Tag Archives: kris Vyas-Myall

[July 24, 1970] They’ve All Come To Look For America (Green Lantern co-starring Green Arrow)

Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

Last time I talked about popular music, I noted there was a battle between the past and the future. Looking at the sales figures today, it seems like the desire for nostalgia has won out. Around half the top 40 singles and over a third of the top 40 albums are in the country-folk-blues-rock style that is currently in vogue. The sound pioneered by The Band, CCR, Canned Heat and Buffalo Springfield (among others).

Four Album Cover:
Self Portrait - Bob Dylan
Bridge Over Troubled Water  - Simon & Garfunkel
Deja Vu - CSNY
Live 70 - Canned Heat
Some of the albums people are currently buying in droves

Furthermore, in a reverse of the British Invasion, it has been overwhelmingly American artists that have been selling, often singing about the old America. Whether this be The Beach Boys talking about the “cottonfields back home” (apparently, they no longer love California Girls), Elvis opining being “in the cold Kentucky rain” or CSNY telling us “country girl I think you’re pretty”, it seems Americana is big. Even British groups have been getting in on the act, with Christie saying they are “on [their] way to Yellow River” and Mungo Jerry singing the San Francisco Bay Blues, even though I doubt if any of them have spent much time on US soil.

Covers of Four Singles:
Up Around The Bend by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Cottonfields by The Beach Boys
Lady D'Arbanville by Cat Stevens
Groupie Girl by Tony Joe White
And singles that remain stubbornly in the charts over the summer

This has also extended to the more liberal themed songs in the charts, which seem to be about how America has gone wrong, whether that be Marvin Gaye’s version of Abraham, Martin and John or Joni Mitchell lamenting that “they paved paradise, put up a parking lot”.

The question of “what has happened to America?” seems to be one everyone is asking, and it has even entered into the world of comic books:

Green Lantern, Co-Starring Green Arrow

DC comics has not really been holding its own against Marvel recently. They launched a few interesting new characters but they have mostly disappeared from the shelves. This shake-up of three existing crime-fighters is unlike anything I have ever seen in the world of superheroes.

Continue reading [July 24, 1970] They’ve All Come To Look For America (Green Lantern co-starring Green Arrow)

[July 19, 1970] Dips in road (Maze of Death, The Eternal Champion…and others—July Galactoscope #2)

For our second of July's Galactoscopes, we have quite the mixed bag: two winners and two losers.  Aren't you glad you've got us to navigate the dross for you?

Covers of four books. The first cover is for the novel Quest for the Future by A E van Vogt. The illustration shows a huge, green, tentacled monster about to eat a human whole. Text at the bottom right corner says: In the palace of immortality, all the probabilities of time are waiting for you. The second cover is for the novel The Eternal Champion by Michael Moorcock. The illustration shows a man sitting on a throne, holding a sword in one hand and a big, shiny crystal ball in the other. A naked woman is kneeling in front of him, pouring a drink into his mouth. The third cover is for the novel Anti-Man by Dean R Koontz. The illustration shows a multitude of people struggling to walk in order. In the foreground, a human face is half covered by a hand. The palm of the hand shows the eye that the hand covers on that face. Text in the middle says: Sam was a miracle being—and a curse to a dangerously overpopulated planet. The fourth cover is for the novel A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick. The illustration shows blue clouds half-covering an orange setting sun. Beneath the clouds, half-closed eyes look downward.

Continue reading [July 19, 1970] Dips in road (Maze of Death, The Eternal Champion…and others—July Galactoscope #2)

[July 14, 1970] Hit For Six (Vision of Tomorrow #11)

Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

So, Britain has a new Prime Minister. Edward “Ted” Heath (not the conductor). He couldn’t be more different from the last Conservative Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Hume. Heath is the son of a carpenter and a chambermaid. He worked in banking, is unmarried and has a passion for sailing yachts and playing the organ.

Black & White Photo of Prime Minister Edward Heath outside the door of 10 Downing Street, waving to the crowd Two microphones can be seen off the left hand side of the picture
Edward Heath moves into his new house

One of the first orders of business for him, as it would have been for Wilson, is a meeting with The Six, AKA the leaders of the six members of the European Economic Community, in order to discuss the possibility of Britain’s entry into the Common Market. This is a particular passion project for Heath, who is a known Francophile and whose previous negotiations in this era led to the press declaring him “Lord Heath of Brussels”.

In fact, Britain is not the only country trying to join. Ireland, Denmark and Sweden have all made applications to join and these have been going on for some time. There is however a reason this year will be different. That is the absence of Charles de Gaulle. Central to French politics over the last decade, he used his power to oppose any enlargement of the EEC.

Black and White Photo of the December Hague Summit 1969 showing people around a long table in The Hall of Knights in the Hague
The December Hague Summit

With his retirement and replacement by Pompidou, who has switched his approach to appeal to more liberal voters, the calculus has changed. Following the Hague Summit in December negotiations have officially begun again in Luxembourg. There are a number of points that are still subject to negotiation, but things appear to be moving forward.


In the pages of Vision of Tomorrow, Europhilia is on display and it is time for me to negotiate my way through six stories: some about major nations, some involving small grand duchies, but all will be covered with sufficient weight:

Vision of Tomorrow #11

Cover of Vision of Tomorrow #11 illustrating Last Vigil by Michael Moorcock with an advanced city with thin towering structures on a mountainous cliff edges above a stormy sea.
Cover by Eddie Jones

Continue reading [July 14, 1970] Hit For Six (Vision of Tomorrow #11)

[July 8, 1970] I'm Still Marching Some More (Orbit 7)


By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

More than 1,000 women marched through armed cordons in Belfast a few days ago, in a surprising display of bravery and protest. How has such an act come to be seen on British streets?

Still from Black and White film of Women's March to Fall's Road, with a soldier trying and failing to block them.

Since last summer, when British troops were called in by Stormont, the violence has continued to worsen. When the so-called “battle of the bogside” took place in August, British troops arrived too late to stop loyalist violence.

Soon after, a split emerged in December within the IRA, with there now being two groups. First are the “official” IRA, who have adopted a Marxist platform and believe in political engagement to bring about a socialist workers republic. Second are the new militant “provisional” IRA who support armed defence of Catholic communities and believe that their campaign can only end in a single united republic of Ireland. Currently, the momentum seems to be with the provisional group, particularly with increasing loyalist violence. When a member of the official IRA came out to ask a Catholic group to disperse, he was stoned by the crowd.

Things have also been going south (pun intended) in the Republic. In April, a paramilitary group (possibly the provisional IRA or Saor Eire, but unconfirmed) committed a bank robbery and shot dead an unarmed member of the Irish Garda, Richard Fallon, the first to be murdered in the line of duty since the 40s. The next month, Jack Lynch, the Irish Taoiseach, was forced to fire his ministers of finance and agriculture as they are charged with trying to supply arms to paramilitaries in the North.

As tensions continued to ramp up between communities, it was inevitable we were in for another summer of violence. In the most recent incident, it is unclear as yet who struck first. Loyalist sources say the provisional IRA were using the imprisonment of Bernadette Devlin as an excuse to whip up violence. Republican sources say a loyalist mob were trying to drive Catholics living in the Short Strand area out of East Belfast. Whatever the cause, five people died and there was a huge amount of property damage. More importantly for what happened next, members of the provisional IRA used guns to fire back against loyalists in the Falls Road area.

A curfew was declared in the area as three thousand British Army went house to house, armed and firing tear-gas, in order to check for weapons and arrest potential IRA suspects. This, however, is not something that can be done quickly (there were more houses than soldiers) or easily, and took three days to complete. As such, supplies were running low for some households, as people even leaving to get food were liable to be shot.

This is where the march came in. Local Catholic women decided to take action themselves and marched in holding food, in full view of the press. They correctly made the calculation that the British Army would not shoot women armed only with bread and milk to be broadcast on the evening news. Some were blocked but many were able to get through and resupply the community.

Black and White film still of either police or soldiers, armed with riot gear.

It is unclear if the British raids will have done any more than American finding of caches in Vietnam but two things are definitely clear:

1. The Catholic community in the North are not going to have much trust of the British to protect them, if any indeed still remained.

2. Protection and support for the community is coming from the ground up, particularly women in these roles, rather than top down.


One place you can also see women regularly pushing things forward is in Orbit. Whilst not quite having an equal number, it is still the only place I can be certain to see multiple women writers between its two covers.

Orbit 7 ed. by Damon Knight

Cover of Orbit 7 edited by Damon Knight, listing the authors inside. The cover picture has an orange hue, showing a rocket and a set of small figures apparently trapped in a translucent dome. A sun rises over rocky mountains in the background
Cover by Paul Lehr

Continue reading [July 8, 1970] I'm Still Marching Some More (Orbit 7)

[May 18th, 1970] Rematch (Vision of Tomorrow #9)

Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

As I am writing this, the news has come in confirming we will have a general election in one month’s time. This is not an entirely surprising move. Wilson would have been required to call one by March next year at the latest and, for the sake of parliamentary business, it is often seen as better to call one in May or June, in the lead up to the summer recess but before international conferences, like Britain’s negotiation for the common market (so the country’s leadership doesn’t change midway through as in Potsdam).

Harold Wilson out campaigning

However, it is also hard not notice this has occurred at the same time as a massive shift in fortunes of opinion polling for the government. In January, Marplan polling gave Labour a 13 point deficit to the Conservatives, their most recent figures give them a 3 point lead. This is matched by figures from NOP and Gallup, whilst Harris polling gives them a two point lead. The main reason for this turn around is seen as economic fundamentals turning in Wilson’s favour. Wages are rising faster than inflation, the balance of payments crisis seems to be easing, EEC entry is finally on the horizon, and more houses are being built than ever before.

However, there are a number of reasons for us not to assume this is a done deal. Most obviously, if the polls can swing 16 points one way in a few months, there is no reason they could not shift a few points back by election day. In fact Labour’s support has been so rocky over the past 6 years, not because their voters are switching to the Conservatives and back, but they are just saying they will try the liberals or not vote for anyone. The thing about floating voters is one rough current means they are carried miles away.

Secondly, this will be the first nationwide election held under the new Representation of the People Act, giving those aged 18-20 the right to vote for the first time. As such it is new territory for pollsters to try to guess how many will vote and if they are indeed talking to the right kind of young person. Who is more representative of the voter who will turn up, the firebrand on campus or the working-class single mother?

Edward Heath left and Enoch Powell right

Finally, there is the Powell factor. In spite of his removal from the Conservative frontbenches, Enoch Powell’s brand of populism has continued to cause a stir around the country. His bombastic statements on the immigrant birth rates, the need to cut the government budget and condemning American involvement in Vietnam, sometimes seem to get as much coverage as a speech from Mr. Wilson or Mr. Heath. Whether more scrutiny will draw in or push away from voters to the Tory cause is something that is very hard to predict.

Vision of Tomorrow #9
Cover for Vision of Tomorrow #9 illustrating Rebel Planet, with a man looking at a rocket passing a planet.
Cover and all internal illustrations by Eddie Jones

On the other hand, Vision of Tomorrow is as predictable as always. It has got into a groove of quiet competence of late and much of it sticks to well-trodden paths.

Continue reading [May 18th, 1970] Rematch (Vision of Tomorrow #9)

[May 10, 1970] Fever Pitch (New Writings in S-F 17 & Vortex)

Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

The World Cup starts later this month in Mexico and excitement in England is palpable. Winning four years ago at Wembley has raised expectations significantly, and there is a real hope that England can repeat the success Brazil had in the early 60s, to win two years-on-the-trot.

Possibly one of the strangest ways this has manifested is in a new album, sung by the Current World Cup Squad!

Album of Worldbeaters Sing The Worldbeaters, showing the special carboard sleeve (in the shape of a football with the england team's signatures on it) with the actual LP sitting next to it

In its special circular football sleeve, you can discover what it sounds like to have Bobby Moore singing Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da or Gordon Banks covering Lovey-Dovey. (From what I have heard of it on the radio, consider my curiosity fully sated).

Off the pitch, there is once again an international competition for my attention in the anthology releases. With Carnell leading his team for another round of New Writings facing off against new fiction from the Soviet Union. Three years ago, the two countries faced off in one of my articles, now let’s see how each of these new seven stories matchup:

New Writings in SF-17

Hardback cover of New Writings in SF-17, in the usual design style, this one in blue and yellow. Listing of authors:
Joseph Green
Ernest Hill
Michael G. Coney
Lee Harding
H. A. Hargreaves
R. W. Mackelworth
L. Davison
on the front

Continue reading [May 10, 1970] Fever Pitch (New Writings in S-F 17 & Vortex)

[April 28, 1970] A Strange Case of Vulgarity & Violence (Vision of Tomorrow #8)

Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

There has been a steady rise in complaints about the state of current TV in the liberal society. It is commonly held up as the cause of declining moral standards and a crude form of entertainment. The Times decided to look into this and had a team watch through and analyse the 284 hours of television in the first week of April. Of these almost 60% of them contained no hint of violence, vulgarity or sexual content.

Looking at the violent content 19 of the hours are from the news, documentary or sport. And others include such broad definitions as children’s fairy tale containing a threat of “losing your head”. Among the remaining violent content, it is predominantly American films and television, in particular Westerns. If the Western was the cause of growing societal violence, it would be declining from its domination of large and small screens.

Jackanory Title Card
Jackanory, source of violence?

On the other-hand vulgarity tends to come from British comedies in later evening and these are on the milder side of expletives. It tries to make headlines out of 47 uses of the word “bloody” in one week, but this is skewed by the fact that Braden’s Week ran an episode discussing if the word was still offensive.

Braden's Week Title Card
Braden’s Week: Too vulgar for TV?

Finally, nudity and sexual content is barely present. There are a couple of bedroom scenes and double-entendres, but full nudity or sexual acts are absent. The closest is in a cigar commercial where a woman emerges from the sea in a wet t-shirt.

Mannkin Cigars TV ad still a woman in a wet top comes out of the ocean cupping her breasts
Are Manikin’s Cigars causing a breakdown of Britain’s morals?

If that is the case, then where should we look for the riding tide of sex and violence? One MP has a theory, witchcraft! Gwilym Roberts MP has been calling on the Home Secretary to introduce legislation against anyone who claims to practice witchcraft as it leads to drugs and blackmail. This will certainly be news to most of the witches I know.

Poster for Legend of the Witches documentary film with black and white images of women in shadow
Malcolm Leigh’s recent “documentary”

Whatever the cause, the panic over the current changes in society continues apace. It also seems highly present in the short SF of Britain, as its sole surviving magazine is certainly not limiting their bloodshed:

Vision of Tomorrow #8

Vision of Tomorrow May-70 illustrating the inside of a human spaceship where an astronaut has degraded to a skeleton in a suit whilst writing a note. Through the door behind the skeleton, 2 multi-armed aliens enter
Cover illustration by Kevin Cullen

Continue reading [April 28, 1970] A Strange Case of Vulgarity & Violence (Vision of Tomorrow #8)

[March 18, 1970] Future Cities and Past Visions (Vision of Tomorrow #7)

Black & White Photo of writer of piece Kris Vyas-Mall
By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

My area of the UK (considered either the Northern Home Counties or Southern Midlands depending on who you speak to) is not a particularly densely populated region. Even with commuter growth since the War, there are only two towns within 50 miles that contain over 100,000 people. This is all set to change with a new government plan.

Milton Keynes Roadmap Plan with an indication of key travel routes and red dot in Bedford
Plan for new town (red dot is where I live)

The £700m plan for a new town has been approved. Called Milton Keynes (from a small village on part of the site) it is set to house 250,000 people before the end of the century and to be one of the biggest experiments in urban planning in British history.

Milton Keynes Housing Estate Plan showing square blocks on a grid system with large areas of green space
Example housing estate plan

First off, the city is designed to appeal to both ends of the social spectrum. For the upwardly mobile it is designed with the car-driving homeowner in mind. As many as half of properties are to be for sale rather than rented and with a density of 10 people per acre, to ensure that the managerial class don’t feel squeezed in. Also, the road system is designed on a grid to ease congestion with places of employment spread throughout the city, to stop rush hour traffic.

Colour coded plan of Milton Keynes
Zoning masterplan. Yellow is residential, purple employment, red commercial, blue education, green is for parks

For those less well off, there will be wide walkways for the handicapped to travel on easily and the development of a “dial-a-bus” service, ensuring that a bus will pick you up only a short walk from your house in a short period of time.

I could spend an entire article and not get close to all the experimentation to take place in Milton Keynes. The city of the future is coming soon!

Back in the magazines though, things seem to be heading in the opposite direction, as Vision of Tomorrow takes a turn towards the past:

Vision of Tomorrow #7

Vision of Tomorrow #7 Cover showing Jupiter as viewed from one of its moon's with two small astronuts in shaddow. In Bottom Left corner is listed Into The Unknown by John Russell Fearn
Cover Illustration: Jupiter as seen from Callisto by David A. Hardy

Continue reading [March 18, 1970] Future Cities and Past Visions (Vision of Tomorrow #7)

[March 12, 1970] It’s A Dog’s Life (Orbit 6)


By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

In 1889, Oscar Wilde wrote “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life”. This month, London has proved that.

Passport To Pimlico 1949 Flm Poster showing photos of the cast's head on cartoon bodies running through London streets, with barbed wire in the foreground and police looking on

In the 1949 film Passport to Pimlico, a small area of London declares independence and it ends with the British government forced to negotiate to get them back. Actual negotiations for reintegration of the Isle of Dogs concluded on Monday.

Reconstruction taking place in the Isle of Dogs as a Victorian building is being demolished in the foreground and a high rise flat complex rises behind it.
Post-War Reconstruction taking place in Isle of Dogs

The Isle of Dogs is not a true island, but rather a low-lying peninsula that marks a massive bend in the Thames. As such in the Victorian era it became a part of the London Docklands. However, as ship size increased more ships were moved further down the river. The railway lines were closed and the area was devastated in the blitz.

In the last decade a large project of council flat building took place in the region, with 97% of the population in government housing. However, amenities did not keep up with the rise in the population Schools, hospitals and shopping areas were not included in the plans, yet only one bus route services the entire region.

Black and White photo of Joint Prime Ministers of the short lived republic, Ray Padgett and John Westfallen standing in front of the docklands but behind a rope.
Joint Prime Ministers of the new republic, Ray Padgett and John Westfallen

In order to bring awareness to their situation, on the 1st March around 1,000 residents of the Isle of Dogs, led by Fred Johns (their representative on the borough council), blocked the swing bridges to the rest of London. They announced that a Unilteral Declaration of Independence would be forthcoming if their demands were not met and taxes would not be paid.

Map of the Isle of Dogs from 1969 showing the Port of London Authortiy buildings in orange and the river Thames in blue.
Area map of the short-lived republic (orange are those buildings owned by Port of London Authority)

On the 9th March the official declaration of independence came with the setting up of a citizen’s council and two Prime Ministers to run each side of the island. They issued a demand to return taxes that they said belonged to the islanders, and started on plans to setup their own street market and turn a disused building into a school. This drove headlines all over the world, with even Pravda from the USSR sending in a reporter.

Small printed card that says:
Entry Permit To Isle of Dogs. To Be Shown at Barrier. Independent State of London. John Westfallen. Prime Minister

After meeting with the Prime Minister, a plan was announced by Tower Hamlets Council for resolving the issues raised by the Islanders with a full consultation. The council, however, denied that this protest had anything to do with the timing of this announcement. Whatever the cause, the Republic of the Isle of Dogs has achieved its goals, so it seems that entry permits will no longer be required to travel in and out of the region.

Back in the world of SF publishing, we have our own odd little affair. That of Orbit 6, which contains some good, some bad and many just plain confusing tales:

Orbit 6

Orbit 6 Hardback Cover as drawn by Paul Lehr showing an open hand with a rocket launching from it where behind is a stream of half lit planets in a line against a starfield. Below the title the editor and authors are all listed.
Cover illustration by Paul Lehr

Continue reading [March 12, 1970] It’s A Dog’s Life (Orbit 6)

[February 16, 1970] Unassailable Fortresses? A Full-Five pair of issues: (Vision of Tomorrow #6)


By Mx Kris Vyas-Myall

We are only in the second month of the new decade, but one thing seems to be clear. Women are no longer willing to be silent.

A group of women standing outside Benjamin Simon, cheering at the camera

In Leeds, hundreds of women textile workers have walked out on unofficial strike. They are opposing the pay deal struck between their union and employer, claiming it is unfair that women will be getting smaller pay increases than their male co-workers.

Women's Weekend Programme flyer saying:
Women's Weekend to be held at Buxton Hall, Ruskin College, Oxford on February 27th, 28th, March 1st.
Fee 10s for the weekend.
Programme
Papers to be discussed on Saturday and Sunday morning will be distributed on Friday.
Friday Evening - 8PM: Brief reports from existing groups and organisations. Accounts of activities and projects. Discussion. (This session is closed to men).
Saturday - 10am-1PM: The Social Role of Women (3 Papers)
1) What is the Family?
2) What is the Mother's Role?
3) Changing Patterns of Delinquency Amonst Women
Discussion

Saturday - 2PM-6PM: Women and the Economy (4 Papers)
1) Women under capitalism (including the housewife and advertising).
2) What is 'Women's Work'?
3) Equal Pay
4) Women's Role in Industrial Militancy and in Trade Unions.
Discussion

Saturday - 8PM: Informal Discussion:
Possibility of convening small workshops of particular interest to groups of individuals. One suggestion is "Different ways of living together", the kibbutz, etc.

Sunday - 10am-1PM: Women and Revolution (3 Papers)
1) The Myth of Inactivity: Women in historic struggles.
2) Women and the working class.
3) Political Perspectives on Women's Struggles.
Sunday - PM: Where are we going? (This session is closed to men).
Free discussion to include work of local groups, forthcoming actions, national/international co-ordination, further meetings.
Groups and organisations are asked to contribute brief papers summarising their present work. Please try and duplicate these yourselves. If this is not possible send a gestener foolscap stencil to Juliet Mitchell, 4, Cardozo rd., London N7.
There will be a literature stall. Bring my stuff you or your group has produced on the position of women.
Free accommodation (bring sleeping bags) and limited creche facilities will be available. No hot meals.
Application for accomodation and creche facitilties must be made by Feb 4th. All people making their own arrangements must register for the weekend by Feb 15th. Fees payable at the door.
Please send donations. Please circularise this information among all women you know,

At the other end of the social scale, the hallowed halls of Oxford is set to host the “Women’s Weekend”. Tired of being ignored and shouted down by men at other meetings, this will be an all-women conference to discuss women’s history and their current position in the world.

Annie Nightingale in 1970 wearing headphones and holding two records above her head in each hand.

In a more literal sense, a woman’s voice can now be heard on British Pop Radio. After hiring an all-male team from Pirate Radio and Radio Luxembourg to start Radio 1, the BBC have finally branched out and employed their first woman DJ. Annie Nightingale is only thirty but has already had an impressive career, including working as a journalist, presenting numerous music television programmes, having a modelling career and running her own fashion boutique.

Whether this will lead to changes in British science fiction publishing remains to be seen. The Current Issue of Vision of Tomorrow’s only female representation is in its review columnists. Maybe we need to organize our own flying pickets?

However, maybe some of this atmosphere is affecting our writers, as all these stories are, in one way or another, about people trying to break out of their social circumstances. So, let’s walk through the stench of cigar smoke in this gentleman’s club and check out the contents:

Vision of Tomorrow #6

Cover Vision of Tomorrow #6 showing a ringed planet illuminted by a red sun against a starfield.
Caption says:
The Phoenix People
Brunner - Tubb - Broderick
Cover Art by David A. Hardy

Continue reading [February 16, 1970] Unassailable Fortresses? A Full-Five pair of issues: (Vision of Tomorrow #6)