#New Rose 1976

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

FILE UNDER: RECORD ADS, UK PUNK, 70s PUNK, POSTER DESIGN, POSTER ART, STIFF RECORDS, NEW ROSE, ETC...

PIC(S) INFO: Resolution at 2156×2880 -- Spotlight on poster art for THE DAMNED's first 7 inch on Stiff Records, "New Rose" (c/w "Help," a cover by THE BEATLES, of all bands), released in the UK on October 22, 1976. Poster design by Chris Morton.

MINI-OVERVIEW: ""New Rose" was released on 22 October 1976 on the independent Stiff Records and was Stiff’s first hit, so successful that they had to partner a major label to distribute it. The job of producing the sleeve went to Chris Morton who was working part time as Art Director in Stiff's art department.

CHRIS MORTON: ”I left Art School, I was always influenced be the Situationists, I always loved music and tried to got freelance straight away. I took some designs to London and met United Artists and Andrew Lauder who liked what I was doing, I also had just had something published in "ZigZag" magazine by Pete Frame, I was working on something for Andrew and the George Hatcher Band and they were playing at the Roundhouse supporting the Doctor Feelgood and there I met Jake Riviera, who I had met briefly through Andrew Lauder where he used space in Andrews office, he said he was setting up a record label like the old independent ones in America where you sold records out of tieback of a truck,and he asked me to do some designs, which he liked, and that's how I got started."

-- IDENTITY OF PUNK, "The Damned, "New Rose" Buy 6 design by Chris Morton, published May, c. 2014

Sources: www.freedomhasnobounds.com/tag/east-side-club, Christie's, & https://identityofpunk.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/the-damned-new-rose-buy-6-design-by-chris-morton/

[soulmusicsongs]

Whole New Thing - Rose Banks (Rose, 1976)

[mercutio-the-velaryon]

Lore about the Interview with the Vampire (Vampire Chronicles) meljayvik AU:

- Vampirism heals but doesn't cure which was just a roundabout way of ensuring my king Viktor is still disabled (I also just think its really interesting conceptually).

- Viktor has no idea who his maker is, all he knows is they abandoned him in the snowy wilderness and that he'd kill them if he ever met them again.

- Viktor is snubbed by the Vampire community due to his "shortcomings" (His disability is seen as an affront to the supposed perfectness required to reach vampiredom)

- As a fledgling Mel moves to a secluded castle in southern Italy, her persuasion powers from jump are pretty intense, and she uses them on the people of a nearby village to maintain her hermit lifestyle.

- Do not ask Mel and Viktor what happened that night in 1976 in New York, they will kill you about it.

- Mel and Viktor's feud begins because they were rivals in a love triangle but it wasn't with who you thinkkkkk.

- Indigenous Mexican Jayce Talis YUPPPP!!

- Jayce is a human journalist with a unique point of view, but is a science kid at heart, he discusses land rights activism in his journalistic pieces a lot.

- Czech Viktor!!

- Mel spends three decades in America from the 60s to the 80s.

- During the 60s, she joins a girl group quits then models for bit and garners little fame for it, vampirism and beauty aren't enough to overcome the racism of time, widespread fame would've complicated things too much anyway.

- In the 70s, she dances on a few episodes of Soul Train and spends her nights singing at underground clubs.

- In the 80s, she joins the Black Rose, a vampire coven that is also a radical art collective, but by the end of the decade, she's back to her recluse lifestyle in a castle somewhere in europe.

- Mel has only sired two vampires... she's not a fan of the process.

- Viktor has killed more than Mel but this is mainly because he hunts mercifully (kills people on their deathbed) and she's a picky eater.

- Viktor's interest in science began during his immortal life. He was intrigued by how technology had evolved so rapidly over time.

- Before that he was a prolific essayist and wannabe poet. His pieces concerned the environment, poverty and the human condition.

- He had two major romantic trysts in his mortal life, both went sourly.

- He fell in love with a human in his early vampire years... that also went sourly. You can thank Mel for that.

- Mel and Viktor meet Jayce at about the same time somewhere during their respective stints in America. Its true bloodlust at first sight for the both of them.

- And did I mention that you shouldn't ask them about what happened in 1976.

Nobody:

Nobody in heaven and earth:

Not a single soul:

The Vampire Mel Medarda in America for some reason:

[picspammer]

I got a feeling inside of me It's kind of strange, like a stormy sea

New Rose by The Damned, the first ever UK Punk single, released on October 22nd, 1976 🌹

[spawksstuff]

1976 Convention - De

Unfortunately, only these parts of De exist but it was like that for all the cast. Transcript below.

...Sit there and pet my new puppy dog, Fancy. Uh, no I have I-I there are a couple of things that uh that are looking extremely promising for me (unintelligible), hopefully a motion picture will come.

Yes you way back there in the white shirt

Yes? You. How does the what?

Red Alert? That just comes on automatically when we're in trouble, like we are now.

Listen thank you very much. Before I go I just want to say something sincerely I think you are a super group of people I have had the opportunity over the past year to meet a number of you and I am tremendously impressed with you and I want you to know that and I have a little poem that I want to leave you with:

May a butterfly bring you the dew from a rose and sprinkle it softly in a mist on your nose

[punkrockhistory]

4 punk rock singles from 1976 that (almost) started it all

Blitzkrieg Bop – Ramones

New Rose – The Damned

(I'm) Stranded – The Saints

Hot Wire My Heart – Crime

Any fav?

[siriusblack-the-third]

The Marauders: Pranks!

(in no particular order)

31st October, 1971 (First Year): the idiots somehow managed to get Peeves on their side and messed with the feast. Additives to the food had the entire castle running towards the bathrooms. The pipes were clogged for weeks afterwards. They served detention for the entirety of the duration.

31st January, 1973 (Second Year): Sirius tricked the gargoyle that protected the headmaster's study, got into his library and took several rare tomes. Dumbledore only realised when Sirius marched into his office two weeks later and dropped 14 books onto his table, announcing, "I'll be borrowing your books frequently, thank you." Just for the sheer talent of getting through his protective spells, Dumbledore allowed him to do so. However, detention of two weeks was handed out for breaking and entering.

23rd September, 1976 (Sixth Year): everyone woke up to see that the 26ft bronze dragon statue atop the fountain in the courtyard vanished in the middle of the night. No-one has seen it since. Nobody knows where it is. However, every time James or Sirius pass by the fountain, a small smirk curves over their lips. On another (completely unrelated, of course) note, James has an exquisite new pen, made of bronze and covered in a beautiful, intricate dragon motif.

13 December, 1974 (Fourth Year): the entire castle just. Floated up into the air without a warning. Exactly 77 feet off the ground for 77 minutes. It took all four of them three months to hand carve runes into the perimeter of the castle, and before that it took all of August for Sirius to come up with the right rune sequence that would stick a timer to the magic. They didn't serve detention, only because the rune sequence was such a stroke of genius— fourth year students barely knew how to use single runes in magic, let alone sequences long enough to cover a perimeter.

12th May, 1977 (Sixth Year): any time someone touched a goblet, said goblet would turn into purple butterflies. Very pretty, but very frustrating when all you wanted was a drink after a hot day. It turned out that they had mixed a transfigurative potion into the dishwashing water, and McGonagall made James write a paper about his invention. Technically, he earned his Potions mastery before he got his N.E.W.T. results.

4th February, 1976 (Fifth Year): a vicious storm cloud hung over Hogwarts starting from the 4th all the way till the full moon, making it rain sleet and hail non-stop, 24 hours a day. Everything came to a standstill, including Quidditch (James had to be persuaded for this one). Under the pretense of a month-long detention, McGonagall and Flitwick sat Sirius and James down and had them explain the thought process that went into the spellwork— weather magic not only required obscene amounts of raw power, but the steps as well were notoriously difficult to execute.

21st December, 1977 (Seventh Year): at exactly 23 minutes after eleven at night, the entire castle got wrapped up in huge, terrifying thorny branches. They crawled through the hallways, spilled through windows, blocked the doors and crept over the suits of armour. Huge roses— about two feet in diameter— bloomed all over the castle, dark haunting pink in colour. Waking up in the morning was quite a shock for people when they found out the vines had grown literally everywhere and taken over the dorm rooms. The inspiration was Disney's animated Sleeping Beauty, and Flitwick and Babbling both gave the Marauders twenty-five points each for the creativity. They did serve four months of detention, though.

.

WARNINGS

do NOT tag w*lfst*r or j*gul*s i mean it i will block you

I do not want anyone calling Sirius or James stupid

If you wanna argue with any of these, argue with the wall. These are headcanons, not reality. Chill.

[floralgraveyard]

𝕺𝖓𝖊 𝖓𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖑 𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙.. 🦇

Taken by the cocohost (hehe my nickname) of @b0ydeleted <3 aka @4nonymous-al1en. I love you Donnie I'm yours <3

Intro below the cut: (last updated 1/2/2025, date-month)

Hello! I'm Ray, Cherry, Theresa or Wednesday. I use any pronouns but mainly prefer she/fae ♡ I'm bisexual, polyamorous and genderfluid. I'm autistic and have suspected bpd, hpd, and bipolar. I'm also 15 years old turning 16 in August 2025.

This blog is mainly for vents and rambles but I also post fandom content and yandere content sometimes. if you don't like that just block me ♡

I have an AMAZING boyfriend (4/12/24) <33 but I'm not opposed to being flirted with!! just don't expect them to be happy <3

FINALLY officially married to the cohost of @b0ydeleted !!!!! I'm hers <3

This is a redo of my old intro. I'm not new to tumblr. My one and only past username for this url is Cherryblossomicetea.

I have an alt account for when I reach posting limit @sweetspamandalt

I have a yanblog! @digitallyreborn

My discord is sl1mp1ckins !! add me !! <3

My favourite artists/bands are is: Melanie Martinez, Sabrina Carpenter, Elita, Jazmin Bean, MSI, Mitski, Olivia Rodrigo, Ayesha Erotica, Ashnikko, Lady Gaga, and more.

My favourite musicals are: Heathers, Wicked, Mean Girls, Chicago, and more

My favourite films are: Heathers, K-12, Mean Girls (2004), Barbie, The old Barbie and Monster High films, Turning Red, Scream, Pearl, Carrie (1976), Chicago, Spirited Away, The MLP films, Wicked, The Tinkerbell films and more

My favourite shows: Young Sheldon, Ever After High, Spy x Family, MLP, Angels of Death (I know it's an anime) and more

Extra things I love: Blankets, cats, eggs, tanghulu, baking, posters, flowers, and more

I am a yandere and as such will post my thoughts and feelings on here, if you don't like that you can block me or the tag I use for it. Remember spread love not hatred ♡

Yan MBTIS:

Big 5 - CDIAF

Yan Types - DSMT

Yan MBTI - RAML

Soft yan - CSRI

I'm fine with asks but please be nice to me ♡

Taken anons: ♣️ , L , Symphony , 💎 , 🐾 , doctor god , knot , star , 💋 , 🦇 , 🦊 , 💿 , 🔶️ , 🎭 , 🫀 , 💙 ,

Tags

・❥・love letters ♡ (general posts)

・❥・ pity party ♡ (vents)

・❥・ opened letters ♡ (asks)

・❥・ little lamb ♡ (posts I make in little space)

・❥・ death darling ♡ (yandere posts)

・❥・ quilled quotations ♡ (quotes)

・❥・ lyrical listens ♡ (lyrics)

・❥・ emails i cant send ♡ (things I wish I could say but cant)

People tags

・❥・ pierced prince ♡ (collective tag!! my fp <3)

・❥・ my anonymous heart ♡ (my sweetheart <3)

・❥・ bloody botany ♡ (my beautiful love <3)

・❥・ strawberry sweetheart ♡ (the silly)

・❥・ cuddly bear ♡ (my lil sis!!!)

・❥・ rose rabbit ♡ (Bunny!! or Mingyan!!)

-

・❥・ tv head freak ♡ (my God <3/p)

・❥・ blue moon ♡ (my sweetheart silver <3)

・❥・ green frog ♡ (my husband/p)

・❥・ little starry sky ♡ (my star!!)

・❥・ miku obsessive ♡ (my bestfriend wifey)

・❥・ gipani boy ♡ (my dog)

・❥・ tweety bird ♡ (my friend birdie <3)

・❥・ milky blood ♡ (ambrose!!!!)

・❥・ sweet sugar cookie ♡ (angel!!! @sabrinaannylyn)

・❥・ absent rose ♡ (thank you)

・❥・ killing cupid ♡ (sometimes I miss you)

DNI: homophobes, racists, terfs, transphobes in general (anyone under the trans umbrella i love you you are safe here <3 including people who use neos, neo haters DNI!!!!) zionists, p*dos, r*pists, sexists/misogynists, people that are like highly religious like whole personality type religious, abelists, bigots in general, not really sure what else to add just if your gonna be mean don't interact.

That's all. You are loved <3

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Preliminary Paul album ranking

INCLUDING Wings and cover albums, not including Broad Street, classical stuff, whatever you count The Family Way and Thrillington as, or The Fireman.

I will be relistening to the whole damn thing between now and December and may revise this but here's what I'm feeling right now. Again, there's recency bias here but Whatever.

I don't hate any of these btw please don't come at me – however I would be excited to discuss and debate.

25. CHOBA B CCCR (1988)

24. Run Devil Run (1999)

23. McCartney III (2020) (← probably my hottest take + most likely to be subject to change but it's how I feel right now)

22. Press To Play (1986)

21. Driving Rain (2001)

20. Off The Ground (1993)

19. Wild Life (1971)

18. Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976)

17. Kisses on the Bottom (2012)

16. London Town (1978)

15. Pipes of Peace (1983)

14. Red Rose Speedway (1973)

13. Back To The Egg (1979)

12. Flaming Pie (1997)

11. Flowers in the Dirt (1989)

10. McCartney (1970)

9. Memory Almost Full (2007)

8. New (2013)

7. Egypt Station (2018)

6. McCartney II (1980)

5. Venus & Mars (1975)

4. Tug of War (1982)

3. Ram (1971)

2. Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005)

1. Band on the Run (1973)

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

RARITIES FROM THE FIRST ENGLISH WAVE -- NOTHING SHORT OF PURE DAMNATION.

PIC(S) INFO: Mega spotlight on rare, raw, & recently unearthed live shots of first wave UK punk rock band THE DAMNED, performing live in Redcar, UK, c. November 1976, supporting THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES. 📸: Cindy Stern.

Man, these have gotta be some of the rarest DAMNED pics ever unearthed in recent memory. What is going on with Dave's hair in these?! That's gotta be a new one for me.

Source: www.picuki.com/media/3412311323029369103.

[not-a-mimic]

why is it an important point that alan is very light sensitive and prone to migranes? other than being a disability rep for those of us who cannot function in broad daylight without sunglasses and explaining why the bright lights in aw1 are such a pain to look at (from alan's point of view) but like. it's important.

we see it in the flashback with alice where alan is hangover and seemingly has his sunglasses next to his bed already - a little weird right? and alice mentions them as well - because this is common. because he often needs them. frankly speaking from experience you don't get to the point where the sunglasses become a mandatory bedside fixture unless it's a really bad day often - which must be the case here. we also see then in 'herald of darkness' where "Dark shades could never save the day" and we see alan in shades. it's common for him. he does it often. mood! anyway mr champion of light being sensitive to light is just a funny coincidence right? wrong.

I also suspect that alan's tendency towards full outfits is also a part of this. no sane human wears that many layers in september, and alan specifically covers pretty much all the skin possible without looking weird.  also a lot of his article shots in rose'.... shrine have sunglasses and thick layers as well. this man is SENSITIVE sensitive to light and that's a coincidence I can't ignore in the remedy!verse.

alan was born (as stated in aw2) in 1977 - we don't know when, or where as he moved to new york later. his mother spent most of his childhood in psychiatric facilities, and his father is not only non existent but highly suspiously fictional (the only object we are told alan has of him is the clicker. the fucking clicker. tom zane's clicker that was definitely written into alan's life before he was born and was not a gift from his father proper. frankly we know the least about alan's childhood compared to all other remedy!verse protags - not knowing where or truly when he was born is important because it leaves options.

Light sensitive could be a coincidence - but we thought that about the nightmares too, and they turned out to be important clues. and hell-  *Scratch* is less sensitive to light than Alan is - only flashbangs and the super steong hand flares make him flinch, direct light seems fine unless super powered and normal flares are nothing. alan actively gets headaches from these things and obviously it hurts him. wtf is up with that? when the protection of the dark presence patches up your weakness you have a issue.

theory time:

we know alan is tied to this god damn lake. zane wrote it so - at very least alan was destined to fall in it at the end of aw1. but what if there is more? we also know that alan's darkness became at least the aw2 dark presence which. fine? an endless cycle of destroying yourself while under the impression that that's not yourself. we don't know if the dark presence in aw1 is also this same one, and if it isn't we now know there can be multiple dark entites (implied by Mr Scratch also). if it is then damn alan has issues.

I don't know if its just me but the fact that the small darkness within someone can be escalated out to being the whole larger dark presence at full power feels... off. that feels like it doesn't work with what we know of the entities- unless there was more darkness in alan then originally suspected fueling this presence. the strength of the dark presence born from him combined with the strength of his light sensitivity makes me very suspicious to how human he was originally, and how much of alan is just lake bullshit. if he was a creature or creation of the darkness forced into a human body (perhaps the 1976 awe the andersons fought back in brightfalls wasn't all it seemed. maybe the dark presence or something else was looking for a crack to escape through. maybe it succeeded, but was reborn as a human who was already showing signs at a young age of being light sensitive and also being a parautiltiarian, and a strong one at that.

maybe there was never a father because there was never a mother - linda wake may have found a child on the lake shore and adopted it as her own, not knowing the truth behind its origins. maybe the torchbearers who operated in brightfalls around that time were involved. maybe the reason alan and tom look identical is the dark entity needed human dna when being reborn as a human and zane was there at the right time. could be why other traits are shared, and zane foresaw and influenced the creation of the dark place to get what he wanted (after all it was borrowing from him his face and personality - at very least it could give him wiggle room to escape?)

alan always had... issues. darkness. a lot for a man. so what if its all supernatural bullshit? no one is looking too closely because there is supernatural stuff going on. I'm not sure this man is human, or at least his soul isn't and never was. some darkness wearing a human skin maybe, sensitive to the light but forced to manage it. I don't know, maybe I'm looking too much into this.

[eptodaytommorowforever]

Events In The History And Of The Life Of Elvis Presley Today On The 27th Of July In 1976.

Elvis Presley Community War Memorial Hall Syracuse New York;

 steady stream of flashbulbs illuminated the big hall as Elvis Presley moved through C.C. Rider and I Got A Woman, teasing the heavily-female audience with many of those no longer infamous 'bumps'. The crowd joined in as Elvis Presley broke into Amen and then quieted as the Tupelo, MS. native switched to one of his biggest hits, Love Me. Elvis Presley got acquainted with the crowd early as Charlie Hodge, the only 'scarf man' in show business, provided him with a seemingly-endless flow of baby blue and white scarves. Elvis Presley draped them momentarily around his neck or wiped his thoroughly soaked brow and cast them into the audience. He might as well have been giving out $10 bills the way the recipients reacted.

Many in turn presented him with gifts - handmade items, clothing, yellow roses, etc. - and a few were rewarded with kisses from Elvis Presley's tremendous vocal range manifested itself in You Gave Me a Mountain and minutes later he had 8,400 Bicentennial-oriented men, women and children on their feet with a moving vocal and narrative rendition of America the Beautiful. He turned to a medley of his biggest hits - All Shook Up, Teddy Bear and Don't Be Cruel - but got as much applause from songs he borrowed from Olivia Newton-John and Peggy Lee. Jailhouse Rock, another old favorite and Polk Salad Annie followed before Elvis Presley introduced the talented group of singers and musicians who back him up. The latter served as a rest period for Elvis Presley while at the same time providing the opportunity for solo spots for his guitarists, drummer and piano players.

Elvis Presley got in a few bars of Early Mornin' Rain, What'd I Say?, Johnny B. Good and Love Letters during the instrumental solos and then brought the crowd to its feet with a stirring rendition of a former Timi Yuro hit Hurt, Elvis Presley's latest single. An encore performance of the latter plus a few short bars of Hound Dog brought Elvis Presley to the nostalgic Funny How Time Slips Away and the crowd moved closer with the realization that the concert end was near. Telling the crowd that 'You've been one of the finest audiences we ever worked with', Presley said he'll be back 'if you want me'. A thunderous standing ovation followed, giving Presley his answer, and security men whisked him out of the building as a virtual sea of humanity closed in on the stage. Love live Elvis Presley! Rare Candid Photos Taken Here Of Elvis Presley From This Show Concert By A Fan Audience Member.

A Elvis Presley Female Fans Review Who Attended This Show.

[undying-love]

Interesting interview with the guy who wrote the screenplay for Two Of Us

(I know many of you have already read this, but I still wanteed to share it.)

Q: Do you think it is possible that John and Paul ever spent some real time together (just the two of them) between 1971 and 1980 other than those two occasions?

Mark Stanfield: As far as I know, John and Paul were never actually alone together after the breakup of the Beatles. Paul, of course, often talks about how grateful he is that the two of them re-established some kind of friendship in the months before John died, but that was over the phone. So, unless Paul is keeping a secret, it appears the last time they saw one another was when in 1976 (probably around the time Wings played New York) when John told him to stop coming around without calling first.

Q: What did you do before writing the story? Did you spend a lot of time doing research? If so what books and sources? What TV shows or videos?

Mark Standield: The most valuable books were “Revolution in the Head” by Ian MacDonald; “25 Years in the Life” by Mark Lewisohn; and “Lennon” by Ray Coleman [...] As far as videos, a lot of them I had to obtain on the black market, things like “Let It Be”; the McCartney interview with Charlie Rose from 1991; the Lennon interview with Tom Snyder from 1975; “Wings Over the World”. And then there was the music, which provided the biggest revelations.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I always wondered what 'revelations" he was talking about, because he does not elaborate (although we can assume. The songs they wrote for each other are pretty telling). It's frustrating how these interviewers never ask follow up questions. He doesn't say, "What do you mean? What revelations?". He never even brings up the kiss in the movie.

By the way, I'm pretty sure Michael Lindsay-Hogg told Mark quite a few things about John and Paul. After all, he saw them interacting quite a bit. I'm pretty sure he, and many others, knew about the "John's princess" nickname, lol. Everyone who saw them interacting must have sensed something. Hell, Yoko just weeks after being in the studio for the first time, said "If Paul was a woman he would have been a great threat, because there is something definitely very strong between John and Paul''. It must have been so obvious if Yoko noticed this in such a shott time.

Anyways, It's very telling that Mark does not say what these "biggest revelations" were. Im pretty sure that most of the people who were close to the Beatles know that there was something going on, but they are too afraid to speak up. That's why a lot of them have said many vague but still suggestive things.

[ultra-francesca-mercury]

october 22, 1976

The Damned release "New Rose," the first ever British punk single.

[punkrockhistory]

48 years ago today

"New Rose", is the first single by British punk rock group the Damned and the first single by a British punk group, released on this day in 1976 on Stiff Records

[justforbooks]

Osamu Suzuki

Suzuki chairman who over half a century grew the company into one of the world’s largest car and motorcycle manufacturers

Osamu Suzuki, who has died aged 94, was one of the global automotive industry’s longest serving leaders. A director since 1963 of Suzuki, the motorcycle and small car manufacturer based in Hamamatsu, Japan, he rose through the ranks to become in 1979 the firm’s president, a position he relinquished only in 2019 to ascend to the chairmanship. Latterly, as is customary with elder statemen of Japanese industry, he became an adviser, the title he still held at the time of his death.

When he first joined Suzuki, in 1958, it had been in the automobile business for only four years, building the tiny two-cylinder, air-cooled Suzulight car, in a country that was still finding its way as an industrial power. It had been founded in 1909 as a loom manufacturer, but the collapse of the cotton market in the early 1950s galvanised a move towards automotive endeavours.

Suzuki produced its first motorcycle – really a 36cc motorised pedal bike – in 1952 but 10 years later would notch up its first Isle of Man TT victory. In 1976, Barry Sheene won his first 500cc World Championship on a Suzuki RG500. The loom-making arm of the firm was separated from the automotive side in 1960 and, under Osamu, Suzuki expanded into the production of outboard motors, wheelchairs, all-terrain vehicles, and prefabricated housing.

He progressed conservatively to make Suzuki the largest small car producer in Japan, always with a keen eye on cost cutting, even on a shop-floor level: in one plant he famously had some of the light bulbs removed to save $40,000 on electricity.

Suzuki motorcycles arrived in the UK long before its cars, alongside Honda and others helping decimate the British motorcycle industry from the mid-60s onwards with dependable, easy to maintain two-wheeled machinery.

The now collectable Whizzkid Coupe and Jimny off-roader (sold in the UK as the Satana and Samurai) were relative latecomers to the Japanese car sales bonanza from 1979. The Suzuki Alto of the early 80s was the cheapest automatic car then available in the UK, priced at £4,000, while the 1985 Swift was the firm’s first four-cylinder “supermini” sized vehicle.

The Bedford Rascal – better known as the “Sooty van” in the TV puppet series Sooty and Sweep – was really a rebadged Suzuki Carry, or “kei” truck, built to conform to strict Japanese light commercial specifications. These Rascal/Carry trucks were a spin-off from a deal that Osamu Suzuki struck with General Motors in 1981 to sell its economy cars in North America with Chevrolet badges, in return for giving GM a 5% stake in the company.

Osamu would also preside in 2009 over a tie-up with VW that ended in a court battle, and latterly collaborated with Toyota on the design of self-driving cars.

From the late 60s, production of the small Fronte rear-engined cars ramped up under Osamu’s leadership but, unlike its rivals, Nissan, Toyota and Mazda, Suzuki did not give in to the temptation to move upmarket, preferring to use its resources to build satellite plants in emerging markets where its small runabout cars had most appeal.

Beginning in Thailand in 1967 – and followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and Pakistan in the 70s and 80s – Suzuki expanded its operations on the Pacific rim rather than tackle local rivals head on, although between 1967 and 1970 Japanese production rose substantially, based at four new locations.

In the early 80s Suzuki became the first Japanese manufacturer to establish a manufacturing outlet in India, where its new front-wheel drive Alto/Fronte broke the stranglehold of the outdated Hindustan ambassador (a locally built 1950s Morris Oxford), and the equally ancient Fiat 1100-based Premier Padmini to become the bestselling car in India. Osamu Suzuki made over 200 flights to India in an effort to get this historic deal done.

By the beginning of the 2000s Suzuki had 60 factories in 31 countries as sales rose tenfold to a value of $19bn.

The son of Toshiki and Matsuda Shunzo, and born in the city of Gero, Gifo Prefecture, in central Japan, Osamu graduated in law from Chuo University in Tokyo in 1953 and worked in the loans office of a local bank before joining Suzuki in 1958. Around the same time, he married Shoko Suzuki, the granddaughter of the company’s founder, and, as per local tradition when there is no male heir, adopted his wife’s family name.

Had Hirotaka Ono, the son-in-law he had been grooming to take his place, not died of cancer in 2007, Osamu would probably have enjoyed a much longer retirement. A keen golfer into his 90s, five years ago he handed the reigns of the company to his son Toshihiro, the eldest of his three children.

🔔 Osamu Suzuki, industrialist, born 30 January 1930; died 25 December 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?