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

BBC Radio 2

Sarah Kennedy

The show for early risers - Pause for Thought, Swing Time, Showtune,& entertainment news.

The show for Dawn Patrollers with Pause for Thought, Swing Time, the Showtune,& entertainment news.

The show for Dawn Patrollers with news, Pause for Thought, Swing Time, the Showtune, your comments, travel and entertainment news.

Sarah Kennedy: 17/08/2009

17/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Sarah Kennedy, 17/08/2009

On The Dawn Patrol: News, views and music.

On The Dawn Patrol: News, views and music, plus a review of the morning's papers. Including Pause for Thought at 6.20am.

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

Wake Up to Wogan

Terry Wogan's regular morning broadcast, featuring music, news and chat

Wake Up to Wogan: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Wake Up to Wogan, 17/08/2009

Terry Wogan's award-winning breakfast show. Includes a Pause for Thought.

Ken Bruce

The best in music every weekday with Ken Bruce, with live sessions.

Ken Bruce: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Ken Bruce, 17/08/2009

Mica Paris picks her favourite songs in Tracks of My Years.

Mica Paris picks hits by Marvin Gaye and Barbra Streisand in Tracks of My Years. 

Please note: competitions or votes featured in this programme may now be closed.

Self-proclaimed Heir to the Throne of Scotland, Ken Bruce seeks willing audience to listen to radio show in world's first bid to reverse hair-loss with a daily mix of music and first-class humour. 

Mica Paris picks classics by Marvin Gaye and Barbra Streisand in Tracks Of My Years. Plus two more contestants duke it out on PopMaster, we play the Record and Album Of The Week and we dedicate a Love Song to the one you love.

Please note: competitions or votes featured in this programme may now be closed.

Jeremy Vine

Jeremy Vine and guests discuss the news headlines and talk to the people making them

Jeremy Vine: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Jeremy Vine, 17/08/2009

Matthew Bannister in for Jeremy Vine, on pay, parking, Afghanistan and parachuting.

Matthew Bannister sits in for Jeremy Vine and discusses calls for a high pay commission, fines for parking too far from the curb, Afghanistan and escaping parachute disasters alive.

Matthew Bannister discusses calls for a high pay commission, fines for parking too far from the curb, Afghanistan and escaping parachute disasters alive.

Matthew Bannister

Steve Wright in the Afternoon

Steve Wright's afternoon show with special guests, music and a host of other features

Steve Wright in the Afternoon: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Steve Wright in the Afternoon, 17/08/2009

Steve Wright talks to Joss Ackland and has horoscope predictions from Shelly Von Strunckel

Steve and the team are joined by actor Joss Ackland. Plus, the oldies are chosen by Zoe Wrigglesworth from Leeds.

Steve Wright digs out the most fascinating Factoids and hears the latest pearls of wisdom from The Old Woman. He also talks to Joss Ackland, has your horoscope predictions with Shelly Von Strunckel and plays the Non Stop Oldies too!

Steve Wright

Chris Evans

Chris Evans' drivetime slot, with laughter-inducing chat and music

Chris Evans: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Chris Evans, 17/08/2009

It's an ABBA-solutely fabulous Monday with top tunes, cheery chat and tiny toy cars!

It's an ABBA-solutely fabulous Monday with top tunes, cheery chat and tiny toy cars! Plus, prepare for a Monday Mince, a groover in the Jukebox Jury and all the usual shenanigans.

Another ABBA-solutely fabulous Monday with top tunes, cheery chat and tiny toy cars!. Plus, prepare for a truly marvelous Monday Mince, a groover in the Jukebox Jury and all the usual shenanigans.

The Blues Show with Paul Jones

The weekly dose of rhythm and blues tunes from Paul Jones.

The weekly dose of rhythm and blues tunes from Paul Jones, combining classics, new releases, sessions and occasional interviews.

Paul Jones

The Blues Show with Paul Jones: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - The Blues Show with Paul Jones, 17/08/2009

A round-up of the Notodden Blues Festival in Norway, featuring backstage interviews.

A round-up of the Notodden Blues Festival in Norway, featuring backstage interviews with artists and information about the 2nd European Blues Conference, held at the festival.

R&B and blues, showcasing artists who appeared at the Cambridge Folk Festival, including Booker T, Imelda May, Susan Tedeschi, and Watermelon Slim and The Workers.

The Radcliffe & Maconie Show

BBC Radio 6 Music

A late-night mix of live sessions, celebrity guests and listener interaction

Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie with a late-night mix of live sessions, celebrity guests and listener interaction

The Radcliffe and Maconie Show

The Radcliffe & Maconie Show: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 6 Music - The Radcliffe & Maconie Show, 17/08/2009

Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconle

Big Band Special

The very best big band music, from the 1930s to the present day

Big Band Special: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Big Band Special, 17/08/2009

Clare Teal presents the BBC Big Band in session with conductor Jay Craig

Clare Teal presents the BBC Big Band in session with conductor Jay Craig and a programme of swing classics from writers including Gerry Mulligan, Will Bradley, Sy Oliver and Luis Aracaraz.

Clare Teal presents the BBC Big Band in session with conductor Jay Craig and a programme of swing classics from writers including Gerry Mulligan (Disc Jockey Jump - for Gene Krupa), Will Bradley (Celery Stalks at Midnight), Sy Oliver (Annie Laurie - for Jimmie Lunceford) and Luis Aracaraz (Mar).

Guy Barker's Jazz Collection

Guy Barker's Jazz Collection: Episode 4: The Other Side of the Pond: British and European Jazz

Episode 4

Episode 4: The Other Side of the Pond: British and European Jazz

The Other Side of the Pond: British and European Jazz

BBC Radio 2 - Guy Barker's Jazz Collection, The Other Side of the Pond: British and European Jazz

Trumpeter and composer Guy Barker looks at British and European jazz.

Trumpeter and composer Guy Barker looks at British and European Jazz. Includes classic tracks from Tubby Hayes, Dick Morrissey and Stan Tracey and new material from Andy Sheppard.

Guy Barker takes a look at British and European Jazz. This week's show features classic British fare from Tubby Hayes, Dick Morrissey and Stan Tracey. It also highlights new material from Andy Shepherd, alongside contemporary continental offerings from Benjamin Herman and Patrik Boman's Seven Piece Machine.

The trumpeter and composer Guy Barker presents an authoritative guide to jazz music

The trumpeter and composer Guy Barker presents an authoritative guide to jazz music. Taking a different theme in each episode, Guy celebrates some of jazz's finest exponents

Guy Barker's JazzCollection

4/6. Classic and contemporary British and European jazz.

Uncle Sam Goes Pop

Uncle Sam Goes Pop: Episode 1

Episode 1

BBC Radio 2 - Uncle Sam Goes Pop, Episode 1

The story of a period in the 1940s when the US government became a record company.

Patti Austin tells the story of a period in the 1940s when strike action from the record labels led to the US government becoming the world's most successful record company.

Grammy winner Patti Austin tells the fascinating story of a short period in the 1940s when an unholy alliance of recording artists, the army and the unions enabled the US Government to become the world's most successful record company.

In 1941, leader of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) James Caesar Petrillo, told the four major record companies of the day - RCA Victor, Decca, Columbia and Capitol Records - that unless his union members received higher royalty payments, they would not produce any more recordings after 31 July 1942. The record companies refused, hoping a strike would be short. It lasted for two years!

Army Lieutenant George Robert Vincent, a sound engineer who had learnt his trade at the Edison Labs in New York and helped establish Armed Forces Radio, knew the soldiers longed for new music. He suggested that the military start a record company - V-Discs - and convinced the AFM to grant a special waiver to record for the army with a number of provisions: the recordings should not be used commercially or sold; and all V-Discs should be destroyed after the war. So on 27 October 1943 artists had an outlet - as well as a guaranteed, receptive, enthusiastic worldwide audience of soldiers and sailors.

When the USA entered the war, the nascent record label was faced with a problem: the supply of shellac, used to make 78 rpm records, ceased. After much testing, Vincent found that a combination of two resins - one of which was already used in the manufacture of "rubber" dinghies - created a playable and sturdy record. V-Discs commissioned over 900 special recordings of the most successful and commercial artists of the day - the only record of great pop music during the ban. Vincent received the Legion of Merit award for his services and Steve Sholes, who produced and oversaw many of the recordings, returned to RCA where he recommended that they sign a kid named Elvis Presley!

After the programme ended, the AFM agreement was honoured and original masters were destroyed; leftover V-Discs at bases and on ships were discarded; and the FBI confiscated and destroyed some that servicemen smuggled home. One Los Angeles record company employee even did some jail time - for the illegal possession of over 2500 V-Discs. Nevertheless V-Discs' artistic legacy is not lost. The Library of Congress retains a complete set of V-Discs and several compilations of V-Disc records are commercially available today.

The story of a period in the 1940s when the US government became a record company

Grammy winner Patti Austin tells the story of a period in the 1940s when strike action from the record labels led to the US government becoming the world's most successful record company

Uncle Sam Goes Pop: the Story of V-Discs

New series. 1/3. US singer Patti Austin tells the story of V-Discs - the 1940s record label set up by the US military in order to provide entertainment for soldiers stationed overseas This coincided with a royalty-issues union strike against RCA Victor, Columbia, Capitol Records and Decca by the American Federation of Musicians, which from 1943 agreed to record discs only for the military as long as they were not available for purchase in America. V-Discs commissioned more than 900 special recordings by the era's top artists - from Glenn Miller to Fats Waller - and, as agreed, the discs were destroyed after the war, though Washington's Library of Congress retains a full set. Expect to hear some of these gems. Producer Steve Levine

Janice Long

Great music and chat, with a weekly interview and Spoken Word Session every Wednesday

Music you love, plus great guests and a weekly Spoken Word Session that you won't hear anywhere else

Janice Long: 17/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Janice Long, 17/08/2009

Craig Charles sits in for Janice Long with music, chat and live sessions.

Craig Charles

Alex Lester

Weekday morning music and entertainment with Alex Lester

Alex Lester: 18/08/2009

18/08/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Alex Lester, 18/08/2009

With conversation and music. Alex delves into his own record collection to pick something new or obscure from Lester's Library and one listener picks a track in Listeners' Library.

Alex brings his own combination of music and conversation to early weekday mornings, making this The Best Time Of The Day Show. Popular features include the Listeners' Library, where you choose the music, and a double-selection from Alex's own collection in Lester's Library.

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Chris Evans

Chris Evans

17/08/2009

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