Radio Moments - Clips

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 31st January 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

*Some bad language in this Boo

Famous for accommodating a young Des Lynam, BBC Radio Brighton came on air on Valentine’s Day 1968. Its launch was theatrical, as befits this dusty glamorous seaside town, with the voices of Dora Bryan and Laurence Olivier.

Like several BBC stations, it agonised about City and County, adopting the Radio Sussex call-sign, before becoming part of Southern Counties radio, and then back to BBC Sussex. It was one of the first BBC local stations to enjoy stereo.

Here, enjoy a slice of a documentary assembled to commemorate ten years on air for this slightly mischievous BBC local.

John Whitney’s career in commercial radio was a fascinating one. Having campaigned for ‘local radio’ for many years, he ended up applying for the original London commercial radio franchises. And losing. He was quickly picked up by Capital, where he was appointed its first MD. Later, he was to be a sensible regulator in the days when it was not that simple so to be. In this 2013 audio, John reflects to me about those early days.

The familiar sound of the Pips was first heard on British radio in January 1924, following lobbying by the Astronomer General, Frank Dyson of the then BBC DG, John Reith. They’re no longer transmitted from Greenwich, nor are they really on time if you’re listening on DAB or online, but they remain a key part of the sound of British radio.

Some further background in my blog at http://davidlloyd-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/pip-pip-peeep.html. Here, though, enjoy a clip from Inside Science in which both the history and the present are brilliantly explored.

As stunts go, this was a biggie; and still remembered to this day. 'Two Strangers and a wedding' ran in the UK on Birmingham's BRMB in 1999, having begun its life the year before in Australia in the hands of Absolute & Dowse.

The UK couple, Greg Cordell and Carla Germaine, who'd spoken just the once in the course of the contest, exchanged vows and walked off with a huge prize package. They remained married for four months; the bride later marrying then-BRMB presenter, Jeremy Kyle.

The point, as ever, was talkability. In this pre-reality TV age, the press and the Church duly rallied to that cause. Ironic, as ever, the Daily Mail covered the 'tacky radio contest' with truly pages of interviews and comment; and religious leaders claimed it reduced "a sacred and momentous decision to a media event". BRMB staged the contest again seven years later.

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 24th January 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

Dad’s Army, unlike Man about the House, is one of those TV sitcoms which just keeps being repeated. They don’t like it up ‘em. Sadly it was not one of the impressive programmes which began on radio and transferred to TV, it was the other way round. It also made a film and a stage show. But don’t panic.

The television series lasted for nine years from the first episodes in 1968. Some episodes were re-made for radio, in a series of 67 episodes which was first aired in 1974, although some actors were substituted. As can be heard here, the radio versions featured BBC Wartime newsman, John Snagge, as the voice of a newsreader. I recall hearing them repeatedly late at night in the 70s, fading in and out on the BBC World Service AM frequencies.

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 17th January 2014, without the sensible Academy interviews and discussion.

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

1975 – and the first breaths for the second commercial station in Scotland, and the tenth in the UK. With a diverse early shareholding, Radio Forth launched on 22nd January; and like so many other stations in history, its chairman quite fancied saying the opening words, albeit they were delivered with both professionalism and passion.

Richard Findlay, formerly from Capital’s newsroom and BBC Scotland before that, was Programme Director. Early presenters included Steve Hamilton, Dave Anthony, Mike Gower, 20 year old Jay Crawford and Ian Anderson looking after music scheduling. The station was also quick to embark on a touch of drama and poetry; and, at a time when commercial radio charts were unpopular, it broadcast a localised ‘Forth Forty’ based on retail sales.

Early audience figures, published in January 76 suggested Forth enjoyed a modest 47% reach, compared with Radio 1's 53% and Radio 2's paltry 35%.

Forth was quick to identify the benefits of working with other stations, and there were early joint on-air projects in the first year with their neighbours at Clyde including a debate on Scottish licensing laws, many, many years before the Scottish stations were in mutual ownership. There were joint sales arrangements too under BMS.

Enjoy here the opening words to ‘Forth Country’ and the lengthy Emison jingle which sums up a time and a place in radio history so well, before the Scottish band Pilot kick in with the luckily-titled song, ‘January’,

The BBC did not do too much in the way of ‘pop music programming’ in the 50s; but some of what it did do was impressive. Particularly when one listens back now to the big names who happened to pop by.

‘Saturday Club’ began life in June 57 as ‘Saturday Skiffle Club’ with Brian Matthew, dropping the ‘Skiffle’ a year later.

Hear, here, the programme’s fifth anniversary edition. Note the conversation about the benefits of live music, although Brian’s musical guests were likely oblivious of the fact that the appearance of live talented musicians was a copyright necessity. Hear too, the awful telephone quality, where both Cliff and Brian appear to be in a phone box.

All in all, this truly is a slice of both music and radio history, and a well-deserved tribute to Brian Matthew.