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

BBC Radio 2

Zoe Ball

Zoe joins Radio 2's weekend line-up to present the Saturday Early Breakfast show, after recent stints sitting in for Dermot O'Leary and Ken Bruce.

Each week Zoe has puzzles and difficult questions in Ball of Confusion, plus guest contributors Kirsten O'Brien, Hilary Oliver and Ambrose Heron take turns to round up family events and movies in Here Comes The Weekend.

You can also join the Sleepover Club. It's junior choice for the new millennium. If you've got a houseful of kids camping in the lounge for the weekend, or you're going to be up all night partying with your friends, then you can join. Every week Zoe and Emma Forbes will be inviting a group of members to pick a favourite tune and make a special dedication on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Zoe Ball: 31/10/2009

31/10/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Zoe Ball, 31/10/2009

Hilary Oliver joins Zoe to review Fantastic Mr Fox and Coraline and The Avengers on DVD.

Hilary Oliver joins Zoe to review Fantastic Mr Fox on the big screen, Coraline and the remastered first and second series of The Avengers on DVD, amongst others.

In Here Comes The Weekend Hilary Oliver joins Zoe to review 'Fantastic Mr Fox' starring George Clooney on the the big screen, 'Coraline' in 3D and the remastered 'Snow White' on Blu Ray and 'The Avengers' on DVD. 

The surviving episodes from Series One of 'The Avengers' (including the original 'Police Surgeon' pilot starring Ian Hendry) and the whole of series 2 have been digitally remastered, along with an interview with Honor Blackman - the first of Steed's companions.

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

Sounds of the 60s

With oldies by acts ranging from Captain Beefheart to Wanda Jackson.

Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn spins the biggest sixties hits and shares fond memories of the decade.

Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn: 31/10/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn, 31/10/2009

Brian Matthew replays the sounds of pop's golden decade with the hits and the rarities.

Brian Matthew, the voice of sixties popular music, presents the programme for all fans of the 1960s. With facts, figures, trivia and the classic hits, rarities and B-sides.

Brian Matthew presents the programme for all fans of the music of the 1960s. This week including tracks from The Elgins, First Edition, The Doors, Roy Orbison, Wanda Jackson, Canned Heat and Captain Beefheart. The A-Z of the Beatles works its way through their entire catalogue and reaches their Decca audition version of Three Cool Cats - good or bad?   
With facts,figures and trivia as well as the classic hits, rareties, B sides, obscurities, instrumentals
and album tracks, the selection sweeps right across the most important decade for popular
music from beginning to end. Sounds Of The Sixties began in 1983 and Brian has been at helm since 1990, bringing to the progarmme his distinctive voice and unmatchable experience of sixties pop shows.

Jonathan Ross

Music, guests and lively conversation with Jonathan Ross

Jonathan Ross: 31/10/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Jonathan Ross, 31/10/2009

Jonathan Ross and Andy Davies are joined by actor Ashley Walters. Plus live music from Jarvis Cocker.

Jonathan Ross and Andy Davies are joined by actor Ashley Walters plus there's live music from Jarvis Cocker.

Pick of the Pops

Counting down two popular music charts from this week in decades past.

Pick of the Pops: 31/10/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Pick of the Pops, 31/10/2009

Dale Winton counts down the charts from this week in 1975 and 1988.

Dale Winton counts down the charts from one week in 1975 and 1988, with hits from Roxy Music, The Drifters, Guns 'N' Roses, Robert Palmer and Yazz.

Dale Winton counts down the charts from this week in 1975 and 1988, with hits from Roxy Music, The Drifters, Guns 'N' Roses, Robert Palmer and Yazz.

Dermot O'Leary

Dermot O'Leary presents live music sessions from new and emerging bands.

Dermot O'Leary: 31/10/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Dermot O'Leary, 31/10/2009

Dermot has live music from Air and Passion Pit, while Gok Wan adds a dash of style.

Dermot has live music from Gallic duo Air and the American electronic band Passion Pit. Plus style guru Gok Wan joins him in the studio to share his favourite records.

Dermot has live music from Gallic duo Air and the American electronic band Passion Pit, while style guru Gok Wan joins him in the studio and shares his favourite records.

For their latest and sixth album, Love 2, Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin dispensed with producers and built their own studio, where they spent the better part of a year with drummer Joey Waronker. Some of the album's rockier tracks provide a fresh contrast to earlier, more minimalist recordings, on which drums were barely evident. 

Passion Pit formed in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2007 and released their first LP earlier this year. Having recently embarked on a tour that takes in America, Europe and Japan, the band have declared their desire to "play every single stage in the milky way".

With live sets by electronic quintet Passion Pit and electro-pop duo 
Air (Sexy Boy), who perform from their new album Love 2. Plus a chat with fashion consultant Gok Wan.

Going Out With Alan Carr

Alan Carr hosts fun and laughs on Saturday night

Alan Carr hosts fun and laughs on Saturday night. Whether you're putting on your lippy for a night out or dialing up a curry, Going Out With Alan Carr will put you in a feel-good mood

Going Out With Alan Carr: 31/10/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Going Out With Alan Carr, 31/10/2009

Alan Carr helps kick start Saturday evening with Emma Forbes.

Alan Carr hosts two hours of fun and laughs, with Emma Forbes playing head girl to his naughty class comic.

Alan Carr helps kick start Saturday evening, hosting two hours of fun and laughs, with Emma Forbes playing head girl to his naughty class comic. Whether you're putting on your lippy for a night-out or dialing up a curry, Going Out With Alan Carr will put you in a feel-good mood.

If you're on the way out to a Stag or a Hen, a night down the pub or a karaoke bar, Alan will send you on your way with a spring in your step, playing great disco classics and modern pop, from Abba to Prince and Duffy to Dusty.

If you're planning a dinner-party, a night at the pub or a hot date, let Alan sort out your entertainment for the night ahead. He'll even help you look the part in his regular feature, Wardrobe Disaster!

And if you're having a quiet night in front of the box, why not take part in Alan's Last Dance!

Going Out with Alan Carr

Paul Gambaccini with America's Greatest Hits

A selection from the week's American charts, plus classics from the last six decades.

Paul plays his selection from this week's American charts, plus classics from the last six decades.

Paul Gambaccini

Paul Gambaccini with America's Greatest Hits: 31/10/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Paul Gambaccini with America's Greatest Hits, 31/10/2009

Two hours of America's latest and greatest hits from the last five decades.

Corridor of Sound

BBC Radio 2 - Corridor of Sound

Cerys Matthews takes a tour through the BBC's Maida Vale Studios.

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the BBC Maida Vale Studios, Cerys Matthews takes a historical tour through one of the music industry's most well-loved buildings.

To celebrate Maida Vale Studios reaching the grand old age of 75 Cerys Matthews takes a historical tour through one of the music industry's most well loved buildings. 

Since its time as an roller skating rink and national insurance offices, Maida Vale has gone on to become a launch pad to stardom for young aspiring musicians and actors. Not only have the studios been instrumental in the careers of many successful artists they were also a key player at the beginning of Radio 2's life when, thanks to restrictions on the amount of recorded music that could be played, the BBC had to make its own live music. 

Lead a musician along the main corridor of Maida Vale studios for the first time and you can almost feel the excitement and trepidation bubbling up inside them; the recognition of the great sounds that have been created inside the studios weighing heavily on their shoulders. Arguably more artists have walked through Maida Vale's Art Deco front door than even the legendary Abbey Road. 

Its historic roster covers the breadth of the entertainment industry; from Led Zepplin and the Pink Floyd to Harry Connick Jr. and Robbie Williams. History permeates through the building: Vera Lynn entertained the locals through the war with the help of the BBC Dance Band; Bing Crosby, made his last ever recording in the Studio 3; and the Beatles strayed from Abbey Road to make their BBC radio programme Pop Goes The Beatles. And hidden away, in what was once known as Room 13, were those lesser known geniuses of the Radiophonic Workshop who busily created the wacky world of sound effects for The Goon Show and the iconic Doctor Who theme. 

Cerys meets the history makers past and present. As well as encountering soon-to-be-famous performers, she bumps into regular visitors of the studio Johnny Marr, Rick Wakeman and Jools Holland. She introduces the talented people who help make the dreams come true - the sound engineers. These unsung heroes, not only mix the session, but have been known on occasion to give the odd band member a quick singing lesson or an emergency guide to tuning guitars. 

As Cerys wanders around this well loved but ramshackle building, she immerses herself in a typical day at Maida Vale. In Studio 1, home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, she meets the people who've played a key role in the orchestra's history before finding out what really happen in the legendary Radiophonic Workshop. After that she descends into the heart of the building to the lower corridor where she has a brief lesson in playing the old John Compton organ, before finding Studio 3. This room was instrumental to the success of Radio 2 in the early days. It was the home of all the live music that was created especially for shows like Gloria Hunniford, Jimmy Young and Music While You Work. While there, Cerys interrupts the BBC Big Band and joins them in a rendition of a classic tune. 

Just along the corridor is Studio 4 most famous for its rock sessions. Here Cerys reminisces about the sessions that helped change her fortunes, meets a new band that are at MV for the first time and talks to the engineers and producers that make it all happen. However it's not just dramatic musical performances that fill the corridors with sound. Hidden away at the back of the building is the drama studio and a cupboard full of bicycles, ironing boards and other bric-a-brac that all help to make a radio play come alive, as Cerys finds out when she takes on the role as a spot effects person for a mini drama.

Concluding Radio 2's 75th-anniversary celebrations of the BBC's Maida Vale Studios, singer Cerys Matthews tours the ramshackle west London building, talking to engineers, producers and regular visitors such as Johnny Marr , Rick Wakeman and Jools Holland. "Needle time" restricted the amount of BBC airplay devoted to gramophone records, prompting the corporation to produce live music. Over the years the doors of the former rollerskating rink have welcomed the likes of Vera Lynn , Bing Crosby , the BBC Symphony 
Orchestra, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Robbie Williams and countless others, including unknown acts making their session debut on John Peel's Radio 1 show. The facility has also produced sound effects for TV shows ranging from The Goon Show to Doctor Who. 
Producer Charlotte Wright 
Maconie's Music: page 36

Bob Harris Sunday

DJ Bob Harris picks an eclectic mix of new tracks

Bob Harris plays an eclectic mix of new tracks from the worlds of Americana, Alt Country, Indie, World, Nu-Folk and Blues

Bob Harris

Bob Harris Sunday: 01/11/2009

01/11/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Bob Harris Sunday, 01/11/2009

Tinariwen join Bob for the After Midnight Acoustic session.

One of the most well-known bands from Africa, Tinariwen, play live for Bob. Find out why their fan club includes Robert Plant, U2 and Carlos Santana.

The thirty-year musical and social history of Tinariwen is a fascinating and inspiring tale. Initially a loose collection of displaced Touareg musicians centred around Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, who, although born in Mali, grew up in the refugee camps near the Malian border in Algeria and later around the southern Algerian city of Tamanrasset.

Coming together in the late 1970s with a shared passion for everything from traditional Touareg music & poetry to western rock and pop artists such as Hendrix, Santana, Bob Marley and Led Zeppelin, the collective steadily built their reputation in and around the Sahara desert.

By the end of the 1990s Tinariwen's reputation had begun to spread beyond their Saharan stronghold - in 1999 the band played a few gigs in France and in 2001 they played at the first 'Festival in the Desert' in Mali where they were heralded as the stars of the show and arguably, at this point, set out on the path that would see them celebrated in Europe as one of the most instantly recognizable and loved bands from Africa.

Success came swiftly after this point - by the end of 2001 the band had performed at WOMAD and the South Bank in London and released their 'debut' album The Radio Tisdas Sessions.

In the past eight years the band have played over 700 concerts in Europe as well as releasing a further two albums, Amassakoul in 2004 and Aman Iman in 2007. Along the way they have picked up a number of awards (including the BBC Award for World Music in 2005) and a raft of 'legendary' fans including the likes of Robert Plant, Carlos Santana, Brian Eno, Thom Yorke, TV on the Radio and Bono & the Edge.

They'll be playing Bob selections from their latest album Imidiwan: Companions.

Featuring Mali collective Tinariwen. 
Inspired by poetry and both Touareg and Western popular music, the act count Brian Eno, Thorn Yorke and Robert Plant among their fans, and play selections from their new album.

Richard Allinson

Richard Allinson in his early-morning weekend residency with music and features

Richard Allinson in his early-morning weekend residency with three hours of music and features

Richard Allinson: 01/11/2009

BBC Radio 2 - Richard Allinson, 01/11/2009

Join the 3.46 club with your early morning host Richard Allinson.

Join the 3.46 club with your host Richard Allinson.

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Sounds of the 60s

Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn

31/10/2009

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