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editorialHi again, and this month welcome to this bumper 48 page issue of "DEE JAY AND RADIO

MONTHLY".This issue sees the start of our "Big Three" series -a series devoted to the three biggest

audience pullers in British radio - and number one is popular Radio i disc jockey JIMMYYOUNG. Who will be numbers two and three? We're not telling - you'll just have to waitand see!

In addition there are features on DJs Alan Freeman, Dave Christian, John Dunn andJoan Turner. Alan Keen, head of Radio Luxembourg, looks at the station's recent develop-ments, commercial radio and again offers sound advice to all you would-be radio DJs,whilst Mike Cable takes a rather light-hearted look at the subject of BBC Radio auditions.

Disc Jockey Dave Gregory, currently once again standing in for Tony Blackburn, pickshis choice of recent albums and singles. Our local radio feature this month calls on BBCRadio Merseyside and Mike Cook this month asks "What keeps Motown on top of the poppile?"

Plus, of course, all the regular features. What more can I say. Read on. See you all againnext month.

BEN CREEPUBLISHER

C B.C. Enterprises Ltd. 1973Dee Jay and Radio Monthly is published by B.C. Enterprises Ltd., Willmott House, 43 Queen Street, Hitchin, Herts. (0462-54399).

Typesetting by Leagrave Press, Luton (Luton 51525).Printed by George Pulman & Sons Ltd., Watling Street, Bletchley, Bucks. (Bletchley 4921).Distributed by New English Library, Magazine Division, Barnards Inn, London EC1 (01-405 4614).

contentspage

4 news and views

6 "THE BIG THREE" No i - JIMMYYOUNG

io ALAN KEEN - Part 2

12 ALAN FREEMAN

14 Joan Turner

i6 You Tell Us - readers' letters

17 JOHN DUNN

20 beatwave - free radio association

22 The Tony Mercer Column

24 sounds of the month - Dave Gregory

27 DAVE CHRISTIAN

page

30

32

34

39

40

42

43

44

46

47

BBC Radio Merseyside

A BBC Radio Audition?

Hospital Radio Notebook

36 Disco gear with Karl Dallas

38 Musing With Moffat

disco picks of the month

Motown magic

frc - cib pages

dx corner

dee jay album sounds - LP reviews

"Record World" US charts

Radio Luxembourg charts

3

walker, wogan and wesley look set for 'DEE JAY' awardsEntries have been pouring in to the "Dee Jay and Radio Monthly" offices for the 1973 Dee Jay Poll - held in our January issue.

These are still being finally counted and analysed, but from a preliminary survey it would appear that the following disc jockeys arelikely to emerge as the winners of the various categories: Tony Blackburn (Top Radio), Rosko (Top Disco), Johnnie Walker (TopRadio 1), Mark Wesley (Top 208), Terry Wogan (Top Radio 2) and Mike Ross (Top RNI).

Gary Glitter's 'Rock 'nRoll' Parts 1 & 2 looks set totake the top disco singleaward, with Rod Stewart's`Never A Dull Moment' astop disco album.

Full details and voting willbe given in the March issueof "Dee Jay and RadioMonthly", and specialtrophies will be presentedto the winners and runners-upat a special party to be heldin London early in March.

more 'beeb'changes

It's all change on theRadio 1 and 2 "Night Ride"programme as from thebeginning of February.Keith Skues is leaving theteam and taking up a newjob in Radio 1 department.

From next week onwards,the presenters will be RobinBoyle (Sundays), SimonBates come in for Mondays,Ray Moore moves toTuesdays, Barry Alldis takesover the Wednesdayprogramme, Peter Donaldson(Thursdays) and Tony Myattmoves to Fridays.

Radio 1 changes for Aprilinclude the introduction ofthe "Rolling Stones story",which begins Saturday,April 7. Derek Chinnery,Head of Radio 1, told "DeeJay and Radio Monthly":"The series will go out onSaturday afternoons, but westill have to decide on theexact placing. Theprogrammes will go out instereo in London, the SouthEast and South Coast areas".

:LLD ,1 GO,IMTUT'

Awasol uoottfr,,,

Popular DJ Jimmy Savile seen here with his recent award as "Show BusinessPersonality of 1972". May we add our sincere congratulations Jim!

trouble oncaroline

It's been a troubled pastfew weeks for the DJs onRadio Caroline, among themAndy Archer, Crispian StJohn, and Spangles Muldoon.On December 28 came newsof a so-called "mutiny"involving punch-ups betweenthemselves and the Dutchcrew. Later the ship wastowed into Amsterdamharbour - and it was fearedthat it might not be allowedto re -sail. However MVMi Amigo is now back at itsmoorings and broadcasting inDutch and English on 259m.

See below for a special"Dee Jay and RadioMonthly" picture of the MiAmigo being towed away.

convictCompetitionwinner

One of the inmates ofParkhurst prison on theIsle of Wight turned out tobe a winner in a recentcompetition held by BBCRadio London DJRobbie Vincent - and wonhimself a rock 'n roll LP.The competition entailedfitting four missing"bleeped" words to recordsby the group Dawn.

squirestarts discoDJ courses

Following the launch of hisnew range of SquireElectronics Stereo Discounits last month, RogerSquire has now announcedthat from the beginning ofFebruary he will be runningdiscotheque DJ courses athis new showroom(176 Junction Road,London N19).

These courses, which havebeen arranged in response torequests from variouscustomers, will take place onTuesday evenings and a basicfive week course (one hourper week) will cost £25.For those unable to attendfor five separate weeks therewill also be special"crash -courses" held onMondays, also lasting forfive hours and costing £25,and the showroom will beclosed for general visitingon that day.

Roger has of coursesuccessfully operated mobilediscotheques in the Londonarea for several years and isobviously well -qualified torun this type of course.

Those interested shouldwrite to Roger at JunctionRoad or telephone(01-272 7474).

more stereoon one

Radio 1 will provide moreprogrammes in stereo fromApril. There will be stereoon Saturday's from 2 pmto 7.30 pm, and this willextend to cover the "InConcert" programmes.

Also to receive the benefitfrom the stereo service willbe the series on the RollingStones and one nowscheduled on Bob Dylan.It is also likely that therewill be a stereo repeat of theBeatles story.

MV Mi Amigo seen here being towed away during the recent disturbances.(See news item above).

4

26 -part "story ofpop" on radio 1

Radio 1 is to present the "Story of Pop", a 26 -part series onpop music.

The series of one -hour programmes begins its half -year runin the Autumn. The programmes will be edited by Keith Skuesand produced by Tim Blackmore.

"Without a doubt this is the most ambitious project we haveever undertaken," says Derek Chinnery, Head of Radio 1. "Theseries will examine various aspects of the way pop music hasdeveloped over the years. We will go back almost 100 years tothe introduction of the first cylinder record and also to thebeginnings of the flat record in 1908."

Tim Blackmore has worked on the Tony Blackburn Show andmore recently as producer for Stuart Henry and Noel Edmonds.Keith Skues has been with the BBC since the closure of the pop"pirate" stations in 1967, working on both Radios 1 & 2 as adisc jockey, newsreader and announcer. His new job means thathe will finish his series of "Night Ride" programmes at the endof this month.

The "Story of Pop" will have a peak listening spot at weekendsand will be broadcast on 247 metres medium wave and on VHF.

who is the next of'THE BIG THREE'

buy DEE JAY next month

Johnnie Walker and D.L.I. fooling It publisher Ben C"ee af a reception atRonnie Scott's club to launch B.C. Publications plans for 1973.

caroline buddiesEx -Radio Caroline

compatriots Johnnie Walkerand Robbie Dale werere -united briefly on the NewYear's Day broadcast of theJohnnie Walker Radio Oneshow, which came fromHilversum. They were last

together during the closingfew months of the originalRadio Caroline.

Robbie Dale revealed thatJanuary 1 was in fact his lastday with Radio Hilversum -but would not disclose moredetails of his future plans.

"Why Stem?Because your audiencelistens with both eats."

Johnnie Walker chose Squire Disco de luxe for his own roadshow because he thinks his customers deserve stereo.

And he only uses the best.The Squire Disco is available as a console only or with built-in

50w, 100w, 200w AMPS. In mono, too.All models feature professional button start turntables and slide

faders. Tape input and other options are also available.You have a choice of six colour finishes.Come and see us for the best in disco equipment. The latest

liquid wheel projectors, strobes and chromosonic and kinematiclighting effects are just a few examples of the range of gear ondisplay at our new showroom.

Come and see us. Come and hear us. Our payment terms areeasy and our equipment is profitable - for you.Or write for literature to: Squire Electronics 176 Junction RoadLondon N19 500 or phone. 01-2727474

Squint ElectronicsA Roger Squire Company,

5

The Jimmy Young storybegins in Cinderford,Gloucestershire onSeptember 21, 1925. But thestory we are concerned withbegins a tittle later - 1958,to be exact. Mr Young hadjust enjoyed a four-year runof hit records, with twonumber ones and severalother top twenty hits to hiscredit. Titles like "Becauseof You", "Eternally","Unchained Melody", "ManFrom Laramie", "ChainGang" . . . and "TooYoung" now, incidentally,re -issued on a oe LP ofgolden greats cif the '50s.

But back to 1958: for somereason the hit records -

stopped. Presley and Co.took over - Jimmy Youngentered his "rest" period ...

"I didn't exactly starveduring that period," herecalls, "but I was largelyliving on the capital from therecords. It's funny, but whenthings are not really going sowell you always think, thatperhaps there will be a hitrecord around the corner.At any rate, something willturn up. Like a gambler, youalways think that the nexthorse will be a winner. It isdifficult to pin -point how Ifelt, I just hoped somethingwould turn up in the end.

"I remember at the back ofmy mind thinking, 'well, ifit's all stopped I'll go andopen a shop or something'.Except that I know very wellthat I never would haveopened a newsagent's shop,or anything like it for thatmatter.

"I'm a realistic sort ofperson and I think Iaccepted the situation. Thework was hardly flooding in,

"Retire? I'll probablydrop dead

reading a recipe"

it was as simple as that. I wasjust pleased that I'd madeprovision in the good yearsfor the bad years.

"By the end of 1959 I wasreally having a tough time -well, my agent was, anyway.I went to see him one dayand he said quite simply`I can't get you work - trysome other agent and see ifyou get better luck'. Thesituation as it stood inJanuary 1960 was that I hadno work at all for six months,nothing.

"The last thing my agenthad secured for me was twoweeks as presenter of theLight Programme's`Housewive's Choice' thatJune. I just sat around

waiting for that.""Housewive's Choice" was

the turning point for JimmyYoung. During the firstweek, EMI had contactedhim to record programmesfor Radio Luxembourg andthe BBC offered him morework via the "MiddaySpin" series and a sing -alongshow. Mr Young was back -but this time as a discjockey.

"Things really improvedthen and in 1963 there cameanother hit record; "MissYou'. I still don't reallyunderstand why the recorddid so well, 'cos it wentagainst the trend of all thatwas selling at that time. Ijust thought how very

grateful I would have beenfor that hit in 1959!"

When Radio 1 opened in1967, Jimmy was offered themid -morning show on theBBC's answer to the highly -popular pirate stations.Robin Scott, the firstController, promised that thestation would be . . . "betterthan the pirates ever were" -and Jimmy was right in thefiring line. In came theknockers.

"I think the only time theknockers really bothered mewas in the early Radio 1days, simply because I wasn'tsure just how strong theshow was. Some of the musicpaper lads had a go, and they were entitled to their opinion.

6

Rodney Collins talks to JIMMY YOUNG

I looked at my market (which,to be fair, is hardly the sameas that of the music Press)and went all out for it."

The show was -.praised at ahigh level. Robin Scottdubbed him radio's"biggest success story" andDouglas Muggeridge, thenow -Controller once said:"he is a tremendous successa great communicator andthe most valuable of ourassets".

"Once it looked as thoughthe show was going well, Idecided to do personalappearances and get out andmeet the people who werelistening. It is all too easyto just walk intoBroadcasting House everyday and do the show withoutever meeting the people.I got out and opened shops,appeared at bingo halls - Idid the lot: and I'm stilldoing them.

"When I started thatRadio I show I thought

`right, the biggest mistakeyou can make is to talk downto the audience' and I reallybelieve this to be true. I amcontinually careful about thispoint".

By the time DouglasMuggeridge moved in asRadio 1 and 2 controller in1969, Jimmy was getting aregular audience figure ofeight million listeners - andthat has held right up to thepresent day. The success ofthe daily show helped him inother areas. The JY cookbooks grew from the recipesand the first edition soldmore than 300,000 copies.He's now up to number fiveand they are still selling inthe same quantities - they'veeven been translated intoBraille.

The Radio 1 show wentout to meet the people.First stop: Wigan. Jimmyused to be an expert rugbyplayer, playing representativerugger for the RAF and had

TONY BRANDON-one of the DJ's our Jim rates highly." When I was ill once,he took over my show for a month. As you know, Tony's rather good at takingoff other people's voices . . . I don't think the listeners ever noticed that I'd beenaway!"

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7

a trial as a professionalplayer for Wigan RugbyLeague team. He was aguest at the home of Mr andMrs Larry Sharkey. He madehis second outside broadcastfrom Clydebank, Glasgow,from the home of Mr andMrs Benny Biggins. I wasthere, along with BBC- tv,Jimmy's brave publicist LesPerrin and 700 housewives.

Then the show went fartherafield. Mr Young made hisfirst major sortie into theCommon Market, when hetoured six countries in sixdays, taking in Brussels,Cologne, Luxembourg,Rome, Hilversum and Paris.A lot of praise for thoseprogrammes. There wasanother programme fromBrussels on January 1 thisyear.

"It is obviously a goodidea to get out of the

`. . . the biggestmistake you canmake is totalk down tothe audience'

confines of the Londonstudio every so often, butsome of these outsidebroadcasts can be a littlehairy.

"As far as the shows areconcerned, some days arebetter than others. I wouldlike to think I have a certainstandard now, which I keepto, no matter what - even ifthe studio falls apart, andthat's happened a few times.

"I like challenges and thatis why I get involved in otherareas. I enjoy playing therecords every morning, butI think I'm about peoplerather than music. TheCommon Market programmeswere especially good to dobecause they provided mewith something a littledifferent to present."

Jimmy has just finished aBBC-tv series about peopleand is now working on a

quiz for Thames TV. Thingsare probably stronger nowthen they've ever been at anytime during his career. Formany housewives, he ISRadio 1.

Well, that's the JD careerto date. But exactly whatsort of person is JimmyYoung?

Les Perrin, his publicist:"I refuse to say how manyI have known orrepresented Jimmy. He canbe as young as he wishes.In fact, he's younger than meand I hate him for it! Iworked for Jim when he wasa singer getting hit recordsand to me he is one of theprofessional perfectionists.In everything he does hetakes tremendous care andtrouble and I think this isprobably his secret. He hasan eye for what sells inbroadcasting."

Doreen Davies, executiveproducer of Radio 1: "I'veworked with Jimmy for fiveyears and he had had a longprofessional career before hestarted on Radio 1 - whatwith the hit records andeverything. I think thoughthat it was only when hegot behind a microphonethat the real magic came out.At the beginning there was alot of anti feeling towardsJimmy from people whothought he shouldn't bepresenting DJ shows andyou just don't have that anymore.

"He is absolutelyprofessional and reliable andwill do anything for theprogramme. I don't thinkthat I'd really describe himas a disc jockey but more asa communicator. I've alwayssaid that you can pointJim in any direction, ask

8

him to smile and he will -even if he feels dreadful!"

For the future, Jimmyisn't the sort of person toever retire from the business .."I suppose in five years' timeI'll be doing the same sort ofthings as now. I can't see meever retiring. I've alwaysworked all the hours thereare - and my personal life,I suppose, has suffered.Looking back, I regret this.

"But if you're built acertain way, that's it. I amat my happiest when I amworking - but I do enjoy myrelaxation time as well. Iwatch the telly and like thesports stuff like 'Match of theDay'. I read a lot, all thenewspapers every day fromcover to cover". Jim alsoplays darts and snooker andcollects paintings and silver.He loves his wine, scotch andgin and tonic and music . . .

well: "The sort of artists Ilike are the Ella Fitzgerald,Oscar Peterson, Sinatra,Lennon -McCartney type ofthing. Of the current stuffwe're playing on Radio 1,I like the Peter Skellern`Jackie' record, and the CatStevens is super. On the

radio, we try and play thesort of sounds we think myaudience will appreciate -keeping within the Radio 1format. I don't get time tolisten to all the new recordsthat come our way, I leavethat to Paul Williams theproducer - but generally I

like the melodic stuff, and sodo my listeners!"

I first met Jimmy Youngthree years ago, when I waswriting the radio column forRecord Mirror. The things Isaid in my article still standnow - many call him a radiosuperman, but this is hardly

true. Jimmy simply possessesthe art to communicate to hisaudience -a quality that somany broadcasters just don'thave. Personally, I preferhim on the Common Marketinterview type of programmeto a straight disc show, buthe's a man who knows hismarket.

There are very fewsuperstars of radio - peoplewho can really attract andhold an audience and youknow those names as well' asI do. The UK radio scene byday is about personalitiesrather than music andaudiences will follow theirDJ's. When the JimmyYoung show moved from10 am -midday to 9-11 amthe entire audience went withhim and will probably stayfor as long as Jimmy is onthe air.

And how long will that be?"A mate of mine told me

the other day that I wouldprobably drop dead readinga recipe, which is aninteresting thought Isuppose. But I'd like tothink I could go on forever!"

Watch it, he probably willdo just that.

STRIKE GOLD

THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS TALKINGABOUT IT

OUT NOW

ON MOTHER RECORDS

LAST MONTH'S DISCO PICK!

THIS MONTH'S DISCO WINNER!!

DEUMBANDA*by

DELROY WILLIAMSon

BELL 1274

ANY D.J. WITHOUT A COPYPHONE: 01-235 8754

* DEUMBANDA WAS THE AFRICAN WORD FORGOD BEFORE THE MISSIONARIES CAME

9

"On a station like ours thelisteners tune in to hear themusic -the DJ is second.Don't let anybody kid themselvesthat it is any other way"

Alan Keen was by nowbecoming increasinglyinterested in the musicpublishing business.

"Then I had an opportunitythrough a friend of minecalled Harold Pendleton -aguy I'd known for many yearswho was a CharteredAccountant. He said to me`What's your next move inlife' - as one does - and Isaid 'my next move would beto be my own boss and runmy own music publishingcompany'. So we got togetherand formed a new companycalled Alan Keen Music. Thiswasn't really an ego trip -but was a trade name for acompany we used calledMarquee Music (London)Ltd of which Harold and Iboth held 50 per cent. Theother man in the operationwas a lawyer. So we had alawyer and an accountant asthe backroom boys withmyself as the front manrunning around. We did thisfor two years and I obtaineda 50 per cent holding in noless than 18 other musiccompanies - and during thattime starting from nothingwe obtained 360 records whichwere 'A' sides, 'B' sides oralbum tracks. Then I cameto Radio Luxembourg twoyears ago."

In this second part of a two part feature, ALANKEEN, General Manager of Radio Luxembourg(London) Limited, discusses the developmentof 208, commercial radio and its impact onthe radio industry, and offers his advice towould-be radio disc jockeys.

So Alan Keen was againback in the world of radio -this time as General Managerof Radio Luxembourg'sEnglish service.

"I inherited a situationwhich to me was anembarrassment, and still is toa certain extent. That wasthat Radio Luxembourgpermitted record companiesto run this station, and Imade it clear from the veryoffset that I was workingtowards the day when thisselling of airtime to the recordcompanies would end.Obviously you can't changethat sort of situation overnight- in fact I inherited severalcontracts from the variousmajor companies - but sinceI came here we have decreasedthe number of plug plays byat least 50% and I shallshortly be making a furtherannouncement of morechanges from April 1.

"In addition we have nowformed a production companyand we will be visiting all themajor record companies witha special presentationsuggesting to them that wecan produce a commercialadvertisement for theirrecords - that we can markettheir products for them in anew way. For example, ifDecca have a special

campaign, let's say they aremaking a special push in theLiverpool area and can obtainwindow display space with therecord retailer - they can tellus and we can build this intothe commercial. This isequally good for DeccaRecords - it's good for theoutlet because it shows themthat Decca are doingsomething for them in return

- it's good for the listenersbecause they then know whereto buy the records AND it'sgood for Radio Luxembourgand our balance sheet.

"Two years ago we didn'tsell as much advertising tothe Coca Cola's and J. WalterThompson's as we are doingat the moment - but 1972was a record year for RadioLuxembourg - we sold more

10

advertising than ever before."What factor did Alan think

accounted for this recordyear?

"It's really due to the factthat we have re -designed ourselling methods in our salesdepartment. We have a newpersonnel - we are nowselling with enthusiasm. Weare also spending moremoney than ever before onaudience measurement surveysand unlike the BBC wepublish our findings. In factI'll pull no punches - if acommercial enterprise wentinto research as the BBC doand never disclosed thatinformation, but kept it uptheir sleeve - they wouldswiftly be the laughing stockof the advertising industry.The BBC repeatedly claimthat their audiences are goingup - I for one would like toknow by what per cent. Theyhad the audacity the otherweek to put out a pressrelease which said thatRadio 3 now had a biggeraudience than RadioLuxembourg. Now I find thatremark incredible, how cansenior executives come outwith a remark like that?Firstly, I had never beenaware that we are incompetition with Radio 3 -it's really like saying that abanana is longer than anorange. I wouldn't think fora moment that many, if any,of our listeners .know whereRadio 3 is on the dial, sowhere's the comparisonbetween the two?"

As head of Britain's majorcommercial radio station,how does Alan feel about theprospects of competition fromthe forthcoming localcommercial stations?

"My answer to that is thatit can only do good for thewhole radio industry. In thiscountry there are some 120salesmen who go round fivedays a week calling onagencies and their clientssaying "think TV". There arethree men who do this forradio, and I am one of them.The more people that go outselling radio the better it willbe for Radio Luxembourg. Inthe days of the piratesLuxembourg took an awfullot of money becauseadvertisers could never write208 off a schedule. RadioLondon and Caroline were inessence regional - North andSouth - but Lux was anational network. So you seewhen the local stations comeon the scene they will help to

make radio far more awarein the minds of advertisingagencies and their mediadepartments. They will buildup special radio divisions andadvertisers like Unilevers andBeechams will once againthink radio.

"Here at RadioLuxembourg we have aunique platform. We offerfirst of all coverage of theyounger market (10-34 yearolds) throughout the UK.We also offer the sameplatform in Germany,Scandinavia, France, Italy -in fact virtually the whole ofEurope. Radio Luxembourgis a European station, we arethinking European, and goingback to that Radio 3 -quotewhen they said they werebigger than Luxembourg -it's rubbish!"

But surely the Englishservice is only directed at theUK?

"The British service's mainobjective is to reach Englishspeaking people in the UK.However, I believe thatEnglish will become theCommon Market language.We already have a tremendousfollowing in Scandinavia andthose other countries Imentioned. We getcorrespondence regularlyfrom the whole of Europe -and that's why our DJs goout and make personalappearances in these countries.Our slogan to the advertisingworld is 'Radio Luxembourg- the Language of Europe'.We are not competing withRadio Birmingham - we AREEuropean."

What other futuredevelopments lie over thehorizon for 208?

"I've already mentioned thenew production unit. We aregoing into Scandinavia withsome research soon to studythe market. We have nowsuccessfully started to sell ouradvertisers our French andGerman services. The totalweekly cumulative audienceis between 40 and 45 millionpeople, and we are saying toour advertisers 'don't remainisolationists - thinkEuropean - from January 1we have been members of theCommon Market'. That'swhy for the last two yearspeople have heard newsandweather reports from Berlin,Paris, Stockholm, etc, on 208- to show that we areEuropean thinking."

Radio Luxembourg haverecently become involved in aseries of tie-ups with

Kenny Everett -"the best in the world".

Australian Radio Stations,what was the thinking behindthis?

"Communication. We arein the communicationsbusiness - and if we don'tcommunicate with otherstations we would be makinga big mistake. So we havesigned these agreements withboth Australian and Americanstations to exchange specialprogrammes, jingles, etc."

What advice would Alanoffer to the many thousandsof hopeful would-be radiodisc jockeys?

"I think basically - don'tfall into the trap of followingthe type of presentations thatDJs use in discos. There's abig difference between,working in a ballroom andsitting in a studio. TakeKenny Everett as anexample. I think he would bean absolute disaster in aballroom - but creatively in astudio I think he is the bestin the world. So to potentialDJs I would say don'tpresent your audition tapewhere you sound like a guyworking in the local MeccaBallroom. I also think onedemand we would make is

that the man must beidentifiable - he must have hisown individual personality.After all a DJ is really asalesman, and he is sellinghis personality to theaudience. Finally don't forgetthat on a station like oursthe listeners tune in to hearthe music - the DJ is second -and don't let anybody kidthemselves that it is any otherway.

"We are always looking forideas. Markets change andalways will. I can't tell youwhat the situation might bein six months' time. I wouldnever commit ourselves to aformat in six months' time.Radio doesn't work that way- we supply what and wherethe demand is."

ben tree

In the next of this seriesof interviews with theheads of radio stationswe talk to DerekChinnery, Head ofRadio 1.

11

He came up from downunder did "Fluff" or "BigAl" - er, actually his realname is - er, Alan Freeman -all right? - stay bright!

Eleven years of "Pick ofthe Pops" on Sundays nowfollowed by a highlysuccessful weekday afternoonRadio 1 programme - allevidence of the tremendousprofessionalism that Alanhas as a disc jockey.

It all began one afternoonin an accounts office inMelbourne, Australia. . . .

"A mate of mine asked meif I would like to audition fora job as a radio announcer.I thought he was joking andtold him not to be funny. Hewasn't, he was deadly seriousand told me he thought I'ddo very well. So I auditionedand I passed. And so I foundmyself working as a radioannouncer/DJ for station7LA Launceston in Tasmania.In that capacity you doeverything - you are a DJ,newsreader, presenter ofserious music, quiz master,you turn the equipment on,you turn it off, and then yougo home!!

"I worked there for a year,then came back toMelbourne and joinedStation 3KZ, which wascalled the "BrighterBroadcast Service" and Iworked there for four yearsdoing all kinds of things, andthen in 1957 I came here."

What prompted Alan tocome over to Great Britain?

"I wanted to have a tripround the world and see whatit was all about. I had noillusions that I would get intoradio here and I came overpurely as a tourist. I boughta scooter and drove fromhere to Rome, to Venice,back through Milan, roundthe base of Mont. Blanc, andback to Paris. I spent aboutseven weeks on the Continent

HOW RIFF

SHOOK UP

AUNTIE

literally just doing thosethings a tourist does.

"Then I came back toLondon and I knew that onething I didn't want to dowas to go back to Australia.There was so much happeningin this place and I just felt Ihad to be around. So Idecided that even if I couldn'tget into the business I'd justmake a crust and stay andlive in London. Then Iauditioned for RadioLuxembourg and they gaveme a 13 week season living inthe Grand Duchy as a reliefsummer announcer."

How did Alan find lifeover in Luxembourg?

"Lovely! It was summerand it was just great. Eatinglovely food and doing therelief shifts for the DJs onholiday."

On his return Alanauditioned for the BBC andpassed and was offered aseries called "RecordsAround Five" - an albumtrack programme. Coming ashe did from a commercialAustralian station, Alan ofcourse was used to talkingover the beginnings andendings of records -a thingwhich the BBC seemed tofind very new.

"I think I may have beenone of the first to start thespeech over music type ofpresentation in this country.I said to my producer, 'Let'smake all the tracks realswingers and let's segwayfrom start to finish - non-stopmusic. We'll talk over theintroduction to the recordsand when a singer finishes

singing and there is somethinglike 15 seconds of swingingmusic, ie Frank Sinatra andNelson Riddle, we'll backannounce what it was andwe'll introduce the nextrecord' - and he just gapedand said 'Oh, yes'."

So started the snappy typeof Alan Freeman presentationwhich was to really reachfruition in "Pick Of ThePops". At the same time asthis Alan was getting involvedin the world of TVcommercials - remember thatwashing powder ad - goingout in tour with groups likethe Mudlarks - and TV showslike "Juke Box Jury" and"Top Of The Pops".

One TV show featuringAlan, which was unfortunatelysomething of a disaster -although now generallyreckoned to have been aheadof its time, was "All SystemsFreeman", which presentedAlan at a radio controlboard.

"That show was aknockout - they really shouldnever have taken it off. Itwas marvellous, in that onewas given the chance toestablish and discover newartists, and not be surroundedby a safe Top 20, as you areon 'Top Of The Pops'. WhenI was offered the show I wasreally excited and I thoughthow great if I can do a TVshow at radio pace. Ofcourse people said 'all thatfake control board' and soon - but it wasn't fake at all,it was absolutely live.Anyway for some reason theBBC took the programme off.

I suppose because the ratingsweren't good enough. I wastold that 'Top Of The Pops'was on for six months beforeit really started to go andthey were going to take thatoff. In all fairness you can'treally establish any sort ofshow in three months, andcertainly not a new popshow featuring new artists."

Would Alan like to getback on TV with a new showagain?

"Yes, I'd love to doanother TV show - but underthe conditions that it wasabsolutely right for me andthat I was right for it. Icertainly don't want to go onTV just for the sake of beingon TV and dying the death."

Returning now to theworld of radio - 11 years onone programme must besomething of a record (ifyou'll pardon the pun). Whatare Alan's feelings about"'Pick Of The Pops"?

"I was very lucky with that,because 'Pick Of The Pops'and I went together like, say,cheese and wine. I was alsolucky because it was reallythe start of pop music onSunday on the BBC. I wasthe right type. I arrived inthis country at the right timeand got the right breaks atthe right time.

"You know when you getthe breaks all you do is applyyourself to whatever you'redoing. Every show is the firsttime. You mustn't becomplacent, because nothingis forever, and perhaps I lastbecause I am a dedicated proand love what I do."

Was Alan disappointedwhen he was told that "PickOf The Pops" was ending?

"Yes, I was a little.Perhaps I was in a rut,because I had lived with thisthing for 11 years and it hadbecome, if you like, almostpart of the family. However

12

make no mistake I waspromoted - I was promotedfrom doing one show a weekto doing five shows a week -instead of having anythingtaken away 1 was givensomething extra. Also ofcourse the five days a weekshow has given me muchmore scope to talk to peopleand to communicate withthem - 'get it off your chest','youth club call' and so on.'Pick Of The Pops' had notime to say anything otherthan 'here it is', 'there itwas'. All of a sudden there'sa chance to talk and saysomething to somebody - andthat's very nice as far as I'mconcerned."

Having worked incommercial radio in Australiawhat are Alan's thoughts onthe forthcoming introductionof commercial stations to theUK?

"Well there's nothing likecompetition. It never hurtanybody, and unless you'vegot competition you neverwin. I always felt when thepirates started, 'great fun -here we go chaps - now we'llsee who does win'. Andremember being told whenRadio London started its'Fab 40' show that 'Pick Of

The Pops' would die. Butafter a few months they tookit off because at five o'clockeverybody instinctivelyturned to 'Pick Of The Pops'and that was lovely.

"It really depends on howthey are going to programmecommercial sadio, and youknow until it is on the airand actually operating thereis nobody who can really sayanything - because they don'tknow."

What are Alan's ownpersonal tastes in music?

"I like listening to 'all kindsof music. I am a great believerin no musical barriers. I don'twant to hear a bad Elvis recordif I can hear a good JoanSutherland one. If the Sweetsing the most trite lyric in theworld that has ever beenwritten and the record is agood one and does somethingto you then I would far ratherhear that than, say, Maria

* Callas singing badly."As a well-known DJ, Alan

obviously gets lots of tapesof budding artists andsongwriters sent to him.

"I get tapes of musiciansand singers and songwritersand you know there is suchan enormous amount oftalent around this country

that is undiscovered - onecould say it's frightening - butreally it's very exciting."

After a statement like thatwhat are Alan's thoughts onthe current nostalgia boomand in particular the re -issueof records like, for example,Roy C's "Shotgun Wedding"?

"I don't know anyparticular reason for it, apartfrom the obvious financialgain. If a record companyre -issues a record they don'tdo it for a giggle - they do itbecause it's going to makemoney. You must alsoremember that over a periodof nine years kids that were3 or 4 are now 12 or 13 andhave probably never heard of'Shotgun Wedding'. There'sno sin in reviving a record ifit's a good record if it's abad record it's not going tomake it anyway. Whyshouldn't a companyre-release good records. Justthink back over the last tenyears of pop and think of allthe sensational records thathave never happened!"

ben

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Polly Perkins talks to Joan Turner

ONE'S WILD WOMANI first met Joan Turner

some years back, when I waspart of a special "poppackage" segment of aCharity Show at London,"Victoria Palace" theatre.Royalty was present, I can'tremember who, and theorganisers were terrified thatwe way-out pop people wouldkick the grand piano, say rudewords and do obscenewriggles! It turned out thatthey needn't have worriedwhat we did, because JoanTurner went on first, ranabout an hour over time,blew both the mikes andscandalised them with herright -on impersonation of acrackily voiced Gracie Fields- who had somethingimportant to do with theCharity! By the time we wenton it was so late half theaudience, including the pitorchestra, had gone home.Thanks to Joan Turner I havethe golden memory of whatwas left of the audience,including the unknown

royalty, standing to mysaxophone player's soloversion of "God Save TheQueen"!

A few months later I metJoan again. This time it was atthe BBC TV Centre where shewas on the panel of a "live"edition of "Juke Box Jury"and I was waiting to pre-record the following week'sshow. Whoever booked Joanfor a "live" appearancecouldn't have known her aswell as I was beginning to!She was absolutely hilarious,but it was much more theJoan Turner show than JukeBox Jury! The rest of the,largely unseen and unheard,panel were not amused!

Joan may not be the eastof guests, but she's a greathostess. Her "After 7"deejay shows for Radio Onehave been a great success, ashave her one -woman shows.If you visit her at bornethere's a constant flood oftea, food and conversation.She's a lovely woman who

the show business"establishment" have alwaysfound a bit hard to handle.The West End Mews house,the antique furniture, themink coats, the white RollsRoyce are the rewards of herown enormous talents anddrive. Joan Turner canhonestly say "I Did It MyWay".

Trying to interview Joanisn't easy. Her house is alivewith the constant ringing oftwo 'phones, her mothercreating delicious smells inthe kitchen, various ladiesrunning round with papersand tea trays - and a JoanTurner who can suddenlychange from being her ownefficient manager into campversions of Shirley Temple,Vera Lynn or Eartha Kitt!P.P. "Did you start off as astraight singer?"Joan "No. I always wanted tobe a dancer, so I studiedballet for two years. This wasuseful because in my one

.woman shows I do a tap

routine and a ballet routine,so it's helped me a lot. I'm avery good little mover - or soI've been told!"P.P. "So how did youdiscover you had a singingvoice?"Joan "Well, I didimpersonations of othersingers and found I could hitthe same notes they did, so Itook some singing lessons."P.P. "Did you find itdifficult to get accepted in thebusiness ?"Joan "Oh yes. I was alwaysvery glamourous and first ofall they couldn't accept thata glamourous singer could befunny."P.P. "You were quite abreakthrough, but there'snever been anyone to followyou!"Joan "You must see theone -woman show. I do thisdying swan thing, you see,which is mostly comedy, andthen I get a stool and sitthere singing "What Kind OfFool Am I?" and they're all

j

14

crying, aren't they? I adoredoing that."P.P. "Well, don't you thinkthere's a very thin linebetween crying andlaughing?"Joan "Oh yes. I'm planninganother tour with theone -woman show, because itdoes give me a chance to do,a bit of everything. It's twohours long and different everynight !"P.P. "I'll definitely be alongto see that. When did youfirst become a disc jockey?"Joan "In 1963, long beforeRadio One started."P.P. "What was the format?"Joan "A mixture of what

Jimmy Young and PeteMurray are doing now. I hada guest coming to my door,like Pete has in "OpenHouse", and a recipe spot,like in the Jimmy YoungShow. It was a funprogramme with records."P.P. "Then what?"Joan "Nothing! I did theshow for a long time, but Ididn't get any further towardshaving my own chat show,which is an ambition of mine.Still, the "After 7" showsobviously came from thosebeginnings, so I mustn'tcomplain."P.P. "What kind of chat showwould you like to do?"

Joan "A series on radio basedon listeners' problems. TheBBC people don't like theidea because they say there'dhave to be an enormous staffto open the millions ofletters."P.P. "Well, surely that wouldprove its popularity. Theymanage to cope with all therecipes and woolly jumperssent to Jimmy Young! You'vegot a great interest in people,and I know your brother's aPriest, are you religious?"Joan "Very much so. Myreligion helps more thananything when I get low aboutlife and my marriages and allthat. I sometimes think my

private life's never going towork out, and if I didn't havemy religion to turn to I don'tknow what I'd do. It's likegoing to a psychiatrist - onlya bloody sight cheaper!"P.P. "What do you think ofthe current vogue for religiousmusicals and records?"Joan "Great. I saw "JesusChrist, Superstar" andinterviewed the cast for"After 7". I think all peopleare basically looking forsomeone to turn to, and therecomes a time when humanbeings let you down so muchthat if you didn't believethere was something moreyou'd go round the bend!"

`I'm a goodlittle mover,or so I'vebeen told'

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

15

11111 13VWe start this month with a

reply received to the letterpublished in last month's"Dee Jay and RadioMonthly" on the supply ofpromotion copies to mobilediscos.

B&C Records Ltd,37 Soho Square,

London, WI

I am writing in reply to aletter written by a M. A.St John Hollis in theJanuary issue of "Dee Jayand Radio Monthly" on theapparent lack of interestshown by record companiesto furnish promotionalrecords to mobile discos.

Well, Mr Hollis, I have aDJ list which runs to a totalof little under 400 jocks.This covers local radio,university radio, hospitalradio, various British ForcesStations in Germany,European radio stations,Radio Luxembourg, Mecca,Top Rank, Penny Farthing,DJs who also do recordreviews for local newspapers,Radio Telefis Eireann, FMstation in the States, acertain Biscuit network,residencies and last in line -mobiles.

This little lot has taken methree hard years of touringthe country - spending nightafter night slogging from onedisco to the next in anendeavour to add one moregood name to an alreadybulging list - to gettogether.

B&C/Charisma isn't a bigcompany - we only have afew labels - but still in anaverage week I receivebetween 10-15 letters fromprospective DJs asking to beadded to the mailing list.You can imagine thereforehow many people I have yetto write to after three years.

Mobiles are mobiles, as thename implies - intangible,if you like - and I havequite a few on the mailinglist. Most of These DJsthough I know personallyas I do 50 per cent of theothers on the list. I preferto meet my DJs, to get toknow them, to keep in contact

with them, for, although wedidn't have any millionsellers during 1972 I believemy team of jocks workedhard on the product for mycompany, and indirectly me!

So there you are MrHollis, we are very busypeople and believe me we dounderstand your problemand commiserate with you.But mobiles are literallyintangible entities. Theytravel from town to townlike wandering nomads -no doubt in the main doinga great job - but it wouldtake far too much of mytime to build up acomprehensive list of goodmobiles.

I am sorry the letter is solengthy, but the above iswhat I believe to be the rightway to run a promotiondepartment, and what I havespent the past three yearstrying to achieve.

Yours sincerely,Des McKeogh

(Promotions Manager)

(Editor - Many thanksfor your interest in replyingDes, which I think answersthe points raised very well.)

Gloucester Place,NWI

I noticed that in your1972 Poll you asked for thebest RNI DJ but not for thetop Veronica DJ. Manypeople rather than listento the scripted drivel ofTony Blackburn or thedisinteresting Dutch serviceof RNI, listen to Veronicaduring the day as analternative, and very goodsource of entertainment.

The first section from theCIB/FRC was marvellousand the FRA pages werevery interesting as well.However, it would be greatto see "Dee Jay and RadioMonthly" every week.

Yours sincerely,Mark Lett

(Editor - Sorry Mark, itwas an unfortunate omissionthat we did not ask for the

top Veronica DJ in ourrecent Poll, and we shallcertainly rectify this nextyear. In all fairness I mustpoint out that none of theBBC shows are now scriptedand feel it hardly fair to callTony Blackburn's veryprofessional programme"drivel". Glad you like ourincreased Free Radiocoverage, but as we said lastmonth, you must be joking.It would be impossible toproduce the current standard"Dee Jay and RadioMonthly" every week.)

The following are aselection of comments fromthe many hundreds of lettersreceived at the "Dee Jay andRadio Monthly" offices overthe last few weeks.

Gosport,Hampshire

I think I must tell you Iam very impressed with yourmagazine. I would be pleasedif you could send me someinformation or a plan onhow to build a fairlyinexpensive disco as I wishto try and build my own.Could you send me somedetails or an address towhich I can write for thisinformation.

Your sincerely,Michael Temple

Kempston,Bedford

As everyone seems to besaying: well done! "Dee Jay"is the best and mostthoughtfully producedmagazine with relevance tothe Disco field.

How about moreinformation for thedo-it-yourselfers? Manyprovincial DJ's use decksand speakers built bythemselves (and veryprofessional jobs they aretoo) but the big problemI've come up against isfinding small accessories.

Feet for cabinets that don'tget knocked off. Piping to goround the edge of speakerboards in cabinets and thecorrect density of fibreglassfor deadening. (These arevery hard to get locally.)Why not devote a section tothis? I have been workingfor some time on an effectiveremote quick -start device forGarrard SP25 decks. If it ispractical and efficient I willsend you details, but whatabout a "think-tank" forgood ideas?

Yours sincerely,Keith Kennedy

(Editor - Michael andKeith - Thanks for your twoletters which have both raisedvery interesting points.Starting, hopefully, in ourApril issue, we will includea monthly column coveringthe do-it-yourself building ofdisco units. Keith, we wouldbe most interested to receivedetails of your quick -startdevice for Garrard SP25decks, together with any otherhints or tips which readersmay have.

Mallow,Eire

I would like to thank andcongratulate all the peopleinvolved in the publishing of"Dee Jay and RadioMonthly".

I have been waitingpatiently for at least threeyears to read a magazinejust for the disc jockey andbelieve me, I've found it.

Yours sincerely,Eugene Cosgrove

Downham Market, 1111

Norfolk '*May I congratulate you on

the ever improving standardof "Dee Jay". I find the DJinterviews most fascinatingand helpful, and the wholemagazine is setting a veryhigh standard.

Yours sincerely,Andy Sennitt

ILttal `VV16

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RADIO LUXEMBOURG"THE LANGUAGE OF EUROPE"

bootwovefree radio news, comment and features -compiled

each month by the fra

Dutch police with the Mi Amigo in Amsterdam harbour. DJs on deck (left toright): Norman Barrington -Smythe, Rob Eden, Crispian St. John and SteveEngland.

We interrupt our series onthe forts this month to bringyou an on -the -spot accountof the Mi Amigo's seconddramatic escape from theDutch mainland. The storybegins in the top floor of aprivate hotel in Scheveningen,where Radio Caroline hadset up an office. Thewriter is Martin Stevens,who also took thephotographs illustrating hisreport.

"When I arrived onNovember 26, Gerard van Dam(the man who bought theMi Amigo at an auction lastMay) was out of contact withthe ship. The gales at seawere exceptionally strong, andhe was waiting until a tendercould leave with aerial riggersand parts.

"It was almost a weekbefore the gales subsided, butfinally, late one evening, atender was able to make thejourney. I was on board, andalso a number of DJs,including Steve England,Graham Gill, Andy Archerand Alan Clark. It was aVERY rough trip, whichtook over an hour. Wepassed Radio Veronica's ship,

In Radio Caroline's office at Scheveningen. Front row (left to right): AlanClark, Andy Archer, Mike Storm (a Dutch DJ), Graham Gill, Angelique(Secretary) and Captain Wil van der Kamp.

Mi Amigothe escapethe Norderney, which was sowell illuminated it remindedme of the lights at Blackpool!We also passed the Mebo II,also illuminated, and thenapproached the dimly -litMi Amigo. The only lightsvisible on the Mi Amigo werethose from the cabin. The DJson board and the crew musthave seen us coming becausethey were on deck to greet us.I boarded the Mi Amigo as thesupplies were being transferredfrom the tender. A bag ofsupplies fell into the sea andwas lost. I realised that if ithad been a person falling, hewould have stood little chance.

"I met Spangles Muldoonon board, the chief radioengineer, Chicago, and alsoDJ Crispian St John.

"I had a quick glimpse ofthe studio and was amazedthat it looked just the sameto me as it did in the days of

Radio Caroline South."Just three minutes later I

was back on the tender toface another journey throughthe turbulent waves.

"After coming back toEngland, I read the reportsabout problems with membersof the Dutch crew concerningpayment. I returned toHolland on New Year's Eve,and was told at the officethat the Mi Amigo was nowin Amsterdam harbour,having been towed thereunder the instructions ofCaptain van der Kamp.

"Ronan O'Rahilly was inthe office, and I went withhim and some other peoplethat evening to Amsterdam.We boarded the Mi Amigo,and found the ship in a filthycondition. So from one till fourin the morning we all set toscrubbing the ship clean. Whata way to see the New Year in!

But this was an importanttask because there was apossibility of an inspectionfor seaworthiness.

"At 4 am we went to sleepon the ship. Ronan was awakeearly, and left forScheveningen. The rest of uswere woken up later in themorning by an official of theharbour authority. He provedvery co-operative, but insistedthat harbour dues would haveto be paid before the shipleft Amsterdam. So Chicago -who had been appointedtemporary captain by Ronan -and I went to the harbouroffice to telephone Ronan.

"Ronan believed that wasperhaps his one and onlychance to get the ship backto sea, because he figured outthat writs were unlikely to beserved on the ship while thelawyers were still on holiday!So he got the money together,arranged for two missingliferafts to be replaced, andarrived just before 4 pm - thelast possible time forcompleting the formalitieswhich would enable the shipto move that day.

"In the meantime, Chicagoand I commissioned a barge

-",

j

20

Ronan O'Rahilly on deck during the tow.

to fill the water tanks.Chicago also arranged for twotugs to tow the ship out ofharbour.

"We sailed at 4.50 pm -very, very, quietly. There wereabout 20 people on board,most of them concealed in therecord library! One tugpulled from ahead, and theother stayed alongside to helpsteer the ship.

"It took about three hoursto negotiate the long canalleading from Amsterdamharbour to Ijmuiden and theopen sea. The tension wasincredible.

"When we reached the gateof the lock which would havebrought us to sea level, wediscovered that themechanism was frozen. Duringthe delay, our presence wasreported to an inspector. Hecame on board, and said wecouldn't go to sea because ahole in the side of the ship hadnot been completely repaired.And to make quite certain wedidn't slip away, a police guardwas put on.

"A welding crew wasbrought in, and they workedthrough the night until the jobwas finished. But the weldingflashes attracted attention.The press and televisonarrived - and also Captainvan der Kamp! He went away,but returned with his lawyerand former members of thecrew. He managed to servea writ for the crew's wages,and the ship's wheel waschained.

"Ronan managed to findthe amount demanded forwages - approximately£4,500 - and the Mi Amigowas able to continue herjourney, and reach the opensea.

"By this time, the towinghad been taken over by afishing boat from Ijmuiden.It was foggy and there was no

radar equipment available. Sowe made our way by compassreadings and with the helpof a direction -finder. Thisequipment picked up the radiobeam from Radio NordseeInternational, and enabled usto steer in the direction of theMebo II.

"But as we drew closer tothe Mebo II, the signalbecame so strong that itseemed to come in fromeverywhere. As a result, theequipment could no longerdiscern the direction, and welost ourselves!

"A while later, someonenoticed ahead of us theoutline of Scheveningen, andwe realised to our dismaythat we were being towedtowards land. There was asudden fear that we had beendouble-crossed. Fortunately,this was not so, and we turnedround and again headed out tosea. But again we got lost.

"Then we were nearly rundown by a ship of the NorfolkFerry Service. The huge shiploomed out of the fog, andcame to a halt, toweringabove us. The astonished crewof the big ship simplycouldn't believe their eyes!The spectacle of a radio shipbeing towed by a fishing boat,going round in circles withinterritorial waters, was toomuch for them, and they juststood and stared at us!

"As soon as we decidedwhich direction to aim for,we moved out of the way ofthe ferry, and continued ourjourney without furthermishap. Finally, we droppedanchor near to our previousposition.

"I returned toScheveningen in the fishingboat, and in next to no timeRadio Caroline was back onthe air - this time on 259metres."

Ronan O'Rahillyand the FRA

On February 19, 1967,there was a meeting attendedby representatives of RadioLondon, Radio 390, RadioScotland, Radio 270 andBritain's Better MusicStation. No one arrived torepresent Radio Caroline,which was very disappointingbecause the purpose of themeeting was to discuss theformation of a nationalassociation which would berecognised by all the off -shoreradio stations.

The meeting started well,but began to get boggeddown by technicalities. ThenRonan arrived in a taxi andjoined the meeting. Hisway-out attire contrastedvividly with the staid"city -gent" outfits worn bythe others. Although perhapsthe youngest person at themeeting, he took immediatecommand. He quicklysummed up the situation,brushed aside all the minordetails which had beenthreatening to stifle theproject, and promised the fullsupport of Radio Caroline.The other stationrepresentatives caught thechange in mood, and allagreed without further ado togive the association theirsupport. A name was agreedfor the new association andarrangements were made forair time on all the stations.Then Ronan rushed out tohis waiting taxi (which hadn'teven switched its engine off)and was away!

The name decided for thenew organisation was theFree Radio SupportersAssociation. The openingannouncements wereprepared and telephonedthrough to the stations.There were no problems untilwe came to Radio Caroline.Ronan decreed that noannouncements were to bebroadcast unless the word"Supporters" were dropped.After hasty consultations, theother stations agreed to aamend their announcements,and the title was shortened toFree Radio Association.Our membership subscriptionrate was 25p per year.Ronan was not happy aboutthis, and wanted us to offer

free membership. When wesaid we couldn't, Ronanbroke all ties with the FRAand instead backed anotherorganisation called BroadsideFree Radio Movement.Broadside obtained itsfinance by selling tee-shirts,posters and car stickers overthe air.

Eventually, Broadside FreeRadio Movement collapsed,and its membership was takenover by the FRA. We agreedwith Ronan that we wouldclear the debts which wereowing to former members ofBroadside for goods whichthey had paid for but notreceived. By this time, we hadinstituted our own freeAssociate Membership asrequired by Ronan so therewas a complete reconciliation.

Ronan insisted on freemembership because so manyof Radio Caroline's listenerswere young, and also becausethe number of membersrecruited would be fargreater.

There is a lot to be saidfor giving members somethingtangible in return for themoney they spend. Also, thewide distribution ofpromotional material such ascar stickers, posters, books,etc, helps to publicise the ideaof Free Radio and gains newlisteners for the stations. Onthe other hand, it is extremelydifficult to run an organisationin which only a smallpercentage of members pay asubscription. Like Broadside,the Free Radio Associationbegan to run into debt. Theamount borrowed eventuallyreached £5,000, and this isstill outstanding. Fortunthis debt does not represv- t

any risk to the FRA becausethe loan is interest -free, anddoes not have to be repaiduntil we are in a position todo so.

If you would like freemembership, a free car stickerand a complete list of ourvery wide range of books,posters, stickers, photographs,slides, etc, simply send alarge stamped self-addressedenvelope to the Free RadioAssociation, 339 EastwoodRoad, Rayleigh, EssexSS6 7LG.

21

-theCony

mercercolumn

First of all this month Iwant to thank all the peoplewho have written to me andhave sent details of theirdiscos, and as soon as it ishumanly possible we'llanswer your letters. I noticefrom your letters that a lot ofyou are interested insyndicated radio programmesin America - and a few ofyou don't quite understandwhat I do.

I do a syndicatedprogramme, which we recordin London, and which is thenbroadcast in America. Outof interest it is the topsyndicated programme, andhas been for the past twoyears. In the very near futureyou will also be able to hearit on various stationsthroughout Europe.

Several people have askedme if it is possible for Englishpeople to get into Americanradio. It is very hard -a lothave tried - but as far as Iknow there are only threeEnglish DJs working full-time on US radio. One of thebiggest problems is getting awork permit - because you'have to have somebody outthere to sponsor you andlook after you when you goout there. If you knowanybody who lives inAmerica who could get youa job on radio, guarantee youemployment for six monthsand look after you - then youmight just stand a chance ofgetting a visa or a six monthwork permit. If you dosucceed - beware. After sixmonths you are then liableto be called -up and sent toVietnam!

The best way is really viasyndicated radio programmes.These are ideal for the smallerstations who can buy a three-hour programme for as littleas 60 dollars or as much as2,000 dollars - depending onwhose show it is. In thisprogramme they will thenhave space for say a dozencommercials, which they cansell. There is no production

cost involved - and all theyneed is an engineer to runthe tapes in the studio.

They are also a good wayfor DJs to become nationallyknown in the USA. Forexample the big Americanstar DJ Kasey Kasem, whodoes the American Top 40programme started in a smalllocal station. You see if youwork for a small AM stationyou may have an audience ofsay half a million and arange of between 150-200miles. Imagine this multipliedby say 40 or 50 stations!

If you are interested inworking on American radio,write to me and send medetails of what you've doneand a demo tape. If I thinkany are suitable I will passthem on to my AmericanManagement Company inTexas, and see whether wecan help you get a job.

Let's look now at my ownshow. As well as the normalTony Mercer Shows fromLondon heard in America -we are also starting a newseries of programmes whichwill be heard world-wide(i.e. Singapore, South Africaas well as Europe).

On the Americanprogramme - the album of

the month is by Bette Midleron Atlantic, and a track fromthishas been released as asingle - "Do You Want ToDance ?".

Other singles this monthmust include the new GaryGlitter single on Bell "DoYou Want To Touch Me?",and another single on Bell byBen Thomas called "TheNearest Thing To Heaven".At long last breaking in thiscountry is the Harold Melvin.and the Blue Notes record onCBS "If You Don't KnowMe By Now".

Albums for the Europeanshow include new Islandalbums by Traffic and DaveMason, and one on BlueThumb by The Crusaders.

Next month I shall start alist of American stations thatyou can write to if you wish.

We still have the dog - it'sgetting bigger and bigger andnow takes Tina for walks!I'm trying to train it tooperate a disco unit!

If any of you would liketo see one of my shows livewhy not come to "The Fox"in West Green Road,Tottenham, London - Fridayand Saturday nights(midnight to 2.0 am) - we'dlove to see you.

ATTENTION ALL DJ'Sra The independent studio

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ar-m, Cash, Emperor Rosko,e>

Dave Gregory, John Peel,Alan Black, and many'TlOrti

..=;>atP 41* ,. other well known names.

1 i !! ii., ., .., i.J ._, We have also helped manyDJs up the ladder of success.No less than SEVEN of

our clients have PASSED the Radio One Audition Testthrough using our studio. Perhaps we can help you!

RADIO DJ COURSES £25 AUDITION TAPES £7 per hr.

Roget Squint Di Studios55 Charlbert Street, St. John's Wood, London N.W.8.

Telephone 01-722 8111

22

sounds of the month

All too often in the past,great recording talents havesuffered severe moral andmusical setbacks following achange of label andmanagement. Four veryfamous examples of thisimmediately spring to mind -and a very "hard day'snight" it was for them too -even sadder for the recordbuying public! But on tohappier things.

I'm very pleased to be ableto tell you that this certainlydoes not apply to our oldfriends and favourites - THEFOUR TOPS, who in caseyou hadn't noticed (very easyif you don't look at yourlabels!) have actually lefttheir original hallmark offame and fortune - TamlaMotown Incorporated USA -and moved on to explorenew horizons.

Well, by the sound ofthings, they'll never have tolook back. Eleven superbarrangements on this, theirfirst album with Probe,among them a number whichif it was released as a singlewould put them right backat the top (where else?) of

next bestARCHIE BELL ANDTHE DRELLSHere I Go AgainAtlantic K 40454

I'm pretty sure that mostclub DJs around the countrymust have an Archie Bellrecord somewhere in theircollection (e.g. "Tighten Up").

Most people, however, willprobably associate his namewith "Here I Go Again",their first really big one inour charts. Well, thisfollow-up album release ofthe same name is really aMUST for every discocollection, and certainlywon't disappoint any ofArchie's new found friends.In a nutshell - nice one's aplenty in this package oftwelve including the newsingle "There's Gonna Be aShowdown" - and you knowsomething -I wouldn't be at

albumof themonth

four tops`keeper ofthe castle'probeSPB1064the charts - where they sorightly belong.

"I Think I Must be

LULL LLLL LUILE

all surprised if that was thecase. Good luck Archie!

BETTE MIDLERThe Divine Miss MAtlantic K 40453

Well Atlantic Recordshave certainly gone all theway with this one. Ravereviews, ultra glossypackaging, and literallydozens of photos includedwith the press copy - somuch so that I couldn't helpbut expect rather a lot of

Dreaming" (Side 2, Band 2)has all the ingredients of asmasheroo - very stronghook -line, loads of harmony,and most important of all,bogs of the old Tops magic.

Other favourites of mineon the album are "LoveMakes You Human" -beautiful lyrics and agorgeous melody; "LoveMusic" - lots more of thatplease and what a mover thisone is; "Ain't No Woman" -their current Statesiderelease, for me very nice, butnot strong enough for ourmarket - see what you think;"Turn On The Light OfYour Love" - this has tobe one for the discos withit's great punchy rhythm andlots of go.

Finally, last but by nomeans least, the title track"Keeper Of The Castle",which opens and closes thealbum - and speaks for itselfreally, after all you put it inthe charts.

All in all great stuff -must be among the top LPsso far this year - enough said- go and have a listen if youhaven't already!

Bette Midler when puttingrecord to turntable. However,having listened avidly to all11 tracks I switched offfeeling rather disappointed.In all fairness though, I'msure they are going to bequite a few of you who willfall victim to Miss Midler'sstyle -a sort of Janis Joplin,Roberta Flack and CaroleKing rolled into one (themind boggles!!!).

Included are four covers ofwell-known hits "Do You

in thissectioneachmontha top djselectstheirtop LP'sandsinglesfromthepastmonth

Wanna Dance", "Chapel ofLove", "Leader Of The Pack"and "Superstar" - none ofwhich have the originalmagic. Let's be fair thoughvery few covers ever matchthe real thing, and these areno exception.

Credit where credit's duethough - production andbacking are both first class,especially on what is to mymind the most novel track onthe album - "Boogie WoogieBugle Boy". A real 40'sboogie - beautifullyauthentic (NO -I wasn'taround at the time - butDad's got some super 78's!)with multi -horn, multi -voicetrack treatment, and thatmagical honky-tonk poundingout the rhythm. For me easilythe tastiest track on the LP -and different enough to be ahit.

24

sounds of the month

GOODIES1. Randy Pie and Family -"Queen of Dream" -Footstomping music a laGary Glitter/T. Rex format.Infectious pounding rhythmmakes it great to dance to.Plenty of excitement fromstart to finish on this one.Bound to happen big in theclubs - and quite possiblynationally. Let's wait and see!2. Syl Johnson - "We DidIt" - Super intro(reminiscent of WilsonPickett's "Don't Fight It")and nice hook/lyrics to thistouch of stateside soul from(soul experts correct me ifI'm wrong) an unknown inthis country. Well producedby ace soul man Willie

singles of the month

Mitchell - it grows on youand could be in with achance given a bit of help.Like it. If anything too short.3. Archie Bell and the Drells -"There's Gonna Be AShowdown" - we've alreadycommented on this (seealbum reviews opposite),however, there's a bonus ofArchie's '68 smash "TightenUp" on the flip side. Couldbe very good value if youroriginal copy happens to beworn out as mine is.4. Spike Milligan - "Girl OnA Pony" - surprise, surprise -

he's not totally detached afterall. Here Spike stops thecrazy antics for a while, andcomes up with a delightfullittle song, nicely arrangedand quite catchy. Sounexpected that it couldjust be the answer. Certainlyworth a spin or even two.5. Vigrass and Osborne -"Mister Deadline" - morethan a touch of Simon andyou know who on this one.But a good pacy balladnonetheless, well put togetherand not at all unpleasant.Nice programme material -

but a hit? . . . I don't think.

NOT SO GOODIES6. The Scavengers otherwiseknown as Shag - "VultureStomp" - surprisinglydissappointing follow-up totheir recent hit "Loop DiLove" - and a touch of themacabre to boot. Almostcertain to die a quick deathI feel (Ho! Ho!), andperhaps its just as well.Sorry Jonathan!7. Family - "My Friend InThe Sun" - in completecontrast to their last hit"Burlesque" this one doesn'texcite and even drags. Tooslow altogether for my taste.Sorry lads - for me adefinite miss!

25

U.K. COMMERCIAL RADIO?

ONE BIG FLOPSAYS

208'SDAVE

CHRISTIAN

TO

BEN CREEA few months ago it seemed

as if popular 208 DJ DaveChristian would bedisappearing from theairwaves as a result of adecision to limit the stationto five disc jockeys. Happilythe situation resolved itselfand Dave still continues to beheard most evenings from theGrand Duchy.

Dave is somewhat uniqueamong the 208 team in thathe has no pre -Luxembourgbroadcasting experience - hisjob with Radio Luxembourgwas in fact his first experienceof radio work. Whatprompted this interest in theworld of broadcasting?

"HMS Eagle, I suppose.I had joined the Navy afterleaving school - signed on for12 years would you believe -and they had their own radioand TV network - the EBC.It's just a low powered thingfor the rest of the fleet - butit was very good.

"Anyway whilst I was inthe Navy I also did somedisco shows including onewhich was nothing short of adisaster. It was all down toan acute shortage of femalecompany - in fact so shortthat there was something like600 ratings and ,ten girls!!Ridiculous!

"So I bought myself out ofthe Navy and started doingdisco work in the Worthingarea where I lived. One placewas Albert's Museum whichwas on the end of the pier at

Worthing and that was ascream. It was always full of Scandinavian students, Frenchstudents and so on. One goodthing was that we used tohave guest DJs down fromthe pirate ships, you knowpeople like Dave Cash, MarkRoman and so on, andthrough these sessions I gotto know Tony Windsor.

"I was now working for acivilian electronics firm andstudying for a BSc. I had towrite a thesis on something -and the thing I knew mostabout was commercial radio,

because I had been studyingit since the days of RadioNord in Sweden. I decided togo up to London to a radioexhibition and also to collectsome audience researchfigures.

"The exhibition, it was ashortwave do, Was prettydiabolical, with these guyswith morse keys getting allexcited because they had justcontacted Japan or somewhere- I'm not really into thatscene and I find it very hardto really leap aboth and beexcited over. So I went over .

to Radio Luxembourg forsome audience researchfigures and bumped into TonyWindsor, who was doingauditions at that time."

On the strength of hisdiscotheque work Davepersuaded Tony to give himan audition - and passed!Dave still remembers thataudition. . . .

"The turntables were on abox arrangement andunfortunately the box wasjust too small to get yourknees underneath and so youhad to be very careful that

27

`I THINK IT'S GOINGTO BE DEAD FOR

THE FIRST FOUR YEARS'you didn't bring your kneesup and hit the turntable. Ofcourse I did! I was half waythrough my first record andI moved, my knee wentclunk, I went 'Oh God!' andthe microphone was still on -so we had to start all overagain."

Despite these teethingproblems Dave passed hisaudition and on January 51969 he joined the RadioLuxembourg team of DJs.

"Since I've been withLuxembourg I've managed todo a lot of different radiowork. I've done programmesfor Radio Denmark,interviews for Radio Sweden,programmes on a line fromlast year's MIDEM in Cannes,and probably the most hairraising of all, programmes inFrench from Paris - well youtry working your ownequipment and speakinganother language at the sametime for 90 minutes!"

This variety of workobviously indicates that Daveis to say the least somewhatmulti-lingual. How did heget into languages in the firstplace?

"Well for a start I hatedthem at school. When westarted French we had a realswine of a teacher and thenwe changed masters and the

new one was a younger chapof about 23 and he broughtlanguages down to a personallevel. For instance he used toteach us little swear words inFrench, and consequentlythis used to make you wantto learn a little more. Then itbecame a sort of hobby. I'velearnt French now for some15 years, I learnt Germanhere in Luxembourg and I'velearnt a little Dutch. In fact Ican DJ in Dutch - that I'vepicked up from the DutchDJs. I suppose I just pickpeople's brains."

Changing the subject, whatare Dave's thoughts on theforthcoming UK commercialradio scene?

"One big enormous flop!Everybody is thinking 'Oh,boy, commercial radio' -thinking in terms of thepirates and American radio.It's not going to be like eitherof these, in fact it willprobably turn out worse thanthe BBC is at the moment.At least they have thetaxpayers' money - but thesecommercial stations are ontheir own right from thestart. Any money they've gotthey'll have to use - so theywill really be running on ashoestring budget.

"Then there will be theusual hang-ups with the

Musicians' Union. Whatreally should happen is thatthe Independent RadioAuthorities should turn roundand say to the unions, 'Yourmembers want the exposureon radio to sell their records -look what a healthy scene itwas when you had the piratestations - there were morenew groups breaking duringthat time and that was goodfor the musicians.' I don'tfeel that the union shouldreally beef about it at all.

"I really think it's going tobe dead for the first fouryears or so. A lot of peopleare going to catch a coldbecause they think they are infor some quick money - andthat's not going to be thecase. There's also going to bea vast influx of Australian,Canadian and American DJsout to get -rich -quick!"

Why those countries andnot for example SouthAfrican DJs?

"Basically because I thinkmost South African DJs areslow to the point of beingridiculous - I've heard quitea lot on tapes. Of courseyou've got LM radio whichis quite slick - but those guysare making far more moneythan they could possibly evermake on commercial radio in

Britain - and so you can rulethem out."

Did Dave feel that theseother DJs will come in andbe accepted because theyhave commercial radioexperience?

"You can get radioexperience in England - butit's costly. You've got theBBC with its monopoly andif you pander to the producersand do it the way they wantthen you can stay resident DJfor a long time. Where elsedo you go? You've'gotRadio Nordsee, which is notreally a breeding ground forcommercial radio - but freefanatics playing piratestations. Manx Radio is theonly decent commercialstation operating in the UK.Luxembourg is anInternational station and Iwouldn't say that it typifiesanything like commercialradio will be in England. Wedeal with everything on aninternational level, whereasManx Radio will announcethat Mrs Jones has lost herdog in such and such a streetin Douglas.

"You see there are a lot ofdisco DJs sitting back at themoment thinking, 'Oh, boy,when commercial radio comesin 1973 or 74 I'm gonnamake me a fortune and be a

28

DAVE CHRISTIAN in the 208 Studios talking to D.J.'s Ben Cree.

star and everything' - butthey won't. They'll probablybe talking to severalthousands of people, hundredsof thousands maybe - ANDthej, won't be playing poprecords all day like on thepirates. They'll have toprepare talks programmes.They'll have to take, let'ssay a new borough law hasjust been passed, they'll haveto take this law, analyse itand present it over the air ina way that the listener canaccept and UNDERSTAND.To be honest how manydisco DJs have got thecapabilities to do that?"

Bearing in mind the longhours off the air, what typeof music does Dave like tolisten to during his "offduty" spare time?

"I like listening to soul jazzsoft stuff, I don't really likelots of screaming wailingbrass. I prefer groovyvibrephones. I like DionneWarwicke,for example. I alsolike a lot of progressivemusic as well -a lot of PinkFloyd, Hawkwind, etc. Whatreally gets me down is thattypical pop rubbish - youknow 'true love and applepie' sort of thing."

Are there any particularartists that Dave predicts forbigger things in the comingmonths?

"Love Unlimited - threegirls from Los Angeles -they're gonna have it big inthe future - also FrederickKnight and the StapleSingers - they will all bemonsters soon. I remembersomebody asked me about ayear and a half ago who willbe big and I said 'Slade'.Afterwards I could havekicked myself because Ichanged my mind - buteventually I was right."

During our interview Daveexpressed a desire to have hisown soul programme on 208 -and it now appears that thiswill happen during the nextfew months. What sort ofmusic can we expect to hearon this show?

"A lot more Americanartists - because basicallythat's where it comes from.Most of the English soulprogrammes talk too muchand I like to have the musichammered out. We don'thave needle time restrictionsat Luxembourg - and I wantto take the opportunity ofbanging out a programmewith a minimum of chat -and keep it really swinging."

Dave recently gotmarried and was fortunateenough to spend hishoneymoon in the States -from where he sent us thisspecial exclusive report onAmerican radio. . . .

Just returned from the USAhaving spent three weeks inLas Vegas, just beforeChristmas. As is my wont, Igot quite involved with theradio over there, havingsomebody to make theintroductions for me.

Las Vegas is probablytypical of American cities sofar as radio is concerned.You have your "middle ofthe road" (KORK, KVET,KBMI), your "talk andmemory" station KVOV,Record KLUC CountryKRAM, and Top 40 KENO.

In addition to these, theyhave a fully automated"middle of the road" stationKRGN, basically this operatesfrom a kind of "minicomputer" with all the data,commercials, station IDs, etc,all stored on tapes; thecomputer starts them, stopsthem, cross -feeds them andcues in the National Networknews. How do you feel aboutbeing a DJ now!

KENO Radio, the Top 40station, is the number one on

M.O.R. STATIONIS COMPUTER

the market. The programmedirector is a very nice chapwith a big knowledge ofradio and a long grey beard,in fact he also runs a DJschool similar to RogerSquire. The DJs can choosewithin the format but are allencouraged to put up anyideas they can. TheManagement and DJs arevery close, it is a greatstation. (Good to listen to.)

LA has a fantastic radioscene, and I have it on goodauthority that it is the best inthe States - quick blast of theNational Anthem -certainlythe most entertaining. Thereare about 40 stations, thebiggest being KDAI, KMPC,KDAY and KROQ.

The most sought after DJat the moment in America isa feller called Bill Ballance.He works with KGUS in LAbut he's networked rightacross the States. (Hisprogramme, Feminine Forum,is a telephone show withrecords interspersed betweenthe calls; the women ring upand give their variations of

today's question. A typicalquestion that I heard - "Tellme, darling, how did youcatch your man cheatin' onyou?"

Also on KGBS are Hudsonand Landry, two lunatics whodo comedy routines off thetop of their heads and try tobreak each other up, againinterspersed with Top 40records.

Charlie Tuna, KROQ, ishaving it all his way this year,again his an extremely funnypersonality. Maybe some ofthe readers of "Dee Jay andRadio Monthly" have heardtapes of him, or possibly hisprogramme on AFN.

Finally, the never -to -beforgotten Gary Owens fromBeautiful DowntownBurbank, KMPC, is stillthere.

Personally, I just enjoy thevariety of American stations;whatever you want, it isthere at the press of a button- here's looking forward totwo stations in London.Whoopee! How many peopleare there in that city????

29

MEET THE MERSEYMENRadio Merseyside's main

men of music.are as differentin style as the music they play.

From pop expert BobAzurdia (a pioneer of BBClocal radio), to 24 -year -oldTony Smith, the youngestmember of the team, whoonly plays 'progressive'.

The only thing the station'sDJ's seem to have in commonis their constant fight to staywithin the limits of themeagre amount ofcommercial record -time whichthe BBC were forced toaccept from the Musician'sUnion and their associatedbodies, when local radiobegan over five years ago.

Taking into account thatthe station has to providereligious and other forms ofminority audience music,Radio M's top DJ's get evenless commercial record -time(known in the industry as`needle -time') than theiraudiences expect or deserve.

But, the group haveimagination, initiative and acapacity for hard work.

So, despite the pressures,they still manage to maketheir programmes tick.

The Musician's Union's bigfear was that excessiveneedle -time would deprivelocal musicians of theopportunity of doing radiowork. They forgot that on theshoe -string budgets allocatedto the BBC's local stations,there just wasn't the moneyto hire musicians anyway.

And although the M.U.have now persuaded the BBCto allocate each stationanother £2,000 a year to hiremusicians, they have still keptthe stations' needle -time downto seven hours a week.

Bob Azurdia's way of fillinghis 'It's Friday' show is topack the studio with guests,Well-known and lesser -known.Some of them are drawn fromthe famous district ofLiverpool 8, where they say,if you throw a stone in anydirection, you will hit a popsinger, a poet, a painter or aprostitute.

However, Bob assureseveryone that in programmeterms, only pop singers, poets

Ray 'own visitsRADIO MERSEYSIDE

The extrovert Pete Price

and painters are In' thisseason.

Bob is the Liverpool -bornson of a Central Americandoctor who came to Britainas one of his country'sconsuls. The two big Azurdiapassions - apart from MrsAzurdia of course - are popmusic and soccer. He spendsa lot of his annual holidaystravelling the world watchingthe football greats in action.

Once, in Moscow, the thenRussian premier Mr.Kruschev affectionatelytugged at Bob's beard in themistaken belief that he was aCuban diplomat.

After watching Englandcrash out of the World Cupin Mexico, Bob calmlyannounced that he wouldconsole himself by going to`the old country' to visitrelations. To mostLiverpudlians, the 'oldcountry' means Ireland,Wales or the Isle of Man.

To Bob Azurdia it meansGuatemala!

And he must certainly bethe only Guatemalan inhistory to demand to do hisNational Service in the RoyalWelsh Fusiliers.

Most of RadioMerseyside's DJ's are forced

Tony Smith has the progressive show

to pad out their programmesby persuading famousvisitors to the area to makeguest appearances. Andamong the leaders in thisfield is Don Allen the host of"Sounds Country".

Canadian -born Don -better known as Daffy Donwhen he worked for RadioCaroline - has managed tochat you -all -country -style withsuch great Country stars asHank Snow, Don Gibson,Tex Ritter and the present"pride" of country music,Charlie Pride.

Don says: "Many of thepeople who listen to mypresent series of "SoundsCountry", are people wholistened to my programmesfrom Caroline".

And his producer Bill Holt,never given much to boastingabout achievements, is movedto claim one of the station'shighest listener -ratings for theshow.

The station's quiet man ofmusic is Stan Ambrose, nowin his fourth season with theFolk Scene.

As well as helping to foundseveral folk -music clubs in thearea, he now sings and playsguitar and tin whistle at aclub in Birkdale, a plushy

suburb near Southport on theLancashire coast. It is therethat he records many of hisprogrammes, avoiding theuse of needle -time as much aspossible.

"One thing I like aboutfolk music", says Stan, "is itslack of show businesstrappings. The artistes are sonatural.

"If I interviewed pop starTom Jones, he'd probablytalk to me in his native Welshaccent and then go on stageto sing in pure mid -Atlantic.With folk singers they singjust as they speak."

The station's mostextrovert DJ is cabaret hostand entertainer Pete Pricewhose programme "Twice thePrice" is also sprinkled withbig names.

Working in night clubswith such stars as MattMonro, Bob Monkhouse,Tommy Cooper and manyothers, he can usually enticethem on to his show.

One of his best efforts,however, came on a thin daywhen no guest was available.During a break in recording,Pete called Paul McCartneydirect at his London home.The result: that week's"Twice the Price" waspunctuated with hilariousback -chat between Pete andex-Beatle.

Never one to leave hisextrovert personality in thestudio or at the stage doorwhen -he-loaves work, Pete isone of the city's dressytrend-setters.

Who else would show up ata civic reception wearing abib -and -brace hot pants suit?

He says: "Clothes are oneof the most important thingsin my life. The more way-outthey are the more relaxed Ifeel. And that helps myperformance both on stageand in the studio."

The other cabaret compereand entertainer who spinsrecords at Radio Merseysideis Billy Butler whose twiceweekly "Morning Medley"caters mainly for housewives _

and shop and office workers.Billy, whose Merseyside

accent comes thicker than

30

chip butties, began his careerat the world-famous CavernClub in Liverpool. There hesang with the earlyMerseybeats and hostedshows which featured fourlikely lads called The Beatles.

Much of his radio show isspent talking to his manywomen fans and readingmessages and dedicationswhich flood into his 80 -minuteshow at the rate of about onea minute.

He refuses to let the needletime bogey worry himunduly with the comment:"I just make with gags, talkto the birds and hope for thebest".

Like Stan Ambrose, TonySmith, who produces andpresents the progressive musicshow "Round the Edges",also goes out with recordingequipment to talk to suchartistes as Jethro Tull,Emerson, Lake and Walkerand Jerry Garcia. Tony'smain problem is that fewerprogressive shows are hittingthe provinces these days, sohe has to make the most ofthe stars while he has gotthem talking.

He avoids needle -timerecords as much as possibleby using the interviews andillustrating them on the showwith short bursts ofcommercial records which donot count in the needle -timetotal.

The Grateful Dead, TheFaces and Roy Harper havealso been featured on hisprogrammes which get a lotof reaction from asurprisingly young, thoughhighly initiated audience.

The most experienced ofMerseyside's men of music isjazz critic, lecturer andbroadcaster Steve Voce.

Steve who claims to be a

Bearded Bob Azurdia beats needle time bogey by bringing in the guests

Master Clarinetist (Failed),first took an interest in jazzat the age of 14.

At the last count he had aprivate collection of 1,700jazz albums and nearly 1,000singles. He has contributed acolumn to Jazz Journal everymonth since 1958 and madehis first broadcast with SteveRace in 1962. He can still beheard nationwide byinsomniacs who tune in toRadios One and Two in theearly hours of the morning.

On his local radio show"Jazz Panorama", he hasfeatured such guests asHumphrey Lyttleton, RonnieScott, Tubby Hayes, GeorgeChisholm, Count Basie,Buddy Rich and JohnnyDankworth.

Steven's proudest memorythough, in connection withhis local radio show, came

Billy Butler chats up another bird, producer Sheila Britten

from hearing that the greatjazzman Buck Clayton wasill and broke, and justmanaging to exist in NewYork. Steve arranged atrans -Atlantic hook-up totalk to Clayton on the show.

He mentioned the interviewin his jazz -paper column, andwas later delighted to findthat Clayton fans all overBritain had sent scores ofget -well cards and moneytotalling nearly 1,000 dollars.

Because of its specialisednature, "Jazz Panorama"literally devours itsneedle -time allocation, sinceSteve is unable to pad outwith any of the many inferiorrecords which the M.U. willallow to be played withoutthem costing preciouscommercial record -time.

Many of thesenon -needle -time records aremade in Canada, and theBBC also has its own CodedMusic Library in which thereare thousands of trackscontaining pieces of musicrecorded in Germany.

Unfortunately the tunes areundistinguished originals;written by undistinguishedcomposers and recorded byvery undistinguishedorchestras.

Taped film sound -tracksare also immune fromneedle -time, but these are sorare that they get hammeredto death by local radiostations.

In fact one former localradio producer, and presenterof middle-of-the-road

programmes, says he madeJulie Andrews "Climb EveryMountain' so many times it'sa wonder the poor girldidn't die from exhaustion!

The embarrassment of solittle needle -time will becomemore acute for the BBC'slocal stations once the newcommercial stations are onthe air.

For even before the variousfranchises are allocated, thenew Independent BroadcastingAuthority has given thego-ahead for each to fill upto a maximum of nine hoursa day with commercialrecords.

So, what a the future andthe BBC's chances ofcompeting?

Radio Merseyside'sprogramme organiser VictorMarmion says: "The BBCare constantly negotiating forextra needle -time. Thesituation comes up for reviewregularly".

With the situation roughlythe same as it was five yearsago, there seems to be aremarkable lack of goodhorse -traders at the BBC.

No news orientated localstatiorf can really hope forbig listenership in the face ofmass appeal competition. Tielisteners they have worked sohard to cultivate for so longcould be lost almostovernight.

And this might mean anexodus of Merseyside's mainmen of music to pop pastureswhich - on the face of it -look so much greener.

31

THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

SINGING 'PUPPY LOVE' ?

"You're the kind of blokewho doesn't really enjoy goingto fairs, aren't you," said theproducer pityingly.

He managed to make itsound as if I suffered fromsome embarrassing physicaldisability - which from hispoint of view was probably notfar from the truth.

On reflection I have toadmit that auditioning me as aRadio 1 disc jockey must havebeen for him the equivalent ofSir Alf Ramsey being forced toput a one -legged manthrough an England soccertrial.

For those who arewondering - quiteunderstandably - whatpossible connection there canbe between a dislike of fairs,disc -jockeying andone -legged footballers let metry and explain.

It's all a matter ofpersonality. On the one handthere are those life -and -soul -of -the -party types withoutinhibitions orself-consciousness, those gayextroverts who love fancydress balls, are terribly goodat doing the Charlestown andare always the first to volunteerfor the holiday camp'sknobbly knees competition -in short the kind of peoplewho revel in all the fun of thefair.

On the other hand there arethose who live in perpetualdread of the embarrassingmoment, who cringe in theirseats when the magician onstage orders the spotlight toseek out "a volunteer" toassist him with his next trick,who turn to jelly when calledupon to make a speech andwho avoid all forms oforganised gaiety at any cost -in short those for whom thevery phrase all the fun of thefair is a contradiction interms.

If you fall into the lattercategory you are likely to beabout as much use to Radio 1as Long John Silver would beto Sir Alf's World Cup squad.

I defy any sensitive.introvert to introduce himself

It couldn't be worse than"DJ." Mike Cable at a

Beeb auditionon the air as "the hairymonster" without managing tosound like a vicarannouncing the next hymn.Or to trill `orft we jolly well gowith another JY prog'without giving the impressionthat he is reading an extractfrom The Thoughts ofChairman Mao.

By way of practice I lockedmyself in the bathroom andmouthed a few swingingcatchphrases into a taperecorder. Like "Rave to thegrave" and "Keep ontruckin' ". Should theArchbishop of Canterburyever record a version of"Puppy Love" he is unlikelyto sound less convincing.

I therefore approached myaudition with all the

confidence of a non -swimmingsufferer from vertigo who setsout to ride a one -wheel bicycleacross a tightrope overVictoria Falls.

I reported to BroadcastingHouse on the appointed dayclutching a lengthy anddetailed script which I feltwould at least prevent me fromdrying up completely.

The producer who had beenunlucky enough to belumbered with the duty ofconducting me through my`trial' took one look at itand shook his head sadly.

"Sorry," he said. "We can'tlet .you use that. It would belike cheating. None of thedee-jays use scripts - if theydid they would lose all theirspontaneity.

Rosko might have a harder job than he makes it sound

"That's really what it's allabout - being able to ad libfreely and easily and put yourpersonality across. If you use aprepared script you're going toend up sounding tooimpersonal - like anewsreader. That's fine if youwant to be a broadcaster but tobe a disc jockey you need avery different approach."

It is an approach that atleast one of the disc jockeyschools that mushroomed inthe days of pirate radioinstilled in its pupils with aparticularly cruel form ofspontaneity therapy. I knowfrom bitter personalexperience.

I joined one of their classesincognito with a view towriting an article. All wentwell until the instructor sat usdown in a circle, gave each ofus an object and ordered us totalk about it for threeminutes. I got a matchstick.They were moments of vintageembarrassment which I stillblush to recall. After all, whatcan you say about amatchstick. I sat there staringat the damn thing foolishlywhile evil grins of triumphspread across the faces of myfellow pupils. I decided at thatmoment that there were betterthings to write about andnever went near the placeagain. Now, however, I had toadmit that the lesson clearlyhad a valid point. If you canlearn to talk about amatchstick or a paperclip thenyou will presumably never beat a loss for words.

I crumpled my script andwas led trembling into thebowels of Broadcasting Houseto the two studios from wheremost of the Radio 1 shows areput out.

At first sight the bank ofcontrols which a dee jay has tooperate look considerablymore complicated than thedashboard of a Jumbo jet.

There are threeturntables - one to the frontand one to either side - eachwith a separate volumecontrol. There are also threeslots for jingle cassettes and

32

`Blow your noseby all meansbut turn off

the mike first!'again each slot has its own setof volume controls. There is apre -fade switch which enablesthe dee jay to cut the sound ofthe record that is going out onthe air while he sets up thenext one on another turntable.Finally he has the studiomicrophone which has afurther fade-in fade-outcontrol. There is an array ofother dials and switches butthey are apparently just toconfuse the unwary. Only theengineer on the other side ofthe glass window throughwhich he and the producerwatch you like cats on theoutside of a goldfish bowl hasto worry about them.

"It takes some getting usedto," said the producer. "Nothalf," I thought. "We'll giveyou time to familiariseyourself with the controls," hesaid. "When you're ready I'llgive you a selection of recordsand a suggested running order.You can write out a couple ofdedications if you like butotherwise try and work outyour links in your head. Justto make things awkward I willcome in at some point and giveyou a traffic news flash which

you must work in at theearliest possible opportunity."

I played around with thecontrols rather self-consciously for a time and thethought crossed my mind thateither disc jockeys were bornwith an extra pair of hands orelse went through a crashcourse in juggling as anessential part of theirtraining.

I delayed the moment oftruth as long as possible andthen announced uncertainlythat I thought I was as readyas I was ever likely to be.The producer exchangedknowing grins with theengineer and handed me hisselection of records. It was likepicking up an exam paper andfinding that none of thequestions you had hoped forare there. Three of the discsI'd never heard of.

I prepared a couple of"requests", cheated bywriting out an introduction,smoked another cigarette inthe hope that it might stop myhand frcfm shaking and gavethe thumbs up to indicate thatI was ready to roll 'em orwhatever the equivalent term is

in broadcasting."OK," said the producer.

"And don't forget to put asmile in your voice."

I read my introduction,faded in the first record whichwas Gilbert O'Sullivan's"Ooh Whacka Do WhackaDay" and leaned back andblew my nose by way ofrelieving initial tension.

"Stop!" yelled theproducer. "Come and listento the playback." There weremy somewhat sepulchral toneswelcoming listeners to "half anhour which promises to becompletely different" andannouncing the opening disc.After about five seconds MrO'Sullivan's voice wasdrowned out by what soundedlike a nuclear explosion. "Ithink that's a bit toodifferent," said the producer."You can blow your nose byall means but you must switchoff the studio mike first."

There were two more falsestarts - one when I faded inthe wrong turntable therebyproducing a deathly hush andanother when Emperor Roskowandered into the studio insearch of some notes and

stayed to have a chat as aresult of which I forgot to setup my third record.

We eventually managed toget a tape together. It wasn't atotal disaster although itincluded all the classic failingssuch as gaps between the endsof announcements and thefirst bars of the records - Ihand't dared try anything asadventurous as talk-overs -odd silences, a liberalsplattering of "ums" and"ers" and, of course, a markedlack of spontaneity.

It was then that the producermade his remark about mylack of enthusiasm for fairs."If it's any consolation I amjust the same," he said."That's why I gave upbroadcasting and became aproducer."

All I have left to show formy experience is a letter fromthe Auditions Panelregretting that on theevidence of my tape I'll nevermake a Radio 1 dee jay and anew respect for Blackburn,Young, Rosko and Co. Likeso many things being a discjockey is not half as easy as itsounds.

33

HOSPITAL RADIO NOTEBOOK

COLIN MARCHANT,journalist and broadcaster,has been connected with aSouth of England hospitalradio station for sometime. He is the writer of anumber of articles which"Dee Jay and RadioMonthly" plan to featureas part of the HospitalRadio Notebook over thenext few months. In theseries, Colin Marchantoffers advice on how tostart and run a hospitalradio network. In thisfirst article, he makessuggestions on how to goabout setting up ahospital radio station.

Have you ever consideredhow many thousands offrustrated disc -jockeys theremust be moping around,just waiting for the slightestopportunity to make the bigtime - or the small time even?With the BBC currentlymonopolising the airwaves,what chances does anywould-be DJ have of findingan outlet for his talents?

He could, of course, sendan audition tape to Radio 1 -they're very good up there;they really do listen to thetapes. The trouble is they getso many that unless the DJis brilliant he'll get his tapereturned a few weeks laterwith a polite little lettersaying " . we regret toinform you that theperformance was notconsidered suitable for ourpurposes on Radio 1 . "

He could also think aboutsetting up a mobilediscotheque but here again

there's a lot of competition -not to mention expense -and unless he's got somethingspecial to offer he probablywon't get the bookings.

So what's the alternative?Simple - Broadcast to ahospital. It won't make adisc -jockey rich or famous,but it will certainly providehim with a marvellous meansof communicating to a veryinterested and veryappreciative audience.

Hospital broadcastingservices are becoming morepopular. Many hospitaladministrators now regardthem as a vital amenity forhelping patients to while

edited by ROY MACK

away the tedium; somedoctors think they have atherapeutic value even. Andfor the amateur disc -jockey,they're an absolute godsend!

If you want to become ahospital disc -jockey, how doyou set about it? Basicallythere are two ways.

If there's a hospital in yourarea which already has aninternal station you can offeryour services to its stationmanager. The hospitalsecretary will probably beable to give you his nameand address. The station mayask you to do an auditionand, if they think you aresuitable, you could be "on

the air" straight away.On the other hand, you

may have to wait until avacancy occurs but, generally,hospital radio stations arehappy to take on as manydisc -jockeys as possible asthis very often enables themto extend their air -time. Ifyou fail the audition, don'tbe discouraged. Somehospital stations set higherstandards than other and itcould well be that someoneelse is crying out for yourservices. Just try approachinganother station.

The other way of becominga hospital disc -jockey is toset up your own station and

Suggested Hospital Radio set-up. S.I.S. Ltd, Northampton

34

it's for these particularlyambitious potential stationmanagers that this article ischiefly intended.

So how do you set upyour own station?

Before you start, makeabsolutely sure you knowwhat you're doing. A radiostation can't be establishedon the strength of a merewhim. Once started it's gotto be pretty durablE and ifafter a month or two it fallson stony ground, thehospital authorities are likelyto be a little upset orannoyed - quite justifiably.It might also spoil anyoneelse's chances of setting upanother station at the samehospital in the future.

It's not really goodenough to be veryenthusiastic on your own,either. You should makeefforts to get support fromothers who are just asinterested.

It won't cost a fortune torun a hospital radio stationbut it will obviously costsomething. The initialequipment is the biggestoutlay. You'll need at leastone microphone, two recordturntables, some headphonesand a microphone mixer.You could probably buy thelot for less than £75.Fortunately, because mosthospitals are only equipped

+with fairly cheap headphoneswhich are not conducive tohigh fidelity sound, you canget away with buyinginexpensive equipment. Ifyou can afford it, however,it's well worth spending a bitextra on a good mixer as somuch.depends on this foroverall good sound.

Having established thatyou can afford the capitalexpenditure, you are thenfaced with the day-to-dayrunning costs. Records haveto be kept up to date,batteries and stylii have to bereplaced, repairs have to becarried out. Where does themoney come from?

Well, you could tryappealing to the Hospital'sLeague of Friends, if there isone, or to a local organisationlike the Rotary Club forsome financial help. However,my own feeling is that it'sbetter to spend out some ofyour own money first andget the station nicelyestablished before you startbegging. Then, when you docome to make your appeal, theorganisations are all the moresympathetic, realising that

you have at least made someeffort to run the station onyour own limited resources.

Ask each of the peoplewho want to help you runthe station if they areprepared to contribute aweekly amount - say 25 newpence. That should be enoughto keep the station runningand it will also give you avery good indication of justhow keen your enthusiastichelpers are. If they're notprepared to pay a few bob aweek, they're not likely to bevery loyal to the station.

So you've now got thesupport and the finance.The next step is to approacha local hospital with youridea. Drop a line to thesecretary giving a detailedoutline of what you have inmind and suggesting apossible meeting. If he's at allinterested he will be only toopleased to discuss it with you.If he's not, try anotherhospital.

At the meeting beprepared for any questionsthe secretary might ask. Itis best to sound fairlyconfident of your idea andappear to know what you'retalking about even if youhaven't in fact completelyformulated your plans. Ifyou give the impression thatyou're not sure yourself whatyou have in mind, thesecretary will immediatelyregard the idea with somecynicism.

If he likes the idea, thenyou can start asking himsome questions. Mostimportant is to find outwhether the hospital has anyradio facilities at present.If so, does it have anavailable channel throughwhich you can send yoursignal? If the hospital doesnot have any radio set-up,you're probably backing a'loser because to install thenecessary amplifiers andheadphones would costseveral thousand pounds andit's unlikely that thehospital are going to offer topay out money just like that.

Providing there is a radiosystem with a spare channeland the hospital secretary ishappy to give the idea a try,you should move into actionvery swiftly (before he hastime to change his mind!).

Find out from him ifthere is a spare room in thehospital which can be used asa studio. This will enable youto make live broadcasts.However, it is possible to

manage without a studio aslong as you have facilities fortaping programmes elsewhere,possibly at home. The tapescan then be fed direct intothe hospital's amplifiers. Itis a good idea, though, tostress to the hospital theimportance of a studio as itgives the station a sense ofidentity and makes it moreinteresting and personal forthe patients.

The next stage is to makesure that your station isgoing to be completelywithin the law. Write to allthe record companiesindividually asking forpermission to broadcast theirrecords and emphasisingthat the station is purelyvoluntary and internal. It ismost unlikely that you willhave to pay them any feealthough they will probablynotify you of a small feewhich must be paid to oneof the copyright protectionorganisations. It is essentialthat you obtain thispermission beforebroadcasting any records.

Also, any plans you haveto make your stationcommercial must be ruled outstraight away. One of theconditions of the permissiongranted by the recordcompanies is that you do notaccept any advertisingrevenue.

By this time you shouldbe holding regular meetingswith your helpers to discusshow the station is going tobe run and to iron out anyproblems which might arise.If you do not have verymuch technical knowledgeit is most advisable, if notessential, to recruit a friendwho will be able to set upyour equipment in thestudio provided. (Somegeneral hints on thetechnical side will be givenin a future article).

In fact, help from anysource is useful. For instance,it's worth contacting thelocal newspapers in the area -not only might they give yousome publicity but theycould even help you providea news service for yourlisteners. Contact localcouncillors, voluntaryorganisations and so on -just to get yourself knownlocally.

But above all, keep incontact with the hospital sothat THEY know whatyou're doing. Remember, tobegin with they willprobably be very sceptical

and if there's any way youcan show them that you'regenuinely out to provide auseful service for the patients,it will be a feather in yourcap. And after all, basically,that is - or should be - whatyou're chiefly aiming to do.

* * * * * *Diary Note. The National

Association of HospitalBroadcasting Associationsare holding their annualgeneral meeting in Londonon 14-15 April next. Hostradio station will be RadioHammersmith. Contact isDavid Coates, of RadioHammersmith HBS, DucaneRoad, London W12 OHS.

* * * * * *We've had a number of

letters and calls from discoDJs who would like tovolunteer to help in hospitalbroadcasting. We'll passthem on to hospital radiostations in their operatingarea. If any other DJs - oranyone else, for that matter -want to offer their serviceslet us know. We'll do whatwe can to pass theinformation on to the nearestHBS organisation.

next monthin

DEE JAY AND

RADIO MONTHLY

NoelEdmonds

* *Tony

Prince* * *Ray

MooreWhy not place a

regular order withyour newsagent

35

The S.S. will grab you(Squire stereo that is)

This monthKarl Dallastalks toD.J./equipmentdesignerRoger Squire

If a thing's worth doing,you'd be better off doing ityourself, my old mum alwaysused to say, and it wouldappear that Roger Squire'smum had a similar saying.Because when he decided togo into the DJ business aboutseven years ago, he was sodissatisfied with theequipment then available thathe built himself a unit.

"For its time it wasprobably fantastic," herecalls, "because it had allthe features that have sincebecome standard :'cueing,fading, and a separate mikeinput."

Mind you, though we mayhave had similar mums,proverb -wise, there theresemblance between Rogerand I finishes. For whereasI am a technical idiot, whoseelectronic ability finishes withknowing how to wire upspeakers so that they're inphase with each other (avaluable trick, if you'reworking in stereo, let me tellyou), he is something of anelectronic genius.

Just consider this shorttechnological biography.

At the age of four, hisfather gave him ado-it-yourself crystal set. Hesoldered it together and had itworking the same day he gotit.

Roger Squire (right) instructs a student at his special DJ school into theintricacies of tape cartridges. Cost for five hourly lessons on all you need toknow about DJ technique is £25.

At the age of six he hadgraduated to valve radio sets.

Four years later he did hisown transmitting and at theage of 12 he ran his firsttransmitter on his own. By14, he was running a one-manpirate radio station in NorthLondon. That was two yearsbefore he got his first officialPost Office licence.

"At 16 I threw in my skulland crossbones and set up alegitimate ham transmittingstation in the shed at thebottom of my dad's garden,"he says.

Then, as young boys will,his fancy strayed when hewas 19 and the world ofsolder and transistors andcircuits was as if it had neverbeen. For three years henever pointed a solderingiron in anger at anything, andhe dedicated himself to thesocial whirl.

"But while I was whirling,I began to realise that at somany parties I went to I wasnot enjoying myself simplybecause the entertainmentwas so lousy. This was in thedays of the first mobile DJs,and they were really terrible.The records were slung on inany old order and the chatbetween the discs was dull anduninteresting. I decided Icould do a lot better."

No sooner said than

rolling, and for six monthsRoger Squire became one ofthe most sought-after DJson the London champers-for-breakfast circuit, using the50 watt console he'ddesigned and made himself.

"My first booking was atBarnet Football Club," heremembers, "but thebookings soon became a bitlike the old woman wholived in a shoe. Each bookingused to generate about sixother bookings."

That's hardly surprising,since Roger Squire injecteda level of professionalisminto an area of entertainmentthat had become a refuge forungifted amateurs.

"I'd taken six months todesign my console, and it wastime well spent," he says."People were amazed at thesort of show I could put on.At that time I could doeverything they could do onthe radio except the jingles."

The bookings flowed in sofast OW soon he was unableto fulfil them all himself. Atthe moment he hts 16different DJs on the road,although he likes to do theoccasional booking himself,"just to keep his hand in".These days, however, he'sreally more of an organiserof the bookings, whichamounted to 75 in the week

before Christmas.It was a fairly natural

progression for him to opena studio to train DJs, both towork for him and on theirown account. He now runsregular courses, concentratingupon only two students at atime, in which they aretaught all the basics of DJwork in five one -hoursessions. When it's not beingused for training, the studiocan be used for producingaudition tapes, and is gettingmore and more workproducing programme tapesfor radio, something Rogerexpects to increase with theonset of commercial radio.

However, the most logicaland obvious step was ).,et tocome, for Roger Squire hasnow started applying the samesort of electronic genius thathas gone into the design ofequipment for his own DJsinto the commercialproduction of DJ units.

And so the Squire stereo' discotheques are now being

released for the delight anddelectation of DJs all over "

the country.Already, you'll have

realised one essential pointabout the units, that they arestereo. In fact, each unitcontains two 50 watt monoamplifiers, one per stereochannel. This arrangement

I**

I

36

0011111111111011111111

WitPwv,

The new Squire DJ console, seen here in the de luxe finish (£290, inclusive ofamplifiers), with two 50 watt speakers (£40 each). The complete outfit, withconsole, amp, speakers and microphone, is £385.

has the additional advantagethat if one goes -a notunheard-of event - you canswitch both channels tomono through the remainingamp and still remain inbusiness. True, you'll beoperating on half power, buthalf a loaf is better than nobread - another saying I gotfrom my old mum!

Price of the standard unit,including the two 50 wattamps, is £220, with cue/playsystem, slide faders, mixer,mike and music channels withseparate bass, treble andvolume controls.

The turntables are SP 25Mark Ills from Garrard, afamiliar unit to most DJs,but Roger has devised aunique button -start systemwhich really gets the discsturning with the minimum ofdelay.

For £60 more you get thede luxe unit which has afuturistic frontageincorporating his ownChromosonic lighting system,power meter, light controls,and fuse panel with indicatorlights. Both units have a2 amp power socket forrunning a moderately -poweredbit of extra apparatus, forinstance a tape recorder. To go with either of theseunits they recommend their50 watt speaker units at£40 each, though franklyI would suggest also havingthe treble booster tweetersystem which is also availableas an optional extra for £10per speaker.

The complete standardsystem, comprising console,50 -plus -50 amplifiers, twospeakers and microphone,costs £350, de luxe £410.

Other optional extras arean individually -cased 100watt slave amp, with its ownpower supply, £72, stereolimiter to avoid distortionthrough overloading, £20, anda pre-set auto/manual voice-over circuit for mikeannouncements, £10.

Since they've been designedby someone with an intimateknowledge of the needs of thetravelling DJ, you'll hardlybe surprised to learn howwell the whole things packsup for transporting in theboot of an average car.

The console has its ownremovable lid, while each ofthe modern -looking speakerunits has neat carryinghandles.

Another important pointis that Roger Squire has gotaway from that eternal (andeternally boring!) blackleathercloth so much DJequipment is covered with.Standard covering is sandgold leathercloth, but white,blue, red or black aravailable or for £15 oleis veneered in hand-fi ednatural teak..;'

"Orders for the new unitshave been fantastic," saysRoger. "In fact, the onlyproblem I envisage is ourproduction not being able tokeep up with the demand."

I think he could well beright.

The Frontal Sound has beendevised by Evans & MartinBroadcast Productions to meetthe requirement for a lowpriced jingle package ideal fboth live performance and rad

The Frontal Sound is original.It is not a collection of othercompanies jingles re-editedneither is it a series of voiceover promos.The Frontal Sound comes com-

plete with purchaser's dee-jaying name, disco name, callsign, club name or whatever,SUNG AS AN INTEGRAL PART OFEACH JINGLE.The Frontal Sound package,

which includes sweeps, stagers,establishers and straightidentification checks costsjust Twenty Five Pounds.The Frontal Sound

demonstration set and salesinformation is available uponrequest.

Please write, phone or call.

UC/71-14Ex9C/NST PROD

C6 Dudley !louse, 69 NIarine Parade,Worthing,Sussex BN11 3PZ

Telephone: (0903) 201767

37

musing with moffat

It all began with a search formy Birth Certificate. A BirthCertificate is one of thosethings we all possess - orshould do - but could youhonestly put your finger onyours at a moment's notice?I needed mine but could Ifind it? Various drawers Itried; cupboards, suitcaseslong since used, evencrumpled carrier bags but allto no avail. As a last resort Idescended to the dark, dampand disused cellar. Brushingaside the cobwebs, I delvedcautiously into a much -mildewed cabin trunk, the lastcabin it was ever in was

was after breakfast that Istarted my search. By lunch-time, I was half way through,surrounded by pictures insepia of Grannie in a funnyhat, horse-drawn buses, melooking angelic at the age offive (see above) but of theBirth Certificate there was nosign. During the afternoon,getting more and more franticin my search, I uncovered oldpress cuttings - one whichinformed the BBC that in methey had a genius. I wonderif they ever read it and, if so,what happened? - oldphotographs and even olderscripts of Al Read,Morecambe and Wise, KenDodd, Peter Goodwright.You name them, there theywere. I crouched on thefilthy floor transported backten, 15, 20 years. Schoolreports (Moffat shows littleinterest in the subject) my

Army paybook (did I reallyexist on ten bob a week andtake girls out too?) but stillno Certificate. By lateafternoon all that remainedin the trunk was a yellowingcopy of The Radio Timesopened to the page forTuesday, January 1, 1963.Ten years ago almost to theday and Oh, how times havechanged.In a recent TV show, EarlMountbatten definedVARIETY as " . . . theabsence of MONOTONY".There was certainly noboredom back in '63. Oh,that I could say the same fortoday. Take The LightProgramme of that Tuesdayof many moons ago.Listeners requests were thenconfined to one singleprogramme; 55 minutes in"Housewives' Choice". Now,about the only daytimeprogrammes on Radio 2 thatdo NOT contain messagesand dedications are the newssummaries and Woman'sHour. Ten years ago, weused to be entertained by adifferent compere each weekin Housewives' Choice(9.00-9.55). Now we getPete Murray. We weretreated to a jolly little series,different each day, from 10 till10.30. Now we get PeteMurray. Uninterrupted musiccame daily until 11 o'clockunder the title "Music WhileYou Work". Now we getPete Murray. The MorningStory and The Dalesoccupied the slot between

11 and 11.30. Today we stillget Pete Murray. Back onJanuary 1, 1963, there was aprogramme called Movietimetaking the listener up tomidday. Now we get? You'redead right. Pete Murray.Three hours of Mr M,complete with his panderingto the British housewife, hisobvious infatuation with therecordings of EdwardWoodward and Sacha Disteland his determination to readout the most excruciatingpoems sent in by listeners.At least the programme"Open House" has onebright spot. The interviews.Seriously, however good abroadcaster Pete is (and he'IS), 15 hours of him a weekadds up, in my view, to theabsence of variety or, toquote Earl Mountbatten,MONOTONY. Why cannotwe have three differentcomperes filling the sameperiod and alternatingweekly? (NB. This isn't"sour grapes". I gave upbroadcasting a year ago.Well, to be truthful,broadcasting gave ME up!).

Returning to The RadioTimes of ten years ago, doyou remember also thatbreeding ground, that radioplatform for new andestablished artists "WorkersPlaytime"? No requests inthat, no monotony of muchthe same records, day in,day out. It reminds me ofone disastrous occasion whenI set off the 20 or so milesfrom Manchester to

introduce "WorkersPlaytime" from a factorycanteen right beside theManchester Ship Canal. Theshow went on the air at12.30 and as I'd arrivedthere by 11.30 I decided thata pint or two wouldn't goamiss. "Is that the nearestpub?" I enquired from acitizen of the locality,pointing across the canal."That's right, Squire" hesaid. "Cross by the bridgeyonder". Thanking him, offI trotted to yonder hostelry,a matter of 300 yards or so.A couple of pints and 45minutes later brought the timeto 12.15 so I left the pub onmy way back. But the bridge.Where was the bridge? Thefactory was still there on theother side of the canal butWHERE HAD THEBRIDGE GONE? It hadSWUNG. Nobody hadthought of telling me that itwas a SWING bridge andthere in its place was abloody great oil tanker. Tenminutes to go and I wasseparated from my destinationby a rusting heap of old ironand 50 feet of water. Myexcuse for missing abroadcast must be one of themost original ever! Oh no,broadcasting in those dayswas never monotonous.Anything but.PS. You'll all be glad toknow that I eventually foundmy Birth Certificate. So there,I'm not one after all!

roger moffat

REMEMBER

deej U IS READ BY THE DJ'sWHO MATTER

4

38

disco -picks of the month"Better selection for you this month", reports our tame disco DJ. "With Christmas now out of the way the releases areflowing through. These I can personally recommend as being tried, tested and true disco -goodies. Don't be without them."

As usual his selection is not listed in any order or merit - but as received:

STEFANOZZIE ROCKFLIRTATIONSTHE CRICKETSDAVE CLARKTHE TEMPTATIONSBETTE MIDLERARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS

GEILS BANDFANNYSAM APPLE PIEJR. WALKER & THE ALL STARSGARY GLITTEREDDIE FLOYDJIMMY RUFFINJANIE & THE MARLETTESWARDELORES HALLCLAY HAMMONDSHAN MILESJACKIE LEERANDY PIE & FAMILYBITCHPAUL KELLYFOCUS

Holy CowRock 'n Roll RevivalWhy Didn't I Think Of ThatMy Rockin' DaysGlad All Over, etc.Papa Was A Rollin' StoneDo You Want To Dance?(There's Gonna Be) A ShowdownHard Drivin' ManSummer SongCall Me BossTake Me Girl, I'm ReadyDo You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah)You're Good Enough (To Be My Baby)Mother's LoveSchoolgirl NotionThe World Is A GhettoGood Lovin' ManDance Little GirlSoul People - Pts 1 & 2African Boo-Ga-LooQueen of DreamGood Time ComingChills and FeverSylvia

Stax 2025 153Polydor 2058 314Mojo 2092 058Philips 6006 269Columbia DB 8963Tamla TMG 839Atlantic K 10264Atlantic K 10263Atlantic K 10266Reprise K 14220DJM DJS 274Tamla TMG 840Bell 1280Stax 2025 150Mojo 2092 060Young Blood YB 1014UA UP 35469Jay Boy BOY 77Jay Boy BOY 78Jay Boy BOY 50Jay Boy BOY 76Atlantic K 10248Warner Bros K 16235Atlantic K 10272Polydor 2001 422

once again

disco -picks of the monthWHY DON'T YOU

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39

MOTOWN'S MAGIC

Their hottest property,long-time Motown queenDiana Ross, who led thefabulous Supremes for manyyears before going solo andthen turning her great talentto acting, portraying thelegendary blues singer BillieHoliday in "Lady Sings TheBlues", is now firmlyentrenched among theMotown hierarchy.

It was Diana whointroduced an unsuspectingpop public to the greatestfamily group to hit Britainand America for some time -the amazing Jackson Five,now established as anAmerican institution. AndMotown's first lady of pop isnow in the running for anAcademy Award for herstartling performance asBillie Holiday.

"Lady Sings The Blues" iscurrently the greatest money-spinner on the Americancinema circuit and the filmsoundtrack record is thefastest -selling album inMotown's history.

Said Motown MarketingVice -President Ewart Abner:"After only a few weeks thealbum is already approachingthe two million dollars salesmark and the response fromdealers and distributors hasbeen so enormous that thepressing plants have not beenable to keep pace."

The double album is beingrush released in Britain.The film, Motown's firstventure into films, using onlyMotown artists, is yetanother example of theMotown Midas touch.

But back to the music.What is it that keeps Motownon top of the pop pile?

In spite of changingmusical tastes in Britain

during the past decade, onerecord label has consistentlynotched up hit after hitduring that time, oftenknocking the idol of the dayfrom their pedestal. Thatlabel, of course, is thefantastically successful TamlaMotown.

The Motown story, as faras Britain is concerned, beganin 1964 when Mary Wellscrashed our charts with "MyGuy", which on its recentre-release became a second -time -around smash, provingjust how spell -binding thatold black Motown magicreally is.

These days, of course, it'smore of a surprise if aMotown single doesn't hit thecharts. But even now in thevast American Motown recordcomplex there's nocomplacency. When a Detroitdisc hits the top, Motown'sbig boss man, BerryGordy Jr, and his smallenthusiastic staff still literallyjump for joy.

Perhaps that kind ofchild -like reaction isn't sosurprising when you considerthat the name of the Motowngame is perfection. That'swhat Gordy and his team areaiming for on every record,which explains why Motownnever turn out a badlyproduced disc.

It's difficult to explain howa small record company,whose first home was littlemore than a tumbledownshack, has grown into one ofthe most important labels inthe history of pop - until onescans their list of contractedartists.

Perhaps the best man toanswer that is Motown'sBritish Press Officer PhilSymes, a Motown addict

since he was 14 years old.Said Phil: "The Motown

set-up is autonomous andstill very much a familyconcern. Berry Gordy is stillvery much concerned withthe company and no recordis released until he gives it thenod. What with a qualitycontrol department vetting allmaterial first - and they'rereally on the ball - it's notsurprising that the endproduct is almost, and often,perfect.

"The company hand picktheir artists and don't rushthem. They groom them, givethem time to get it together,and then the writers move inwith material writtenespecially for them. Formany years Holland -Dozier -Holland and SmokeyRobinson of the Miraclesprovided practically everysong and, without doubt, theyare some of the finest writersaround.

"They give each artist thatindividual sound, but equallyimportant are thearrangements and production.I find the arrangements veryexciting and alwayscommercial. Motown is ablack sound and it generateslots of warmth and depth offeeling. They are good dancerecords, but the lyrics arealso well worth listening to."

Sentiments I'm sure thatall Motown addicts will agreewith. Just listen to the wordsof the Temptations' latestsizzler "Pappa Was ARolling Stone". There's atouch of "Shaft" about it,but it's a brilliant disc. ANo I smash, say I.

The Motown stable isbristling with talent. There'sDiana, The J5, StevieWonder - who started his

career with the title LittleStevie Wonder. It wasdropped when he grew toover six feet tall - MarthaReeves and the Vandellas,The Supremes, Edwin Starr,The Temptations, Wonder'swife, Syreeta, ThelmaHouston, Junior Walker &The All Stars, Gladys Knight,as well as up and cominggroups like The Sisters Love(why was their lovely "MrFix -It Man" ignored here?),Valerie Simpson, and asensational duo of Valerieand Nicholas Ashford, whocould well turn out to be thenext really big Motown act.

On Motown's West Coastlabel, Mowest, there'sFrankie Valli and the FourSeasons who have been goingstrong since the early 60s,Tom Clay, whose firstrelease "What The WorldNeeds Now" was a millionseller, The Commodores, amulti -instrumental group,G. C. Cameron, ex -leadsinger with the MotownSpinners, and Lesley Gore,who has now changed hersinging style since her "It'sMy Party" days.

Mowest also have highhopes for three youngwomen - Suzee Ikeda, Blinkyand Michelle Aller. Don't besurprised to see their namesin our charts afore long.With a stable full of talentlike that, who needs luck!But in the strange world ofpop, nobody can do withoutit. Not even Motown.

mikecook

40

THE TEMPTATIONS: Started life as The Primes. Next to J5, Motown'stop group. Hits galore since being signed by Gordy. Latest single PappaWas A Rolling Stone is fantastic. Introduced the psychedelic soul sound.

SISTERS LOVE: New Mowest Delta sound. An-other group to keep very much in mind.

STEVIE WONDER: Startedwith Motown in his early teens.Recently deserted 'funky' typenumbers for more progressive,and not so commercial material.Should have little difficulty hittingcharts with his latest number'Superstition'.

DIANA ROSS: Started as lead singer with The Supremes. Went solo,now a film star as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings The Blues. DiscoveredJackson Five Vital cog in the mighty Motown machine.

VALERIE SIMPSON: Young Motown songwriter turned singer. Hailedin America as successor to Carole King. After first stage show - on samebill as Donny Hathaway - got rave reviews. Definitely a new Motown star.

SYREETA: Also known as MrsStevie Wonder. Mowest havehigh hopes for this talented andglamorous young lady.

41

Free RadioCampaign

The big story this month isobviously, in spite of manysetbacks during Novemberand December, the return ofCaroline, which has nowbegun regular programming.The 163 foot mast broke in abad storm during November,and since then they have beenon low power only using atemporary horizontal aerial.After all the test transmissionson 259m it was quite asurprise when the first regularshows started on 199m (keenoff -shore radio supporters willricognite that as thewavelength Caroline usedwhen it first appeared manyyears ago) and the disc jockeysdoing live shows on boardincluded some familiar namessuch as Andy Archer(ex -Caroline Internationaland RNI) and Crispian StJohn (ex-RNI). There werealso some Dutch speakingDJs. Reception in thiscountry, however, was verypoor for technical reasons.

After Christmas troublestarted on board and the shiphad to go into harbour, butthey soon returned to sea,amid massive press coverage,and restarted programmingon 259m once again, thistime DJ Tony Allan joinedthe team, and we understandthere are more well knownDJs standing by.

As soon as they can get anew mast fitted (this is underway) and a more powerfultransmitter working, weexpect reception to be verygood. It is even possible theywill use the present lowpower transmitter on 199magain for a separate Dutchservice. At present the DutchDJs are on the air around themiddle of the day, with theEnglish DJs on in themorning and at night.

CAMPAIGN for INDEPENDENT BROADCASTING

So, let us wish RonanO'Rahilly and his team thebest of luck in bringingCaroline back to us . . . andlet us hope the DutchGovernment are not promptedto take any action against thethree off -shore stations now!

Meanwhile on the nearbyRadio North SeaInternational, the short wave"World Service" as mentionedlast month, has returned.Every Sunday from 09.00 to19.00 GMT. The service is allin English and consists ofmany special programmes bythe regular DJs and others.Perhaps the most popularshow is at 09.00 "Northseagoes D -X" introduced byA.J. Beirens. This showcontains D -X news, listeners'letters and features a radiostation, often an off -shore onefrom the past. We are told by

the owners of RNI that theyhave many special thingsplanned for this service andthe normal daily Internationalservice on 220m MW during1973.

Some more DJs have comeon to the station since thelast issue of "Dee Jay andRadio Monthly". Rob Eden,who came for a few weeksonly to help out overChristmas; Arnold Laynereturned after a short absenceand also a new nameappeared, Mark Slate, wholike Arnold has had someprevious experience ofoff -shore broadcasting underanother name.

A brief note for RadioVeronica fans . . . they areselling "T" shirts - details aregiven out over the air and intheir weekly magazine"Veronica 538".

With Radio Carolinehaving its troubles so are theIBA in finding a location fortheir aerial masts for themedium wave transmitters ofthe two London commercialradio stations.

For technical reasons itseems that they have to besited to the north of London,and a site at Arkley, Herts,was selected. However, localresidents opposed the plan onenvironmental grounds andalso that the transmitterswould cause severe interferenceto other radio and televisiontransmissions. The LondonBorough of Barnet have alsoopposed the plan. A publicinquiry was held recently,and the result of the enquiryhas been submitted to theDepartment of theEnvironment and theSecretary of State, Mr

Mi Amigo just before the storm damaged the mast. (Pic-courtesy FRC Holland)

42

RN/ DJ Brian McKenzie on his way to RNI's Bussum stadia.

(Pic-courtesy FRC Germany)

Geoffrey Rippon, will cometo a decision within the nextcouple of months.

The viability of the Londonnews station does, it isclaimed, depend to a largeextent upon the news stationbeing able to "sell" itsservices to other operators.This means that in the IBA'sview the timing of thecommencement of theoperation of the Londonnews station must be closelyallied with the development ofother commercial stationsthroughout the country.

As you probably read inlast month's "Dee Jay andRadio Monthly", whenapplications closed onDecember 8 for the first fivecommercial stations therewere 24 applications, whichwere broken up as follows:

Eight applications forLondon General(entertainment) station; fivefor London News; four forGlasgow; four forBirmingham; three forManchester.

Although several companies

have revealed for whichstation they are bidding, theIBA are keeping confidentialthe names of all the bidders.

Don't Forget . . . the FreeRadio Campaign can supplycar stickers, posters etc, tohelp you publicise the threeoff -shore stations, all atno -profit prices. Write fordetails to FREE RADIOCAMPAIGN, BM-FRC,London WC1V 6XX. Pleaseenclose a foolscap sae.

Also Membership of theCIB is only 38p. Regularnewsletters, free stickers areall included. Write:CAMPAIGN FORINDEPENDENTBROADCASTING,13 Ashwood House,London NW4. Foolscap saeplease.

Anyone interested in doingactive work in their areashould contact NEFRC,12 Queens Road, Newcastle 2.

Well that's about the endof another month's column.We look forward to writingto you again next month withmore information on radio.

DXCORNER

A lot of my correspondenceis with new Dxers who requireadvice on the best receiver tobuy which will receive all themain shortwave stations.This is difficult to do formuch depends on personalopinion and the amount ofcash available. A few noteson this subject will howeverbe useful, and should put youon the right track.

Many of us first discoverthe shortwaves through smalltransistor sets which mayhave one or two shortwavebands included as a bonus tothe standard Medium and FMbands. In a short time wesoon find that we need areceiver designed especiallyfor reception of shortwavebroadcasts; this type of set isknown as a communicationreceiver. It is of courseadvisable not to have acomplicated receiver too earlyon, for the numerous controlsmay tend to confuse ratherthan help the beginner. Whenyou have found your wayaround the shortwaves andwhen you can afford it acommunication receiver is amust.

The ideal receiver is one

that has good sensitivity, thatis, be able to pick up weaksignals, coupled with goodselectivity, which means itshould be able to separatestations on adjoiningfrequencies. With today'scrowded bands a goodbandspread is a real necessity,either mechanical, electrical ora combination of both.

Once you have a receiveryou should obtain a goodaerial; this is another bigsubject, but the cheapest typeis a "long wire", this isliterally a piece of suitablewire, the longer the better,installed as high as possibleand connected to the antennasocket of the receiver, orattached to the extendedtelescopic antenna of atransistor set.

I recently tried one ofthose Russian sets which areoften advertised in thenational press, and for theprice around £15 they aregood value. They are certainlynot communication receivers,but will be able to receive allthe stations which I willfeature in the comingmonths.

No matter what sort of

receiver you use you will soonfind enjoyment in the manyvaried stations which you willreceive. Next month I intendto take a closer look at thevarious shortwave bands andgive some details of thestations that use them.

Meanwhile one station youcan try for is ADVENTISTWORLD RADIO whichbroadcasts over the 250 kwtransmitters of Radio TransEurope from Sines in Portugalon 9670 khz (31.02 metres).Each Sunday at 0935 GMTthey broadcast the weeklyDX programme which Icompile for the World DXClub. This ten minute featurecontains the latest DX newsand includes items to helpthe Dxer enjoy his hobby.Listener reports are wantedand will be acknowledged bya QSL card. The AWRmailing address is PO Box5409, Paris 9e, France. AQSL card by the way isissued by most broadcastingstations and many Dxershave -a large collection allconfirming reception ofstations through the years.I will of course be dealingwith QSL collecting in a later

Clive jenkins

DX corner.This year is a good time to

start Dxing for 1973 is DXFRIENDSHIP YEAR, andmany DX Clubs and radiostations have made specialplans to bring the hobby to awider public. 1973 has beenchosen because "73" means"best wishes" in the radioworld and is one of manysuch abbreviations in use.

CLIVE JENKINS is wellknown in international radiocircles for he is Secretary ofWorld DX Club, one ofEurope's leading radio clubs.He represents that Club on theEuropean DX Council, theorganisation to which manyEuropean DX Clubs belong.

On behalf of WDXC hecompiles the script of theirweekly DX programme whichis broadcast world wide by aEuropean short wave radio

Each month he will bringreaders information on theinternational radio scene ...

43

dee jay album sounds

LLLL is Via: ILlittLe

liLLL

ARCHIE BELL ANDTHE DRELLSHere I Go AgainAtlantic K 40454

Following the recent chartsuccess of Archie Bell's "HereI Go Again" - it was almostcertain that an album wouldbe released - and here it is.

Go right out and grab acopy TODAY - if you haven'talready done so. This is thereal McCoy - perfect discomaterial from start to finish,with not a dud track in sight.

A great album.("DEE JAY"MICROPHONE AWARD)

THE OSNIONDS

THE OSMONDSCrazy HorsesMGM 2315 123

My feeing is that the"weeny bopper" image ofyoung Donny Osmand hastended to overshadow theobvious musical ability ofthis group - an ability thatcomes over very well on the11 tracks that make up thisalbum:

Includes the title track -their recent hit single - andother stand out tracks for meinclude the up -tempo openerof side one "Hold HerTight", a slow sentimental

"And You Love Me", andthe rousing finale of "Julie".Also don't miss the vaudevilletype ending with brief repriseof "One Bad Apple".

Considering that all thenumbers are written by thegroup -a very worthwhilealbum. Don't let it pass youby.

STATUS QUOPiledriverVertigo 6360 082Currently zooming up thesingles charts with "PaperPlane" - included here -Status Quo here turn in adriving album. The tracks arelargely self penned 12 -baroriented numbers andgenerally the music movesalong nicely. However onsome of the longer numbers,notably the Door's"Roadhouse Blues", they dotend to become ratherrepetitive.

Having said that, it's agreat album for dancing - besure to give it a listen.

ROY ORBISONThe All Time Greatest HitsMonument SMNT 64159/60

Double album of 20 of

Roy's earliest and biggest hitsincluding "Only The Lonely","It's Over", "Dream Baby","Running Scared", "BlueBayou" and, of course, "OhPretty Woman".

Although it's been sometime since "Big 0" was in thecharts - there's no doubt thatthese are great tracks.

If you want to replace thoseold worn-out 45s, or if youhaven't really listened to Roybefore-don't miss this one.

PETER D. KELLYRCA Victor SF 8302

This young man's new tome. And it's been aworthwhile introductionthrough this record. Hiseasy-going style paints justright romantic atmosphere ashe solos himself through the11 numbers that make up thisalbum.

I was especially struck bythree numbers, "Simple SongOf Love", "To Know TheGirl" and "Love For Living".

I'll be on the look -out formore of Peter D. Kelly.

Mil

ORIGINAL SOUND OFROCK & ROLL (VOL 1)London ZG 126

Will rock 'n roll really findits way back? Well, here's an

album that will help it on itsway if it does. It's a collectionof original recordings madeby the artists that were mostpopular when the rhythm andstyle was in its heyday.

It's a foot -tapping, hip andshoulder swinging collection,too. The album includes"Let's Dance", by ChrisMontez, so recently re -issuedwith tremendous success as asingle, "Red River Rock" byJohnny and the Hurricanes,"Earth Angel" by thePenguins, and Duane Eddy's"Shazam".

JOE LOSS AND HISORCHESTRAJoe Loss' Pop Dance PartyColumbia SCX 6529

Latest album from populardance band leader Joe Loss isjust what the title says -apop dance party. Withmedleys of many recent hits,plus single numbers like"Theme From Shaft","Popcorn" and "TheStripper", it's ideal for thosehappy party occasions. Canalso be useful for DJs whoperhaps play for an olderclientele who really preferthis type of sound to themore "way out", soul ortamla music.

44

BREWERS DROOPOpening TimeRCA SF 8301

With a name like BrewersDroop it would be sheercuriosity to find out whatexactly they have up their LPsleeve. I have previouslyheard of them, but not theirwork. After this selection(though not MaryWhitehouse's cup of tea) Iwould like to have another`round' of their particular`brew'. A special mention of"House Party", "Way I Feel"and some lovelyinstrumentation throughout,this album is worth half adozen pints of anyone'smoney.

Producer, incidentally(forgive another pun-butit's true), Tom McGuinness.Nice one!!! MR

THE CONGREGATIONColumbia SCX 6517

Congregation -a mixtureof choral backings and soul -tinged lead vocals - hit thecharts last year with "SoftlyWhispering I Love You",and this debut album is verymuch in the same vein.

Included are good versionsof "Day By Day" from theshow Godspell, Arrival's"I Will Survive", GeorgeHarrison's "All Things MustPass" and Buffy Sainte -Marie's beautiful "Until It'sTime For You To Go" -which I reckon would make agreat single release.

A really nice album whichmakes great late nightlistening.

STEALERS WHEELA & M AMLS 68121

Although having undergone

personnel changes sincecutting this album, definitelya group to watch for in 1973.Some truly beautifulharmonies throughout -reminiscent "mid" Beatlesand hints of Simon &Garfunkel. "Late Again","Stuck In The Middle","Jose" and "You PutSomething Better Inside OfMe" (which incidentally isgetting a lot of air -time) Iparticularly admire, and thewhole album should addmore enthusiasts to thegrowing "wheel"revolution.

MR

SLADESlayedPolydor 2383 163

Latest album from thoseWolverhampton lads onceagain ably produced by

It's a real rocker as wellfrom start to finish. Includedare their two recent hitsingles "Mama Weer AllCrazee Now" and "GudbuyT' Jane" - but really any ofthe up -tempo tracks wouldmake great singles. I'd plumpfor the final track on sidetwo, "Let The Good TimesRoll", which incidentally isnot the old Ray Charlesnumber.

Most of the titles containthe usual and by now familiarmis-spelling, including "IWon't Let It 'Appen Agen".

With this high standard ofLP - I sincerely 'ope it duz' -very soon.

NEIL SEDAKASolitaireRCA Victor SF 8324

Tracks from this album

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are getting some reasonableair time. All eleven trackswere composed by NeilSedaka himself, among themhis recent hit "Beautifulyou". He did the arrangingand album productionhimself as well.

It never ceases to amazeme that this voice comesfrom the chunky chap whosepicture adorns the sleeve.But, that's no criticism. Thewhole album is great.

I equally liked his"Anywhere You're GonnaBe" (Leba's song), the titletrack "Solitaire" and"Better days are coming".

ETTA JAMESEtta James' Golden DecadeChess 6310 126

This, as indeed intended,took me back to thatwonderful era of . . . welllet me not bore you with allthat. Then, as now, therewere so many greatperformers around, who forsome inexplicable reason justcouldn't sell records. Ettais joined, "In The Basement",by another such artiste,Sugar Pie De Santo, so goodto hear her once again. Abumper set this of 16 titles tonostalgically wallow in, myfavourites being "Sunday .

Kind Of Love", "Something'sGot A Hold Of Me" and"Stop The Wedding". If youhave a gap in the R & BFile of Times Past, make thisa present to yourself for thefuture. MR

a b.c.enterprisespublication

45

u.s.chartstop 30singles

Mid -January 1973

u.s.chartstop 30albums

1 Superstition Stevie Wonder Tamla 1 No Secrets Carly Simon Elektra

2 You're So Vain Carly Simon Elektra 2 The World Is A Ghetto War UA

3 Me & Mrs Jones Billy Paul Phil. Int. 3 Seventh Sojourn Moody Blues Threshold

4 Why Can't We Live 4 Rhymes and Reasons Carole King OdeTogether Timmy Thomas Glades

5 Tommy London Symp.5 Your Mama Don't Dance Loggins & Messina Columbia Orch. & guests Ode

6 Funny Face Donna Fargo Dot 6 Talking Book Stevie Wonder Tamla

7 Super Fly Curtis Mayfield Custom 7 For The Roses Joni Mitchell Asylum

8 I Wanna Be With You Raspberries Capitol 8 Living In The Past Jethro Tull Chrysalis

9 Crocodile Rock Elton John MCA 9 360 Degrees Of Billy Paul Phil. Int.10 Clair Gilbert O'Sullivan MAM

10 Rocky Mountain High John Denver RCA11 Keeper Of The Castle The Four Tops Dunhill

11 Europe '72 Grateful Dead Warner12 Don't Let Me Be Lonely

Tonight James Taylor Warner 12 Summer Breeze Seals & Crofts Warner

13 Oh Babe, What Could You 13 Trouble Man Marvin Gaye TamlaSay Hurricane Smith Capitol

14 Catch Bull At Four Cat Stevens A & M14 Living In The Past Jethro Tull Chrysalis

15 Loggins & Messina Columbia15 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes Blue Haze A & M

16 Love Jones Brighter Side of 16 One Man Dog James Taylor Warner

Darkness 20th Cent.17 Super Fly Curtis Mayfield Custom

17 Been To Canaan Carole King Ode18 Lady Sings The Blues Diana Ross Motown

18 Do It Again Steely Dan ABC19 Hot August Night Neil Diamond MCA

19 Separate Ways Elvis Presley RCA20 Close To The Edge Yes Atlantic

20 Hi Hi Hi Wings Apple21 Homecoming America Warner

21 The World Is A Ghetto War UA22 The Divine Miss M Bette Midler Atlantic

22 You Turn Me On, I'm aRadio Joni Mitchell Asylum 23 The Magician's Birthday Uriah Heep Mercury

23 Pieces of April Three Dog Night Dunhill 24 Creedence Gold Creedence Clear-water Revival Fantasy

24 Rocky Mountain High John Denver RCA

25 Dancing In The Moonlight King Harvest Perteption 25 Caravanseri Santana Columbia

26 Daddy's Home Jermaine Jackson Motown 26 Barbra Streisand Live In Concert At The Forum Columbia

27 Jambalaya Blue Ridge Rangers Fantasy 27 Joe Cocker A & M

28 Trouble Man Marvin Gaye Tamla 28 I Am Woman Helen Reddy Capitol

29 Sitting Cat Stevens A & M 29 I'm Still In Love With You Al Green London

30 Reelin' & Rockin' Chuck Berry Chess 30 An Anthology Duane Allman Capricorn

46

Ma -

chartssingles

top 301 Blockbuster

2 You're So Vain

3 The Jean Genie

4 Hi Hi Hi

5 Ball Park Incident

6 Always On My Mind

7 Solid Gold Easy Action

8 Long Haired Lover FromLiverpool

9 Desperate Dan

10 Help Me Make It ThroughThe Night

11 Wishing Well

12 Can't Keep It In

13 Papa Was A Rolling Stone

14 Nights In White Satin

15 Come Softly To Me

16 Shotgun Wedding

17 Gudbuy T' Jane

18 If You Don't Know By Now

19 Ben

20 Crazy Horses

21 Paper Plane

22 Relay

23 Me and Mrs Jones

24 Do You Want To Touch

25 Big City

26 Whisky In The Jar

27 Daniel

28 Baby I Love You

29 Hocus Pocus

30 On A Saturday Night

The Sweet

Carly Simon

David Bowie

Wings

Wizzard

Elvis Presley RCA

T. Rex

RCA

Elek

RCA

Wings

Harve

T. Rex

Jimmy Osmond MGM

Lieutenant Pigeon Decca

Gladys Knight &Pips

Free

Cat Stevens

Temptations

Moody Blues

New Seekers

Roy C.

Slade

Harold Melvin

Michael Jackson

Osmonds

Status Quo

The Who

Billy Paul CBS

Gary Glitter Bell

Dandy Livingstone Trojan

Thin Lizzie Decca

Elton John

Dave Edmunds

Focus

Terry Dactyl

Tamla

Island

Island

Tamla

Thres

Poly

U.K.

Poly

CBS

Tamla

MGM

Verti

Track

DJM

Rockpile

Poly

U.K.

hot1 Piledriver

2 Clear Spot

3 Freeway Madness

4 You Are The Music

5 Why Don'tcha

6 Talking Book

7 For The Roses

8 First Base

9 Lark

10 Rock 'n Roll Gypsies

11 Once In A Blue Moon

12 Do Ra Me Far So La

13 Full House

14 Tractor

15 Stealers Wheel

16 Hog Wash

17 Scrapbook

18 One Man Dog

19 Divine Miss M

20 Rhymes and Reasons

chartsalbums

heavy 20Status Quo

Captain Beefheart

Pretty Things

Trapeze

West, Bruce &Laing

Stevie Wonder

Joni Mitchell

Babe Ruth

Linda Lewis

'Vinegar Joe

Frankie Miller

Te Do Hawkwind

J. Geils Band

Tractor

Stealers Wheel

Ground Hogs

Dave Mason

James Taylor

Bette Midler

Carole King Ode-A & M

Vertigo

Reprise

W.B.

Thres

CBS

Tamla

Asylum

Harvest

Reprise

Island

Chrysalis

U.A.

Atlantic

Dande

A & M

U.A.

Island

W.B.

Atlantic

NOTE

THESE CHARTS AREINCLUDED AS A GUIDETO THE BEST SELLINGSOUNDS IN BOTH THE

UK AND USA

47

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