Popping the Questions

Question: What's the name of the first Radio 2 pop quiz presented by Ken Bruce? If you answered Pop Master then you could be said to be "one quiz out!" The answer is Pop Score, the quiz that ran from 1972 to 1992 which Ken chaired for the last five series.

Devised by Light Entertainment producer Richard Willcox is was initially seen as a Radio 1 versus Radio 2 contest (early series were carried on both stations) with Tony Blackburn captaining the Radio 1 side and Terry Wogan representing Radio 2. Popping the questions was Pete Murray. Willcox continued to produce and write all the questions, and indeed do the audience warm-up, for the first fifteen series until Mark Robson took over production. By this time Willcox  had already brought in a certain Phil 'The Collector' Swern to help set the questions. Phil had previously attended some of the show's recordings to 'help' Tony with some of his answers until he was thrown out of the Paris studio a few shows later.    

Early guest stars were a  little eclectic to say the least. You can hardly say it was on trend, more like a decade behind. Many of the musicians had been sixties hitmakers with virtually no current chart performers taking part in the early series with perhaps the exception of Lynsey de Paul, Dana, Neil Sedaka, Long John Baldry and Mike Batt. But Deryck Guyler and Reg Varney?

In time under Willcox's tenure a smaller pool of contributors was called upon, often appearing on a other radio panel games. For instance we have actor Patrick Mower (also on The Law Game), singing impressionist Johnny More and Ray Alan (both on The Impressionists), Lance Percival (also on Wit's End and Just a Minute) and Duggie Brown (also on The Name's the Game and Dealing with Daniels). Some folk such as Tim Rice (also on Just a Minute and Trivia Test Match) really knew their stuff but generally it was a chance to muck about and the quiz side was never taken that seriously.    

Later series, produced by Robson, Dirk Maggs and Phil Clarke took things a little more seriously, but only just, with people from the music business and DJs. Typically a show might include rounds such as continuing to sing a song after its faded (think of Clue's Pick Up Song), correcting song titles, identifying song covers or  records played backwards, and a final quick-fire round. Throughout the quiz the chairman would, depending on how many points they'd scored in the round, read out so many letters of a song title that team's could guess at any time for bonus points.   

The old Blackburn/Wogan rivalary ended in 1977, though they returned for the 200th edition in 1987. Coming in as team captain for Terry was David Hamilton and a couple of series later Ray Moore replaced Tony. Ray in turn would become chairman when Pete left the BBC and after a series of different captains - Joe Brown, Duggie Brown and Helen Shapiro, who eventually became a show regular - new boy Ken Bruce was drafted in.

Following Ray's untimely death Ken took over as quizmaster (Ken was also hosting the Radio 2 general knowledge show The ABC Quiz) and with David off to commercial radio the team captains settled down to be Helen Shapiro and Alan Freeman.       

It all came to an end in April 1992 by which time panel games were virtually a thing of the past  on Radio 2.

Six years later Ken Bruce and Phil Swern, who had both worked together on Pop Score,  put their heads together (together with Ken's then producer Colin Martin) and came up with the format for Pop Master. The daily music quiz which stops the country is celebrated tonight in the Radio 2 programme One Year Out-The PopMasterStory and tomorrow sees the second All Day quiz.

Series Details

Question masters:

Pete Murray series 1 to 10.

Ray Moore series 11 to 13

Ken Bruce series 14 to 18 

The theme tune used for the majority of Pop Score's run was Chicken Feathers by film and TV composer Pat Williams from his 1968 album Think. In the last 80s Birdland was used for a while, possibly the Manhatten Transfer version.  

Series 1 Team captains Tony Blackburn (TB) and Terry Wogan (TW)

24 Oct 1972-6 Feb 1973

Guests: Ken Goodwin, Alan Price, Lynsey de Paul, Kenny Lynch, Roger Greenaway, Rolf Harris, Peter Noone, Vince Hill, Dana, Roy Castle, Anita Harris, Georgie Fame, Tim Rice, Lance Percival andTony Brandon

Series 2 TB TW

20 June 1973-20 Mar 1974

Roger Whittaker, Peter Noone, Tony Brandon, Lance Percival, Wally Whyton, Leslie Crowther, Bob Monkhouse, Mitch Murray, Roy Castle, Dana, Chris Barber, Joe Brown, Jimmy Tarbuck, Adrienne Posta, David Jacobs, George Chisholm, Kenneth Williams, Tim Rice, Gerry Marsden, Peter Jones, Deryck Guyler, June Whitfield, Bernard Cribbins, Johnny Pearson, Matt Monro, Lonnie Donegan, Rolf Harris, Ron Goodwin, Reg Varney, Eric Idle, Ray Fell, Frankie Vaughan, Michael Aspel, Diana Dors, Jon Pertwee, Kenny Ball, Neil Sedaka, Dickie Henderson, Peter Goodwright and Henry Cooper.  

Series 3 TB TW (Paul Burnett covered for TB on two shows and Tim Rice covered for TW on two shows)

2 Oct 1974-26 Mar 1975 Leslie Crowther, Henry Cooper, Cathy McGowan, Bob Monkhouse, Joe Brown, Kenny Ball, Ray Alan, Long John Baldry, Michael Parkinson, Marian Montgomery, Ray Fell, Vince Hill, Clive lea, Tim Rice, Ronnie Carroll, Matt Monro, Mike Batt, Mitch Murray, Cindy Kent, Roy Castle, Diana Dors, Norman, Newell, Roger Whittaker, Ray Barrett and Roger Kitter 

Series 4 TB TW

30 Oct 1975-22 Jan 1976

Bernard Cribbins, Tim Rice, Diana Dors, Kenny Ball, Roy Hudd, Ray Alan, George Chisholm, Long John Baldry, Lonnie Donegan, Rolf Harris, Clive Lea and Johnny Moore

Series 5 TB TW

13 Sept-29 Nov 1976

Leslie Crowther, Diana Dors, Bernard Cribbins, Tim Rice, Rolf Harris, Charlie Williams, Johnny More, Duggie Brown, Bobby Knutt, Jack Douglas, Patrick Mower

Series 6 TB TW

1 Sept-17 Nov 1977

Bobby Knutt, Bernard Cribbins, Faith Brown, Derek Griffiths, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Vince Hill, Duggie Brown, Ray Alan, Johnny More, Patrick Mower, Dave Evans and Tim Rice (also captain on a couple of shows) 

Series 7 TB David Hamilton (DH)

11 Sept-27 Nov 1978

Lance Percival, Joe Brown, Mike Batt, Clive Lea, Patrick Mower, Johnny More, Tony Brandon, Bill Oddie, Rolf Harris, Bobby Knutt, Dave Evans and Tim Rice

Series 8 TB DH

19 May-4 Aug 1980

Dave Dee, Lance Percival, Mike Batt, Vince Hill, Joe Brown, Tim Rice, Duggie Brown, Bernard Cribbins, Bobby Knutt and Johnny More

An edition of Pop Score from this series is on Mixcloud here though sadly the last couple of minutes are missing.

Series 9 DH Ray Moore (RM)

24 Aug -9 Nov 1981

Faith brown, Johnny More, Duggie Brown, Lance Percival, Rolf Harris, Tim Rice, Joe Longthorne, Dave Evans, Vince Hill, Acker Bilk and Joe Brown

Series 10 DH RM

20 June-5 Sep 1983

Helen Shapiro, Acker Bilk, Joe Brown, Vince Hill, Duggie Brown (also captain on two shows), Patrick Mower, Susan Maughan, Freddie Garrity and Mike Berry

I've unearthed the 7th programme from this series.

Series 11 DH (Other captain was either Duggie Brown, Joe Brown or Helen Shapiro)

19 Feb-14 May 1985

Rolf Harris, Mike Berry, Acker Bilk, Helen Shapiro, Clodagh Rodgers, Susan Maughan, Frank Ifield, and Russ Conway

I've previously posted the 11th programme in this series before but only recently uploaded it to YouTube

Series 12 DH Ken Bruce (KB)

15 Mar-24 May 1986

Frank Ifield, Acker Bilk, Duggie Brown, Helen Shapiro, Lonnie Donegan, Vince Hill, Helen Shapiro, Tim Rice, Des Cluskey, Con Cluskey, Noddy Holder and Paul Nicholas

Series 13 DH KB

14 Mar-20 June 1987 (includes 200th edition with Pete Murray, Terry Wogan and Tony Blackburn)

Alvin Stardust, Helen Shapiro, Lynn Sheppard, Denny Laine, Rick Wakeman, Noddy Holder, Steve Marriott, Acker Bilk, Tim Rice and Frank Ifield 

Series 14 Helen Shapiro (HS) + either Joe Brown, TB, Adrian Love or Paul Jones (First to be compiled by Phil Swern)

12 Mar-28 May 1988

Cathy McGowan, Adrian Love, Tony Blackburn, Duggie Brown, Dave Dee, Gloria Hunniford, Rick Wakeman, Tommy Vance, Noddy Holder, Robbie Vincent, Tom McGuinness

Series 15 HS + either Adrian Love or Alan Freeman (AF)

25 Mar-10 June 1989

Duggie Brown, Rick Wakeman, Rolf Harris, Peter Dickson, Noddy Holder, John Craven, Tim Rice, Alvin Stardust, Paul Jones and Vince Hill

Series 16 HS AF (Producer Dirk Maggs)

21 Apr-7 July 1990

Janice Long, Adrian Love, Sheila Ferguson, Paul Jones, Duggie Brown, Stephanie de Sykes, Joe Brown, Rose-Marie, Don Powell, Lyn Paul and Colin Berry

The first edition of this series is available on Mixcloud here. 

Series 17 HS AF

27 April-15 June 1991

Cheryl Baker, Adrian Love, Wendy Richard, Noddy Holder, Alvin Stardust, Janice Long, Rose-Marie and Colin Berry

Series 18 HS AF (Prod Phil Clarke)

28 Feb-17 April 1992

Terry Wogan, Pete Murray, Adrian Love, Lyn Paul, Lynsey de Paul, Alvin Stardust, Noddy Holder and Rose-Marie

As is typical with virtually all Radio 2 panel shows from this era they've never been repeated since they ended so if you've got any recordings of Pop Score please let me know.

The End of the Ride

By any stretch of the imagination this blog post is niche. It concerns a drum ending that lasts just one second. Yes, zip up your radio anorak for this one.

As you'll no doubt know, back in the days when virtually every show had a theme tune, Radio 1's Junior Choice used a version of Morningtown Ride played by Stan Butcher's Birds 'n' Brass. That theme was first used on day one of Radio 1 when Junior Choice, the replacement to the Light Programme's Children's Favourites, was introduced by Leslie Crowther. Crowther was followed by Paddy Feeney and then, from February 1968, by Ed Stewart. Stewpot used the theme for the next 11 years. Here's Leslie Crowther introducing that first edition followed by the theme in full:   

A brief diversion here on Stan Butcher. Butcher, a pianist, composer and arranger, was born in London in 1920. His first job was for music publishers Boosey & Hawkes. He taught himself harmony and arranging and before he was twenty was providing orchestrations for the likes of Bert Ambrose and Harry Roy. During the war he served in the army and before the end of hostilities he'd been asked to form a dance band that included amongst its personnel trombonist Don Lusher and guitarist Jack Toogood. On demob he played and arranged for bands run by Joe Daniels and Freddy Randall before joining publishers Campbell Connelly & Co. He wrote and arranged for the likes of Ted Heath, Cyril Stapleton and Eric Winstone and with Syd Cordell composed the 1959 Eurovison song entry for Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson, Sing, Little Birdie. In the late 1960s and early 70s he recorded a number of LPs. Some of these were credited to Stan Butcher's Birds 'n 'Brass. The 'birds' were singers Barbara Moore and Daphne Bonney. Barbara would herself carve out a successful musical career as a singer (she was for a time one of The Ladybirds), composer and arranger. It was she that provided the new arrangement of Fluff's Pick of the Pops theme At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbal and wrote Just Like That for Terry Wogan's Radio 1 afternoon show. Continuing the radio theme connection it was Barbara's husband Pete that arranged and recorded the version of I Love You Samantha that was used by David Jacobs. Stan Butcher continued recording in the 1970s and worked with Stan Reynolds and Barbara Thompson. He died in 1987.

Back to Morningtown Ride. This was a hugely popular tune when Radio 1 started, it had been the number two song at the start of 1967, just pipped to the top spot by the Green, Green Grass of Home. The lyrics telling of children on a night time ride safely delivered to the morning under the watchful eye of the Sandman had great family appeal. So when Stan Butcher and producer Monty Babson put together their 1967 album of covers from the recent 'Hit Parade' called Sayin' Somethin' Stupid and Other Things, they included Morningtown Ride. Other tracks included I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman, Mellow Yellow, This is My Song and Green, Green Grass of Home. Some extra tracks composed by Butcher were added such as Pearls for Patricia and, most importantly for this story, a jaunty little tune called Pig Latin. That track went like this:                  

When Junior Choice came along in September 1967 they ditched the old Children's Favourite theme of Puffing Billy in favour of something more contemporary, and that was Morningtown Ride. However, the  problem with this recording is that it faded rather than ended. Junior Choice was heard on both Radio 1 and Radio 2 so a definite end would give a neat junction for the two networks to split. On Saturday's the programme ended at 9.55 am with Crack the Clue following on Radio 1 and the religious slot Five to Ten on Radio 2. On Sunday mornings there was a split following at 10.00 am time signal.     

So someone at the BBC, perhaps producer Harry Walters, came up with the neat idea of borrowing the drum ending from Pig Latin, probably played by session drummer Barry Morgan (he was credited on Butcher's previous LP) and splicing it onto Morningtown Ride. Neat. Here it is in use by Stewpot in 1979 by which time the show was on Radio 1 only so there are no pips and it's just a handover to Tony Blackburn. I've added my own version of how the track was edited.

But the story doesn't end there as Pig Latin happens to have done double duty as a theme ending, this time for Alan Freeman.

In April 1972 Terry Wogan left his afternoon Radio 1 show to start his reign as Radio 2's breakfast supremo. That afternoon show was then given to Fluff alongside his existing Pick of the Pops chart rundown. Of course it also needed a theme tune and this time it was back to 1962 for a superb orchestral jazz piece from Quincy Jones, Soul Bossa Nova. Freeman's producer was Bryan Marriott who had been a regular producer of Jazz Club in the early sixties so it's likely he'd dug this one out. The track also had the pauses and changes of instrumentation that allowed Fluff to deliver his introductions and goodbyes in his distinctive staccato style.

The trouble with Soul Bossa Nova was, yes you've guessed it, it faded rather than having a definite end. So out comes Pig Latin again and hey presto they have an ending, though it has to be said its a rather more obvious edit. Here's Alan using the theme and  handing over to Rosko in 1973 followed by my own edit to show how they did it.

With thanks to Tony Worrall who first alerted me to this.

Album covers from discogs.com    

60 Years of Swinging Cymbals

It's one of British radio's best known signature tunes. It has accompanied countless chart rundowns. It is forever associated with one DJ but remains part of the fabric of radio some 14 years after his death. It's At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbals and it's 60 years old this year.   

So how did this piece of orchestral music become such an iconic track?

It was composer and arranger Brian Fahey that wrote At the Sign of the Swingin' Cymbals (its original title) in 1960. It was released on the Parlophone record label (catalogue number 45R-4686) The title, if not the tune, was inspired, if that's the right word in this instance, by a crude song that he probably heard sung in the Forces that starts with the line "on the street of a thousand arseholes". This in turn was based on a dramatic monologue written and performed in the mid-30s by music-hall comedian Billy Bennett called The Street of a Thousand Lanterns (I'll not repeat the words to that here). 

Towards the end of 1960 it was BBC Light Programme producer Derek Chinnery who was tasked with producing a new show for the upcoming DJ from Australia, one Alan Freeman. Freeman had already been given a weekly try-out on the daily disc show Twelve O'Clock Spin and in January 1961 was to get his own weekly show Records Around Five, sandwiched between Mrs Dale's Diary and Roundabout. Chinnery thought that the recently issued record by Brian Fahey and his Orchestra was appropriate as a theme and Alan liked it too. And so it was first used as Fluff's theme on 5 January 1961 for a show that had a 14-week run.

In September 1961 Alan took over the role as presenter of the Saturday night best-selling record countdown Pick of the Pops from David Jacobs. Initially part of a longer show Trad Tavern it became a stand-alone Sunday afternoon fixture from 7 January 1962. It was Alan that suggested to producer Denys Jones that there were sections of At the Sign of the Swingin' Cymbals that he could use to punctuate the various sections of the show and so started its long-running association with a chart rundown.       

So popular was the new theme that Parlophone re-issued it in 1962 (catalogue number 45R-4909) labelled as the theme tune to Pick of the Pops under the title At the Sign of the Swingin' Cymbal and credited to Brian Faye (sic) and his Orchestra.

The theme was dropped in late 1966 in favour of Quite Beside the Point (a composition by Cliff Adams, he of Sing Something Simple fame)  and credited as being played by the Harry Roberts Sound.

By 1970 At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbal was back in a brand new souped-up faster brass-led arrangement by singer, composer and arranger Barbara Moore, the version that's still played to this day. It was recorded in a session that saw the group of musicians, under the name of Brass Incorporated, also playing the Moore composition for Terry Wogan's Radio 1 afternoon show called Just Like That. Both were released on a Pye International single (catalogue number 7N.25520).

The theme was dropped when Fluff's reign on Pick of the Pops ended in 1972 and on his daily show he used Quincy Jones's Soul Bosa Nova. But Alan was so wedded to At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbal that he used it again and again over the next 30 years: on his Rock Show, on Youth Club Call, on Pick of the Pops Take 2 at Capital and Pick of the Pops Take 3 at Capital Gold and again when the show came back to the BBC as a retro chart show, first on Radio 1 and then on Radio 2.  He played it for the final time on 21 April 2000.

Of course those cymbals are still swinging as the theme has remained with Radio 2's weekly Pick of the Pops since 2000 with Dale Winton, Tony Blackburn and Paul Gambaccini.      

Here in audio form is the story of At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbal and Pick of the Pops with the voices of Alan's first BBC producer Derek Chinnery, his first POTP producer Denys Jones, Fluff himself talking to Steve Wright in 1997 and Barbara Moore in conversation with Tony Currie in 2014.

Though the Brian Fahey version was dropped in 1966 it has continued to appear on radio and TV and in 1975, by which time Brian was the conductor of the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra, he got to conduct another performance of it. This comes from the Radio 2 show Saturday Night featuring the BBC Radio Orchestra, presented from London by Ray Moore, with the SRO up in Glasgow with an introduction from the guest singer that week, Danny Street. 

The tune re-surfaced on Radio 1 in 1998 when Fatboy Slim got his hands on the Fahey original and re-mixed it for the Top 40 rundown with Mark Goodier. A couple of months later yet another re-mix, this time by The Propellerheads and titled Crash! was used and lasted four years. Their version also featured in the soundtrack to the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.  

Brian Fahey was born in Margate in 1919 had been taught to play the piano and cello by his father. He joined the territorial Army in 1938 and was called up the following year where he joined the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He was wounded and captured during the retreat to Dunkirk. He spent the next five years as a prisoner of war organising entertainment in the POW camps. His first job as a musician was as pianist with Rudi Starita's Band where he met his future wife Audrey Laurie who sang with the band. He arranged for Geraldo, Harry Roy, Billy Cotton, Joe Loss and Ken MacIntosh for whom he wrote The Creep (a chart hit in 1954). His 1955 composition for Eric Winstone's Band called Fanfare Boogie won him an Ivor Novello Award.

Between 1949 and 1959 Brian worked as a staff arranger for Chappells and Cinephonic Music before going freelance. He broadcast regularly with his own orchestra on the Light Programme (Saturday Club, Morning Music and Breakfast Special) and was Shirley Bassey's Musical Director 1967-72. Personnel playing in his orchestra included Danny Moss (sax), Stan Reynolds (trumpet), Freddy Staff (trumpet), Harry Roche (trombone), Ralph Dollimore (paino) and Dick Abel (guitar).

Other Fahey compositions that were used on BBC radio included Swinging Choice, the theme for the short-lived successor to Housewives' Choice on Radio 1 called Family Choice, Pete Murray's theme for Open House and the opening music for Late Night Extra.

Between 1972 and 1981 Brian was the conductor of the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra until it was disbanded in a round of cost-cutting. By this time he was living in Skelmorlie in Ayrshire. His own orchestra continued to appear for a few years on Radio 2 shows such as You and the Night and the Music and the weekend Early Show and Late Show and later he guest conducted the BBC Radio Orchestra and the BBC Big Band.  He died in 2007.  

For more about Barbara Moore see her website here and a page on the De Wolfe Music site.  

Radio 1 at 50 - Part 2 The First Ten Years

If Radio 1 had a golden era it must surely be the first ten years of its existence. For the first five there was little or no commercial opposition and when ILR stations did roll out there were still vast tracts of the UK that had no choice but to tune in to 247 for their (daytime) pop music fix. All the DJs were household names and many popped up on TV too, were mobbed when they opened a local supermarket or filled the dance floor hosting down at the discotheque. 

By 1970 Tony Blackburn's morning show pulled in 4.45 million listeners, the JY Prog on both Radios 1 and 2 5.75m, Radio 1 Club 2.3m, Saturday's Junior Choice 7.9m, Rosko 2.78m, DLT's Sunday show 3.25m and Pick of the Pops 4.65m.

On 30 September 1977 Radio 1 celebrated its 10th anniversary and gained  a Radio Times cover. Inside Ray Connolly spoke to  a number of the DJs. Here are some extracts from those articles.  

Tony Blackburn

His views on popular music and the function of Radio 1 are disarmingly honest. He says: 'To me pop music is just a load of tuneful, memorable music. Every week about 70 new records are released, of which maybe one or two will be hits. You play the hits like mad for six or seven weeks until something else comes along to take their place, and then two or three years later you bring them out again as revived-45s.

I think people take popular music too seriously. At the moment everyone's talking about punk rock. That will probably last for another two weeks and then be replaced by something else. But all the time there are a number of good artists, not affected by the trends, who keep on turning out good records year after year.

I think my job is to be artistic in sound. I think I'm painting a portrait in sound. I'm also trying to entertain the audience. My show is what I call U-rated entertainment ... something which goes into the home and will not offend anyone at all.

If I were in charge of a popular music station I would rotate the same 30 records all day - the way they do at WABC in New York.

Anne Nightingale

Anne Nightingale, as the only woman disc-jockey on national radio, would appear to attract a slightly different kind of audience from her male colleagues. Her programme is all requests and, although she steers well clear of the obvious trap of running a musical problem corner, she does find that many of her requests concern's people's personal lives.

'It's really very difficult not to become involved and distressed sometimes by the letters we get,' she says.  For instance, I got a letter from a girl a couple of years ago who was dying of cancer. She wanted a certain record playing on a certain day because she thought it might be the last day she and her husband would have together. So I played the record, although I didn't explain over the air all the details of the request. Then I subsequently found out from the husband's sister that she has, in fact, died the day after my playing that record for her had made her last day very happy.

Many of Anne's listeners are students ('Leeds University is incredible'), but she feels she has to be careful not to give the programme an elitist style in case the young person from the comprehensive will be deterred from writing to her because of his lack of educational qualifications. (The fact that university students even write in to request programmes must surely illustrate just how far pop music and attitudes have changed in the past 15 years.)

Possibly because she has had a great deal of experience in journalism Anne proved to be the most critical of the disc-jockeys I spoke to of the way in which Radio 1 is organised: 'I feel that because the BBC is in this special position of not having to bother about ratings or attracting revenue from advertising it ought to be able to offer the best popular music radio station in the world. But because of things like finance and needle-time it has to compromise, with the result that it really is two separate stations - a Top 40 station during the day and an FM, more serious rock station late at night and over the weekends. What we need are two distinct stations, one for the teeny-boppers and another for people who want to listen to album tracks.  

Dave Lee Travis

No one can say that it isn't a responsible job, because it is. You can't go on a national radio station and just go off at any old tangent. Occasionally we get people in to talk about careers for young people, and I'm sure that because it's presented on Radio 1 instead of an another station, then we get the kids to take it more seriously.

But basically my function is to enlighten the listeners by guiding them towards new music which they might not have heard otherwise and, like any other disc-jockey or pop star, I'm there to amuse the listeners and be a friend in the home. You can't really do more because it isn't a political thing and it isn't your place to start discussing politics.

He feels that popular music has changed for the better during the last ten years and is sure that Radio 1 must take some of the credit for that.

'Punk rock is exciting and good for the entire business. Eighty per cent of it may be rubbish, but the other 20 per cent might be good. And I'm sure that out of punk rock will come some good, new and exciting bands.

Although he admits to having a very catholic taste in music, his very favourite piece of music is Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. 

Alan Freeman

Because of his great age (half a century is a great age for someone in the ephemeral world of pop radio!) he has possibly the most objective view of both the public who listen to him and the station itself. He says of his listeners: 'In the past ten years the people who listen to music have grown up very quickly They really listen now. Music isn't just a background thing for them. They listen to it, they eat it, they sleep it and they even dream it. Possibly the music has become too intelligent and it might possibly have lost some of its fun, but there is so much good music around today it's absolutely fascinating.'

His audience is so widespread that he is secretly amazed. Some time ago he went to buy a raincoat and was surprised to hear the shop assistant (a man in his late 50s or early 60s) complimenting him upon his programme. Assuming that he was mistaken for someone else, he smiled and said 'thank you' only to find himself on the end of a very long dissertation on the art of Emmerson, Lake and Palmer. The elderly raincoat salesman was something of an expert on modern. serious rock music.  

Freeman sees Radio 1 as a great success story, but recognises that it will forever be the butt of the critics. 'You see, it was the successor to the pirates and so from its inception it was unglamorous because it wasn't illegal. And some of the disc-jockeys who had been pirates lost a bit of their glamour because they suddenly became legal and respectable.'

Kid Jensen

'

Radio 1's function is to reflect the trends and tastes in popular music, and to present new sounds. And I think it has done this very successfully over the last few years. A lot of people choose to ignore a lot of the work that Radio 1 has done in giving air-time to new directions in music.'

He is unhappy with the name 'disc-jockey', because he prefers to see himself as 'a broadcaster - a communicator. and perhaps a friend. I like to have a lot of fun on the radio,' he says. 'And often when I go on live gigs I feel rather like a politician, because, like a politician, a disc-jockey obviously has to be liked by people.'

Elsewhere in the same issue of the Radio Times, Wilfred D'Ath caught up with the Radio 1 Roadshow team in Plymouth.

On the Road

Brian Patten, the Roadshow's producer, joins me for drinks in the hotel lounge. he and the Roadshow team - a disc-jockey, a secretary, three sound engineers and a driver - are suffering a little from road-lag, having traversed Sandown, IOW, Bournemouth, Swanage, Weymouth, Exmouth and Torquay in the past seven days, and with St Austell, Falmouth, St Ives, Newquay, Bude, Ilfracombe, Minehead and Weston-super-Mare still ahead. And this is only the south-west leg of the operation.

We are joined by the week's DJ, Paul Burnett, a charming uxorious man (his wife Nicole and two children are travelling with him) in his middle 30s, surprisingly lacking in confidence for a big-time Radio 1 DJ. Unlike some of the other Roadshow jockeys - Dave Lee Travis, Ed Stewart, Kid Jensen, Noel Edmonds ad Tony Blackburn - who pull enormous audiences on the strength of their TV reputations, Burnett, a shy Geordie whose life's ambition it was to spin discs on Radio 1, is having to work against the grain a bit. One likes him all the more for it.

Next morning I wake at 6.30, breakfast early and make my way to the Roadshow site on the Hoe, right under the lighthouse. But the team has beaten me to it. The Radio 1 caravan is already being unpacked.

The Radio 1 Roadshow caravan is a tiny miracle of audio compactness. In a matter of minutes it unfolds itself into studio console, sound stage, control panel, two deafening loudspeakers, storage space for records and props, and, of course, a direct Post Office line to the Radio 1 continuity suite in London. There is even a huge blue bin for the audience's record dedications, which tend to be written on bananas, vodka bottle and teddy bears.  

By 8.30 this miracle has unfolded its brightly painted contents for all to see and a small crowd of (mostly local) teenagers is beginning to gather behind the steel barriers. There is one middle-aged man in a dark suit carrying an enormous transistor radio. A plump girl of 16, wearing a Radio 1 sweatshirt, has followed the show (with her mother!) all the way along the coast from Bournemouth and intends to stay with it till St Ives, at least. It is extremely hard to get her to explain why. She just like the feeling of being at the centre of the channel's ten million or so listeners for the day.

Shortly after ten, Burnett arrives to do his warm-up. he looks distinctly nervous. 'This is the worst part,' he tells me. 'If you don't get them during the warm-up, you don't get them at all.' Patten introduces him on stage and he launches into a routine of discs, corny gags and friendly insults directed at other Radio1 DJs.

The Radio 1 Roadshow slips effortlessly on to the air-waves at 11 am, returning to London at 11.30 am for the national news. Burnett announces this as 1.30 am and spends a little time kicking himself. But it's his worst fluff of the morning. Pop records, pre-selected in London from a short-list of 60, blare out into the sunshine. The audience cheers loudly whenever Plymouth is mentioned. The show comes alive, it seems to me, at 11.15, with a record called Hello Mary Lou by Oakie. there is an eruption of tiny pubescent hands clapping in time to it all over Plymouth Hoe. Everyone looks happy. One feels happy oneself. It is difficult to imagine Radio 1 promoting itself more colourfully.

At the back of the magazine Paul Gambaccini wrote about the changes in pop music over the first ten years.

Some pundits wondered if the neglect by Radio 1's daytime programmes could keep punk rock records out of the Top 20, but this kind of speculation is always ill-informed. The notorious playlist of about 40 records which, thanks to the music press, has become the most famous list since the Papal Index, only influences the programmes heard between 7.0 am and 4.30 pm Monday to Friday. Every other Radio 1 show has its own programming philosophy, and very major New Wave record has been aired, although God Save the Queen was quickly banned. Even this case proved the rule, because just as Je T'aime- Moi Non Plus survived a BBC ban and the renunciation of its own record company to become number one in 1969. The Sex Pistols got to number two in some charts despite the BBC and the big retailers who refused to stock the single.

On the other hand, it is by no means certain the Radio 1 airplay guarantees a Top 20 placing. Although he may run me down one night with a very fast-moving sports car for saying this, well over 50 per cent of the singles Noel Edmonds chooses as his Record of the Week never make the 20. If being played every morning for a week to an audience of several millions can't break a record, nothing can, and, in the case of most stiffs, nothing does. The Radio 1 playlist and the Top 20 are two different compilations. One is assembled by daytime producers who feel they know what their audience wants to hear, the other is tabulated by a bureau that adds up what record buyers have purchased.   

And finally John  Peel wrote about some of the trends in music and, not unexpectedly championed punk.

It is true that no station other than Radio 1 would sanction a programme such as that I introduce each night of the week. On this John Walters, my producer, and I present what we feel to be the very best of rock music, taking in also folk, reggae and whatever else seems relevant. We also play the Yesses and ELPs of this world, although with a disgraceful display of truculence from me, as part of our review function. The commercial stations dependent on wooing the largest (and most prosperous) of audiences have generally restricted their hesitant wanderings outside the Top 40 to picnicking in Framptonland.

John Walters and I, together with the producers responsible for Saturday's Alan Freeman and Kid Jensen programmes, have welcomed punk not only for its vigour and relevance, but because it has emerged as music of character in an increasingly characterless landscape. It does seem however that Radio 1, by generally ignoring even those punk records which have made the BBC charts, has missed a heaven-sent opportunity to re-establish credibility with a considerable potential audience which is growing up to believe that radio has little or no part in its life.

Although the current and undeniable force of punk may soon be blunted by exploitation and misunderstanding, media hostility and misrepresentation, the youthful punk audience believes, as we believed in 1967, that no real divide exists - nor will ever exist - between the musicians and their audience. Given the history of underground music over the past decade they should perhaps be a trifle less optimistic, as success must corrupt their heroes as surely as it corrupted the heroes of the past. In the meantime, it is enough to enjoy the music, reflecting that being condemned in the Sun and The Times alike will serve to strengthen rather than weaken their cause. 

To mark the station's decade on air Alan Freeman presented the documentary Radio 1 - The First Ten Years. Written by David Rider - he also wrote an accompanying book - it was broadcast on Sunday 2 October 1977. [This recording is the version repeated by Radio 4 Extra on 30 September 2017 -its taken from the 31 December 1977 repeat tape - but as certain sections were edited out for that repeat I have added these back in from an off-air medium wave recording, hence the edits are apparent] 

In the next Radio 1 at 50 blog post the fun-filled 1980s. 

Pop Pickers and Music Vendors

Asked to choose your favourite British radio DJs the chances are one of them will be on this list: David Jacobs, Alan Freeman, John Peel, Tommy Vance and Roger Scott. All now sadly no longer with us. But all are the subject of this latest book, Pop Pickers and Music Vendors by John Van der Kiste.

John has traced the careers of these eminent DJs (and Eminent DJs was the working title for the book) because he rightly regards the five "as among the greatest in their field", observing that not only did they end their careers as radio presenters "but also that four of them were still broadcasting within weeks of their passing away." Old DJs never die, they just fade.....

Aside from Peel - who must surely be the most written about DJ, with Kenny Everett running a close second - the rest of John's cast of players have not received the same level of attention, at least not in printed form. There is much here to satisfy the casual reader as there is the ardent radio enthusiast.

Pop Pickers and Music Vendors is published by Fonthill Media and is available from them and all the usual places. One for the Christmas book list I think.

Here are the famous five in action:

Pick of the Pops 1977

The juxtaposition of punk and disco makes fascinating viewing for those of us watching the 1977 Top of the Pops repeats (Thursday nights BBC Four).  It remains uncertain whether 1978 re-broadcasts will go ahead, sans Savile-fronted editions, next year. Here’s hoping they do.

Anyhow, before we leave 1977 here’s a chance to hear Alan Freeman counting down the hits from July of that year in a Pick of the Pops show on Radio 1 in 1991. Music from Barbra Streisand, Carole Bayer Sager, The Stranglers, Kenny Rogers, ONJ, Boney M, Gladys Knight & the Pips, ELP, The Jacksons and Hot Chocolate.

Right is the Radio Times billing for the edition shown last week. The unnamed “Radio 1 DJ” turned out to be Peter Powell’s first show.

Carry On Up the Charts

I suspect that many of you reading this post will, in your teenage years, have spent Sunday afternoons with your finger poised over the pause button as you taped the chart hits of the day. A pastime denied todays download generation.  

This month sixty years ago the New Musical Express published the first weekly 'Record Hit Parade' chart based on record sales – 78 r.p.m. discs at the time of course – with Al Martino’s Here in My Heart being the first chart-topper.

Chart shows based on sheet music sales had been broadcast on Radio Luxembourg since 1948. On the BBC Pick of the Pops was still three years off, and it didn’t feature the hit parade until 1958.

Celebrating all things chart-related is this BBC Radio 2 documentary, Carry On Up the Charts, presented by the king of the countdown Alan Freeman. It was broadcast on 19 August 2000 and also features Paul Gambaccini, Dr Fox, Pete Murray, Johnny Beerling, Andy Parfitt, Billboard journalist Fred Bronson and David Roberts, the editor of the now defunct Guinness British Hit Singles book. (I've edited out most of the music).  

This Saturday (10th) and next (17th) Tony Blackburn will be counting down the best-selling songs of each year from 1952 to 2012 on Pick of the Pops.

BBC Four is showing the documentary Pop Charts Britannia: 60 Years of the Top 10 on Friday 16 November. The following Friday you can see The Joy of the Single.

1976 Again

In contrast to the relaxed presenting style of Tom Browne in the 1976 Remembered post here’s another slice of ’76, this time with Alan Freeman. This is an edited version of Pick of the Pops as broadcast on Radio 1 on 6 December 1992. 

The Christmas Knowledge

This Radio 1 show dates from a time when the station was also the home of some cutting edge comedy. Victor Lewis-Smith, Armando Iannucci, Julian Clary and Loose Talk featured in the schedules of the early 90s.

The Knowledge was a four-part spoof documentary narrated by Alan Freeman, this recording is of the one-off seasonal version, The Christmas Knowledge, broadcast on 30 December 1993.

What makes this such a hoot is not just the script but Fluff’s reading of it, a true tour de force. There’s also a bit of fun to be had against his Radio 1 colleagues including “beardy Scouser” John Peel.

The programme also features Tim Whitnall, Bernadine Corrigan, David Howarth, Peter Serafinowicz (man of voices including Darth Maul and Terry Wogan) and Julie Gibbs. Music is by Murray Gold (of Doctor Who fame) and the script written by Andy Riley (Bunny Suicides) and Kevin Cecil (who would both later write Hyperdrive and Robbie the Reindeer).  The Producer is Gareth Edwards.

Bits of Fluff

I was listening to Greeting Pop Pickers – The Story of Pick of the Pops that was broadcast last night and it set me thinking as to when was Fluff’s first appearance on the BBC.

Last night’s programme suggested that he’d done various fill-in shows on both the Light Programme and 208. My own research for my Alan Freeman post revealed that he arrived in the UK in 1957 and was working for Radio Luxembourg in 1958 onwards. As far as I could ascertain he presented Housewives’ Choice in 1960 but I have no exact dates. Did he host any other shows on the BBC in 1959 or 1960 before stating Records Around Five on 5 January 1961?

It would appear that Fluff was on BBC television in 1959. According to the Alan Freeman page on the John Peel Wiki site he was on Juke Box Jury in the summer or 1959 with, of course, David Jacobs from whom he would take over Pick of the Pops two years later.

I chanced upon another appearance on Juke Box Jury on 20 February 1960 (see Radio Times illustration above). On this occasion he was on with the panel also consisting of Anthea Askey, actress and daughter of big-hearted Arthur, Czech-born actress Jeanette Sterke and comedian Ted Ray, hardly qualified to comment on the pop records of the day you’d think.

If you have any further information about Fluff’s early radio and TV appearances please contact me.

Radio Lives - Alan Freeman “Not ‘Arf”

Over the years there have been a small number of Australians that the British have taken into their hearts – Rolf, Dame Edna and Kylie spring to mind – but to that list we must surely add broadcasting great Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman who entertained us for four decades.

This month sees the 50^th anniversary of Alan Freeman’s first Pick of the Pops.  In this post, the second in the Radio Lives series,  I’ll recall the key dates of the career of the man I like to call Sir Fluffington, illustrated with old Radio Times listings and audio clips.

Young Alan Leslie Freeman’s ambition was to be a singer like his musical idol, the American opera and concert singer, John Charles Thomas. Whilst Alan had a “pleasing baritone voice”, as he later admitted he “never had the vocal equipment” to make it professionally. It was, therefore, on Australian radio where he got to use that voice, first as an announcer then as a presenter at 7LA in Tasmania and then 3KZ in his home town of Melbourne.

Like many of his young fellow Australians Alan felt the urge to see the world and make his way to Europe. In 1957 he was also going to marry a model but when he told her of his plans she said “You either have your trip or we get married” to which he replied “I’ll write to you from London.”

So it was that Alan arrived in the UK during his 9-month round the world trip but in the event he never returned to Oz. Looking for radio work he auditioned at Radio Luxembourg, where he was judged as “adequate”. Nevertheless he was soon working as a summer relief announcer on 208 and then later as DJ providing recorded shows for the station from their Hertford Street studios.

In 1960 Alan did a turn on the Light Programme’s Housewives’ Choice and Twelve O'Clock Spin which eventually led to his first regular show on the BBC on 5 January 1961 hosting Records Around Five – “around five” because it started at 16:48 just after the racing results. This show was produced by Derek Chinnery, later to be a network controller for Radio 1, and together they chose Brian Fahey’s  At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbal as the signature tune. This theme was to stay with Fluff for the rest of his career.

By late 1961 Light Programme producers had decided to incorporate Pick of the Pops, at the time presented by David Jacobs, into a live Saturday night show called Trad Tavern. As David didn’t fancy the idea of doing the show in front of the live audience Alan was asked to take over, which he did from 23 September. Here’s David talking to Fluff on the previous week’s show.

And so Alan started his first stint as host of the weekly chart show which was to last until 1972. Throughout that run he worked with producer Denys Jones when the show moved to its traditional Sunday afternoon slot from 1962, thus establishing the time and day for chart shows that continues to this day. During this time Alan developed the style for which he became famous: the short staccato sentences, his listeners becoming “pop pickers”, the dramatic countdowns, the theme tune used to punctuate proceedings and the segueing of records whilst announcing the track over the intro. Again the Swinging Cymbal was used but this was changed in March 1966 to a Cliff Adams arrangement –he of Sing Something Simple fame – of Quite Beside the Point by the Harry Roberts Sound.  By 1970 At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbal was back, this time arranged by Barbara Moore and played by Cliff Adams’s Brass Incorporated. This version is the one used by Alan on this Rock Show and subsequent incarnations of POTP and subsequently by Dale Winton and Tony Blackburn. 

Alan’s run on Pick of the Pops was not continuous: in late 1962 David Jacobs made a brief return and in late 1963 Don Moss was the host. During one of these enforced breaks Fluff was asked to present the late-night show Pop To Bed, taking over from Pete Murray. Advised by the Head of Gramophone Programmes, Anna Instone, that he must play soft ballads in the 20 minutes before midnight because that was when listeners went to bed he responded “Miss Instone, when Alan Freeman is on the air, nobody goes to bed.”

 

For any freelance DJs the amount of work on offer from the BBC in the early 60s was still very limited so many also worked for Radio Luxembourg as well, and Alan Freeman was no exception.  Fluff continued to appear on 208 throughout the 60s and into the 70s on shows such as Spin with the Stars and Pops Till Midnight, an EMI sponsored show produced by Harry Walters (who would go onto produce Jimmy Young’s show on Radio 2).

In 1964 Alan was asked by producer Bryant Marriott to present a couple of Beatles Bank Holiday specials called From Us To You. These gave the Fab Four the opportunity to sing a few songs and enjoy a bit of banter with Uncle Fluff. Here are a few short clips from those shows.

By now Alan was also one of the regular hosts of BBC1’s Top of the Pops, alongside Jimmy Savile, Pete Murray and David Jacobs. In all he made 94 appearances on the programme but unfortunately all the 1960s shows he did were wiped with the exception of the Christmas 1967 edition. (YouTube extracts have been removed since this post was first written)

From the same stable as TOTP came All Systems Freeman-the producer of both was Johnnie Stewart. Starting on 5 January 1968 this short-lived BBC1 TV series had Alan introducing the big hits of the day.

When Radio 1 started in 1967 Alan was still on Pick of the Pops but by 1970 had picked up some extra work on the station on the rota of presenters hosting What’s New – a daily review of new releases that rather helpfully didn’t count against the needletime allocation. (In 1967 he'd occasionally presented the Light Programme precursor to this show, Newly Pressed.)

Here’s a fascinating piece of audio of Alan “rehearsing” his chart rundowns. Be warned, there’s a spot of effing and jeffing. Naughty Fluff!

In September1972 Fluff presented his last POTP as a weekly new chart programme – when it returned it was as a retro show- and Tom Browne took over the charts with Solid Gold Sixty. Back in April of that year on Radio 1 Terry Wogan had left his 3-5 p.m. show to move across to Radio 2’s breakfast show and Alan Freeman moved into Terry’s old programme slot.

It was in the daily afternoon show that Alan finally broke away from just playing hit singles and got the chance to play the odd rock track with encouragement from his producer Tony Wilson, but much to the annoyance of management. On 1 January 1973 as the UK went into Europe the show came from Rome. Here’s a very short clip, the year is beeped out as it was used in a Radio 1 guess the year quiz; notice that his theme is now Soul Bossanova by Quincy Jones. Yeah baby!

1973 was the beginning of a busy 5-year period at the Beeb for Alan. Although his daily show ended he was given free rein to play all the heavy metal and prog rock he liked on a new Saturday afternoon show starting on 30 June, though he initially thought that demotion to a Saturday afternoon was him being pensioned off. However, as the show went out in stereo on VHF as well as 247 metres (opposite Sport on 2) it soon built up a loyal following.

In the summer of 1973 it was Alan who went out on the road in the first ever Radio 1 Roadshow. Developing the Youth Club Call feature from his old daily show he also picked up a Tuesday drivetime show that regularly came from youth clubs around the country. Initially this went out under the old Radio 1 Club title but the idea of the club was dropped in late ’73 and with it went the title.  This show ran until 1975.

In September 1973 it was Alan that was chosen to narrate the 26-part series The Story of Pop. Written by Charlie Gillett and Tim Blackmore (who would go on to invite Alan to work for him at Capital Radio and later became his manager) the series was to prove very successful and was given a repeat in 1975 and sold to radio stations worldwide. For series editor Keith Skues it was the last BBC project he worked on before becoming programme director at Radio Hallam. The Story of Pop was revised and extended into a 52-part series in 1994 from which this short clips comes:

1975 saw Alan in quizzical mode as he was the question master on Radio 1’s Quiz Kid, organised in co-operation with the National Association of Youth Clubs (clip below). Meanwhile that same year he was presenting another quiz over on Radio 2. Free Spin offered the chance for listeners to take part in a music quiz over the phone, an early version of Pop Master if you will, though the programme billing promised a musical range encompassing “grand opera to rock ‘n’ roll”. Alan continued to host the series until 1977; the following year comedian Duggie Brown took over – what a contrast!

In 1978 Alan left the BBC – for the first time. His last rock show went out on Saturday 26 August.

So unless you lived in London and the south east Fluff disappeared for a while apart from popping up on the odd TV advert.



Between 1980 and 1988 Alan was at Capital Radio where he initially revived the Rock Show and then later Pick of the Pops - as Pick of the Pops Take Two combining current hits and an old chart rundown. He still made occasional national radio appearances on ILR’s Network Chart Show, deputising for David Jensen.

The Sunday lunchtime ‘oldies’ slot on Radio 1 had became well established by 1987 with Jimmy Savile’s Old Record Club. However, network controller Johnny Beerling thought that Jimmy was now becoming “old hat” so he was replaced by the younger man- Mike Read.  When audience figures dropped by over a million Johnny sounded out a replacement for Mike, that someone was Alan Freeman. In the early 60s it was Beerling, as assistant studio manager, that had played in the discs for Alan, no self-op studios in those days. To entice him back to “formidable 1FM” Fluff was offered a package of both Pick of the Pops and a Rock Show. At the age of 61 it was decided that there was no point in hiding it so press officer Jeff Simpson devised a photo call on a double decker bus with Fluff waving his bus pass.     

Pick of the Pops returned to the Beeb on Sunday 15 January 1989 with the Rock Show starting the previous day. This is an extract from that first programme. Titled the Saturday Rock Show it was actually broadcast between midnight and 2 a.m. on the Sunday morning (the BBC day tends to run from 6 a.m.) which seems to cause some confusion for Fluff. The show opening more than amply demonstrates that he was still at the top of his game – this is how to start a show. Let’s rock!

By 1993 Beerling had decided to retire from the BBC and the incoming Controller was Matthew Bannister. Under his watch many of the old names were dropped in what proved to be a bloody period in Radio 1’s history. Out went DLT, Simon Bates, Bruno Brookes, Bob Harris and Alan Freeman.

In fact Fluff’s last Pick of the Pops for the station was on 27 December 1992, in the New Year The Man Ezeke started a similar (short-lived) show called Number One’s on 1. Here’s part of that final Radio 1 POTP programme:

Later that week Radio 1 paid tribute to Fluff, here’s part of that broadcast with Gambo, Johnny Beerling and the man himself:

The last Saturday Rock show went out on 23 October 1993. Producer Tony Wilson managed to get a few old rockers on the line to speak to Alan, you’ll hear Robert Plant (or “Bobbie” as Fluff calls him), Danny Bowes, Ian Gillan, Fish, Blaze Bayley, Joe Elliot and a message from Rick Wakeman.

Alan returned to the Capital group the following year where he presented Pick of the Pops Take Three on Capital Gold. His Rock Show re-appeared on Virgin 1215 and he did the odd show on Classic FM, his first love was of course opera.

April 1997 saw Uncle Fluff return to the BBC for a third and last time. Radio 2 Controller Jim Moir invited him back with the offer of two programmes: the old war horse Pick of the Pops on a Saturday afternoon and a Tuesday night series of classical music called Their Greatest Bits.  A week before POTP returned Fluff spoke to Steve Wright on his Saturday morning show.

The style was the same as ever, that pared down delivery punctuated with, er, classical, pop and rock snippets, right. Writing in 2000 radio critic Roland White recalled Fluff playing I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll by Joan Jett and as it faded saying “You do too? Thought so.” And perhaps only he could get away with announcing “Methinks we may have heard a little bit of Santana”. No wonder he did so much to inspire ‘Smashie and Nicey’. Phil Swern remembers him playing the Ivy League’s Tossing and Turning and then asking his audience “Well loves, are you a tosser or are you a turner?”

Meanwhile over on Radio 4 a Kaleidoscope Feature called All Right? Stay Bright? saw Alan reminiscing with his old Radio 1 colleague Paul Gambaccini. This programme aired on Saturday 16 August 1997.

Radio 2 certainly had its share of “veteran” broadcasters back in 2000 – Alan Keith (91), Jimmy Young (78), Richard Baker (74), Desmond Carrington (73) and David Jacobs (73). So at 72 Alan Freeman was by no means the oldest. Under the production of Phil “The Collector” Swern most of the Radio 2 POTP programmes had in fact been voice-tracked but a combination of arthritis and failing hearing led Fluff to the decision to hang up his headphones. The last regular Saturday programme aired on 1 April 2000, after which Dale Winton took the helm, but was followed by a Good Friday special a fortnight later in which Alan played 40 years of number 1 hits. He continued with Their Greatest Bits and the eighth and last series concluded on 3 April 2001.

This is Fluff’s last ever chart rundown from that Good Friday broadcast:

Alan’s booming baritone voice was now much diminished with the onset of osteomyelitis in his jaw. By now, following a couple of falls, he was now being cared for at Brinsworth House, a retirement home run by the Entertainment Artistes’ Benevolent Fund. It was there on 27 November 2006 that Alan passed away.

Here’s how BBC and ITV news reported his death:

And former colleague at Capital Radio David Jensen gave this appraisal to Sky News:

Alan Freeman 1927-2006.

Information sources include:

Radio Radio:Alan Freeman – Radio 1 (020886), The Complete Fluff – Radio 2 (101206), Interview with Alan Freeman by Angela Levin – Mail on Sunday (300691), Radio 1:The Inside Scene – Johnny Beerling (Trafford Publishing 2008)

Extracts from What’s New and 1960s POTP courtesy of Azanorak

Extract from Radio Luxembourg courtesy of 208 It Was Great

Read more about Fluff:

Alan Freeman Tribute Site

Radio Rewind

Sixties City
Donate to Brinsworth House
EABF Website