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Old 18th Apr 2017, 9:12 pm   #141
Junk Box Nick
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

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Originally Posted by ThumbDial View Post
The ability of those posting in this thread to recognize the voices and names of radio DJs quickly caught my attention.

I wonder if this is typical in England (to know DJs at a personal level), or is this singular to this particular show (SOTS)?
The development of radio broadcasting in the UK and Europe in general has been markedly different from that of the USA. First there is the geography: European countries are small in comparison and so national broadcasting was easy to establish - even in larger countries just one transmitter could give national coverage when long wave was employed. Secondly, broadcasting in Western Europe, whilst not the regime mouthpiece of the Eastern Bloc countries, was traditionally (and especially since WWII) tax-payer funded and subject to strict governmental control. (There were a few notable periods and exceptions to this: in the 1930s a few continental stations beamed programmes to the UK financed by advertising and then there was the 'offshore' pirate era which had its heyday from the late 1950s to the early 1970s off the coasts of various European countries, plus the long-lived and massively powerful transmitters of Radio Luxembourg with its commercial services directed to the UK, France and Germany.)

With few stations to which to listen and perhaps only one providing 'popular' entertainment, radio presenters soon became household names. Many also developed TV careers (TV followed a similar pattern of a limited number of channels - in the UK we had just three until the early 1980s and only five by the time the digital revolution came about) and so presenters like Brian Matthew, Terry Wogan, David Jacobs and Jimmy Young gained massive exposure and were known to everyone from children to their great grandparents.

'Legal' land-based commercial radio did not arrive in the UK until 1973 and then strictly on a local basis in a few major cities where, with the exception of London which had two stations, one commercial station was licensed. The BBC monopoly of national radio broadcasting was not to be challenged and it was not until 1992 when Classic FM arrived that the UK got its first national commercial station. If one ignores the fact that through the loosening of regulation some syndicated stations achieve large regional coverage and national coverage through DAB, Classic FM remains the UK's only national FM station. The powers that be probably thought that a commercial station limited to playing classical music wouldn't last 25 months let alone 25 years! The two other national stations that were licensed in the 1990s were restricted to the declining pastures of AM on wavelengths vacated by the BBC.

However, in the UK there are now more radio stations than at which one can shake the proverbial stick. Audiences have become increasingly fragmented and so the likelihood of a disc jockey becoming a household name through radio appearances alone is slim indeed. The radio station with the largest audience, BBC Radio 2, for many years relied on well-established presenters/DJs but in more recent times has resorted to importing established TV personalities to increase the profile of the station.

These days many presenters may only be well-known in their own locality and/or amongst the particular and increasingly fragmented audience they serve. Thus I now also find that the names of current radio presenters mean little to me and I mourn the passing of the old guard.

Brian Matthew was one of the last of the old guard. An erudite all-round broadcaster who comfortably covered a wide spectrum from presenting record shows to interviewing actors fresh off the West End stage, writers, personalities or performers at the Edinburgh Festival. I especially remember fondly his nightly arts programme on Radio 2 that ran for many years. Sadly his style of SOTS was increasingly at odds with the increasingly frothy and brash style that is today's Radio 2. We shall not see his like again.
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Old 20th Apr 2017, 2:22 pm   #142
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

Too right - with the honourable exception of Ken Bruce, so much of R2 output is so blasted noisy. Brian never yelled -even when he had to pitch up over music, his tone remained warm and civilised. And the man talked sense - on programme days, he would turn up betimes, read the notes, write his script to length in longhand over lunch, and deliver it right first time, like as not. A pro and a gent.
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Old 20th Apr 2017, 3:56 pm   #143
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

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the 'great pond'
We are so small it's just called 'the pond' over here!

Back on topic... I don't listen to music stations any more but I remember the bad presenters of "talk" stations (and avoid them) I also remember the good ones (and listen again). Mediocre ones merrily trickle through and I am left feeling a bit flat, I would rather have silence (much to the confusion of SHMBO). John Peel was one of the best, often saying after a track he played, "I didn't like that much".
 
Old 20th Apr 2017, 4:01 pm   #144
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

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Too right - with the honourable exception of Ken Bruce, so much of R2 output is so blasted noisy. Brian never yelled -even when he had to pitch up over music, his tone remained warm and civilised. And the man talked sense - on programme days, he would turn up betimes, read the notes, write his script to length in longhand over lunch, and deliver it right first time, like as not. A pro and a gent.
So true, Chris Evans and Steve Wright in particular shout all the time, it's very irritating and I have to change stations or switch off!
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Old 20th Apr 2017, 10:15 pm   #145
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

John Ravenscroft/Peel I liked a lot. He played unusual music, not just the all too predictable playlist stuff. He was ahead of the wave, and good enough to play things not to his own taste to see what the response was. I remember reading of him in Keith Emerson's autobiography. He certainly didn't like John Peel. (By the way it includes a tale of Emerson trying to thump Leonard Bernstein).

I'm not sure what to make of Chris Evans. His programme seems to be a bunch of people having fun, but it's a lot too shouty for me and the music is a lot too predictable. Not evil, but not to my taste.

Steve Wright's programe doesn't do a thing for me.

Jeremy Vine's programme of woes and troubles I absolutely detest.

Ken Bruce is pleasant and easy to listen to when doing other things.

Perhaps the best younger presenters (relative to Brian Matthew) were Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie when they had a 10pm slot on Radio 2? i discovered several new things I liked enough to buy the CD of. The Beeb hasn't had that effect on me ever since.

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Old 20th Apr 2017, 10:59 pm   #146
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

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John Ravenscroft/Peel I liked a lot.
Tom Ravenscroft is on 6 Music every Friday evening from 9pm till midnight and very much chip off the old block, he has even been known to play the same track twice on the trot just like dad.

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Perhaps the best younger presenters (relative to Brian Matthew) were Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie when they had a 10pm slot on Radio 2?
Mark and Stuart are also on 6 Music M-F 1pm till 4pm and 'The Chain' that they started on Radio 2 is still going strong. If you liked their Radio 2 output you may still like them now as I find their choice of music is often way too Radio 2 for me.

Mike
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Old 21st Apr 2017, 10:10 am   #147
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

John Peel was essential listening, but a bit too smug for my liking.

On the recent Brian Matthew documentary; it was stated that SOTS had the highest listening figures for R2, and as R2 is the most listened-to radio station; SOTS was the biggest radio programme in the UK.

So why the need to fix something that isn't broken ?

Mind you, that is so typical of modern management.
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Old 23rd Apr 2017, 3:25 am   #148
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Smile Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

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....I remember reading of him in Keith Emerson's autobiography...
You see, this is exactly what I was pointing out in my earlier post....this close familiarity with radio DJs, even to the extent of reading books about them....and it fascinates me to no end.

If I were to go to a large radio swap meet in the US and somehow get everyone's attention long enough to ask if they knew any radio DJ by name, I might see one or two hands go up (possibly none). If I were to ask if they had ever read a book about DJs, I'm certain there would be no hands going up.

Nobody knows the DJs over here.

So, since my last posting, I set a goal to learn the name of at least one radio DJ on one of the stations I listen to. I did. In time, I might be able to tell you more.
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Old 23rd Apr 2017, 8:08 am   #149
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

I can't name a single American DJ either, but I've heard of Ed Sullivan, Jay Leno, Walter Cronkite, though I've never watched their programmes. Maybe national coverage is the key to becoming a national institution?

Brian Matthew and John Peel were national institutions for good reasons, Chris Evans is equally well known, but more for being somewhat irritating.

As for Jimmy Savile (excruciatingly irritating in his day), he was later found to have been one of the most evil people to ever walk planet earth. This is not a suitable place to say more.

On the other hand, I can name no British local radio DJs.

John Peel's programme was one of the main outlets for hearing new music. I remember avidly listening with a group of friends (and a tape recorder) to hear the new LP from Pink Floyd in the period after Dark Side of The Moon. He played it a week or so before it was released. We couldn't wait to get to the shops, money already saved-up.

Keith Emerson wasn't happy with John Peel, he thought ELP didn't get as favourable a treatment as some competing groups got. Peel was an opinion former in the day. Also, over the years, his area of interest moved on, he was always a bit ahead of the game and the game was always changing.

Brian Matthew was a charming player of records back in the day. He put the music first and let you hear the whole thing. He didn't pick and choose to his own taste, he played what was in the market. In his later years he was a wonderful guide to the music of the old era. If you lived trough it, he played the obvious stuff and kept surprising you with things you'd forgotten, or hadn't noticed at the time. He was no DJ, he was a curator, and a very good one.

David
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Old 24th Apr 2017, 4:51 pm   #150
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

There were a few famous American DJs, some of whom broadcast from High poweredstations like XERB in Mexico. Having said that, at he moment few noames come to mind, other that Jack Spector (any relation to Phil S.?) whose shows we in theUK heard via Radio Caroline, and 'Emperor' Rosko Pasternak, who lived over here and broadcast at various times from Radio London ('Wonderful Big 'L'), Radio1, and, in French, from either Luxembourg or Europe#1, I don't remeber which. Rosko's style of delivery prompted one BBC announcer to say, after the programme finished, - 'and now here is the news-in English!'
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Old 24th Apr 2017, 6:31 pm   #151
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

'Swingin' Radio England started out with mainly American DJs. The only English DJs were Roger Day and Johnnie Walker who both made their broadcasting debuts on the station. However, a set of presenter jingles had been recorded back in the US and so DJs were allocated a name to match an available jingle which is how Johnnie Walker got his name. Whether the American jocks were known in the US under their Radio England names one can only ponder. Johnnie Walker moved onto Radio Caroline where he famously sailed into illegality when the Marine Offences Act came into force and then BBC Radio 1 and latterly Radio 2 to become yet another household name in broadcasting. I think he also did a stint on the west coast of the US.

Radio England hoped to emulate the phenomenal success of the established US backed station Radio London but the presentation style was a bit too 'American' for British ears of the mid 1960s and the station only lasted about seven months. Its sister station, the easy listening Britain Radio which broadcast from the same ship, didn't fare much better lasting about ten months. However I do smile when I listen online to Serenade Radio as several of their jingles use the "Hallmark of quality, Britain Radio" tune.
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Old 24th Apr 2017, 7:55 pm   #152
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

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I do smile when I listen online to Serenade Radio as several of their jingles use the "Hallmark of quality, Britain Radio" tune.
As did Radio 2 in its early days:

"This is Radio 2 from the BBC" has the same scantion.
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Old 24th Apr 2017, 9:06 pm   #153
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

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........

On the other hand, I can name no British local radio DJs.

.............

David
Here in hi-tech youthful Cambridge, we have well-known personalities presenting on local radio, but their character totally contradicts the city's innovative reputation. Two of our most loved DJ presenters are both in their late 70s - Richard Spendlove and Christopher South. Steve Line on the other hand is a DJ from a younger generation, but he presents 'Walk Right Back' - our local and very entertaining version of 'Sounds of the Sixties', even extending back into the 50s.

Local radio can be surprising- the past lives on!

Martin
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Old 26th Apr 2017, 8:56 am   #154
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

Have Americans not heard of Jack Carney, 'Jumpin' George Oxford, Wolfman Jack, then?
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Old 26th Apr 2017, 9:14 am   #155
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

Alan Freed must be known to some
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Old 26th Apr 2017, 9:33 am   #156
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

All Americans must have heard of Wofman Jack and Alan Freed, plus possibly the other two. I'd temporarily forgotten their names when typing post #150 above (senior moment!) W.J. used to broadcast from one of the Mexican Stations, though he may well have worked on U.S. ones as well. Alan Freed, of course was famous, some would say notorious, for the Payola Scandals. There was an excellent series of LPs, now reissued on CD, called 'Cruisn', which covered the years from the mid 50s to the late 60s. These featured U.S. Disc jockey shows from stations around the country, c/w Adverts, Jingles, and Station IDs I have several of those and once borrowed an LP (not from that series) featuring Dewey Phillips, the first DJ ever to play an Elvis presley record, on WHBQ Memphis. These recordings show just how different American Radio was to anything heard on the BBC, Luxembourg, or even AFN. Can't imagine Brian Matthew, 'Fluff' Freeman, or any other UK based DJ aping the US style of programming!
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Old 27th Apr 2017, 11:22 am   #157
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

As yet no one has mentioned the Radio 3 presenters. I wont call them DJ's. For me they are the best. Never loud, always informative and no phone ins. I understand that the majority are musicians in their own right so any comments that are made have the backing of true experience and knowledge.

Malcolm
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Old 27th Apr 2017, 1:23 pm   #158
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

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John Peel's programme was one of the main outlets for hearing new music. I remember avidly listening with a group of friends (and a tape recorder) to hear the new LP from Pink Floyd in the period after Dark Side of The Moon. He played it a week or so before it was released. We couldn't wait to get to the shops, money already saved-up.
When I was regularly recording new bands in the 90's I was more likely to hear my work on John Peel's show rather than any of our closer local radio stations. The situation has probably changed a bit now with the rise of community radio stations, the BBC Introducing programmes on local radio and also with the Internet but back in those days John Peel was one of the best sources for interesting new music.
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Old 27th Apr 2017, 3:06 pm   #159
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

I think there's a distinction to be made here between presenters who know their stuff and have respect and enthusiasm for the music, and others that are having a great time interspersed by the playlist. Obviously Mr Matthew was in the former camp, along with John Peel and Ken Bruce. One of the criteria for presenting on 6 music is to have a passion for music first and an ego way down the list.
I'd like to have heard Brian Matthew and the equally distinguished Desmond Carrington on 6 music. I think that younger people just want to discover interesting music of any era, and ageism only enters the heads of the programme controllers.
Glyn
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Old 27th Apr 2017, 3:32 pm   #160
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Default Re: Sounds of the Sixties - Brian Matthew

Disc jockeys and presenters (of the like to be found on Radio 3) are vastly different breeds.

The disc jockey arrived in the UK with offshore pirate radio and was largely an import from American radio and harks back to likes of Alan Freed. It was no coincidence that many of the DJs on the ships came from Canada, Australia and the US where freer more personality based radio was the norm - and experienced presenters were available - though listening to early recordings of Radio Caroline it's noticeable how 'buttoned up' much of the presentation was.

The DJ is essentially is a product of popular entertainment radio where, other than specific music genre programming, the show is often more about the presenter than the music played. The music is incidental other than that it may broadly fit in with the tastes of the target audience. A development is the 'zoo' show which is basically the presenter and a few of his (it may be her's too but I no longer purposely listen to 'popular' radio to know) mates yakking on and enjoying gags amongst themselves punctuated by a few records and with the occasional participation of the member of the audience who wants to join the party. To me it's like overhearing a bunch of noisy blokes standing at a bar. I steer clear of such groups - and radio stations.

I would not describe Brian Matthew as a disc jockey and in presentational style he was more Radio 3 than today's Radio 2, amply demonstrating a gulf that exists in current broadcasting. In this respect the treatment of jazz is interesting. Spread equally between Radio 2 and Radio 3, the latter's output tends to be more analytical than that of the former though IMHO is no less enjoyable for that.

However, Radio 3's emphasis is firmly on its music where the knowledge of the presenter is paramount. They are a vehicle for the music and not the other way around. Radio 2 is more a 'lifestyle' station - at least in the daytime.

Radio 3 has incorporated a bit of audience participation in recent years - mainly in the mornings - with the inevitable accusation of dumbing down. It's certainly not as starched as it used to be but, thankfully, I've yet to hear a presenter refer to "Rach 2"!
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