In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The museum is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This fifth programme explores an unusual hobby in the Netherlands, importing and restoring jukeboxes. I was intrigued at the way they get around the problem of the different phase in the power lines - 60 Hz in North America, 50 Hz in Europe. This was the final and concluding part of the radio series. The earlier episodes are also on line. Let me know what you think!

In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The museum is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This fourth programme examines gramophones and phonographs in the company of a local collector, Fred Haanebeek. The final part of this series is released tomorrow.

In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The museum is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This third programme looks at player pianos or pianola's. I was amazed at the number of people in the Netherlands who were collecting at the time. I was particularly impressed by the recordings of Gustav Mahler playing his own compositions. He recorded the rolls in 1908 if I remember correctly. It's obvious that he was a better composer than performer though. Part 4 tomorrow. Enjoy!

In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The museum is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This second programme looks at Bells in the belltower. If you come to the Netherlands you'll still find carillions being played by hand or by machine. Part three released tomorrow. Enjoy.

In 1993 I made a summer series of five 30 minute programmes on the history of recorded sound. The series was inspired by a visit to the Museum in Utrecht, which then was called From Singing Tower to Street Organs. The museum is still there. I then discovered people who were collecting pianolas, gramophones, phonographs and jukeboxes. Of course, it wasn't just the devices. It was the stories that went with them. I've re-released them here as high quality MP3's. Although not a Media Network show, I have had requests from people to put these documentaries into the collection, since they have a connection with communications. This first programme looks at all kinds of clocks that perform melodies. Another one all this week to complete the series. Enjoy.

This edition was recorded in Cannes France and nearby Monaco. We look at the state of the music industry in 1996 (they still don't really understand the Internet do they?) and visit Radio Riviera, a radio station targeting British expats living in the South of France. 25 years later (this update in 2021) the station is still there although the website looks as though it was built in 1996 and all they changed was the copyright notice. I love the story about the shortwave site, formerly used by Trans World Radio Monte Carlo. The Germans built it originally to blast into North Africa during the war.

Six months ago we took you on a tour of a special exhibition being held in the Netherlands Broadcasting Museum on the south-side of Hilversum. The great thing about the museum is that part of the collection always changes. The popular exhibition on off-shore radio which we covered last year has now made way for an equally fascinating portrait of wartime radio. It covers the period of German Nazi occupation, starting on May 10th 1940 when German troops crossed the Dutch border.The exhibition looks at the powerful influence that radio had and the way it was used by the Germans and Allied forces to persuade. As you walk through the exhibition there are headphones attached to many of the glass cabinets. They bring the past to life. Arno Weltens has designed the exhibition and he started our tour by explaining that after the bombing of Rotterdam on May 14th 1940 and the capitulation of Dutch forces hours afterwards a German infantry patrol headed for the centre of Dutch broadcasting on Wednesday the 15th. (note this programme was originally posted as May 4th in error.)

This week most of the programme focussed on a profile of the new South African external service, Channel Africa. Lebona Mosia was its first director and he visited Hilversum in April 1996 to discuss possible cooperation. He had worked as a broadcaster on the anti-apartheid clandestine station Radio Freedom which beamed programmes into the country from neighbouring Zambia and Madagascar. Following the change of government, Radio RSA was renamed Channel Africa and went through a major period of change, having much less money than before. The programme also includes an interview with the then boss of Sentech, Neil Smuts, who explained that the Meyerton shortwave centre was being prepared for jamming operations when the regime collapsed.

This vintage edition of the programme contains news of a special amateur radio station PA6RNW to celebrate the Dutch transmission company Nozema, we follow-up on a call from Florida about the clandestine women on the radio, (Tokyo Rose, Hanoi Hannah, Liberty from Argentina). It seems people were suggesting we should re-issue Media Networks on CD (something which had to wait until this site 16 years later). The programme concludes with a feature on magnetic loop antennas with inventor Willem Bos. A difficult subject, but I thought, well explained. The photo is of the replica PHOHI/PCJ towers put up a couple of years ago in the town in which I currently live, a monument to shortwave's glorious past.

This is part two of the documentary about Dutch broadcasting in Indonesia. The programme begins with a look at the current state of the sunspot cycle and then launches into Part Two of the feature. This part looks at the rather uneasy situation between the Dutch and Indonesian population in the lead-up to independence. Then follows a portrait of the complex radio situation in Indonesia in 1995. I made most of these recordings during a trip there in early 1995. Joe Coman, head of Radio Netherlands Indonesian department at the time, added to the conversation.