This book focuses on two commercial radio stations, Radio Luxembourg and Europe n°1, which were popular institutions in Western Europe throughout the Long Sixties, working across media and broadcasting transnationally. It argues that the existence of an overarching ‘dispositif ’ of commercial radio stations enabled them to operate on various dimensions and differentiated them from other broadcasters. The book therefore answers current calls in media history to look beyond national and single-medium borders and contributes to the cultural and media history of Western Europe.
Far Out at Sea tells the story of Radio Seagull and how a bunch of renegades created a truly alternative radio station. Lavishly illustrated with photographs and featuring exclusive interviews with the people involved, Far Out at Sea is a must read for all fans of offshore radio.
Travel on an epic journey through the history of Radio Luxembourg - the 'Great 208' - a station which entertained millions and helped shape European listening habits during the last century. The book, which has been a project lasting a decade, features exclusive contributions from stars of the golden age of music and broadcasting, including Vera Lynn, Pete Murray, Teddy Johnson, Gerry Marsden, Desmond Carrington, David Jacobs, David Gell, Ray Orchard, Alan Freeman, David Attenbrough, Don Wardell, Shaw Taylor, Arthur Brown, David Hamilton and many others. Nathan Morley traces the origins of Luxembourg, celebrating the early pioneering spirit and unearthing long forgotten characters and programmes. The book looks at the brutal war-years and the transformation of the channel into a Nazi propaganda station, then as a US psychological warfare channel. It provides an insight into key events, personalities, programmes, internal problems and its magnificent successes. The Cold War years are recalled by songstress Connie Francis, who became a popular entertainer on the channel, which was banned in the Eastern block and USSR, but attracted over 35 million listeners. In one of his last interviews before his death and subsequent exposure as one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders, Jimmy Savile spoke to the author about his Radio Luxembourg career, the station that had made him a legend; as he cascaded to fame as a purveyor of pop, spouting nonsensical catchphrases and innuendo. Faced with a hostile BBC and the pop pirates, Radio Luxembourg managed to survive the 60s and 70s. Personal memories are shared by Noel Edmonds, Paul Burnett, Kid Jenson, Roger Day, Benny Brown, David Symonds, Colin Nichol, Timmy Mallett, Tony Blewitt, Alton Andrews and Emperor Rosko, who all give their take on the era, in addition to contributions from pop stars including David Soul and Dave Berry, and former Controllers Alan Keen and Ken Evans. The boss of the opposition Radio One's Johnny Beerling also contributes his memories. This is an important deeply researched portrait of British broadcasting history, and one which is aided by many of the personalities, staff and stars that were associated with it.It seemed that in his early teens, John Lennon was a fan of mine on Radio Luxembourg, and that one evening I played a record that 'changed his life' - Heartbreak Hotel. DAVID GELLI remember when I went for my first visit to Luxembourg; I took back about three pounds of bacon to the UK in my suitcase, which my parents enjoyed! - TEDDY JOHNSONI always had a desire to reach people behind the iron curtain; the point of Radio Luxembourg for me was that I could make people who were so suppressed happy. I was amazed the signal could reach to Tunisia and behind the iron curtain. CONNIE FRANCIS The thing with Luxembourg is that I never actually met any of the other performers that were broadcasting because I just went to a little studio in London, did the programme and that was that. - VERA LYNNGreat parties, beautiful girls, ridiculous practical jokes, walking home through snowy streets at 4am, corpsing whilst reading the news, warning letters from Geoffrey Everitt, the overwhelming thought that I had finally made it on "the station of the stars" - NOEL EDMONDSThe Liverpool sound was starting to make its mark and I'll never forget the appearance on The Friday Spectacular of four smartly dressed young lads with Scouse accents. It was, of course, The Beatles making their first radio broadcast. - SHAW TAYLORThere was always a local engineer on duty. He came in a said JFK was shot, so I called Geoffrey Everitt in London who was out to dinner, then the guy came back and said he was dead and I took us off the air. - DON WARDELLI later learnt that great artists like Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Bryan Ferry and the Beatles listened to Jensen's Dimensions - DAVID JENSEN
LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to share, print and post images for personal use.
The Wireless World sets out a new research agenda for the history of international broadcasting, and for radio history more generally. It examines global and transnational histories of long-distance wireless broadcasting, combining perspectives from international history, media and cultural history, the history of technology, and sound studies. It is a co-written book, the result of more than five years of collaboration. Bringing together their knowledge of a wide range of different countries, languages, and archives, the co-authors show how broadcasters and states deployed international broadcasting as a tool of international communication and persuasion. They also demonstrate that by paying more attention to audiences, programmes, and soundscapes, historians of international broadcasting can make important contributions to wider debates in social and cultural history. Exploring the idea of a 'wireless world', a globe connected, both in imagination and reality, by radio, The Wireless World sheds new light on the transnational connections created by international broadcasting. Bringing together all periods of international broadcasting within a single analytical frame, including the pioneering days of wireless, the Second World War, the Cold War, and the decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the study reveals key continuities and transformations. It looks at how wireless was shaped by internationalist ideas about the use of broadcasting to promote world peace and understanding, at how empires used broadcasting to perpetuate colonialism, and at how anti-colonial movements harnessed radio as a weapon of decolonization.
This new, thoroughly updated fifth edition of Bradt’s Luxembourg remains the only comprehensive, English-language guidebook to focus exclusively on this small but fascinating European country, where public transport is now entirely free. Reviews of the best places to stay and eat in all price categories, from luxury to budget, sit alongside information about every museum and significant place of interest, plus in-depth guides to local food, drink, language and culture, and advice on the best cycling and hiking trails, many of the latter having been personally explored by the author. This diminutive European state punches above its weight and is celebrated for everything from its early pioneering of commercial broadcasting with Radio Luxembourg to the fact that it has won the Eurovision Song Contest five times, while Luxembourg riders have won the Tour de France five times too. A foodie paradise, the country offers its own unique cuisine (a fusion of French and German influences) and perhaps the densest collection of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world. Short distances and easy travelling (whether by public transport or driving) mean a lot can be covered in a relatively brief visit, from sixty medieval castles to plentiful opportunities for outdoors enthusiasts, including long-distance international walking trails linking with the Belgian Ardennes and German Eifel. Military history is also covered, notably the sites of the Battle of the Ardennes and Hamm American Military Cemetery (the burial place of General Patton), as are details of the most popular sites such as Vianden and Luxembourg City’s Museum of Modern Art. New for this edition are: the Royal Hamilius complex in Luxembourg City (designed by architect Sir Norman Foster); the post-renovation, UNESCO-listed Pétrusse casemates; infrastructure upgrades such as extensions to the City’s tram line and ever-easier train and aeroplane access; details on the new cultural and art spaces in Esch-sur-Alzette (a European City of Culture in 2022); new wine-related events in the Moselle; a new Slate Museum in Haut-Martelange; and the Mëllerdall Nature and Geopark’s inclusion in UNESCO’s network of global geoparks. With so much in Luxembourg to surprise you, Bradt’s Luxembourg is the perfect travel companion.
When Sir Jimmy Savile died in October 2011, he was celebrated as a prolific charity fundraiser who dedicated his time to worthy causes. But on October 3rd, 2012, ITV broadcast an investigation into Savile's behavior called Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile. In it they revealed the true, predatory, and evil man behind the popular TV persona. In the documentary, several women alleged he sexually abused them when they were underage. This sparked a flurry of allegations in the following days and weeks from other alleged victims. So far police have been called to investigate reports of abuse on young children from as long ago as 1959 and anticipate the number of victims to be in the region of 300. But how Savile was allowed to get away with such monstrous crimes for so long has been the subject of immense debate and has led to the investigations of several British institutions. The BBC has been criticized and is hosting an internal investigation into how Savile's behavior was never called into question and how abuse allegations during his long career at the corporation failed to be flagged. An investigation is also underway into the canceling of a Newsnight program in 2011. The Department of Health has also said it will investigate its own conduct in appointing Savile to lead a "taskforce" overseeing the management of high security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor in 1998. Abuse is also alleged to have taken place at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary, where Savile volunteered. This is a well researched and informative look at how a predatory pedophile was allowed to go unnoticed for so long and to breach a nation's trust is such a cruel and evil way.
Histories of British broadcasting suggest that the BBC monopoly was never seriously challenged until the coming of ITV in 1955. Crossing the Ether counters this view, telling the story of commercial radio's first challenge to the Public Service monopoly between 1930 and 1939. In the telling, this account provides substantial primary evidence that radio in Britain during the 1930s was a battleground between continental-based stations, run by British and American commercial interests, and the BBC, beset by paternalistic and sabbatarian principles.
