Radio Blah Blah

The radio was always on in the house when I was growing up.

I still today, on entering my own kitchen, first go to switch on the radio before anything else gets done even if the prime motivation for the visit is for a brew up, get food, investigate strange sounds from the washing machine or attend to any other domestic chores.

Funnily enough my listening experience has now gone full circle as the shows from my childhood memories are now being aired on Radio 4 Extra.

Sunday lunch in the early 1970's was always prepared by my parents to the sound of The Navy Lark.  I am reminded regularly that at the age of seven I was insistent on writing a letter toWally Whyton the presenter of, I am ashamed to say, a country music show on Radio 2. I cannot recall what I had to tell him. Well it was in the days when there was only country, folk, early rock and roll and classical and I was not old enough to operate the radio or record player let alone express a preference for a style.

The sound of a radio in the background is very reassuring and comforting, unless of course there happens to be a drama about screaming, murder and mayhem. I inherited or rather commandeered a huge valve operated radio for my bedtime listening. The crate sized appliance took some considerable time to warm up and never actually reached a steady temperature. The strong smell of scorching and sheer naked heat output from the thing meant that a programme had to be regularly interrupted for a statutory cooling down period.

The two main tuning dials were on a  click and roll basis. The click was for switching between long wave, medium and short waves as the only bands and the rolling dial for selecting a very mysterious and exotic progression of stations from Wroclaw to Beromunster, Hilversum to Helvetia, Luxemb'g and cities behind the Iron Curtain.

If I was able to tune in to Radio Moscow out of earshot of parents I could listen to the monotone expressions of propaganda of production levels from tractor factories or glass plants. Patriotic mothers were regularly applauded for perpetual baby production.

My absolute favourite broadcasts were the midweek football matches especially when English league teams played in the UEFA or European Cups against the likes of Borussia Monchengladbach, Grasshoppers of Zurich, Panathanaikos and Sporting Lisbon. The buzz of the radio and the atmospheric crowds noises set a wonderful background for the commentary of the all time great, Peter Jones. It was always the case that Liverpool needed to score at least 4 goals in a second leg tie at Anfield and they always did it just in time. By that I mean my bedtime. Football somehow seemed magical and wholesome in those days before the arrival of the mercenary millionaires.

My introduction to comedy was from the radio. I only now appreciate the humour and madcap antics of The Goons which was so far ahead of its time in its heyday. Many of the radio shows that I enjoyed  progressed to the medium of TV where they appealed to the masses but I feel did lose some of their impact.

The imagined images from a radio show could never be emulated in actual real life performances on the small screen. I still  prefer to listen to a football commentary on 5 Live and can easily recognise the gameplays when they are subsequently shown on the saturday night Match of the Day.

In my teens the radio was avidly listened to for the tuesday lunctime chart show. This was the main marker for the week. I was on home dinners during term times so was invariably the first to know if punk, disco or rock were at number 1 that week. My claim to fame was a record request read out from me by Mike Read on Radio 1 during his evening show in 1979. It was only heard by myself and one other classmate.

It is so much easier now with the "listen again" functions to prove that your name has hit the airwaves.

My two younger brothers have a regular challenge to get a story read out on Danny Baker's show on one of the London Commercial Stations. My children have also had good exposure on national radio with requests and dedications read out and also widely heard and appreciated. The current crop of radio shows continues the legacy set down over my four decade love affair with the broadcast and spoken word and whilst it is good to hear the old classics I continue to be amused by the new wave of programmes.

(reworked from sometime in 2012)