Tony Blackburn Radio 1 opening show

[@gingerladyaubern]

And a 'woof woof' from Arnold - When radio 1 was FAB :) My childhood growing up listening to Tony Blackburn, and I still do today on Sounds of the 60's.

[@stephenpochly7003]

Still got it. The King of the turntable , is as good as ever. Thankyou for all the years of fun , entertainment and ofcourse the jokes!

[@MrSnout5]

Still listening to Tony, 55 years on. His voice still hasn't changed much, nor have his corny jokes! Still has his great taste in soul music; may you carry on for many more years Tony, you're a legend.

[@tansleypotts9486]

,good memories wish I was young again

[@markwilliam3162]

Great memories from a child to adult when Radio was amazing

[@rogerhudson9732]

Radio is still better than television.

[@flashtheoriginal]

Seeing Tony tonight, Cliffs Pavillion, Southend. Keep on truckin' Tony

[@margaretessay6002]

One & only Tony Blackburn loved all his radio shows ...One of a kind ..never will anyone compare to him

[@mikecartlidge5355]

I remember this moment oh so well listening in on a tatty old transistor radio, Flowers in the rain, yeah! The thing is back then you had Motown, rock and everything else inbetween all in the charts at the same time together.........brilliant times for music lovers.

[@marypoulton6332]

Tony Blackburn is the best ever. Wish I could go back to the beggining of Radio 1 and live those happy carefree days again, it was always and still is to this day great to hear Tony on the radio.

[@eddybetanya]

Arnold, just love Arnold straight back to the 60's

[@ChrisATV301]

R.I.P radio 247! Welcome to radio heaven! Gone but never forgotten! ☹️😪

[@mikecartlidge5355]

I also used to listen to 270 anchored off shore at Scarborough, brilliant days.

[@colinsherwood7433]

HAPPY 50 YEARS IN SHOWBIZ TONY ..GOD BLESS XXX COLIN

[@v00n2000]

54 years, now :-)

[@susanbunce8442]

Now retired 😮

[@lewstone1934]

Just thought great pop music would last forever. But greatness does not last forever. Pop music of the creative, original kind died around 1992.

[@pinkcarrots5529]

i mean, if you want creative, you ever listened to Kikuo?

[@Barfsalts]

Cry about it

[@sheepkillindog]

You’re just getting older and changing perspective. It happens to all of us. New pop music try Knower. They’re fun. KZbin is full of great music. Follow the algorithm

[@gainsbourg66]

You are totally correct. Pop had a purple patch from 1955-1995, but ihe same thing happened in classical music. About 90% of classical music played in concert halls dates from a 40 year period, roughly 1785-1825. It doesn't mean that all brilliant music ends.

[@colindowd9756]

Love Tony! Still listening today Golden Hour, Sounds of the Sixties and the Sunday four hour show broadcasting across the BBC network from 6pm every Sunday

[@michaelhine4794]

I clearly remember tuning in to the launch on Saturday September 30th. Unforgettable day. Still one of the best DJs in the country.

[@rogerhudson9732]

I remember the morning well, 'Flowers in the rain' by the Move. A great year 1967.

[@elizabethramshaw3290]

Best ever DJ,especially on Radio 1 247 meters.Big part of my growing up.If only we could go back in time!!

[@john111257]

brilliant

[@darrenplumpton9737]

My all time favourite disc jockey whatever radio station he is on.

[@obrienkitty5777]

HI 1963 BLUE BOX I WOULD JUST LIKE TO TOTHANK YOU FOR UPLOADING THIS MASTERPIECE , I TRULY DO LOVE TONY BLACKBURN. HOWEVER I COULD NEVER LOVE HIM AS MUCH AS I DO YOU. MANY HUGS AND KISSES FROM YOUR LOVING PARTNER

[@dougsmith9232]

Best ever Tony b brought so much pleasures into our lives, couldn’t say a bad word against this guy😘

[@christopherwaring8285]

UNLIKE A CERTERN RADIO1 PADEO NONSE DJ JIMMY SAVILLE ARNOLD THE ALASATIAN MUST BEEN ABOUT AT LEAST 54 YEAR OLD NOW

[@andybywater7431]

Radio One was no substitute for the pirates. Half the time it shared programmes with Radio Two and had to play live recordings to save needle time. The UK missed out on many great records through the Radio One monopoly on Top 40 radio.

[@madonhifi]

great i listened to the first broadcast on my little transistor radio walking over ferrier field before i went to school. i was 12 at the time.. it was night and day music from the light program!!

[@trevoroliver8461]

Remember listening to Tony Blackburn whilst swatting for my O Levels in 1969.

[@trevoroliver8461]

Me too😀

[@blissy1]

I remember this first broadcast, I was up early for my milk boy job

[@margin606]

Wonderful presentation - so positive and cheerful 👍

[@LoveAudioProduction]

Wow. I'd not heard an entire aircheck of the opening show, only the usual opening sequence that you hear everywhere, so thanks for sharing.

[@gerrri99]

So Good Tony still at it.. love the Golden Hour on Friday at 7, and sounds of the Sixties Sunday!

[@Cultwatch123]

Saturday

[@stephenguppy8886]

Tony is still out there doing it and still sounds exactly the same. Brilliant.

[@simonwillson4853]

The ad at the start of the clip sounds like Kenny Everett

[@bromion5123]

Tony the legend.

[@patrickstocks3576]

Happy 80th birthday 🥳🎉🍾⭐️🎂🎊 Tony Blackburn

[@paulputnam8211]

When it started, Radio One had only an hour extra needle time which meant that many programmes were shared with Radio Two. Indeed this first Tony Blackburn show finished the very next programme was a Radio Two show shared with Radio One ! If you lived in a place where the offshore stations were not easy to hear it was great but if you'd been listening to the pirates since 1964 it was awful ! My radio was still mostly tuned to Caroline & when that finished (in March '68) I found Radio Veronica on 192m & stayed with it untill RNI started in 1970.

[@admiralbenbow5083]

I have been around quite some time and have always been well into my music, but I have always had a `thing` about the format oriented drivel that started in in the 60s with the jingles, and cult deejays that infested the airwaves. Then combine that with the self righteousness of the BBC. Our `guardians of quality` who did everything in their power to prevent any competition to their dictatorship of the airwaves. The `We Know Best` brigade. That took nigh on 20 years to break. Even that did not really improve programming, but at least there was some specialisation and more breadth in the types of music we could listen to. We have been and continue to be one of the two greatest and the most creative creators of contemporary music on the planet for nigh on 65 years. It is extraordinary given the above that we have ever had any music industry worth speaking of at all, the radio being for many years the only platform for exposure that our artists had, apart from Top of the Pops which was just a visual form of the same tired old stuff.

[@joonykids]

Amazing how all these years his voice ain't changed much!!!

[@maplady572]

He just sounds ever so slightly posher here! 😊

[@immunity0792]

Im learning about Tony Blackburn’s Radio one in my Media GCSE class, anyone else?

[@tracyyy99]

Radio 1 and it's music is for todays kids...I loved radio 1, listened to it constantly through out the late 70s to...I would say the early nineties...then it all changed. I listen to radio 2 now, it has some of the atmosphere that was present in R1...and a few ex R1 djs.

[@beedubree2550]

the radio channel that targets a young demographic plays music that is popular with young people? who would have guessed...

[@andrewbashford9786]

History was made 📻🎶🎙️🎧

[@susanchapman7506]

best DJ ever

[@johnking5174]

God how I wish I was alive in the 1960s. If I was born in 1955 instead of 1985, I would have been 12 when this started and would have loved the swinging 1960s.

[@hudois]

You'd've been 9 when Radio Caroline started. and 13 when Radio London hit the airwaves. Now THEY were the the proper deal!

[@johnking5174]

@@bluezodiac6329 Thank you Mr Pedantic, duly noted.

[@MrMacca1951]

good bloke still going strong most of his mates long gone corny but good crack

[@garrywood8836]

Well done Tony Blackburn, loved the 3rd record THE tremeloes always produced feel good music.very underrated.

[@kevinluis2000]

Legend

[@philhewitt5069]

The original , the best.

[@MichaelOKeefe2009]

Nothing like tuning to that BBC Radio 1 on that VERY AMERICAN inspired Ford Transit.

[@agustingomez1590]

Happy 50th Birthday BBC Radio 1! Cheers mate!

[@johnking5174]

I wish I was a teenager during this era. It would have been fantastic. I was born in 1985 and missed out

[@john111257]

even better on radio london, radio caroline

[@tracyyy99]

I was born in 1963 so grew up with R1 in the 70s and it was fantastic....best radio station for me anyway..

[@johnking5174]

@@tracyyy99 I have been watching clips from programmes about BBC Radio 1 from 1970 and 1978. It is a totally different era and one I wish I lived through. The 1978 documentary shows Noel Edmonds hosting the breakfast show. So simple, perfect, fun and right for 7am. Have you seen it?

[@OofusTwillip]

Tony Blackburn had the first show on Radio 1, but the first voice heard on Radio 1 was Kenny Everett's, in the opening announcement.

[@johnking5174]

Kenny wasn't the first voice. These are two clips edited together.

[@linx2087]

But it wasn't Radio 1 when Kenny announced it - Kenny's announcement was on the channel before (LW or MW) advertising when Radio 1 would start.

[@glenwooded8523]

Congratulations Tony on getting an OBE! Why did it take so long? 60 years and counting 👍

[@lavertera]

Flowers in the rain 1st record played, brilliant stuff...

[@stevebannister6922]

Blimey - hard to believe where those 50 years have gone ....

[@Specific148]

Ikr fam

[@tomservo56954]

Auntie Beeb finally understood why the pirate stations were so popular...

[@robbie007]

Tony is a truly great old school presenter. He has the voice. He has longevity. He loves the music he plays. He likes being a DJ to play music. Not the chat so many other DJs do. He also tells you the artist and song. Many now don't (e.g Steve wright). I loved his time on pick of the Pops because he had credibility. He was there presenting the songs when they originally aired. He took the time to add humour. Yes it's cheesy but it's also reassuring. His current show on Friday is really good. Let's hope BBC don't take him off again.

[@darrenplumpton8900]

Listening to lndependent Local Radio is like listening to one "daylong" mix tape. The days of the DJ being as famous as the artists who made the records they played are long,long gone. It is only dj's like Tony now who show the youngsters these days just HOW GOOD radio was in the 60's and 70's. These days it is just ,three records in a row then three minutes of advertising and then another three records in a row with just station identify jingles in-between. The "personallty" DJ as long gone, never to be heard of again.

[@thevan3293]

This guy got himself into trouble a few years ago, whilst working at Capital Gold London he got sacked for played a Cliff Richard record. This was followed by a mass public outcry to have him reinstated.

[@vanillaorchid]

Arnold - woof woof!

[@frankedwardcurry]

You have to thank Radio London for this. The BBC stole their format.They are the real pirates lol.

[@v00n2000]

Yes, this was THE MAN stealing the pirates' act. Revolt into style. At the time I was only 13 and quite impressionable, but it was so good to hear the good music coming through clear and strong, instead of fading out every 30 seconds like it did with Radio City, Radio London, Caroline, Luxembourg...

[@TheJMascis666]

The ink was barely dry on the Marine Offences Bill and Tony Blackburn had left Radio London and was working for the enemy!

[@hudois]

@@v00n2000 I was 15 and I lived in Guernsey at the time, and the signals from both Radios Caroline South and London came in loud and clear, but on the other hand, the reception for Radio 1 was abysmal. However it wasn't until Caroline left the airwaves in March 1968, that I thought I had no option but to give it a chance. After a couple of days of it I couldn't take it any more! Not just the reception, but the whole package! To think that they forced the pirates to close down...and replaced it with Radio 1. Talk about shafted...that had to be just about one of the bummest deals in history!! The story has a happy ending, though because shortly afterwards, I discovered the Dutch offshore radio station, Radio Veronica, which had a much more more adventurous playlist than Radio 1 ever did! Cost me a fortune in batteries, but it was sooo worth it!!

[@john111257]

@@TheJMascis666 a job

[@stevenoneill7166]

​@hudois I live in the North-East & Radio 1's 247 AM signal was awful up here as well. The main problems were the BBC putting over a dozen transmitters on the same wavelength which led to them causing interference with each other. Also a lot of their transmitters were well inland which meant that the signals didn't travel as far as those located on a coastline. This was a big advantage that the pirates had over Radio Luxembourg. Being located in a landlocked country, their AM signal barely reached the UK in the daytime & could only be picked up at night via the sky wave signal. RTL should've put that station on LW as signals on that waveband do travel further

[@djkeithcostello5200]

You are a legend tony

[@richardsharpe2966]

I think that's what radio 1 was going to be called radio 247

[@Richard-pe4cx]

INTO BY KENNY EVERETT ?!

[@johnbriggs2409]

Definitely - In his best BBC voice 👍

[@pauldoyle8549]

Fab and rockmungus

[@stevedoubleu99B]

What a great time to live through. But after the pirates, Radio 1 would have definately failed if they had not hired the talent of Mr Blackburn and his fellow broadcasters. Heck, they even helped the Beeb design the studios! I think even Tony would admit though, that he would have been nothing without Arnold, lol. God bless 'em both!!

[@clivethomas7868]

Arnold can bite me any time x

[@killerfly]

Arnold the dog, 1970, also "Take me girl Im ready" intro on a loop for the opening jingle ... My first job wake up call..

[@jimdavies2386]

Tony is still the greatest

[@1201alarm]

Tony sounds exactly the same today!

[@georgewatson3954]

Caroline was still there at this time attracting 20 million listeners, if the government had allowed the offshore stations or at least an amalgamation we would have had the finest radio service anywhere in the world, Tony sounds fine but Radio 1 played renditions of hits covered by the Northern Dance Orchestra because of needle time, the musicians Union should have let the kids have their fun, and gave the BBC a sensible needle time allocation and placed all their members bands on Radio 2, and late evening on Radio 1, sure it would have worked better

[@stevenoneill7166]

@georgewatson3954 the Musicians Union were every bit as ignorant as BBC management were towards young people. Some years later, there were pop groups & singers who were MU members but, when they had a problem, the union wouldn't listen to their concerns. Ultimately it led to a backlash & the MU lost a huge amount of support. Today the MU barely exists & it's their own fault. If they'd just listened to both the public & their members, they would've been respected & supported by many. Serves them right for being so pig-ignorant

[@jourellelane1686]

Kenny Everette rocks

[@nerd935]

keith skues is alive and kicking and is on bbc norfolk with skues at ten on sunday

[@phillipbonner9944]

Yes the great Tony Blackburn lets hope he sues the BBC for what they got, Good luck Tony

[@dangomes4855]

My wife told me that around 1977, when Blackburn was presenting a disco in Manchester, near Oxford Rd, in front of everyone on the stage, he fondled the breast of a girl standing next to him.

[@jonwesley6012]

RIP Ed stewpot Stewart....Keith cardboard shoes skues Alan fluff freeman

[@garypritchard6070]

excuse me jon ,keith skues is still very much alive ,with skues at 10 on radio Norfolk on sunday nights

[@hudois]

@@garypritchard6070 There's a possibility he might have meant the late great Dave Cash??

[@garypritchard6070]

? I DIDNT EVEN COMMENT ON HERE

[@BlackVortex604]

Media Studies😪

[@tianamulindwa7257]

pls me rn HAHA

[@didiask4485]

Radio 1

[@nicolasmason8799]

Such great tunes he played!

[@WhisperingJohn]

I was 11 when Radio 1 launched.

[@kenmor03]

7

[@ElisabethJ.V.Beardsell]

Arnold the dog!❤

[@crawlinginfilm9683]

I was there. Still reeling from the loss (outlawing) of my favourite offshore pirate stations, I tuned in to the dramatic opening of BBC Radio 1. Excitement, intrigue and optimism turned rapidly to disappointment, especially since the station ended at 7pm every evening.

[@stevenoneill7166]

@crawlinginfilm9683 I wasn't born until 1968, but I read the opening day schedule on the BBC Genome website & can fully understand your disappointment. It was painfully obvious that the BBC didn't want Radio 1, the UK government forced it upon them as a replacement for the pirates. The spanner in the works was the BBC management who all had a "stiff upper lip" attitude & were too old & too bloody ignorant to understand what young people really wanted. Indeed the station's 1st controller, Robin Scott, was old enough to be Tony Blackburn's dad !. It were also obvious that he was more in touch with Radio 2 listeners that Radio 1's

[@Dan_druft]

Blimey I was 8 when it started and he's still going at 79. Five and a half Tony Blackburn minutes past the hour of 8.

[@heene]

Why the dog barking at the start?

[@v00n2000]

That was Arnold... He was one of Tony's running jokes.

[@john111257]

used him on the pirate stations

[@MrGrif009]

Its Arnold

[@gorgeousgeorge3947]

Tony wanted to say Radio Caroline! He hesitated too much over the one bit.

[@ladymeghenderson9337]

well I am disappointed because I hoped it was a full show, not cut outs

[@christopherwaring8285]

THAT WAS WHEN RADIO1 WAS WORTH LISTENING TO WHEN THEY PLAYED RECORDS THAT YOU COULD HEAR WHAT THEY WERE SINGING NOT LIKE THE SHIT THEY PLAY NOW DAYS

[@admiralbenbow5083]

0.11 That voiceover sounds like Kenny Everett.

[@johntate5722]

Yes i think you're right

[@HooDie-Trench-GoTh2022]

Last - gasp - breath

[@simonmay217]

what was the first request on Radio 1? Scott Mckenzie?

[@N2GEL]

They used to have "Junior Choice" on Saturday and Sunday mornings (broadcast jointly on Radios 1 and 2 at the same time). Ed "Stewpot" Stewart presented it and played the requests. I believe it replaced the former "Family Favourites", which I used to religiously listen to at boarding school, imagining my family back home were also listening to it. I remember how disappointed I was when I went home one holiday-time and discovered my family hardly ever had a radio on! :)

[@arthurvasey]

@Simon May - Flowers In The Rain by The Move was the first ever record to be played on Radio 1 - I still maintain to this day that they might have benefited from being launched in FM stereo from Day 1! @Nigel Edwards Walker - My first boarding school never allowed us anywhere near a radio, a television, a record player or anything like that - if we had been, irrespective of whose radio or batteries it was, Radio 3 would have had to be on all the time - television would have had to have programmes with "educational value" in them, all records would be on the Deutsche Grammophon label - except that we didn't have even those - at home, mam always had to have Radio Cleveland on all the time!

[@hudois]

To Nigel Edwards Walker...WOW!! That is such a SAD story! I fortunately (by the sound of it) didn't go to boarding school, and I carried my little old portable radio everywhere! And I had a record player at home as well, and I watched Ready Steady Go and Thank Your Lucky Stars and A Whole Scene Going, etc. Looking back, I can't imagine what my life would have been at the time, without that access I had to the music of the day! And in that era, Radio 3 was the called "The Third Programme"...before it became Radio 3. Basically the same thing with the words twisted round!! Kudos to you for keeping your sanity...I'd have needed counselling after all that lot!! Phew!!

[@misslouisejaneburrell5429]

I am a huge fan of Tony Blackburn the god father of radio 1 and 2 today's radio is rubbish it is insult getting rid of Tony Blackburn and Steve Wright and the other greats appart from the Jimmy Saville weirdo

[@v00n2000]

Radio One has gone irrevocably downhill since the 70s. I blame the parents, not sharing their music with the kids earlier. My daughter is now in a band (kind of psychedelic doomy emo spaced out dark and twisted, but very melodic too) and likes all the same music I did. I want some rebellion!!!

[@billyweir714]

Happy memories of R1, not the drivel they spout out nowadays

[@petewadsworth8492]

Who would have thought the bbc would Go downhill this much . And be against the people who pay for it.

[@ronaldemmerton4561]

thas good

[@martyhogan]

1967? Massachusetts was 1967?

[@hudois]

Yes. it was released 8th September 1967, a shade over 3 weeks before Radio 1 was thrust down the throat of the unsuspecting world. It was the follow up to "To Love Somebody" which wasn't a hit, and the precursor to "World". That was 4 singles from the Bee Gees in 1967. Fortunately, those were the days before the disco era!

[@gemini802]

ha ha ha sounds funny now

[@john111257]

same theme, arnold, only on radio 1.....bbc copies

[@thisbambibites]

I hope that story that broke about him isn't true. I hope he's not another Savile.

[@georgewatson9622]

Actually it was a poor imitation of Radio.lomdon.the listening figure for the opening of Radio London.eas 3 million, were up dial.radio.Caroline attracted over 12 million listeners for the Roger Day show, on.thst day

[@georgewatson9622]

Sorry should have read the opening of Radio one

[@waynie007]

I bet Tony can't mix on actual decks

[@chuggachuggawoowoo]

The recording is running too fast.