Barry Humphries: 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.

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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: 3. The Broken Record

Barry Humphries Forgotten Musical Masterpieces

3. The Broken Record

BBC Radio 2 - Radio 2 Celebrates the BBC at 100, Barry Humphries: Forgotten Musical Masterpieces, 3. The Broken Record

Barry Humphries celebrates 100 years of the BBC with witty songs from 1920s, 30s and 40s.

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

In this episode, Barry Humphries takes us back to a time before LPs, CDs and MP3s, when recorded music was mostly on Shellac discs.  He's following in the footsteps of Christopher Stone, who was the BBC's first DJ. Christopher was playing and talking about gramophone discs on the wireless, as early as 1927, before the term 'Disc Jockey' had even been invented!

Musical highlights in this episode include: the satirical song ‘Don’t Let’s Sing About the War’ by Ronald Frankau, 'Mrs Christopher Stone' by Gert & Daisy (one of a series of songs they recorded about the wives of famous radio personalities), 'Yer Can't Help Laughin' by Jack Warner, 'The Floral Dance' by Australian bass-baritone Peter Dawson and 'The Broken Record' by Henry Hall & the BBC Dance Orchestra.

Barry also recalls that all broadcasting was 'live broadcasting' for almost a decade.  The first recording machine used by the BBC was the Blattnerphone, but that wasn't available until 1930 and using it was a very risky business! The spools of tape were very heavy.  Also, the speed of the machine ran at five feet a second, so a twenty minute recording would use a mile of tape!  It was designed and named after Ludwig Blattner, a film maker, who'd been born in Germany but during the 1920s and 30s worked extensively in Britain. Only twelve Blattnerphones were ever made and other devices quickly took over, but the Blattnerphone was most definitely the first recording machine used by the BBC.

Barry also remarks that BBC Broadcasting House at Portland Place near Oxford Circus opened, in 1932, just a few months before Hitler came to power in Germany. Between 1939 and 1945, the songs of Noel Coward, Arthur Askey, Vera Lynn and many other artists kept the nation's spirits up during exceedingly dark times.   

Barry Humphries says:

'With the recent revival of vinyl LPs, youngsters are now, at least, more aware of the trials, tribulations and paraphernalia involved in repeatedly playing one’s favourite song over and over again on a turntable. Inevitably, the disc begins to jump and this phenomenon is demonstrated beautifully in ‘The Broken Record’ by Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra.  It imitates the irritating sound of a skipping gramophone disc.

In the 1930s, it was estimated that half of all Shellac, that’s the resin made by insects in Asia, was used in the production of gramophone discs. Today, Shellac actually still has some uses. It’s used in French polishing, false nails and pointe shoes for ballerinas. You learn so much listening to the wireless and my show alone is well worth your licence fee!

'It was hearing the music and the voices coming out of my parents’ radio that first introduced me to the world of entertainment beyond suburban Melbourne.

'When Broadcasting House first opened, in March 1932, a programme celebrating the first decade of the BBC was planned, but it was quickly discovered that there were no recordings available to play to listeners.  You see, for almost a decade, all broadcasting had been 'live' broadcasting.

'As a child in the 1940s, I subscribed to a magazine called Radio Fun. It was full of puzzles, articles and cartoons and would feature the greatest radio stars of the day. It was strange to think, later on, that these comics crammed full of childish entertainment were devised and printed in London faraway and possible during the Blitz.'

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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Barry Humphries: Forgotten Musical Masterpieces

3. The Broken Record

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