Radio Moments - Clips

Lincs FM was the first station to be launched by the new Radio Authority in white space, that is an area uncovered by an existing commercial station.

It launched in 1992 and, as Programme Controller, I had the privilege of assembling the launch team. With a very small budget, as the presenters will recall, Clare Carson and I assembled a talented team of presenters and journalists who were, I reckon, a step ahead of what a 'small' station might have expected. These were the dark recessionary days of the early nineties and money was hugely tight.

At launch, we all worked hard. I was on-air, PD, marketing manager and commercial producer, even running off now and again to do some external corporate voiceovers to pump some extra cash through the station. Most expected a swift failure, or a takeover by neighbouring Trent, which had not been successful in acquiring the licence.

Enjoy here a 'demo', where we tried to predict how the station might sound, to showcase it to clients. Hear the voices of Simon Grundy, Jackie Leonard, Clare Carson, Veronica Capaldi, Kid Jensen, Nick Jackson and me. Plus a set of jingles I'm still quite pleased with. As the determined and focused Managing Director, Michael Betton, strictly forbade any American singers, I had to do the best I could with the Manchester Alfasound crowd over Jam tracks, plus a few custom cuts. I reckon we ended up with a decent vocal sound; and overall, the sound and feel seemed to suit the station and the area.

Busy, happy days; and the start of a group which can be proud of its achievements in Lincolnshire and beyond. We aspired to a 40% reach, as enjoyed by Fox FM which was also 'alone' in its patch. It didn't happen whilst I was there, but the team carried off victory within the early years.

Each week, the fine Radio Academy podcast features interviews and content from the world of radio at http://www.radioacademy.org/podcasts/.

The Academy podcast concludes with a slice of audio memories from the radio week in history, as they invite me to assemble a weekly compendium of my daily #radiomoments tweets @davidlloydradio, with audio and narrative.

Here's just that #radiomoments weekly review on its own, for the week ending 11th JUly 2014, without the sensible interviews and discussion.

This audio is now also heard at the end of the excellent weekly @radiotoday podcast http://audioboo.fm/channel/radiotoday

Maybe owing to the fact that double acts and zoo formats are relatively new, in the context of the history of radio itself, few such shows have had to face the loss of one of their own.

When Kidd Kraddick died in 2013, aged just 53, his team had to carry on in the days and weeks to follow. The US show was established and huge, being carried in around 75 markets, so the task for those remaining was huge. They had both to continue with the show they’d built, and deal with their own personal feelings too.

Maybe it’s inappropriate to say this, but I reckon this excerpt from the day after Kidd’s death is a truly beautiful piece of radio. A great example of the medium’s great contrasts: the happiness and the sadness side by side. The delivery and timing impeccable. Its impact perfect. A tribute heartfelt.

Each week, the fine Radio Academy podcast features interviews and content from the world of radio at http://www.radioacademy.org/podcasts/.

The Academy podcast concludes with a slice of audio memories from the radio week in history, as they invite me to assemble a weekly compendium of my daily #radiomoments tweets @davidlloydradio, with audio and narrative.

Here's just that #radiomoments weekly review on its own, for the week ending 4th July 2014, without the sensible interviews and discussion.

This audio is now also heard at the end of the excellent weekly @radiotoday podcast http://audioboo.fm/channel/radiotoday

Each week, the fine Radio Academy podcast features interviews and content from the world of radio at http://www.radioacademy.org/podcasts/.

The Academy podcast concludes with a slice of audio memories from the radio week in history, as they invite me to assemble a weekly compendium of my daily #radiomoments tweets @davidlloydradio, with audio and narrative.

Here's just that #radiomoments weekly review on its own, for the week ending 27th June 2014, without the sensible interviews and discussion.

This audio is now also heard at the end of the excellent weekly @radiotoday podcast http://audioboo.fm/channel/radiotoday

A great insight into early commercial radio thinking is given here by this 1975 interview with the first Programme Controller of Radio Trent, Bob Snyder. His programming philosophy would stand up to contemporary scrutiny; and one can hear he is some way ahead from much of commercial radio thinking at the time.

Bob speaks of target audiences, cohesive music policies, and programming rather than programmes. He also has 'hived off' the obligatory talk in a segment of its own rather than interrupt the daytime music flow.

In the background, witness the bangs and thuds as the station's premises are completed. As in so many cases, the launch management team of this station was not to stay together too long, hardly surprising given the often contradictory interventions from all directions; from unions to Board members; from regulators to politicians; from the former BBC folk to those who claim to speak for audiences. These were troubled and complex times; which makes listening back to this hugely fascinating.

More great Radio Trent memories on my blog at http://davidlloyd-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/trent-301.html

I'm of the view that jingles should speak for themselves. The last thing you should ever do is talk about them. But - just somehow - the greats get away with referring to them in an inclusive way without it sounding too anoraky. In 2012, BBC Radio 2, launched a new sound, moving away from the familiar musical identity it had enjoyed for 14 years.

This was an ambitious package, and so great to see the assembly of it displayed on line for those with an interest in the field .This fine Wise Buddah package featured Huey Morgan, Paul Jones, Clare Teal and the West Midlands' own diva, Beverley Knight. Plus, as heard here, as Chris Evans presses the coloured bars on the screen for the first time, the work of the award-winning London Community Gospel Choir.

A time and a place. As the early commercial stations found their feet in the '80s, their community obligations, prodded by a strict regulator and a BBC local radio management legacy, were sensibly combined, in safe hands, with tight, formated music radio to produce this sort of cheery output on the best stations.

Enjoy this couple of hours of Nottingham's Radio Trent from December 18th 1980. Afternoon presenter, Len Groat, plays a mix of old and new; the oldies dating back as far as the early '60s. Put in context, that was not as far back as the 80s music you hear on today's AC stations. Hear too, a dedication to a former Metro listener from Newcastle: in the days when there were only 19 stations, listeners did indeed hear keep in touch with their old favourite peripatetic presenters as they moved around the new network, or enjoy their familiar voices whilst travelling through the area.

Specifically, savour the early Alfasound jingles. Used here were huge numbers of cuts from the very first set recorded in Manchester for Trent (combined with a few 'off the shelf' Christmas additions), hailing from the early days of that beautiful sweet English sound. Len loved his jingles: enjoy five at the start of the show, each played from a separate tape cartridge.

The huge volume of community information, softened by a range of backing music, includes full postal addresses and phone numbers. Note too the out-of Nottingham mentions from Derbyshire & Leicestershire: back then, with so few stations around, stations claimed an Empire as far as they could be heard, becoming almost regional stations, an eerie precursor for what has followed. Hear too, a formal dedication to a 'Mrs E'; an edition of the radio swapshop 'Tradio', complete again with full postal addresses and even an invitation to 'pop round'; the end of a community appeal for the blind; and a promo from Graham Neale, the rock show presenter who was arrested five years later for the murder of his girlfriend Lynn, and subsequently committed suicide.

From the closing announcements, it appears I hosted this very show as relief jock the following week; of which I have no recollection!

Metro Radio, variously the Metropolitan Broadcasting Company, or MBC was the sixth in the first tranche of UK commercial stations, launching on 15th July 1974.

Hear here the great test transmissions, featuring James Whale in his poshest voice, the launch and then some of the later imaging.