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Dragons RFC

Dragons RFC (Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup/European Rugby Challenge Cup. The region they represent covers an area of southeast Wales including Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen with a total population approaching 600,000 and they are affiliated with a number of semi-professional and amateur clubs throughout the area, including Pontypool RFC, Caerphilly RFC, Cross Keys RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC and Newport RFC.

Formed in 2003 as a result of the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales, the team started life with a third-place finish in the 2003–04 Celtic League, and finished fourth the next season; however, the team finished in the bottom three in each of the next four seasons. In 2007, they reached the semi-finals of the European Challenge Cup, losing to French side ASM Clermont Auvergne 46–29. In 2011, they reached the semi-finals of the Anglo-Welsh Cup, losing to Gloucester. They are yet to make the knock-out stage of the European Rugby Champions Cup.

Formation
The regional team were formed on 1 April 2003, following an agreement between Ebbw Vale RFC and Newport RFC to form one of five regional rugby entities. Fundamental disagreements between the clubs saw a period of arbitration, led by the then Welsh Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett, which recommended the name "Gwent Dragons". On 28 July the side was launched under that name. This prompted Newport RFC benefactor Tony Brown of Bisley, Surrey to withdraw his financial support for the region. However, by 21 August Brown returned after Ebbw Vale chairman Marcus Russell resigned and the side's name was changed to "Newport and Gwent Dragons". With the Welsh Rugby Union demanding an explanation for the changes, and acrimony between the two clubs another agreement was struck: the side officially became 'Newport Gwent Dragons'. On 12 November 2003, the region's founding company Gwent Rugby Ltd entered into administration. On 27 November a new company, Dragons Rugby Ltd., was established to run the region, with Newport RFC and the Welsh Rugby Union each holding a 50% stake.

2003–2005: Infancy
Under Mike Ruddock and his assistant Clive Griffiths Newport Gwent Dragons, with a squad largely drawn from the Newport RFC and Ebbw Vale RFC sides of the preceding year, beat their limited pre-season expectations. Despite starting their life in top-class rugby with a 35–11 defeat away to Llanelli Scarlets, it was the region's most successful season so far. A 29–19 win over the Ospreys was to prove more telling; captained by Andy Marinos the side remained unbeaten at home in the Celtic League and eliminated Stade Français in the Heineken Cup. Going into the final round with an outside chance of taking the title, the Dragons finished third in the Celtic League WRU bosses were impressed enough to appoint Ruddock to the vacant Welsh coaching job in summer 2004. In 2005, Ruddock guided Wales to a Grand Slam Title in the Six Nations. Ruddock rewarded two of his former Dragons players, Hal Luscombe and Jason Forster, with their first test caps on Wales' summer tour of Argentina. Wales Percy Montgomery also impressed Springbok selectors enough to remind them of his international credentials, and earn a Tri Nations recall.

The following off season saw a marked change in direction. Gareth Cooper, Kevin Morgan and Ceri Sweeney were amongst a handful of players who joined the region when the Celtic Warriors were disbanded. Having originally agreed to replace Mike Ruddock as head coach, Declan Kidney decided instead to seek employment back home with Leinster. It was not until 27 July 2004 that former Australia national rugby league team coach Chris Anderson was appointed, with Leigh Jones as his assistant. Another credible Celtic League campaign followed, finishing fourth, the second highest Welsh region. The side's Heineken Cup could be viewed as a wasted opportunity: the team beat French side Perpignan 27–14 at home, but were then beaten home and away by Newcastle Falcons to put paid to any quarter-final ambitions. Chris Anderson's contract was not extended beyond its initial one-year duration.

2005–2011 Paul Turner era
The region looked to Harlequins backs coach Paul Turner, a Welshman, as their new head coach. Turner would also have to contend with Percy Montgomery returning to South Africa and Newport RFC stalwart Rod Snow retiring. Munster and Sale Sharks proved too strong in the 2005–06 Heineken Cup. After finishing 8th in the Celtic League, a 24–15 defeat Overmach Parma in a play-off for a place in the following seasons Heineken cup proved a new low for the region. Anglo-Welsh Cup wins over Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints were the highlights of a tough season. Turner remained, but Wales international Hal Luscombe opted for a move away from the region, joining English Premiership side Harlequins.

Former Wales captain Colin Charvis joined ahead of the 2006–07 season with the Dragons progressed into a European Challenge Cup semi-final, where they lost comfortably to ASM Clermont Auvergne. Domestically though, the region's European exploits appeared to take their toll, finishing ninth in the Celtic League. Significantly the region avoided the prospect of a second season away from the Heineken Cup, defeating another Italian side Calvisano 22–15. The match also marked the end for departing Wales internationals Ian Gough and Gareth Cooper at Rodney Parade.

2007–08 proved to be another difficult season for the region. Signings such as scrum-half Andy Williams and flanker Richard Parks were not able to help reverse the side's fortunes. The Dragons 2007–08 Heineken Cup campaign only saw one win against Italian side Treviso and exiting the Anglo-Welsh Cup in the pool stages for a third year running. Between completing a double over Llanelli Scarlets on 1 January to defeating the Ospreys on 6 May, the Dragons failed to win a Celtic League game. Despite finishing as the lowest-placed Welsh side in the league the region qualified for next season's Heineken Cup, without having to play off against Italian opposition due to a failure by the Italian League to finish before a specified date.

The summer of 2008 marked a change in the Dragons recruitment policy to a more antipodean focus. Several new signings included New Zealander Tom Willis who was also appointed captain. The 2008–09 Heineken Cup saw visible signs of encouragement for the region. An opening round defeat of Glasgow at Rodney Parade and two respectable defeats to French giants Toulouse, sandwiched between narrow losses against Bath offered hope of arresting decline at Rodney Parade. Domestically in the Celtic League it was a case of same old as consecutive defeats in rearranged matches away at Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys ended any hopes of avoiding finishing as the lowest placed Welsh region and another Heineken Cup play off against Italian opposition. In record appearance holder Adam Black's final game for the side, the Dragons ran out comfortable winners away to Calvisano to secure their place in European rugby's premier tournament for a third season running.

The 2009–10 season brought about significant improvements in results, with the Dragons remaining unbeaten at Rodney Parade in the Celtic League until their final home match, a 20–14 loss to Cardiff Blues. Defeat also brought about the end of the Dragons bid to qualify for the inaugural Celtic League playoffs. An improved seventh-place finish did, however, mean automatic qualification for the Heineken cup as the third highest finishing Welsh region. Despite coming close to defeating Gloucester away at Kingsholm and a win at home against Glasgow, back to back losses at Biarritz put paid to the Dragons chances of progressing past the group stages of the Heineken Cup for the first time.

2011–2017
Turner stepped down as head coach in February 2011 with Darren Edwards taking over in a caretaker capacity. In March 2011 Edwards led the Dragons to their first Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final, where they lost to Gloucester. In April 2011 Edwards was appointed Head Coach on a full-time basis. Lyn Jones was appointed to the role of Director of Rugby in 2013 taking over a lot of on field responsibilities. He brought with him then Russia head coach Kingsley Jones who worked with him as a consultant at London Welsh. Edwards left the Dragons in February 2014 while in June, Jones was promoted to the role of head coach.

During the 2014–2015 season, the Dragons reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, having defeated the Cardiff Blues 25–21. This was their second time reaching the semi-finals, having done so in 2007. They lost 45–16 to Edinburgh in the semi-final.

The following season, the Dragons once again reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, but lost 22–12 to Montpellier.

2017–2023: WRU ownership
In March 2017, following a vote of Newport RFC shareholders, the Welsh Rugby Union agreed to take over the Newport Gwent Dragons in its entirety as part of a deal that also saw the WRU take ownership of the Rodney Parade ground. Following the takeover, Bernard Jackman was appointed head coach, and on 20 June 2017 it was announced that following the takeover of the region by the WRU, the region would be dropping "Newport Gwent" from its name with immediate effect, becoming known simply as "Dragons". Jackman's endured a difficult first season in charge in 2017–18, with the Dragons recording only two wins in the league. Despite recruiting heavily for the 2018-19 campaign, including Wales forwards Ross Moriarty and Richard Hibbard, results did not improve and Jackman was dismissed in 2019 to be replaced by Dean Ryan.

During the WRU-ownership period, the Dragons signed a large number of English-born players eligible for Wales thanks to parents or grandparents, such as Ross Moriarty, Will Talbot-Davies, Tom Griffiths, Huw Taylor, Nick Tompkins, Joe Maksymiw, Greg Bateman and Will Rowlands.

Ahead of the 2022–2023 season, the Dragons continued their extensive recruitment drive, including established props Rhodri Jones and Rob Evans, as well as locks Sean Lonsdale and George Nott from the Premiership. JJ Hanrahan joined from Clermont, while two centres; Welsh-qualified Max Clark and New Zealander Sio Tomkinson added further depth. Further signings were made in the lead up to season.

2023 onwards: Return to private ownership
In July 2023 a consortium headed by Dragons chairman David Buttress bought Rodney Parade and the Dragons from the WRU.

Team name
The naming of the region's team caused considerable turbulence. Newport Gwent Dragons were a new side created out of the restructuring of Welsh rugby, and represent their designated region, like the Cardiff Blues, the Scarlets and the Ospreys. Some in the Welsh rugby world, such as Bobby Windsor, believed that including the name Newport would alienate some fans in the surrounding valleys. Many supporters in the wider Newport area favoured greater identification with the City of Newport and a continuation of the historic traditions of Newport RFC. Several names were suggested but all were rejected by the WRU. In the end, the WRU decided the region would be called the Gwent Dragons. However, initial response to the new region was mixed, with many fans unsure whether to buy a season ticket for the new side or to stick to their local clubs. The company set up to run the side entered administration before a game had been played, and as a compromise the word "Newport" was added to the team name in a double-sized font, whilst "Gwent" was reduced. This addition and choice of kit added a greater Newport emphasis to the region and polarised the regions' fan base: some supporters of Ebbw Vale, Pontypool, Cross Keys and Newbridge turned their backs on the regional side, claiming that Gwent was no longer being equally represented. This debate continued, with the Dragons being accused of favouritism towards their Newport feeder club rather than the other feeder clubs.

The Newport Action Group, among others, claimed the side has lost more supporters by including the name "Gwent" in its title. The crowds supporting Newport Gwent Dragons averaged 5,154 for the 2005–06 season, whereas in the 2002–03 season, Newport RFC was Wales' best supported club and British rugby's fourth best with an average attendance of 8,302 – behind English Premiership clubs Leicester, Gloucester and Northampton. In the 2006–07 season, attendance averaged 5,629 at Rodney Parade.

On the 27 June 2022, the Dragons announced their rebranding as Dragons RFC. The new playing colours being black and amber to represent the traditional colours of Newport sporting teams and the blue of the historic Monmouthshire county. The new badge includes three fleur-de-lis derived from the county Flag of Monmouthshire.

Kit
The Dragons kit for the 2022–2023 season is supplied by VX3. Their current 'Headline Sponsor' is Compeed.

Home ground
The region's ground is the 8,700 capacity Rodney Parade ground in Newport, where they play the majority of their home games. Games are occasionally hosted at other grounds in Gwent, such as Pontypool Park or Pandy Park (home of Cross Keys RFC). These are usually pre-season or other fixtures, however occasionally league games are taken elsewhere such as in 2017 when a game against local rivals Cardiff Blues was hosted at the Constructaquote Stadium (formerly Virginia Park), home of Caerphilly RFC, due to a fixture clash with Newport County AFC; and during the 2017/18 season when the Dragons hosted a Pro14 game against Edinburgh Rugby in Eugene Cross Park, Ebbw Vale.

As a part of Judgement Day, each season a home game against a rival Welsh rugby region is hosted at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

In preparation for the 2014–15 season the Newport Gwent Dragons agreed a partnership with Caerphilly County Borough Council for the team and coaching staff to use the CCB Centre for Sporting Excellence as the new training base for the 1st team and all other age grade structures within the region. The small stadium at the centre hosts the home matches of the Dragons U23 side, which competes in the Celtic Cup. Owing to a frozen pitch at Rodney Parade, the CCB Centre hosted a Challenge Cup fixture on 22 January 2023.

Notable players
Michael Owen captained Wales in 2005–06 and he led Wales to their first Grand Slam for 27-years in the 2005 Six Nations Championship.

Lewis Evans has made over 200 appearances for the Dragons. Prop Adam Black became the first centurion in Dragons colours during the 2006–07 season. The following players have also made over one hundred Dragons appearances: Jamie Ringer, Peter Sidoli, Gareth Wyatt, Steve Jones, Luke Charteris, Wayne Evans, Aled Brew, Ashley Smith, Adam Jones, Hugh Gustafson, Jason Tovey, Robert Sidoli, Phil Price, Adam Hughes, Nic Cudd, Rynard Landman, Matthew Screech, Brok Harris, Lloyd Fairbrother, Jack Dixon, Elliot Dee, Ashton Hewitt, Joe Davies, Harrison Keddie, Rhodri Williams, Ollie Griffiths, Aaron Wainwright.

Several former players have been capped by the Wales national rugby union team while with the region; props Chris Anthony and Rhys M. Thomas, hookers Steve Jones and Lloyd Burns, second rows Ian Gough, Luke Charteris, Andrew Coombs, Cory Hill and Will Rowlands, flankers Jason Forster, Richard Parks, Jamie Ringer, Gavin Thomas and Ross Moriarty, number eight Michael Owen, Rhys Oakley and Taulupe Faletau, scrum halves Gareth Cooper and Andy Williams, outside half Ceri Sweeney, centres Andy Marinos, Tyler Morgan and Nick Tompkins, wingers Gareth Wyatt, Hal Luscombe, Aled Brew, Will Harries, Tom Prydie, Hallam Amos, Jonah Holmes and fullback Kevin Morgan. Percy Montgomery, Sione Tuʻipulotu, Rod Snow, Mike Hercus, Mike Petri, James Arlidge, Will Kelly and Mesake Doge played internationally for their respective countries whilst with the region.

Of the current players Dan Lydiate, Ollie Griffiths, Leon Brown, Elliot Dee, Aaron Wainwright, Ben Carter, Taine Basham, Rio Dyer, Bradley Roberts, Matthew Screech and Cai Evans have featured in Wales test matches whilst with the region, as have Gonzalo Bertranou and Aki Seiuli for Argentina and Samoa respectively. Rhodri Williams and Rhodri Jones achieved Wales international caps before joining the Dragons.

British & Irish Lions
The following players have been selected to play for the British & Irish Lions touring squads while playing for the Dragons.

Honours

 * Glasgow City Sevens
 * Champions (1): 2008

title: Dragons RFC


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Esophageal speech

Esophageal speech, also known as esophageal voice, is an airstream mechanism for speech that involves oscillation of the esophagus. This contrasts with traditional laryngeal speech, which involves oscillation of the vocal folds. In esophageal speech, pressurized air is injected into the upper esophagus and then released in a controlled manner to create the airstream necessary for speech. Esophageal speech is a learned skill that requires speech training and much practice. On average it takes 6 months to a year to learn this form of speech. Because of the high level of difficulty in learning esophageal speech, some patients are unable to master the skill.

The Voice Quality Symbol for esophageal speech is Œ.

Clinical
Esophageal speech is a skill that can help patients to communicate after a laryngectomy, the most common surgery used for the treatment of laryngeal cancer. In the operation, the larynx and the vocal cords are removed completely. After this, the end of the trachea is sewn onto the edge of an opening cut out at the lower part of the neck, creating an opening (stoma) the patient will breathe from and cough out mucus from. This hole is called a tracheostoma; the patient uses it to breathe through and cough through after the operation.

Character
The air moves from outside the body through the tracheostoma directly to the lungs, without passing through the upper respiratory organs of the nose, mouth, and throat. Because it bypasses the vocal folds, speech can be severely impaired, and the development of an esophageal voice becomes necessary. Esophageal speech is produced without an artificial larynx, and is achieved by pumping air from the mouth into the upper esophagus. The esophagus is slightly expanded. The air is then released in a regulated manner through the mouth, with simultaneous articulation of words. Vibration of the pharyngoesophageal sphincter replaces vibration of the glottis to produce the esophageal voice.

Many people learn a basic form of esophageal speech as children, when they speak words while burping, e.g. in competitions with friends to see who can say more of the alphabet during a burp.

Esophageal speech is quieter and more strenuous than laryngeal speech, and fewer words can be produced successively. Good esophageal speakers can produce an average of 5 words per breath and 120 words per minute. Very good esophageal speakers speak very similarly to TEP speakers.

Because of the large, vibrating pharyngo-esophageal segment, the pitch of esophageal speech is very low—between 50 and 100 Hz. In esophageal speech, pitch and intensity correlate: a low-pitched voice is produced with low intensity and a high-pitched voice is produced with high intensity. The production of the latter is more exhausting.

The voice of a speaker without a larynx sometimes has what appears to be a nasal tone to it, even though the nasal passage is no longer connected in a post-surgery laryngectomy patient. In other esophageal speakers, the tone is more similar to a deep belch.

Tracheoesophageal puncture
Another option for restoring speech after a laryngectomy is the tracheoesophageal puncture or TEP. In this simple surgical procedure, a small puncture is made between the trachea and the esophagus, and a one-way air valve is inserted. This air supply can be used to cause vibrations of the pharyngoesophageal sphincter in a similar manner to esophageal speech. This surgical procedure may occur during the laryngectomy (primary TEP) or after a period of time (secondary TEP).

The prosthesis is placed approximately 10–14 days post operation by a certified speech language pathologist (SLP) who specializes in ENT work. During the placement of a prosthesis, the SLP measures the depth of the puncture, chooses the correct prosthesis, and inserts it with a loading device (the entire process can occur in 30–45 minutes pending complications). Patients return for the puncture to be resized every few months after surgery. When the puncture site stops changing sizes, then a more permanent prosthesis can be placed that will last approximately 6–12 months (indwelling prosthesis). Patients may choose this route, in which case they will return to the SLP for placement every 6–12 months, or may choose a low pressure, or duckbill prosthesis that they can change independently at home every few months. This option has become increasingly popular in the past 10 years, as in many cases intelligible voicing may be achieved within minutes of placement of the prosthesis. Some of the advantages to tracheoesophageal puncture are a higher success rate at about 95% of vocal rehabilitation and a much faster time frame compared to esophageal speech.

Electrolarynx
An electrolarynx is a handheld device which is held against the throat and provides vibrations to allow speech. Electrolarynges may be used immediately post-surgery with an oral adapter (the neck being too tender right after surgery). Esophageal and electrolaryngeal speech (speech with an electrolarynx) may take weeks or months of training for patients to achieve functional voicing.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Esophageal speech


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HMS Jervis Bay

HMS Jervis Bay was a British liner later converted into an armed merchant cruiser, pennant F40. She was launched in 1922, and sunk in battle on 5 November 1940 by the German heavy cruiser GERMAN CRUISER Admiral Scheer in an action which earned her captain the Victoria Cross.

Merchant service
The ship was launched as the Commonwealth Line steamer Jervis Bay, named after the Australian bay of that name (the line named all its passenger liners after bays). She was one of five large liners that operated in the immigrant trade between the United Kingdom and Australia.

The Commonwealth Line had problems with high operating costs and frequent industrial action, so in 1928 their ships were sold to the White Star Line who operated them in the Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line – an entity created by merging into the Aberdeen Line, which was a White Star subsidiary. In new ownership, Jervis Bay used Southampton as her UK port instead of London, as had been the case under Commonwealth Line management. In 1931, she was converted to a one-class ship. The accommodation was altered from 12 first class and about 712 third class passengers to a tourist class ship carrying 270 passengers. This could be increased by the addition of temporary cabins to a total of 540.

Naval service
Jervis Bay was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in August 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War, and armed with seven 1898-vintage BL 6-in (152 mm) guns and two QF 3-inch (76.2 mm) guns of 1894 design. The 6-inch guns were in single centre-pivot mountings with open-backed shields, to protect against blast and splinters at best, being arranged as follows: Two on either side of the forecastle and two either side of the upper deck behind the break of the forecastle, giving two guns firing dead ahead; two guns were mounted on the quarterdeck and the seventh was on the aft deckhouse roof with full command of the stern, giving the ship three guns able to fire dead astern, or a total of four 6-inch guns available on broadside. The 3-inch AA guns were mounted on either side of the boat deck, just aft of amidships, in unusual circular open-topped casements, giving each weapon a 180-degree arc of fire to the side; they would be capable of contributing to broadside fire in an emergency.

After her acquisition and commissioning, Jervis Bay was initially placed under the Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic. She was involved in an unfortunate incident on 13 October 1939 while at Rosyth, ramming the old S-class destroyer HMS Sabre (H18). Sabre was under repair for over six months. Jervis Bay then became a convoy escort in May 1940, based at the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda. Given brief repairs at Halifax, Nova Scotia, she became the sole escort for the 37 merchant ships of Convoy HX 84 from Bermuda and Halifax to Britain (Jervis Bay escorted a convoy from Bermuda which merged at sea with a convoy from Halifax, since larger convoys suffered fewer losses than smaller ones due to the relatively smaller defensive perimeter of the larger surface area).

When the convoy encountered the German warship Admiral Scheer about 755 nmi south-southwest of Reykjavík, the captain of Jervis Bay, Edward Fegen, ordered the convoy to scatter, and set his own ship on a course towards the German warship to draw its fire. Jervis Bay was hopelessly outgunned and outranged by the 28 cm (11inch) guns of the German ship, but it attacked the larger ship with its guns, firing more to distract the German ship from the merchantmen than with hopes of doing any damage. Although the German's shells ravaged Jervis Bay, and Fegen was wounded and many crewmen killed, Fegen and the surviving crew fought on until their ship was sunk. Captain Fegen and many of the crew went down with the ship.

Jervis Bay's sacrifice bought enough time for the convoy to begin to scatter. According to some sources, further time was bought by the freighter SS Beaverford, which engaged Admiral Scheer for over four hours. However, the account published after the war by the captain of Admiral Scheer and the timings of the sinking show that there was no such engagement. Beaverford fled with the other ships, but was sunk during the night. In the end, the German cruiser was only able to sink five merchant ships, and the remainder of the convoy escaped.

Sixty-eight survivors of Jervis Bay's crew of 254 were picked up by the neutral Swedish ship M/S Stureholm (1919) (three later died of their wounds). Guy Byam was one of the survivors of the sinking; he was later killed while covering an air raid over Germany for the BBC.

Captain Fegen was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross as a result of this action. The citation for his award reads: For valour in challenging hopeless odds and giving his life to save the many ships it was his duty to protect. On the 5th of November, 1940, in heavy seas, Captain Fegen, in His Majesty's Armed Merchant Cruiser Jervis Bay, was escorting thirty-eight Merchantmen. Sighting a powerful German warship he at once drew clear of the Convoy, made straight for the Enemy, and brought his ship between the Raider and her prey, so that they might scatter and escape. Crippled, in flames, unable to reply, for nearly an hour the Jervis Bay held the German's fire. So she went down: but of the Merchantmen all but four or five were saved.

Bermuda
There is a monument to Jervis Bay at Albouy's Point, in Hamilton, Bermuda, from where Jervis Bay had departed on her final mission. Bermuda was a formation point for trans-Atlantic convoys in both World Wars. During the Second World War, convoys formed at Bermuda and coded BHX merged at sea with those formed at Halifax, which were coded HX, before crossing the Atlantic as it was easier to protect one large convoy than two smaller.

The monument was unveiled on 5 November 1941, in front of a Guard of Honour provided by the Royal Marines detachment of HMS Despatch (D30), by Vice Admiral Sir Charles Kennedy-Purvis, Commander-in-Chief of the America and West Indies Station, who said:

To-day is the anniversary of a very gallant naval deed, that of the action of H.M.S. Jervis Bay, in which the ship was lost with most hands, carrying out her duty on November 5th, 1940.... The Jervis Bay was serving at the time under my command on this station and she was well-known in this City, where her officers and ship's company had many friends....The Jervis Bay was a medium-sized liner of 16 knots, used on the Australian trade. She was taken up at the beginning of the war and armed with eight 6-inch guns, of which four could be fired on one broadside. She was manned by a crew mostly Royal Naval Reserve and Mercantile Marine. The only Royal Naval Officer was Captain Fegen, her Commander - that was all. On November 5th towards evening she was steaming in the centre of the front line of a big convoy of nearly forty ships. These ships were disposed in columns of four with the columns abeam of each other. Suddenly, the port wing ship sighted smoke on the port bow, and very soon afterwards the foretop of a man-of-war.... Captain Fegen instructed the Commandant of the convoy, if this proved to be an enemy ship, to turn his convoy to starboard and to scatter, while he went out to port to engage the enemy. It soon became plain that the ship was German - one of the pocket battleships. The Jervis Bay steamed out ahead and turned to port. The convoy turned to starboard, dropping smoke floats and soon after scattered. The Jervis Bay proceeded on her course and was soon enveloped in the fire of six 11-inch guns. She was heavily straddled and hit and took fire. As soon as he was within range with his own guns, Captain Fegen opened fire and kept his 6-inch guns firing until the last. The ship became a blazing wreck and after an hour's action went to the bottom. A few survivors were picked up that night. The Jervis Bay delayed an attack on the convoy for a while and in that time the convoy was all over the ocean, with the result that only some 20% of the ships were lost and 80% of the convoy reached home.

Now, that is a tremendous decision to take when you are faced with overwhelming odds, but I know that in Captain Fegen's case there were no second thoughts. He had been brought up by his training of nearly forty years in His Majesty's Navy and by tradition to believe that the duty of an escort of a convoy is to protect that convoy at all costs. This he did. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery which His Majesty the King can award.

A small ceremony is held before the monument every Remembrance Day (following the larger parade in front of the Cenotaph commemorating all of the territory's dead of the two world wars) in which personnel from the Royal Navy, the Royal Naval Association, and the Sea Cadet Corps take part.

Canada
There is a monument to Captain Fegen and the crew of Jervis Bay at Ross Memorial Park in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. This is the port where she was refitted for war service in the summer of 1940.

Britain

In 2006 the Scottish town of Wick erected a plaque to the Caithness members who died in the sinking of the ship. The ship was crewed extensively from Caithness, and Wick in particular.

There was also a monument in London. The main room of the Merchant Navy Hotel (closed, 2002) was known as the "Jervis Bay Room", and included a display detailing the action. It was the custom for everyone entering the room to salute the display.

Depictions
The Australian poet Michael Thwaites wrote a ballad about Jervis Bay in 1941, while he was serving as a naval officer in the Atlantic. It can be read in The Faber Book of War Poetry or online at the Thwaites family website.

The final action of Jervis Bay was portrayed in the movie San Demetrio London, released in 1943, regarding the tale of heavy damage and subsequent survival of MV San Demetrio, one of the vessels of Convoy HX 84. The encounter between Jervis Bay and Admiral Scheer is also narrated in a short story in Alistair MacLean's book "The Lonely Sea". Jervis Bay is also commemorated by the Jervis Bay Memorial Pipe Band, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

The ship is featured as a model in Scarborough's "Naval Warfare" holiday show, which takes place in the summer at Peasholm Park; in the show the ship fights off an enemy battleship and submarine.

In the Ant and Cleo novels by Dominic Green, a British space fleet names one of its cruisers in the Jervis Bay's honour.

It is also the subject of issue 47 of Hitman and in Volume 6 of the collection, which the protagonists take as an example of how to live.

The ship was later honoured by the Sea Cadets and Marine Cadets Detachment in Brock Barracks in Reading, who adopted TS Jervis Bay (Training Ship) as the name of the unit.

Two ships of the Royal Australian Navy have been named HMAS Jervis Bay, however, for Jervis Bay, on the south coast of New South Wales.

In popular culture
The ship and its sinking is depicted in an early part of the 1943 film "San Demetrio London".

A merchant ship, Jervis Bay, is in the Tony Palmer 1969 documentary on Jack Bruce: "Rope Ladder To The Moon" at 11m 23s; the ship Jervis Bay figures prominently as the camera pans right.

title: HMS Jervis Bay


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Ad Reinhardt

Adolph Friedrich Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was an abstract painter active in New York for more than three decades. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists (AAA) and part of the movement centered on the Betty Parsons Gallery that became known as abstract expressionism. He was also a member of The Club, the meeting place for the New York School abstract expressionist artists during the 1940s and 1950s. He wrote and lectured extensively on art and was a major influence on conceptual art, minimal art and monochrome painting. Most famous for his "black" or "ultimate" paintings, he claimed to be painting the "last paintings" that anyone can paint. He believed in a philosophy of art he called Art-as-Art and used his writing and satirical cartoons to advocate for abstract art and against what he described as "the disreputable practices of artists-as-artists".

Background
Reinhardt was born in Buffalo, New York, and lived with his family in the Riverside section along the Niagara River. His cousin Otto and he were close, as well as the extended family, but work took his father to New York City. He later studied art history at Columbia College of Columbia University, where he was a close friend of Robert Lax and Thomas Merton. The three developed similar concepts of simplicity in different directions. Reinhardt considered himself a painter from a very early age and began winning prizes for painting in grade school and high school. Feeling that he had already acquired all the technical skills in high school he turned down scholarships at art schools and accepted a full scholarship at Columbia University which he attended from 1931 to 1935. Reinhardt studied under the art historian Meyer Schapiro. He took painting classes as an undergraduate at Columbia's Teachers College and after graduation began to study painting with Carl Holty and Francis Criss at the American Artists School, while simultaneously studying portraiture at the National Academy of Design under Karl Anderson.

Upon finishing college he was accredited as a painter by Burgoyne Diller, which allowed him to work from 1936 until 1940 for the WPA Federal Art Project, easel division. Sponsored by Holty he became a member of the American Abstract Artists group, with whom he exhibited for the next decade. Reinhardt described his association with the group as "one of the greatest things that ever happened to me". He participated in group exhibitions at the Peggy Guggenheim Gallery, and he had his first one-man show at the Artists Gallery in 1943. He then went on to be represented by Betty Parsons, exhibiting first at the Wakefield Bookshop, the Mortimer Brandt Gallery and then when Parsons opened her own gallery on 57th street. Reinhardt had regular solo exhibitions yearly at the Betty Parsons Gallery beginning in 1946. He was involved in the 1940 protest against MoMA, designing the leaflet that asked How modern is the Museum of Modern Art? His works were displayed regularly throughout the 1940s and 1950s at the Annual Exhibitions held at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was also part of the protest against the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1950 which became known as "The Irascibles."

Having completed his studies at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts, Reinhardt became a teacher at Brooklyn College in 1947 and taught there until his death from a heart attack in 1967. He also taught at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, the University of Wyoming, Yale University and Hunter College, New York.

Paintings
Reinhardt's earliest exhibited paintings avoided representation, but show a steady progression away from objects and external reference. His work progressed from compositions of geometrical shapes in the 1940s to works in different shades of the same color (all red, all blue, all white) in the 1950s.

Reinhardt is best known for his so-called "black" paintings of the 1960s, which appear at first glance to be simply canvases painted black but are actually composed of black and nearly black shades. Among many other suggestions, these paintings ask if there can be such a thing as an absolute, even in black, which some viewers may not consider a color at all.

In 1967 he contributed one of 17 signed prints that made up the portfolio Artists and Writers Protest Against the War in Viet Nam organized by the group Artists and Writers Protest. Reinhardt's lithograph, known as "No War" from its first two words of text, shows both sides of an air mail post card addressed to "War Chief, Washington, D.C. U.S.A." with a list of 34 demands that includes "no napalm," "no bombing," "no poverty," "no art of war," and admonitions concerning art itself, "no art in war" and "no art on war." That same year, Reinhardt received a Guggenheim Fellowship for Fine Arts.

Writings
His writing includes comments on his own work and that of his contemporaries. His concise wit, sharp focus, and sense of abstraction make them interesting reading even for those who have not seen his paintings. Like his paintings, his writing remains controversial decades after its composition. Many of his writings are collected in Art as Art, edited by Barbara Rose, University of California Press, 1991.

Graphics
Reinhardt joined the staff of PM in 1942 and he worked full-time at this daily newspaper until 1947, with time out while drafted for active duty in the U.S. Navy. While at PM he produced several thousand cartoons and illustrations most notably the series of famous and widely reproduced How to Look at Art series. Reinhardt also illustrated the highly influential and controversial pamphlet Races of Mankind (1943) originally intended for distribution to the U.S. Army, but after being banned subsequently sold close to a million copies. He also illustrated a children's book A Good Man and His Good Wife. While attending Columbia University he designed many covers and illustrations for the humor magazine Jester and was its editor in his senior year (1934–35). In 1940 he was the designer of "The Chelsea Document", a public exhibition of five 4x8 foot panels. Other commercial art work was done "for such varied employers as the Brooklyn Dodgers, Glamour magazine, the CIO, Macy's, The New York Times, the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, The Book and Magazine Guild, the American Jewish Labor Council, New Masses, the Saturday Evening Post, Ice Cream World, and Listen magazine. He illustrated many books such as Who's Who in the Zoo.

Recent exhibitions

 * The Guggenheim Museum has shown Reinhardt's Black Painting as part of their Imageless exhibition, which closed September 14, 2008.
 * The Josef Albers Museum Quadrat in Bottrop, Germany showed Reinhardt's Last Paintings and earlier works along with works from Josef Albers (Hommage to the Square and other) from September 2010 to January 2011. Both worked at Yale University in 1952/53 when J. Albers offered Reinhardt a guest professorship.
 * In the fall 2013, David Zwirner Gallery held a major exhibition of Reinhardt's black paintings, cartoons, and photographic slides, curated by Robert Storr. It was the first exhibition since Reinhardt's 1991 retrospective at MoMA to feature an entire room of black paintings (13 in all).
 * Art vs. History, the first large scale exhibition in Europe focusing on Reinhardt's cartoons, comics and collages, was exhibited in Malmö Konsthall in June–September 2015 and in EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art in March–April 2016.

title: Ad Reinhardt


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Jeff Vogel

Not notable, and/or vanity. First page google hits seem to be opinion or links to a few Mac games he created. TPK 08:44, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC) - Vote change: I obviously didn't realize what this properly was at the time. I change my vote to Redirect/Merge unless someone can supply enough information for it to stand on it's own. TPK 06:30, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * I'm sure I'll be able to supply enough information, but I'm too busy this week (assessments en masse), and I'm not to keen to write something long if there's still the risk of deletion hanging over it. Ambi 07:14, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Strong keep, but send to Cleanup. He's quite a notable independent designer of both Mac and PC games. A google search for "jeff vogel" spiderweb gets nearly 2,000 results. Jeff Vogel create his own article here? We could be so lucky. Ambi 09:18, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Redirect to Spiderweb Software. Jeff Vogel is non-notable aside from the fact that he is Spiderweb Software. --Benc 10:07, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Agreed. -Sean Curtin 10:10, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Also agreed. Geogre 13:19, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * He may have founded it, but they're not one and the same - Spiderweb employs a fair few people these days. If this hadn't started as a wretched substub, I doubt we'd be here. Ambi 00:26, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Actually, his personal site, ironycentral.com is fairly popular, with The Story About the Baby being made into a book. -- Cyrius|✎ 17:17, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. He is well-known enough that someone migth reasonably want to know who he is. Secondarily, link to Spiderweb Software -eivind
 * Keep. Nobody *is* their company, even if they are the only person in it: notability is notability however acheived.  Jgm 02:22, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Comment: Exile is possibly the best computer game I've ever played. Seriously. Isomorphic 01:32, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Had not known of the book, and had forgotten about the website. I now say keep. -Sean Curtin 07:49, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC)


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Reginald Smith Brindle

Reginald Smith Brindle (5 January 1917 – 9 September 2003) was a British composer and writer.

Early life
Smith Brindle was born in Cuerdon, Lancashire, to Robert and Jane Smith Brindle. He began learning the piano at the age of six, and later took up the clarinet, saxophone and guitar (and won a Melody Maker prize for his guitar-playing). Under pressure from his parents, he began to study architecture. At the time, he was interested in jazz, and played saxophone professionally for a while alongside his studies. On attending an organ recital at Chester Cathedral in 1937, however, he was inspired to take up both the organ and composition. He spent most of World War II serving in Africa and Italy as a captain in the Corps of Royal Engineers. It was during this period that he rekindled his interest in the guitar, an instrument for which he wrote an enormous amount of music.

Career
After the war, Smith Brindle returned to composition. He submitted a Fantasia Passacaglia (1946) for an Italian composition competition, and won first prize. From 1946 to 1949 he studied music at the University College of North Wales in Bangor. He went to Italy in 1949 to continue his studies. There his teachers included Ildebrando Pizzetti and Luigi Dallapiccola for composition and Fernando Germani for organ.

His compositional activity comprised three main phases: tonal until 1951; serial/"dodecaphonic" until c1970; and finally a freer third phase where many compositions were for his own instruments, guitar and organ.

Brindle is presently best known for his solo guitar music (which was highly regarded by players such as Andres Segovia and Julian Bream, especially El Polifemo de Oro (1956), written for Bream, as well as five sonatas (1948, 1976, 1978, 1979), Variants on two themes of J. S. Bach (1970), Memento in two movements (1973), Do not go gentle... (1974), November Memories (1974), Four Poems of Garcia Lorca (1975), "Guitarcosmos" (3 volumes) and The Prince of Venosa (1994).

His chamber opera The Death of Antigone, was premiered at Oxford in 1971, and later broadcast in May 1976. Notable orchestral works include two symphonies (1955 and 1989), Apocalypse (1970), Creation Epic (world premiere at the Proms on 5 August 1964), Homage to H.G. Wells (1960), the Renaissance Suite (1956), Symphonic Variations (1957), and Via Crucis for strings (1966).

Smith Brindle taught from 1957 to 1970 at the University College of North Wales in Bangor, and from 1970 to 1981 at the University of Surrey. During his time at Surrey, he founded the prestigious Tonmeister course in Music and Sound Recording. } He continued to compose until 1998, being involved with the Chameleon group of composers in 1990s Croydon.

Smith Brindle was an expert on the music of 20th-century Italian composers such as Luigi Dallapiccola, Ildebrando Pizzetti and Bruno Bartolozzi (he studied with all three). He also wrote the technical book Serial Composition (1966). He played many instruments, but was particularly fond of the guitar, organ and saxophone.

Personal life
Smith Brindle met Giulia Borsi in Italy during the war, and they were married in Britain in 1947. Together they had one son and three daughters.

Legacy
Smith Brindle's papers are preserved in the University Library Special Collections and Archives at California State University, Northridge.

Books

 * Second edition 1987. ISBN 978-0-19-315471-1 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-19-315468-1 (pbk).
 * Second edition 1987. ISBN 978-0-19-315471-1 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-19-315468-1 (pbk).
 * Second edition 1987. ISBN 978-0-19-315471-1 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-19-315468-1 (pbk).

title: Reginald Smith Brindle


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Gilbert Biberian

Gilbert Emanuel Biberian (19 February 1944 – 27 January 2023) was a British guitarist and composer.

Born in Istanbul, Turkey of Greek-Armenian heritage. Biberian's ethnic roots was integral to his compositions. He studied at Trinity College of Music, graduating in 1968. In 1965 a French Government grant took him to France to study with Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya. He studied composition with James Patten, Elisabeth Lutyens and Hans Keller, as well as widening and enriching his musical knowledge by working with non-guitarists Anthony Kinsella (piano) and Vic Bennett (clarinet).

Biberian has played at the Proms, at Covent Garden and has performed concertos and given solo recitals worldwide.

He has always enthusiastically encouraged and championed the creation of new compositions for guitar. New works have been written for and/or dedicated to him (for solo and ensemble) by James Patten, Elisabeth Lutyens, Reginald Smith Brindle, Alfred Nieman, Charles Camilleri, David Bedford, Roger Williams, Glen Morgan, Robert Keeley, Jeffrey Joseph, Kenneth Paige, Daniel Sturm, Vojislav Ivanovic, Betty Roe, Ivor Mairants, Geoffrey Burgon, Aurelio Peruzzi, Judith Bingham, Monique Cecconi-Botella, Ottavio Negro and Luis Morales Giacoman.

In addition to his pioneering work in chamber music, and always in search of exciting possibilities for the guitar, he expanded the role of the instrument by combining with mime in three works, "Pierrot", "Harlequin's Toccata" and "Colombine", which are now successfully established as stage and concert pieces. He produced a great number of compositions, not only for solo and ensemble guitar but also for all string instruments including a concerto for guitar, cello and 19 strings, which received its world première at the Habana International Festival of Guitar, Cuba, in May 1992. His guitar compositions are being recorded and performed by an ever-increasing number of guitarists. Biberian's compositions have been published in England, Italy, Holland, Canada and the US.

Biberian died on 27 January 2023, at Cheltenham General Hospital in Cheltenham (Gloucestershire), at the age of 78.

title: Gilbert Biberian


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Edgar Broughton Band

Edgar Broughton Band were a British rock band founded in Warwick in 1968, and in their initial form were operative through to 1976. They were a trio consisting of brothers Edgar (vocals and guitar) and Steve Broughton (drums) with Arthur Grant (bass), which was augmented at various times by a second guitarist and/or keyboardist, significantly Victor Unitt. They released five studio albums, including Sing Brother Sing (UK Albums Chart #18), and six singles, including "Out Demons Out" (UK Singles Chart #39), on the EMI Harvest label and one further studio album for NEMS. The group reformed from 1978 to 1982, initially renamed as The Broughtons, issuing two more studio albums, and again from 2006 to 2010 with Edgar's son Luke for live appearances only.

Career
The band started their career as a blues group under the name of The Edgar Broughton Blues Band, playing to a small following in the region around their hometown of Warwick. However, the band began to lean towards the emerging psychedelic movement, dropping the 'Blues' from their name as well as their music.

In 1968, the Edgar Broughton Band moved to Notting Hill Gate, London, seeking a recording contract and a wider audience, and were picked up by Blackhill Enterprises. Blackhill arranged their first record deal, on EMI's progressive rock label Harvest Records, in December 1968. Their first single was "Evil"/"Death of an Electric Citizen", released in June 1969, which was also the first single released by Harvest.

The first single was followed by the Edgar Broughton Band's debut album, Wasa Wasa. Wasa Wasa retained a heavily blues influenced sound that was hard-driven and propelled by Edgar Broughton's gritty vocal style, which was similar to that of Captain Beefheart and Howlin' Wolf. The Broughtons entered into an attempt to capture their live sound on record by organising a performance at Abbey Road on 9 December 1969. Only one track was released at the time: a rendition of "Out Demons Out", an adaptation of The Fugs' song "Exorcising the Demons Out Of the Pentagon", which had become the band's set-closer and anthem. The rest of the recording was lost until its rediscovery and release in a remixed form in 2004 as Keep Them Freaks a Rollin': Live at Abbey Road 1969.

The band's touring attracted some controversy from a series of free concerts at locations such as children's playgrounds, and from a number of cases of civil disorder occurring at their shows. The most notorious incidents were a show in Redcar at which a fight broke out between audience members and led to violent police intervention, and a show in Keele where the audience vandalised the venue using paint given to them by the band. Though the band denied doing anything to incite any of these incidents (in the case of Keele, Edgar Broughton admitted to giving paint to the audience but argued that "we didn't tell them to do anything with it"), several towns banned the group's concerts.

The Edgar Broughton Band kept recording, releasing the live performance of "Out Demons, Out!" as a single (b/w "Momma's Reward (Keep Those Freaks a Rollin')") and following it, in June 1970, with the album Sing Brother Sing. This was accompanied by the single "Up Yours!" (b/w "Officer Dan"), a polemic on the 1970 General Election declaring their intention to drop out. The song featured a string arrangement by David Bedford.

Their next single, "Apache Dropout", combined The Shadows' "Apache" with Captain Beefheart's "Drop Out Boogie". Jerry Lordan, the composer of "Apache", insisted that the title be "Apache Dropout" instead of the original "Drop out Apache". The single reached No. 33 on the UK Singles Chart.

In 1971, the band decided that existence as a power trio was limiting, and asked Victor Unitt, who had been playing meanwhile in The Pretty Things, to rejoin the band. In May, with the new lineup, they released their eponymous third album, which contained "Evening Over Rooftops" (again with strings by David Bedford). Edgar Broughton Band contained heavy blues and even country influences.

The album was followed by the release of the double A-side "Hotel Room"/"Call Me A Liar". The single failed to chart, but the album sold well throughout Europe, especially in Germany.

With the success of their third album, the Edgar Broughton Band relocated to Devon to begin recording for their next album, In Side Out. The band then recorded their fifth album, Oora, in 1972; following the release of this album Unitt departed the band.

In 1975 the band signed to NEMS. In the same year, John Thomas joined the band on guitar for the Broughtons' sixth album, Bandages. This featured a softer sound than previous releases. Shortly after the release of Bandages, John Thomas left and was replaced by Terry Cottam. In 1976, having recorded the live album Live Hits Harder (which was not released until 1979), the Edgar Broughton Band dissolved.

However, Edgar and Steve Broughton together with Grant regrouped as The Broughtons to release Parlez-Vous English? in 1979, with Tom Nordon and Pete Tolson (ex-Pretty Things) playing guitar and Richard de Bastion on keyboards. This was the Band's first adventure into a fuller, more orchestral style of heavy rock. Pete Tolson was not retained after the release of the album and was replaced by John Thomas for the two years of European touring that followed. Tom Nordon appears again, along with keyboardists Duncan Bridgeman and Dennis Haynes, on Superchip, released in 1982.

After this the band dissolved again; recording no more studio material but touring infrequently throughout the 1980s and 1990s. A mini-tour in 1989 included a gig at The Oval in London. The band reformed properly once again in 2006, with Edgar's son Luke joining on keyboards and guitar, after the re-issue of their back catalogue had stimulated new interest in their work. They had a mini tour of England and Germany then completed a European tour in 2007, including an appearance at the German Burg Herzberg Festival. The Edgar Broughton Band disbanded once again in 2010, with Edgar Broughton opting to continue to perform as a solo artist. Steve Broughton died on 29 May 2022.

Personnel

 * Edgar Broughton – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion, bass (1968–1976, 1978–1982, 1989, 2006–2010)
 * Steve Broughton- drums, percussion, vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards (1968–1976, 1978–1982, 1989, 2006–2010)
 * Arthur Grant – bass, vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion (1968–1976, 1978–1982, 1989, 2006–2010)
 * Victor Unitt – guitars, keyboards, vocals (1971–1973)
 * Digger Davies – lead guitar (1975)
 * Richard Moore – guitar, vocals (1975) Norway tour
 * John Thomas – guitars, bass, vocals (1975–1976, 1979–1981)
 * Terry Cottam – guitars, vocals (1976)
 * Tom Nordon – guitars, vocals (1978–1982)
 * Richard de Bastion – keyboards, vocals (1978–1981)
 * Pete Tolson – guitars (1978–1979)
 * Duncan Bridgeman – keyboards (1981–1982)
 * Dennis Haynes – keyboards, vocals (1981–1982)
 * Philip James Manchester – keyboards (1981)
 * Luke Broughton – keyboards, guitars, vocals (2006–2010)
 * Andrew Taylor – guitars, vocals (2006–2008)
 * Dave Cox – guitars (2008–2010)

Studio albums

 * Wasa Wasa (1969)
 * Sing Brother Sing (1970) – No. 18 UK
 * Edgar Broughton Band (1971) – No. 28 UK
 * In Side Out (1972)
 * Oora (1973)
 * Bandages (1976)
 * Parlez-Vous English? (1979) (as The Broughtons)
 * Superchip (1982) (subtitled 'The Final Silicon Solution?')

Compilations

 * A Bunch of 45s (1975)
 * The Legendary Edgar Broughton Band (1984)
 * Out Demons Out: The Best of the Edgar Broughton Band (1986)
 * As Was: The Best of the Edgar Broughton Band (1988)
 * Classic Album and Single Tracks 1969–73 (1992)
 * The Very Best of the Edgar Broughton Band – Out Demons Out! (2001)
 * Bandages & Chilly Mornings (2006)
 * The Harvest Years 1969–1973 (2011). 4-CD boxset.

The Edgar Broughton Band has also appeared on several Harvest Records compilations:
 * Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air (1970)
 * The Harvest Bag (1971)
 * Harvest Sweeties (1971)
 * Harvest Heritage 20 Greats (1977)
 * Harvest Festival (1999)

Live albums

 * Live Hits Harder (1979)
 * Chilly Morning Mama – Live (1998)
 * Demons at the Beeb, Live (2000)
 * Keep Them Freaks a Rollin': Live at Abbey Road 1969 (2004)
 * Live at Rockpalast 2006 (2008)
 * Live at The Monarch (2014)

Singles

 * "Evil" / "Death of an Electric Citizen" (1969)
 * "Out Demons Out" / "Momma's Reward" (1970) – No. 39 UK
 * "Up Yours!" / "Officer Dan" (1970)
 * "Apache Drop Out" / "Freedom" (1971) – No. 33 UK
 * "Hotel Room" / "Call Me a Liar" (1971)
 * "Gone Blue" / "Someone" / "Mr. Crosby" (1972)

DVDs

 * Live at Rockpalast (2006) – performance by the band for German television.

title: Edgar Broughton Band


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Sovereign Hill

Sovereign Hill is an open-air museum in Golden Point, a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Sovereign Hill depicts Ballarat's first ten years after the discovery of gold there in 1851 and has become a nationally acclaimed tourist attraction. It is one of Victoria's most popular attractions and Ballarat's most famous.

Set in the Australian 1850s, the complex is located on a 25-hectare site that is linked to the richest alluvial gold rush in the world. The site comprises over 60 historically recreated buildings, with costumed staff and volunteers, who are able to answer questions and will pose for photos. The recreation is completed with antiques, artwork, books and papers, machinery, livestock and animals, carriages, and devices all appropriate to the era.

History
The second-largest gold nugget in the world was found in Ballarat in the Red Hill Mine which is recreated in Sovereign Hill. The Welcome Nugget weighed 69 kg,(2,200 ounces) and comprised 99.2% pure gold, valued at about 10,596 pounds when found, and worth over US$3 million in gold now, or far more as a specimen.

The idea of Sovereign Hill was floated in Ballarat in the 1960s, as a way to preserve historic buildings and to recreate the gold diggings that made the city. The complex was officially opened to the public on 29 November 1970.

Main street is a loose reconstruction of Main Street, Ballarat East which was once the settlement's main street, consisting of timber buildings. It was consumed in a large fire during the 1860s and a more substantial town centre planned around Sturt and Lydiard Street in Ballarat West.

Attractions
The gold diggings are the centre point of the complex, featuring a winding creek in which visitors are able to pan for real gold. This area is surrounded by tents and buildings contemporary to the early years of the gold rush. A recent addition to Sovereign Hill is the Gold Pour where pure gold valued at $300,000 is melted and poured into a three-kilogram bullion bar.

There are two mines which have guided tours at regular intervals. The Red Hill Mine is a self-guided tour that tells the story of a group of Cornishmen and their discovery of the Welcome Nugget. The Sovereign Quartz Mine runs 40-minute guided tours and features several underground displays. Above ground it also features steam-driven machinery for pumping water and processing the ore. More recently an attraction titled "Trapped" has been added. This exhibit, which is set in series of above-ground concrete structures designed to look like tunnels from within, tells the story of the New Australasian Gold Mine disaster at Creswick in 1882. Twenty-two miners died because of the collapse and flooding of the New Australasian No. 2 Mine. This is still considered one of Australia's worst mining disasters. Australia's worst mining disaster was the Mount Keira Mine Disaster in 1902 which killed 96 workers.

Main Street is lined with shops, two hotels and a theatre. There is a blacksmith's workshop, stables, photography studio, apothecary, bakery, jeweller's shop, grocer, tentmaker, tinsmith, bank, post office, candle-dipping shop, lolly shop, nine-pin bowling saloon and library. Behind Main Street there are a number of period cottages which are open for visitors. There are also four schools where children in school-groups dress in period costume and attend as a child of the 1850s.

A number of workshops at Sovereign Hill display traditional trades such as coachbuilder, wheelwright, tinsmith, blacksmith and farrier.

AURA is a son et lumiere show depicting the story of gold. It is run at night for a length of 90 minutes, using only sound and lights.

Mine tram
The Sovereign Hill mine tram, opened in March 2008, is an inclined tramway that takes tourists into the mine for a tour. Each tram is 1.35 metres wide and 1.55 metres high, and can carry 33 passengers. The tram goes through a flap, and enters a dark tunnel.

Stations
The Sovereign Hill mine tram has 3 stations – the top station, and two bottom stations. The two bottom stations are located in the mine, and the top station is located in a small hut, which has 2 platforms and a tram per platform. The two bottom stations only has a single platform, as each mine tram goes to a different section.

title: Sovereign Hill


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True Crime: Streets of LA

True Crime: Streets of LA is a 2003 open world action-adventure video game developed by Luxoflux and published by Activision for GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in November 2003, for Microsoft Windows in May 2004, and by Aspyr for Mac OS X in March 2005. A mobile phone adaptation was released in November 2004. The game tells the story of Nicholas Kang, an uncompromising LAPD detective who is recruited into the Elite Operations Division in order to investigate a series of bombings in Chinatown. As he delves further into the case, he discovers it may be connected to the disappearance of his police-officer father twenty years previously. The game features a 240 sqmi re-creation of a large part of Los Angeles, including most of Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, with most street names, landmarks and highways reproduced accurately.

Streets of LA received generally mixed-to-positive reviews. Many critics praised the ambitious nature of the game, its setting, the differentiation between itself and Grand Theft Auto III, the branching storyline and the overall 'feel'. Common criticisms, however, were graphical and technical problems and poorly implemented gameplay. The game was a commercial success, selling over three million units worldwide across all platforms, and the True Crime franchise continued in 2005, with the release of True Crime: New York City.

Gameplay
True Crime is an open world action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective, in which the player controls Detective Nicholas Kang of the "Elite Operations Division" (E.O.D.), a hand-picked autonomous unit of the regular LAPD.

The game was one of the first non-Grand Theft Auto open world action-adventure games released after Grand Theft Auto III in 2001, and, as such, was labeled by many as a Grand Theft Auto clone, as the core game mechanics are identical to Grand Theft Auto III, and its 2002 successor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – the player can travel across the city freely, commandeer vehicles, do whatever they want in terms of attacking and/or killing innocent civilians, and progress through the storyline at their own leisure, spending as much time traversing the city as they wish. However, the major difference from Grand Theft Auto games is that in True Crime, the player controls a law enforcement officer. As such, True Crime has been called "the GTA III clone where you play a cop."

The game involves four main types of mission, each with their own unique gameplay; shooting, fighting, stealth and driving. In many levels of the game, even if missions are failed, the storyline will continue, sometimes with a different opening cutscene for the next level, sometimes with an alternate version of the level, occasionally by branching into an entirely different storyline.

During shooting missions, the game auto-targets the closest opponent. If the player wishes to switch target to another opponent, they must do so manually. When the player is in shooting mode, they can enter "Precision Targeting" at any time. At this point, the game switches to first-person, zooms in on the target, and goes into slow motion momentarily. While in Precision Targeting, if the targeting reticule turns green, the player can hit the enemy with a neutralizing, non-lethal shot. If the player fires when the reticule is red, the enemy will be killed instantly. Players can also take cover during shootouts, firing from behind cover when the opportunity presents itself. Players are also free to pick up any weapons dropped by enemies. Once the ammo of these weapons is depleted, however, Kang will drop the weapon and revert to his standard issue revolver, which, although it does need to be reloaded, never runs out of ammo.

In hand-to-hand combat, the player has four main attacks; high kick, low kick, punch, and grapple. After hitting an enemy a certain number of times, the enemy will be stunned, at which point the player can perform a combo by pressing a series of buttons. During stealth missions, the player is automatically placed into stealth mode. The player can approach enemies from behind and either knock them out or kill them. Bumping into objects or walking over broken glass or plastic bags will cause nearby enemies to become aware of the player's presence.

Driving missions can involve either trying to catch another car, escape from another car or tailing another car. At all times, when the player is in a car, their car's condition is shown on screen. If the car's health meter empties, the car is close to destruction. When another car is involved, that car's health meter will also be shown on-screen. When the player is tailing another car, a "Tail meter" will appear on-screen, with three sections and a moving arrow. If the arrow is in the top section, it means the player is too close and must back off. If the arrow is in the bottom section, it means the player is losing the target and must speed up. As such, the player must try to keep the arrow in the middle section as much as possible. During normal driving missions, the player can solve random crimes given by the radio dispatcher.

The player can access 24/7 facilities throughout the game to upgrade either their driving, fighting or shooting abilities. 24/7 facilities are only accessible if the player has an available "badge". Badges are earned by acquiring "Reward points"; every one-hundred reward points is converted into one badge. Entry into a 24/7 facility costs one badge, and the player must complete a challenge to earn the upgrade. If they fail, they must spend another badge to try again. Rewards points are also necessary for the player to heal themselves at a pharmacy or have their car repaired at a garage; the number of points deducted depends on the level of damage in each case. The player earns reward points for arresting or killing criminals, solving crimes and completing missions. Points are deducted for killing civilians and failing missions.

The player also has a "Good Cop/Bad Cop" meter. If the player arrests criminals, solves crimes, shoots opponents with neutralizing shots, and knocks out rather than kills opponents in stealth missions, they will get Good Cop points. If, however, they kill civilians, shoot criminals in the head, use weapons in hand-to-hand combat, or kill enemies in stealth missions, they will get Bad Cop points. At certain points in the game, the storyline will branch differently depending on whether the player has a Good Cop score or a Bad Cop score. If the player's Bad Cop score gets too high, civilians will begin to attack Kang. If the Bad Cop score reaches 99, other police, and eventually SWAT will attempt to kill him. The number of Good or Bad Cop points also plays a factor in determining the game's ending.

Plot
''Note: This plot synopsis details the "good ending"

The game begins with Detective Nick Kang (voiced by Russell Wong) being recruited into the autonomous Elite Operations Division of the LAPD at the behest of Chief Wanda Parks (CCH Pounder). Kang is the son of Henry Wilson, a detective whose disappearance twenty years previously has remained unsolved. He was recently suspended from the police department for repeated incidents of excessive force, but Parks believes he has what it takes to help the E.O.D. break a case involving a series of bombings in Chinatown. Kang's gut tells him the Triad is behind it. Parks partners him with Detective Rosie Velasco (Michelle Rodriguez), an ex-gangbanger turned cop.

Kang and Velasco head to a diner in Chinatown where they see a Triad member harassing the owner. During the ensuing confrontation, Velasco is shot and wounded. Parks puts out an APB on the Triad's getaway car, which is soon spotted at a Chinese bar. Kang heads there, learning the driver works for Jimmy Fu (Keone Young), a small-time criminal. Kang visits Fu, who tells him "something big is about to go down," and reveals he is working for "Big" Chong (Keone Young), an enforcer for Ancient Wu's Triad, which is thought by many to be a myth.

At the precinct, Sergeant George (Christopher Walken), an elderly desk sergeant, tells Velasco about Kang's background; his father, Henry Wilson, was involved in a drug trafficking scandal in the 1970s, during which he disappeared. Internal Affairs believed Wilson skipped town, but George never believed it. Meanwhile, Kang tails Chong and sees him bringing large amounts of money into a building owned by Cyprus Holdings, a company linked to the Russian mafia. Kang follows Chong to a spa, where he observes him meeting a Russian named "Rocky" (Gary Oldman). Rocky complains Chong is not laundering the money from Chinatown quickly enough. Chong tells Rocky that Ancient Wu is unhappy, but Rocky is unconcerned, telling Chong, "the General is in town looking for his money. That's bad news for all of us." Kang confronts them, killing Chong, but Rocky escapes.

Meanwhile, Parks introduces Kang to FBI Agent Paul Masterson (Gary Oldman). The FBI had the spa under surveillance in an effort to build a case against Rocky, but since Kang's raid, Rocky has disappeared. Kang sets out to find Rocky, and Parks fills Velasco in on more of his backstory. After Henry disappeared, Kang and his brother Cary Kang (Ryun Yu) moved to Hong Kong to live with their deceased mother's relatives. They changed their name to Kang, but both returned to L.A. eventually; Kang to become a cop, Cary to open a franchise of martial arts dojos. Meanwhile, Kang traces Rocky to a club, where he observes a Hollywood detective entering the building. Kang meets Rocky, who tells him the money the Triad is laundering is counterfeit. Rocky warns Kang that if he doesn't back off, Cary will be killed. Kang races to Cary's dojo, but Cary is nowhere to be found.

Kang confronts the Hollywood cop from the club. His name is Don Rafferty (Michael Madsen), and he is an old friend of Henry's. He warns Kang the case he is working on is over his head, but tells him where Rocky is holding Cary. Kang rescues Cary and decides to speak to Ancient Wu. In what may be a dream, Kang heads to a restaurant in Chinatown, where he discovers a network of secret tunnels under the streets. Fighting his way through a horde of zombies, he finds "Ancient" Wu (James Hong), who makes him undergo a series of tests, including fighting fire-demons and a dragon, before telling him that twenty years previously, the KGB sent one of their top agents to L.A. However, he soon lost loyalty to Russia, and turned to a life of crime in the United States. The agent was Rasputin "Rocky" Kuznetsov.

Believing Kang to have lost his mind, Masterson fires him and issues a warrant for his arrest. However, with Velasco's help, Kang tails Rafferty to a warehouse where he hears Rocky tell Rafferty that Kang must be killed. Rafferty protests that he never wanted Henry killed, and doesn't want his son to die as well. Kang attacks them, but both Rocky and Rafferty escape. Kang is then led into a trap at Santa Monica Airport by Rocky's girlfriend Jill (Grey Griffin). Rocky explains that in the 1970s, he and Rafferty were smuggling cocaine into L.A., but Henry found out. Rocky tried to pay him off, but he refused, so Rocky shot him and dumped his body in the ocean. Rafferty then planted evidence to make Henry look dirty. Rocky tries to kill Kang, but Rafferty intervenes, saving Kang's life at the cost of his own.

Rocky tries to escape, but Kang stops and kills him. Kang is then confronted by General Han Yu Kim (Mako) of the North Korean army, the mastermind behind the counterfeit/laundering scam. Rocky had betrayed Kim, electing to keep the money for himself rather than sending it back to North Korea. With Rocky now dead, the only person blocking Kim's plans to use the money for his army is Kang. They fight, and if Kim wins, he escapes before the police arrive. If Kang wins, Kim is defeated and Kang is finally able to put his father's disappearance behind him.

Development
The game was first announced on May 15, 2002, when Activision revealed Luxoflux were developing an "original action-racing game inspired by Hong Kong action films" for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. According to Larry Goldberg, executive vice president of Activision Worldwide Studios,

"Mission-based driving and action-adventure collide in this bold new direction for interactive entertainment. Infused with the unique flair of Hong Kong action films, True Crime: Streets of LA allows players to experience first-hand the car stunts, close calls, quick wit and high-action that are synonymous with this distinct style of cinema."

Activision stated the game combined the gameplay of beat 'em ups, third-person shooters, and vehicular combat games, and would include over twenty branching missions and multiple endings. They also revealed the game would recreate 400 sqmi of Los Angeles, and the player would be able to visit multiple L.A. landmarks. Although only 40% complete, True Crime was first shown at the 2002 E3 event in May, where it was slated for an April 2003 release. Activision emphasized the geographical accuracy of the game's Los Angeles, as well as the different styles of gameplay.

In December, Activision showed a 60% complete version of the game. They revealed the size of the game's Los Angeles had been reduced to roughly 300 sqmi. To recreate the city, the developers used commercial satellite imaging, GPS technology and traditional photographs, with the in-game city stretching from the Hollywood Hills to Downtown to Santa Monica to Marina Del Rey. They also revealed details of the branching plot, with many levels having two or three opening cutscenes, depending on what the player has done in previous levels. They stressed it would be rare for the player to find a "Game Over" screen; usually a failed mission will simply lead to a later level by way of a different path than had the player completed the mission successfully. They also revealed the game would have three completely different endings, and that the player could play through the game multiple times, experiencing a different narrative and different levels every time. They also announced the game would feature roughly one-hundred randomly occurring crimes that the player has the option of solving whilst driving around the city. The "Good Cop/Bad Cop" system was also shown for the first time, although it was still in a rudimentary state of development. The casting of Russell Wong as protagonist Nick Kang and Gary Oldman as the game's main villain was also announced.

In April 2003, Activision announced the main cast of voice actors; as well as Russell Wong and Gary Oldman, the game would also feature Christopher Walken, C. C. H. Pounder, James Hong, Mako, Ron Perlman and Keone Young. Several days later, Michelle Rodriguez and Michael Madsen were also added to the cast. The cast was formed and directed by Margaret Tang with Rik Schaffer working on VO engineering, recording, editing and designing voice effects.

The game was next shown at the 2003 E3 event in May. Although not a final build, both IGN and GameSpot were impressed. IGN's Sam Bishop wrote "it's clear that Luxoflux isn't trying to bust out a quick and dirty Grand Theft Auto clone." GameSpot's Jeff Gertsmann praised the integration of gameplay types, writing "The interesting part is how well all these game mechanics mesh together to form a mission-driven yet open-ended game." During the show, Activision again announced the size of the game's city had been decreased, this time to 240 sqmi. However, they also announced that over one-hundred landmarks in L.A. were featured in the game, in their exact geographical locations, such as the Los Angeles Convention Center and the Staples Center.

In the build-up to the release of the game, Activision announced True Crime would be ported to mobile by MFORMA. On October 22, they sent the final build of the game to gaming websites. Several days later they confirmed rumors that Snoop Dogg was an unlockable character, with his own mission and car. They also announced they had signed an exclusive licensing deal with PUMA; Kang would be wearing several pieces from PUMA's Fall 2003 catalogue. Barney Waters, marketing director for PUMA North America stated "Video gaming is a phenomenon with a diverse appeal. From the skate kids, to the hipsters and fashionistas, gaming is the common denominator to a widespread audience, and a distinctive medium for PUMA to utilize to interact with consumers."

Lawsuit
In late October 2003, two weeks prior to the game's scheduled release of November 4, novelist Robert Crais claimed that the game's protagonist, Nicholas Kang, was a direct copy of the protagonist of many of Crais' novels, Elvis Cole. Crais filed a lawsuit which claimed "True Crime is substantially similar to the Elvis Cole novels," and accused Activision of copying "protectable expressions". The suit sought for an injunction to prevent Activision from shipping the game, for undisclosed monetary damages, and for the "destruction of all infringing works".

The lawsuit failed to prevent the scheduled release of the game, and on November 6, Crais dropped the complaint entirely. After reviewing Luxoflux's development materials for the game, Crais was satisfied that lead designer Peter Morawiec had not copied the character of Kang from that of Cole, but was in fact a fan of Crais and was paying homage to his work. Shortly thereafter, Crais released a statement on his official website in which he wrote,

"Activision's and Luxoflux's open and honorable response both surprised and impressed me. They allowed me and my lawyers full access to a special unlocked pre-release version of the game, provided a complete game script, flowcharts of game action, and provided all-important clarifications to statements that had been attributed to Mr. Morawiec (turns out the guy was a fan of my work, and was simply expressing his admiration). In short, they did a damned fine job of defusing what could have been an ugly situation. Based upon our review of those materials, we have concluded that Activision has not infringed upon my copyrights. Accordingly, I have dismissed the lawsuit against all parties. I want to thank Activision, Luxoflux, and Mr. Morawiec for the cooperative nature in which they brought the case to a quick conclusion. Cynics please note: No money exchanged hands. And, lastly, be advised that I spent several hours reviewing this amazing game. It rocks."

PC port
The PC port of the game was first announced by Activision on January 29, 2004, although no details were given on who would be porting it, or when it was slated for release. The only solid information was that it would feature an online multiplayer component. More details were revealed on February 18. The game was being ported by LTI Gray Matter, and would feature five different online gaming modes; "Street Racing" (racing customizable cars), "Dojo Master" (fighting in teams or individually), "Battle Master" (same as Dojo Master but with weaponry), "The Beat" (four players compete to make the most arrests in a set time) and "Chase Mode" (one player plays as a criminal and tries to avoid being caught by the other players, who play as police). The port would also feature several new weapons, enhanced graphics, thirty additional songs not in the console versions, and PC-optimized controls.

In March, Activision announced the PC version would also feature character skins not found in the console versions, mainly characters from other Activision games; Pitfall: The Lost Expedition, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, Call of Duty, and the Tony Hawk's and Tenchu franchises. Later in March, more details were announced about the game's new soundtrack. Thirty-two additional licensed tracks were being added, mainly rock tracks from artists such as Alice in Chains, Queensrÿche, Spineshank and Stone Sour. On April 14, Activision showcased an almost finalized build of the game at a gaming event in San Francisco. IGN's Dan Adams praised the superior graphics and PC-specific controls. The port went gold on May 3.

Soundtrack
True Crime: Streets of LA: The Soundtrack was released on November 11, 2003 for Vybe Squad Ent. and Koch Records. The album was produced by Bigg Swoop, Battlecat, Damizza, DJ Quik, Warren G and King Tech.

Activision first revealed details about the game's soundtrack on September 2, 2003, when they announced the game would feature over fifty original tracks from artists such as Snoop Dogg, Westside Connection, E-40, Kam, Lil Eazy, Lil' ½ Dead, Bad Azz, Damizza, Jayo Felony, Bigg Swoop, as well as licensed tracks from artists such as Ice-T, The D.O.C. and N.E.R.D. Chris Archer, executive producer at Activision Worldwide Studios stated, "True Crime: Streets of LA represents the largest collection of original West Coast hip hop music ever assembled. The collision of the game's intense action with the pulse pounding sounds from the powerhouses of urban music will elevate video game soundtracks to a whole new standard." Bright Riley, CEO of Vybe Squad, stated "This album marks the first time that the entire west coast is joining forces to create some of the hottest flows L.A. has to offer." On October 15, Activision announced full details of the soundtrack, which would feature twenty tracks.

AllMusic's Heather Phares scored the soundtrack 3 out of 5, writing "True Crime is something of an achievement when it comes to gathering popular music in support of a video game." She concluded "It's not a perfect soundtrack, but True Crime is entertaining enough to please gaming and non-gaming rap fans alike." IGN's Spence D scored the soundtrack 7.5 out of 10, writing "Where The Streets of LA: The Soundtrack really succeeds is in the fact that the 20 track album features all new material written specifically for the game." He concluded "The most interesting thing is that for all intents and purposes the West Coast gangsta scene, musically speaking, has more or less run its course, succumbing to the bling and blitz of the Dirty South. But this album proves that it's still alive and well. Whatever your take on the gunz-n-thugs mentality may be, one thing can't be denied: the 20 tracks included here are rife with game, style, and serious funktafication."

The soundtrack peaked at No. 100 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 42 on the Independent Albums chart. The soundtrack was nominated for "Best Soundtrack From a Video Game" at MTV's 2004 Video Music Awards, losing to Tony Hawk's Underground.

Reception
True Crime: Streets of LA received "generally favorable reviews". The PlayStation 2 version holds an aggregate score of 77 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on thirty-nine reviews; the Xbox version 77 out of 100, based on twenty-five reviews; the GameCube version 77 out of 100, based on twenty-nine reviews; and the PC version 68 out of 100, based on thirty-one reviews.

IGN's Aaron Boulding scored the console versions 9 out of 10, giving the game an "Editor's Choice" award. The GameCube version was also the runner-up in the November 2003 "GameCube Game of the Month" award, losing to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Boulding wrote "the greatest strength of this Luxoflux game is the integration of story and layers of game design into one cohesive package." He praised the gameplay, especially the Good Cop/Bad Cop system and the upgrades system. He also praised the absence of loading screens. However, he wrote of the graphics, "there are far too many clipping issues that come up far too often to be ignored. Similarly, the camera ties into the clipping problems so that there will be times when the camera will float through and behind a wall or tree during a fight so that you can't see the action at all." He concluded "True Crime is an enjoyable game if you can clear your mind of Grand Theft Auto expectations [...] It's a lot of fun despite the burden of the camera system and other technical glitches. It doesn't, nor should it, replace Grand Theft Auto by any means. True Crime has enough good to counter the bad and stand on its own." Boulding and Tom McNamara scored the PC version 8 out of 10, writing "the multiplayer that many of us have been salivating for is almost disorientingly low-budget." They were also critical of the controls and graphics, concluding "the rich fighting component and the shooting and driving mechanics aren't translated well to the PC, with awkward controls, poor texture quality, and odd visual bugs. Plus, multiplayer, the hot magnet exclusive to the PC version, is decidedly half-baked."

Game Informer's Andrew Reiner scored the PlayStation 2 version 8.5 out of 10, writing "True Crime is the first game to come along and truly give the Grand Theft Auto series a run for its money." However, he also wrote "a number of roadblocks hold True Crime back from achieving greatness [...] The game has amazing variety. Unfortunately, none of these individual components feel particularly polished." Of the protagonist, he wrote "Nick Kang is quite easily the most annoying new character in video games." He concluded "It's not nearly as good as GTA, but entertaining nonetheless." Justin Leeper scored the GameCube version 8 out of 10, writing "this is the worst of the three console versions of this title. Fortunately, it's still pretty darn good." Of the graphics, he wrote "the replication of LA suffers from some of the worst pop-up I've seen in a game."

GameSpy's Russ Fischer scored the console versions 4 out of 5, writing "there's more to True Crime than GTA emulation." Of the graphics, he wrote, "the rendering of L.A. is superb -- simply put, there's not a better real-world model in gaming [...] The problem is with the camera, which has some real problems in tight quarters. There are also occasional clipping issues." He concluded "The problems can't tear down the fact that True Crime really does create its own identity." Joel Durham Jr. scored the PC version 3 out of 5, writing "while it manages to retain the overall appeal of the original, the complaints hold true, with a few new ones that cropped up along the way." He was critical of the controls, calling them "unresponsive and clunky." He was also critical of multiplayer mode; "Multiplayer True Crime is about as reliable as Pacific Gas and Electric." He concluded "the gameplay of True Crime is hampered by a host of negatives. It's a fun game, but it's hard to recommend to hardcore PC gamers -- you'll need a strong appreciation of console gaming to embrace it."

GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann scored the console versions 7.2 out of 10, writing "the game's strong production values aren't backed up by an equally compelling story or game." He called Nicholas Kang "completely unlikeable" and "an unnecessarily cocky jerk." However, he also wrote, "in terms of its presentation, True Crime delivers quite well. The graphics are very sharp and are most impressive when you're out on the road. Los Angeles looks startlingly realistic, right down to the maze of freeway on- and off-ramps." He concluded "True Crime is a game that simply lacks polish and, in some cases, feels unfinished. It makes decent attempts with its different styles of gameplay, but none of them are particularly well done." He scored the PC version 6.3 out of 10, writing "the game's transition from console to PC wasn't handled as smoothly as you might have expected, thus leaving a game that was already a little uneven feeling a little broken in some spots." He called the controls "pretty terrible" and argued "the fact that the PC version doesn't have any sort of gamepad support certainly doesn't help." He was also critical of the graphics, writing "True Crime looks like a PlayStation 2 game that's been ported up, touched up a little bit, and shipped." He called the multiplayer mode "ill-conceived", arguing "the online mode actually detracts from the overall package rather than enhancing it."

Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell scored the PlayStation 2 version 7 out of 10, writing "although comparisons with GTA III and its multi-million-selling sequel are inevitable, True Crime actually does a good job of setting out its own stall." He was critical of the graphics, citing "low-resolution textures, some clipping issues, a rather horrible depth of field effect and a lack of screen-filling vistas." He called Nicholas Kang "one of the most unlikeable folks I've ever had the displeasure of thumbing around a third-person action game". However, he also wrote "The fact is that there's just something compelling about the game - and it's not any particular element over another - it's just something about the cohesiveness of the whole thing." He concluded "True Crime is this year's The Getaway - it's not GTA and it will frustrate for some on that basis, but it's a respectable enough game in its own right."

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine's John Davison scored the PlayStation 2 version 2 out of 5. He was highly critical of both the script and the storyline, and found the gameplay "boring". He wrote, "The overall experience starts off weak and deteriorates quickly. There's a fair amount of violence against women, which is disturbing." He concluded "This is a bad game. The fact that it was so ambitious just amplifies that fact. It's like a big-budget Hollywood flick gone horribly wrong."

Sales and awards
The game was a commercial success. During its first two weeks on release in North America, it sold over 300,000 units across all platforms. By the end of its first month, it had sold over 600,000 units. By July 2006, the PlayStation 2 version of True Crime had sold 1.5 million units and earned $65 million in the United States. Next Generation ranked it as the 27th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country. Combined sales of True Crime console games reached 2.8 million units in the United States by July 2006. In the United Kingdom, the PlayStation 2 version received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 units. Ultimately, the game went on to sell over 3 million units worldwide across all platforms.

At the 2003 Spike Video Game Awards, True Crime was nominated for five awards; "Best Action Game", "Best Animation", "Best Music", and two "Best Performance by a Human" nominations (Christopher Walken as George and Snoop Dogg as himself). It won Best Action Game, but lost in the other categories; Best Animation was given to Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, Best Music to Def Jam Vendetta and Best Performance by a Human to Ray Liotta in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It was also nominated for "Most Innovative Story Design - Interactive Media", and Snoop Dogg was nominated for "Outstanding Character from an Interactive Media" at the 2004 Satellite Awards; it lost in the first category to XIII, while Snoop Dogg lost to Ray Liotta's performance in Vice City. It was also nominated for the "Technical Achievement" award at the 1st British Academy Games Awards in 2004, losing to EyeToy: Play. During the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, True Crime received nominations for "Outstanding Achievement in Licensed Soundtrack" and "Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Male" for Snoop Dogg's vocal portrayal of himself.

title: True Crime: Streets of LA