I wonder why they did not ask Johnnie Walker to present the show while Brian is away.

Both Johnnie Walker and Tony Blackburn are the ideal candidates to either cover Sounds of The Sixties for Brian or taking over Sounds of the Sixties when Brian leaves.

Tim Rice covered for Brian in 2011. Coincidentally, I listened to those shows a few weeks ago and they sounded much livelier than this morning, perhaps Tim wasnt given much time to record the links this time.
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Regarding your suggestions for a replacement, JW possibly, TB definatley not. SOTS Is not a show for jokes, talking over records and stupid texts, it is about the music.

Tim Rice sounded like he was reading a book it was awful I turned off after a couple of links.

Cause the shows are precorded in advance so maybe he's been unwell for some time and waiting to jump in too cover

I'd say Walker would be the best candidate without a shadow of doubt. I hope Brian will carry on until he feels he's had enough though. Desmond Carrington finally hung up his mic at the end of last month after broadcasting an amazing 70 years. Retired at 90 so Brian is just two years younger than Desmond, but he had been very seriously ill which prompted his retirement.

I found this on YouTube last week and found it fascinating to watch. Brian Matthew in 1982 presenting Round Midnight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJbYJqbCbyI

Tim was clearly reading Brian's script. All of the usual turns of phrase were there.

Let's hope they turn to Johnnie Walker if a permanent replacement is needed.

Tim opened up the show today by saying 'we are hoping Brian will be back soon'

That doesn't sound too good to me

Yes looking at the Digiguide website it had Tim Rice in for Brian until the end of this month so I don't think he will be back straight away.

All the best to Brian. Saturday's aren't the same without him (which I'm sure I've been saying since 1959 or so!). Tim's doing a fine job, but yes it's coming over that it's a bit of a lash up at the moment with inserts etc, but the music continues to be great, so what the hey.

The question is, why give Tim Rice a script when he's well capable of presenting without one?

Me neither. I would suspect Brian won't be back before Christmas now, if at all.

BTW I'm going to ask the mods to correct the spelling mistake in the thread's title now that this has become more serious.

I pray Brian gets well and returns but after being repeatedly told by Richard Madeley earlier in the year that Terry Wogan would be back 'soon' we can't help have our concerns.

Leo Green would be a good presenter to stand in for Brian if he is not back in January.

If Brian decides to leave Sounds of the Sixties, Leo could take over.

If Leo takes over he could present Sounds of the Fifties in the first hour then Sounds of the Sixties in the next hour.

Like this:

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio2/1991-01-12

I noticed that Tim even used Brian's oft-used phrase "after a spot of Radio 2 promotion….." during one of his links, which made me think that maybe Brian also reads his links from the same script, even though we all like to think that he's being "spontaneous".

No matter, hopefully it's nothing too serious and Brian will be back on the air soon.

I'd imagine he does, it can't be easy being 'spontaneous' considering his time of life, however with Brian he makes it sound effortless like he's not reading a script.

Wishing Brian a speedy recovery.

Quite a sad state of affairs that I was actually relieved to hear that he is unwell, as opposed to the other reason that presenters have been taking breaks over the last few years.

Thanks for that James30 - I haven't seen that for over 31 years.

I would also like to wish Brian Matthew all the very best, he is a really great broadcaster.

Tim listed on the schedules up to and including New Year's Eve so no sign of Brian returning just yet.

Tim Rice is far too posh and stilted in his delivery. I hope Brian is better soon to save us from Tim!

When the press started a rumour a couple of months ago that Dermot was going to be moved to Saturday morning 8-10 slot replacing SOTS with Zoe Ball doing the Saturday afternoon slot I wonder if that came at the same time when Brian first fell ill?

We know Brian usually pre records shows in advance so maybe the shows we heard up until Tim covering were pre recoded back in October, the press got wind and started the rumour that he would leave.

I can't ever see the show being dropped, who knows what the new Radio 2 controller may do in 2017.

The show will not get dropped but I do think it will get moved to weekend afternoon or evening slot. BBC Radio 2 needs a Saturday Breakfast show which is live and interactive which goes up to 10.00 to meet Graham Norton. It does seem weird having a specialist music show on Saturday Breakfast time. The show has been in this slot for over 30 years, a change needs to happen. The station may attract a bigger audience on a Saturday morning with a Saturday Breakfast playing music from across the decades a lot of listeners may not want to hear all 60's music at Breakfast and either switch off or retune to another station.

WHY?

It makes a refreshing change to hear a well researched quality programme rather than the usual prattle. There's no shortage of the latter on R2 and everywhere else, so why enforce boring homogeneity?


It's hardly a 'specialist' show, more a themed programme. Specialist shows are for minority interests, e.g. folk, country, jazz, organ, brass band etc. SoTS is essentially 60s-themed pop music with fascinating facts but without some moron talking indulgent meaningless waffle all over the tracks.


Why do we need Change For The Sake Of Change?

If it ain't broke - don't fix it !


Unlikely. Saturday morning is an ideal slot because the audience age demographic is then at its broadest, young children through to grandparents. The SoTS format has a wide appeal, a memory jogger for those enjoyed the 60s first hand, and to showcase our musical heritage to younger people and to show them what they missed.

Well, on the other hand, a lot of listeners might want to hear all 60's music at breakfast and make a point of tuning in at 8 o'clock on Saturday mornings, as they have done so for the last 30 years!

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I couldn't agree more with this post that completely demolishes the idea that Sounds of the Sixties should be moved. The last thing we need is someone playing Adele, Olly Murs etc while reading out inane texts. PIck of the Pops was ruined with that nonesense.

I very much doubt if the people who want to change SOTS ever listen to the show. Loyal listeners have supported Brian since 1990 because it is quality radio, something that can't be said about much of the rest of the Radio 2 daytime output.