Music Programmes

Concert Hour : The hour was between noon and 1pm, on weekdays on the Home Service from March 1946 to December 1964, when music was commonplace on the Home Service - as opposed to the much rarer event which it is today.

Grand Hotel : Relays of Light classical music started in 1925 from The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne and were, to quote the Radio Times of the era, 'Music of the Palm Court Orchestra'. The Lounge Hall of the Grand was used - it did not actually have a Palm Court.
The 'Grand Hotel' programme itself ran on Sundays from 1943 to 1973 and was generally broadcast live, usually from the Concert Hall at Broadcasting House but occasionally on location.
It was hosted by violinist Albert Sandler until early in 1948 when he was taken ill and left the programme being replaced by Tom Jenkins (Sandler died the following August).  Both had previously been musical directors of the Grand Hotel Eastbourne  (Sandler 1924-28 and Jenkins 1938-40). However other hotels were also used, notably the Royal Bath, Bournemouth and these programmes were not called 'Grand Hotel'.
It lapsed for a couple of years before returning for its final series in 1951 when it was pre-recorded and introduced by Tom Jenkins with the Palm Court Orchestra and guest baritone Alfred Swain. Max Jaffa took over in 1956, succeeding Jean Pougnet, and stayed to the end. Featured artists at this time were Jack Byfield, Max Jaffa and a different singer each week. Vanessa Lee was a favourite of the programme, but many other operatic sopranos were also invited to appear.

The programme's signature tune was Strauss's 'Roses from the South'.

There was a similar programme, now forgotten, called 'Carnival Concert', which featured John Blore and his orchestra (with interval music by organist Charles Smart) playing 'music from the Winter Garden'.

Introduction

Make Way for Music : A slice of daytime entertainment from the Light Programme with singer Sheila Buxton accompanied by the Northern Dance Orchestra conducted by Alan Ainsworth.

Memories for You : requested tunes played in strict tempo by Victor Sylvester's Ballroom Orchestra in a series heard on both Light and Home services.

Your Hundred Best Tunes : Gentle, quiet and serene record programme presented by Alan Keith on Sunday evenings since 1959. (It was called 'The Hundred Best Tunes in the World' until February 1960). Alan Keith was the longest-serving disc jockey on British radio; his rich and mellifluous tones could be heard every Sunday evening for 44 years on Radio 2's Your Hundred Best Tunes, bringing a touch of solace and relaxation to the airwaves.
The programme was devised by Keith in 1959 and first broadcast in November that year. It was a simple formula; Keith would choose a selection of light classical music from the BBC gramophone library and introduce each extract in his matchless modulated style. He died, whilst still presenting the programme weekly, in March 2003.

Mid-Day Music Hall : was a variety show which started in 1953 and was broadcast live every Monday and Friday (alternating with Worker's Playtime on Tuesday and Thursday). It was originally compered by Michael Miles and then later, in the sixties, it was introduced by Bill Gates. Max Miller appeared in the programme regularly once a month towards the end of his career when he had more or less retired. The signature tune was 'Over The Sticks'.

Henry Hall's Guest Night : One of the major musical figures from the golden age of wireless, Henry Hall's 'chat show' saw Britain through the dark days of war, and bearing a famous signature tune in 'Here's to the Next Time', it ran for 972 editions until the late '50s. Hall's regular greeting, 'Hello everyone, this is Henry Hall speaking', became something of a national catchphrase.

Signature tune

Housewive's Choice : A very popular record request programme broadcast on the Light Programme from 1946 to 1967. Specifically aimed at women at home, at an hour when their menfolk were supposed to have left for work, it was nonetheless nearly always presented by men. - among them Godfrey Winn, Edmundo Ros, Gilbert Harding, Richard Murdoch, Sam Costa and Eamonn Andrews. The one who enjoyed the closest association with the show, however, was vocalist and bandleader George Elrick, whose bright and breezy style was heard, on and off, for two decades. His hallmark was to hum along to the signature tune. The very first presenter was Robert MacDermott on 4th. March 1946. The signature tune was called In Party Mood by Jack Strachey and is available on CD here

Sing Something Simple with the Cliff Adams Singers (right) : "Songs simply sung for song-lovers" was the subtitle for this half-hour of non-stop pop-songs. It became a warm, smooth, cosy and sentimental Sunday-evening institution. Beginning on the Light Programme in 1959, initially on Fridays but soon moving to Sunday nights where it stayed every week until the death in October 2001 of Cliff Adams. The Adams Singers were originally accompanied by accordionist Jack Emblow and his quartet.

Pick of the Pops began in 1955 and was presented by Franklin Engelmann as 'a choice of current popular gramophone records'.  He was succeeded by Alan Dell and then David Jacobs who hosted it at 10.40pm on Saturday nights. In 1961 it was incorporated into 'Trad Tavern' with presenter Alan Freeman. Its theme tune was 'At the Sign of The Swinging Cymbal'. It Later it moved to Sunday teatime.

Tip-Top Tunes : Light music series on the Light Programme which began in 1956 with Geraldo and his Orchestra, continuing into the '60s.

Continental Serenade : Ran from 1942-53 on Saturday afternoons on the Light Programme and then re-emerged from 1958-62, 'with Luigi and his Continental Players'.

Semprini Serenade : 'Old Ones, New Ones, Loved Ones, Neglected Ones....' A series, produced by Alastair Scott-Johnston, had previously featured pianist Arthur Young, but he was emigrating to Australia.  An actor, Michael Brennan, during his army service, had heard a pianist in Italy, became his agent, and brought him to Britain.  His name was Albert Semprini (left). He was accompanied by Harry Rabinowitz and the BBC Revue Orchestra. Some critics dismissed it as musical treacle but a loving and loyal audience lapped it up for more than 25 years during which he made more than 700 programmes.

The Ted Heath Band Show : Ted Heath and his Band

Introduction

Peter Calls the Tune : Saturday evening show on the Light Programme with Peter Haigh playing records.

The Jack Payne Record Show : Saturday lunchtime show on the Light Programme with Jack Payne introducing 'popular gramophone records from here, there and everywhere'.

Desert Island Discs was originally introduced by Roy Plomley in 1942 and has had over 2000 castaways in its long run, including Royals, Prime Ministers, stars of stage and screen, legions of the great and the good - and invited each to chose eight records to spend the rest of their lives with. The signature tune is called 'By the Sleepy Lagoon' by Eric Coates. The first castaway in 1942 was Vic Oliver, comedian.

Saturday Club : Two hours on Saturday morning on the Light Programme which weaned a generation of youngsters on squeaky clean pop music. Brian Matthew was mine host from 10am. to noon. It ran from 1957-69.

A Golden Treasury of Music and Song : Home Service series at noon on Saturdays from 1956-65

Flat Spin : Jimmy Young's first programme as DJ in 1953.

Organ Programmes Reginald Foort at the original BBC Theatre organ in the BBC Studio at Langham Place The most famous Theatre Organist of all time was Daventry born Reginald Foort who made his radio debut as a pianist on 15 January 1923, and as an organist on 12 May 1926 in a relay from the New Gallery cinema in London. This was the first of a long series of cinema organ recitals : he reached his thousandth on 9 July 1939. To mark the occasion, he returned to the BBC Theatre Organ, for which he had become the BBC's resident Organist from 20 October 1936. He resigned in 1939 to tour the country with his mighty Moller Portable organ. Foort wrote his original signature tune, 'Regal Chimes', for the organ carillon at the Regal Cinema, Marble Arch. Reginald Foort CD's are available at Phoenix Historic Records Dudley Savage MBE for many years broadcast a hospital request programme from the Royal (ABC) cinema in Plymouth. He both introduced & played requests on the Royal organ. When it was axed, the resultant petition was said at the time to be the largest the BBC had even encountered.  Dudley Savage's signature tune - Smiling Through   Melody For Late Evening : Ronald Brickell played the organ of the Regent / Gaumont Bournemouth with Mervyn Saunders (singer) & Harold C Gee (violin).   Sandy MacPherson at the BBC Jubilee Hall Studio organ Sandy was originally the organist at The Empire Cinema, Leicester Square (1928). He became BBC staff organist from 1938 when he succeeded Reginald Foort. Throughout the War, and until his retirement some years after, he remained extremely popular. He made his 6000th. broadcast on 12 July 1952, still the soft-spoken Canadian 'Sandy' loved by millions who never knew his real names were Roderick Hallowell MacPherson. His many popular series included Sandy's Half Hour, Twilight Hour, From My Postbag, At Your Request, and the long-running, atmospheric series Chapel in the Valley. Reginald Dixon 'I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside' was his apt signature tune as he was the resident organist of the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool for almost fifty years. He toured in the off season & whilst in the RAF in the war he appeared at the Gaumont Exeter for a Sunday concert before the organ was damaged by enemy action. Dixon also presented Housewives Choice on a number of occasions.

See Also:

Billy Cotton Bandshow

Friday Night is Music Night

If you have any comments, questions or further information of interest, please e-mail:
radiodays@whirligig-tv.co.uk