
Everything and the Kitchen Sink
UK Film, Music and TV before The Beatles
Simon Matthews(Author)
Oldcastle Books Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 31. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-85730-596-1 (ISBN)
Description
Everything AND the Kitchen Sink analyses 'kitchen sink realism' and the birth of 'pop cinema' in the context of contemporaneous debates surrounding politics, civil liberties, sexuality, race, immigration and urbanisation.
Covering the lives and careers of well-known figures such as Alan Sillitoe, Shelagh Delaney, David Storey, Edna O'Brien and Albert Finney, as well as charting the rise of iconic British series like Coronation Street and Z-Cars, Simon Matthews offers a fascinating blend of social history, pop culture, drama and cinema. Matthews also interviews contemporary figures - including Ken Loach - about the kitchen sink era and how it inspired their work.
Covering the lives and careers of well-known figures such as Alan Sillitoe, Shelagh Delaney, David Storey, Edna O'Brien and Albert Finney, as well as charting the rise of iconic British series like Coronation Street and Z-Cars, Simon Matthews offers a fascinating blend of social history, pop culture, drama and cinema. Matthews also interviews contemporary figures - including Ken Loach - about the kitchen sink era and how it inspired their work.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Harpenden, Herts
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Illustrations
Work includes 8 pages of full colour illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
304 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-85730-596-1 (9780857305961)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Simon Matthews
Everything and the Kitchen Sink
E-Book
07/2025
Oldcastle Books Ltd
€15.59
Available for download
Person
SIMON MATTHEWS has had a varied career including serving as a local councillor in London for more than ten years, a spell running the British Transport Films documentary film library and several years singing in semiprofessional rock groups. He has contributed articles on music, film and cultural history to Record Collector, Shindig! and Lobster magazines. Psychedelic Celluloid, his illustrated history of UK music, film and TV between 1965 and 1974, was published by Oldcastle Books in 2016; the sequel, Looking for a New England, followed in 2021. He is also the author of House in the Country, Free Your Mind! and Before It Went Rotten.