Launch date: 22 November 1967
BBC Radio Merseyside was the third station in the local
station network and marked a return to radio in Liverpool since the days on
6LV, the BBC relay station of the 1920s, though Liverpool retained a post-war
presence at the Rylands Buildings on Lime Street (and later at Castle Chambers
on Castle Street).
BBC Radio Merseyside's first studios were based in Commerce
House on Sir Thomas Street under the guidance of station manager Michael
Hancock who'd previously been working as a BBC TV presentation editor in
London. He was a local newspaper journalist who'd joined the BBC as a
sub-editor and reporter on Sports Report.
Moving across to television he was a news reporter before taking up the presentation
editor post. After Radio Merseyside he was based at Pebble Mill as a regional TV
manager and then Press and PR before finally joining JCB as a PR director.
Michael died in 2007.
Ferry across the Mersey. A launch day OB with Tony Wolfe |
Unlike other BBC local radio stations that relied on the
work of the Radiophonic Workshop for the idents, Radio Merseyside commissioned
Gerry Marsden to write the opening jingles sung by The Vernons Girls. Taking
their cue from Gerry and the Pacemakers the opening day included an OB on a
ferry across the Mersey; the ferry being the Royal Daffodil (originally the MV
Overchurch). On board were presenters Tony Wolfe and Keith Macklin (best known
as a rugby commentator for the BBC and then covering football for Yorkshire TV
and later programme controller at Preston's Red Rose Radio). A number of acts
from the city's Cavern Club also appeared on that opening show including club
DJ Billy Butler who would, of course, become the voice of the station, first
joining in 1971.
Launching at 12 noon on the 22nd Radio Merseyside's opening programme, linked by Ian Murray, had some ambitious OBs. As well as the Mersey ferry there was Victor Marmion and Jenny Collins in the Mersey Tunnel and Gerry Harrison and Joyce Timewell at the top of St John's Beacon - a broadcast not without some technical difficulties.
Former teacher Vic Marmion was the deputy manager and was
instrumental in bringing Kenny Everett and Alan Bleasdale (writing Scully) to the station. He left in 1974
to work for radio current affairs in London, producing The World at One and PM
before moving to BBC TV in 1978 and working on Tonight, Question Time, Panorama and The Money Programme. He left the BBC in 1988 to run an independent
production company in Liverpool but was back at the Beeb in 1994 in the
Programme Complaints Unit. Retiring to Hastings in 2004 he died in 2012.
Jenny Collins would work for Radio Merseyside for many years
and married Steve Voce (see below).
Former footballer and Daily
Express news reporter Gerry Harrison joined the station for its launch and
would help with the sports coverage. A couple of years later he moved into full
time football commentating for Anglia TV and remained with ITV until the early
1990s.
For this series of posts I've been digging out copies of the
Radio Times from the first decade of
local radio broadcasting but the earlier editions are a bit light on
information. However, the earliest issue I could track down is from 7 March 1970
so if anyone is reading this in Merseyside and has some back issues lying
around please let me know.
At the time of this schedule the station manager was now Rex
Bawden. A very experienced newsman, he'd joined the station in 1968 from the Liverpool Echo to become the news editor
and then replaced Michael Hancock as manager until his retirement in 1981. He
died in 2012.
Typically at that time the station staff would pop up on
more than one show. Ian Murray, for example, is listed on the Monday request show Date-a-Disc and Tuesday's Somebody in Particular, a show idea not
a million miles away from Desert Islands
Discs. Later in the year Ian would join BBC Radio Manchester for the start
of their service.
Cropping up on a number of programmes, including the women's
magazine Breaktime, is Jim Black.
Liverpool-born Jim had joined the BBC as a studio manager in 1959, later
working on SM duties for Woman's Hour.
He took part in the local radio closed circuit experiments in the early 60s and
when the service finally got the go ahead in 1967 he joined Radio Merseyside as
a producer and presenter. In the early 70s he joined the Local Radio Training
Unit based in the Langham. When presentation editors were appointed to each of
the national networks in 1973 - Jimmy Kingsbury for Radios 1 & 2, Cormac Rigby
for Radio 3 - it was Jim Black who was in charge of Radio 4, much to the
surprise of some of the continuity announcers who'd applied for the post.
Amongst his best known on-air changes was the introduction of Sailing By before the shipping forecast
and to commission Fritz Spiegl, whom he'd worked with at Radio Merseyside, to
arrange what would become known as the UK
Theme. In the late 80s he was appointed as a Special Assistant to the
managing director of network radio, David Hatch, and worked on a number of
projects including the launch of Radio 5. He left the BBC in 1993 and died in
2008.
Extract from the 1977 booklet Serving Communities and Nation |
Radio Merseyside's longest-running programme (indeed the
second longest running across all the local stations after Radio Leicester's Down to Earth) is Folkscene, initially billed as The
Folk Scene. For 49 years the presenter was Stan Ambrose, listed here on
Thursday evening. Stan sadly passed away last year. For most of the time he
shared presenting duties with Geoff Speed, another broadcaster there from the
start who only stepped down in 2014.
Presenter Mike Gamble, in 1970 listed against Youthwise on Sunday and Thursday's Homeward Bound would later become a TV
announcer on BBC1 and BBC2.
The Scouse Show
with "songs and stories from Scouseland" was presented by writer
Frank Shaw. Frank had been writing about Liverpool for the best part of two
decades and, in 1966, had penned the Lern
Yerself Scouse book (it was edited by Fritz Spiegl). He'd appeared on the
BBC and ITV and provided the research for
Denis Mitchell's acclaimed 1959 TV documentary about Liverpool life Morning in the Streets. He died in 1971.
Another Frank, this time Frank Unwin, is listed as
presenting Thirty Minutes of Music and
Memories which ran for many years and even spawned a book Mersey Memories in 1986.
All the local radio stations had specialist music shows and
Merseyside's Jazz Panorama was hosted
by jazz writer Steve Voce. He appeared on the station for 35 years and had
previously provided new record reviews for The Jazz Scene on the BBC Light
Programme. In the 70s and 80s Steve appeared on Sounds of Jazz on Radio 1, later on Radio 2 and Jazz Notes on Radio2 , later on Radio 3.
Only one broadcaster could claim to have appeared on both 6LV and Radio Merseyside and that was naturalist Eric Hardy. Born in 1912 he'd been writing his Countryside column in the Liverpool Daily Post since 1929. During the war in North Africa he trained pigeons to fly with messages tied to their legs. He was a founding member of the Mersey Estuary Conservation Group and the Lancashire Wildlife Trust.. His Radio Merseyside programme The Countryside (billed in 1970 on the Thursday evening) ran for over three decades. Eric died in 2002.
Only one broadcaster could claim to have appeared on both 6LV and Radio Merseyside and that was naturalist Eric Hardy. Born in 1912 he'd been writing his Countryside column in the Liverpool Daily Post since 1929. During the war in North Africa he trained pigeons to fly with messages tied to their legs. He was a founding member of the Mersey Estuary Conservation Group and the Lancashire Wildlife Trust.. His Radio Merseyside programme The Countryside (billed in 1970 on the Thursday evening) ran for over three decades. Eric died in 2002.
One of Radio Merseyside's best loved broadcasters was the
larger than life character, Bob Azurdia (pictured above). Bob presented all manner of programmes
but was particularly associated with the sports coverage. Born in Liverpool but
of Guatemalan heritage he worked as a journalist on a number of local papers as
well as writing for Melody Maker and Merseybeat, a job that brought him into
contact with the Beatles at the start of their career. He was working for the
Catholic Pictorial when he applied for a job at the new BBC station, landing
the role of producer of religious programmes. As well as football commentaries
he was a quiz master, presented daytime shows including breakfast, made
documentaries and the The Azurdia
Interview series. A keen long-distance runner and charity supporter he died
unexpectedly in 1996 aged 60.
A patchwork banner created by listeners to celebrate the station's 50th birthday |
BBC Radio Merseyside is celebrating its 50th birthday today
with broadcasts live from the Museum of Liverpool and a local choir will be
signing some of those original Gerry Marsden jingles.
No comments:
Post a Comment