I start my review of the early BBC Local Radio stations by, ironically, focussing on an area that didn’t get a local station until 1980. It’s timed to coincide with a documentary going out this Bank Holiday Monday on Radio Norfolk titled Radio in a Roundabout Way.
By the early 1970s the BBC’s English regional opt-outs on Radio 4, and prior to that on the Home Service, were being phased out as the local radio network expanded. Regional identities remained in just East Anglia and the South-West.
The first regional opt-out from Norwich was a 35 minute show Happy Weekend, Everybody, billed as “Your songs, your music, whatever you’re up to”. The main presenter was Tom Edwards already well-known in the area as a former host on BBC1’s Look East as well, of course, as being a former pirate and Radio 1 DJ. However, the music mix of everything from “Semprini to rock ‘n’ roll” was not perhaps what the Radio 4 audience expected. The series ran from 1968 to early 1970 and alongside Tom the other host was former TV announcer Maggie Clews.
Launched in April 1970 was the region’s first news based magazine show, a half-hour opt-out from the Today programme called This is East Anglia. Again fronting this was Tom Edwards and, occasionally Jean Goodman who also presented Woman’s Hour from the region.
But, according to the BBC publication Serving Neighbourhood and Nation, “half-an-hour tended to be too short a time for the magazine to develop character and production staff felt this somewhat cramped their style”.
From 5 August 1974 the programme was extended to two hours (0645-0845) with a new title, Roundabout East Anglia. Broadcast on VHF only it provided the regional slant whilst Today continued on medium wave only.For the first year Christopher Trace (of Blue Peter fame) was the anchor followed by Ellis Hill (pictured above on location with the Norfolk Fire Brigade) and then finally John Mountford, who would go on to work for Radio Norfolk. The mix of hard news and music in a magazine programme came to define the style of BBC local radio, all it lacked was the phone-in element.
The VHF transmission area for Roundabout East Anglia spilled over into parts of Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire and Rutland attracting a regular audience of 300,000 listeners. Stories from this vast, mainly rural, tract of land were provided by eight freelance reporters working for senior producer Michael Chapman (pictured above with naturalist Ted Ellis) based at BBC East’s regional HQ at All Saint’s Green in Norwich.
You can hear interviews with many of the key players in the programme both on-air and behind the scenes in the Radio Norfolk documentary Radio in a Roundabout Way. Little archive material of the show existed apart from some tape inserts courtesy of reporter Stuart Jarrold but fortunately newsreader Michael Drake had kept his cassette copy of Roundabout’s Last Farewell when the programme ended on 30 May 1980. Four months later Radio Norfolk had launched.
With thanks to Paul Hayes.
The theme for This is East Anglia is also the same tune first used by Breakfast Special on the Light Programme back in 1965, Jumping Jupiter by Ron Goodwin.
The Roundabout East Anglia theme is Lazy by Horst (A Walk in the Black Forest) Jankowski
Picture three guys (let’s not call them old men but they are in their 60s and 70s) down the pub chewing the fat and reminiscing about the “good old days”. But these chaps are not just anyone, they broke the law, they were pirates and they were pioneers of pop.
OK, the pub is a studio but Pirates on Parade, on BBC Radio Norfolk this Easter weekend, allows us to eavesdrop on a conversation between Keith Skues, Andy Archer and Tom Edwards, all offshore pirates in the swinging sixties.
Of course these guys love to talk about that time anyway, try stopping them! But the programme does give a clear sense of what life was like on the ships and forts that beamed out Radios Caroline, City and London, which the three DJs worked on. It wasn’t as glamorous as The Boat that Rocked the World might have you believe: in between shows life seemed to consist of grabbing what sleep you could, “enjoying” the somewhat unconventional cuisine of the Dutch crews (everything seemed to be covered in nutmeg) and watching Anglia TV.
In Pirates on Parade you’ll hear how Andy Archer was refused a job because he was wearing the wrong shirt; how, as a Pontins Bluecoat, Tom Edwards got his first taste for broadcasting by playing records over the tannoy; and when Keith Skues took shore leave, and sensing the era of the pirates was at an end, he’d smarten himself up and sit in the public gallery of the House of Commons to watch the Marines Offences Bill go through.
Keith Skues was a DJ at both Caroline and London before heading off to Broadcasting House and joining the new line-up on Radio 1; he presented the second show on the network on that opening day. You can still hear Keith every Sunday evening on Radio Norfolk. Read more about Keith in this post – Radio Hallam.
Andy Archer became the real pirate, staying on-air at Caroline after the Marine Offences Act came into force and was the first person to be prosecuted and fined under the legislation. Read more about Andy in this post – Radio Orwell.
Norwich lad born and bred Tom Edwards was at Radio City, he closed down the station in February 1967, before moving to Radio Caroline South. Back on terra firma he started a career in TV working on BBC Look East, he would later become an ITV announcer, but got back into radio when, in January 1968, he was asked to join Radio 1’s Midday Spin when Simon Dee left the station. Read more about Tom in these posts – Good Morning Great Britain and Wake Up Easy.
Pirates on Parade is a 2-part programme produced by David Clayton and Paul Hayes and can be heard on BBC Radio Norfolk 1200-1300 Sunday 8 April 2012 and 1300-1400 Monday 9 April 2012. It is also on BBC Radio Lincolnshire 1200-1300 Friday 6 April 2012 and 1200-1300 Monday 9 April 2012. Edit 9 August 2017. To mark 50 years since the closure of most of the offshore pirates I've uploaded both these programmes to Mixcloud:
The majority of listeners get their radio 'fix' first thing in the morning, radio’s primetime. In this post I'll be looking at the history of early morning radio on the BBC Light Programme and Radio 2: Breakfast Special and The Early Show. The Breakfast Shows of Wogan, Blackburn, Moyles et al I'll feature at a later date.
Home Service 16 Sept 1948
Go back far enough through the Radio Times back issues and you’ll find that there was little choice on offer for the morning listener. On 16 September 1948, for example, the Home Service kicked off with Bright and Early at 6.30 am featuring Jose Norman and his Rumballeros followed by Morning Music at 7.15 am with music from the BBC Midland Light Orchestra. Over on the Light Programme they had a lie-in and didn’t start transmission until 9 am when, after the news, you’d hear Housewives’ Choice.
Home Service 8 Aug 1958
Fast forward ten years to August 1958 and the Home Service still offers up Bright and Early (David Shand and his Orchestra) but now after 7 am we get Today, considerably shorter and less news-driven that it would become and with no listed presenter, though it is likely to be Jack de Manio. Morning Music was now on the Light from 7 to 9 am.
To give a flavour of what these shows sounded like here’s a short montage created from longer recordings courtesy of Brian Reynold’s website Masters of Melody.
This was pretty much the pattern into the 1960s: the Home Service provided the talk with Today and the Light the BBC recorded sessions from orchestras, including its own in-house ones, and various ensembles playing light music, songs from the shows and popular classics before record requests in Housewives’ Choice at 9 am.But by 1964 early morning music radio was slowly beginning to change. The BBC could no longer be immune to the commercial pressures of the pop world and the pirates were on the horizon.
In January 1964 the BBC sought public opinion on its programming and by way of a week-long experiment some programmes featured singers amongst the otherwise instrumental diet. Some shows had announcers whereas previously the music was played in sequence with no interruption or, as with Morning Music, confined to time checks every 10 minutes or so and hourly reminders of the contributing orchestras. (When on the Home Service Morning Music had an announcer providing a straight introduction to each piece).
Easter Sunday 1964 brought the launch of Radio Caroline. Pop music was now available, to at least part of the country, all day long. Add to this the growing trend to enjoy music on the move with your portable ‘tranny’ and improvement in car radio equipment and you can see why the BBC needed to change, which it did, slowly. There had also been a shift in listening habits with less people tuning in during the evening due to competition from the television; the draw of Dixon of Dock Green and Emergency Ward 10 proved too great.Larger weekday radio audiences would eventually be realised at breakfast time.
By the late 50s the BBC was looking to extend its broadcasting hours, there was a fear that unused airtime and frequencies might be hived off to any commercial competition. It took the results of the Pilkington committee and further negotiations with the Musicians’ Union for more needletime to increase the hours – the Light Programme would start earlier and closedown at 2 am and the Third Programme’s frequencies were used to provide the Music Programme service during the day. These changes were phased-in by late ’64.
Light Programme 11 June 1965
From August 1964 the Light Programme started its transmissions at 5.30 am with Bright and Early (the old Home Service show had returned as a daily fixture from September 1963 and would run until December 1964) and Morning Music between 6 and 8 am. From now on weekday editions had a named announcer assigned on a daily rota– Jimmy Kingsbury, Bryan Martin, Tony Raymont, Paul Hollingdale, John Dunn, Rodney Burke, Sean Kelly, Jon Curle, David Geary, Roy Williamson, Peter Latham, John Roberts, Brian Perkins and Bruce Wyndham. Vocal groups, such as The Rita Williams Singers, are gradually brought into the music mix. As with the orchestras and bands-of which 35 are used in any given week-most of the musical contributions are BBC recorded sessions, though we now see the addition of “some stars on records”.
At the same time the Light also introduced a new disc programme, Family Fare, filling the gap between Morning Musicand Housewives’ Choice. It had a different presenter each week also drawn from the ranks of the staff announcers. Popping up on this show were Bryan Martin, David Geary, John Roberts, Martin Muncaster, John Webster, Roger Moffatt, Robin Boyle and Rodney Burke.
The last Morning Music went out on Friday 22 October 1965, introduced by Paul Hollingdale. The following Monday heralded a new start to the day: Breakfast Special.
Breakfast Special ran from 5.30 to 9 am, 6 days a week and, at 3½ hours in length, became the longest regular show on the radio. Presenting duties in that first week were split amongst three staff announcers: John Roberts took Monday and Wednesday, Paul Hollingdale Tuesday and Friday and then Peter Latham Thursday and Saturday.
Featured in that first programme with John Roberts were The Albany Strings directed by Reg Pursglove, The Albert Marland Sextet, Jack Nathan & his Band, The Des Champ Octet, The Richard Holmes Quartet, Harold Smart Trio and the BBC Scottish Variety Orchestra conducted by Jack Leon. Light Programme chief Denis Morris expected the programme to be “friendly and relaxed, but not unduly talkative”.
The use of staff announcers on Breakfast Special continued for the whole of its run to 1972. The rotation of presenters at daily, weekly, then later monthly or quarterly intervals dominated both this programme and The Early Show until 1993 with some notable exceptions who enjoyed a longer tenure – Simon Bates (74-75), Colin Berry (76-77, 84-88) Bruce Wyndham (Saturdays 67-75), Tom Edwards (Saturdays 75-79) and Dave Bussey (weekends 86-91).
A member of that early announcing team, Paul Hollingdale (these days living and working in Vienna) told me that at the time “the Head of Presentation was a man called Andrew Timothy, a veteran announcer and father of the actor Christopher Timothy. One of my first hurdles was to handle the death of Churchill which I announced with all the protocol that went with that on that Sunday morning in January 1965. Timothy told me that I would have to be de-luxembourgised - and I was directed to listen to various announcers like Colin Doran, Frank Phillips and Tim Gudgin.”
The hosting of Breakfast Special, and the many other music shows that gradually appeared in the schedules more often than not fell to the newer guys, the reason, Paul Holligdale says, was that “many of the older brigade of announcers like Frank Phillips, Alvar Lidell, John Snagge, John Webster etc. couldn’t quite believe that changes were in the air and so they didn't want to involve themselvesand weren’t in tune with the trends in pop music at that time. Apart from that they were all coming into the final furlong of their careers at the Beeb.”
Musically Breakfast Special was a mix of the old Morning Music and Family Fare: pop records and popular/light orchestral pieces and small instrumental bands/groups. This was by necessity as the BBC still had its contractual agreements with the Musicians’ Union and with its own in-house orchestras and daily ‘needletime’ was in single figures. By the late 60s increasingly more records were played and the session pieces from each orchestra or band were spread across the week. Paul Hollingdale recalls that that it was “decided to introduce a limited amount of needletime into the shows -one disc every fifteen minutes. And there were inserts of vocals from groups like The Settlers, The Pete King Chorale, Lois Lane etc.”
Here’s a typical Radio Times billing:
Light Programme 24 Sept 1966
From the start Breakfast Special had its own signature tune. Initially this was Jumping Jupiter by the Ron Godwin Orchestra.
But apparently the producers didn’t think much of that and by 6 December it was changed to C’Mon In by Syd Dale, provider of many a theme over the years. Later Syd recalled that when he wanted to branch out on his own he had enough money to finance the recording of four of his own compositions and that C’Mon In was one of them. Its use as a theme by the BBC led to his contract with library music publishers KPM.
Although by the 1970s needletime had increased the use of BBC recorded sessions and re-recordings of pop songs of the day in Breakfast Special and then The Early Show continued into the 1980s. These two extracts should help give a feel for the sound and style of Breakfast Special, by now on Radio 2. From 1969 here’s the familiar warm friendly tones of Ray Moore, who’d joined the programme in 1968.
Writing in his autobiography Tomorrow is Too Late, Ray had this to say about his time on the programme:
The show gave us a refreshing freedom, three and half hours on the air in front of a live microphone and virtually a licence to say anything we liked. Here was the opportunity to put a personal stamp on a show, to develop it any way we chose. It was a glorious ego trip for us all. We might not be part of the BBC delegated ‘to instruct and inform’ but we did carry out the BBC’s other mission, ‘to entertain’, and we worked hard to create a show which worked.
From 1 January 1970 this is Paul Hollingdale with the first Breakfast Special of the new decade and, in fact, his penultimate regular show for the BBC.
During its time on the Light Programme Breakfast Special continued to be presented by three different announcers every week. Included in the rota were the following with, curiously, something of a New Zealand link and its fair share of former actors.
Bruce Wyndham – long-time BBC announcer on the General Overseas Service and then the Light Programme. Left the corporation in 1976 and later worked for Radios 210 and Hallam. Read more about Bruce here.
Peter Latham – former TV actor who left the BBC in the early 70s to become a priest in New Zealand. He died after being run over by a train.
John Roberts – a New Zealander who was a relief BBC tv newsreader in the early 60s (most famously on duty the evening that the news of JFK’s assassination broke), a Home Service and Light Programme announcer 1964-67 and presenter of Cavalcade.
Paul Hollingdale – broadcasting career started with the BFN in Germany. On Radio Luxembourg for 2½ years both from the London end and the Grand Duchy before returning to London in September 1964 and applying for the job of announcer. See also Down Your Local – Radio 210.
Jon Curle – former actor who became an announcer in 1959, later on Radio 3. See also here.
David Symonds – gained broadcasting experience in New Zealand before joining the BBC in 1965. Read more in this post.
Dwight Wylie – the BBC’s first black announcer who joined the BBC in 1965. Returned to Jamaica in the early 70s and headed the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation. Died in 2002. David Dunhill - former journalist and British Forces Network announcer who joined the BBC in 1946. For many years he was the resident announcer on Take It From Here. Worked behind the scenes between 1956 and 1965 before returning to the microphone. Closed down the Home Service in 1967 and opened up Radio 4 the next morning. On retirement he trained many BBC local radio staff. Died in 2005.
Robin Boyle – with the BBC from 1947, best known as the long-running host of Friday Night is Music Night. See also here.
John Dunn – announcer across all the networks from the early 60s who presented a wide variety of programmes. Later best known for his drivetime show on Radio 2.
Sean Kelly – another former actor in films and the occasional tv series between 1957 and 1964 (633 Squadron amongst his credits) on the BBC from 1964 until the early 1969 then at Capital Radio as one of the hosts of Night Flight.
By late 1967, just before Radios 1 and 2 launched, the pattern had changed to a different presenter each week, Monday to Friday, and usually Bruce Wyndham on Saturday morning. Most of the old Light Programme teamcontinued to work on Radio 1 and/or Radio 2 as announcers/newsreaders, presenters of Breakfast Special or of Night Ride - the exception was David Symonds who joined Radio 1’s main daily DJ line-up.
When Radio 1 and Radio 2 replaced the old Light Programme on 30 September 1967 the first show on air that Saturday morning was Breakfast Special with Paul Hollingdale.
Most of the old Light Programme shows transferred across to Radio 2, but as funding was tight the two new networks continued to share programmes across the week, a situation that remained to a greater or lesser degree into the late ‘70s. The BBC paid for a brand new set of jingles for the fledging Radio 1, actually familiar to listeners of the old pirate station Radio London as they included re-sings of many of their PAMS produced packages. No such luxury was afforded to Radio 2 who didn’t use jingles until 1969. But for a while Breakfast Special did use this generic morning jingle “Wake Up Easy, Start the Day Right”.
I’ve never been able to establish who produced this jingle, though I guess it’s also a product of PAMS. Mike Vincent, now of Mountain Group News in the States, told me that he recalled a New York morning personality playing this on their daily show. Others have said they heard it on 560 KMON in Montana and 1270 CHAT in Medicine Hat. (Edit Jan 2019: I'm now aware that the jingle comes from a Production Aid disc issued by SESAC and is credited to a J. Fegins)
Pepper Tanner provided Radio 2’s first bespoke jingles in 1969. Here’s the Breakfast Special one.
On 1 October 1967 Radio 2 started a Sunday version of Breakfast Special, its name Sunday Special. The presenter was Robin Boyle, who stayed with this show for most of its run. The first programme offered listeners music on disc plus Clinton Ford, The Radio Band Show conducted by Paul Fenoulhet, Brett Stevens, Harold Smart and the Strumalongs. Sunday Special ran until March 1970 when Keith Skues took over the slot with Sunday with Skues and from July ’71 to March ’72 Barry Alldis. These Sunday programmes had a strange split existence, each show starting on Radio 2 and then concluding over on Radio 1 only.
By 1968 the number of presenters for the weekday shows was confined to just the three, Paul Hollingdale, Ray Moore and John Dunn, doing a week at a time. By 1970 Paul had left the BBC leavingjust Ray and John.But the all that was to change from April 1972 when the King of Breakfast started his reign.
It was Easter Monday, April the 3rd, 1972 that Terry Wogan moved across, somewhat reluctantly at the time, from his afternoon Radio 1 show to the new Radio 2 breakfast show. Breakfast Special was gone, replaced by Wogan between 7 and 9 am and from 5 to 7 am by The Early Show.
Like its predecessor The Early Show was in the hands of BBC staff announcers. First in the hot seat was Barri Haynes. I’m not sure how long Barri was with Radio 2 but at the time he was a continuity announcer at LWT. Barri was followed in May by Peter Donaldson – later best known as Chief Announcer on Radio 4.
The programme had its own signature tune, Eye Catcher by Otto Keller. This sample isn’t the one used on air which was a little more souped-up.
By the summer of 1972 The Early Show took on a familiar pattern of a rota of presenters, so just when you got used to one voice along came another. Until August 1973 both Tom Edwards and Pete Brady took it in turns but when Pete left the BBC, Barry Alldis was the other half of the team.
It was all change again from 25 March 1974 when a certain Simon Bates became the resident morning DJ. The old theme was dropped, replaced by David Rose’s When You’re With Me, which may be more familiar as the theme to the US TV series Little House on the Prairie.
Simon Bates was briefly an announcer over on Radio 4 before joining the presentation team on Radio 2. He worked on The Early Show until December 1975 with holiday cover provided by a young Jeff Cooper and Tony Brandon, of whom more later.
On 5 January 1976 it was all change again when the man who would be long associated with early morning radio took over: Colin Berry.By now the show’s timeslot had been reduced to just one hour (this had happened the previous January) between 6 and 7 am but, as Colin told me “it being technically on Radio 1 as well and because there was pretty well only LBC, Capital and BRMB there was only minimal competition, consequently the audience was huge”.The audience was bumped up further as most of the show was also carried by many of the BBC local radio stations, who would dip out of the show as and when they started their own programming with a pre-recorded message from Colin.
During Colin’s era there were another couple of music tracks that became closely associated with the show. For the weather bed a piece called Bikini Parade by the Pierre Lavin Pop Band was used, and continued to be used by Ray Moore. In this clip that I’ve edited together note the use of another song as a short jingle, Good Morning by Leapy Lee.
The second track was a delightful 1974 single from an Australian group, The Moir Sisters, with the title Good Morning (How Are You?), a gift of a title for morning radio and used by Colin as a jingle, as in this short sequence. The voiceover is provided by Rod Lucas.
After a couple of years Colin moved aside for his old mate Ray Moore. Ray’s voice first thing in the morning is the one that many listeners, and professionals, recall with great fondness from this period on Radio 2. In fact Ray’s stints on The Early Show were non-contiguous over the next six years until a schedule re-shuffle in 1984. Here’s a clip of Ray from April 1980.
By now the show had no fixed theme tune but Ray used various tracks over the years such as Here, There and Everywhere by The Mike Leander Orchestra (he brought this with him from his Saturday night shows) and For All We Know by Ray Conniff. In the above clip there’s a third theme, also used by Steve Jones in 1980. I’ve eventually identified this music, with a little help, as The Minor Bird by Syd Dale (from his 1970 album The Birds).
Hear more of Ray's early morning shows in this post.
Ray’s time on The Early Show was interspersed by appearances from another of DJs:
Richard Vaughan – had worked at BBC Radio London hosting Home Run, In Town This Afternoon and Rush Hour. Later TV work includes BBC South Today, NBC Super Channel, Eurosport and voiceovers.
Steve Jones – started at Radio 1 then joined Radio Clyde’s start-up team. Back at the Beeb in 1979 on The Early Show and later promoted to weekday lunchtimes. Best know on TV for The Pyramid Game.
David Allan – former pirate DJ on Radio 390 before joining the BBC as radio producer and then presenter specialising in country music on Country Meets Folk, Country Style and Country Club. BBC2 continuity announcer 1969-1994.
Bob Kilbey – ex-Radio 1 specialist music presenter and later on BBC Radio London.
Tony Brandon
Tony Brandon – one-time Radio 1 DJ who’d moved over to Radio 2 in 1971. Tony’s first broadcast was in 1952 in the Carroll Levis Show and he subsequently toured with the show as a comedian and impressionist. On Radio Luxembourg 1966-7 and a short stint on pirate Radio London before joining the new Radio 1 team on Midday Spin and Radio One Club. Gained a daily afternoon show in January 1969 initially called Sounds Like Tony Brandon. Ousted by Dave Cash eight months later he was on at the weekend with a late-night Tony Brandon Meets Saturday People. Back on weekday afternoons from April 1970 before moving over to mid-morning on Radio 2 on 4 October 1971. Tony moved around the day with various weekday shows on the network until 3 January 1975. Between 1975 and 1978 he provided holiday cover for Terry Wogan and on The Early Show for Simon Bates as well as presenting Radio 2 Top Tunes and starring in his own sitcom The Brandon Family.Tony was back on The Early Show in between August to December 1978 and February to December 1979. His was the first show on air on Radio 2 when it switched over to medium wave in November 1978. In this clip you’ll notice that Tony was still using his old sig tune Happy Music by James Last & his Orchestra.
During this period Tony was still working in the theatre and would regularly do panto, hence his “disappearance” from the schedules around the festive period. Tony was back on Radio 2 in 1981-83 (see below) before heading off to County Sound and Saga. Now retired from broadcasting he still does some voiceover work.
Amongst those providing holiday cover in 1979 was former New Faces compere Derek Hobson who at the time was popping up on various shows on Radio 2.
Meanwhile let’s go back to the weekend. From late 1967 the Saturday morning seat at Breakfast Special was occupied by Bruce Wyndham. He continued on Saturdays when The Early Show came along in 1972 before hanging up his headphones in July 1975, after which he went freelance.
Taking over from Bruce on the Saturday shift was Tom Edwards who enjoyed a continuous run of nearly four years. Tom’s show was a regular listen for me. With him came his old pirate radio theme Mitch Murray’s version of Skyliner but by now a more Radio 2-friendly version by German bandleader Bert Kaempfert was in use. Often newsreader James Alexander Gordon, “old haggis features” would pop into the studio and help read the wedding day requests, presumably he’d then hang around to read the classified football results in the afternoon. Here’s a clip of Tom’s show from the early 1980 presented, as he says, with “effervescent panache”.
By the early ‘80s the Saturday show was followed on Radio 2 by David Jacobs and on Radio 1 by Playground and then Tony Blackburn with Junior Choice so often Tony would pop in for a chat with Tom.
As Tom Edwards recalls, “I left the staff of the BBC in 1979 to go freelance so up until the late 80s I was working at Thames TV during weekdays and HTV in Cardiff at the weekends with Tyne Tees, Anglia, Southern and ATV when they needed me. Then I went to Los Angeles for a few years but got homesick and within weeks was back at BBC East doing Look East and BBC Radio Norfolk, coming full circle in a way as I started at BBC East when I had just left Radio Caroline for the last time in 1967”.
From March 1979 Paddy O’Byrne was the Saturday host for nine months before Tom Edwards returned for a further 16 months. He was back again for three weeks in December 1982 and you can hear part of Tom’s Christmas Day show here.
By May of 1981 Tony Brandon had returned to Radio 2 to present not just the Saturday show but also a new Sunday one, taking over from Sam on Sunday when Sam Costa “retired”. This was the start of a long period of chopping and changing on the weekend shows and I’ll leave the detail to the timelines at the end of this post. Throughout 1982 and 1983 hosts included Sheila Tracy (the trucker’s friend), Peter Marshall (who’d also worked on weekend Late Shows), George Ferguson (ex-Manx Radio, BRMB and Beacon Radio) and fresh from Radio 1, Paul Burnett.
This is Tony Brandon waking up the nation on Saturday 16 May 1981.
Notice the continued use of BBC-recorded session music and a preponderance of country music, which inexplicably seemed to feature widely on the Radio 2 overnight and early morning shows at the time.
From January 1984 the weekend Early Show was carved-up: now on between 4 and 6 am initially with George Ferguson and followed by Sheila Tracy with The Saturday Show (6 to 8 am) or The Sunday Show (6 to 7.30 am). This remained the schedule until 1992 by which time Dave Bussey (later a mainstay at BBC Radio Lincolnshire) and David Allan were regulars.
That same 1984 shuffle of the deck meant changes to weekdays too. After an absence of six years Colin Berry was back on The Early Show now on even earlier between 4 and 5.30 am followed by Ray Moore from 5.30 to 7.30 am and then Terry Wogan. Technically Ray was now neither on The Early Show or the Breakfast Show, but what we would now call “Early Breakfast” or Ray would refer to as “The Porridge Programme”. As he remarked on the day of the station’s 20th anniversary, here he was all those years later still working the morning shift – “what a wonderful progress in my career”.Sadly illness meant that Ray had to bow out unannounced on 28January 1988.
Here’s an opportunity to hear again part of Colin Berry’s show as broadcast on Monday 18 February 1985.
Of the 80s shows Colin recalls that it was “a hard show to live with for three or four years, it meant getting up at 3 am and leaving the house by ten past. So it was a case of living your life around the show really, though as a youngish feller I burnt numerous candles at both ends!” So after his last weekday programme on 13 May 1988 Colin got to enjoy a lie-in.
By this time (1988) Chris Stuart had taken over Ray Moore’s old time slot and The Early Show was back with the continuity announcer/newsreading team personnel – Alex Lester (still working through the night some 20+ years later), Charles Nove (still heard on Radio 2 reading the news when not on BBC Oxford), Steve Madden (nowadays walking up listeners in the Home Counties on BBC Berkshire) and "Voice of the Balls" Alan Dedicoat.
January 1993 beckoned in a new era, one regular presenter for The Early Show. That presenter was Sarah Kennedy. Sarah had been at the station before as an announcer and newsreader between April 1977 and February 1979. Then it was off to the telly with Game for a Laugh and Busman’s Holiday on ITV and Sixty Minutes and The Animals Roadshow for the BBC, with just the occasional foray back to the radio, such as holiday cover for Wogan in 1983.
Sarah takes The Early Show record with an unrivalled 17 years, though the show soon gained the subtitle of The Dawn Patrol, with the Radio Times adopting this billing from 17 July 1995. Inevitably all those early rises took their toll and Sarah struggled with a number of short-term absences in latter years, covered at short notice by Richard Allinson, Lynn Parsons or Aled Jones. The show was often dogged by controversy (though this was sometimes newspaper mischief-making) and she tended to polarise Radio 2 listeners. Here’s Sarah on 13 August 2007.
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Her last Dawn Patrol was exactly three years later, she went off sick on the Friday and never returned, meaning she was unable to say a final farewell to her listeners. Effectively the weekday Early Show had fizzled out anyway when the title was dropped. The current early morning show just gets the billing of Vanessa Feltz; programme titles for the most part are little used these days.
Meanwhile back at the weekend, and winding back the clock to 1992, the Sunday Early Show was dropped in favour of a longer running The Sunday Show with new presenter Barbara Sturgeon. The Saturday shifts fell to Alex Lester, Steve Madden and Bill Rennells before Colin Berry made his final return to morning radio at the station in April 1993.
For the rest of the ‘90s the Saturday Early Show was seen as something of a try-out slot with all manner of presenters from local radio, singers, writers, actors and sports people. A number of the shows were also independently produced. Worth mentioning are Mo Dutta who would also cover for Sarah Kennedy and eventually take up residency on Saturday and Sunday mornings on Radio 2 from 1994 to 2009; Lynn Bowles, now known for her travel bulletins and banter with Ken Bruce; Diane-Louise Jordan, the new presenter of Sunday Half-Hour; and Helen Mayhew, who would return to the station on Big Band Special.
Again like the weekday show the Saturday Early Show just kind of disappeared. It had long been dropped as a programme title and when Janey Lee Grace took over from February 2000 it eventually ended up in the Radio Times listings for the Friday night rather than the Saturday morning and from 2003 ran went out from 3 to 6 am.
So there you have it, the history of about 16,000 get-ups, waking up to sound of the wireless or just rolling over for an extra 10 minutes snooze. Raise your early morning cup of tea to Paul, John, Bruce, Simon, Sarah, Tom, Colin, Ray and all the rest.
“Wake up easy start the day right. Wake up easy smile and be bright. We’ll start the day off with music for you, the latest word on the weather and news. Wake up easy smile and be gay. Put on the coffee, start a new day. It’s time for music, so out of that bed and wake up easy don’t be such a sleepy head”.
I am indebted to the following for their assistance in writing this post: Colin Berry, Tom Edwards, Paul Hollingdale, Tony Currie, Brian Reynolds, Malcy B, Andy Howells, Noel Tyrrel and all the readers that commented on the first Early Show post.
Help Required. Do you have any audio clips of Simon Bates or Bruce Wyndham on the Radio 2 Early Show that you’d be willing to share? If so please contact me.
The Breakfast Show/Early Show Brief Timeline
For a more detailed timeline you can download a PDF document here.
1965
1 November 1965 First Breakfast Special with John Roberts (Light Programme)
1967
30 September 1967 First Breakfast Special on Radio 1 & Radio 2 with Paul Hollingdale
1 October 1967 First Sunday Special with Robin Boyle
1970
29 March 1970 Final Sunday Special
1972
31 March 1972 Final Breakfast Special with John Dunn
1 April 1972 First Saturday Early Show with Bruce Wyndham
3 April 1972 First weekday Early Show with Barri Haynes
Presentation eventually shared between Pete Brady and Tom Edwards for a month at a time
1973
6 August 1973 Barry Alldis shares presenting with Tom Edwards when Pete Brady leaves the BBC
1974
25 March 1974 Simon Bates takes over as host
1975
26 July 1975 Tom Edwards takes over from Bruce Wyndham on Saturdays
1976
5 January 1976 Colin Berry takes over as host
1978
2 January 1978 Ray Moore’s first stint. Until 1982 presenting duties are shared with Steve Jones, Tony Brandon, Richard Vaughan, David Allan and Bob Kilbey
1979
31 March 1979 Paddy O’Byrne takes over on Saturdays
1980
19 January 1980 Tom Edwards back on Saturdays
1981
9 May 1981 Tony Brandon regular Saturday presenter
10 May 1981 Tony Brandon on new Sunday Early Show
1982
Weekend hosts alternate between Peter Marshall, Tony Brandon, George Ferguson, Sheila Tracy and Tom Edwards
28 June 1982 Ray Moore on weekdays
1983
Weekend hosts are Sheila Tracy, Paul Burnett, Tony Brandon and George Ferguson
1984
21/22 January 1984 George Ferguson at weekends 4-6am followed by The Saturday Show or The Sunday Show with Sheila Tracy
23 January 1984 Colin Berry on The Early Show 4-5.30am, Ray Moore 5.30-7.30am followed by Terry Wogan
There are numerous weekend hosts throughout 1984-1986
1986
20 December 1986 Dave Bussey now regular weekend presenter
1988
28 January 1988 Ray Moore’s final R2 show
4 April 1988 Chris Stuart takes over Ray’s programme slot
13 May 1988 Colin Berry’s last regular weekday show
The weekday show presenters change at intervals between Steve Madden, Bill Rennells, Charles Nove and Alex Lester from 1988 to 1992
1989
15 January 1989 David Allan now regular Sunday presenter with Dave Bussey on Saturday only
1991
30 March 1991 Saturday show presented by Steve Madden then Charles Nove and Alex Lester
1992
4 January 1992 Sunday programme dropped for an extended TheSunday Show. Saturday hosts are Alex Lester, Bill Rennells and Steve Madden
1993
4 January 1993 Sarah Kennedy now permanent host
17 April 1993 Colin Berry on Saturday mornings
1994
2 April 1994 Saturday morning duties change at regular intervals from now on
2000
12 February 2000 Janey Lee Grace takes over as regular Saturday host through to 2004.
2010
13 August 2010 Sarah Kennedy’s last show
2011
17 January 2011 Vanessa Feltz starts new show 5-6.30am
When BBC Radio 1 and 2 started in 1967 many of the programmes transferred over from the old Light Programme as did most of the presentation team. So you could still hear the likes of Robin Boyle, Roger Moffat, John Dunn, Bruce Wyndham and Peter Latham reading the news and linking the programmes. The team was soon joined by the some ex-pirates such as Keith Skues and Colin Nicol. By 1972 the combination of a separate Radio 1 & 2 Presentation team, under the management of Jimmy Kingsbury, and the start of commercial radio, to which a number of BBC staff moved to, led to a shake-up of the team and the recruitment of some new voices.
The Presentation Team covered the news reading and announcing shifts on both networks, hence the introduction of news on the half-hour on Radio 1 to allow the newsreader to work on both stations. This pattern lasted into the 1980s, though from 1978 the Newsbeat team – at the time Laurie Mayer, Richard Skinner, John Walmsley (no relation), Peter Mayne and Stephen Cape - started to read more Radio 1 only daytime and evening bulletins.
The Radio 2 announcers would also work on Breakfast Special, The Early Show and Night Ride and often presented shows featuring the BBC Radio Orchestras. They continued to be presenters of mainly late night shows, presumably when audiences were smaller, on programmes such as Music Through Midnight, The Late Show and You and the Night and the Music, which from 1979 closed the gap between 2 and 5 a.m.
The role of programme presenter lessened throughout the 80s and 90s as first the radio orchestras were disbanded and then named DJs took over the late night slots. In 1992 the announcing team was cut, as this article from the Mail on Sunday reports:
A-Z of Announcers
For these two linked posts we pick up the story in 1976, as my recordings start from this year. Below I’ve listed all those, that I’m aware of, that have announced or read the news on Radio 2 from 1976 onwards. In this first edit of the posts I’ve gone up to about 1982. I’m already working on adding Charles Nove, Nick Page, Alan Dedicoat, Paul Leighton, Steve Madden, John Marsh, Hilary Osbourn and others.
In the meantime if you have any clips of news summaries or continuity that you’d like to contribute please contact me. In particular if you have any audio from the early 70s then I can start to go back further in time. Also if you’re an ex-announcer on the network I’d love to hear from you too.
Worked in weekly repertory as an ASM/actress from 1962 and then, following her marriage, running Entertainment and Drama on Air Force bases. First radio work at BFBS in Malta from May 1975 presenting a lunchtime show then Radio 2 from March 1978 into 1980s. Presenter of You and the Night and the Music. Worked freelance as a newsreader on commercial radio and voiceover work from a home studio. On retirement volunteered for CAB and Chichester Talking News.
Liz Allen
Worked for the BBC’s Drama team in Leeds under renown producer Alfred Bradley. Joined Pennine Radio in Bradford September 1975 hosting the Late Night Show then Artweek, Rock Show and Album Review Show. Moved to Radio Leeds as co-presenter of the Saturday Show. Joined Radio 2 in March 1979. Presenter of You and the Night and the Music. Also a novelist. Died in 2018
David Bellan
Ran an English Radio Station from Jeddah. Returned to UK and worked on Radio 4 including Today and Start the Week. Also contributed to Radio 1’s Scene and Heard. Joined Radio 2 in 1974 as announcer/newsreader. Presenter Star Sound, Night Ride, Music to Midnight, You and the Night and the Music. Also presented The Lively Arts and Science in Action on the BBC World Service. Left in 1992. In recent years wrote for the Oxford Times.
Geoff Bennett
Worked in commercial radio in Sydney before moving to UK. On Radio 2 between June 1979 and April 1981. Presenter of You and the Night and the Music. Worked on Thames TV and Blue Danube Radio in Vienna. Later on Australian Broadcasting Corporation for 18 years and presented Weekend Life on ABC ClassicFM until July 2006. In retirement he helped lead overseas classical music tours.
Colin Berry
Worked in advertising at Granada and Westward TV before joining Radio Caroline. Acted as relief presenter and newsreader on Caroline South from 1965. Back on land he worked as a music plugger, then announcer at HTV. Back to radio joining BBC Radio Medway and then the promotions department at Radio 1 before going to Radio 2 as newsreader/announcer in 1973.
Long running presenter of The Early Show. Also hosted Night Ride, Music Through Midnight, Music to Midnight, You and the Night and the Music, Band Parade, European Pop Jury and Europe 80. Retired from the BBC in 2006 but continued as a freelance newsreader until September 2012. Presented a Saturday night show and then occasional specials on BBC Three Counties Radio until 2019.
Robin Boyle
Broadcasting career started in 1945 on BFN in Hamburg as announcer then Head of Presentation. Joined BBC in 1947 occasionally presenting Family Favourites from Hamburg than announcer on all networks but mainly on the Light. Best known for presenting Friday Night is Music Night, but also worked on Today (where he was one of the first presenters), Sunday Special, Hancock’s Half Hour, The Navy Lark, Those Were the Day, The Musical World of…, Night Ride, Marching and Waltzing, Band Parade, Glamorous Nights. Retired in 1987 but continued presenting as freelance. Died in 2003.
Alma Cadzow
An announcer on Radio 3 when, as Alma Bickerton, she was given a try out on the station. Transferred BBC TV and then for a while on Radio 2 in 1976 and 1977 before moving to BBC Scotland an announcer. See Alma on BBC TV here.
Gavin Campbell
Former actor (including The New Avengers and Softly Softly) who had a short spell as a radio continuity announcer, newsreader and presenter (on Radio 2 from March 1979 than on Radio 4) before joining Esther on BBC 1’s That’s Lifewhich he co-presented from 1982 to 1994. Later worked on LBC and Radio 5.
Averell Carson
ATV and Central in-vision continuity announcer, who went on to head up Central's own in-house training company. A short spell on Radio 2 between November 1980 and January 1981.
Jean Challis
Started on BFBS in Cyprus in June 1962 as announcer and occasional presenter of Two-Way Family Favourites. Joined Radios 1 & 2 announcing team in 1974. Final presenter of Family Favourites until 1980, also on Music Through Midnight, Music to Midnight, The Late Show, Radio Orchestra shows, String Sound, You and the Night and the Music and Nightride. Also an actress appearing in minor roles often in sitcoms.
Richard Clegg
Started broadcasting while at Leeds University in the 60s. Joined BFBS in Cyprus in April 1974. On Radio 2 from December 1977. One of the presenters of You and the Night and the Music,String Sound and Music from the Shows. Regular announcer on The News Huddlines until 2001.
Ruth Cubbin
Joined Radio 2 mid-70s as announcer and newsreader. Presenter of the The Late Show,You and the Night and the Music and Folk 78. Ceased announcing duties in July 1979. Later a producer at the station for David Jacobs, Anne Robinson and A Little Night Music. By 1996 producer on Woman’s Hour. Also a folk singer.
Don Douglas
Announcer with the British Forces Network in Germany and occasional presenter on Two-Way Family Favourites. Radio 2 newsreading shifts between June and August 1977.
John Dunn
A newsreader and announcer on the Light Programme and Radio 2. I’ll be writing more about John in a separate post at some point in the future. He read his last news bulletins on 30 September 1976 before taking over the teatime/drivetime show from Sam Costa the following week.
Don Durbridge
First broadcast as a teenager in October 1955 on The Light Programme’s The Younger Generation. With the British Forces Broadcasting Services in Germany and Gibraltar during the 60s & early 70s presenting Family Favourites,Time Out, Six-Thirty and reporting for the BFBS on the 1972 Munich Olympics. On Radio 2 from mid-70s and presentedNight Ride, Music Through Midnight, Music to Midnight, Saturday Night with the BBC Radio Orchestra, You and the Night and the Music and The Late Show. Regular deputising duties for Terry Wogan, John Dunn, Ed Stewart and David Hamilton. On Radio Medway, Radio Kent, Invicta, LBC, Prime Time, Saga and REM-FM in Spain. Died in 2012.
Tom Edwards
First broadcast on About Anglia in 1962 then presenting on Border TV. Joined pirate station Radio City in 1965. Known as “Tatty” Tom Edwards. On Radio Caroline South in 1967. On Radio 1 from 1968 as one of the presenters of Midday Spin, Radio 1 Club and What’s New. In vision tv announcer mainly on Thames. Presented Happy Weekend Everybody and Roundabout East Anglia on the Radio 4 regional service from 1970. On Radio 2 from early 70s as announcer/newsreader. Long-running presenter of The Early Show on Saturday also Music Through Midnight and Radio 2 Ballroom. During the 80s in California on tv and radio. On BBC1 presenting Look Eastand announcer on Wipeout.
David Geary
Joined the BBC in 1958 working as announcer across the networks. Presented Family Fare, Music is the Air, Music We Love, Serenade in the Night and Just for You on the Light Programme. He left in 1971. In 1973 reading the news on About Anglia. By 1977 working at Independent Radio News. Later at World Service and announcer on LWT. Returned to BBC in July 1981 as newsreader on Radio 2.
James Alexander Gordon
Started as song plugger moved to Deutsch Grammophon then TV researcher First broadcast on BBC TV’s All Things Considered. Joined Radio 2 in 1971 as announcer/newsreader. Best known for reading the Classified Football Results from 1974 initially sharing the duties with other announcers and then sole reader from 1980s on Radio 2, Radio 5 and Radio 5 Live. Also hosted Brass and Strings, On the Third Beat and You and the Night and the Music. Retired from reading the classifieds in 2013. Died in 2014.
Tim Gudgin
Worked as newsreader and DJ at BFBS Hamburg. With the BBC from 1952 first on the European Service and then the Light Programme from 1954. Worked on both the Light and Home and subsequently Radio 2 as announcer, newsreader and presenter on programmes such as Music Box, Top of the Form, Midday Spin, Housewives’ Choice, Round the Bend, Saturday Night at the Light, News Time, Swingalong, Out and About, Treble Chance, Melody Hour, Radio 2 Top Tunes,The Late Show and You and the Night and the Music. Freelance from 1965 and then back at Radio 2 on contract from 1976.
From 1995 to 2011 reader of the Classified Football Results on Grandstand and Final Score. From 1958 used to read the racing and rugby results on Grandstand. Read the Bleep and Booster stories on Blue Peter. Died in 2017/
Len Jackson
Born in Twickenham in 1940 his BBC career started in 1959 as a clerk in the record library then moved to Australia in 1967 where he made his first broadcast. Back to UK on Radio 2 in 1972 as an announcer and newsreader later becoming Presentation Editor. Went freelance in 1990 and also worked training overseas broadcasters for the BBC, Blue Danube Radio and the British Council. On Radio 2 presenter of Night Ride, Radio 2 Top Tunes, Play It Again, As You Were, Let’s Go Latin, Two’s Best, Folk 74, Sweet n Swing,Music Through Midnight, Music to Midnight’, The Late Show, Nordring Rendezvous, The Magic of the Musicals and You and the Night and the Music. Returned to Australia in 1995 he died in 2017.
Nick Jackson
Started on Radio Victory in Portsmouth in August 1975. Joined Radio 2 April 1979. Presenter of You and the Night and the Music and Star Sound, taking over from David Bellan. TV voiceover work on Celebrity Squares and Catchphrase.
Astley Jones
Mainly newsreader and continuity announcer on Radio 4. Also worked as sports correspondent, read the news on BBC World Service and also on BFBS. Odd shifts on Radio 3 between 1977 and 1979 and occasionally on Radio 1 & 2 between 1976 and 1978 and again in the mid-1980s.
Sarah Kennedy
On BFBS in Singapore where she also co-hosted Family Favourites. Radio 2 as announcer/newsreader from April 1977 to February 1979 but continued to present occasionally. Hosted You and the Night and the Music and String Sound. On TV most famously Game for a Laugh and then 60 Minutes. Deputised for Terry Wogan in 1983. Returned to Radio 2 in 1992 providing holiday cover for Jimmy Young, Anne Robinson and Gloria Hunniford. Starting in January 1993 became the longest ever presenter of The Early Show (aka Dawn Patrol) until 2010.
Jimmy Kingsbury
Announcer on BBC Radio from the 1950s whose broadcasting carrer had started on the British Forces Network in Hamburg. Long-running presenter of Friday Night is Music Night in the 1960s. Also on Tonight at Six, Brass and Strings and Night Ride. Became Presentation Editor for Radio 1 and 2 in 1972. Read the last Shipping Forecast on Radio 2 (1755-1800 22.11.78) when the station moved from 1500m long wave. He also read a further shipping forecast on Radio 2 medium wave, even though it was now carried on Radio 4, on Monday 17 December 1979 when there were problems with the long wave transmitter. Only occasionally on air in the late 70s working final shifts in January 1980.
Post updated in September 2024. With thanks to Paul R. Jackson for providing most of the photocards.
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