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Quote from Justin on the "Why not a Shadows movie?" thread:-

"The BBC is obviously being run by young people who base the output on what is 'fashionable'. Why else would Brian Matthew be unceremoniously dropped from 'Sounds of the Sixties', and the programme be relegated to an even earlier time when even fewer people are awake? I understand about catch-up services, but it's an example of how things are moving. I bet that SOTS will be dropped entirely from the BBC at some point in the not-too-distant future."

I agree and feel it is the end of an era at a time when many eras are ending (I have to confess to enjoying "The Music Goes Round and Round" on Radio 2 on Fridays...and then Desmond Carrington retired last October (his last few programmes were quite emotional)...and now he's died). Over the years SOTS used to play quite a lot of Shadows music - both well-known and obscure. Even Goodnight Dick got a spin a few months ago, and in a programme which rarely featured interviews, Hank was interviewed by Brian Matthew several times.

Following the sadness of Brian's last "This is your old mate Brian Matthew saying 'That's your lot for this week...", I couldn't help noticing that Foottapper (the play-out music) was played in its entirety - possibly for the first and only time. I wonder if Tony Blackburn will keep it...

What appalling treatment of Brian - even bordering on the illegal I suspect should he have chosen to pursue it - too much of a gentleman though, unlike the mandarins at the BBC these days. What a bunch - time to get rid of the Beeb, not Brian.

I agree with all the above and I, too,am disgusted with the BBC. Listening to SOTS and Brian and enjoying a bacon sarnie was an integral part of my Saturday morning routine. I once had a request played on the instrumental break immediately before the 9 am News (Tales of a Raggy Tramline).

There is an online ''Reinstate Brian' petition which you can find here:

https://www.change.org/p/bbc-reinstate- ... he-sixties

I fear, though, that it will fall on deaf ears at the BBC.

Tony

It's almost as if employers have no responsibility to take into account their employees' age and medical conditions while having some degree of responsibility for their welfare. Sometimes its better for people to step aside at a certain age, regardless of how well they might be regarded by their colleagues. Often hard decisions have to be made and the person involved doesn't always have the most objective view of the situation.

It's a shame, but people age and situations change. He's had a good run.

(38, BBC employee. Not sure if that counts as "young". Less than half of a Brian Matthew though. I hope they throw me out before I'm 88; I'm exhausted already.)

Matt makes good points about duty of care. There is another factor to bear in mind.

Brian Matthew is a freelance broadcaster, not a member of BBC staff, so there is no job to be fired from. Matthew will have been contracted to do SOTS for a season, and paid show by show. At the end of the batch there may be an opportunity to repeat the arrangement -- or not: either side can bring it to an end.

Deciding whether to have the show at all and, if so, which presenter to use is the job of the head of Radio 2. I'm sorry he is calling time on Matthew -- I bet there's an inside story we may never know -- but glad he's bringing in Blackburn. Why he's putting it on before the target audience wakes up, however, beats me!

Freelancing is normal in showbiz. It allows maximum artistic freedom for the entrepreneur and gives maximum opportunity to the performer.

In the 1960s, you'll remember Matthew presented not only Saturday Club for the BBC Light Programme but also Thank Your Lucky Stars for ABC TV. A classic example of freelance working. If he'd been an employee of either station he would not have been allowed to work for the other one.

Well... I've just listened to the new Sounds of the 60s. Switched on at 7.40 and heard the last 20 minutes. All too soon it was over and I gave Dermot O'Leary 20 minutes. Then, a flash of genius -- at my age, any good idea qualifies -- the BBC iPlayer!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08gmhlh

I've now heard the entire show and it was as good as live - the news was 2 hours out of date but not long enough for it to matter much. It was vintage Blackburn, just like listening to him back in the 60s, first on pirate radio and then Radio 1. Musically he was in his element. He didn't miss a trick and included a fulsome tribute to Brian Matthew: he said he used to listen to him on Saturday Club when he was a schoolboy. He also plugged BM's new show looking back over his entire broadcasting career: first episode on Easter Sunday.

One regret. It no longer ends with Foot Tapper. Unlike BM who was recorded, TB is live and doesn't need a fadeable instrumental to bring the show out on time. To be honest, keeping it would not have suited the style of the new programme, which takes a quite different approach. I'm sure we'll hear the Shadows in the coming weeks and, given producer Phil Swern's deep knowledge, some unusual tracks as well as the hits.

Does anybody know what the listening figures have been like for Sounds Of The Sixties since it was moved to the 6am start? I'm dead to the world at that time on a Saturday morning and really miss the programme

RAJAR publishes listening figures by the quarter. The first quarter to feature SOTS with Tony Blackburn is Q2 2017 (Mar-Apr-May). I'd expect the figures for that to be published early in June.

Thanks Iain