New Year's Eve - Monday 31st. December

For this final program for 2012 I thought that I would feature the Top 20 for the year 1962 - a look at what were the most popular hits fifty years ago.
And here is what the DJs were playing and what we were buying back then, counting down from No. 1 to No. 20.......

1. Working For The Man - Roy Orbison
2. Ramblin' Rose - Nat "King" Cole
3. Multiplication - Bobby Darrin
4. Alley Cat - Bent Fabric
5. Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley
6. Wolverton Mountain - Claude King
7. The Lonely Bull - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
8. Telstar - the Tornadoes
9. Stranger On The Shore - Acker Bilk
10. The Boys - the Shadows
11. Dance With The Guitar Man - Duane Eddy
12. The Swiss Maid - Del Shannon
13. I've Been Everywhere - Lucky Starr
14. The Cha Cha Cha - Bobby Rydell
15. Midnight In Moscow - Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen
16. If I Didn't Have A Dime - Gene Pitney
17. Do You Want To Dance - Cliff Richard and the Shadows
18. Roses Are red (My Love) - Bobby Vinton
19. He's Not A Rebel - Vikki Carr
20. Big Girls Don't Cry - the Four Seasons

In addition to the above, the following were the Top 10 Australian Hits for that year:-

1. I've Been Everywhere - Lucky Starr (included above)
2. Si Senor - Rob E.G.
3. Sing - Johnny O'Keefe
4. Southern 'Rora - the Joy Boys
5. I Remember You - Frank Ifield
6. Wolverton Mountain - Kevin Shegog *
7. Get A Little Dirt On You Hands - the Delltones
8. 5-4-3-2-1-Zero - Rob E.G.
9. Girl From Wolverton Mountain - Dorothy Baker
10. Midnight Bus - Betty McQuade

I will be playing all of the above tracks (* sorry but I don't have this one) during the show, along with other hits from 1962.

I was prompted by a news item last night, in which the Red Cross were appealing for blood donors across the region, to feature a classic Hancock's Half-hour, "The Blood Donor", in the comedy spot following the 10:00 AM news and weather.
If you have not heard this previously, then you'll love it. And if you have heard it before then I'm sure you will enjoy the re-run.

Happy New Year to you all!

Friday 28th. December - Penultimate Show for 2012.

This second-last show for the year will be a mixture of all things Pop and Easy-listening from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s; I will not be focusing at any one decade or year.

The Comedy Spot following the 3:00 PM news and weather is another from the Hancock's Half-hour series, this one entitled "The Threatening Letter", from 27th. May 1958, and featuring all five regulars for this period - Tony Hancock, Sid James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams.

Please join me and spend three hours wallowing in radio-nostalgia!

Christmas Eve - Monday 24th. December

This is, to all intents and purposes, my Christmas show so I will be playing whatever the lucky-dip comes up with over the 3 hours from 9:00 AM until midday.

Forties, Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Nineties, Easy-listening, Soft Jazz, Latin, Contemporary.......plus comedy snippets and, following the 10:00 AM news, a Goon Show entitled "The Missing 10 Downing Street", from 1957.

Join me for a nostalgic Christmas Eve listening experience.

Friday 21st. - Santa Is Nearly Here!

Only a couple of days to go before Christmas!
Today's program will mostly be a mix of hits and easy-listening music from the "Baby-Boomer" decades of the 1950s and 1960s.

The comedy spot following the 3:00 PM news is a Hancock's Half-hour show with a Christmassy theme from December 1958.
Entitled "Bill and Father Christmas", it features the regular cast for that period but Kenneth Williams' place is taken by a one-off appearance by Warren "Alf Garnett" Mitchell.

Please join me for this next-to-last show before Christmas Day.

NOTE!
I will also be on air in the regular morning timeslot on Christmas Eve, Monday 24th., from 9:00 AM until 12:00 Noon.

Monday 17th. - the lead-up to Christmas!

Yes, it's the last week before Christmas and, as previously mentioned, the comedy spots for both today and Friday 21st. will feature Hancock's Half-hour Christmas-themes.

The first of these went to air 56 years ago on the 23rd. December 1956 and is entitled "Hancock's Happy Christmas", with Tony Hancock, Sid James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams - arguably the best cast of all the Hancock series.

The show for next Friday was broadcast on the 25th. December 1958, two years further down the track from that mentioned above and is entitled "Bill and Father Christmas".
This also features the three regular stars and Hattie Jacques but Kenneth Williams is replaced by a young Warren Mitchell, who later gained infamy as the bigoted Alf Garnett in the TV series "Until Death Us Do Part".

The music selections for both shows will include pops and hits across the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies.

NOTE!
I will also be on air in the regular morning timeslot on Christmas Eve, Monday 24th., from 9:00 AM until 12:00 Noon.

Friday 14th. December - Girl's Day!

I will be featuring the "girls" of the 1950s and 1960s today - the vocalists of the female gender who gained stardom as pop-singers during the years between 1950 and 1970.
The playlist includes the following :-

• Lulu
• Gloria Gaynor
• Dionne Warwick
• Jane Morgan
• Sandie Shaw
• Nancy Sinatra
• Helen Shapiro
• Dusty Springfield
• Cilla Black
• Annette Funicello
• Brenda Lee
• Connie Francis
• the Caravelles
• the Shirrelles
• Della Reese
• Hayley Mills
• Dodie Stevens
• Linda Scott
• Eydie Gorme
• Etta James
• Little Eva
• Marcie Blaine
• Little Peggy March
• Sue Thompson
• Mary Wells
• Skeeter Davis
• Millie Small
• the Angels
• the Murmaids
• the Crystals
• Nancy Wilson
• the Singing Nun
• Astrud Gilberto
• Peggy Lee
• the Jellybeans
• Petula Clark
• the Poni-Tails
• Doris Day
• Sara Vaughan
• Kathy Kirby
• Rosemary Clooney
• Marianne Faithful
• Leslie Gore
• Judy Stone
• Bev Harrell
• Dinah Lee
• Patsy Ann Noble
• Noeleen Batley

The half-hour comedy spot following the 3 o'clock news will be "The Foreign Legion", a Hancock's Half-hour show first broadcast in April 1958.

Please join me for some nostalgia between 2:00 and 5:00 PM.

Sunday 9th. and Monday 10th. December

SUNDAY

On Sunday afternoons between 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM Kay Fitton presents her Sunday array of classical music.
However, on this particular Sunday Kay will be in Sydney and so I will be sitting in her seat in the studio up until at least 5:00 PM. If my commitments allow then I will go through until Kay's usual finishing time of six o'clock.

But the format will not be Classical.
I will be presenting a show consisting of light and easy music interspersed with comedy snippets and at least one full half-hour show from the golden days of BBC radio.

Please join me if you can on Sunday afternoon.

MONDAY

As I have an unscheduled and urgent dental appointment on Monday at 8:15 AM there is a distinct possibility that my regular Monday edition of the Baby-boomer Radio Show will, at the very least, have a delayed start.
At the worst, I will not be able to get into the studio at all that morning.

I hope my regular listeners will forgive this slight disturbance to the regular programming.

However, if all goes well, I will be featuring the music from the charts for 1958 and 1959 and, for the comedy spot after the ten o'clock news and weather, a Hancock's Half-hour from the 17th. February 1957, entitled "The Emigrant".

 

Program for Friday 7th. December

For the half-hour comedy spot today I will feature another in the Hancock's Half-Hour series of radio comedy shows.
This one was first broadcast by the BBC on the 8th. December 1959 and is entitled "The Poetry Society" and was the fourth-last of the radio shows, the series ending on the 29th. December 1959.
Hattie Jacques had left the show at the end of the fifth series (June 1959). She had been a regular cast member since 1956.
Kenneth Williams, a regular since the first series aired in 1954, also departed at the end of the fifth series.
So join Tony, Sid and Bill as they delve into alternative culture!

The music for today's Baby Boomer Radio Show will highlight tracks from 1958, 1963 and the 1970s.

NOTE!
I will be featuring two Hancock's Half-Hour shows with Christmas themes during the week before Christmas.
That's Monday morning 17th. and Friday afternoon's show on 21st. December.

What's on for Monday 3rd. December?

Today's program will have a broad-brush approach, with hits and classics from right across the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, together with Easy Listening tracks dotted throughout the three-hour show.

Following the 10:00 news & weather I will be playing a classic Hancock's Half-Hour from the 1950s. First broadcast by the BBC on the 18th. March 1958, this episode is entitled "The Americans Hit Town".

Please join me for some nostalgic radio from 9:00 AM until Noon.

Program for Friday 30th. November

The last day of Spring......and expected to be more like the middle of Summer, with a forecast maximum temperature of 35 degrees.

The core of today's program is the music from "Heartbeat", the ITV television series set in 1960s rural England and now being shown three times a week here on 7TWO.
I discovered on Monday that they are re-running the original series from the very start (first aired in 1992, would you believe?!), so it prompted me to dig out the 2-CD album and use it as the focus for Friday's show.

In addition to the music from "Heartbeat" I will be presenting other tracks from the Sixties and of course a half-hour 1950s comedy spot after the 3:00 PM news and weather.
This Friday's offering is "Robin Hood", a Goon Show that was first broadcast on the BBC (and soon after on ABC radio here in Australia) on the 2nd. December 1956. So we are celebrating the 56th. anniversary of its debut.

And as we are now less than a month away from Christmas Eve I will include a couple of appropriately-seasonal songs. Not carols, but pop-tunes that made the charts over the past few decades.

So please join me for some fun and laughter as we go back in time and wallow in nostalgia!

Monday - Easy Listening, 1960s and Hancock

After the 10:00 AM news and weather the comedy spot for today's show will feature a classic Hancock's Half-Hour - "Hancock's School", from 4th. March 1958 (number 7 of Series 5 and the 75th. radio show since it began).
For your interest, the radio series ran from November 2nd. 1954 to December 29th. 1959, after which the show became a TV production.

The music selection this morning will focus on the Easy Listening and 1960s Hits genres.

As always, you can tune in with your computer or smart-phone by clicking on the internet streaming link Listen Live in the menu bar on the right-hand side of this column.

The menu - Friday 23rd. November

Today I will be playing hits and easy-listening tracks from 1953 through to 1968 - a random selection of the music that was broadcast over that 15-year period.

The comedy piece for this afternoon's half-hour following the 3:00 PM news & weather will be a Goon Show, "The Personal Narrative of Captain Ned Seagoon", first broadcast by the BBC on the 22nd. November 1956 - that's 56 years ago almost exactly to the day.
How old were you and what were you doing on this day in 1956?

Please join me for three hours of reminiscing, either over the airwaves on 89.5 FM or through our Internet Streaming app.

Program for Monday 19th. November



Cast of Hancock's Half-Hour in January 1957, from left-to-right:
Kenneth Williams, Tony Hancock, Bill Kerr, Sid James and Hattie Jaques

The Ten O'Clock Comedy spot for today will feature an episode of Hancock's Half-Hour, from January 27th. 1957, entiltled "Wild Man Of The Woods", in which Tony decides to abandon modern society and live the life of a hermit!

This recording stars Tony Hancock, Sid James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams - arguably the best array of talent of the Hancock years.

The music for today will consist of a selection of popular music and hits from across the 1950s, 60s, 70s and also a wander into the 1980s.

So please join me on Valley FM 89.5 either across the airwaves or by clicking on our Internet Streaming link .

What's on the menu for Friday 16th.?

I'm going back to the 1950s for the majority of the content for today's show and it will include not only the numbers that were on the official pop charts of the day but also music that we now consider to be "middle of the road" or "easy listening".

In addition, following the news & weather at 3:00 PM, I will be playing a selection of skits from the "Round The Horne" series and episode 1 of "The Curse Of The Flying Wombat", from the "I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again" radio show from the 1960s.

Cast of "Round The Horne", 1963.

 So please join me if you can, via either the conventional valve-operated wireless set or the new all-electric Internet Streaming service offered by our station - Valley FM 89.5.

 



 

Valley FM goes Live Streaming!

 

TUNE IN via INTERNET STREAMING

Off air on Monday 12th. November

I will be out of Canberra on Monday so the show will pause until the normal Friday timeslot - 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM - on the 16th. November.

Back to 1960 on Friday 9th. November

Today I'll be featuring the music of 1960 that was coming out of our transistor radios - or maybe you were also lucky enough to have parents who bought you a portable record player!



Whatever method you used to listen to your favourite music back then, you can now enjoy it not only over the radio but also by tuning into our internet streaming service (currently finalising testing).

Monday 5th. November - 1958, 1961 & 1963.

 
The core of tomorrow morning's Baby Boomer Radio show will be the pop-music we were listening to in the years 1958, 1961 and 1963.

From 1958 comes a selection of the Top 20 international hits for the month of January; for 1961 we will hear hits that were aired throughout the whole year and for 1963 it's a look at some of the music which made the Top 20 for that year.

Interspersed throughout the 3-hour show will be songs from such singers as Jo Stafford (1950s), Marianne Faithfull, Sarah Vaughan and Dionne Warwick (1960s) and Matt Monro (1970s).

To round out the presentation I will be including another episode of "Hancock's Half-Hour", first broadcast fifty-six years ago when it went to air on the BBC on the 16th. December 1956.
The espisode is entitled "The Espresso Bar" and, along with Tony Hancock, features Bill Kerr, Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams.
I will be airing this comedy segment immediately following the 10:00 AM news and weather.

So please join me at 9:00 AM either by tuning into 89.5 Valley FM on your radio or via the Internet Stream Test .

Radio Comedy, Easy Listening and 1959.

Are you a fan of BBC comedy from the 1950s?
Did you sit around the radio with the rest of the family, listening and laughing at the aural antics of people such as Tony Hancock, Sid James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams?
Do the words "Hancock's Half-Hour" bring a moment of sweet nostalgia to you?

Well, if you tune into Valley FM 89.5 this Friday afternoon (2nd. November) you will be able to relive one of those golden moments from British radio comedy when, immediately following the 3:00 PM news and weather service, I present an episode of this classic show from the late 1950s.

In addition to Messrs. Hancock and friends I will be serving up a "Fifities" theme which will include a selection of hits from the charts for 1959, along with some Easy Listening music.

I welcome your company, whether it be via traditional radio or the Valley FM internet streaming test.
Just choose your player (Winamp or Windows Media Player) and enjoy the show.

On Monday 29th. October.....

The program for Monday's Baby-Boomer Radio Show will be deviating from the format used for the first shows.
Rather than concentrating on one specific year or one week I will be providing a selection of 1960s fare - and may even wander into the pantry of the 1970s.

So for tomorrow be prepared to listen between 9:00 AM and 12:00 Noon for a veritable smorgasbord of music & comedy from the best years of our lives.

PS:
For Beatles fans - Time/LIFE have a new book which just might interest you.

With The BEATLES - by Bob Whitaker (official Beatles photographer).

If you love 1960s music.......

Here is a You Tube channel that is a "must" for those baby-boomers with a fondness for the pop-music of the Sixties.
It doesn't concentrate on the Top Forty, or even the Top Fifty and it doesn't focus on the "A-side" of the 45 rpm records that we were buying and listening to back then: The core of MaltShopPopsicle is the "B-side" of those hits and also any record that slipped under the Top 100 on the American charts.

At last we can hear those songs which we ignored back then as we popped the record onto the turntable - that side was always underneath the one for which we forked out our pocket money or meagre earnings.
The radio stations tended to ignore them as well, giving very little airplay to those tracks.
After all - it was essentially the DJs who held sway over what was played and that influence directly impacted on what was sold.

My thanks go to Tom, who operates the MaltShopPopsicle site, for providing us with this great selection of music that was, by and large, overlooked during our youth.
It's really nice to be able to catch up with them at last.

Program for Friday 26th. October

Last Monday I featured the songs that were in the charts for that date back in 1962.
For the program this Friday (2:00 PM to 5:00 PM AEDST) I will be going to a wider scope and featuring the hits that came our way back in 1964 - in fact, the Top Twenty on the Australian radio charts for that year and the Number One hits for 1964 in Australia, the USA and the UK.

Unless you are familiar with the Australian pop-music scene of the 1960s you may not be aware that 1964 was a slim year on Australian radio (and subsequently in the record shops) for American artists and groups.
The "British Invasion" was underway and, as a result, out of the Top Twenty hits for 1964, only 6 came from the USA. (Elvis Presley (2); Mary Wells; Beach Boys; Roy Orbison; Peter, Paul & Mary)

Australian artists had 2 in the Top Twenty - Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs (2).

The British had the bulk - 12 in total. The Beatles alone had EIGHT!
Cilla Black; Julie Rogers; The Honeycombs, Peter & Gordon (1 each).
(NOTE! Some 45s were released as EPs - two tracks per side - and this is the reason for the double-barrelled titles shown in the list.)

So on Friday I will be including the following for your enjoyment (listed in descending order, from No1. to No. 20 on the end-of-year chart):-

1. All My Loving - Beatles                                                              Australian #1
2. Love Me Do/I Saw Her Standing There - Beatles                       Australian #1
3. A Hard Day's Night - Beatles                                                      Australian #1
4. Can't Buy Me Love - Beatles                                                      Australian #1 
5. The Wedding - Julie Rogers
6. You're My World - Cilla Black                                                   Australian #1
7. If I Fell/I Should Have Known Better - Beatles                          Australian #1
8. I Feel Fine - Beatles                                                                    Australian #1
9. Poison Ivy - Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs                                      Australian #1
10. Tell It On The Mountain - Peter, Paul & Mary
11. Hawaii - Beach Boys
12. Long Tall Sally/Boys - Beatles
13. Roll Over Beethoven/Hold Me Tight - Beatles
14. Ask Me/Ain't That Lovin You Baby - Elvis Presley                 Australian #1
15. My Guy - Mary Wells                                                                Australian #1
16. A World Without Love - Peter & Gordon                                 Australian #1
17. Sick & Tired/About Love - Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
18. Have I The Right - Honeycombs                                               Australian #1
19. Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley
20. Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison

In addition to the above I will play the Top 10 that were recorded by Australian (well, Aussie and Kiwi) artists in 1964, and the list includes:

1. Poison Ivy - Billy Thorpe (see above)
2. Sick & Tired - Billy Thorpe (see above)
3. Don't You Know Yokomo - Dinah Lee
4. She's A Mod - Ray Columbus & the Invaders
5. She Wears My Ring - Johnny O'Keefe
6. 4,003,221 Tears From Now - Judy Stone
7. White Rabbit - Peter Posa
8. Mashed Potato/Don't You Know - Billy Thorpe
9. Teeny - Johnny Chester
10. Reet Petite - Dinah Lee.

And, as usual, a smattering of Easy Listening music interspersed with comedy clips from classic British radio shows.

I hope that you can join me.
Feedback is always welcome via comments here or email to brucek*home.netspeed.com.au
(Replace the asterisk with the AT symbol).

Program for Mon 22nd. October

Commences at 0900 AEDST and ends at 1200 AEDST.

The program for today takes us back to that which was being played on this date - 22nd. October - in 1962.
That's exactly fifty (50) years ago!

The playlist will include the following titles as listed in the WABC (New York) "Silver Dollar Sound Survey" for the week of 23 October 1962....................

1. He's A Rebel - Crystals
2. Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett
3. Big Girls Don't Cry - 4 Seasons
4. Green Onions - Booker T & MGs
5. Don't Hang Up - Orlons
6. All Alone Am I - Brenda Lee
7. Sherry - 4 Seasons
8. Surfin' Safari - Beach Boys
9. Popeye The Hitchhiker - Chubby Checker
10. Nothing Can Change This Love - Sam Cooke
11. Patches - Dickie Lee
12. Ramblin' Rose - Nat "King" Cole
13. You Beat Me To The Punch - Mary Wells
14. Desafinado - Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd
15. Alley Cat - Bent Fabric
16. Next Door To An Angel - Neil Sedaka
17. Only Love Can Break A Heart - Gene Pitney
18. Gina - Johnny Mathis
19. Ride! - Dee Dee Sharp
20. Return To Sender - Elvis Presley
21. Let's Dance - Chris Montez
22. Bobby's Girl - Marcie Blane
23. The Cha-Cha-Cha - Bobby Rydell
24. I Left My Heart In San Francisco - Tony Bennett
25. When My Little Girl Is Smiling - Jimmy Justice
26. Lie To Me - Brook Benton
27. Limbo Rock - Chubby Checker
28. Venus In Blue Jeans - Jimmy Clanton
29. I Was Such A Fool - Connie Francis
30. What Kind Of Love Is This - Joey Dee & Starliters
31. I Remember You - Frank Ifield (Australian singer - one of the first in the US charts)
32. Don't Ask me To be Friends - Everly Brothers
33. Love Came To Me - Dion

In addition to the above, the playlist will include the following Australian tracks that were being played in 1962..........

1. I've Been Everywhere - Lucky Starr
2. Si Senor - Rob E.G.
3. Southern 'Rora - Joy Boys
4. Sing - Johnny O'Keefe

To round out the content of the show there will be some comedy snippets from such shows as "Fawlty Towers", "Porridge", "Hancock's Half-hour" and "Round The Horn" and a smattering of Easy Listening tracks.

Please join me if you can.

We're Ba-a-a-a-ack!

Originally airing between December 2002 and February 2006 (and then entitled "Recollections"), this show is centred around the pop-charts of the 1960s and includes the hits (and not-so-hits) that were heard on radio between the birth of Rock & Roll (1955) and the early 1970s.
Hits from Australian groups and artists form an essential part of the format.

Additional features include "Easy Listening" music and excerpts from (and complete episodes of) old comedy radio shows such as "Hancock's Half-Hour", "The Goon Show", "Round The Horne", "Take It From Here" and other classics.

The shows go to air twice a week - each presentation differing from the other - at the following times:-
Mondays 0900 - 1200 Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (AEDST)
Fridays 1400 - 1700 AEDST

As well as being broadcast in the usual fashion - at a frequency of 89.5 FM "on your radio dial" (as they used to say!) - the show is being test-streamed on the internet and can be accessed by going to the Valley FM website, clicking on Presenters in the menu bar and then scrolling down to Test.

Click on Test and then choose to listen with either Winamp or Windows Media Player.

Feedback is welcomed and encouraged and may be done by emailing me at bhkAToutlookDOTcomDOTau
Requests may also be made in the same way.