Radio Review: 7 June

This week, our reviewer is unexpectedly entertained by the organ
Louis-Barfe-newBWI’m not a regular listener to The Organist Entertains or Listen To The Band on BBC Radio 2. I like to hear a good theatre organ and I’m a devil for a bit of Hammond jazz, but the electronic variety with full rhythm accompaniment leaves me stone cold. Nonetheless, I am thunderously glad that the network sees fit to keep both of these shows on the air, serving their devoted audiences.

Of course it’s only right that the BBC should continue to express its gratitude to organists. In the first few weeks of the Second World War, many programmes were scrapped and it was left to Sandy MacPherson to fill the gaps, seemingly welded to the stool of the BBC Theatre Organ, a fine Compton, that lived in the variety department’s headquarters, just down the road from Broadcasting House.

In last week’s edition of The Organist Entertains, Nigel Ogden, presenter since 1980, interviewed Dr Gordon Stewart, borough organist for Kirklees in West Yorkshire and resident organist at Huddersfield Town Hall. Stewart is best known for playing a ‘straight’ organ, so the usual jaunty showtunes were largely absent, but the half-hour passed agreeably. Anyone who turned off, missed a treat.

When I do catch The Organist Entertains or Listen To The Band, it’s because it’s on in the background. There’s a world of difference between listening and just having the radio on. It’s unlikely that anyone sits in a darkened room, a mode of listening espoused by the highminded at the birth of wireless, to enjoy, say, Tony Blackburn’s Pick Of The Pops.

With a radio on in the background, we catch all sorts of things we might not otherwise encounter. The Film Programme had a fascinating bit about trailers, and how they deceive. A British trailer for a recent Star Trek movie focused on Benedict Cumberbatch, even though he was not the star of the film. Meanwhile, earlier, I heard a woman on You And Yours moaning about losing a lot of money to scam artists. She said that she knew she’d never see her money again. Sharp as ever, I see, madam.

The Organist Entertains, BBC Radio 2, Tuesdays, 9.30pm. Listen To The Band, Radio 2, Wednesdays, 9.30pm. The Film Programme, BBC Radio 4, Thursdays, 4pm. You And Yours, BBC Radio 4, weekdays at noon.

A DAB HAND

Glaswegian listeners can no longer listen to London talk station LBC, after it was taken off the city’s DAB multiplex. Amazingly, some Scots have taken to Twitter to complain about the decision. You think they’d be thankful. 

Follow Louis on Twitter: @LFBarfe or email him at: wireless@cheeseford.net
For Louis’ blog: www.lady.co.uk