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I've just found an old cassette containing an off-air recording of the BBC Radio 2 show Sounds of the Sixties from, I would guess, 1986 - presented by Jerry Lordan! This was during a period of a year or two between the show being presented by Keith Fordyce and Simon Dee...before Brian Matthew took up the regular presenting job. (It's still on now - presented by Tony Blackburn - but 6.00am is too early for me!) Other guest presenters included Hank, Bruce, Jet, Heinz...

Here are the songs he played:-

Apache - The Shadows
Goldfinger - Shirley Bassey
Space Oddity - David Bowie
Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
Gypsy Woman - The Impressions
When Will I Be Loved - The Everly brothers
Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix
Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
Conversations - Cilla Black (which he co-wrote with Rogers Cook and Greenaway)
Nights in White Satin - The Moody Blues
My Generation - The Who
Je Ne Regrette Rien - Edith Piaf
A Hard Day's Night - Peter Sellers
Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan
Shakin' All Over - Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
Windmills of Your Mind - Dusty Springfield

He sounds very youthful and enthusiastic, and mentions that the programme was recorded in Bristol, "where I first played Apache to The Shadows."

Keep that tape!
Yes, I’d completely forgotten about that period on SOTS when R2 was going through its “star” policy (don’t use an established presenter with expert knowledge, try someone who is famous in another part of the field and hope it works.) Suffice it to say that the arrival of Brian Matthew was welcomed with sighs of relief!
Putting SOTS on at 6am is not quite as bonkers as it seems. It’s part of a push to encourage “our” generation to try radio programmes on demand rather than when they happen to be on. Through BBC Sounds, I can listen to SOTS at 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or whenever: even on another day if I like! Meanwhile there is a subset of the ageing population that doesn’t sleep as well as it once did, and Blackburn on earlies is there “live” for them.
I’m not saying it’s ideal, but there’s method in the madness.

The Radio Times listing for Radio 2, Saturday 19th March 1988...


Bill

As you were, 1988!!

Where did you get that from, Bill?