OT : Brian Matthew dropped from Sounds of the Sixties

[Patrick Coles]

wonder if Tone will be inflicting any of his OWN records upon us...?

remember that classic 'Chop Chop' ?

[robchapman]

I’ve also pretty much given up on Radio 2, pop radio in the UK full stop in fact. Predictable computer driven playlists, irritating ads, berkish djs. A few years ago I treated myself to an internet portable radio, the Pure Evoke Flow. Less than a hundred quid and the entire world at your disposal. Here’s 3 of the oldies stations I really like.

www.192radio.nl

Radio Veronica 192. They’ve licenced the name of the old Dutch pirate and occasionally air old pirate shows too. The highlight of the listening week for me is Sundays 12-2pm (our time) when they play an old Radio London Fab 40 in its entirety

The Veronica Website a bit unreliable but the live streaming is good.

www.britishsixtiesradio.com

has ad breaks but not too obtrusive. Good choice of music

www.backwhenradiowasboss.com

American slant. Again some great music.

Hope you find this info useful.

[Alan Turrell]

I think soul music is his cup of tea .

[Alan Scott]

Mar 22, 2017 11:01:26 GMT Alan Turrell said:

I've just listened to a Tony Blackburn show from 1970 and he absolutely hammers "Down the Dustpipe" by Status Quo basically saying what a load of rubbish that is don't like that at all. I can remember a show back in 1973 where he played "Bad Bad Boy" by Nazareth and it was the same there.
I know everyone has their own opinions as to what music they like and fair enough i certainly know what Tony doesn't like.

He certainly makes it quite clear which records he doesn't like! He was still making snide remarks about any rock records he had to play in Pick Of the Pops. He's not a fan of Dylan either. However, I do miss his silly intros to the records.

Blackburn on Sounds Of the Sixties is a square peg in a round hole. As Tony Walshaw said in an earlier post, it would be the perfect vehicle for Paul Gambaccini. I think he does a decent job on POTP but I feel he tries to fit in too many facts between the records. He continually refers to how records performed in the Billboard charts which I find slightly annoying. The style of the show is fast paced so I don't need to know much other than if the record went up or down from the previous week. Sounds of the Sixties is far more relaxed and he would have the time between records impart his substantial knowledge to the listener.

[Kev Hunter]

Mar 22, 2017 19:34:49 GMT richardwoods said:

Mar 22, 2017 11:51:48 GMT Kev Hunter said:

I think it's well-known where Tone's musical preferences lay although I recall that he had Edgar Broughton's "Hotel Room" as his pick of the week (or whatever it was called) in Summer '71. Who'da thought?

Bet he doesn't like Out Demons Out or Apache Dropout though, LOL

Yes I think that's a given!

[williammcgregor]

Mar 22, 2017 22:09:56 GMT Alan Turrell said:

I think soul music is his cup of tea .

Definitely; Tony always bangs on about Tamla Motown

[richardwoods]

How about Pirate Johnnie Walker himself for Sounds of the 60's? He would be an excellent fit. Not anything like as superficial as TB with a much broader taste in music and knowledge to match. Not adverse to saying when something really is crap though, one for those of us old enough to remember his stance on the Bay City Rollers. 😀👍

[williammcgregor]

Good shout Richard (Tony Blackburn will probably do an o.k. job but as you say maybe he's a bit superficial)

[richardwoods]

Big fan of JW, another crass R2 moment of insensitivity when he was pushed out of his excellent drive time show for Chris Evans following his serious illness and offered the Sunday show as a bit of a sop really. Only JW, Whispering Bob & Paul Jones flying the flag now on the BBC IMHO.

[robchapman]

JW did sit in for Brian on SOTS a few years back as I recall and was excellent. So yes I agree. Good choice. (Which means of course that it will never happen.)

[Kev Hunter]

Mar 24, 2017 20:39:01 GMT richardwoods said:

Only JW, Whispering Bob & Paul Jones flying the flag now on the BBC IMHO.

Surely it must be possible to find a decent presenter under the age of 70 - or even better still, under 50 - to keep things going? At a push Mark Radcliffe could do a decent job (ok, I know he's around my age, a little shy of 60) but he's got the knowledge and enthusiasm for more the slightly more obscure stuff and it would get him away from the Folk Show, which to my ears is a bit hard-going.

[Alan Turrell]

I was going to mention Roger Day or Andy Archer but they are both in their early 70s though that's not to say they still can't do a good job i'm sure they could. I've listened to a lot of Radio North Sea International recently and along with the late Carl Mitchell they were fine disc jockey's .

[Kev Hunter]

Agreed, Alan. Or how about David 'Kid' Jensen, a relative upstart at just 66. He always had a good presenting style, and knows his stuff.. remember Jensen's Dimensions on Radio Luxembourg?

[richardwoods]

Mar 25, 2017 18:21:58 GMT Alan Turrell said:

I was going to mention Roger Day or Andy Archer but they are both in their early 70s though that's not to say they still can't do a good job i'm sure they could. I've listened to a lot of Radio North Sea International recently and along with the late Carl Mitchell they were fine disc jockey's .

Don't forget the late great "Daffy" Don Allen. What a wonderful radio station RNI was. I was totally gutted when it had to close. Nothing has really come close since. I did enjoy Big L when it came back in the early 2000's and of course Caroline still set the standard, which as a station run by volunteers is remarkable. The problem with BBC Radio management is that it values meaningless celebrity over quality DJ's. There you go, I wasn't going to say what I thought but the way the conversation went I couldn't help it.

[Tony Walshaw]

The irony is that, in the 60s, Tony Blackburn played a lot of records that did not become big hits. Records that nowadays tend to be obscure. And though his preferences are for pop and soul, he does extend beyond this.

Many records he played were psych/prog. I understand that he had 'Records of the Week' by Locomotive, Canned Heat, Jethro Tull and Atomic Rooster.

And he is entitled to his opinion on individual records. It all adds to the spice of life. He thought that Felice Taylor 'I Feel Love Comin' On' probably wouldn't be a hit. He thought that 'Major to Minor' was the record to finally "do it" for The Settlers.

He liked Family 'In My Own Time' but thought that Joni Mitchell's 'Big Yellow Taxi' was "terrible".

But the main point now is that he seems to be 'dissing' the entire idea of playing the obscurer records, regardless of whether he thinks they are good or bad.

I think he is under the thumb of Radio Two 'right-on' thinking, given his suspension from the station last year. He has to be seen to be of their mindset.