|
|
QM RIP on VHF and MW |
|
| The death
of a member of the Royal Family has provoked differing
reactions from broadcasters over the years. When King
George V popped off in 1936, all programming was
suspended, the silence being broken only by announcer
Stuart Hibberd telling listeners every 15 minutes that
"the King’s life is drawing peacefully to its
close". Such dignity contrasted with the week-long
edition of On the Hour that followed the Princess
of Wales’ untimely exit. In the longer term,
coverage of the Queen Mother’s passing has struck a
balance between Reithian restraint, telling the whole
story and resuming business as usual. On the day itself,
however, there was no escape. Shortly after the announcement, Bob Harris announced on his Radio 2 show that there had been quite a few communications from listeners disagreeing with the decision to "tear up the playlist". Ever the whispering voice of reason, Harris said "that’s understandable, but tonight was never going to be like it normally is". He then played ‘Shower the People You Love With Love’ by James Taylor, such a quintessential Bob Harris record that it would have been hard to tell that the playlist had been ditched, had he not told us. The change was more noticeable on other networks. Radio 1 dug out the David Gray CDs and programmed their machines to play the gloomiest tracks. Meanwhile, in London, Capital FM (which continued, erroneously, to announce itself to digital listeners as "London’s number one hit music station") showed its respect by playing Kenny G’s elevator-jazz noodlefest ‘Songbird’, the first time that a record more than a decade old had been played by the station since it hived off the oldies to its sister station, Capital Gold (which was simulcasting the solemnity on medium wave). This was followed by Annie Lennox singing ‘Why?’. Not a very hard question to answer – she was a very old woman and she hadn’t been well for ages. The BBC’s radio networks joined together (apart from Radio 1) for a two-hour programme teaming James Cox and Radio Five Live’s Julian Worricker to good effect. Later on Five Live, Nicky Campbell was drafted in to anchor the coverage. On hand to discuss the events were former Tory MP Steven Norris and Dickie Arbiter, who, despite having been a distinguished journalist for LBC and a Buckingham Palace press spokesman, is still best known for declaring himself to be an oil tanker (for the full story, read Fi Glover’s excellent book I Am An Oil Tanker). Poor old Edwina Currie, the usual late-night weekend host, must have been chewing her nails to the stumps at home, miffed at being passed over for this potentially reputation-making gig, but Campbell has to be commended for mediating an intelligent discussion on republicanism and the supposed mystique of the Royals. A respite from the serious business came from the most unlikely quarter. Digital station Saga Radio, nominally catering for the over 60s - the generation most likely to remember the old girl with great fondness - modified its output not one iota in the aftermath of the announcement. While Frank Sinatra’s ruminative and retrospective recording of ‘It Was a Very Good Year’ could perhaps be seen as a fitting disc to play in the circumstances, the decision to press ahead with ‘I-Yi-Yi-Yi-Yi-Yi Like You Very Much’ by Carmen Miranda, as Saga did at one point, is rather less explicable. Either the station has an automated system which cannot be overridden, or there is a mischievous playlist compiler at work. Whatever the motivation, thanks to Saga for one of the few laughs to be had anywhere on air at that time. © Louis Barfe 2003 |
home - book - diary - updates - drums, etc. - radio lowestoft - links |