music composer)

IAN PENMAN (Ravendale – Music journalist – Sounds & broadcaster)

JIM SCULLEY (Manager Black Rose (NWOBHM) Promoter Rock Garden/Cavern, Bellingham Swan).

JULIE CLAY (Whitley Bay Ice Rink, Tyne Idols, Sunday for Sammy).

LISA MURPHY (Newcastle Recording Studio Producer)

LONDON CALLING: NIGHTS AT THE MARQUEE –

(North East bands playing the London club)

MARK JOHNSON (Newcastle Mayfair & City Hall Stagehand)

MARTIN FRANCIS TROLLOPE (Tyneside Studio engineer)

MICHAEL METCALF (The Tube, GMTV, Director)

NED KELLY & JACK BERRY (former workingmen’s club entertainers)

NIGEL PEARCE (Groove Britain radio presenter)

PETER MITCHELL (author Jack High, When the Boat Comes In, & ITV Producer)

PAR CAN (Lighting Tech/Stage Crew Newcastle City Hall, The Tubes tours)

PAUL KIRSOPP (NOVA radio DJ)

PHIL SUTCLIFFE (Music writer & author AC/DC High Voltage Rock n Roll, Queen – Ultimate Illustrated History)

RAY COONEY O.B.E (Writer/Director/Theatre Producer)

RAY DOBSON & TREVOR THORNE (Music in Sunderland)

RAY SPENCER M.B.E (Director, The Customs House)

RAW MEAT IN THE SONIC MINCER (Music Weeklies/Sounds)

RIK WALTON (photographer Newcastle City Hall 1970-80s)

ROBERT MILLS (Rock Music Concert Promoter)

ROKSNAPS – (Fan’s concert photographs) #1 – #7

SALLY NEWHOUSE (photographer 2000s rock music)

SOUNDS (music newspaper)

STAN LAUNDON (BBC Radio presenter)

STEVE NEWHOUSE (roadie/crew supervisor, author Iron Maiden Years)

STEVE THOMPSON (Songwriter & Neat records producer)

STU KEEBLE (North East Sound Engineer)

TREVOR HORN (Record Producer).

TREVOR RISTOW (Waiting for Another War: History of The Sisters of Mercy)

NORTH EAST ROCK & PROG MUSIC:

ALAN BURKE (Southbound) – ALAN KNIGHTS – ANIMALS

ATTENTION SEEKERS – BARRY LAMB (Miniatures 2020)

BECKETT – BULLFROG – BRASS ALLEY – CIRKUS – DANCECLASS

EAST SIDE TORPEDOES – FIELD MUSIC – FOGG – GEORDIE

HECTOR GANNET – IAN SLATER  – JOHN VERITY (Argent)

LEE ROBERTSON (She) – LORRAINE CROSBY – MICHAEL McNALLY

MICKY CRYSTAL (Tygers of Pan Tang/New Breed Revolution)

MICKY KERRIGAN – PETER LEE HAMILTON 

PROCESSION – THE QUESTIONNAIRES 

SAM BLEWITT (Ultravox/Emerson/Moulin Rouge/Dizzee Rascal)

SHE – SOUTHBOUND – STEVE LAIDLAW 

TOKYO ROSE – TONY HODGE (The Pirahna Brothers)

THE WHISKY PRIESTS – WARBECK – WHITE HEAT.

NORTH EAST PUNK/ALTERNATIVE:

ANGELIC UPSTARTS – BASTARD SONS OF CAVAN

THE CARPETTES (Neil Thompson) – CRASHED OUT

DECONTROL – DREW GALLON (Sweet Trash/Shotgun Brides/For Gods Sake)

DRILL – THE FAUVES – THE FIEND – GUNSLINGER

HI-FI SPITFIRES – JAZZ RIOT – LOWFEYE – MAIN GRAINS

MOND COWIE (former Angelic Upstarts) – NOD 

NEVER MIND THE SEVENTIES (North East punk book)

PENETRATION – PHANTOMS of the UNDERGROUND – PSYKOBILLY

PUNISHMENT OF LUXURY –  THE RELITICS

THE SADISTIC SLOBS – SILENT SCREAM – THE TOY DOLLS

UK SUBS – WARWOUND – WAVIS O’SHAVE – THE WILDHEARTS.

NORTH EAST METAL/NWOBHM:

1980 THE YEAR METAL FORGED ON TYNESIDE

ALIEN – ATOMKRAFT – AVENGER UK

AXIS – BATTLEAXE – BLIND FURY – BLITZKRIEG

DARK HEART  – DEF CON ONE – FIST – GLENN COATES

HELLANBACH – HOLLOW GROUND 

MARAUDER  – MILLENNIUM – MYTHRA  

NEAT BITES (Tyneside record label)

PHASSLAYNE – RAVEN 

ROKSNAX METAL ON THE MENU (Roksnax album)

SARACEN – SATAN – SLUTT  – SPARTAN WARRIOR.  

TYGERS OF PAN TANG  – 

Craig Ellis – Dean Robertson – Gav Grey – Huw Holding – Jack Meille – Jon Deverill 

Micky McCrystal – Fred Purser – Robb Weir – Brian Dick 

Richard Laws – Steve Lamb – Chris Percy – Tony Liddle

Glenn Howes – Steve Thompson – Francesco Marris.

TYSONDOG – VENOM INC – WAR MACHINE

WARFARE – WARRIOR – WHITE VICE.

NORTH EAST FOLK & BLUES MUSIC INTERVIEWS:

BEN HUDSON – CELIA BRYCE – CHRIS ORMSTON

ED JAMES – EMMA  WILSON – HAYLEY ELLEN  

JEN STEVENS  – JOHN WRIGHTSON

JOE PETERSON & MICHAEL DAVIS 

LESLEY DUNCAN (Singer/songwriter 1943-2010)

LINDISFARNE – PHIL CAFFREY 

TOBY TWIRL – TONY WILSON – TREVOR SEWELL.

NORTH EAST SOUL/JAZZ/DANCE/POP/INDIE:

AMATEUR ORNOTHOLIGIST 

AUTOLEISURELAND (ex The Kane Gang)

DAVID FRANCIS (musician & leader South Tyneside Green party group)

DEMON SUMMER – DAVE BREWIS (The Kane Gang)

DAVID DUCASSE (Scooch) – IAN MUNRO (Opus 3)

MARK ROBERTSON – PROCESSION – VINCENT EDWARDS 

WORLDWIDE METAL/NWOBHM:

ANVIL – BERNIE TORME  

BODO SCHOPF (Schenker) – CHARIOT – CLOVEN HOOF

DEALER – DESOLATION ANGELS 

GOLD  – GREG RENOFF (Author of Van Halen Rising)

JON ZAZULA (Music Manager -Metallica – & Megaforce record company founder)

JAGUAR  – LYIN’ RAMPANT 

OLIVER/DAWSON SAXON – OVERDRIVE 

PAUL DI’ANNO – SACRELIGE – SALEM

SAVAGE  – SNATCH BACK – SOLDIER – TAROT

THUNDERSTICK  –  TOKYO BLADE

TROYEN – TYTAN  – VARDIS –  WEAPON UK. 

REVIEWS:  ANVIL (Metal City) – LOWFEYE

TYGERS OF PAN TANG (Ritual)

EXTRA INTERVIEWS: 

ALAN WARREN (Researcher & Historian George Orwell, Spanish Civil War)

EMMA LEWELL-BUCK (South Shields MP)

JOHN GIBSON (Sports journalist & author – Gibbo Files, Newcastle United Story)

MARTIN SMITH (ex-professional footballer Sunderland AFC)

PAULA BARTLEY (author Ellen Wilkinson M.P)

PRESTON BROWN (Boxing coach/Fire fighter)

RICHARD BLAIR (George Orwell’s son/The Orwell Society)

ROB KILBURN (author Tyne & Weird)

TREVOR WOOD (crime writer, Dead End Street)

VIN ARTHEY (The Kremlins Geordie Spy)

ARTISTS:

AIDAN DOYLE (Artist) 

ANDREW McKEOWN (Sculptor)

BOB OLLEY (Artist)

DAVID G. WILKINSON (Artist)

GAN CANNY (Sunderland sculpture by Ray Lonsdale)

GARNER HARRIS (Creative Seed)

JOE HILL (Graffiti Artist)

L.S. LOWRY (Artist 1887-1976)

RAY LONSDALE (Sculpture)

SHEILA GRABER (Animator)

UNIFIED MEDIA (Tyneside Film Makers)

VINCE RAE (Jarrow photographer/artist).

PHOTOGRAPHY:

AMY FLAGG (Historian 1893-1965)

ARCHIVE COLLECTION (Changing Face of South Tyneside 2010-20)

DOWNEY BROTHERS (18-1900s)

FRAMING HISTORY (Photos Capture a Decade of Changes)

FRANK MEADOW SUTCLIFFE (1853-1941)

JAMES CLEET (1876-1959)

LAST GANGS IN TOWN – (Photography of South Tyneside bands late 1990’s)

WILL BINKS (1980s Punk fanzine & live music photography)

POETRY:

KATRINA PORTEOUS (Poet/Broadcaster)

KEITH ARMSTRONG (Poet) 

RED SQUIRREL PRESS (Poetry Publishers)

TOM KELLY (Poet & Playwright)

ACTORS & STAGE:

ALISON STANLEY (Sex is Hard Work, Life of Riley theatre)

ANN AHMED (Playwrite – Our Laygate)

BRIAN RAPKIN (Machine Gunners (BBC) Stranger Than Fiction (ITV) Spender, Byker Grove)

ED WAUGH (Playwright – Wor Bella, Dirty Dusting, Sunday for Sammy)

EVA ELWES (Actress & Playwright 1876-1950)

GAVIN WEBSTER (UK comedian)

HELEN RUSSELL (E.N.S.A, Beverly Agency, The Customs House, Spender)

IAIN CUNNINGHAM (Boyle Yer Stotts)

JAMIE BROWN (Machine Gunners, When the Boat Comes In)

LEAH BELL (Writer, Actress & Theatre Producer)

LESLEY SAINT – JOHN (Auf Wedersehen Pet, Byker Grove)

MICKY COCHRANE (Carrying David)

PETE PEVERLY (R.S.C, Sunday for Sammy, Once the musical)

SIMON DONALD (UK comedian/VIZ magazine)

STEVE WRAITH (Rise of the Footsoldier, In Our Name, Vera) 

WAYNE MILLER (Big Time, Wearside Jack (ITV) Boyle Yer Stotts)

TYNESIDE HISTORY:

ADAM BELL (South Shields Museum & Art Gallery)

ALEXANDRA CROOM (Arbeia Roman Fort, South Shields)

BUTCH CASSIDY (Wild West outlaw).

DAN GREEN (Tyneside Unexplained Investigator)

DAVE HARKER (author The Northern Minstrels) 

DAVID KIDD (author The People’s Roman Remains Park)

DOROTHY FLEET (South Shields History Group)

HIVE RADIO STORYTELLERS (St Bede’s Junction Rail Disaster 1915)

JACK BRYMER (South Shields born musician, clarinet 1915-2003)

JAMES DUNLOP (South Shields Councillor, Alderman, Mayor 1865-1938)

JANIS BLOWER (The Shields Gazette journalist & author Al’ T’gither Like the Folks O’ Shields)

JEAN STOKES (South Shields History Group)

JOHN CAFFERY (Ladysmith Street, South Shields Connection to the Boer War, St Bede’s Junction Rail Disaster)

JOHN IRVIN (Film Director 1940 – )

JOHN ORTON (author 5 Stone Steps: A Policeman’s Life in 1920’s South Shields)

KATHY STOBART (Jazz musician 1925-2014)

NORMAN DUNN (Photograph/Postcard collector)

RICHARD EWART M.P. (South Shields Councillor, Trade Union Organiser, Sunderland MP 1905 -1953)

TOMMY BROWN (Royal Navy 1942)

VICTORIA CROSS HEROES – #6 to #10

WAR HEROES – #1 to #5 (WW1 & WW2 Victoria Cross).

RESEARCH:

CHANGING FACE OF SOUTH SHIELDS 1 – 4 (Photographs)

DARK ARTS OF THE STASI 1 – 6 – (East German Secret Police)

FAMILY TIES (family ancestry) #1 Galway Claddagh & Jarrow Don

#2 Full Moon & an Irish Wake #3 Jarrow Slacks & the Galway Hooker

LETTERS FROM JARROW 1 – 3 –

(Tyneside IRA, Jarrow March, Ellen Wilkinson MP)

LOOKING FOR LUCIFER #1  –  #6  (Second film on Baron Avro Manhattan) 

POSTCARDS FROM SPAIN 1 – 13 (Spanish Civil War)

RUSSIA’S ROSWELL – Alien Mystery at Kapistan Yar

WITNESS – (10 Events of World War Two)

FILMING & DOCUMENTARIES:

DESIGNS FOR LIFE (Tattoo’s)

THE HILLS OF HOLBORN (South Shields)

HOME FROM HOME (Workingmen’s Clubs)

JARROW VOICES –

(William Jobling, Jarrow March, Ellen Wilkinson MP)

LITTLE IRELAND (Irish immigration into Jarrow)

ON THE FRONT LINE (Miners strike 1984)

SECRETS & LIES (Baron Avro Manhattan) 

SKUETENDERS (Lawe Top, South Shields) 

SUMMER MUSIC ON THE TYNE (camerawork at Tyneside festivals) 

TYNE DOCK BORDERS (South Shields)

THE KING, THE QUEEN & THE PUNK –

(Muhammad Ali, Angelic Upstarts 1977)

TYNE STORIES (Pilots, Foyboatmen, Tugboatmen)

WAR STORIES (South Tyneside 2nd W.W.)

WESTOE ROSE (Amy Flagg, photographer)

WE SOLD OUR SOUL FOR ROCK N ROLL –

(Rock Music in 70/80s South Tyneside)

WHO WERE THE MARCHERS ? (Jarrow Crusade 1936)

WILDFLOWER (Eileen O’Shaughnessy, George Orwell’s wife)

ZAMYATIN (The Russia – Tyneside Connection) 

VINYL JUNKIES: 7 songs that shaped their world

NEIL ARMSTRONG – WILL BINKS – JOHN HESTON

MARTIN POPOFF – COLIN SMOULT – NEIL NEWTON

TONY HIGGINS – VINCE HIGH – JON DALTON

GARY PAYNE.

BIG MOUTH STRIKES:

HAVE YOU HEARD THIS ONE ? –

#1 #2 #3 #4  (‘Best of ‘ stories from interviews)

IT’S ONLY ROCK N ROLL

MOTORHEAD (8th of May)

GOOD TO KNOW THERE’S STILL A LITTLE BIT OF MAGIC IN THE AIR

(How music has affected me)

HIT THE LIGHTS (First time I heard Metallica)

LET THE MUSIC DO THE TALKING

LOST IN THE SUPERMARKET – Has music lost its value ?

MUSIC SURPRISES – UDO, PAT & ALF

PORT VALE HEAVY METAL HOLOCAUST 1981

PYROMANIAX – 

(Bands using pyro & bombs on stage- what could go wrong)

ROCKIN’ ALL OVER THE TOON

& ROCKIN’ ALL OVER THE TOON AGAIN ( The Chronicle)

SOUNDS ALIVE & POWER OF MUSIC

THIS FLIGHT (Airlines damaged instruments)

TUNE IN/TURN ON (Music TV in 70s & 80s)

TYNE DOCK ON THE TELLY (Film & TV locations)

 

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