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Since, as previously stated, the word "odeon" is of ancient Greek origin Oscar Deutsch no doubt saw the opportunity to include his initials in the name of his cinemas.

One of my earliest memories of Brum is the Market Hall in the mid 1950's. By then, of course, it was roofless and I remember buying a green and white belt with a snake hook and being fascinated by the stall with dozens of tortoises, "Big 'uns two 'n a tanner,little 'uns one and six".

I worked at the Odeon for five years in the 1980's. The General Manager was Chris Mott whose favourite performer was the medium Doris Stokes who regularly sold out for three nights solid. The only others who could do this at the time were Cliff Richard and Shirley Bassey.The Compton organ was...

I worked at The Odeon in New Street at the time and well remember standing on the roof and watching the Shuttle fly over carried on the back of a Jumbo Jet, unfortunately I didn't own a camera at the time so was unable to record this event. As to the date, it was the late 1980's but I cannot...

I worked at the Odeon for five years in the 1980's when it was still a single screen cinema,to allow for the mixing desks used for live concerts several seats were removed leaving 2,579. The General Manager was Chris Mott and the Manager was Charlie (not Charles) Chester. There were regular...

This is a commonly held mishaprehension as the word "odeon" is of Greek origin and, long before Oscar Deutsch opened his first cinema there were "Nickleodeons" in the USA. No doubt Deutsch was aware of this and, as a showman, saw a way to bring his initials into the name of his cinema chain.

One family featured in the book is the Simpson brothers, my grandmother, Lily Simpson, born in 1892, was, I believe, related to them. She had several brothers with reputations as local boxers including one known as "Knocker" Simpson. For a time Lily was the girlfriend of fair owner Pat Collins...

One family mentioned in "The Gangs of Birmingham" is the Simpson brothers in the Aston area. My maternal grandmother was Lily or Lillian Simpson, born in 1892, was, I believe, related to them. She married Martin "Jack" Cain who was, I think, a "Peaky". He died in 1959 when I was seven and always...