Book description
14 November 2012 marks the ninetieth anniversary of the BBC's first
ever broadcast and the beginning of the British love affair with
radio. This fascinating book takes as its starting point those early,
tentative programmes broadcast from Marconi House on the Strand, and
follows the story of those magical radio voices through the years of
economic depression, war and austerity, to the swinging Sixties and up
to the digital era.
Above all, it celebrates the great, the forgotten and the notorious
voices of radio from the last nine decades, and the programmes they
made famous: Marion Cran in the 1920s, who pioneered the first
gardening programme; Lord Haw Haw, whose sinister catchphrase 'Germany
calling' punctuated broadcasts throughout the Second World War; the
Goons and Kenneth Horne, comedy greats of the 1950s; John Peel, Alan
Freeman, Kenny Everett and other heroes of Radio Caroline and the
pirate stations; all the way up to Eddie Mair, Fi Glover and Danny
Baker, the much-loved voices of today.
The result is a wonderful blend of insight, history and nostalgia
that will appeal to radio's many aficionados.
SIMON ELMES is Creative Director of the BBC's Radio Documentary Unit,
where he oversees a wide range of programmes. He was Executive Producer
of the long-running magazine
Word of Mouth
, from its inception until 2004. In 1996 it was awarded one of the
world's premier broadcasting prizes, the Premio Ondas. He produced the
award-winning
The Routes of English
, a 26-part series on the history of the English language, and has
written four books to accompany the series. He also produced the 2005
radio and TV project
Voices.
