Pick Of The Pops - Radio 2

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  • Multimedia81Multimedia81 Posts: 82,408
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    The first chart I listened to in full was in June 1974, but possibly the 30th. It was discovering Alan Price's Jarrow Song that persuaded me to start listening out for music more.

    My favourite year on the whole has been 1981 although I admit to liking fewer songs than usual around June. I noticed that last year when he featured 1981 on June 23rd. That said, Stand & Deliver is one of my all-time favourite records.

    The summer heatwave of 1976 was mentioned recently. I didn't know exactly when it ended, but I read recently that what finally brought the rain back was .... the August Bank Holiday!
  • Rich Tea.Rich Tea. Posts: 22,048
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    The first chart I listened to in full was in June 1974, but possibly the 30th. It was discovering Alan Price's Jarrow Song that persuaded me to start listening out for music more.

    My favourite year on the whole has been 1981 although I admit to liking fewer songs than usual around June. I noticed that last year when he featured 1981 on June 23rd. That said, Stand & Deliver is one of my all-time favourite records.

    The summer heatwave of 1976 was mentioned recently. I didn't know exactly when it ended, but I read recently that what finally brought the rain back was .... the August Bank Holiday!

    Regards 1981, and in June there is a particularly dire record that makes No2, quite out of sorts for everything else around at the time, called More Than In Love by Kate Robbins. It's atrocious, but I believe it may have a connection to Crossroads on TV which would explain it!

    1981 is a year which has a curious set of No2 hit records I have always thought. A couple of Starsound medleys, one which we heard yesterday. A couple of instrumentals, Ennio Morricone's Chi Mai, and The Royal Philharmonic's Hooked On Classics, covering both bases as an instrumental and a medley.Oh, not forgetting a 3rd in the Birdie Song. A couple of different Happy Birthday's made No2 in short succession from Stevie Wonder and then Altered Images. Also Laurie Anderson's curious O Superman which defies description.

    I have a very clear memory of first ever hearing Being With You with Smokey Robinson on Top Of The Pops with his video playing pool around the table and being in such hysterics at his girly voice and racing to the kitchen to try and grab my parents in to see him before it ended. I'd no idea who he was at that time. I love that record now.
  • Robbie01Robbie01 Posts: 10,417
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    Rich Tea. wrote: »
    Regards 1981, and in June there is a particularly dire record that makes No2, quite out of sorts for everything else around at the time, called More Than In Love by Kate Robbins. It's atrocious, but I believe it may have a connection to Crossroads on TV which would explain it!
    Yes, the Kate Robbins song has a connection to Crossroads. Robbins played the part of a pop singer who was staying at the motel when Adam Chase (the hotel manager if I recall) found a recording studio in the basement (as you do! How on earth could someone hide a recording studio in the first place?!) and set about getting Kate to record a song called 'More Than In Love'.

    I don't know if you know but Kate Robbins is the second cousin of Paul McCartney. Her backing group on her single, Beyond, had taken part in the UK's "Song For Europe" a few months earlier but had lost out to Bucks Fizz.
  • Robbie01Robbie01 Posts: 10,417
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    The summer heatwave of 1976 was mentioned recently. I didn't know exactly when it ended, but I read recently that what finally brought the rain back was .... the August Bank Holiday!
    The weather started to break down on Friday 26 August and on Saturday 27 August (two days before the Bank Holiday) the whole of the UK was hit by torrential downpours not unlike that which we saw last year on Thursday June 28, the day when the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle was hit by lightning (and my kitchen was flooded from the torrential rain that accompanied the thunder and lightning). In fact, if anything it was worse in 1976 because as I recall the heavy rain lasted for two or three hours where I lived unlike the hour or so last year. As I posted earlier I can remember the main shopping street being flooded back in 1976.

    This all happened in 1976 just after Dennis Howell had been appointed as Minister For Drought! The rain that followed a few days later earned him the nickname "Minister For Rain". In fact he was made Minister For Floods on the day after the Bank Holiday! To add to his weather titles, in early 1979 he was made Minister For Snow when the whole of the UK was snow bound in a particularly harsh winter which ultimately lasted for about 3 months.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3519662.stm
  • Rich Tea.Rich Tea. Posts: 22,048
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    A government minister that actually delivered Robbie! Howell's of laughter. :D

    My main memory of summer 1976 is a scorching hot day (what else) when I was wearing nothing more than a very skimpy pair of swim trunks and the whole of me fell into a thick, thorny rose bush in the garden and I cut myself to shreds. :cry:

    Bruno Brookes on Radio 1 in 1985, the novelty show playing all CD's.

    Tony Blackburn on Radio 2 in 2013, the novelty show playing all vinyl.

    Now That's What I Call...Amusing! :p
  • FM LoverFM Lover Posts: 50,668
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    Rich Tea. wrote: »
    Regards 1981, and in June there is a particularly dire record that makes No2, quite out of sorts for everything else around at the time, called More Than In Love by Kate Robbins. It's atrocious, but I believe it may have a connection to Crossroads on TV which would explain it!

    1981 is a year which has a curious set of No2 hit records I have always thought. A couple of Starsound medleys, one which we heard yesterday. A couple of instrumentals, Ennio Morricone's Chi Mai, and The Royal Philharmonic's Hooked On Classics, covering both bases as an instrumental and a medley.Oh, not forgetting a 3rd in the Birdie Song. A couple of different Happy Birthday's made No2 in short succession from Stevie Wonder and then Altered Images. Also Laurie Anderson's curious O Superman which defies description.

    I have a very clear memory of first ever hearing Being With You with Smokey Robinson on Top Of The Pops with his video playing pool around the table and being in such hysterics at his girly voice and racing to the kitchen to try and grab my parents in to see him before it ended. I'd no idea who he was at that time. I love that record now.

    The Kate Robbins song is actually very good in my opinion, very cheesy and very kitsch but that's why it suited being part of Crossroads. This was in the final days of Meg Mortimer's reign before the November '81 fire and the kiss of death for the soap when Noelle Gordon was sacked.

    One other thing to note about Kate Robbins that hasn't been mentioned is that she is mother to the rather gorgeous Emily Atack who played the part of Charlotte "Big Jugs" Hinchcliffe in The Inbetweeners:)

    Some great records around in 1981 with the real birth of the New Romantic era with bands like Duran Duran (who could forget Tony's "Durran Durran" moment?), Depeche Mode & Spandau Ballet all breaking through.

    And as for Laurie Anderson, I only found out at the weekend that she's married to/partner of Lou Reed. You learn something new every day!
  • FM LoverFM Lover Posts: 50,668
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    A mix of vinyl and audio tape, with the later the addition of 8 track tape cartridges, so maybe he is using just vinyl this time.

    I wonder if the music will genuinely be played on vinyl or just a case that Phil's collection of 45's has been transferred onto the computer playout system ?
  • frank jamesfrank james Posts: 1,924
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    I wonder if Tony will say he's enjoying playing the vinyl records on Saturday. A couple of years ago he said he didn't miss vinyl when talking about the record player on this programme.

    http://www.channel4.com/programmes/stephen-frys-100-greatest-gadgets/articles/clips-from-the-show
  • david1956david1956 Posts: 2,389
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    Rich Tea. wrote: »
    Love the "telling off" he just gave. Tony says "We do actually know what we are doing".

    I seem to remember he got confused between Shaking Stevens and The Darts not long ago.
  • keicarkeicar Posts: 2,082
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    Rich Tea. wrote: »
    Bruno Brookes on Radio 1 in 1985, the novelty show playing all CD's.

    That early? I know CD's hit the market in '83, but i don't recall a show comprising just CD's that early. He did present CD rundowns later in the 80's as late as '88, and because of his short stature and his association with CD's he was called the 'Compact' Disc Jockey!
    Robbie01 wrote: »
    I don't know if you know but Kate Robbins is the second cousin of Paul McCartney. Her backing group on her single, Beyond, had taken part in the UK's "Song For Europe" a few months earlier but had lost out to Bucks Fizz.

    She did represent the UK at the 1980 contest with Prima Donna, also in the band were her sister, Jay Aston's brother and Sally Ann Triplet, later of Bardo.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpwpDSDnNj0
  • snukrsnukr Posts: 19,580
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    Nonsense. The only time they did a Noughties chart was last year when they did 2001 which hardly featured any Dance or Rap. The 90's as well was a decade where Radio 2 friendly artists like Simply Red, The Beautiful South , The Lightning Seeds and Sheryl Crow regularly had hits. This is all about what Tony Blackburn wants. Even with the years he does he misses out big climbers he hates and and plays songs going down the chart that he likes. Also Radio 1 very rarely plays old music and are certainly not going to all the time they want to lower the average age of it's audience.
    You say it should be remembered what station the show is on. Well the target age of the station is over 35';s. A 35 year old would have been 15 in 1993 and 20 in 1998. So the show isn't reflecting that. Also if Dance music is so unsuitable for Radio 2 why does Dave Pearce have a Saturday night Dance show on the station?
    I would still suggest that the majority of listeners wouldn't want to hear charts from the nineties and 00's, there are plenty of other outlets to hear music from those decades. Radio 2 has programmes called "Sounds of the sixties" and "Sounds of the seventies" but not "Sounds of the nineties", which suggests that their core listeners are 40+, I don't think many thirtysomethings listen to Radio 2.
  • Peter the GreatPeter the Great Posts: 14,225
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    snukr wrote: »
    I would still suggest that the majority of listeners wouldn't want to hear charts from the nineties and 00's, there are plenty of other outlets to hear music from those decades. Radio 2 has programmes called "Sounds of the sixties" and "Sounds of the seventies" but not "Sounds of the nineties", which suggests that their core listeners are 40+, I don't think many thirtysomethings listen to Radio 2.
    I suggest you are wrong. I am 40 and was in my Teens and Twenties during the 90's and Early Noughties. When 2001 was done last year about 80% of the songs featured were played on Radio 2 when they were new so why wouldn't listeners want to hear them 11 years later? There are no other outlets to hear charts from the 90's and 00's but there are other stations like Smooth which play charts from the 60's, 70's and 80's.
  • snukrsnukr Posts: 19,580
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    I suggest you are wrong. I am 40 and was in my Teens and Twenties during the 90's and Early Noughties. When 2001 was done last year about 80% of the songs featured were played on Radio 2 when they were new so why wouldn't listeners want to hear them 11 years later? There are no other outlets to hear charts from the 90's and 00's but there are other stations like Smooth which play charts from the 60's, 70's and 80's.
    I said the majority, so far nobody on this thread have agreed with you that charts from the nineties and 00's should be played, most suggest that chart music had started to decline by the late eighties, which I agree with. There are far more stations playing music from the nineties and 00's than the decades prior to that.
  • keicarkeicar Posts: 2,082
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    snukr wrote: »
    I said the majority, so far nobody on this thread have agreed with you that charts from the nineties and 00's should be played, most suggest that chart music had started to decline by the late eighties, which I agree with. There are far more stations playing music from the nineties and 00's than the decades prior to that.

    Maybe not on Radio 2, but it does again raise the question that with an ageing population is there a need for a Radio 1.5 or Radio 2 Extra? 6Music meets neither remit.
  • IzzySIzzyS Posts: 11,045
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    snukr wrote: »
    I said the majority, so far nobody on this thread have agreed with you that charts from the nineties and 00's should be played, most suggest that chart music had started to decline by the late eighties, which I agree with. There are far more stations playing music from the nineties and 00's than the decades prior to that.

    I said I'd like to hear them play nineties charts, though I'd understand if it might not appeal to everyone.
  • Apprentice 2 SAApprentice 2 SA Posts: 2,337
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    keicar wrote: »
    Maybe not on Radio 2, but it does again raise the question that with an ageing population is there a need for a Radio 1.5 or Radio 2 Extra? 6Music meets neither remit.

    I'm confused as to why you're not expecting Radio 1 to play 90s or 00s music?
  • occyoccy Posts: 64,627
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    It be interesting to see how the vinyl will sound?

    Bruno Brookes did a compact disc show which can be heard on the Radio Rewind Website. ( Many contributions to the website was by myself and many others )
  • Peter the GreatPeter the Great Posts: 14,225
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    snukr wrote: »
    I said the majority, so far nobody on this thread have agreed with you that charts from the nineties and 00's should be played, most suggest that chart music had started to decline by the late eighties, which I agree with. There are far more stations playing music from the nineties and 00's than the decades prior to that.
    :confused: You obviously haven't read this thread in full then? Also people in this thread don't represent the whole of Radio 2's audience. As for those stations playing 90's and 00's music. Apart from some niche stations most of those stations aim at a female audience that ignore a huge selection of popular music from these decades. Also many of these stations also play music from the 70's and 80's.
  • keicarkeicar Posts: 2,082
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    I'm confused as to why you're not expecting Radio 1 to play 90s or 00s music?

    Because the R1 demographic is now 15-24, even with a 2000 chart the oldest targeted listener would have only been 11.

    I'm no expert on modern stuff, but the oldest record played on today's Breakfast Show appears to be from 2003, where are the 90's tracks?
  • TUCTUC Posts: 5,105
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    occy wrote: »
    It be interesting to see how the vinyl will sound?
    Judging by the times that Jerry Lang on U105 plays vinyl, it sounds sonically very limited compared to what we hear the rest of the time. Our ears are attuned differently now. Playing vinyl on the radio is a misplaced obsession.
  • darnall42darnall42 Posts: 4,080
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    occy wrote: »
    It be interesting to see how the vinyl will sound?
    to be honest i dont think most listeners will notice any difference (especially if they listen on thier mono DAB radios ;) )
  • Rich Tea.Rich Tea. Posts: 22,048
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    To Keicar, yes I feel pretty confident that Bruno Brookes did his first CD only novelty radio show in 1985, and think it may have been around the late August 1985 Bank Holiday. But it was definitely in 1985 in the latter part of that year. I think he did more than just one.

    I don't think that Radio 2 has a studio webcam like Radio 5Live, as I checked once and there was nothing available, so we can't check up to see if he really is putting the needle on the record as he sits there this coming Saturday. I bet we get a few "deliberate" scratches into the mix! In the end I just wonder what it is meant to prove? If it sounds much the same, so what. If it comes over all scratchy and records jumping that might sound contrived.

    Regards Radio 2 and its age demographic, well the first ever radio of my own that I owned, I spent a lot of time listening to Jimmy Young aged 11 for some odd reason I do not quite grasp thinking back, even though it was only for a few weeks before I went to Radio 1, where I first remember listening to Tony Blackburn at that same age in the summer holidays of 1980 on an afternoon show he must have had at that time? But I really recall him best as one of my proper early radio memories, listening to Junior Choice at weekends from early 1981, with Cheggers and Maggie Philbin, not forgetting Arnold, as well as doing the Sunday Top 40 at the time also. In a documentary I heard just last year, must have been a BBC4 one, he said he really disliked doing that children's show, which I felt was a shame and took it almost personal!

    Regards Tony and his aside to a texter last Saturday, it came hot on the heels of him making a slip of the tongue which he did not rectify, saying he was about to play June 1991!
  • AL89AL89 Posts: 2,169
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    I don't think it matters what he plays its just to add a variation for the listener. He will deliver as usual with all his fun and enthusiasm giving us only 100 per cent. Many other presenters should be as slick as he is.
  • ClareBClareB Posts: 2,597
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    Rich Tea. wrote: »
    To Keicar, yes I feel pretty confident that Bruno Brookes did his first CD only novelty radio show in 1985, and think it may have been around the late August 1985 Bank Holiday. But it was definitely in 1985 in the latter part of that year. I think he did more than just one.

    I have a recording of a Bruno CD show from March 1986.
  • ShrewnShrewn Posts: 6,824
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    Why did Bruno do a CD only show when it was on AM only at the time? :confused:


    Colin Young on the Trunk of Funk plays a lot of vinyl, it sounds no different, though you get the odd crackle :D
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