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.