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professor1036
Like many radio people; I recorded jingles off the radio and I made a few tape compilations over time. When time (and life) allows, I’ve been converting a few tapes onto digital to preserve the original recordings.
Anyway…I thought I would share a couple of these recordings to anyone that’s interested, because in my opinion it charts the evolution of local radio primarily in England & Wales (sorry Iain…I never ventured to Scotland with a tape deck, nor did I receive any Scottish station via atmospherics!) through my eyes and ears.
The first compilation is from 1985, when I was twelve years old…
Off-Air Radio Jingles Montage 1985 by Professor10361
The second recording in 1996/1997 is interesting because during the time of the compilation, there were loads of experimental Restricted Service Licence (RSL) stations on-air because of the pending second North West England regional licence (eventually won by Border Radio’s “Century 105”) and the original Radio Authority small alternate location licence(s) or “Sallies” in North/East Greater Manchester.
Off-Air Radio Jingles/Idents Montage 1996-1997 by Professor10361
So…fill yer boots!
IainJohnston
“sorry Iain…I never ventured to Scotland with a tape deck, nor did I receive any Scottish station via atmospherics!”
I’m sure that some “gaps” can be filled there Paul
As for atmospherics – in the late 1970s, Swansea Sound on 257 could be heard at night – close to Clyde on 261 – 15 miles south from Glasgow – considering they were 80w directional at night and little “salt-water path” between, that wasn’t bad! I taped ’em and got a QSL Card back – hands up at the back of the class “How many JMers remember/know what a QSL card is!)
jonno
How many JMers remember/know what a QSL card is!)
me me me!
but I was also a SWL and hold an amateur radio licence – so I should do really
Yeah…I’ve got a few QSL’s as well somewhere from Manx Radio and Radio Sweden International!
Zip!
tyty21
dianablanton1984
Thanks for the comments…I appreciate it!
I’ll be adding more files at the end of the week…
IanF
Thanks for the comments…I appreciate it!
I’ll be adding more files at the end of the week…
Look forward to that
star tetley
Thanks for the comments…I appreciate it!
I’ll be adding more files at the end of the week…
Do you have BBC stuff or just commercial?
RobinBlamires
Thanks for the responses…it’s greatly appreciated!
Those were the days when there was a much better ‘feel’ to radio. The ‘new GWR’ was the beginning of the decline for me with independent stations…and the BBC just don’t have the budget to produce a decent sound these days.
A lot has been written about GWR and its formats over the years, rightly or wrongly…but it is part of broadcasting history and that’s why I’ve included a lot of their idents from various stations to show the evolution of these formats. I agree about BBC local radio…however they’ve always been marmite to me.
Thanks for uploading these gems. Always a pleasure to listen to. The only variety these days is from community radio it seems
You’re welcome…the listening stats have been very good for all of the uploaded files, its just been a matter of time to dub tapes and then edit the files. It’s quite telling really that the most ‘listened to’ file has been the 1985 off-air montage.
I still think there is a lot of variety in radio around even now, I haven’t totally given up hope yet. But in my opinion its easy to look back with rose-tinted glasses…there was some fantastic stations and presenters years ago, but there was a lot of bad radio around when I was younger as well. Swings and roundabouts really.
I’m sure John Taynton was sung as Tayton.
Sounds like John Taynton to me or are my ears deceiving me and its what I want to hear?
Really love these montages Paul. Not just for the jingles themselves, but the creativity and effort those boys in small boxes at many a radio station used to put in, to the sweepers and production with Jem Godfrey and Jeff Thomas being two such names that spring to mind.
A masterclass in energetic audio production.
Thanks Robin…and a lot of the old station imaging was ‘mixed down’ on good old fashioned quarter-inch tape! Hahaha
Superb selection of “mini-airchecks” Paul! Absolutely astounding!!!
And I thought it was just me that used to “lurk” around the southern half of the UK in the summertime with the aerial
of a radio/cassette hanging out of the car window :^)Yet so few of those oh-so-characteristic and entertaining stations, yes with warts and all, (with their often unique jingles…)
now exist. Gobbled up, homogenised, networked, and destroyed by foreign owners ( and a useless regulator) that only “own”
all these “licences” as “remuneration generators” / tax avoidance vehicles for their Directors/Owners not as “genuine broadcasters”.So much has been lost at the alter of supposedly “improving listener choice” – Aye, Sure…
Thanks Iain…a labour of love started in childhood and continued even when I began working within commercial radio, it is fascinating looking back at how the industry changed within my relatively narrow time window of fifteen years. Of course not allowing the fact how it’s changed beyond the year 2000 to present day.
Warts and all is definitely a good terminology, Radio Wyvern…my original ‘hometown’ local station was certainly unique, in my opinion one of the most bizarre stations in these islands! But then I guess a lot of people feel the same of their local stations, they have/had their quirks. I was just lucky to get Beacon and BRMB as well!
peejdj
You have really captured the sound of radio in the UK at different times over the last 30 years. Some of the stuff must be quite rare – especially those jingles from the Heart Warrington RSL. Great work – keep them coming!
Thanks very much!
For a time I used to live in North Wales near the English border, where it was quite high up and facing east towards Cheshire and Lancashire…so I used to receive loads of stations, including the RSL’s from around the North West like Radio Bolton, Deva Radio, Oldham FM, Purr-fect, 8 Towns Road, Wire FM/WFMR, Tower FM, Radio Briers Hey, KLCX(!) etc and format-testers like Clyde’s “The Big FM” and Heart 106.2. I remember the Heart RSL was based quite low down in the Birchwood area I think, so it was harder to receive and was prone to a lot of interference the further away from Warrington you got, so I did the next best thing and drove there with a tape deck!
There were regional and SALLIE licences available back then during 1996-1997, so there used to be RSL’s on most of the time…one after the other! It was nice listening and also getting involved with some of those stations and it certainly helped stepping into commercial radio.
professor1036
IainJohnston
jonno
tyty21
IanF
star tetley
RobinBlamires
peejdj
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