Everyone can remember the first record they ever bought. I was reminded of this by a reader telling me that her’s was Lily the Pink, see London House Prices, mine was A Hard Day’s Night.
That was the first LP; I think some EPs, remember them, by Val Doonican preceded The Beatles. On Saturday mornings on Radio 2 I listen to Brian Matthew presenting Sounds of the ’60s for some nostalgia. If you are unfamiliar with the programme, it is a mixture of hits and seldom-heard B-sides; they used to be called the flip-side. Nicholas Parsons, presenter of Just a Minute since 1967, is at 92 the Father of the (Broadcasting) House but Brian Matthews at 87 is not far behind.
An endearing feature of the show is that when a record has to end precisely at 9.00 for the news it is invariably an instrumental number that can be faded. Also, the show is live but the links between records are recorded a few minutes in advance, when the previous record is playing, making for a faultless delivery.
The only wireless programmes that I avoid are Jazz Record Requests on Radio 3 and Sunday Worship on Radio 4, although Choral Evensong on Radio 3 is an especial favourite. I’m no fan of Woman’s Hour, either. (They did have a man’s hour on TV; it was Top Gear.)
Looking back over this post I’m aware that it has a dangerously high rating on the Pooter Scale but at least I have some insight into my condition.