bhowells

I often think that we radio lovers are so fortunate that David Jacobs and Brian Matthew are still broadcasting on the BBC.

I was born in 1960 and have been aware of these two all my life.

They are gentlemen of the old school who are passioate and knowedgable about the music they play.

The great advantage of shows like The David Jacobs Collection and Sounds of the sixtied and indeed any specalist shows is the fact that they make full use out of the BBC library.

I dont think it is is utilised much in the daytiime, altghough excellent music is played there's a little too much relaince on old favourites such as Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street and Van' the Man's Brown Eyed Girl.

Matthew and Jacobs are both in their eighties and invevitably the time will come when they will have to be retired, all I hope is that suitable replacements will be found. Malcolm Laycock managed to fill the late Alan Dells shoes adequately.

julian_craster

I would like to see BBC7 run some old 'Light Programme' music shows from the BBC archives (
Northern Dance Orchestra with Roger Moffatt etc. )

CaptainWaggett

The music rights make it more or less impossible for BBC7 to do this on their budget. Unless you want them to do what they've done with Kenny Everett re-runs and skip the songs...

julian_craster

Do music rights payments still apply for BBC programmmes over 50 years old ?

CaptainWaggett

Dunno but are there likely to be many in the archives? Music isn't BBC7's remit anyway - they were set up to be a talk/children's station. No way should they be broadcasting music until they've repeated the whole of Life with the Lyons at least three times!

Geoffers

Quite right. I heard "Wossy" congratulate Brian after last Saturday's show but didn't hear if it was for anything special - like 60 years with the BBC or similar.

It's interesting to reflect that they both presented a 'Juke Box Jury' of their own on TV. David with the actual programme on BBC and Brian with 'Spin-a-Disc' - part of Thank Your Lucky Stars for ITV.

They will be a hard act to follow but fortunately there are some (slightly) younger presenters about who also care about music - such as Johnny Walker and Mike d'Abo. Either would do a good job and have presented SOTS before. David Jacobs' show would be a little more difficult to fill. Maybe someone like Colin Berry, who used to read the news - he has a strong knowledge of music and presents on local BBC radio.

Freddy

Desmond Carrington is also carrying the BBC Radio 2 flame at the age of 82. Every Tuesday evening 7-8 pm

Freddy

"What I owe you Colonel Lawrence, is beyond evaluation."

Mr Cosmo

Brian Matthew trained as an actor and I believe worked at the Old Vic in his early days - he tells the story in his autobiography that when he was popular thanks to SATURDAY CLUB and THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS he was offered a pantomime season and some of the luvvies were a bit antagonistic towards him until the director pointed out to them that he had acted in more serious circles than them. He also wrote and toured with his own one man Charles Dickens show for a few years.

He will be 80 later this year. SOTS is a great listen with so many obscurities, but unfortunately he gets lots of facts wrong (eg last Saturday saying that John Simon is Paul Simon's brother - something that has irritated John Simon for many a year) but I think that's the producer and not Brian.

When Brian stops doing SOTS I think a lot of people will stop listening. When various substitutes were tried out when he was ill some time back, people like Johnnie Walker showed that they don't quite understand how to present that material.

George Bailey

Quite right Mr. Cosmo. I couldn't stand any of the presenters on SOS. I thought that they didn't really know the subject, and that includes Johnny Walker. Once the old timers do leave their respective shows you can bet your life the type of show they had will go with them. I used to like to listen to Benny Green even though I found him quite arrogant but knew his stuff. What did they do? They replaced him with Russel Davies and he was good. However in their wisdom the managers shuffled him off to 9pm on a Sunday and what did we get in his place Dale Winton who sounds as though he is reading a script and probably is. Sunday has never been the same on Radio2 since Benny Green/Charlie Chester/ Cliff Adams popped their clogs.

Marky B

Before Brian Matthews took the chair of Sounds Of The Sixties,a rosta of stars from the sixties took turns in presenting the show:Gene Pitney and Engelbert to name but two. They would play a couple of songs of their own and then play tracks of other stars. Neil Sedaka,on the other hand,decided his songs were the greatest ever written and he played a couple from other acts and dedicated the entire show to his own songs. I like his songs - can't stand the man!
The only two shows I don't listen to on Radio 2 is Nigel Ogden and the Sound of Brasstherwise it caters for all taste in music,that is why I like it!
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

julian_craster

Remember 'Sounds of the 50s' on Radio Two presented by Ronnie Hilton ?

Andrew 76

Did anyone hear SOTS when Johnnie Walker deputised and accidentally? slipped in the f-word? Also, isn't it time Brian Matthew got a knighthood?

Marky B

Yes - with the theme tune No Other Love,one of Ronnie's hits. Despite,Ronnie no longer with us,it could be brought back! Plenty of good songs from that era.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

julian_craster

I fear that with the present BBC Radio Two controller, when the 'elderly gents' (David Jacobs, Brian Matthew, Desmond Carrington, Malcolm Laycock ) of the network pass away, the type of music they play will go as well.....1950s music has almost disappeared from the network as it is now.....and it will be non-stop Bruce Springsteen (her favourite....)

samkydd

Sundays were quite depressing though with the late Hubert Gregg's show, who was so dour and miserable you just knew that the weekend was coming to an end!

The same as a child when you were sat round the kitchen table eating your fish paste sandwiches and rock cakes for tea, then that awful chintzy sound of the piano accordian would signal the start of Sing Something Simple, and your mind suddenly realised it was school in the morning, and all that was left of the weekend was a lukewarm bath and bedtime !

It's strange as you get older though because being a music lover/fanatic all my life who built up a huge record collection and loved to see live bands at every opportunity, I find that I don't listen to hardly any music now. In the car the radio is almost permanently switched off and the CD player is unused!

I bought a new turntable recently that can record direct to the PC and save the tracks as MP3s, but after one album I just didn't see the point and I've abandoned the project now. I would never have believed that I would turn my back on music in this way and I can't fathom it out!

It's possibly because all the old stuff I've heard over and over again, and since Kylie Mynogue had her first number one I stopped listening to the charts and Radio 1 and 2 and I've never returned! The number of good songs I've heard in the last 20 years can be counted on my fingers and it's such an awful state of affairs in the popular music industry that I fear all the good stuff has happened years ago and now we've just got amateurish load of middle-of-the-road crap!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"