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Posted 31 July 2004 - 04:33 PM
Sport
The city is home to two of the UK's oldest professional Premier League football teams: Aston Villa (1874) and Birmingham City (1875) . Nearby West Bromwich Albion's ground The Hawthorns used to be divided by the Birmingham/ Smethwick border, but was moved completely into the latter by a minor rationalisation of local government borders in the 1960s and is now in Sandwell.
The first football league was invented, by William McGregor on 22 March 1885, in Aston.
Athletics takes place at the open-air Alexander Stadium on a national and international level. Recent development has seen addition of a High Performance Centre for indoor intense specialist training. The Stadium is also home to Birchfield Harriers, who have contributed towards Britain's National and International Athletics for many years. The National Indoor Arena is Britain's Premier Indoor Athletics stadium and in 2003 successfully hosted the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The city has been chosen to host the European Athletic Association's European Indoor Championships in 2007.
Professional Golf is played at the Belfry (4km outside Birmingham) which sometimes hosts The Ryder Cup.
Rugby Union is played in Birmingham by Moseley in National League 2, while the more recently formed Birmingham & Solihull Pertemps Bees, based in Solihull, are challenging for a place in the Zurich Premiership.
Basketball is played by the Birmingham Bullets, who are in the top UK basketball league.
Boxing is popular in the City with many clubs and famous professional boxers such as Pat Cowdell and Robert McKracken who have continued to support boxing in the UK by turning their skills to coaching new up- and- coming boxers.
County Cricket is played at the Edgbaston ground, home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club. International test matches are also held there.
Hockey is a popular sport with Harborne and Bournville competing at professional level.
The National Indoor Arena also hosts many other sporting events, such as the World Indoor Badminton Championships.
Arts
Music
Modern
In the late 1960s Heavy metal music first evolved in the city and its neighbouring districts with bands such as Black Sabbath, The Fortunes, The Move and Robert Plant (singer of Led Zeppelin).
Birmingham-based tape recorder company, Bradmatic Ltd helped develop and manufacture the mellotron. Over the next 15 years, the mellotron had a major impact on rock music and is a trademark sound of the era's progressive bands.
Early progressive rock and blues bands to evolve from the Brum Beat era include: The Rockin Berries, The Honeycombes, Wizzard, The Spencer Davis Group, Idle Race, The Moody Blues, Judas Priest, Traffic, and The Electric Light Orchestra.
Other successful Birmingham singer/songwriters and musicians include Joan Armatrading, Steve Gibbons, Mike Kellie (of Spooky Tooth), Jeff Lynne, Phil Lynott (who formed Thin Lizzy), Carl Palmer (of Emerson Lake and Palmer), Ruby Turner, Toyah Willcox, Steve Winwood and Roy Wood.
Mothers rock venue ran in Erdington from 1968 - 1971 and The list of bands who played there reads like a roll call of rock legends: Pink Floyd recorded part of Ummagumma, The Who performed Tommy and Traffic staged their debut gig. The club was voted number one rock venue in the world by America's Billboard magazine.
During the 1970s Birmingham's large West Indian population spawned what is arguably one of the earliest roots reggae bands in the UK, Steel Pulse. With their ground breaking 1970s album Handsworth Revolution they proved that English Reggae music could offer something more than just sound system. They were soon followed by the first truly mixed race UK dub reggae band, UB40. Other 1970s Reggae orientated groups were 2 tone band The Beat and Musical Youth who (along with UB40, Pablo Falconer and Pato Banton) were part responsible for bringing UK reggae into the homes of everyday 1980s Britain.
The city also plays host to one of oldest community radio (or pirate radio) stations in the UK, in the form of P.C.R.L., which began in the early 1980s and mainly plays reggae.
The early 1980s brought New Romantic pop group Duran Duran, who worked in Birmingham's famous Rum Runner nightclub in the 1970s.
Napalm Death and Stephen "Tintin" Duffy, also emanated from late 1970s/early 1980s Birmingham, as did Dexy's Midnight Runners.
Birmingham Hip Hop scene continuing developed in the early 1980s.
The late 1980s/1990s Indie music scene saw bands such as The Charlatans, Dodgy, WonderStuff, Pop Will Eat Itself and Ned's Atomic Dustbin who all eminated from the city and it's surrounding satelite towns.
Bhangra Rap evolved in Handsworth in the early 1990s with Apache Indian who later went on to host his own radio show on BBC Radio 1. Many other Bhangra bands are based in the city.
Jazz is popular in the city. The Birmingham International Jazz Festival takes place annually and is the largest of its kind in the UK. A branch of Ronnie Scotts opened in the 1990s but went bust within a decade. Some of the city's jazz musicians include Soweto Kinch and King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys.
Birmingham has embraced house music since the late 1980s. Acid House nights such as Spectrum took place at the Institute (now the Sanctuary) and the Hummingbird (now the Carling Academy Birmingham). Some of the UK's most influential dance nights including Gods Kitchen, Chuff Chuff, Wobble, Miss Moneypenny's, Gatecrasher, Sundissential, Atomic Jam and the original C.R.E.A.M have their roots in the city and have been supported by local figures such as the late Tony De Vit, Steve Lawler and Steve Kelley.
More recent artists include electro dub creators Rockers Hi-Fi, Big Beat musicians Bentley Rhythm Ace, Garage/House band The Streets, Electronica bands Broadcast, Pram, Plone and Add N to X and Avrocar. R&B singer Jamelia is also from the city as is Kelli Dayton of The Sneaker Pimps, saxophonist/rapper Soweto Kinch and the rock band Ocean Colour Scene.
Party in the Park is Birmingham's largest music festival, at Cannon Hill Park, where up to 30,000 revellers of all ages enjoy popular chart music.
Some of Birmingham's other music venues include Academy 2, the National Exhibition Centre's Indoor Arena and Symphony Hall, Scruffy Murphy's, the Custard Factory, Edward's No. 8, mac (Midlands Arts Centre), and the Drum Arts Centre.
Classical
The internationally-renowned City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's home venue is Symphony Hall, where it gives frequent performances.
The equally world-renowned Birmingham Royal Ballet also resides in the city as will the world's oldest vocational dance school, Elmhurst.
The Birmingham Triennial Music Festival took place from 1784 - 1912 and was considered the grandest of its kind throughout Britain. Music was written for the festival by Mendelssohn, Gounod, Sullivan, Dvorak, Bantock and most notably Elgar, who wrote four of his most famous choral pieces for Birmingham.
Birmingham's other city- centre music venues include The National Indoor Arena (NIA), CBSO Centre, Adrian Boult Hall (ABH) at Birmingham Conservatoire and the Birmingham Town Hall, which played host to many classical and popular music performances from the late 1800s, but which is currently closed for refurbishment.
Literature
Many famous literary figures have been associated with Birmingham:
Washington Irving [2] (http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/irving) lived in Birmingham for some time, during which he wrote stories including Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Bracebridge Hall, or, The Humorists, A Medley is based on Aston Hall.
Charles Dickens gave readings in Birmingham Town Hall.
Arthur Conan Doyle [3] (http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/doyle) lived in Aston from about Spring 1879 - early 1882 and many of his works include references to people or places he knew there.
Barbara Cartland or "The Lady in Pink" was born in Edgbaston July 9th 1901. The family home was on Cartland Road, Kings Heath.
The Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien spent most of his childhood in the Birmingham area, and his work is much influenced by his time there [4] (http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/tolkien) his parents also came from Birmingham.
Benjamin Zephaniah is a famous black dub poet from Handsworth who tackles predudice, poverty and injustice.
Judith Cutler's crime novels are set in present-day Birmingham. The city also has literary workshops such as Tindal Street Press.
Comedy
Birmingham has generated some very famous comedians including Sid Field, Tony Hancock, Jasper Carrott, Shazia Mirza and Rick Mayall.
The Glee Club a prominent comedy venue. The Drum Arts Centre also hosts series of monthly comedy sessions as does the mac.
Theatre
There are many theatres in Birmingham. The three largest professional theatres are the Alexandra Theatre ("the Alex"), Birmingham Repertory Theatre ("The Rep") and the Birmingham Hippodrome.
The actors in the long-running Radio 4 serial The Archers live in and around Birmingham, where the supposedly rural programme is recorded.
Art
Birmingham has one one of the largest collections of Pre-Raphaelite art in the world at The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Edward Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham.
David Cox was a famous Birmingham watercolour artist and President of the Associated Artists in Water Colour in 1810.
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is housed at the University of Birmingham and although only a small gallery it was declared 'Gallery of the Year' by the Good Britain Guide 2004.
The Ikon Gallery is housed in a neo-gothic former school in Brindley Place and showcases modern art. Number 9 The Gallery is close by.
The Halcyon Gallery is located inside the International Convention Centre, with major sale- exhibitions by artists as diverse as Rolf Harris, Mackenzie Thorpe, L.S._Lowry and Birmingham-born Govinder Nazran, who was nominated for the Fine Art Trade Guild's 'Best Selling Artist 2004'.
Graffiti (or "spraycan art") culture appeared in the early 1980s, with the area featuring in Channel 4 documentary Bombing. Birmingham also hosted the largest spraycan art competition in Britain, which brought together Goldie, Bronx Graffiti Supremo Brim, Mode and 3D, who later went on to found Massive Attack. Graffiti events are still held in the Custard Factory and Selly Oak ball park.
The Old Bird's Custard Factory is now one of the largest thriving media and arts villages in Europe, with exhibitions and an array of exciting modern sculpture and water features.
The mac hosts theatre performances, concerts, literature and poetry showcases, courses, film screenings and art exhibitions.
The Drum Arts Centre features works of local, regional, national and international African, Asian and Caribbean contemporary artists.
Events of note
Festivals
Birmingham is home to many national, religious and spiritual festivals including a St. George's Day party and the third largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world, after New York and Dublin.
The Birmingham Tattoo is a military show that has taken place in the city for several years. The currently biennial Caribbean- style Birmingham International Carnival was originally the Handsworth Carnival, held in Handsworth Park from 1984, but now takes place biennially in Perry Barr Park. Birmingham Pride takes place in Birmingham's gay village and attracts up to 100,000 visitors each year. The Fierce Festival teams with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre ("The Rep") to present an series of quirky performances from local and national companies. The Birmingham Film Festival takes place annually at various Broad Street venues. It highlights local talent as well as a wide spectrum of international productions. The Young Book Reader UK festival also takes place in the city. The millennium saw the birth of the Birmingham International Festival.
The city is home to two of the UK's oldest professional Premier League football teams: Aston Villa (1874) and Birmingham City (1875) . Nearby West Bromwich Albion's ground The Hawthorns used to be divided by the Birmingham/ Smethwick border, but was moved completely into the latter by a minor rationalisation of local government borders in the 1960s and is now in Sandwell.
The first football league was invented, by William McGregor on 22 March 1885, in Aston.
Athletics takes place at the open-air Alexander Stadium on a national and international level. Recent development has seen addition of a High Performance Centre for indoor intense specialist training. The Stadium is also home to Birchfield Harriers, who have contributed towards Britain's National and International Athletics for many years. The National Indoor Arena is Britain's Premier Indoor Athletics stadium and in 2003 successfully hosted the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The city has been chosen to host the European Athletic Association's European Indoor Championships in 2007.
Professional Golf is played at the Belfry (4km outside Birmingham) which sometimes hosts The Ryder Cup.
Rugby Union is played in Birmingham by Moseley in National League 2, while the more recently formed Birmingham & Solihull Pertemps Bees, based in Solihull, are challenging for a place in the Zurich Premiership.
Basketball is played by the Birmingham Bullets, who are in the top UK basketball league.
Boxing is popular in the City with many clubs and famous professional boxers such as Pat Cowdell and Robert McKracken who have continued to support boxing in the UK by turning their skills to coaching new up- and- coming boxers.
County Cricket is played at the Edgbaston ground, home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club. International test matches are also held there.
Hockey is a popular sport with Harborne and Bournville competing at professional level.
The National Indoor Arena also hosts many other sporting events, such as the World Indoor Badminton Championships.
Arts
Music
Modern
In the late 1960s Heavy metal music first evolved in the city and its neighbouring districts with bands such as Black Sabbath, The Fortunes, The Move and Robert Plant (singer of Led Zeppelin).
Birmingham-based tape recorder company, Bradmatic Ltd helped develop and manufacture the mellotron. Over the next 15 years, the mellotron had a major impact on rock music and is a trademark sound of the era's progressive bands.
Early progressive rock and blues bands to evolve from the Brum Beat era include: The Rockin Berries, The Honeycombes, Wizzard, The Spencer Davis Group, Idle Race, The Moody Blues, Judas Priest, Traffic, and The Electric Light Orchestra.
Other successful Birmingham singer/songwriters and musicians include Joan Armatrading, Steve Gibbons, Mike Kellie (of Spooky Tooth), Jeff Lynne, Phil Lynott (who formed Thin Lizzy), Carl Palmer (of Emerson Lake and Palmer), Ruby Turner, Toyah Willcox, Steve Winwood and Roy Wood.
Mothers rock venue ran in Erdington from 1968 - 1971 and The list of bands who played there reads like a roll call of rock legends: Pink Floyd recorded part of Ummagumma, The Who performed Tommy and Traffic staged their debut gig. The club was voted number one rock venue in the world by America's Billboard magazine.
During the 1970s Birmingham's large West Indian population spawned what is arguably one of the earliest roots reggae bands in the UK, Steel Pulse. With their ground breaking 1970s album Handsworth Revolution they proved that English Reggae music could offer something more than just sound system. They were soon followed by the first truly mixed race UK dub reggae band, UB40. Other 1970s Reggae orientated groups were 2 tone band The Beat and Musical Youth who (along with UB40, Pablo Falconer and Pato Banton) were part responsible for bringing UK reggae into the homes of everyday 1980s Britain.
The city also plays host to one of oldest community radio (or pirate radio) stations in the UK, in the form of P.C.R.L., which began in the early 1980s and mainly plays reggae.
The early 1980s brought New Romantic pop group Duran Duran, who worked in Birmingham's famous Rum Runner nightclub in the 1970s.
Napalm Death and Stephen "Tintin" Duffy, also emanated from late 1970s/early 1980s Birmingham, as did Dexy's Midnight Runners.
Birmingham Hip Hop scene continuing developed in the early 1980s.
The late 1980s/1990s Indie music scene saw bands such as The Charlatans, Dodgy, WonderStuff, Pop Will Eat Itself and Ned's Atomic Dustbin who all eminated from the city and it's surrounding satelite towns.
Bhangra Rap evolved in Handsworth in the early 1990s with Apache Indian who later went on to host his own radio show on BBC Radio 1. Many other Bhangra bands are based in the city.
Jazz is popular in the city. The Birmingham International Jazz Festival takes place annually and is the largest of its kind in the UK. A branch of Ronnie Scotts opened in the 1990s but went bust within a decade. Some of the city's jazz musicians include Soweto Kinch and King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys.
Birmingham has embraced house music since the late 1980s. Acid House nights such as Spectrum took place at the Institute (now the Sanctuary) and the Hummingbird (now the Carling Academy Birmingham). Some of the UK's most influential dance nights including Gods Kitchen, Chuff Chuff, Wobble, Miss Moneypenny's, Gatecrasher, Sundissential, Atomic Jam and the original C.R.E.A.M have their roots in the city and have been supported by local figures such as the late Tony De Vit, Steve Lawler and Steve Kelley.
More recent artists include electro dub creators Rockers Hi-Fi, Big Beat musicians Bentley Rhythm Ace, Garage/House band The Streets, Electronica bands Broadcast, Pram, Plone and Add N to X and Avrocar. R&B singer Jamelia is also from the city as is Kelli Dayton of The Sneaker Pimps, saxophonist/rapper Soweto Kinch and the rock band Ocean Colour Scene.
Party in the Park is Birmingham's largest music festival, at Cannon Hill Park, where up to 30,000 revellers of all ages enjoy popular chart music.
Some of Birmingham's other music venues include Academy 2, the National Exhibition Centre's Indoor Arena and Symphony Hall, Scruffy Murphy's, the Custard Factory, Edward's No. 8, mac (Midlands Arts Centre), and the Drum Arts Centre.
Classical
The internationally-renowned City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's home venue is Symphony Hall, where it gives frequent performances.
The equally world-renowned Birmingham Royal Ballet also resides in the city as will the world's oldest vocational dance school, Elmhurst.
The Birmingham Triennial Music Festival took place from 1784 - 1912 and was considered the grandest of its kind throughout Britain. Music was written for the festival by Mendelssohn, Gounod, Sullivan, Dvorak, Bantock and most notably Elgar, who wrote four of his most famous choral pieces for Birmingham.
Birmingham's other city- centre music venues include The National Indoor Arena (NIA), CBSO Centre, Adrian Boult Hall (ABH) at Birmingham Conservatoire and the Birmingham Town Hall, which played host to many classical and popular music performances from the late 1800s, but which is currently closed for refurbishment.
Literature
Many famous literary figures have been associated with Birmingham:
Washington Irving [2] (http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/irving) lived in Birmingham for some time, during which he wrote stories including Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Bracebridge Hall, or, The Humorists, A Medley is based on Aston Hall.
Charles Dickens gave readings in Birmingham Town Hall.
Arthur Conan Doyle [3] (http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/doyle) lived in Aston from about Spring 1879 - early 1882 and many of his works include references to people or places he knew there.
Barbara Cartland or "The Lady in Pink" was born in Edgbaston July 9th 1901. The family home was on Cartland Road, Kings Heath.
The Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien spent most of his childhood in the Birmingham area, and his work is much influenced by his time there [4] (http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/tolkien) his parents also came from Birmingham.
Benjamin Zephaniah is a famous black dub poet from Handsworth who tackles predudice, poverty and injustice.
Judith Cutler's crime novels are set in present-day Birmingham. The city also has literary workshops such as Tindal Street Press.
Comedy
Birmingham has generated some very famous comedians including Sid Field, Tony Hancock, Jasper Carrott, Shazia Mirza and Rick Mayall.
The Glee Club a prominent comedy venue. The Drum Arts Centre also hosts series of monthly comedy sessions as does the mac.
Theatre
There are many theatres in Birmingham. The three largest professional theatres are the Alexandra Theatre ("the Alex"), Birmingham Repertory Theatre ("The Rep") and the Birmingham Hippodrome.
The actors in the long-running Radio 4 serial The Archers live in and around Birmingham, where the supposedly rural programme is recorded.
Art
Birmingham has one one of the largest collections of Pre-Raphaelite art in the world at The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Edward Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham.
David Cox was a famous Birmingham watercolour artist and President of the Associated Artists in Water Colour in 1810.
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is housed at the University of Birmingham and although only a small gallery it was declared 'Gallery of the Year' by the Good Britain Guide 2004.
The Ikon Gallery is housed in a neo-gothic former school in Brindley Place and showcases modern art. Number 9 The Gallery is close by.
The Halcyon Gallery is located inside the International Convention Centre, with major sale- exhibitions by artists as diverse as Rolf Harris, Mackenzie Thorpe, L.S._Lowry and Birmingham-born Govinder Nazran, who was nominated for the Fine Art Trade Guild's 'Best Selling Artist 2004'.
Graffiti (or "spraycan art") culture appeared in the early 1980s, with the area featuring in Channel 4 documentary Bombing. Birmingham also hosted the largest spraycan art competition in Britain, which brought together Goldie, Bronx Graffiti Supremo Brim, Mode and 3D, who later went on to found Massive Attack. Graffiti events are still held in the Custard Factory and Selly Oak ball park.
The Old Bird's Custard Factory is now one of the largest thriving media and arts villages in Europe, with exhibitions and an array of exciting modern sculpture and water features.
The mac hosts theatre performances, concerts, literature and poetry showcases, courses, film screenings and art exhibitions.
The Drum Arts Centre features works of local, regional, national and international African, Asian and Caribbean contemporary artists.
Events of note
Festivals
Birmingham is home to many national, religious and spiritual festivals including a St. George's Day party and the third largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world, after New York and Dublin.
The Birmingham Tattoo is a military show that has taken place in the city for several years. The currently biennial Caribbean- style Birmingham International Carnival was originally the Handsworth Carnival, held in Handsworth Park from 1984, but now takes place biennially in Perry Barr Park. Birmingham Pride takes place in Birmingham's gay village and attracts up to 100,000 visitors each year. The Fierce Festival teams with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre ("The Rep") to present an series of quirky performances from local and national companies. The Birmingham Film Festival takes place annually at various Broad Street venues. It highlights local talent as well as a wide spectrum of international productions. The Young Book Reader UK festival also takes place in the city. The millennium saw the birth of the Birmingham International Festival.
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