I write most of these little bits of description about the
Christmas Countdown audio at the time I record or edit them. So as I drafted
this in December 2016 Mel, Sue and Mary have left GBBO apart from a BBC1 Christmas special yet to be screened. Whether
the Channel 4 version hits the mark will, I assume, have been revealed by the
time this all goes live.
Here's Mel with Andy Bush on her Saturday afternoon show
airing on Magic on this date last year.
In March radio station launches were like buses, nothing for
months and then a handful came along all at once. These new stations were part
of the Sound Digital DAB multiplex, a joint venture company owned by The
Wireless Group, Bauer and Arqiva.
The new offerings from Bauer were brand extensions of Magic:
Mellow Magic and Magic Chilled. First out of the blocks on 14 March was Mellow
Magic, "carefully programmed to provide a relaxed and laid back
station" aimed at the 50 to 64 age group. Existing Magic DJs Paul Hayes,
Gary Vincent and Martin Collins are joined by the station-hopping Lynn Parsons,
Forth 1's Arlene Stuart and actors Patsy Kensit and John Hannah. The station
also offers the chance to hear former BBC staffers Fran Godfrey and Alice
Arnold. Indeed it was a welcome opportunity to hear Fran, one of Radio 2's
best, and much missed, newsreaders reading the news again on the weekday
breakfast show - the only live show.
On the face of it there's little here that listeners can't
get from Magic, the City 2 network or Smooth. The licence application suggests
that the evening programmes may see a return of Saga Radio-type shows but,
based on my admittedly brief review of one night's listening it was more of the
same classic pop with a Billie Holiday track thrown in for good measure.
I'm not sure how much Bauer invest in their websites, very
little it seems. Essentially both Mellow Magic and Magic Chilled offer one page
without a full schedule, what happens overnight remains a mystery. Mellow only
highlights nine musical artists: Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Dusty, Elton,
Billie Holiday, Michael Buble, Simon and Garfunkel, Barbra Streisand and Rod
Stewart. Neither website suggests anything they've actually played.
Magic Chilled - one of the stations on DAB+ as well as
online - promises "a contemporary music escape with a playlist featuring
fresh laidback hits". Although it lists an all female presenter line-up -
Jade Ewen, Sarah Champion, Pips Taylor, Eloise Carr and Louise Molony - the
links are all pre-recorded and kept to a minimum, every 3 or 4 records. So laid
back was Chilled that it didn't really launch on 21 March as such; the test
transmissions segued seamlessly into a breakfast sequence and then Jade Ewen's
links from 10 am.
Launched with far more sense of occasion, and offering
something new, certainly for commercial radio, were The Wireless Group's talkSPORT2
and talkRADIO. Going to air on 15 March, just in time for the Cheltenham
Festival, was talkSPORT's sister station with sports coverage that wasn't just
football-focused: racing, cricket (there's been extensive coverage of the World
Twenty20), rugby, tennis, golf and athletics, so offering some alternative to 5
Live Extra. In this montage there's actor Lewis MacLeod (Dead Ringers and Wired News) declaiming "the
prodigal son is ready". There's also talkSPORT2's Managing Editor Mike
Bovill and the opening introduction from Ian Danter.
talkSPORT2 benefited from cross-promotion from talkSPORT,
the two stations share some programming anyway as there's not quite enough
other sports to satisfy a full-time extra station.
The talk radio format very much remains a minority one in
the UK so perhaps most keenly anticipated of the new stations was the launch of
talkRADIO (I'm carefully typing those lower and upper case characters!). Less
news agenda driven than 5 Live or LBC - though this was tested on day two with
the bombings in Brussels - it benefits from an experienced and lively line-up:
Paul Ross (the only one from the original Talk Radio UK), Julia Hartley-Brewer,
Jon Holmes, Sam Delaney, Jonny Gould and Iain Lee on weekdays. talkRADIO posted
this video of the station launch.
Unfortunately, at least for those of us listening online,
the sound quality on day one was appalling; it had marginally improved the
following day.
David Lloyd did a quick editing job to put this montage
together.
Judging by the listener reaction online there was much love
in particular, and quite rightly so, for Jon Holmes and Iain Lee. Both started
by knocking their former employers and their radio opposition - Holmes had only
appeared on Radio X the day before whilst Lee had, of course, been dropped by
3CR last year - but they were asked to rein this in on day two, mind you both mentioned
this management talking-too on air.
The only other observation is the lack of callers; the
weekday shows, apart from Iain's, appear to be in single figures over a 3 or 4
hour show. Is the 0844 number putting people off (they do call back) or is it a
production decision?
There was an exemplary lead-in to the launch (is that
re-launch?) of Virgin Radio which went live on 30 March: "a broadcast
legend returns". Online they had a fully operational website before the
D-Day with presenter Q&As, press releases, schedules and playlists all
supported by Twitter and Facebook. They then pushed the boat out, in fact
pushed the train out - the Virgin Radio
Star travelling from Manchester to London - as part of a launch day hoopla, all produced
by TBI Media. This provided great publicity but I'm not sure it contributes
much to the listening experience, "it's moving" we were excitedly told.
Let's hope they continue to support new talent such as Gavin James who provided
the live opening track, his take on Bowie's Changes.
Here are those opening moments:
Virgin's Programme Director Liam Thompson spoke about the
station's audience: "We feel that there is an opportunity amongst
those who feel too old for BBC Radio 1, but not old enough for BBC Radio 2. Our
audience will be music-lovers who want to hear great new music, as well as the
classics".
Whilst there are elements of its previous incarnation in the
new station , unlike its Virgin 1215 predecessor - predominantly aimed at the male
guitar rock lover - Virgin offers "classic and contemporary pop and rock
hits" for a 25-44 year old audience. It remains to be seen how it will
fare against the Absolute stations that took over from Virgin in 2008.
From the evidence of day one Virgin Radio, like its new
Wireless Group stable mates, suffered from some technical issues, and that's
not just the expected drop-outs during the train journey. It's almost as if
they're trying to recreate the same reception conditions of the old AM service.
I've read of audio quality complaints about both DAB and online steaming.
Hopefully these will be fully addressed quickly before people switch elsewhere.
Having said that it seemed fine to me over here in France via Radioplayer.
I should also name check the other new station to launch on
D2, Premier Praise, the Christian music station that went to air on Easter
Sunday. Unfortunately due to a combination of the shift to summertime and a
late night I missed the station switch-on, though I did catch part of Steve
Fanstone's show during the day.
And finally the other station launch that was part of the
Sound Digital package was British Muslim Radio, now rebranded as Awesome Radio.
Whilst an audio stream has been up and running since 29 February the website
offers no clues as schedule or presenters and its only tweeted six times and
has just 36 Facebook followers. Listeners are invited to submit their CVs to
become part of the Awesome team.
From cheesy purveyor of pop, the golden boy of breakfast to
radio’s elder statesman, a recognised national treasure, Tony Blackburn reaches
(can it really be?) 70 years of age today.
Still sounding as youthful as ever Tony has been
broadcasting solidly for the last 49 years.These days you can hear him each week on anyone of five different
stations. As he said on-air recently “I never want to retire…. I would quite
like to live in a radio station.”
As Tony is so busy it’s difficult to grab some of his time
for an interview. So I’ve been delving through my archive to see what I can
glean about Mr Blackburn.
He started broadcasting on Radio Caroline in July 1964
before jumping ship to Big L two years later. ‘Wonderful Radio London’ offered
“coherent programming, interspersed with regular, professional advertising and
the best jingles I’d ever heard.” By the time the Marine Offences Act came into
force Tony was already on the mainland and entering the portals of the
Broadcasting House for the Light Programme’s Midday Spin. Effectively this was a try-out for the breakfast show
on the swinging new pop station Radio 1.
The Radio 1 Annual
(published in 1969 for just 12/6) offered a Blackburn
Briefing. So why did he become a DJ? “I suppose I thought of it as the back
door to showbusiness in general. At the time, my main aim was to become a
singer. I thought dee-jaying would give me the right contacts.” Ah yes, that
singing career. In Bournemouth Tony had formed a group – the punningly titled
‘Tony Blackburn and the Rovers’ – that included, on lead guitar one Al Stewart.
He was later the singer with the local Jan Ralfini Orchestra. He continued to
harbour pop recording ambitions during his time on Radio 1 achieving the giddy
heights of number 31 in the charts with the ballad So Much Love.
The Annual also told us that Tony was 5 feet 8½ inches tall,
weighed 150 lbs, that his favourite drink was Coke and his favourite food a
mixed grill. Hmm, I think not. Tony has been vegetarian from age five, an
omelette and chips was about as exotic as it got. In Our First Meal (Times Magazine 9.10.99) he admits that “pasta with
tomato sauce is about as exotic as I get. Or Quorn. I’m still a gastronomic
peasant really and good wine is wasted on me”.
By 1971 Tony was all loved up with actress Tessa Wyatt, a
relationship that would publically fall apart some five years later. Talking
about that trademark Blackburn humour she told the TV Times (20.1.73) that it wasn’t her cup of tea “but on the first
evening we went out together I discovered he has a good subtle sense of humour.
All that corny humour isn’t typical of him. I think it was just a gimmick to
start with, and now I think it is quite clever”.
By his own admission his radio persona could be both fun and
annoying in equal measure. In a 1978 interview (with Ross Benson of the Daily Express 4.5.78) he claimed that he
believed “that to get an audience you’ve got to irritate people – and you’ve
got to accept that not everyone is going to like you.” He even admitted to
ambitions to run Radio 1. “In ten years’ time I’d like to be in charge of this
network.”
The “mindless, endless, relentless happy talk” on Radio 1
continued to incense journalists like Jean Rook (her words) of the Express
(18.3.77). What did Tony think drove her mad? “It’s my goodie, goodie image. I
don’t smoke, I hardly drink, I don’t take drugs. I have all my own teeth. I
smile too much – only because photographers always ask me to – and I’m a bit
like Cliff Richard without the religion.” Even then there were no thoughts of
ever retiring. “I don’t think there’s an age limit on radio. I’d like to go on
and on.”
Not all was sweetness and light at Radio 1. In 1973 he was
demoted, as he saw it, from the Breakfast Show to a mid-morning slot. By 1977
he was moved to the afternoons and in 1980 he lost his daily show and was
looking after Junior Choice and the Top 40. “Bye, bye Blackburn” was the
press headline. Publically he was ebullient (“I can’t wait to get started”) but
as he later admitted “I was lying through my full set of ever smiling teeth.
Broadcasting to children just wasn’t right for ‘Uncle Tony. “
Tony left Radio 1 in 1984 and, for those of us outside
London and the South East, all but disappeared for the next decade. In fact in
his next venture the contrast with Junior
Choice couldn’t be stronger with his Sex
‘n’ Soul shows on BBC Radio London.
It was back to commercial radio in 1988 on the new Capital
Gold station alongside many of his former Radio 1 colleagues. A year later Mark
Lawson (The Independent 29.7.89) observed his broadcasting style:
As the music stops he hunches in to the microphone, like the
first move of a cuddle. His voice, which can find four syllables in ‘great’,
maintains throughout a tone of elevated excitement, reminiscent of the one
which those who are unfamiliar with children employ when speaking to them. The
jokes, too, might safely be shared with that age group: ‘A friend of mine swam
100 yards in two seconds – he went over a waterfall!’ The vintage of the discs
and the birthdays for which they are being played give a hint of the trick
Blackburn has played. He presented breakfast shows in his salad days and still
does in what he would probably not mind you calling his vegetable days but this
is Capital Gold … on which all the records are old and all the disc jockeys –
shall we say? – experienced.
There was TV work, Sky
by Day, QVC and having the door slammed in his face each week on Noel’s House Party. There was also a
second wife, Debbie Thomson, whom he’d initially met some 10 years before. “She’s
the first person I’ve ever been out with who doesn’t play those stupid games”,
he told Craig Brown (The Independent 9.7.94), “you know, they flirt with
someone in front of you. But she’s not like that. Terrific really. Smashing.”
If Tony’s career needed a spark to re-invigorate it, it came
with his 2002 winning appearance on I’m A
Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. “Could Tony Blackburn’s unlikely comeback”,
asked The Times’s Chris Campling
(10.9.02), “herald the rehabilitation of the FAB FM jocks?” He goes on: ”Of all
the dinosaur jocks, Blackburn is the one most likely to have struck a chord in
the hearts of modern yoof. It’s so difficult to dislike him, that’s the
trouble. Feel sorry for him, yes. Pity him, despise him on occasions. But
dislike him? Never.”
From now on Tony was all over the place, ‘appearing on a
radio station near you’. Gigs at Classic Gold, Real Radio, Jazz FM and Smooth
Radio followed. Meanwhile back on Radio London 94.9 he had a weekly Soul and Motown Show, the music he had
championed since his pirate days. That Radio 1 annual listed his favourite
singers as Steve Wonder, Dionne Warwick and Diana Ross & the Supremes. Whilst he loved his music he only ever saw it
as entertainment. “It was all pop music to me, except the stuff that John Peel
tended to play was almost without exception completely awful”, he wrote in Poptastic: My Life in Radio. “I was the
happy-go-lucky dispenser of the kind of song that an audience only had to hear
once before rushing out to buy it.”
From November 2010 it was a return to national radio with Pick of the Pops, (“it’s one of those
heritage shows … Radio 2’s equivalent to The
Archers”), now live and boasting re-sings of jingles that he’d played on
Big L some 44 years earlier.
Tony remains as active as ever embracing the new technology
on Twitter and Audioboo. He must hold some kind of broadcasting record: at the
moment you can hear him on national radio, regional and local radio within the
same week on Radio 2, Magic, Radio London, Radio Berkshire KMFM. No wonder he
has conceded that, although otherwise a clean-living man, “radio is an
addiction”.
Tony’s last regular Radio 1 show was on Sunday 23 September
1984. But he was back the following weekend chatting to Andy Peebles and
choosing his Top 10. Here’s a scoped version of that programme. The anoraks
amongst you will note that Tony’s first word on Radio 1 was “and” whilst his
last word was “Andy”. And not a lot of people know that!
My Top Ten was
broadcast on Saturday 29 September 1984.
Have a sensational 70th birthday Tony!
With thanks to Noel Tyrrel
Of his TV appearances Tony is best known for hosting Top of the Pops (1967-1983). His first
TV appearance was in September 1965 on the ITV show Discs A Gogo alongside fellow DJ Tony Prince. Throughout 1968 he
also had a weekly Saturday evening show on ITV Time for Blackburn.
Michael Bublé was all
over the radio and TV schedules last year – mind you he did have a Christmas
album to promote. In fact he’s back this year too – already appearing on Heart
and with a series of seasonal shows on both Magic and Smooth this month.
In these
recordings you’ll hear Michael chatting to Dermot O’Leary on his Saturday
afternoon Radio 2 show and also doing a spot of DJ’ing – voicetracked one
assumes - on Magic 105.4. It seems we simply can’t get enough of the Bublé.
