Saturday, September 29, 2007
Forty years ago today, Britain had only three legal radio stations. There was the Light Programme, full of jolly tunes for housewives. There was the Home Service, full of plummy announcers and erudite discussion. And there was the Third Programme, full of gramophone concertos and stuffy operas.
Forty years ago tomorrow, all that changed. Suddenly there were four radio stations, numbered One, Two, Three and Four, and groovy teens suddenly had something worth listening to. Broadcasting would never be the same again. So let's remember the threshold of modern radio, established 1967.
Radio 1
• The official Radio 1 40th anniversary website features a Jingle Simulator, a DJ Gallery and a "Name the DJ" Excel spreadsheet quiz (I got 34/40)
» The second record to be played on Radio 1, after Flowers In The Rain, was Massachusetts by The Bee Gees
• The finest Radio 1 nostalgia website is Radio Rewind. Where else will you find biographies of 94 Radio 1 DJs (from Simon Bates to Jimmy Young), and a timeline, and daily schedules, and the Roadshow, etc etc?
» The second DJ to appear on Radio 1, immediately following Tony Blackburn's first show, was Leslie Crowther (with Junior Choice)
• Anoraks will appreciate a full history of Radio 1's transmission frequencies, from 247, to 1053 and 1089, to FM
» Unlikely Radio 1 DJs with regular shows include Bob Holness, Philip Schofield, Paul McKenna and Dale Winton
• Who was the teatime DJ in 1976? How long was Gary Davies's Bit in the Middle? Flick back through 40 years of Radio 1 schedules (ah, the nostalgia)
» The station's longest serving DJ is Annie Nightingale (1969-2007) (and she's reprising her Sunday Night Request Show tomorrow, hurrah!)
• Listen again to some classic Radio 1 jingles (1 million watts of music power, anybody?)
» 11 different DJs have presented Radio 1's Sunday Top 40 chart show (thankfully JK and Joel bugger off this weekend)
• True Radio 1 devotees will adore Radio One More Time - a series of 40 blogposts reminiscing about various aspects of the Nation's Favourite (mmm, this index may get you salivating)
Radio 2
» The first record played on Radio 2 was The Sound of Music by Julie Andrews
• If you fear Radio 2's getting more Ross than Wogan, try joining the The Radio 2 Preservation Society (R20K)
» Radio 2's 40th birthday schedule, tomorrow, features a Kenny Everett Show from the archives, Pick of the Pops with Smashie and Nicey, and Sing Something Simple
Radio 3
• Watch the evolution of the Radio 3 logo (and Radios 1 & 2 too)
• Listeners might perchance consider joining the Friends of Radio 3
Radio 4
• The Radio 4 theme - a dawn treat for everyone who's awake at 5:20am
• Sailing By (by Ronald Binge) - a pre-Shipping Forecast treat for everyone who's awake at 12:45am
• Read about current highlights in the weekly Radio 4 newsletter
• The plot of The Archers has been summarised in a line a day (1996-2007)
• I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue has a splendid unofficial website (alas, no photographs of Samantha)
• Want to listen again? Here's a dead simple list of all currently available BBC Radio streams (from Radio 4 to Five Live Sports Extra)
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