Barry Humphries: Barry's Forgotten Musical Masterpieces

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BBC Radio 2 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Light Programme.

BBC Radio 2

Radio 2

Radio 2 Celebrates the BBC at 100

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Music

Programmes and documentaries celebrating BBC personalities and stars through the years.

Programmes and documentaries celebrating the BBC personalities and stars through the years.

Radio 2 Celebrates the BBC at 100: Barry Humphries: Forgotten Musical Masterpieces: 1. The Birth of British Broadcasting

Barry Humphries Forgotten Musical Masterpieces

1. The Birth of British Broadcasting

Barry Humphries: Forgotten Musical Masterpieces

BBC Radio 2 - Radio 2 Celebrates the BBC at 100, Barry Humphries: Forgotten Musical Masterpieces, 1. The Birth of British Broadcasting

Barry Humphries returns to BBC Radio 2 with a new series of his vintage music show.

Barry Humphries celebrates 100 years of the BBC with a selection of music by artists, who made their name during the earliest days of British broadcasting.

In this three-part series, Barry Humphries celebrates 100 years of the BBC with a witty and thought-provoking playlist of songs by artists, who made their name during the earliest days of radio. Music Highlights in this show include: 'Twiddling with the Knobs on the Radio' by Dorrie Dene, 'Are You Having Any Fun?' by Dick Bentley and 'No One to Read Out the News: A BBC Tragedy' by the Western Brothers.

Barry also reveals how the origins of British broadcasting lie in Essex and that the Australian Soprano Dame Nellie Melba took part in a ground-breaking broadcast in Britain on 15th June 1920, two years before the BBC was formed.

The BBC was formed in the autumn of 1922. Back then, that combination of letters meant nothing to most people. Also, until 1927 the 'C' in 'B.B.C.' actually stood for 'company' rather than 'corporation'.  Gradually, with its microphones and transmitters, condensers, valves and knobs, the Beeb - as it's now more affectionally known - brought an exciting range of writers, scientists, musicians, politicians and entertainers into people's lives for the very first time. A new method of mass communication had been born. 'Listening in' to the wireless became a social and cultural phenomenon!

One hundred years ago, when the system of broadcasting in Britain was first conceived, it was specifically designed to be very different from the radio chaos that had sprung up on the other side of the Atlantic, after the end of the First World War. In America, anyone could set up a radio station and British Officials quickly decided that the USA's overcrowded airways were not to be repeated here. The BBC quickly became an International, as well as, a National Treasure. It opened up a world of information, education and entertainment to millions!

Barry Humphries says:

'It’s great to be back on BBC Radio 2. Of all the things I do, speaking to others via the ‘wizardry of wireless’ is my absolute favourite! Listeners to BBC Radio 2 are in for a treat. I’ll be presenting my personal selection of the most thought-provoking and entertaining songs by artists, who became famous during the earliest days of radio.

'Listening to my parents’ radio, when I was a child, was how I first discovered that there was a world of music, laughter and entertainment beyond suburban Melbourne and that some people actually earned a living as entertainers.  Radio opened up a world of information, education and entertainment to me and countless others.

'I consider the wireless to be the world’s greatest invention. My influences would have been so very narrow without it.  The sound of my parents’ radio is embedded in the background of my earliest memories.”

'Relatively quickly, the BBC established itself as an International as well as a National Treasure. Broadcasting opened up a world of information, education and entertainment to me and countless others!'

Radio 2 Celebrates the BBC at 100: Barry Humphries: Forgotten Musical Masterpieces

Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

Radio 2: Amazing music. Played by an amazing line-up. The home of great music, entertainment and documentaries

Barry Humphries celebrates 100 years of the BBC with witty songs from the 1920s & 30s.

Barry Humphries celebrates 100 years of the BBC with music by artists, who made their name during the earliest days of British broadcasting.

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Radio 2 Celebrates the BBC at 100

Barry Humphries: Forgotten Musical Masterpieces

1. The Birth of British Broadcasting

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