I only listen to The Golden Hour, enjoying the wide range of years and music being played. Yesterday we had 1999 today 1960, the oldest and most recent years so far, a freedom he didn't enjoy on Smooth. I wonder if we'll make it into the noughties?
Why?? It's just a guess the year hour and most stations have one.
Maybe, but not with Bates as presenter, the original and best. The show seems to be attracting plenty of listeners from outside the area, probably those who recognise a professional presenter when they hear one, not some dullard nobody has heard of.
When Mayo took over from Bates on R1 the Golden Hour (or whatever the rebrand was called) it was a poor imitation.
Like Popmaster the Bates Golden Hour (and Our Tune) was an institution in many workplaces.
He did, when he was moved to the 9am - 12 Noon slot on Radio 1 in 1973 it was Tony that first brought us the Golden Hour. Simon simply inherited it when he took over from Tony in late 1978 after Tony was moved to the afternoon slot.
Tony presented The Golden Hour for 5 years yet it's Simon that's really known for the feature, but then I guess he ran it from 1978 thru to his departure at the end of 1993.
Although the feature continued under Simon Mayo it was renamed The Classic Years.
I'm sure many people can try and lay claim to inventing a golden hour type of feature but there are so many on the radio.
It's a load of songs from 1 year, not exactly creative genius and although massively successful for radio stations that run them, There is no need to network one just because it's Simon Bates. Would that be a huge audience pull for a station that runs this feature anyway? I doubt it.
I think people would like to hear Simon on national radio regardless of it's presenting The Golden Hour or not. Just out of curiosity, what tracks did he play from 1999? To my knowledge he didn't go beyond 1994 on Smooth.
POTP should be doing 1999 also except Tony wouldn't be prepared to play the music no doubt.
I agree that you don't have Bates on a 7-10am show and NOT do the Golden Hour.
But in terms of networking, not only would it be not local at a key part of the day (audiences probably about 5 times the size of the early evenings), it would also be a bit of a departure from BBC local radio's brand values.
Given (rightly or wrongly) that the things the network wants to sell are local information, relatable presenters and holding local people in power to account, you're unlikely to get much traction for a hits and headlines hour.. even if it's with the master.
Of course, that feeds into Myers' argument that "it's all a bit newsy and shouldn't they let loose a bit?". But unless/even if you came up with a way of localising it (Simes or the local brekky jocks recording a bunch of local headlines for each station/year?), it think would still be a pretty lame argument for daytime.
He did, when he was moved to the 9am - 12 Noon slot on Radio 1 in 1973 it was Tony that first brought us the Golden Hour. Simon simply inherited it when he took over from Tony in late 1978 after Tony was moved to the afternoon slot.
Tony presented The Golden Hour for 5 years yet it's Simon that's really known for the feature, but then I guess he ran it from 1978 thru to his departure at the end of 1993.
Although the feature continued under Simon Mayo it was renamed The Classic Years.
if I remember correctly Blackburn 's original Golden Hours were on Monday and Friday only and I'm sure it was in the 11.00-12.00 hour and then it was "every other record a revive 45" or am I losing it??
As he was a regular host of Top of the Pops during the 80s wouldn't Simon Bates be a more appropriate host of Sounds of the 80s than Sara Cox?
Anyone who was older than 5 at the turn of the decade and was actually 'there' would be better. Not sure about Bates, if they want to keep a Saturday night 'party' feel to the show he's probably a tad too old, Mike Read or Gary Davis would be better, although if a more serious Sound's Of The 80's like the 60's show were required, he would be a good fit.
I think he'd be best in Ken Bruce's slot to be honest, he should have been given it years ago. Bring back The Golden Hour and Our Tune.
Probably too old now, but if there had of been any forward planning by the BBC he should have been offered it in 1992 instead of Bruce. The Golden Hour, Our Tune and Pop Master would be quite a show!
I think he'd be best in Ken Bruce's slot to be honest, he should have been given it years ago. Bring back The Golden Hour and Our Tune.
Can't see Ken Bruce being replaced by an older presenter, was there a period early 90s when they were both in the mid morning slot? Must have been odd Radio 1 having an older presenter than Radio 2 on at the same time.
Interesting that he name checks so many golden hour guessers from outside of Devon, whilst a few would be fine half being out or area doesn't sound local.
I'm sure Bates loves knowing his got a national audience but the producers should control it to maintain the local feel, I suspect the producers are probably more focused on feeding Bates' notorious ego rather than making the show sound right for the target audience if so they're not doing their job properly.
Simon needs to realise his national Radio career is over and focus on being a local jock.
if I remember correctly Blackburn 's original Golden Hours were on Monday and Friday only and I'm sure it was in the 11.00-12.00 hour and then it was "every other record a revive 45" or am I losing it??
Actually it started as a Friday only hour at 8am as part of Tony Blackburn's weekday breakfast show in the early seventies.Every other record was an oldie and the hour was called 'The non-stop revived forty five music spectacular'which,towards the end of his run,had its own sung jingle ( a repeat of the hours name!I still have it on cassette).
I promised to post after a month of Simon Bates doing the breakfast show on Radio Devon and this is it!
I'd have to preface all the comments by saying that opinions/views are my own.
Firstly the Radio Devon breakfast show has changed dramatically. With the previous incumbent there was no music between 07:00 and 09:00 and now there is a growing erosion of "hard" news by playing music - notably the "hits for headlines" feature. Bates also imposes himself (and to some extent his views) on what had previously been a fairly bland BBC presentation of news from this not very hard news area (dog fouling in Tavistock today! ) He crashes jingles and has an esoteric timing style, as well as seeming to find some of the strictures of expectation of format a challenge to natural flow - in particular the traffic bulletins and the weather reports. He's also (quite naturally probably) taken to pointing the whole schedule of the morning towards "The Golden Hour" where he attracts interaction from all over the country and abroad. Whether this is going to be reflected in the next RAJAR will be interesting. Overall, I'd say that there has been a dumbing down of the news, though he has gamely tackled a wide range of political issues. Perhaps given another month they will have sorted out some of his technical imperfections and the whole three hours will be more seamless.
As a personal aside I find the constant branding of the station as being "The home of Simon Bates in the morning" jarring- especially as it ignores the fact that there are a couple of other presenters who are equally as esoteric and worthy of promotion. However I'd best not get started on Radio Devon scheduling....
Overall a good and fair review of the new breakfast show I'd say DoctorDave.
I'll add a couple of my own thoughts a month in too, admitting I don't listen to the Golden Hour as by 9am I'm in work each day and the breakfast show for me is more about the news, weather and in particular travel.
From initially not being hugely impressed (doesn't help when I got stuck in a traffic jam which the traffic news may have made me divert around had the weather not been paraphrased over the traffic jingle rather than the traffic), I have to say I'm getting used to Bates' style and programme.
As you mention the news content does seem to have dumbed down slightly and seems to be reliant on longer features on the news which don't get repeated so much throughout the programme. When Matt Woodley was on air if you listened to the whole show you'd hear the same story discussed in similar reports (if not the same reports) again and again. Obviously this makes sense for a show where people will tune in for say 30 minute chunks as they travel to work or eat their breakfast. The show has moved a little more towards being a show aimed at being listened to for the whole duration.
He clearly has listened to Radio Devon in the past and does have a decent knowledge of some parts of the County. Gordon Sparkes is a good foil for him as well, having a detailed knowledge of Plymouth and the surrounding area, which seems to be less familiar to Bates (Gordon is a former presenter of the Plymouth opt out breakfast show in the good old days).
Bates' interaction with his team is also good and he seems to get on well with the likes of Sparkes, England, Chequer etc. It was particularly good to hear Matt Woodley back on air this week as well with extensive reporting from the Plymouth Sainsbury's flooding.
Overall going better than I would have expected a month ago.
Simon Bates has already done R2. He must be the only DJ that went from R2 to R1, normally it's the other way round. Remember him doing the early show before Wogan- I'm guessing sometime before Ray Moore took that slot in the late 70's I think.
I think people would like to hear Simon on national radio regardless of it's presenting The Golden Hour or not. Just out of curiosity, what tracks did he play from 1999? To my knowledge he didn't go beyond 1994 on Smooth.
POTP should be doing 1999 also except Tony wouldn't be prepared to play the music no doubt.
You could feature any of the last 20 years in a Golden Hour format but probably not POTP.
Simon Bates has already done R2. He must be the only DJ that went from R2 to R1, normally it's the other way round. Remember him doing the early show before Wogan- I'm guessing sometime before Ray Moore took that slot in the late 70's I think.
Yes he did. 40 years ago in 1975. Colin Berry took over from him followed by Ray Moore. Mind you I think David Hamilton was presenting certain programmes for Radio 2 such as Family Choice and Late Night Extra before joining Radio 1. Even then for much of the time his Radio 1 programme was simultaneously broadcast on Radio 2 before moving back solely to Radio 2.
Comments
Shame its not national.
Why?? It's just a guess the year hour and most stations have one.
Maybe, but not with Bates as presenter, the original and best. The show seems to be attracting plenty of listeners from outside the area, probably those who recognise a professional presenter when they hear one, not some dullard nobody has heard of.
When Mayo took over from Bates on R1 the Golden Hour (or whatever the rebrand was called) it was a poor imitation.
Like Popmaster the Bates Golden Hour (and Our Tune) was an institution in many workplaces.
Didn't Tony Blackburn do The Golden Hour first?
He did, when he was moved to the 9am - 12 Noon slot on Radio 1 in 1973 it was Tony that first brought us the Golden Hour. Simon simply inherited it when he took over from Tony in late 1978 after Tony was moved to the afternoon slot.
Tony presented The Golden Hour for 5 years yet it's Simon that's really known for the feature, but then I guess he ran it from 1978 thru to his departure at the end of 1993.
Although the feature continued under Simon Mayo it was renamed The Classic Years.
It's a load of songs from 1 year, not exactly creative genius and although massively successful for radio stations that run them, There is no need to network one just because it's Simon Bates. Would that be a huge audience pull for a station that runs this feature anyway? I doubt it.
POTP should be doing 1999 also except Tony wouldn't be prepared to play the music no doubt.
Last 30 minutes here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gwls3
But in terms of networking, not only would it be not local at a key part of the day (audiences probably about 5 times the size of the early evenings), it would also be a bit of a departure from BBC local radio's brand values.
Given (rightly or wrongly) that the things the network wants to sell are local information, relatable presenters and holding local people in power to account, you're unlikely to get much traction for a hits and headlines hour.. even if it's with the master.
Of course, that feeds into Myers' argument that "it's all a bit newsy and shouldn't they let loose a bit?". But unless/even if you came up with a way of localising it (Simes or the local brekky jocks recording a bunch of local headlines for each station/year?), it think would still be a pretty lame argument for daytime.
if I remember correctly Blackburn 's original Golden Hours were on Monday and Friday only and I'm sure it was in the 11.00-12.00 hour and then it was "every other record a revive 45" or am I losing it??
Bring back both the Golden Hour and Our Tune to national BBC Radio
Anyone else agree?
Yes, give him Sunday 9-11am Golden hour, Our Tune, a few love songs, would be much better than the two hours of love songs we currently endure.
Yep!
Anyone who was older than 5 at the turn of the decade and was actually 'there' would be better. Not sure about Bates, if they want to keep a Saturday night 'party' feel to the show he's probably a tad too old, Mike Read or Gary Davis would be better, although if a more serious Sound's Of The 80's like the 60's show were required, he would be a good fit.
Probably too old now, but if there had of been any forward planning by the BBC he should have been offered it in 1992 instead of Bruce. The Golden Hour, Our Tune and Pop Master would be quite a show!
Can't see Ken Bruce being replaced by an older presenter, was there a period early 90s when they were both in the mid morning slot? Must have been odd Radio 1 having an older presenter than Radio 2 on at the same time.
I'm sure Bates loves knowing his got a national audience but the producers should control it to maintain the local feel, I suspect the producers are probably more focused on feeding Bates' notorious ego rather than making the show sound right for the target audience if so they're not doing their job properly.
Simon needs to realise his national Radio career is over and focus on being a local jock.
Actually it started as a Friday only hour at 8am as part of Tony Blackburn's weekday breakfast show in the early seventies.Every other record was an oldie and the hour was called 'The non-stop revived forty five music spectacular'which,towards the end of his run,had its own sung jingle ( a repeat of the hours name!I still have it on cassette).
Why? Surely the fact that he is getting listeners nationally says the reverse could be true.
I'd have to preface all the comments by saying that opinions/views are my own.
Firstly the Radio Devon breakfast show has changed dramatically. With the previous incumbent there was no music between 07:00 and 09:00 and now there is a growing erosion of "hard" news by playing music - notably the "hits for headlines" feature. Bates also imposes himself (and to some extent his views) on what had previously been a fairly bland BBC presentation of news from this not very hard news area (dog fouling in Tavistock today! ) He crashes jingles and has an esoteric timing style, as well as seeming to find some of the strictures of expectation of format a challenge to natural flow - in particular the traffic bulletins and the weather reports. He's also (quite naturally probably) taken to pointing the whole schedule of the morning towards "The Golden Hour" where he attracts interaction from all over the country and abroad. Whether this is going to be reflected in the next RAJAR will be interesting. Overall, I'd say that there has been a dumbing down of the news, though he has gamely tackled a wide range of political issues. Perhaps given another month they will have sorted out some of his technical imperfections and the whole three hours will be more seamless.
As a personal aside I find the constant branding of the station as being "The home of Simon Bates in the morning" jarring- especially as it ignores the fact that there are a couple of other presenters who are equally as esoteric and worthy of promotion. However I'd best not get started on Radio Devon scheduling....
I'll add a couple of my own thoughts a month in too, admitting I don't listen to the Golden Hour as by 9am I'm in work each day and the breakfast show for me is more about the news, weather and in particular travel.
From initially not being hugely impressed (doesn't help when I got stuck in a traffic jam which the traffic news may have made me divert around had the weather not been paraphrased over the traffic jingle rather than the traffic), I have to say I'm getting used to Bates' style and programme.
As you mention the news content does seem to have dumbed down slightly and seems to be reliant on longer features on the news which don't get repeated so much throughout the programme. When Matt Woodley was on air if you listened to the whole show you'd hear the same story discussed in similar reports (if not the same reports) again and again. Obviously this makes sense for a show where people will tune in for say 30 minute chunks as they travel to work or eat their breakfast. The show has moved a little more towards being a show aimed at being listened to for the whole duration.
He clearly has listened to Radio Devon in the past and does have a decent knowledge of some parts of the County. Gordon Sparkes is a good foil for him as well, having a detailed knowledge of Plymouth and the surrounding area, which seems to be less familiar to Bates (Gordon is a former presenter of the Plymouth opt out breakfast show in the good old days).
Bates' interaction with his team is also good and he seems to get on well with the likes of Sparkes, England, Chequer etc. It was particularly good to hear Matt Woodley back on air this week as well with extensive reporting from the Plymouth Sainsbury's flooding.
Overall going better than I would have expected a month ago.
You could feature any of the last 20 years in a Golden Hour format but probably not POTP.
Yes he did. 40 years ago in 1975. Colin Berry took over from him followed by Ray Moore. Mind you I think David Hamilton was presenting certain programmes for Radio 2 such as Family Choice and Late Night Extra before joining Radio 1. Even then for much of the time his Radio 1 programme was simultaneously broadcast on Radio 2 before moving back solely to Radio 2.