Missing Dates

Although I mentioned the missing references yesterday, I didn't elaborate. For those interested:

In adding notable events to the On This Day feature (which is only somewhere around 70,000 words, despite so much available history) there were things which seemed to elude all attempts at research. You shouldn't view this small sample as a gauntlet being thrown down, though if you happen to know any of the details it would help. Consider this a peek behind the curtain, and don't get too frustrated that any answers aren't forthcoming.

PUBLISHERS

Three of a kind:
There is no date for the Odhams purchase of Hulton Press in 1959.
There is no date for the Mirror Group purchase of AP in 1959.
There is no date for the Mirror Group purchase of Odhams in 1961.
Despite being certain that I had read the information somewhere before, the dates are proving remarkably difficult to pin down.

There are stories that in the spring or summer of 1980 (annoyingly vague) 1300 people were sacked by IPC. The details are so sketchy that the report barely made it into my notes, yet I find not knowing to be a source of frustration.

There is no date for the Rebellion purchase of Solaris (Games Workshop book imprint). Come to mention it, the purchase of 2000AD doesn't have a specific date assigned either.

AUDIO

The Gugnunc Song, with ukulele accompaniment, by Rupert Graham & Douglas Graham needs a publication date, as well as that of a first performance.
The St. Trinians School Song, similarly, requires a publication date.

Oojah-Land (composed by Montague Ewing); Uncle Oojah's Frolic (by Cecil Rayners) and Uncle Oojah's Party (by Leslie Sarony) need publication dates. I'm not entirely certain that full-length musicals based on strips were published (completely) in sheet-music form, so the other songs in performances (including the aforementioned) might not have been properly affixed in print.

A double helping of Modesty Blaise:
Last Day in Limbo was adapted as a BBC World Service 6-part radio series in 1978, with Barbara Kellerman in the role Modesty. Not only haven't broadcast dates been easy to find, the date of initial commercial release on audio-cassette is unknown.
Similarly, I Had a Date with Lady Janet - an audio tape reading on the Pickwick Talking Books label, featuring John Thaw - was released at some point in the early 1980s. In this case I don't even have a year with which to kick off a search.

Of similar vintage, Th' Lone Groover's Abasement Tapes E.P. was released by Charly Records in Feb 1980. No day is mentioned in any of the references I have immediate access to.

Shoot Yer Load / Golden Showers, by Meng & Ecker was released in 1989, but I don't have a specific date.

Tangentially related to comics history (veeeeery tangentially), but the release date for Pete Shelley's XL1 is currently unknown. Chris Sievey's computer game The Flying Train was released on 20 May 1983 - the B-side of his Camouflage cassette single on Random Records. It counts as the first budget release, but discussion of who holds the honour of first multimedia release remains in doubt until Shelley's release date is known.

AWARDS

Still missing from the database:
A complete list of dates for Alan Moore's awards and accolades. I know Max und Moritz (the German comics awards) include a Lebenswerk (life achievement honour) for Moore, but my German is truly horrendous. What little knowledge of the language I possess is no tool in tackling the reports of German awards.

A complete list of dates for Neil Gaiman's awards and accolades. There are a few instances which come tantalisingly close to providing a date, such as being presented in March 1997 with a GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Award for 'positive portrayals of Gay and Lesbian characters' in Sandman. The problem? There are three dates awards were presented, and no indication which awards were presented on which dates.

Talking of Neil Gaiman... Back in the day he used to write short stories for Knave. If you happen to have those back issues (for the articles, obviously), then knowing which issues the stories appeared in, and when they were published, would be immensely helpful.

TELEVISION

The date of Bob Monkhouse's first television appearance is giving me a headache. Three different dates have been suggested, although none have enough accompanying information to begin a search.

Archangel Thunderbird, which seemed (at the time) to get disproportionate coverage, doesn't appear to have its' initial broadcast listed anywhere. I haven't gone through each and every Visual Imagination magazine, but it isn't in Cult Times, Starburst, or TV Zone issues I have gone through. Admittedly, after a short while of looking through issues, they seem to blend into one another (the repetition of information across any dozen issues becomes painful to read) so it might have slipped through the cracks.

FILM

The NUT "Spotlight on Comics" film is missing a general release date, as well as preview screenings (mentioned by several people over the years).

The horror film The Hand, in which Michael Caine (as a British comic strip artist) faces off against a dismembered hand, was released at some point in 1981, but I can't find a UK release date. There are a few issues of Photoplay I can't track down yet - it may be noted in one of those.

It wasn't released theatrically, but the Flash! video comic (from Mountain Video, circa 1984) has so little written about it that there were serious problems in determining it actually existed. I still haven't seen it, but am hopeful that YouTube will someday provide the goods. Still, no dates on anything surrounding the video are available...

The Dominator feature is missing a UK release date, if it ever had one. It is also missing dates for any home release formats.

THEATRE

I have no idea where to look for either playbooks or sheet music for Ally Sloper and Bruce Barnsfather (and, for that matter, other) theatrical shows. The booklets which accompanied performances are also difficult to track down without spending a serious amount of time and money.

SHOPS

The opening date of Dark They Were & Golden Eyed is unknown. The closure (naturally) was much-discussed in fanzines around the time, but nobody thought to take note of the date on which it ceased trading.
Ditto for the opening of House on the Borderland.

Another World opened in October 1987, but no mention of the date seems to have been made.

Forbidden Planet, rather helpfully, announced a few opening dates as they happened. Others... Not so much. Also, the date at which FP company split in two has been given differently in references consulted. Given how extensively the shop is featured in various pages of the database, and how important they are to UK comics history, a proper outline of all important dates is needed.

OTHER

Games Day '82 was when the Judge Dredd board game was previewed, but I can't find any flyers or adverts which date the event. I found the 1983 adverts, but there is nothing to indicate if it was held at the same time every year.

Clarecraft Giles Family figures, which I've seen being sold here and there, don't have launch dates which are easy to find. I'll admit that dates aren't a high priority to have, but lack of information on such a (relatively) recent product is somewhat irritating. Were press releases created? Are there catalogues sitting in someones attic with those dates?
While tackling the spin-off products, the numerous pre-war items are incredibly difficult to learn anything about. The plethora of Ally Sloper merchandise is but one example. Small ads buried in walls of tiny text aren't the most helpful in determining dates. I don't think I've ever seen the pipes which were released, but the fireplace figures are truly hideous. Also, while I'm on the subject, were the tie-pins a real thing or merely a joke? I've never seen an example, so have my doubts.
Bruce Bairnsfather's cartoons also had many items which appeared without a real launch date. The handkerchiefs are particularly odd (yet brilliant) items which deserve their place in the chronology.

The first two Dan Dare games are missing release dates.
The first Judge Dredd game is missing a release date.
UK release dates for the computer games WeaponLord and Gods are, predictably, absent. I've managed to pick out a few hundred release dates of old computer games (though most have no comics connection), yet ones which I am actively hunting for prove difficult to track down.

Dan Dare telephone cards (remember those?) were released in 1995. Again, a specific date is lacking.

That is probably more than enough for now.

Comparatively little of the history surrounding the publishers, creators, characters and titles has been recorded, and sticking it all together has been a more time-consuming than any other aspect of the database. Even with the use of a small mountain of reference material there is only a fraction of the history comprising the day-to-day goings-on of the British comic world available. Frustratingly scant on the details I was hoping to acquire, and contradictory in reference materials.

Lives are documented in broad strokes, while comics are reviewed, scoured for meaning, dissected for contributors and content. Beyond these easily-available facts we enter murky waters.

When I got back online I began to check resources for things which I had managed to create a partial index, and found that too much time had passed since pertinent events to get answers. One example: a number of exhibitions at the Cartoon Museum are no longer on the website (the curses of modern life), and hunting for the beginning and end dates of exhibitions is proving incredibly frustrating. I would like independent verification, but it seems I might have to add more information from primary sources.