After Peter and Gordon disbanded in 1968, Asher took charge of the A&R department at the Beatles' Apple Records label, where he signed a then-unknown James Taylor and agreed to produce the singer-songwriter's debut solo album. [10] The album was not a success, but Asher was so convinced that Taylor held great potential that he resigned his post at Apple to move to the United States and work as Taylor's manager. Asher produced Paul Jones' rendition of the Bee Gees' " And the Sun Will Shine" which was released as a single (only in the UK). [11] He also produced a number of Taylor's recordings from 1970 to 1985, including Sweet Baby James, Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, JT and Flag. Key Words with Peter and Jane uses the most frequently met words in the English language as a starting point for learning to read successfully and confidently. The Key Words reading scheme is scientifically researched and world renowned. It’s pretty safe to say that most British children in the 1960s and ‘70s grew up on good terms with Peter, Jane and their dog, Pat. In fact, so popular were these characters that featured in the series of Ladybird books designed to help young children to learn to read, that they were generally referred to as ‘ Peter and Jane books’ rather than their official title, the Key Words Reading Scheme. This, I think, is one of the most interesting aspects of this series, because you can immediately see the point. The softly luminous, idealised pictures of Peter and Jane’s home life and activities have their roots firmly in the 1950s and before. Two more characters, Simon and John, were introduced further into the series, as the books developed in length and detail to become targeted at growing children who had developed further reading skills. These two characters are cousins of Peter and Jane.

And suddenly it has become a green-grocer’s (who has lost the collar and tie but is resplendant with quiff and impressive sideburns) and the children have transferred their enthusiasm to apples. (Did children do that in the 70s?) In 2018, Asher began performing with Jeremy Clyde of Chad & Jeremy fame. [20] Phoenix, 6 Oct 2012 Personal life [ edit ] So far I’ve been referring to these books as thought there were only one versions – the 1960s version. However, in 1970, only 6 years after first publication, Ladybird decided that the books needed some up-dating. Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2014 . Retrieved 2015-12-31. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)Luanne Hunt. "Peter Asher still intimately involved with music, with and without the Beatles". vvdailypress.com . Retrieved 2 March 2019. The Key Word Reading Scheme is down to the work of educationalist William Murray and a senior educational psychologist called Joe McNally. Murray identified a problem with the UK education system where many children were having problems learning to read. Along with McNally he identified the words that were used most frequently in everyday language (which was surprisingly few of the average person’s 20,000 word vocabulary) and from this they developed their ‘Key Words to Literacy’ research. And it was an article in The Teacher magazine by Murray, about this research, that prompted publisher Douglas Keen to ask Murray to produce the text that became the Ladybird Key Words Reading Scheme. Harry Wingfield had already been working for Keen, drawing the pictures for earlier Ladybird books, and he became the illustrator for the Key Words series: the drawings of Jane and Peter being based on two children who lived locally to Wingfield.

Based on Head teacher William Murray’s system of teaching reading using key phrases and words, apparently over 80 million of us have learnt to read with them. And some of the books are still in print; I still see them for sale in my local bookshop. When he was eight years old, he began working as a child actor, and appeared in the film The Planter's Wife, and the stage play Isn't Life Wonderful. At the age of nine, Asher played the central juvenile part in the 1953 film version of Isn't Life Wonderful!, along stars Cecil Parker and Donald Wolfit. In 1955 he played the youngest brother, "Johnny", in Escapade, based on Roger MacDougall's play. The film starred John Mills and Alastair Sim. He also appeared in the ITV series The Adventures of Robin Hood. The aforementioned very first book, ‘1a’ was a gentle beginning to both the idea of reading and the children and their family themselves – 12 key words reinforced by being repeated in simple sentences: ‘Here is Jane’, ‘Jane is here’,’ I like Peter’, ‘Peter likes Jane’ etc. More words would be introduced as the book went on but all with the same template sentences. After 1a the reader could move on to 1b to continue to practise the words again: they would be used in a different context and new pictures would be included. 1c gave them the chance to practise writing the words from that level and also presented the idea of phonics, blending the sounds of letters or groups of letters to make the words. And once that level had been mastered then it was on book 2a and so on. As the levels increased the writing in the books got smaller, with sentences becoming more complex and more key words being used.

This is reassuring and confidence building for the young reader – but doesn’t make for punchy prose or dynamic dialogue. Here’s an example of chit chat in the P & J household. Asher had been quoted as saying that actor Mike Myers has said he had patterned his Austin Powers character after Asher's appearance, [13] although Elizabeth Hurley, who co-starred in Austin Powers, said the original model was broadcaster Simon Dee. [15] In May 2017, Asher debuted a weekly, hour-long series on the brand-new Sirius XM Radio station for The Beatles called "From Me To You". He also announced with commentary the Top 100 Beatles countdown "All Together Now" on The Beatles Channel that first aired on Sirius XM Radio on the Labor Day Weekend in 2017, and is frequently replayed. During 2005 and 2006, Peter and Gordon reformed for occasional concerts. However, Waller died in 2009 and in its obituary, The Times observed that "Waller was thought more handsome than the slightly nerdish looking Asher". [14] In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox – Carol Burnett (2016)

Peter Asher CBE [2] (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and record producer, helping to foster the recording careers of James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt among others. As of 2018, he tours alongside Jeremy Clyde of Chad and Jeremy in a new duo entitled Peter and Jeremy, where they perform hits from both of their respective catalogues. [3] [4] In 2019, Asher published a book The Beatles from A to Zed about his personal reminiscences about the band. [5] Early life [ edit ] To enter Ladybird’s world again is to relearn a universe that is both strange yet uncannily familiar. Inevitably the books express the values of their times. In the Peter and Jane series (aka Key Words Reading Scheme), Peter tends to hang out with Daddy in the garage, while Jane helps Mummy get the tea. Fair-haired and blue-eyed, every one in the children’s world looks exactly like them, apart from Pat the dog. Current edition, with cover styling updated in 2004 and the more contemporary late 1970s underlying artwork History [ edit ]The sale of customised goods or perishable goods, sealed audio or video recordings, or software, which has been opened. In 2011, Asher was the executive producer of the Listen to Me: Buddy Holly compilation album and also music supervisor, producer, and co-host of the Buddy Holly: Listen to Me; The Ultimate Buddy Party PBS Pledge Special. Performed and filmed in front of a live audience the Buddy Holly tribute concert aired as PBS Pledge Special in December 2011 and May and June 2012. The Special received the highest 2012 Silver Telly Award in the Category of TV Programs, Segments, or Promotional Pieces. [16] The craftsmanship of these men, along with that of Berry, Harry Wingfield and Robert Lumley, is all the more remarkable because they worked in an analogue age when a mistake meant starting again. “If my students could draw like that today I’d be over the moon,” says co-curator of the De La Warr exhibition Lawrence Zeegen, dean of the School of Design at the London College of Communication, before adding candidly, “actually, if I could draw like that I’d be over the moon”. The books were first published in 1964, with a firmly 1950s feel to the illustrations provided by the furniture and clothing depicted, and the social context reflecting the life of a white, middle-class family. The books were revised and updated in 1970, and again in the late 1970s, to reflect changes in fashions and in social attitudes. For example, golliwogs were airbrushed out; Daddy takes a more active domestic role; and Jane moved out of skirts and dresses into jeans, and abandoned her dolly for rollerskates. However, Peter still goes out to help Daddy, or actively plays with a ball, while Jane stays indoors to help Mummy, passively watches Peter, or plays with her doll.

And Daddy was expected to play more of a role in Peter and Jane’s affairs. Whereas in the 1960s version he might watch with detached indulgence the scenes involving Mummy and the children, in the 1970s version he participtes more actively. Here you can see the old Daddy looking on and the new Daddy helping out. Don’t strain yourself Daddy! Apart from the disappearance of the ‘Hornby’? train sets, you might notice that the golly, on the top row of the 1960s book, has been airbrushed out in the 1970s version. The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood was opened on 23 September 1973 by Elmer Valentine and Lou Adler along with original partners David Geffen, Elliot Roberts and Peter Asher. The first column shows the original 1960s version. The second column shows the first revision books produced in the early 70s and the last column shows the late 70s books, when the remaining artwork was given a makeover and the layout of the covers was changed to give the framed picure on the front. The revised books kept the colour distinction to show a,b or c books although the colour red became orange). But in her Telegraph Magazine article of a couple of years ago, Cressida Connolly makes a point that is easily forgotten. She describes these books as ‘radical’- which may initally seem an unlikely choice of adjective. These books were, she states,

PETER AND JANE 3A THINGS WE LIKE

Since 2016, Peter Asher has been playing shows, including one at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, as part of a duo with Albert Lee that showcases songs from both their careers. [19] He currently resides in Venice, California. Scarfe, Gerald (2010). The Making of Pink Floyd The Wall. Da Capo Press. p.21. ISBN 978-0-306-81997-1. And that’s just the books. The ‘childen’ will, of course, be even older since they were meant to be between 5 and 10 years old when they were created, in 1964. This will be a worrying thought for most of us Brits aged between 30 and 45 (and a good many younger) who will remember Peter and Jane as childhood aquaintances who where charged with the task of teaching us to read.