Evergreen

74 EVERGREEN Autumn
This year, marks 50 years
since BBC Radio One
began broadcasting. At
7.00am on the 30th September 1967
a countdown by the controller of
Radios One and Two, Robin
Scott, launched the station.
This was followed by a
jingle — the first to be
played on BBC Radio —
which began with “The
voice of Radio One”, then
Tony Blackburn announced,
“And good morning everyone.
Welcome to the exciting new sound
of Radio One.” The first record he
played was “Flowers in the Rain” by
The Move.
Across the past five decades the
station, which now broadcasts
internationally as well as nationally,
has brought its listeners popular
music and chart hits throughout the
day. The weekly countdown of the
UK official singles chart has been a
highlight for many listeners over the
years.
In 1967 the Marine Broadcasting
Offences Act was passed to outlaw
50
Years of
RADIO
ONE
pirate radio stations such as Radio
Caroline and Radio London. In
order to satisfy the demand for
pop music, the BBC decided to
create Radio One, while Radios
Two, Three and Four replaced
the Light Programme, the
Third Programme and the
Home Service respectively.
Johnny Beerling
was instrumental in
establishing the station and
became executive producer
in 1972. He recruited disc jockeys
and produced the first broadcast by
Tony Blackburn.
Before Radio One, Tony Blackburn
had worked on Radio Caroline and
Radio London. It was his cheery
voice that earned him a job — and
the much-coveted role — as the
first presenter on the new station’s
Breakfast Show.
The line-up of staff also included
John Peel, Ed Stewart, Alan Freeman,
Pete Murray, Kenny Everett, Jimmy
Young and Terry Wogan. Like Tony
Blackburn, some of them came to
work for Radio One from pirate radio.