Nostalgia - Radio 1 Road Show - Smiley Miley

EricTheWeary

For anyone below a certain age…Radio 1 played the pop hits of the day and was the most listened to radio station in the U.K.
Then in 1993 Matthew Bannister ( former newsreader) became the controller and took it back to it’s roots of targeting young people. Lost 5 million listeners to Radio 2 in 12 months. 

[ during which period the aforementioned Simon Bates resigned and took Our Tune with him. Dave Lee Travis famously resigned on air. Mike Read had already left before Bannister took over. Jimmy Saville had finished there in 1987]

It made Radio 1 pretty much unlistenable for me as not only the music changed but also the DJs, a rush to employ smug young gits like Evans and Moyles rather than the smug old gits like Bates and DLT. On the other hand if I were a young person trying to find something that reflected more cutting edge tastes that would have given me a home ( I guess). 

Dominic

All DJ's eventually wash up in the graveyard  slot on Radio Quiet 
Although,
Tony Blackbum is still doing a Radio 2 slot with old soul ,Whispering Bob appears once a week on thursday night with a Country Show and Walker does a 'sounds of the 70's ' on a late Sunday afternoon

maltingsaudio

EricTheWeary said:

For anyone below a certain age…Radio 1 played the pop hits of the day and was the most listened to radio station in the U.K.
Then in 1993 Matthew Bannister ( former newsreader) became the controller and took it back to it’s roots of targeting young people. Lost 5 million listeners to Radio 2 in 12 months. 

[ during which period the aforementioned Simon Bates resigned and took Our Tune with him. Dave Lee Travis famously resigned on air. Mike Read had already left before Bannister took over. Jimmy Saville had finished there in 1987]

It made Radio 1 pretty much unlistenable for me as not only the music changed but also the DJs, a rush to employ smug young gits like Evans and Moyles rather than the smug old gits like Bates and DLT. On the other hand if I were a young person trying to find something that reflected more cutting edge tastes that would have given me a home ( I guess). 

Remember this well.  Radio 1 was the mainstay of my youth as well as radio Luxembourg. Mind you there wasn’t much competition to radio 1 in the seventies!
Watch The boat that Rocked

Funkfingers

When I was knee high, Radio 1 played the latest chart hits, interspersed with a few all-time classics. My grandmother listened to golden oldies on Radio 2.

Now, the popular music to which I grew up is the staple diet on Radio 2. This decade, I have been mostly listening to Radio 4 and veteran comedy repeats on Radio 4 Extra.

I knew that Radio 1 was dying when Peel was reduced to once a week. Thankfully, he resurfaced as presenter of Home Truths, easing the transition from 1 to 4.

TheOtherDennis

EricTheWeary said:

For anyone below a certain age…Radio 1 played the pop hits of the day and was the most listened to radio station in the U.K.
Then in 1993 Matthew Bannister ( former newsreader) became the controller and took it back to it’s roots of targeting young people. Lost 5 million listeners to Radio 2 in 12 months. 

[ during which period the aforementioned Simon Bates resigned and took Our Tune with him. Dave Lee Travis famously resigned on air. Mike Read had already left before Bannister took over. Jimmy Saville had finished there in 1987]

It made Radio 1 pretty much unlistenable for me as not only the music changed but also the DJs, a rush to employ smug young gits like Evans and Moyles rather than the smug old gits like Bates and DLT. On the other hand if I were a young person trying to find something that reflected more cutting edge tastes that would have given me a home ( I guess). 

I remember that, I thought it was earlier in the 90s. 

It needed doing, but the way Bannister did it was an absolute disaster. Iirc Bates resigned on air too, much to Bannister's ire - I read the book about that time (can't remember what it was called) and he was apparently disgusted when Bates said "I know I'm going to get sacked, things move on, it happens, so I just thought I'd try to go out with my dignity intact." "How fucking dare he??" was the apparent response. Bannister comes across in the book as a bigger knob than almost any of the DJs other than Travis.

Sorry, starting to drag this off the original topic, my apologies.

mudslide73

I went to one at Porthmadog when Ashes to Ashes was no 1 - the only time I ever went. Andy Peebles I think. I can't really remember much of it though in all honesty.

Funkfingers

Funkfingers said:

I knew that Radio 1 was dying …

Radio 1 wasn't really dying, folks. It just ceased to be relevant to me. I disembarked and the ship sailed on without me.

EricTheWeary said:

Evans and Moyles

I never understood why those two, in particular, required a posse of sycophants in the room with them? The job was to cue up discs, announce them and, occasionally, hand over to the newsroom. Presumably, somebody has to pop out to fetch another bag of leisure chemical powder? 

If you wanted excitement, adventure and really wild things, hire Kenny Everett.

Kittyfrisk

Funkfingers said:

When I was knee high, Radio 1 played the latest chart hits, interspersed with a few all-time classics. My grandmother listened to golden oldies on Radio 2.

Now, the popular music to which I grew up is the staple diet on Radio 2. This decade, I have been mostly listening to Radio 4 and veteran comedy repeats on Radio 4 Extra.

I knew that Radio 1 was dying when Peel was reduced to once a week. Thankfully, he resurfaced as presenter of Home Truths, easing the transition from 1 to 4.

Are you actually me? 
That was exactly my experience too, particularly regarding John Peel.
Luckily I found 6Music, but frankly of late it has become very samey, lacking any real innovative eclectic WOW! new music programs that do what John Peel did.
Apart from Radio 4, Internet radio is keeping me going now.

Philly_Q

Funkfingers said:

Funkfingers said:

I knew that Radio 1 was dying …

Radio 1 wasn't really dying, folks. It just ceased to be relevant to me. I disembarked and the ship sailed on without me.

I didn't disembark from Radio 1, it left me at the dock.  It wasn't so much that it became irrelevant to me, I became irrelevant to it.

I think we have to accept that Radio 1 is no longer aimed at us, nor should it be.  And it should no longer be home to Mike Read, Simon Bates or The Fucking Hairy Cornflake.

We're all old, folks.

Offset

The Golden Age of Radio 1 was when Fluff Freeman's Saturday Afternoon Rock Show ruled the airwaves.  Not 'arf.  Now it's Planet Rock all the way.  Tommy Vance wasn't bad either although he was fairly mainstream.

JezWynd

Funkfingers said:

I knew that Radio 1 was dying when Peel was reduced to once a week. Thankfully, he resurfaced as presenter of Home Truths, easing the transition from 1 to 4.

I never thought of John Peel in those terms before; he was the gateway drug to R4!

Dominic

The Capital alternative was Pat Sharp !

Emp_Fab

Philly_Q said:

Emp_Fab said:

Philly_Q said:

I think the Radio 1 Road Show did come to Swansea once - on one of the many beaches, presumably - but I didn't go to see it.

I did like the Bits & Pieces quiz.  I always like a quiz.

It certainly came to the Leisure Centre car park.  I dunno about the beaches.  I was there as... wait for it....  an assistant to a hospital radio DJ's assistant!  That's about as low down the chain as it gets  

Any idea what year that would have been?  I left Swansea in 1982, the "new" leisure centre and the Quadrant centre had been going for a few years before then, I guess now they're probably rubble...

No idea on the year.... late 80's sometime.  The leisure centre was closed for many years as they'd built it with a shitload of asbestos.  It was gutted and eventually rebuilt.  It's called 'LC2' now.  Very original!  I remember being there for the original opening when the Queen attended.  I also remember getting smashed in the gums with the edge of a table-tennis bat as I was walking behind an enthusiastic player.  Blood everywhere.  And almost drowning in the diving tank.  Happy days.

Funkfingers

Emp_Fab said:

Philly_Q said:

Swansea

Blood everywhere.

Home fixture against Cardiff City, was it?

Philly_Q

Emp_Fab said:

Philly_Q said:

Emp_Fab said:

Philly_Q said:

I think the Radio 1 Road Show did come to Swansea once - on one of the many beaches, presumably - but I didn't go to see it.

I did like the Bits & Pieces quiz.  I always like a quiz.

It certainly came to the Leisure Centre car park.  I dunno about the beaches.  I was there as... wait for it....  an assistant to a hospital radio DJ's assistant!  That's about as low down the chain as it gets  

Any idea what year that would have been?  I left Swansea in 1982, the "new" leisure centre and the Quadrant centre had been going for a few years before then, I guess now they're probably rubble...

No idea on the year.... late 80's sometime.  The leisure centre was closed for many years as they'd built it with a shitload of asbestos.  It was gutted and eventually rebuilt.  It's called 'LC2' now.  Very original!  I remember being there for the original opening when the Queen attended.  I also remember getting smashed in the gums with the edge of a table-tennis bat as I was walking behind an enthusiastic player.  Blood everywhere.  And almost drowning in the diving tank.  Happy days.

I remember the Queen opening the leisure centre but I don't think we went to see her. 
When it first opened they had lockers in the changing rooms which you had to operate with a coin, like a supermarket trolley.  Because it was a new thing, lots of people forgot to take the coins when they left - my little brothers used to wander round nicking all the forgotten coins.

jonnyburgo

WFMU.org is my station of choice, 1000s of archived hours of stuff for download, funded by the listeners so no commercial crap. Its an Institution of oddness