Happy 40th BBC Radio 1 / The Perfect Sunday Reading
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Artist:
*BBC, one of the few corporate titans who have managed to maintain a respected and popular national radio broadcast, turns forty tomorrow.*It is hard to believe that Radio 1 still encapsulates the love of diversity in music. Its' radio personalities a decisive ear and fellow listener, evoking a nostalgic timeline of years past. The utopian mix of mass and niche.A great read for a Sunday! Since I am a day ahead, I thought I would post some moments from the beginning to now. For more information since this post is a little hasty (and there is plenty), visit the "comprehensive Radio Rewind pages":http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/history_of_radio_1_details.htm or the "Radio 1 Wiki page":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_1.
*September, 1967 - Radio 1 Breakfast Show*With the pirate radio movement gaining ground, BBC decides to counter with Radio1. Corporate name recognition turns some off but in the end, Radio1 gains ground and a loyal listener base."The first words spoken on Radio 1 - after a "countdown" by the Controller of Radios 1 and 2, Robin Scott, and a jingle, recorded at PAMS in Dallas, Texas, beginning "The voice of Radio 1" - were "... And, good morning everyone. Welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1". This was the first use of US-style jingles on BBC radio, but the style was familiar to listeners who were acquainted with Blackburn and other DJs from their days on pirate radio. The first complete record played on Radio 1 was Flowers in the Rain by The Move.""...staff included the legendary John Peel (who remained with the station until his death in October 2004) and a gaggle of others, some hired from pirates, such as Ed Stewart, Terry Wogan, Jimmy Young, Dave Cash, Kenny Everett, Simon Dee, Pete Murray, and Bob Holness. Initially, the station was unpopular with some of its target audience, who disliked the fact that much of its airtime was shared with Radio 2 and that it was less unequivocally aimed at a young audience than the offshore stations, with some DJs such as Jimmy Young being in their 40s.""The very fact that it was part of an 'establishment' institution such as the BBC was itself a turn-off for some, and the needle time restrictions prevented it from playing as many records as the offshore stations had. It also had limited finances (partially because the BBC did not increase its licence fee to fund the new station) and often, as in January 1975, suffered disproportionately when the BBC had to make financial cutbacks, strengthening an impression that it was regarded as a lower priority by senior BBC executives. Despite this, it gained massive audiences (although it benefitted from a lack of competition: Independent Local Radio did not begin until 1973 and it took many years to cover virtually all of the UK) with audiences of over 10 million claimed for some of its shows."
*1980, 1990, Present*Despite a sluggish but successful revival throughout the years, BBC1 had to reorganise. With changes in music culture and advances in digital media, the programming had to adapt to a fickle and knowledgeable younger audience.Annie Nightingale also became the longest running presenter after the death of the legendary John Peel in 2004."Later in the 90s the Britpop boom declined, and manufactured chart pop (boy bands and acts aimed at sub-teenagers) came to dominate the charts. Radio 1 found itself again in the position it had been in the late 80s, with increasingly bland chart music dominating the daytime shows. New genre music occupied the evenings (indie on weekdays and dance at weekends), with a mix of specialist shows and playlist fillers through late nights. The rise of rave culture through the late 80s and early 90s gave the station the opportunity to move into a controversial and completely youth-orientated movement by bringing in a club DJ, Pete Tong. This quickly gave birth to the Essential Mix where underground DJs mix rave and club based music in a two hour slot.""As listening figures which once regularly topped 20m slumped, the station came under pressure to redefine its role."The successes of the past proved difficult to replicate as younger listeners were tuning in elsewhere, Internet widening the reach of music."Tong, who was there during the early days of the reinvention, said there was now a 'natural link' between the daytime DJs such as Moyles and Scott Mills, "crossover" DJs such as Alex Zane and specialist evening DJs such as Gilles Peterson, Tim Westwood and himself.""Tong described his role as "part navigator, part Pied Piper". He said: "When I started in 1991, I had the records and you didn't, so you had to listen to me. Now, everyone's got access to everything, it's my job to find you the 20 best ones."Pete Tong was God when I first discovered him, it's interesting to see how he has adapted to new technologies and the rhythm of listeners.Radio1 is still one of my weekly listens, it's remarkable. The ability to have this level of quality on a national station is next to impossible from my experience in other countries, a true birthplace of many important, relevant presenters and musicians. There is much more "here":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_1 and "here":http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/history_menu_page.htm.Happy 40th Radio 1!My favourite Radio 1 presenters include:"Gilles Peterson":http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/gillespeterson/"Mary Ann Hobbs":http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/maryannehobbs/"Rob Da Bank":http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/robdabank/(Sources: "Wikipedia":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_1, "The Guardian":http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,,2179756,00.html, "BBC Radio1":http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/)
*September, 1967 - Radio 1 Breakfast Show*With the pirate radio movement gaining ground, BBC decides to counter with Radio1. Corporate name recognition turns some off but in the end, Radio1 gains ground and a loyal listener base."The first words spoken on Radio 1 - after a "countdown" by the Controller of Radios 1 and 2, Robin Scott, and a jingle, recorded at PAMS in Dallas, Texas, beginning "The voice of Radio 1" - were "... And, good morning everyone. Welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1". This was the first use of US-style jingles on BBC radio, but the style was familiar to listeners who were acquainted with Blackburn and other DJs from their days on pirate radio. The first complete record played on Radio 1 was Flowers in the Rain by The Move.""...staff included the legendary John Peel (who remained with the station until his death in October 2004) and a gaggle of others, some hired from pirates, such as Ed Stewart, Terry Wogan, Jimmy Young, Dave Cash, Kenny Everett, Simon Dee, Pete Murray, and Bob Holness. Initially, the station was unpopular with some of its target audience, who disliked the fact that much of its airtime was shared with Radio 2 and that it was less unequivocally aimed at a young audience than the offshore stations, with some DJs such as Jimmy Young being in their 40s.""The very fact that it was part of an 'establishment' institution such as the BBC was itself a turn-off for some, and the needle time restrictions prevented it from playing as many records as the offshore stations had. It also had limited finances (partially because the BBC did not increase its licence fee to fund the new station) and often, as in January 1975, suffered disproportionately when the BBC had to make financial cutbacks, strengthening an impression that it was regarded as a lower priority by senior BBC executives. Despite this, it gained massive audiences (although it benefitted from a lack of competition: Independent Local Radio did not begin until 1973 and it took many years to cover virtually all of the UK) with audiences of over 10 million claimed for some of its shows."*1980, 1990, Present*Despite a sluggish but successful revival throughout the years, BBC1 had to reorganise. With changes in music culture and advances in digital media, the programming had to adapt to a fickle and knowledgeable younger audience.Annie Nightingale also became the longest running presenter after the death of the legendary John Peel in 2004."Later in the 90s the Britpop boom declined, and manufactured chart pop (boy bands and acts aimed at sub-teenagers) came to dominate the charts. Radio 1 found itself again in the position it had been in the late 80s, with increasingly bland chart music dominating the daytime shows. New genre music occupied the evenings (indie on weekdays and dance at weekends), with a mix of specialist shows and playlist fillers through late nights. The rise of rave culture through the late 80s and early 90s gave the station the opportunity to move into a controversial and completely youth-orientated movement by bringing in a club DJ, Pete Tong. This quickly gave birth to the Essential Mix where underground DJs mix rave and club based music in a two hour slot.""As listening figures which once regularly topped 20m slumped, the station came under pressure to redefine its role."The successes of the past proved difficult to replicate as younger listeners were tuning in elsewhere, Internet widening the reach of music."Tong, who was there during the early days of the reinvention, said there was now a 'natural link' between the daytime DJs such as Moyles and Scott Mills, "crossover" DJs such as Alex Zane and specialist evening DJs such as Gilles Peterson, Tim Westwood and himself.""Tong described his role as "part navigator, part Pied Piper". He said: "When I started in 1991, I had the records and you didn't, so you had to listen to me. Now, everyone's got access to everything, it's my job to find you the 20 best ones."Pete Tong was God when I first discovered him, it's interesting to see how he has adapted to new technologies and the rhythm of listeners.Radio1 is still one of my weekly listens, it's remarkable. The ability to have this level of quality on a national station is next to impossible from my experience in other countries, a true birthplace of many important, relevant presenters and musicians. There is much more "here":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_1 and "here":http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/history_menu_page.htm.Happy 40th Radio 1!My favourite Radio 1 presenters include:"Gilles Peterson":http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/gillespeterson/"Mary Ann Hobbs":http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/maryannehobbs/"Rob Da Bank":http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/robdabank/(Sources: "Wikipedia":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_1, "The Guardian":http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,,2179756,00.html, "BBC Radio1":http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/)
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