LOOKING back to the week that was October 7 to October 13, five years ago...

A NORTH East musician’s version of the theme song from a cult movie earned him a once in a lifetime opportunity in October 2019.

Chris Davison’s rendition of the song “Cry Little Sister”, from the classic 1980s vampire movie The Lost Boys, so impressed its writer that he has invited the Darlington man to attend a reunion of the film’s cast and support him in concert.

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The 39-year-old songwriter’s career in music was sparked by listening to the film’s soundtrack as a boy.

He was too young to be allowed to see the movie when it was released, but he saved up his pocket money for the sound track the first album he bought.

“When I heard Cry Little Sister, it was a song that really stood out to me,” said Chris. “It changed my way of thinking about music and I started getting into bands like INXS and Guns N’ Roses.

"It set me on the path to rock music, I really loved that sound.”

A studio engineer at The Forum Music Centre in Darlington, Chris had been in several bands over the years playing mostly original material.

To get his music noticed by a wider audience he sometimes posted videos of cover versions onto YouTube. When he was trying to think of a song with a Halloween theme, he turned to “Cry Little Sister”.

Unknown to Chris, James Watson, who ran Darlington Film Club at the Forum, brought the video to the attention of the management of Gerard McMahon – also known as G Tom Mac – who wrote and recorded the song which was used in The Lost Boys.

G Tom Mac said: “While in a recording session a mate of mine asked if I’d seen and heard a cover of my song ‘Cry little Sister’ by a young English artist he’d seen on YouTube.

"Needless to say was quite taken by Chris Davison’s delivery and performance of my song, something I don’t feel lightly. His ability to give his soulful voice and playing is probably one of the best covers I’ve heard of my song.”

The earliest map of a North East city went on display as part of an exhibition shedding light on the ancient art of cartography, in October 2019.

Rare maps, including one of the few first editions of what is regarded as the world’s first modern atlas, went on show at Durham Cathedral, as well a number charting the city and surrounding area.

Shaun McAlister, exhibition assistant at Durham Cathedral, said: “Mapping the World was a chance for people to explore an extraordinary range of rare and exquisite maps, charts and atlases from the Durham Cathedral Library collections.

“The artefacts have been gathered over centuries by the Benedictine monastic community and later the clergy of Durham Cathedral. The maps on display show the development of cartography that allowed exploration to become a safer enterprise.

“As well as containing an amazing amount of accurate detail, these maps are works of art in their own right and are illustrated with various ships and sea monsters that warned travellers of the dangers they faced at sea.”

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Museum visitors said farewell to Dippy the Diplodocus following a record breaking stay in the region in 2019.

People flocked to see the famous dinosaur skeleton during its stay at the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle.

The museum welcomed 304,117 visitors to Dippy on Tour: A Natural History Adventure between May and October, an increase of 51 per cent when compared with the previous decade.