companies-of-the-united-kingdom

"With an emphasis on clarity, Laney amplifiers appeal to various musicians across a broad range of musical styles. They've gained popularity for their durability and value, making them a solid choice for gigging players, and the range embraces tube technology to generate warm, smooth tones, often with multiple channel switching options. They ably tread the line between classic and contemporary styling and technology and even offer a range of nifty boutique effect pedals to help you get the most out of your amplifier. Not only does Laney provide some impressive sound quality, but it is also one of the most visually appealing brands that offers more than a nod to the effortlessly cool styles of yesteryear."

"Laney amplifiers are known for their powerful and clear sound. While the company may be less well known, as compared to the likes of its compatriots Orange and Marshall, it may come as a surprise that this competitor has been around since 1967 and is one of the earliest brands to contribute to the British sound."

"Vox amplifiers are synonymous with the British Invasion sound and are favored for their distinct tone and retro appearance. They are recognizable for their gold trim, lattice tweed speaker cloth, and white piping, and the brand has made significant contributions to rock and pop music, as used by the likes of Queen's Brian May, U2's The Edge, and members of Foo Fighters, to name a few."

"Although Vox typically conjures up images of ‘60s pop and retro jangle, plenty of raunchy blues tones on Brian Jones-era Rolling Stones records came courtesy of an AC15, while an AC30 in combination with a Dallas Rangemaster treble booster was the mainstay of Rory Gallagher’s fiery signature sound."

"The Blackstar range combines classic looks with contemporary features. [...] Blackstar has built one of the most extensive product lines in its relatively short existence, and it offers something for everyone, from compact acoustic amps to bass rigs to 100-watt stacks. It may not have the heritage of established brands like Marshall and Fender or offer the boutique components of Hughes and Kettner or Mesa/Boogie, but as far as bang for your buck is concerned, this is a brand that deserves consideration."

"By the early 1970s, Orange amplifiers were making waves with their distinctive vintage aesthetic, rugged design, and iconic British tone. They've since earned a strong reputation among rock and indie players, not just in their native U.K. but all over the world, helped by famous proponents including Stevie Wonder and Jimmy Page. [...] Across its comprehensive range of guitar and bass amps, Orange is consistent in its hand-built quality and vintage style that endears it to its legions of fans. While the brand is undoubtedly successful, you get the feeling that each product is made with care as a bespoke piece of electrical engineering that is relatively simple in its construction but highly effective in its performance."

"Orange guitar amps are the most distinctive in the business, by both sight and sound."

"From its humble beginnings in 1960s London to providing the backline for some of the world's loudest performances, Marshall amplifiers have become iconic in the music world and are renowned for their powerful sound and instantly recognizable design. Ever since a young Pete Townshend asked Jim Marshall to place two 4x12 cabinets on top of each other, the Marshall stack has been much imitated, especially after a certain guitarist named Jimi Hendrix also adopted the trend. Marshall amplifiers have since shaped the rock and metal genres, leaving an indelible mark on musical history."

"I believe it was something people were discovering all over London. These big amps that Marshall were turning out — you couldn't stop the guitars feeding back!"

"What makes Marshall so admired is its consistency in tonal quality and build quality across its extensive range."

"In the Last Night of the Proms, [[w:Malcolm Sargent|[Sir Malcolm] Sargent]] had bequeathed to the BBC a Janus-faced legacy: in one guise, an iconic national 'tradition' with which the bureaucrats and administrators would tamper at their peril; in another, an embarrassing anachronism which was urgently in need of a makeover. Either way, the result has been that in the forty years since Sargent's death, the issue of what the BBC should 'do' with or to the Last Night has been impossible to avoid, yet also very difficult to deal with. To many, the arguments in favour of change have been and still are overwhelming. The flag-waving of Sargent's Last Night seems to many to be at best an uncomfortable and inappropriate display of deluded and escapist nostalgia, and at worst to pander to the xenophobia and racism of football hooligans and the far right. Meanwhile, and as planned and developed by successive BBC controllers of music, the Proms themselves have become more cosmopolitan and internationalist (with many orchestras and conductors from overseas), more innovative and experimental (with new works commissioned, late night concerts, and an unprecedented range of early and contemporary music), and use more varied locations (among them the Roundhouse, Covent Garden and Westminster Cathedral in addition to the Albert Hall). This in turn means that in recent decades the Last Night has become increasingly detached, both from the country's contemporary circumstances and from the Promenade Concerts as a whole; and when it is beamed and broadcast around the world, it conveys a deeply misleading impression and image of both."

"It's my morning drug."

"This photo was proudly taken... when I was a 16 year old volunteer fighting the US backed invasion of Iran"

"Iran says it has right to defend itself after Israeli strike kills two soldiers"

"Incorporation and Objects: 6. The BBC's Mission The Mission of the BBC is to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain."

"The notion that the BBC is independent of the government of the day is one of those quaint constitutional myths by which Britain is governed, like the doctrine of ministerial accountability or the notion that no tawdry political thought ever crosses the mind of the Attorney-General. It is true that the Home Secretary (or, nowadays, the Heritage Secretary) does not park his tanks on the Director General's lawn. But then he doesn't need to. After all, the government chooses the Governors of the BBC and, through the licence fee, sets its income."

"To-day's "twenty-firster" of the BBC was a cause of royal and general congratulation. The day will bring not increased liberty, but greater wartime burdens. Yet that "key of the door" feeling might break in and increase the liberties allowed by the Corporation to its speakers. Now fully adult itself, it should treat the public as adult when arranging discussions on enormous topics of the hour and eternity. The dread of shocking somebody with unusual or unpopular points of view has been the Corporation's constant bane. People who are capable of being shocked by the Beitish Broadcasting Corporationdeserve only a niche in the British Museum."

"The Second World War is often regarded as the BBC's finest hour. It certainly strengthened the position of 'the wireless' in national life. In no other major war can people's experience have been so pervasively mediated, and at the same time made bearable, by listening to the radio, while the BBC's international wartime role enormously enhanced its reputation around the world."

"Two years ago the Pilkington Committee—a team of 11 led by Sir Harry Pilkington—was appointed by the Government to judge the quality of the television & radio services provided by the non-profitmaking B.B.C. & the commercial Independent Television Authority. The result is: praise for the B.B.C. & criticism of the I.T.A. as being more interested in gathering the profits of advertising time than first rate entertainment. The Committee recommended a third television service run by B.B.C., colour television, & a switch from the 405 line picture to the 625 international standard."

"One of the problems of working for BBC World Service programmes like Newshour is that no one in Britain listens to them. That’s not strictly true. If you broadcast at night you discover that there are a surprisingly large number of insomniacs around with their radios on throughout the night. ..."

"The composition of Unilever should serve as a warning that colonialism was not simply a matter of ties between a given colony and its mother country, but between colonies on the one hand and s on the other. The German capital in Unilever joined the British in exploiting Africa and the Dutch in exploiting the . The rewards spread through the capitalist system in such a way that even those capitalist nations who were not colonial powers were also beneficiaries of the spoils. Unilever factories established in Switzerland, New Zealand, Canada, and the U.S.A. were participants in the expropriation of Africa’s surplus and in using that surplus for their own development."

"The South Sea Company survived for many decades after the catastrophe which threatened its very existence. Its efforts to establish itself as a trading company were, however, singularly unfortunate. For the Greenland Whale Fishery fitted out in 1728 fitted out twenty-three ships, which returned with only the blubber and fins of eighteen whales."

"When the South Sea Bubble burst, a passionate member of the British Parliament called for the application of the Lex Pompeia on Parricides to those who had defrauded the nation. Just as the Romans, he argued, face to face with a monstrous and unprecedented crime, devised for it a monstrous and unprecedented punishment, so the British were invited to tie the directors of the South Sea Company into sacks with a dog, a cock, a viper and an ape in each, and sink them in the Thames."

"The South-Sea Company was originated by the celebrated Harley Earl of Oxford, in the year 1711, with the view of restoring public credit, which had suffered by the dismissal of the Whig ministry, and of providing for the discharge of the army and navy debentures, and other parts of the floating debt, amounting to nearly ten millions sterling. ... Even at this early period of its history the most visionary ideas were formed by the company and the public of the immense riches of the eastern coast of South America. Every body had heard of the gold and silver mines of Peru and Mexico; every one believed them to be inexhaustible, and that it was only necessary to send the manufactures of England to the coast to be repaid a hundredfold in gold and silver ingots by the natives."