Latest news with #ManfredMann
Telegraph
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Manfred Mann's Paul Jones: Cliff Richard converted me to Christianity
Autumn 1963: the band signed to EMI less than six months earlier were already feeling the pressure. Their first single, a blues instrumental written by their keyboard player, titled Why Should We Not?, had failed to trouble the charts. The second, a number by their singer called Cock-a-Hoop, had lyrics and, also, what its composer describes now as 'the famous Bo Diddley rhythm. Well, people call it the Bo Diddley rhythm, but it was older than Bo Diddley.' Unfortunately for Manfred Mann, their second single was another one that 'didn't do anything, sales-wise', acknowledges its writer, Paul Jones. Which, when you're labelmates with The Beatles and they have a 10-month and four-hit lead on you, is a problem. Still, someone at the nation's new favourite pop show, Ready Steady Go!, which had launched in summer 1963, liked Cock-a-Hoop enough to book Manfred Mann to perform. 'Packing up the instruments at the end, somebody said to us: 'Would you guys be interested in writing us a theme tune?' Because they were using a Ventures track, a rock instrumental.' Manfred Mann said they could oblige. Then the producers listed their demands: 'Use that rhythm that you use on Cock-a-Hoop. It must start with a countdown because this is the start of the weekend. Then, instrumental only until we're through with the opening credits on the screen. So that would be 30 seconds, maybe a bit more.' It was a lot. But then, Manfred Mann were used to the controlling ways of the patrician Sixties record business. Their name, which was also the name of their South African-born keyboard player, had been imposed on them by their label after EMI baulked at their existing appellation: 'No one will ever get anywhere with a stupid name like The Blues Brothers.' So, after leaving the TV studio, Manfred Mann piled into their van and headed off to their next commitment that evening, a pub booking. 'We started with a 12-bar blues. Manfred came up with the bit that goes down the tone. I came up with the lyrics because I was the lyricist. We had it written by with time we got to the gig!' Within two months of their first appearance on Ready Steady Go!, Manfred Mann's 5-4-3-2-1, buoyed by Jones' alley-cat harmonica, was the clattering theme opening the show. A month after that, in January 1964, it was in the charts. Then, that summer, after another self-penned flop, Hubble Bubble (Toil and Trouble), their singer started raiding his record collection, his canny response to an EMI edict: 'No more singles written by the band.' As Jones recalls it, 'I said: 'If we're not going to write them ourselves, at least I'm picking them,'' he said of the songs that would, ultimately, be Manfred Mann's next four singles, all of them originally sung by American female artists. 'I heard Do Wah Diddy Diddy by The Exciters on Radio Luxembourg and immediately ordered it, because you couldn't just buy an obscure record like that. It was even obscure in America. It made the Top 30, I think, but only just.' It was the same, he says, with Sha-La-La (originally sung by The Shirelles), Come Tomorrow (sung by Marie Knight) and Oh No, Not My Baby (written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King). They were era-defining smashes for the Brit R&B group led by the blues-, jazz- and gospel-loving lead singer, a Black American music aficionado who knows his Hambone from his trombone, his Diddley from his Diddy. In summer 1964, Do Wah Diddy Diddy gave Manfred Mann their first Number One and a career that rattles on, in more than one version, to this day. As he sang of himself in his hip-shaking 1965 R&B composition The One in the Middle – part of an EP, so EMI were OK with Jones writing it – ' there's a geezer called Paul, who's so thin and so tall, and so wants to be a star…' 'We were a band that played pubs and little clubs, and that was all we ever had in our mind. But, hey, suddenly we were – snap, snap, snap! ' Jones clicks his fingers rapidly as we drink tea and eat digestives in an elegant drawing room littered (neatly) with hefty coffee-table books about Buddy Holly and BB King. Those few minutes in a transit van 61 years ago were the start of a songwriting and performing career that – via a solo career, an acting career, a 32-year stint as host of BBC Radio 2's The Blues Show and a re-embracing of Christianity courtesy of Cliff Richard – ended up here, in a spacious country house with landscaped lawns and adjacent lake in a discretely affluent corner of Essex. Except it doesn't sound like Jones – a boyishly trim, neat, coiffed, youthful and (his words) pedantic 83-year-old – is here much. When I traverse Jones' crunchy gravel drive on a soggy May afternoon, The Manfreds are still in the midst of what he calls their spring tour. It's Hastings, Isle of Wight, Shrewsbury, Lincoln, with no sleep till Ringwood, before Jones is off to France for dates with Dave Kelly from The Blues Band 'in a chateau for a couple of days. Then I get some time off!' And that's not factoring in his fund-raising charity concerts (for Prostate Project and Cranleigh Arts venue in Surrey), his obligations as President and ambassador of Harmonica UK (formerly the National Harmonica League; Jones hands out cards to anyone asking for the tricks of his mouth-organ trade), and he and wife Fiona's regular church meetings 'telling people our story'. For sure, the band of which he was a member for three-and-a-half years between 1962 and 1966 has lasted much, much longer in their current incarnation as The Manfreds. They first got back together in 1991 for the 50 th birthday of guitarist McGuinness (whose first band was The Roosters, alongside Eric Clapton). 'And all of a sudden, Manfred Mann was back together again – except for Manfred. He was the only one who wasn't there. He was on tour in Germany.' It turned out that Mann – who'd reconfigured the group in 1971 as Manfred Mann's Earth Band (their biggest hit was their 1977 cover of Bruce Springsteen's Blinded by the Light) – was still wedded to that version of the group. 'So we talked about it,' says Jones, 'back and forth and back and forth. And I'm sorry to say that lawyers were involved, which was unnecessary, really. But in the end, it was settled that The Manfreds would not be easily confused with Manfred Mann's Earth Band. And,' he adds, clearly pleased at the mutual turning-of-the-cheek, 'we have become more and more friendly ever since.' For a minute in the early 1960s, though, it seemed possible that Paul Jones's destiny lay with another band of blues-loving shouters. Born in Portsmouth, he studied English at Oxford before quitting after one year to follow his first passion. 'I had a band at university, made up of various jazz musicians who wished it could be more of a jazz band, and me.' When the guitarist left, Jones offered the spot to a new friend, a fellow muso 'that I met at a party or a college ball or something like that'. Brian Jones (no relation) said he wasn't keen. Still, when, in 1962, Brian was mulling the formation of a new band, he reciprocated. 'Brian said: 'You and I have just been dilettantes. We haven't been taking this thing seriously.' I said: 'OK, so what's your remedy?' 'Well, first thing I'm going to do is move to London, because it's the centre of everything.' He was still in Cheltenham. 'Then: 'I'm going to get myself a flat, and I'm starting a band, and we're going to become rich and famous. Do you want to be my singer?'' Paul thought Brian was being 'preposterously optimistic. I knew [leading figure on the blues scene] Alexis Korner, and I knew every musician in his band. They all had day jobs. Or if they were lucky enough to be in another band as well, they perhaps didn't have a day job. But [late British R&B legend] Graham Bond [a member of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated] was selling Hoovers! So I said to Brian: 'You're going to become rich and famous, playing blues? Come on… '' Also, Jones had just landed a paying gig, as a singer in a dance band playing the easygoing hits of the day. He duly declined Brian's offer, telling him: 'I'm going to do this for money. And I'm going to play blues because I love it. And those two things probably will never meet.' So, while Paul Jones was stuck in a residency in Slough's Adelphi Ballroom, togged out in a scarlet jacket and singing I Remember You, Brian Jones went off and formed The Rolling Stones. The Stones, with Mick Jagger as (effectively) Brian's second choice singer after Paul, released their debut single, Chuck Berry cover Come On, the same summer that Manfred Mann released theirs. It wasn't long before they were far outpacing Paul's band. I ask him: when he saw what The Rolling Stones were achieving, did he ever kick himself that he hadn't taken Brian up in his offer? 'No, never,' he replies firmly. 'I admired those guys because they did a great job.' (It is very difficult to imagine the scrupulously polite Paul Jones, who was recently offended by the amount of swearing he heard coming from notorious rock'n'roll potty mouth Rick Astley, as part of the Stones' debauched rock'n'roll circus.) But he will allow himself a small pat on the back for another part he played in their rise. After the success in early 1964 of 5-4-3-2-1, Manfred Mann booked a weekly residency at The Marquee Club in Soho. They would turn up in the afternoon to rehearse new songs, 'like an extended soundcheck, really'. But one week they were told they'd have to wait a few hours as The Rolling Stones had booked the club for their own rehearsal, ahead of what Jones remembers as 'their first television appearance' (his pedantry is twinned with a fierce memory, so I don't doubt him). 'They were a covers band at the time. And after their rehearsal finished, and ours was about to begin, I said to Mick: 'Are you writing yet?' 'No, I can't write songs.' 'Mick, you will. You should get started now. And I'm not saying anything more on this subject. You've got to start writing songs.'' Jones pauses, a modest smile twitching his lips. 'Well: Andrew Loog Oldham, of course, gets that credit for locking Mick and Keith [Richards] in a room until they came up with a song. But I actually encouraged Mick before that.' It all speaks, he reflects, of his and Manfred Mann's 'decent relationship' with The Rolling Stones. 'There was a certain amount of rivalry, but it was good-natured. Brian use to take the mickey out of me, and I used to try and take the mickey out of him. But, no, I never for a moment wanted to have gone back and made a different decision. I've enjoyed my career! A lot!' It's a career that's been fired the his passion for the music he feels in his soul. In summer 1966, after Pretty Flamingo – another cover of a song by an American songwriter – went to Number One, Jones left Manfred Mann and went straight into an acting career that saw him star on stage and screen in Evita, The Beggar's Opera, The Sweeney, kids TV show Uncle Jack and the Jean Shrimpton curio Privilege. But there would, ultimately, be one other 1960s screen appearance that came back to bite Jones. He took part in a televised debate with Cliff Richard about their competing views on faith. 'Cliff was arguing the case for the evangelist Billy Graham. And I was – as an atheist, which I still was – bringing the opposite argument. Cliff was very gentlemanly and respectful. But I'm not proud of the way I behaved on that television programme.' How did Jones behave? 'I kind of twisted things that he said. I said things like: 'You see, Cliff, what you've actually just said is...' And then I would say something that he hadn't just said… It wasn't clever.' By the mid-1980s, Jones – who was raised Christian – began 'coming back to faith'. Around that time, he joined the cast of Guys and Dolls at London's National Theatre, taking over, from Ian Charleson, the part of Sky Masterson, as immortalised by Marlon Brando. One of the dancers in the company was Fiona Hendley. 'And we became lovers, but not married,' says Jones, whose first marriage had ended in 1976 (he has two songs from that relationship). 'And because of Fiona, we started to go to a church in London. They quickly realised that we were living as man and wife – but weren't! Then suddenly, one day, we had a call from Cliff Richard: 'Come and hear this preacher whose name is Luis Palau. You and Fiona both need to hear what he has to say.' 'And sure enough, he was preaching out of Paul's Letter to the Romans, chapter one,' he says of Bible passages about God's gift of salvation through faith. 'And it did the trick. I had been an atheist for 25 years, but I wasn't any more. But on the other hand, I hadn't [fully] become Christian either. So Cliff was very much responsible for that –' Jones claps his hands – 'complete change. Or, completing that change, as it were.' That was in 1984. The following year Jones stopped drinking, which is certainly one reason for his good health. Forty years on, Paul Jones remains staunch – to his teetotality, to his faith and, ultimately, to The Manfreds. But, I wonder as I look round his frankly fabulous home, what keeps him on the road at age 83, playing the – to be frank – secondary and tertiary concert markets of Shrewsbury and Lincoln? 'I hope they're only secondary, but you could be right,' he replies jovially. 'It's a very special band, The Manfreds. It's like being in a new band in a way – even though it's from 60-odd years ago. I find that deeply fulfilling, like some of the other stuff we do. Fiona and I are still doing churches. Ever since Luis Palau, we've been going round these churches and just telling people our story. We love it. So some of what I do is that, and I can't blame The Manfreds for everything. But there's a lot to be done,' Paul Jones says, beaming, 'and I'm still doing it!'
The Sun
11-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Sun
I tried viral 5,4,3,2,1 shopping method & it cut my weekly food bill in HALF – but here's why I won't be doing it again
FIVE, four, three, two, one . . . no, not that old Manfred Mann hit from the 1960s – this is the latest food shopping trend on social media. It's a simple method: Buy five portions of veg, four fruits, three proteins, two grains and one sweet treat each week. The budget formula has gone viral, especially as mums claim it has cut their food shop bills by half or more. It encourages you to cook from scratch, avoiding the high costs of pre-packaged meals and snacks. For a family of four, my weekly food bill frequently hits £120 or more. So can this hack feed a family and save serious cash? Julie Cook tried it, for five days, and this what she found. DAY 1: THE REALITY OF RATIONING BREAKFAST would often be cereal or an egg — but today it was toast only. 'Bread is all I have in,' I said to my kids, Alex, 16, and Adriana, 11. They stared at me as if I'd said I'd just seen a unicorn. 'What, no cereal?' Adriana gasped. They eat lunch at school so when they came home I made them a cottage pie with half the minced beef, an onion, two chopped carrots, some of the potatoes to make mash and some tomato puree I had in the cupboard. The meal went down a treat and they asked for more. Afterwards they usually want something sweet but I explained about the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 method and how sweet treats were rationed this week to just one pack of six mousses. I'm an Irish mum & I feed my family of six for three days with €26 shop Alex loves fruit so was happy but Adriana has a sweet tooth. 'Can't I have a mousse?' she said. 'When they're gone, they're gone,' I replied. Hubby Cornel, 44, a musician, was happy with the cottage pie and fruit. When I also explained this strategy could save us hundreds, maybe even thousands a year, he perked up even more. So far, so good. DAY 2: COOKERY COMPLAINTS AFTER a breakfast of, you guessed it, toast, my kids set off for school clutching bananas as extras. Normally, I'd cook something from scratch one day and, if there were no leftovers, make something simple like frozen chicken in breadcrumbs the next — but they were off-limits this week. Besides, I still had half a pack of mincemeat to use up, as it said to use within 24 hours once opened. I made a bolognese with the mince and added it to the pasta shells I bought. Normally the kids love this dish. But Adriana groaned: 'We had mince last night.' I replied: 'Well, I want to use it up.' I felt rather miffed. The ingratitude! Hubby seemed OK while Alex, bless him is 16 and all food's good food to him — although he did ask if there'd be something 'different tomorrow'. They ate resignedly and I bribed both by offering one of the sweet treats. 'When they're gone . . . ' I began. 'Yes, when they're gone, they're gone!' Adriana snapped before running off upstairs with hers. I snuck my mousse out now and decided to eat it before anyone did a late night fridge raid. DAY 3: FRIDGE RAIDERS WITH my family well and truly tired of mince, I used the four-pack of salmon I had bought. I paired them with a jacket potato each and some curly kale. I also roasted the sweet peppers in some oil. I was pleased to be serving up healthy fish and greens and definitely eased the mum guilt of no treats in the house. At least I was giving my kids their Omega 3s. Despite all the veg, though, the salmon steaks were tiny and everyone asked for more. 'Er, that was it,' I winced. The kids raided the fridge and found three sorry-looking mousses. 'Where are all the yoghurts?' Alex asked. 'They're not part of this week's 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,' I replied. He grabbed some strawberries and sloped off upstairs. 'I'm starving,' Cornel groaned, looking in the fridge. 'Where's all the food?' Not a good day, really. I stared into the empty fridge weighing it up. On one hand, I would be saving a ton doing this. On the other, was it really worth it if everyone was starving? DAY 4: CALORIE CONUNDRUM DINNER tonight was chicken breasts with roasted potatoes, roasted carrots and some curly kale. I learnt my lesson last night with the meagre salmon steaks so I used all the chicken up to ensure everyone had second helpings. The kids were getting used to our fruit pudding now and asked for strawberries. There was a tiny handful left. 'It's a bit, well, monotonous,' Cornel said, helping me load the dishwasher. I stared into the fridge and felt the same. Usually it would be heaving with yoghurts, puddings and chocolate biscuits. I went to bed worrying whether I was giving my kids enough calories. Boys are supposed to have 2,800 a day at my son's age and my daughter is supposed to have between 1,400 and 2,000. I was concerned at this point if they'd had enough. Thank goodness they also get a healthy lunch at school. 'Structure helps for a more balanced diet' MARTIN NEWMAN, the Consumer Champion, says . . . "The 5-4-3-2-1 shopping method gives shoppers a simple framework to ensure their trolley reflects a more balanced diet – especially useful in an age of ultra-processed convenience. Going into the shop with this structure makes you more intentional. It shifts you from reacting to supermarket deals or packaging to thinking proactively about your meals. For parents, this is an easy-to-remember guide that helps ensure kids get nutritional variety without overthinking meal plans. By focusing on food groups, not brand names, shoppers may save money and reduce waste – especially if they plan meals around what they buy. People with specific nutritional needs – athletes, people with diabetes, allergies, or those on plant-based diets – may need more tailored approaches. Also, rigidly sticking to a numeric formula might not suit everyone's lifestyle, especially those cooking for larger households or with varied preferences." See DAY 5: SOUP SAVES THE DAY ALL the protein was now gone. I looked in the fridge and felt panic engulf me. My teen son works out at the gym and if there's no protein on his plate it's a disaster. But it had all gone. I decided to make a soup out of the bag of carrots, one onion and some potatoes, and blended it. Then I made a simple pasta sauce with some of the onion and some tinned tomatoes I had in my cupboard (thankfully.) 'Is there any cheese?' the kids asked. I grimaced. 'I only had three proteins — fish, chicken and meat,' I explained. 'This is NOT normal,' Adriana sighed. Afterwards I gave them both the final leftover chocolate mousses, with guilt. At the weekend, the cupboard and fridge were bare so I did my normal huge weekly shop, with yoghurts, crisps, biccies and all that. Oh, and sugary cereals. It came to £110. MY VERDICT THE 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, method of shopping sounds great on paper – and it is, in some ways. It made me meal-plan rather than going off the cuff like I usually do, and made me use up every single thing I had bought. But it also left very little room for spontaneity, extra portions or even just fun little treats. I am convinced my kids were hungry by the evening – hubby certainly was, I may have heard his stomach rumbling – and I just felt stressed by the whole thing. I am all for cooking from scratch – but only when you have the knowledge you have enough back-up food, if the kids want extra helpings or just something else that evening. I can see why people rave about the method – it certainly did save me money – about £63 over the five days, which would work out at £4,599 over a year. But I won't be doing it again.
Scottish Sun
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Scottish Sun
New Renault 4 is no longer a cheap, simple no frills runabout – it's now a funky family crossover & a capital B bargain
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE original Renault 4 was a tin snail. Small and slow with a big boot. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 The R4 has been reimagined for the electric age as a funky family crossover with a Google brain, squishy seats and a canvas roll-back roof Credit: Supplied 5 Renault sold eight million of the original R4 over 30 years and even today it still ranks as the eighth best-selling car of all time Credit: Supplied 5 The 52kWh battery will do up to 247 miles and recharge to 80 per cent in a 30-minute tea-and-pee break Credit: Supplied The only thing it was designed to beat was a Citroen 2CV. Talk about setting the bar low. But boy did it hit the spot. Renault sold eight million over 30 years and even today it still ranks as the eighth best-selling car of all time. Now the R4 has been reimagined for the electric age as a funky family crossover with a Google brain, squishy seats and a canvas roll-back roof. Lifestyle, innit. So it's no longer the cheap, simple, no-frills runabout it once was. It's actually bigger and more expensive than a Renault 5. Yep, 4 is bigger than 5 at Planet Renault. Funny. I don't recall Manfred Mann singing, '4-5-3-2-1'. Yet it is still a capital-B bargain at £27k, undercutting battery-powered rivals from Mini, Fiat, Ford and Vauxhall by several bags. The Sun's Motors Editor Rob Gill takes the new electric Renault 5 for a spin Put an R4 through an X-ray machine and you'll see it has the same bones as an R5. Good start. The R5 is the 2025 European Car of the Year. It drives like an R5. Feels like an R5. Goes as far as an R5. The difference being that R4 is a bit longer and taller and has a bigger boot. So it's more practical. Better for dogs. It also has a low, flat loading sill like the Sixties original. As much as 10cm lower than the competition. Which tells me there's an R4 van coming soon. We're not getting that flip-down front passenger seat on UK cars right now. Which needs sorting. It would be mint for carrying long things like ladders or surfboards or chauffeuring Peter Crouch in the back. He'd have somewhere to stick his legs. This next bit is a little nerdy but braking regeneration is another area where the R4 trumps the R5. It has four modes controlled by flappy paddles on the steering wheel. So you can mimic changing down gears for a bend, and force-feed the battery with electrons. The R5 and its racy twin, the Alpine A290, don't have flappy paddles. Explain that one. The practical less sporty car gets the fun stuff. Also, there's a four-wheel-drive R4 in the pipeline for people who might actually do 'lifestyle-y' things with it at the weekend. As for range, the 52kWh battery will do up to 247 miles and recharges to 80 per cent in a 30-minute tea-and-pee break. R4 isn't taking the smaller 40kWh battery available in the R5. As for looks, yes, it's another crossover. But it does have some cool references to the original R4, if you know your French onions. 5 The new R4 is still a capital B bargain at £27k, undercutting battery-powered rivals from Mini, Fiat, Ford and Vauxhall by several bags Credit: Supplied 5 Another successful reboot on the way Credit: Supplied Like the one-piece front grille. This time with an illuminated ring around it. Not chrome. Like the upright three-part rear lights. This time as LEDs. Like the roof rack. Not just for show. It can actually carry 80kg of stuff. Renault has successfully rebooted R4 and R5 as cool, cost-friendly EVs. What's next? A titchy £17k Twingo. KEY FACTS: RENAULT 4 Price : £26,995 : £26,995 Battery : 52kWh : 52kWh Power : 150hp : 150hp 0-62mph : 8.2 secs : 8.2 secs Top speed : 93mph : 93mph Range : 247 miles : 247 miles Out: July
The Irish Sun
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
New Renault 4 is no longer a cheap, simple no frills runabout – it's now a funky family crossover & a capital B bargain
THE original Renault 4 was a tin snail. Small and slow with a big boot. Advertisement 5 The R4 has been reimagined for the electric age as a funky family crossover with a Google brain, squishy seats and a canvas roll-back roof Credit: Supplied 5 Renault sold eight million of the original R4 over 30 years and even today it still ranks as the eighth best-selling car of all time Credit: Supplied 5 The 52kWh battery will do up to 247 miles and recharge to 80 per cent in a 30-minute tea-and-pee break Credit: Supplied The only thing it was designed to beat was a Talk about setting the bar low. But boy did it hit the spot. Renault sold eight million over 30 years and even today it still ranks as the eighth Advertisement READ MORE ROAD TESTS Now the R4 has been reimagined for the electric age as a funky family crossover with a Google brain, squishy seats and a canvas roll-back roof. Lifestyle, innit. So it's no longer the cheap, simple, no-frills runabout it once was. It's actually bigger and more expensive than a Renault 5. Advertisement Most read in Motors Yep, 4 is bigger than 5 at Planet Renault. Funny. I don't recall Manfred Mann singing, '4-5-3-2-1'. Yet it is still a capital-B bargain at £27k, undercutting battery-powered rivals from Mini, Fiat, Ford and Vauxhall by several bags. The Sun's Motors Editor Rob Gill takes the new electric Renault 5 for a spin Put an R4 through an X-ray machine and you'll see it has the same bones as an R5. Good start. The R5 is the 2025 European Car of the Year. It drives like an R5. Feels like an R5. Goes as far as an R5. The difference being that R4 is a bit longer and taller and has a bigger boot. So it's more practical. Better for dogs. Advertisement It also has a low, flat loading sill like the Sixties original. As much as 10cm lower than the competition. Which tells me there's an R4 van coming soon. We're not getting that flip-down front passenger seat on UK cars right now. Which needs sorting. It would be mint for carrying long things like ladders or surfboards or chauffeuring This next bit is a little nerdy but braking regeneration is another area where the R4 trumps the R5. Advertisement It has four modes controlled by flappy paddles on the steering wheel. So you can mimic changing down gears for a bend, and force-feed the battery with electrons. The R5 and its racy twin, the Alpine A290, don't have flappy paddles. Explain that one. The practical less sporty car gets the fun stuff. Also, there's a four-wheel-drive R4 in the pipeline for people who might actually do 'lifestyle-y' things with it at the weekend. As for range, the 52kWh battery will do up to 247 miles and recharges to 80 per cent in a 30-minute tea-and-pee break. Advertisement R4 isn't taking the smaller 40kWh battery available in the R5. As for looks, yes, it's another crossover. But it does have some cool references to the original R4, if you know your French onions. 5 The new R4 is still a capital B bargain at £27k, undercutting battery-powered rivals from Mini, Fiat, Ford and Vauxhall by several bags Credit: Supplied 5 Another successful reboot on the way Credit: Supplied Advertisement Like the one-piece front grille. This time with an illuminated ring around it. Not chrome. Like the upright three-part rear lights. This time as LEDs. Like the roof rack. Not just for show. It can actually carry 80kg of stuff. Renault has successfully rebooted R4 and R5 as cool, cost-friendly EVs. Advertisement What's next? A titchy £17k Twingo. KEY FACTS: RENAULT 4 Price : £26,995 Battery : 52kWh Power : 150hp 0-62mph : 8.2 secs Top speed : 93mph Range : 247 miles Out : July
Scotsman
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
13 retro snacks every 80s child wanted in their lunch box at school
These were the tastes of the 80s for schoolchildren everywhere Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... These were the snacks and drinks every child wanted to find in their school lunch box during the 1980s Their popularity was boosted by some memorable advertising campaigns Some have been discontinued, while others have made a comeback following campaigns by fans who missed them If you were a child of the 1980s who took a packed lunch to school there were some snacks which would make you the envy of all your classmates. Below are some of the retro 80s drinks, crisps and chocolate biscuits every schoolchild wanted to find in their lunchbox back then, alongside their sandwiches and fruit. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 54321 bars These chocolate bars were named after the five key ingredients they contained - wafer, fondant, rice crispies, caramel and milk chocolate. They are also remembered by many for the advert, featuring the Manfred Mann song 5-4-3-2-1 and in an early version the comedian Rik Mayall. 54321 bars were sadly discontinued in 1989. Panda Pops This range of brightly coloured fizzy drinks was popular with children for many years. Flavours included blue raspberryade, which was guaranteed to turn your tongue a vivid blue, cherryade and strawberry jelly & ice cream. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Panda Pops were eventually axed in 2011 following pressure from health campaigners over the high sugar content. Club biscuits For many children of the 80s, these cream-filled, chocolate covered biscuit bars will forever be associated with the insanely catchy advertising jingle. All together now: 'If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our club.' Everyone had a favourite flavour of the Jacob's/McVitie's biscuits, whether it was plain, orange, mint, coffee or one of the other many varities introduced over the years. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Club biscuits remain popular today, with a new salted caramel flavour introduced in 2022. Kia-Ora Kia-Ora dates back to 1903, when it was first sold in Australia, but despite being available in the UK from 1917 it only really took off here in the 1970s and 80s. The drink's popularity was fuelled by the animated adverts featuring the jingle 'We all adore a Kia-Ora', though those adverts were later criticised for their use of racial stereotypes. Smiths Flavour 'n' Shake crisps Smiths Salt 'n' Shake is a classic crisp variety still made by Walkers today. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There's always been something strangely satisfying about having to do the work yourself, opening the sachet of salt and shaking the bag vigorously, even though it was never enough to evenly distribute said salt. Smiths really stepped things up in the 80s, with the introduction of Flavour 'n' Shake crisps, with flavourings including salt and vinegar, cheese and onion, smoky bacon and tomato ketchup. Um Bongo This popular tropical flavour fruit drink was first introduced in 1983 by Libby's, which at the time belonged to Nestlé. It was advertised for many years using the jingle 'Um Bongo, Um Bongo, they drink it in the Congo', though the reference to the Congo was later removed. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The original recipe was famously altered in the noughties after new regulations were introduced restricting the use of sugar and artificial flavourings. But following complaints from many customers the original formula was reintroduced in 2009, originally as Um Bongo Tropical and then Classic Um Bongo. Golden Wonder Super Heroes crisps Golden Wonder was king of the crisps in the UK until it was overtaken by Walkers. In the 1980s, its popular varieties included the Super Heroes range, with web-shaped Spider-Man crisps and Superman ones in the shape of his famous 'S' logo. Golden Wonder crisps were advertised at the time as being 'Britain's noisiest crisp' with the best crunch factor. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Texan bars The Texan was a US-themed chocolate bar containing nougat and toffee which was popular in the UK during the 1970s and early 80s. The adverts featured a cartoon cowboy who would declare the Texan bar 'sure is a mighty chew'. It was withdrawn from sale in 1984 but after being named the UK's favourite sweet of all time in a 2004 survey, it was briefly revived by Nestlé the following year as a limited edition 'nostalgia' product. Marathon bar This popular peanut, nougat and caramel chocolate bar never went away but famously changed its name in the UK in 1990 to Snickers, as it had always been known elsewhere. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad To children who grew up in the UK during the 80s, it will always be a Snickers bar. The maker Mars decided to cash in on the nostalgia, briefly introducing a retro Marathon version in UK supermarkets in 2019. United chocolate bar This was possibly the only chocolate biscuit bar to feature a football kit-inspired wrapper, with blue and white stripes. The chocolate coated biscuit with candy crisp was launched by McVitie's in 1979 and proved hugely popular during the 1980s before being discontinued during the early 1990s. Choc-Dips A hot air balloon pays homage to the popular KP Choc-Dips snack, introduced in 1982 |Choc-Dips first hit supermarket shelves in 1982 and the biscuit sticks with a chocolatey dipping sauce have proved a favourite with youngsters ever since. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But did you prefer the original milk chocolate version, the white chocolate variety or the old toffee version? Trio The Trio was another chocolate bar whose popularity was boosted by a memorable advertising campaign during the 80s. Those ads featured the cartoon character Suzy, who opened her chops improbably wide to belt out 'Trio, Trio, I want a Trio and I want one now', to the tune of Day-O (The Banana Boat Song). Trios, originally made by Jacob's, consisted of a biscuit base topped with toffee cream and covered in milk chocolate, in three snappable sections. Other versions contained chocolate and strawberry cream. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Trios were discontinued in 2003 but the original toffee version made a comeback in 2016, following a Facebook campaign. Fish 'n' Chips biscuits These fish-shaped savoury biscuits by Burton's were hugely popular during the 80s, when they featured in many school lunch boxes. The salt and vinegar flavoured snack, with its distinctive newspaper-style packaging, disappeared for many years before making a comeback in 2014.
