Tests from uklightradio.co.uk

In article <dbe1a72fa6e8d0f82cdbeba7cffcf561@jiglu-wc>, (Address removed) (Trevor Mcilveen) wrote:

*From:* Trevor Mcilveen <(Address removed)>
*To:* Anorak Nation <(Address removed)>
*Date:* 11 Aug 2008 00:04:58 +0100

On 8th August uklightradio.co.uk began its test broadcast.On the
holding page you can see the shedule. Looks interesting

With respect to all concerned, very QEFM-ish. Maybe this time it will work.
Not my cup of tea, but if it can gain suitable publicity it could have legs, especially as the sliver-surfers are growing like mad.

Eric

Sounds good to me. I would have called it "The Light Programme".

There is very little available in this genre.

I will give it a listen.

In article <8997a204b386cdecf6338ca56497f2e5@jiglu-wc>, 2@slewis.biz (Sterling Times) wrote:

"The Light Programme".

There is very little available in this genre.

I will give it a listen.

You know as a youngster I considered that the anti-christ. My only real memories of the light programme are Fluff, follows by that appalling programme 'Sing Something Simple'.

Then Brian Matthew and waiting for one half decent track during Saturday Club.

Even when Radio One started the ghost of the Light Programme continued with Jimmy Young and MORE of the ruddy BBC singers – ARGGGGHHHHHHHH if ever there was a candidate for Lift Music of the previous century I'll vote the Light Programme as the winner.

It was TERRIBLE, mind you the early days of Caroline weren't that much better. (He says ducking for the flack).

As per usual I have been asked what am I doing for 14 Aug and do you known it's hard. So I thought – I know I'll play good music from that era. Hmmmm, damned hard work finding decent material that was actually in the charts that I would even suggest was good music – loads of plinkity-plink and ballads. Makes you wonder who did have the clout, offshore or the BBC.
And it doesn't surprise me that 14 Aug produces the same few tracks each year, mainly as the rest would have been better suited to the Light Programme.

Sorry Rant over.

Eric



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Test transmissions are usually better than programme, but this is nicely put together and sounds promising. 

Real Light Programme listeners are now very old, but it introduces the light music genre to another generation. Like the superb 1920s Radio Dismuke (introducing 1920s and 30s music to a younger generation), it fills a gap in market.

The presenters at UK Light Radio are generally well know celebrity announcers.

Definitely not for hippies!

In article <5F9BDE92958E4F3786C68486891A6967@video2>, (Address removed) (Alan Milewczyk) wrote:

Sez you!

We are all entitled to an opinion Alan, and I confess I was one of the people that would rush out and buy singles in those days :-)

Just looked at the NME Book of Hit Singles – chart dated 12th
August 67....

Sorry don't have that

From the Top 30

Really liked – 23
Quite liked – 2
Didn't like – 2
Didn't remember – 3
They call it "Pop music" as in Popular, that which sells. Worked
for me in 67 when I was 18, still works now I'm 59.

We're obviously on different planets!;-) Tell you what? As you're
struggling to play music from that era, let me do your show for
you! This time last year, I was listening to Pirate BBC Essex,
which is the most live radio I've listened to in many a year – and
I wasn't the only one.

I found an hours worth and made it :-) . You are most welcome to comment on the selection.

I'll venture to say, it wasn't just the music that you were listening to via Essex. Like me you were also re-capturing your youth which we all do and there is nothing wrong with that as long as recapturing your youth doesn't leave you thinking that music is what should be used in 2008.

And I guess this show is a very unique show in that I don't think people should programme a station for themselves – they should programme the station for the audience, which is what we make every attempt to do as we will never get in perfect – no such thing in radio.

I'm sure we have all suffered The Last Waltz more than enough times :-). And it's best left for wedding discos ( please no). Pleasant Valley Sunday was a good pop track at the time, but not now. How many will recall, no googling now, the artist behind A Bad Night? Is Vikki Carr a name that makes people go OH WOW, sorry don't think so.

However, as I am allowed my own opinion – my most FAB track Man from the 60's still remain See Emily Play, well produced, powerful track.
And no plinkikity plink in sight – EUREKA. And if you don't like it, you should visit the vets :-)

The Johnnie Mann Singers as best remembered I'm sure for .........

Really, really Alan – no offence and if the music you love rocks your boat that's fine with me. However, I'd rather listen to nowt rather from some of the, what I think is, dross from the 60's and don't start me on the 1950's charts cos I'll scream at that point :-)

With the greatest of respect for your views

Eric



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In article <A558C23793654E08A181D877B48DE96E@video2>, (Address removed) (Alan Milewczyk) wrote:

Very comprehensive reply, thank you.
 

I am
a great advocate for the music of two decades, say, mid/late 50s to
mid-70s – apart from the artists I grew up with, such as Neil
Diamond and Elton John, there is very little contemporary music
that connects with me.

Respect your view, and whilst I guess my age bracket should mirror your views, sorry not for me.

Although I can appreciate that the Beatles moved the boundaries of
music in the 60s, in some ways what they lost was that raw edge,
that simplicity – although I was a mega fan of them in the 60s,
these days I rarely play their material from the Revolver era
onwards.

Agree the early material was raw, but where we differ is that my view is they evolved into something better over time.

of hearing Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel" for the very first time. It
remains for me, one of the most seismic jolts in the history of
Popular music.

Interesting, if I had to do instant recall like that it would be the Power-Play on 208. You Wear The Crown – Gary Byrd, amazing track.

to be used in 2008? We have locked antlers on this subject before
and will continue to do so

I sincerely hope so as what would the world be if were can't debate views?

do – you are a radio professional but that doesn't make your
opinion any more valid than mine. If you are happier with more
modern music or today's music even, good luck to you, you will
never hear me saying you shouldn't be. All I am saying is that it's
not for me. But please, no more inference that yours is the right
way or the only way! Or that my way is somehow not the right way!

I think we are coming at the above area from differing sides. I have to consider the audience and what works for them. I spend as much time as possible watching people listening to the radio and making adjustments. The age range is from 17 to 71, seriously. It is interesting to see how older people love the talking bits and encourage more of them. The younger age groups will be attracted to both elements – music and speech.

no-one had the balls to take that idea and make it work. By and
large, what I've heard of modern music just doesn't connect with me
one iota, I'm quite simply not interested in listening to it.

Hey, I've never said you can't hold that view! I still maintain there are huge numbers of people, all ages, that can and do connect with, often, 4 decades of music.

Thanks to the net I am able to enjoy "new" (to me) music from my
favourite eras –

Hey – how long have we both been banging on about that. The net gives greater opportunities to air different ranges of radio content, which makes the Net the Free Radio of 2008. Great tool.

Turning to the tracks you mention, personally Humph's "Last waltz"
(which a couple of weeks after the the MOA) wasn't my cuppa tea but
I don't despise it.

I don't despise hardly any music – well apart from that time called NOISE which was once aired on the Last Night of The Proms, thank goodness it appears to have been buried for ever.

Vikki Carr – great ballad,
very well sung (as was another in the same vein, Anita Harris'
"Just loving you"), but then you don't like ballads, do you?

Actually, you would be wrong there. I will often play the outstanding Enya! I can't think of enough positive words to describe my feelings for ALL of her tracks.

I recall Anita Harris being promoted, sorry launched, via the Billy Cotton Band show – she is a good stage/chorus singer. Not an entertainer with the power to attract me. And I am being very serious in that if my life depended on it Vicki Carr would just be a name to me.

was THE favourite genre for me, but it didn't stop me really
enjoying material such as Edison Lighthouse as we moved into a new
decade!

Most of which lead me to remembering how Roy Litchfield and I would have the same debates during QEFM days :-) You and Roy have very similar tastes in music I feel – I would call them MOR mainly.

If we move the clock on a tad, in the 70s I liked artists such as
Neil Diamond, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, the Doobie Brothers, the
Philly Sound, Rod Stewart and the Eagles (whom I discovered through
Tony Allan playing them on Radio Caroline, along with Jackson
Browne). Abba were musically the ultimate – no band has ever
surpassed their harmonies, their sheer sense of melody and the
incredible production – if pushed to quote my favourite song ever,
ever, ever, then it would have to be "Dancing Queen" – sheer
perfection.

I would venture to say Abba were pop perfection – crossed all boundaries, few have done that.
Have to congratulate Neil Diamond for his recent concerts. I had to watch to see if he could still hit the high notes, he did.

The Eighties brought Tina Turner, Eurythmics/Annie
Lennox, Alison Moyet (what a voice).

A clear picture of that which you like – Agreed ALF did have a great voice. As does Tina (but have to say Simply The Best is the only track I would play by choice).

specialist stuff like Brian Matthew, Suzi Quatro (she is a radio
GEM) and Johnnie Walker. Last time I listened to the radio in any
amount was a year ago to Pirate BBC Essex.

Suzi is an outstanding radio talent, and a VERY NICE person to chat with.

It is sad that there are no services to suit you. It reminds me of the news item when Bruce F was talking about the late Sir Billy Cotton. Bruce commented that Sir Bill understood what audiences needed and gave that to them – I was left wondering how Sir Bill would have viewed the boss of the BBC sitting for hours in front of Parliament and/or having to do all sort of crazy paperwork rather than focusing on programming.

More specifically, there was once mentioned that there should be a kind of Radio one and a half – I think that is now Radio Two apart from some of the specialist shows you like. If there had not been a radio three I would have made one and continued down the musical track which inspires you to listen to the radio. Kind of like the old Radio Two but time shifted to earlier music to suit as your radio group is no longer tiny. It's actually quite large and growing – problem being the only people who can serve such a market are state broadcasters.
Come to think of it, the Slovak State broadcaster does quite a good job of serving wide groups via different services. If there was nothing else in SK to listen to I would tune into RadioFM (yes very close to my views). Interestingly it does now appear to follow a more power-gold format at the weekends, hmmmmmmm wonder where they got that idea from.
And before you ask, I do know why it's hard for commercial station to air content for you – the simple answer is people don't think you are warm to commercials. I still think that's daft, but I have to balance making radio with paying the staff!

So that's it, except one question... what the heck is Plinkety
Plink?

All I can say it was a phrase we picked up in the 1960's so thought it was apt. I have a vague feeling it came from Juke Box Jury and Mickey Most is creeping through the haze. The track he was commenting on I can't recall. But safe to say if I could remember it would probably be one of the Anita Harris type tracks so I'll shut up now :-)

Thanks for a good debate

Regards
Eric

Eric Tesug <(Address removed)> said:

You Wear The Crown – Gary Byrd, amazing track.

Hurumph. Bloody racist song that is. It used to amaze me that all the stupid blondes in the clubs would happily shuffle in dance mode back and forth over their handbags to a song that was basically slagging them off and saying how terrible they were. And imagine the outcry if a version had come out being racist against black people!



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