Back in the day: We delve into our archives to see what was going on 10 years ago, 25 years ago and 50 years ago this week
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10 years ago – October 2, 2014
Chic chance
A Hungerford singer has been offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work with music legend Nile Rodgers.
Twenty-one-year old Melanie Frazer-Reid was recruited out of thousands of hopefuls, aged between 16 and 24, to work with the Grammy Award-winner and chart-topping band Rudimental to sing backing vocals for an upcoming remix of the 1978 Chic disco classic Le Freak (Rodgers was the co-founder of the band).
The collaboration with Melanie and professional mentors will culminate in a live performance in London next Thursday, before going on general release the following day.
Nile Rodgers said: “Melanie was chosen because of her musicality.
“She has spent a lot of time crafting her talents through work experiences and this showed in her application.”
Melanie said: “It’s a tough industry to break into, so to get the call telling me I’ve got the job was amazing.
“I am really looking forward to getting stuck in; work ing with Nile and Rudimental will be an exciting learning curve.
“The experience is going to be awesome and will hopefully help me with my future endeavours.”
25 years ago – October 7, 1999
Train tragedy
The Paddington train crash has shocked rail users across West Berkshire, whose lives have been threatened for the second time in two years by a tragedy on the railways.
Tuesday’s disaster was one of the worst in recent history and last night it was feared the death toll could reach 70, with news that 28 people had been confirmed dead and 42 were still missing.
Two years ago a similar crash on the same track at Southall claimed seven lives.
Sean O’Neill, of the Rail Users Consultative Committee for the South West, said the crash was a “severe blow” to confidence.
“You can say until you are blue in the face that rail is the safest form of land transport, but that is not what sticks in the mind,” he said.
“It is the wreckage and the people who have been killed and injured that are remembered.”
50 years ago – October 3, 1974
Turn off the gas!
Gas Board officials had to do a lot of chasing around on Monday morning because some people in Thatcham and the eastern part of Newbury failed to make arrangements for gas men to gain access to their houses so that the supply could be turned off prior to the change-over to North Sea Gas.
The Southern Gas Board had asked 3,000 consumers to be at home on Monday morning or to arrange for their keys to be available to the North Sea Gas conversion team, but 73 forgot.