SOT60s - Tony Blackburn - Automation Fail - broken studio leads to emergency tape being activated!

[@234laptop]

Sounded like a complete desk/playout breakdown - he later said his mic fader wasn't even up yet you could hear a microphone coming through. True professional, glad he's back on air

[@ElisabethJ.V.Beardsell]

Tony Blackburn you are true professional, always have been , and will be. Take care. 😊

[@jimhobbs461]

It would have been a nice touch if Tony had said 'here we are back again following a generator breakdown'. A great throwback to the pirate days when it was a miracle they got anything transmitted.

[@teejayy2130]

Professional to the last Tony Blackburn just the best

[@debraj5000]

yes i remember hearing it on saturday morning -- that was 'welcome back' for Tony -- with a severe technical breakdown

[@voiceofjeff]

I got into radio in the late 70s. In the 70s and 80s, we had cart machines, turntables, reel to reel decks, and CD players. If one thing failed, you still had other sources from which to put something... anything on the air! Now, stations (even networks) put all of their eggs in one fragile automation basket... and what you heard is what you get. I worked in radio for over 40 years, and thank God every day that I'm out of it now!

[@TheEastlondonbus]

Proves how much of a pro Tony is thy he just tried to carry on and when he could he did 😊

[@public.public]

A pro would carry a Kazoo in his top pocket at all times.

[@calebwright6151]

Bring back the turntables Get the vinyl out Tony

[@aerial558]

Total nightmare but Tony Blackburn took it in his stride real professional. That’s why CD and turntable are more reliable and has that natural feel.

[@scottmcmillan4689]

At least this was when they had the best jingles instead of those awful new ones

[@juniorsilvabroadcast]

and they sounded just like perfection

[@877-c1c]

Well come back tony blackburn

[@public.public]

BREAK GLASS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY Why isn't there an emergency Ukulele inside a little glass fronted box?

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

Don't remote transmitter sites contain a backup audio program for those times when the studio gets momentarily affected by a nuclear holocaust or something?

[@mattlumbmusic]

Does he need to hit the controls quite that hard? 😂

[@grahamclark4518]

as i presenter myself....yes

[@mattlumbmusic]

@@grahamclark4518 is that because they're in bad condition or been heavily used, or are they designed to be like that?

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

@@grahamclark4518 Since some of those buttons are big enough to be used with a sledge hammer then hey, you do you.🤣😂

[@grahamclark4518]

The engineering teams generally hate us being rough. Sometimes its just the buzz of doing a job we love and second not always realising we have a sledge hammer type touch @@mattlumbmusic

[@q7studios]

I was presenting on a station and had a system failure that took ages to fix and my emergency tape came on.

[@MrKpsuk84]

Tony rattling about in the background 😆

[@theangryviper]

What is your opinion on the new jingles released this week....? I loved the old ones but these new ones, not too sure on them (I assume wishbuddah made them again, some parts sound familiar)

[@BBCR2Fails]

Yes, they're Wisebuddah productions, composed & produced by the creative genius (and knowing the man I can say he's an all round good guy) Jem Godfrey. It's certainly taking the station in a new direction. The recently retired jingle package was brought out in 2012 and used until May 2023... that's a good 11 years... previous R2 packages haven't lasted nearly that long... They worked well but since: 1. the sung 88-91FM tag of the jingle was replaced with the line 'Listen Live on the BBC Sounds App' (voiced by Collette Collins by the way) 2. Scott Mills & Owain Wyn Evans started new shows and they didn't have any sung jingles made for it 3. Sara Cox had an added hour to her show but they didn't make a third theme tune for her... It was clear that they were preparing for a new jingle package that didn't promote the FM frequencies... (Radio 1 ditched the FM promotion in their branding 10-15 years ago... this was coming for Radio 2...) Vernon's new show was a good excuse for Wisebuddah to pitch an introduction of a new package. It clearly does the job and some of the cuts on it are syndications of another package (that worked successfully, by the way) for another UK radio station. You're right, it's a very different sound, very modern and leading away from an AC sound to a more CHR/Hot AC sound. But I suppose that's the direction the Controller of Radio 2 wants to go. Personally I am not a huge fan of the new ones, I think they should have stuck to the 2012-2023 style but hey... maybe I'm just a stickler for change... I'm definitely not a fan of the new travel bed, it has had a pretty consistent sound since the Groove Addicts 1998 package but this is completely different (just one example - the new one is in a Major key, whereas it has always been in a Minor key in the past) And I am definitely not a fan of the new news jingle... I get what they were doing by having different presenters do parts of the news jingle (R2 thing of all the presenters being part of a 'FAMILY') but it just sounds disjointed and the end of a show now sounds fake as the presenter doesn't really do a proper goodbye... anyway... enough from me...

[@theangryviper]

@@BBCR2Fails I agree about the travel bed, the intro is rather short and random. As for the news…again agree with you on that, no proper closure or build up to it makes it rather awkward. Also feels like it is building up to a bed but then nothing, I wonder if they are playing with the idea of having an actual news bed like radio 1 and others? Heard the folk show one tonight also, does seems like there will be quite a few variations. Wether or not these can be used interchangeably by other presenters we shall wait and see (a good example is Steve Wright, using many different versions 80s pop, rock, etc after trails) Time will tell I suppose, will be listening out over the next few days to see who else has new ones (Jo Whiley seems to have kept hers for now, breakfast too. Although they might wait until Zoe is back)

[@BBCR2Fails]

@@theangryviper Agreed. It’s also a shame that some of the permanent, weekday presenters don’t even have their own new sung jingles. From the top of my head, Jo, Trevor, OJ & the specialist shows (Cerys Blues, Jamie Jazz, Mark Folk, Bob Country) use plain IDs with a voiceover.

[@rogerdarthwell5393]

@@BBCR2Fails Apologies if I disturb but do you know the name of the 3 songs on the emergency tape that you had to cut because of right reasons?

[@alexmcgillivray8998]

@@BBCR2Fails I just love how much detail you have given here! I agree, loved the previous travel bed especially with Bobbie P when she’s on travel! The news intro sounds so rushed, maybe some tweaks to come. Incidentally since this is on Tony B’s video, so glad he is back, does anyone record his sounds of the 60s shows? On MixCloud there are uploads from 2017-2020 but none more recent, I received one of his gold medallions in May 2022 and would love to hear that show again!

[@tommycoopersmagiccarpetwea817]

Lucky he didn't start using expletives!

[@christopherhulse8385]

Rely on technology too much and this is what happens.

[@ElisabethJ.V.Beardsell]

The forever professional ❤ T B. 😊

[@anthonyperkins7556]

This is exactly why I don't like computer driven radio shows, they can crash putting a show off the air. I prefer manually operated equipment that DJ's operate, that way you know where you are and exactly what's happening.

[@juniorsilvabroadcast]

You can set up computers to work just like old school DJs equipment. and works perfectly

[@radiodude1976]

Or at the very least, have CD backups available in the studio so you arent completely stuck if the automation software decides to "take a dive"

[@tommycoopersmagiccarpetwea817]

As a last resort have vinyl/ record player back-up in the corner with Marvin Gaye 's "What's Going On" , innit !