The Lively Lounge

The much respected Scottish broadcaster Tony Currie died at the weekend at his home in Port Ramsey on the Inner Hebridean island of Lismore. His was the first voice on Radio Clyde when it went on-air on Hogmanay 1973. He was the voice of STV as their chief announcer and later a network controller at BBC Scotland. But what kept Tony occupied for most of his life was his not-for-profit radio station that he ran from his various homes for over sixty years, Radio Six International.

Since 2007 one of the main music programmes he devoted himself to was The Lively Lounge, an hour –long weekly show that was heard not just on Radio Six International but on 54 affiliate stations around the world. It’s hard to describe exactly what The Lively Lounge was about. It was certainly on the easy listening end of the musical spectrum. Think radio, tv and film themes, library music and test cards. It was Music for Pleasure, orchestral versions of popular hits from the 60s and 70s and familiar classical tunes. If you remember the days of the Light Programme or the early years of Radio 2 then this was for you.

Here are a three examples of The Lively Lounge. This is a typical show from 12 December 2012.

In this second programme Tony is really in his element talking to the pianist and song-writer Les Reed in this edition from 25 October 2013. Les died in 2019.

From 14 March 2014 it's a delightful hour in the company of singer, composer and arranger Barbara Moore. Barbara died in 2021.

Tony was also a collector of the Radio Times and wrote the history of the magazine in The Radio Times Story (Kelly Publications 2001). He kindly dipped into his archive to help me with some radio enquiries in the days before BBC Genome came online. He also had a deep interest in broadcasting history, especially from a Scottish perspective, and willingly shared this in publications, podcasts and on the Digital Spy and other forums.

In August this year Tony announced that, due to his cancer diagnosis, The Lively Lounge had ended its run. Some other stations have continued to broadcast archive editions and it is possible that Radio Six International will repeat some shows in the future.

Tony Currie 1951-2026