- Arts in Birmingham
This article is about
culture and thearts in the city ofBirmingham ,England . It covers both notable history and notable contemporary activities.Popular music
History
Birmingham has had a vibrant and varied musical history in popular pop and rock music, since the 1950s.
1950s
Fifties bands such as
Billy King and the Nightriders , Pat Wayne and The Deltas and The Dominettes gave rise in the following decade to theBrum Beat era of the early 1960s featuring early progressive rock andblues bands such as TheSpencer Davis Group , Traffic,The Fortunes ,The Rockin Berries , TheIdle Race ,The Moody Blues andThe Move (members of the last two going on to form TheElectric Light Orchestra andWizzard ).1960s
The
Brum Beat era of the early 1960s featured early progressive rock andblues bands such as TheSpencer Davis Group , Traffic,The Fortunes ,The Rockin Berries , TheIdle Race ,The Moody Blues andThe Move (members of the last two going on to form TheElectric Light Orchestra andWizzard ).The city is often cited as the birthplace of
heavy metal music Inote|Konow|Konow in the late 1960s, withJudas Priest andBlack Sabbath coming from Birmingham.Robert Plant andJohn Bonham , later members ofLed Zeppelin and being local to the city, played in bands which were part of the Birmingham music scene, they performed and rehearsed frequently in the city.Rob Halford of Judas Priest attributes the band's success to "'Birmingham having that [...] tough, working-class feeling [...] We weren't born with asilver spoon in our mouths. We had to go to work and work really hard. Some people that work in acoal mine or work in the car industry might argue and say, 'These guys haven't worked a day in their lives.' That's not true. To be in a band – to be in a worldwide, successful band – is incredibly hard work." [http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050610/ENT/506100344/1031/NEWS03]Also in the late 1960s, there were psychedelic rock bands, such as
Bachdenkel , who "Rolling Stone" called “Britain’s Greatest Unknown Group”.1970s
In the 1970s members of The Move and The Moody Blues formed the
Electric Light Orchestra andWizzard . In the 1970s, Birmingham's increasingWest Indian population contributed to the popularity ofreggae , withSteel Pulse 's ground-breaking album "Handsworth Revolution " being a notable product of the time.Early 1980s
As the 1980s arrived, the Rum Runner
nightclub played a significant role in rock music in the city, particularly in the case ofNew Romantic supergroupDuran Duran .Dexys Midnight Runners , Stephen "Tintin" Duffy andThe Bureau also emanated from the city's music scene at this time.Later
Musical Youth ,UB40 , the first truly mixed-race UK dub band, andPato Banton found commercial success, as did2 Tone band The Beat who drew their influences from Jamaican ska music.Political skiffle was, for a short time in the mid-1980s, a notable Birmingham sound - led by bands such as
Terry & Gerry .The hip hop scene dates back to at least 1980, and has produced popular performers like
Moorish Delta 7 and Brothers and Sisters. The city had apirate radio station called 'Fresh F.M.' which broadcast from the city. The station played hip hop and breakdance records and inspired a rap crew calledJump who released two records, 'We Come to Jam' and 'Feel It', as early as 1985. In 1980 a Birmingham rapper 'Sure Shot' appeared on a UK breakfast show, followed in 1985, a hip hop collective named Jump (which included Sure Shot) released two records; 'We Come to Jam' and 'Feel It'. The crew formed 'The Audio Kings' and 'The Black Prophetz'.Late 1980s
Later in the 1980s,
Grindcore music, a blend of punk and heavy metal, was pioneered in the city byNapalm Death . The Charlatans, Dodgy, Felt,The Lilac Time , andOcean Colour Scene were other notable rock bands founded in the city and its surrounding area in this period.Pop Will Eat Itself formed in nearbyStourbridge and consisted of Birmingham band members, as didNeds Atomic Dustbin .The city embraced the national
acid house scene (seeBirmingham House music scene ), supported by local figures such as the lateTony De Vit ,Steve Lawler andScott Bond .Acid house nights such as Spectrum took place at theDigbeth Institute (now the Sanctuary),C.R.E.A.M. , the Hummingbird (now theCarling Academy Birmingham ), and The Que Club (one of the biggest clubs the city has ever had). Birmingham has given birth to some of the UK's most influential dance nightsGatecrasher ,Sundissential ,Atomic Jam , and later,Gods Kitchen . Successful house musicians and DJs included the lateTony De Vit ,Steve Lawler ,Steve Kelley ,Scott Bond , Jem Atkins, Al McKenzie, Colin Dred, The Ryan Brothers, Mark Jarman, Patrick Smooth,Tall Paul andJeremy Sylvester .1990s
Electronic artists include
electro dub music creatorsRockers Hi-Fi ,Big Beat musiciansBentley Rhythm Ace ,UK garage /house actThe Streets , andElectronica bands Broadcast, Pram, Plone, Surgeon,Add N to X ,Electribe 101 ,Mistys Big Adventure ,Editors and Avrocar.Electroacoustic and experimental music emerged in the city, via ensembles such as BEAST.
The city's cultural diversity also contributed to the blend of
bhangra andragga pioneered byApache Indian in Handsworth. When hip hop performerAfrika Bambaata visited Britain he inspired newrappers and hip hopDJ s includingMoorish Delta 7 Elements, Roc1, Mad Flow, Creative Habits, Lord Laing and DJ Sparra (twice winner of theDMC mixing championships). Brothers and Sisters took place in the 'Coast to Coast' club in the old ATV television studios on Broad Street in the early 1990s. Then cameFungle Junk , held for many years beneathHouse music club 'Fun '., and bringingThe Psychonaughts ,Andy Weatherall and theScratch Perverts to the city.List of notable historical musical artists
Successful Birmingham singer/songwriters and musicians include:
Joan Armatrading , Steve Gibbons,Mike Kellie (ofSpooky Tooth ),Keith Law (Velvett Fogg & Jardine)Jeff Lynne ,Phil Lynott ,Carl Palmer (ofEmerson Lake and Palmer ),Roy Wood ,Jamelia , Kelli Dayton of TheSneaker Pimps ,Martin Barre (guitarist with Jethro Tull),Bev Bevan ,Ali Campbell ,Steve Cradock (guitarist for Ocean Colour Scene and Paul Weller), Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy,Tony Iommi ,Ozzy Osbourne ,Denny Laine ,Fritz Mcintyre (keyboardist ofSimply Red ),Christine Perfect (ofFleetwood Mac ), Robert Plant (born in West Brom and played in Brumbeat bands),Nick Rhodes ,Ranking Roger ,John Henry Rostill (bass guitarist/composer forThe Shadows ),Matt Skinner ,Dave Swarbrick (ofFairport Convention ), John Taylor, Roger Taylor,Ruby Turner ,Ted Turner (guitar/vocals,Wishbone Ash ),Peter Overend Watts ,Steve Winwood andDave Mason .Nick Mason ofPink Floyd was born in the city and was brought up in London."See also:
List of songs about Birmingham ""See also: "
Famous instruments
Birmingham-based tape recorder company, Bradmatic Ltd helped develop and manufacture the
Mellotron . Over the next 15 years, the Mellotron had a major impact on rock music and is a trademark sound of the progressive rock bands.Contemporary bands and labels
Many varieties of electronic and dance music continue to cross-fertilise in the city with acts such as
Bentley Rhythm Ace ,The Streets ,Rockers Hi-Fi ,Editors , Surgeon,Mistys Big Adventure ,Munchbreak , and Broadcast.Notable dance music record labels include
Network records (ofAltern8 fame), Different Drummer,Urban Dubz Records ,Badger promotions ,Jibbering records , Iron Man,Earko andMunchbreak records .Punch Records , in the Custard Factory, run street dance and DJ training courses.Independent shops in the city selling
vinyl records include Swordfish Records, Tempest Records,Jibbering records ,Punch Records , Old School Daze, Dance Music Finder Records, Three Shades Records andHard To Find Records , which is the original 'dance music finder' in the UK and now trades as one the largest vinyl record and DJ shops in the world. Summit Records sells mainlyreggae and doubles as anAfro Caribbean barbers.Contemporary Venues and Music Festivals
Birmingham's current music venues - large and small - include Symphony Hall at the ICC, The
National Indoor Arena ,Carling Academy Birmingham , theNational Exhibition Centre , The CBSO Centre, The Glee Club, The Adrian Boult Hall at Birmingham Conservatoire, The Yardbird, mac (Midlands Arts Centre) at Cannon Hill Park, TheCustard Factory , theDrum Arts Centre , TheJam House , and pub and bar venues including The Rainbow (Digbeth), The Bull's Head (in the suburb of Moseley), The Cross (Moseley), the Ceol Castle (Moseley), the Hare and Hounds (Kings Heath), Scruffy Murphy's, the Jug of Ale, The Queen's Arms (city centre), a branch of Barfly and the Hibernian.Leftfoot is a soul jazz and funk night that has featured on BBC Radio 1.Party in the Park is Birmingham's largest annual music festival, atCannon Hill Park , where up to 30,000 revellers of all ages listen to popular chart music.The newest music festival that Birmingham has to offer is [http://www.Gigbeth.com/ Gigbeth] , first piloted in March 2006 and now annual on the first weekend of November in Digbeth. Gigbeth is a music festival celebrating local independent music from the West Midlands.
Jazz
Jazz is popular in the city. Many venues support a jazz scene in the city, often promoted by [http://www.birminghamjazz.co.uk/Birmingham Jazz ] . Jazz musicians associated with the city includeSoweto Kinch ,Julian Arguelles ,Ronnie Ball ,Tony Kinsey ,Douglas "Dougle" Robinson andKing Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys .The busiest promoter of contemporary jazz in the city is the voluntary organisation
Birmingham Jazz , which mounts dozens of concerts every year featuring local, national and international artists in venues such as the CBSO Centre, the mac arts centre, the Glee Club and Symphony Hall. It enjoys the support of the city council and theArts Council of England and also commissions new works from both local performers and performers of international standing.Classical music
History
The
Birmingham Triennial Music Festival took place from 1784–1912 and was considered the grandest of its kind throughout Britain. Music was written for the festival by Mendelssohn,Gounod , Sullivan, Dvořák, Bantock and most notablyElgar , who wrote four of his most famous choral pieces for Birmingham.Albert William Ketèlbey was born in Alma Street, Aston on 9 August 1875, the son of a teacher at theVittoria School of Art . Ketèlbey attended theTrinity College of Music , where he beat the runner-up,Gustav Holst , for a musical scholarship.Groups, venues and orchestras
The internationally-renowned
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 's home venue is Symphony Hall, which in acoustic terms is widely considered to be one of the greatest concert halls of the twentieth century and also hosts concerts by many visiting orchestras.Other professional orchestras based in the city include the
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group , a chamber orchestra specialising in modern music with some world premieres; theRoyal Ballet Sinfonia , who give concert performances under music director Barry Wordsworth in addition to playing for the Birmingham Royal Ballet; andEx Cathedra , one of the country's oldest and most respected early-music and Baroque period instrument ensembles.Birmingham is an important centre for musical education as the home of the
UCE Birmingham Conservatoire , founded in 1859. TheRoyal College of Organists is based inDigbeth .The
Birmingham Royal Ballet resides in the city as does theElmhurst School for Dance , based in Edgbaston, and which claims to be the world's oldest vocational dance school.Birmingham's professional opera company - the
Birmingham Opera Company - specialises in staging innovative performances in unusual venues (in 2005 it performed Monteverdi's "Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria" in a burnt-out ice rink in the Chinese Quarter). Its artistic director, Graham Vick, has also directed atLa Scala , Milan, theMetropolitan Opera in New York and theRoyal Opera House in London.Visiting opera companies such as
Opera North andWelsh National Opera perform regularly at the Hippodrome.Birmingham's other principal classical music venues include The
National Indoor Arena (NIA),CBSO Centre ,Adrian Boult Hall (ABH) atBirmingham Conservatoire , the Barber Concert Hall at theBarber Institute of Fine Arts andBirmingham Town Hall , currently closed for refurbishment. Concerts also regularly take place in churches around the city including St Phillips Cathedral, St Paul's in theJewellery Quarter , St Alban's in Highgate and The Oratory on the Hagley Road.Literature
Many famous literary figures have been associated with Birmingham:
Historical authors
*
W.V. Awdry wrote his firstThomas the Tank Engine inKings Norton and remained in the city until 1965.
*W. H. Auden grew up inHarborne , Birmingham, and taught for many years at schools in nearby Malvern.
*Barbara Cartland was born inEdgbaston in 1901. The family home was on Cartland Road, Kings Heath.
*Charles Dickens once gave readings inBirmingham Town Hall and was the sixteenth President of TheBirmingham and Midland Institute .
*Leonard Cottrell was a Brummieauthor ,archaeologist ,commentator , and producer for theBritish Broadcasting Corporation . He also worked as a war correspondent for theRoyal Air Force , and later became the editor of theConcise Encyclopaedia of Archaeology (1965).
*Arthur Conan Doyle [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/doyle] lived inAston from about Spring 1879 - early 1882 and some of his works include references to people or places he knew there.
*Edgar Guest was born in the city in 1881, moved to America with his family as a boy, and achieved fame there as a poet.
*Gerard Manley Hopkins taught underJohn Henry Newman at theOratory School inEdgbaston when he graduated and converted to Catholicism in 1867. It was here that he first developed his ideas ofinscape andinstress that were to prove central to his poetic practice. [ [http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199285457 The Collected Works of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Volume IV: Oxford Essays and Notes 1863-1868] (Description) Oxford University Press General Catalogue]
*William Hutton 1723-1815, moved from Derby to Birmingham at a young age and became well know in the region as a poet and documented the history of the region in many books.
*Washington Irving [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/irving] stayed with his sister in Birmingham for some time, during which he wrote stories including "Rip van Winkle " and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ". "Bracebridge Hall, or, The Humorists, A Medley" is based onAston Hall .
*Louis MacNeice lectured in classics at theUniversity of Birmingham in the early 1930s, and wrote several poems about the city, including parts of "Autumn Journal ".
*Enoch Powell was born and raised in Birmingham, and was a significant poet as well as a politician.
*J. R. R. Tolkien spent most of his childhood in the Birmingham area, and his work is much influenced by his time there [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/tolkien] , his parents also came from Birmingham.
*Arthur Henry Ward , born in Birmingham, wrote theFu Manchu thrillers under the pseudonym ofSax Rohmer .
*Charles Talbut Onions worked on theOxford English Dictionary and was a prominent etymologist.
*Emma Jane Worboise, known asMrs Etherington Guyton , was born in Birmingham in 1825 and was well known for her many novels (including "Overdale", subtitled "The Story of a Pervert").
*John Wyndham , author of "The Day of the Triffids ", "The Midwich Cuckoos " and many others, was born in nearbyKnowle and lived in Edgbaston until he was eight years old.Contemporary authors
*
Jonathan Coe was born and raised in Birmingham, which is the setting of two of his novels "The Rotters' Club" and "The Closed Circle".
*Judith Cutler 's crime novels are set in present-day Birmingham.
*Roshan Doughe became the fifth Poet Laureate for Birmingham in October 2000.
*Julie Boden became the seventh Poet Laureate for Birmingham in October 2002.
*David Lodge taught and wrote in the city, which appeared as "Rummage" in his books.
*Benjamin Zephaniah is a black dub poet from Handsworth who tackles prejudice, poverty and injustice.The city also has literary publishers such as
Tindal Street Press and hostsThe Young Book Reader UK festival , as well as an online literary community called [http://www.birminghamwords.co.uk/ Birmingham Words] .Theatre
Famous stage names
Kenneth Peacock Tynan and David Edgar are possibly Birmingham's most famous members of the theatrical scene. TheBirmingham School of Acting trains actors in the city.Theatres
There are many theatres in Birmingham. The four largest professional theatres are the
Alexandra Theatre ("the Alex"),Birmingham Repertory Theatre ("The Rep"), theBirmingham Hippodrome and theOld Rep . The "mac" and Drum arts centres, theCrescent Theatre and theOld Joint Stock Theatre also host many professional plays.Sutton Coldfield Town Hall has theatre facilities and hosts numerous amateur productions. The actors in the long-running Radio 4 serial "The Archers " live in and around Birmingham, where the supposedly rural programme is recorded.Birmingham also hosts a number of independent and community theatre companies, including
Banner Theatre which was founded in the city over thirty years ago.Round midnight ltd produce work for schools, colleges and arts centres as well as film, television and radio. For ten years, Birmingham'sFierce! festival has presented a performance art festival. It has recently begun commissioning new works from British and international performers.Comedy
Famous comedians from Birmingham include
Sid Field ,Tony Hancock ,Jasper Carrott andShazia Mirza . Other leading figures include Jo Enright (Lab Rats, Phoenix Nights, Time Trumpet), Natalie Haynes, James Cook, Weakest Link winner Andy White and Barbara Nice (the creation of actress Janice Connolly). The Glee Club andBirmingham Jongleurs are both prominent comedy venues. TheDrum Arts Centre and the mac also host monthly comedy sessions while smaller independent comedy promoters/ venues include The Cheeky Monkey Comedy Club (The Station pub, Kings Heath - and the city's longest running independent comedy club), plus The Laughing Sole (in Strichley) and Retort Cabaret (Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath) with other nights at Old Joint Stock Theatre (city centre), Library Theatre and Alexandra Theatre (Real Deal Comedy).The Birmingham Comedy Festival was founded in 2001 and runs over 10 days at the beginning of October with a line-up that combines leading TV names with rising talent from Birmingham and the West Midlands. The 2008 festival (Oct 3-12), in association with Wye Valley Brewery and supported by BirminghaMail.net, features Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr, Lee Evans, Ken Dodd and Dylan Moran.
Visual arts
History of painting and illustration
David Cox was a famous Birmingham watercolour artist and President of the Associated Artists in Water Colour in 1810.
An "Academy of Arts" was organised in 1814, and an exhibition of paintings took place in Union Passage that year. A School of Design, or "Society of Arts," was started Feb. 7, 1821; Sir Robert Lawley, Bt (the first Lord Wenlock) presenting a valuable collection of casts from Grecian sculpture. The first exhibition was held in 1826, in a building on New Street.
The first Ballot for pictures to be chosen from the Annual Exhibition of Local Artists took place in 1835.
Edward Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham, spent his first twenty years in the city, and later became the president of the Birmingham Society of Artists (which dates from 1826). He strongly influenced theBirmingham Group , which formed the link between late Romanticism in the visual arts and theBirmingham Surrealists who were prominent in the city's arts in the early and mid 20th century.The
Birmingham Arts Lab atGosta Green was an important centre for alternative comic art in the late 1970s; in the 1990s the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery staged a historical retrospective of the work made there.History of photography
Victorian photographer Sir Benjamin Stone (1838-1914) lived and worked in Erdington, Birmingham. The Birmingham Central Library now holds the [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/benjaminstone Benjamin Stone Collection] . The Victorian "father of art photography",
Oscar Gustave Rejlander lived and worked at nearby Wolverhampton, and was a founder member of the Birmingham Photographic Society. The BPS later electedHenry Peach Robinson as a member.The famous photographer
Bill Brandt made an extensive series of photographs for the Bournville Village Trust in Birmingham, between 1939 and 1943. These have been published as the book "Homes Fit For Heroes" (Dewi Lewis, 2004). The post-war changes in the cityscape, especially the clearance of older housing and the changes to the central markets, were documented by Phyllis Nicklin] (1913?-1969).In late 1979, Derek Bishton (now Consultant Editor for "The Daily Telegraph"), John Reardon (became Picture Editor of "The Observer"), and Brian Homer were three community photographers and activists in Hnadsworth, and they facilitated [http://www.bmagic.org.uk/results?s=adv&who=Brian+Homer&what=+&where=+&when=+&material=+&theme=+&col= the 'Handsworth Self Portrait' series of self-portraits] on the streets of Handsworth, Birmingham.
History of Typography
John Baskerville (1706-1775) was a noted type designer, the developer of wove paper, and typographic businessman in fine printing. His Baskerville font is still in wide use today. TheBirmingham Guild and School of Handicrafts operated a fine arts small-press, the Press of the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft. From 1895 until 1919 this Press produced books in theKelmscott Press tradition of theArts and Crafts Movement . George Kynoch'sKynoch Press (1876-1981) was a Birmingham printing house that substantially contributed to the development of a British typography. The teacherLeonard Jay (1888-1963) made the Birmingham School of Printing a profound influence on a generation of typographers, and set the pattern for printing education worldwide.Contemporary artists
Graffiti (or "spraycan art") culture appeared in the early 1980s, with the area featuring inChannel 4 documentary "Bombing". Local artists who use urban Birmingham as their canvas (this is illegal, and regarded by some asvandal ism) have included Chu andGoldie . Street art competitions are still regularly held at the Custard Factory.A variety of contemporary public art is located around the city centre, most of it created by artists from outside the Midlands. The construction of the Bull Ring Shopping Centre included three
light wand s which were erected at the main entrance, a huge mural on a glassfaçade located at the entrance facing New Street station and three fountains in St Martin's Square in the shape ofcube s, which are illuminated at night in different colours. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/your_birmingham/bullring/bullring_art.shtml Artwork of the Bullring] BBC]Contemporary African Caribbean artists and photographers who have exhibited internationally include
Pogus Caesar ,Keith Piper and the lateDonald Rodney .Current art galleries
*
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is housed at theUniversity of Birmingham and although only a small gallery it was declared 'Gallery of the Year' by the Good Britain Guide 2004.
*Birmingham has one of the largest collections ofPre-Raphaelite art in the world at TheBirmingham Museum & Art Gallery .
*TheIkon Gallery is housed in aneo-gothic former school inBrindleyplace and showcasesmodern art .Number 9 The Gallery is close by.
*TheHalcyon Gallery is located inside the International Convention Centre. It opened with a major retrospective ofRobert Lenkiewicz , and has continued with exhibitions by artists as diverse asRolf Harris andL. S. Lowry .
*The Waterhall gallery in theBirmingham Museum & Art Gallery displays a regular showcase of modern art which includes local artists and others sometimes from the city's own extensive collection.
*Harborne Gallery , theRoyal Birmingham Society of Artists and the 'New Gallery' in St Paul's square also shows local artists.
*The old Bird'sCustard Factory is now one of the largest media and arts villages in Europe, with occasional exhibitions and modernsculpture and water features.
*The mac hoststheatre performances, concerts, literature and poetry showcases, courses, film screenings and small art exhibitions.
*TheDrum Arts Centre features works of African, Asian and Caribbean contemporary artists.
*Selly Oak ball park is home to many graffiti murals that change on a regular basis. Other graffiti art can be seen across the city on disused buildings and canal towpaths as well as subways.There are a variety of other small and private galleries in the city.
Film
History
Albert Austin (born 13 December 1881 or 1885) was an actor, film star, director and script writer, primarily in the days ofsilent movie s. He was born in Birmingham. He worked forCharlie Chaplin 's Stock Company and played supporting roles in many of Chaplin's films, and working as his assistant director.In the 1920s
Oscar Deutsch opened his first Odeon cinema in the UK inPerry Barr . By 1930 the Odeon was a household name and still thrives today.In 1930 the
Birmingham Film Society was set up.Contemporary
The
Electric Cinema on Station Street is still open and is said to be the oldest working cinema in the UK.Publishing
History
The first known Birmingham
newspaper was the "Birmingham Journal", which was published byThomas Warren from 1732 and whose early contributors includedSamuel Johnson . [cite web|url=http://www.search.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/engine/resource/exhibition/standard/child.asp?txtKeywords=&lstContext=&lstResourceType=&lstExhibitionType=&chkPurchaseVisible=&txtDateFrom=&txtDateTo=&x1=&y1=&x2=&y2=&scale=&theme=&album=&viewpage=%2Fengine%2Fresource%2Fexhibition%2Fstandard%2Fchild%2Easp&originator=&page=&records=&direction=&pointer=&text=&resource=4215&exhibition=1310&offset=8|title=Johnson in Birmingham|accessdate=2008-01-05|work=Revolutionary Players of Industry and Innovation|publisher=Museums, Libraries and Archives - West Midlands|quote= ] The most notable of the town's early newspapers however was "Aris's Birmingham Gazette ", which was founded in 1741 and continued publishing until 1956. [cite web|url=http://www.newsplan.co.uk/wm_newsplan/modules.php?name=history|title= Newspaper history in the West Midlands region|accessdate=2008-05-26|year=2005|work=|publisher=NEWSPLAN West Midlands]Contemporary
Birmingham now has two local daily newspapers - the "
Birmingham Post " and the "Birmingham Mail " - as well as the "Sunday Mercury ", all owned by theTrinity Mirror , who also produce "The Birmingham News ", a weekly freesheet distributed to homes in the suburbs along with "Forward" (formerly "Birmingham Voice"), theBirmingham City Council 's free newspaper distributed to homes and via community centres and public buildings. Several local newspapers serve Birmingham including the "Sutton Coldfield Observer " and "Sutton Coldfield News " for the area ofSutton Coldfield .Birmingham is also the hub for various national
ethnic media, including The Voice, The Sikh Times,Desi Xpress , The Asian Today [ [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/newspapers Newspapers in Birmingham] Birmingham.gov.uk] andRaj TV (based in The Mailbox [ [http://www.raj.tv/info/contact.aspx Raj TV contact] ] ). National showbiz magazineIkonz is based in Birmingham, one of the few outside of London.Broadcast
History
The area was one of the first to receive programming from the new
ITV network in 1956. The networks' original representatives wereAssociated TeleVision (ATV) who served the area during the week and ABC Weekend TV who broadcast at the weekends. In 1968 ATV won the contract to serve the area seven days a week and built new studios off Broad Street at the heart of the city featuring the landmarkAlpha Tower . In 1982 ATV was reorganised and becameCentral Independent Television , which was rebranded as Carlton Central in 1999 and again as ITV Central in 2004. ITV's Birmingham studios are famous for many shows, including "Tiswas ", "Crossroads" and Bullseye.Current stations and programmes
The
BBC has two facilities in the city.The Mailbox in the city centre is the location for the national headquarters ofBBC English Regions , [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/about.shtml About Us - Information about BBC English Regions] BBC] the regional headquarters and television centre forBBC West Midlands and the headquarters of theBBC Birmingham network production centre. It is here programmes including "Midlands Today " and the world's longest running radiosoap opera , "The Archers ", are produced. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2005/01/13/bbc_at_mailbox_feature.shtml BBC Birmingham Features] ] The overnight programmes ofBBC Radio 2 are also broadcast from here.The
BBC Drama Village , based inSelly Oak , is a production facility specialising in television drama and is the home of nationally networked programmes such as "Dalziel & Pascoe " and "Doctors". [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/05_may/09/drama_village.shtml Lights, campus, action for BBC Birmingham's Television Drama Village] BBC Press Release] Before 2004 the BBC's Birmingham home was at the famousPebble Mill Studios .Sky TV has its own news team bureau based in theUniversity of Birmingham 's Aston Campus. Local cable and satellite broadcasters include theNatural Health Channel andAsia 1 TV.Local legal radio stations include
BRMB , Galaxy,BBC WM and Heart FM, andKerrang! 105.2 , Birmingham's first dedicated rock station.Major arts events
For several years the city has hosted an annual arts festival "
ArtsFest " during September, where families can enjoy many of the city's arts, for free. It is said to be the largest free arts festival in the UK. In December 2006 the City Council announced that it would no longer hold Artsfest. [http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/mail/news/columnists/thestirrer/news/tm_method=full%26objectid=18192354%26siteid=50002-name_page.html] , but it seems set to continue in 2008.References
Konow, David. "Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal" (New York: Crown, 2002) ISBN 0-609-80732-3
External links
* [http://www.birmingham-alive.com Birmingham Alive!]
* [http://www.createdinbirmingham.com Created in Birmingham]
* [http://www.artsfest.org.uk Birmingham ArtsFest]
* [http://www.macarts.co.uk mac (Midlands Arts Centre)]
* [http://www.bhamcomfest.co.uk Birmingham Comedy Festival]
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