In this article I consider a number of writers and journalists past and present, including Pete May, Philip Knightley, Harold Evans, and Michael Green. All good and true men devoted to the art of the printed word. But first, imagine a broadcast journalist, working for a national radio station, who is so comfortable with telling … Continue reading Radio goes to the movies, and how art imitates life…
Tag: Radio Broadcasting
Watching the radio: don’t touch that dial…
In this article I'd like to consider how the radio has been shown - re-presented, if you will - on TV. I've got a couple of old news reports about stations opening, some comedy about hospital radio, and a children's animated TV show that I find delightful. First, the launch of Classic FM in 1992. … Continue reading Watching the radio: don’t touch that dial…
It’s good to laugh (at yourself…)
Here's five ways to laugh - both with the Beeb and at the Beeb. All, incidentally, have been broadcast on the Beeb. The Corporation has always been self-assured enough to see the joke, and not to take life - and indeed the whole business of broadcasting - too seriously. (1) Perhaps the most recent example … Continue reading It’s good to laugh (at yourself…)
100 years of technology: and a special mention to the Grahams…
Recently these pages have mentioned Arthur Burrows, the first voice on the BBC in 1922 when it employed just four people. In this article Burrow's connection to Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Joe Bonamassa (see below for a radio-related song) and Spinal Tap is explored. Yes, seriously. This is the link between a journalist from Oxford at … Continue reading 100 years of technology: and a special mention to the Grahams…
A lesson from radio history…
Yorkshire in January 2021 - A field I was reading a PhD thesis last night. Don't ask, but I was enjoying it. And was struck by how the BBC had been thinking about the apocalypse that is this current widespread health crisis as long ago as 1960. That's exactly sixty years ago. It's also long … Continue reading A lesson from radio history…
Radio jingles redux (All Along the Watchtower), life imitates art, and how much energy does it take to listen to the radio?
Radio jingles are a popular subject on this website. You can read more about them here, and that article includes clips of some early BBC Radio 1 jingles, a look behind the scenes of the recording of the station sound for the Lincs FM group, and bits and bobs about Radio York’s various jingle packages. … Continue reading Radio jingles redux (All Along the Watchtower), life imitates art, and how much energy does it take to listen to the radio?
Bad spelling and the trouble with truth…
John Dryden (1631-1700), England’s first poet laureate said, “Truth is the foundation of all knowledge, and the cement of all societies.” John Lloyd, an author and contributing editor to the Financial Times writing in the Summer 2020 edition of Index on Censorship, said, A search for the facts which govern our lives has always meant … Continue reading Bad spelling and the trouble with truth…
10 things the pandemic makes you nostalgic for…
...pictures of old radios, valve sets, transistors radios and even more. I'll come to them in a moment, but first consider this. There's something compelling about taking refuge in the past, especially when memories can appear to offer more emotional comfort than the often alarming and worrying news headlines of the present day. I'm writing … Continue reading 10 things the pandemic makes you nostalgic for…
Emerging into the world…
This article was published on Monday 15 June 2020, the day when some non-essential shops started to re-open in England, and when social distancing rules were being slowly changed. It was, in a word, a tentative British déconfinement. Say it with a French accent as befits the Gallic source of such an evocative word. The … Continue reading Emerging into the world…
Listening to the experts…
This article was written on Tuesday 26 May 2020. The COVID-19 lockdown caused by the Coronavirus pandemic started in Britain on 23 March. The country had, at the time of writing this, been sheltering in place (more or less, give or take a few individuals) for ten weeks. During this period your correspondent had put … Continue reading Listening to the experts…
Pre-fade Listen 