RADIO DAYS !!

                         

                                     

I love to read Beeker's blog and recently she did a piece on Radio as a medium - you will find it here :- http://beeker.typepad.com/beeker_ideas/2007/01/theres_lots_of_.html

In it she says " there's something about it (Radio) that means tradition and nostalgia in a good way"..................

Radio for me conjures up all sorts of memories of life in the late 40s and 50s growing up in Ireland.

My father, who was in the British Merchant Navy brought home our very first radio in 1947. It was an American 'Philco' and was, of course electric.But we didn't have electricity in those days (we used gas supplied by the local gasworks) - so we sat and admired the radio for a few days. Then amid great excitement my Uncle Mike changed the transformer and rigged up a collection of wet and dry batteries, switched on, and we were in business !!

Me and my brothers loved that old radio - it opened up a whole new world of entertainment to us. We got the Radio Times every week and there was sport,music,plays and radio serials like ' Dick Barton - Special Agent'. I remember listening to a crackly broadcast from America of the world heavyweight title fight between the legendary Joe Louis and Jersey Joe Walcott in 1947.

By today's standards reception was not great. Unfortunately, the batteries ran down regularly and usually when there was something special to listen to.

When "Rural Electrification" came to town and the old Philco with its batteries bit the dust and we acquired our first electric "Pye" radio.Thereafter radio became an integral part of our lives.

Sunday mornings when my mother would be preparing lunch or baking a cake she would always listen to Family Favourites on the BBC (this was a request program for soldiers serving in Germany). This was followed by the Billy Cotton Band Show. In the Summer days in June at teatime we would listen to the broadcasts from Wimbledon with players such as Jaroslav Drobney,Pancho Gonzales,Hoad and Rosewall - long before Bjorn, Connors or McEnroe came along.

There were some revolutionary comedy programs like 'Round the Horne' ,Hancock's Half Hour and the Goon Show. Later Radio Luxembourg arrived with the Top Twenty and then came Pirate Radio operating from various ships off-shore. I heard Elvis, Johnny Cash, Bill Haley and the Comets and the Beatles for the first time on radio.

Apart from all the nostalgic memories I still love radio and I was delighted when my wife gave me a DAB radio at Christmas last year - perfect reception and no batteries...!!!!

Comments

[Colman]

Great stuff Dad, I knew you were going to be good at this blogging lark. Very interesting, I too like a bit of the radio, though I rarely find time these days.

[russell]

I'm a big Tony Hancock fan. And of The Goons. Arthur (who's 6) is starting to like The Goons too, on CD. So maybe they'll transcend the generations.

[Harry C]

Russell - I can understand Arthur liking the Goons - it was ground-breaking and inoffensive and appealed across the whole age spectrum. My eldest brother Jim who is 74 still giggles like a schoolboy as he recounts some of the sketches.
My favourite was 'Round the Horne' with Kenneth Horne,a young Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick and Betty Marsden. Even after all these years whenever I hear a repeat, it's so funny.However the content could be a bit risque for Arthur just now.

[Ben]

Another good post Harry.

I find an evening spent listening to the radio so much more relaxing than watching the TV.

Although I really need to break away from the tyranny of Radio Five.

[dan at innocent]

I am glad that someone else shares the dirty Five with me. Doing the washing up whilst listening to the soothing strains of Pougatch really rounds the day off nicely for me http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/presenters/pougatch_biog.shtml. The wife prefers Radio 4 but I think she's just showing off. And she is highly critical of Five Live (or Sport Radio as she likes to refer to it. Cuts me to the quick.)

Thank you Harry, for allowing us all to wallow in radio.

[Charles Edward Frith]

Hello Harry. Nice post. Growing up in Germany with the Armed Forces, radio was the only English language entertainment and news we had so I've always been a radio fan, and lucky to appreciate it too. When I was out in the Far East before the Internet, the radio was a lifeline to keep up with world events on shortwave, and to this day I'm a big World Service fan but broadcast over the Internet. Yes, it's a very special medium. Particularly enjoyed that post and the arrival of radio in your household.

[TomLR]

I listen to TalkSport in the morning, and read Coleridge in the afternoon.

[TomLR]

I can see an amusing conjunction coming here....Townsend would be great at Kubla Khan..I have my thinking cap on. If you get them to say something on the radio, can you get a recording of it ?

[beeker]

looks like i'm going to love reading this blog too. first visit, and very enjoyable it is.

[dan at innocent]

Tom - I can get recordings of anything said on air at TalkSport because my sister's boyfriend Travis (the Australian) works there. He also plays five a side with Townsend, Alan Brazil and the lads.

[TomLR]

Does he work down near the Southbank ? Do they play nougat on the pitch directly opposite ? Is Kendo involved ?