Summer Work

 

June-September 2016

Summer Research

During the Summer, in order to keep on the ball with the film, Hannah set us some initial research. My job was to take a look at the sound of radio in the late ’70s (when the film is set). This included the physical radio itself, buttons, casing, amplification, etc. as well as radio stations, programs, shows and presenters of the time. This was all in order to add authenticity to the film and boost the quality. Below displays the initial research conducted for this task.

 

Radio Rewind
http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/index.html

• An unofficial, nostalgic fan-site created by Alan Davies of Merthyr Tdyfil, launched November 1999, celebrating the history of stations (R1+2), shows, DJs, jingles and theme tunes since R1’s inception in 1967.

1976

Jubilee Top 100

Radio 1 organised a competition during the Autumn of ’76 requesting listeners to forecast the next week’s top 3 singles whilst nominating their all-time favourite record. From this data the Top 100 list was assembled.

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/2_black.mp3

• Tony Blackburn announcing numbers 3, 2 and 1 in the Top 100, as well the time (‘something’ minutes before two o’clock). However, 1976 script described as evening.

Could be useful when selecting appropriate music used during 1976 section of film.

Tony Blackburn, Noel Edmunds, Simon Bates and Paul Burnett appear as the most popular presenters during this era of Radio 1. Therefore, colloquialisms used would be unique and specific to each individual presenter, whereas the jingles are consistent throughout.

 

Jingles

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/radio1/1970s_jingle_page.htm

• Contains authentic Radio 1 and Newsbeat jingles from 1976. Selection B includes ‘Smile with Us’ and ‘It’s a Great Good Morning’ – stark contrast to mood of film?

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/radio2/1970s_jingle_page.htm

• Radio 2’s jingles page.

 

1979 

• Typical Winter schedule for Radio 1, 1979.

BBC Singles Chart

Simon Bates hosted April ’78 – Aug ’79

Sunday 5-7pm

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/chart_djs_3.mp3

 

Tony Blackburn Aug ’79 – Jan ’82

Sunday 5pm-7pm

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/chart_djs_4.mp3

• 42 secs how he presented the charts, who he modelled his show from and why…

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/blackburn_top_40.mp3

• Tony Blackburn Top 40 jingle + introduction to the chart show

 

Radio 1’s Roadshow

Johnny Beerling’s idea to take the radio out to the people, radio-on-tour, which visited many cities and towns across England.

 

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/roadshow_trail_79(1).mp3

• 1979 Simon Bates Roadshow jingle, ‘where the happy people go, the Radio 1 Roadshow’ – Radio could be turned off violently after hearing this in disgust of other people’s happiness?

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/roadshow_trail_79(2).mp3

• Kid Jensen’s version

 

BBC Genome beta

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1979-07-19

• Radio Times listings from 1923-2009. Can allow us to be incredibly specific on dates and times if it is possible to find archives of the shows themselves to use in the film, adding greater detail and authenticity.

 

• Thursday 19^th July 1979 schedule. When clicking on links, the subsequent page gives a brief synopsis of the show, but unfortunately no content.

 

RetroRadioUK’s Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/RetroRadioUK/featured

• Another fan-based channel dedicated to portraying the representation of radio in its initial years. Content comes primarily from the account holder’s collection of cassette tape recordings.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjNh1kbwDjE

• Welcome to Retro Radio: 1.11 compilation of jingles from the most popular shows. Only date acknowledged in 1977.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQyoOVhjTrQ&list=PLDDqWXrHliez7Z-N4SIpj74Csk2OOirCu

• BBC Radio London jingle package from 1979. Channel includes a BBC Radio London 1979 playlist.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0XAEj08688&index=9&list=PLDDqWXrHlieyYAF8itqX5Wn971ePDw41t

• Tony Blackburn’s Top 40 introduction with Tony Blackburn.

 

Radios 

1970s ‘Russia’ 303 transistor radio, made in the Soviet Union. Video displays many good sounds of white noise, clicks, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gu-WXKZb9E

 

1960s Caroline Transistor radio – good clicks, white noise frequency sounds – exactly what you would expect to hear from a 60s radio.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfqGgbJjla4

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V6zTdmROE

Good quality 1970s GE radio

 

A Brief History of Transistor Radios

http://www.vintageradios.com/a-brief-history-of-the-transistor-radio/

• Not entirely helpful, more descriptive of it’s inception and the 50s, glazes over the 70s as this is when the transistor radio’s popularity ceased.
• “The market for transistor radios remained steady throughout the 1960s, but when the 1970s came around companies were starting to offer alternatives and the design became out of fashion and slightly redundant. Boom boxes and other portable music devices moved in on the transistor radios’ territory and by the end of 1970 the last American maker of these radios ceased production.”
• Susan likely to have one though, time period, army shelter, etc..

 

http://www.jamesbutters.com/perdiopr33mini66.htm

• British built Perdio Radio from the 1960s, seems to old to be used in late 70s though.

 

http://www.vintage-radio.com/manufacturers-and-sets/pocket-trannie.html

• Pocket transistor radios to research
• From looks of main page, transistors seemed to be most popular during the 50s and 60s but died out during the 70s

 

Reference List:

Holman, T. (2005) Sound for Digital Video. London: Focal Press.
Scetta, M. (2008) Gardner’s Guide to Audio Post Production. London: GGC Publishing.
Ament, V. T. (2014) The Foley Grail: The Art of Performing Sound for Film, Games and Animation. [2^nd edition] USA: Focal Press.
Davies, A. (1999) Radio Rewind. [online] Available from http://www.radiorewind.co.uk [Accessed 23 September 2016].
BBC. Genome BETA Radio Times 1923-2009. [online] BBC: London. Available from http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1979-07-19 [Accessed 23 September 2016].
YouTube. (2012) RetroRadioUK. [online] Available from https://www.youtube.com/user/RetroRadioUK/about [Accessed 23 September 2016].
Vintage Radios. A Brief History of the Transistor Radio. [online] Available from http://www.vintageradios.com/a-brief-history-of-the-transistor-radio/ [Accessed 23 September 2016].
Butters, J. (2007) Transistor Radios. [online] Available from http://www.jamesbutters.com/perdiopr33mini66.htm [Accessed 23 September 2016].