John William Baldry 1941 – 2005

The six-foot-seven singer known as Long John Baldry, died on July 21st in Vancouver. He had lived and worked in Canada for 25 years.

John was, first and foremost, a blues artist and founder of the British R & B scene in the early Sixties, often appearing at London's Marquee Club with the likes of the Cyril Davis Allstars and the Stones. He featured on the 1962 album 'R&B From The Marquee' and appeared on 'Around the World With the Beatles', the landmark international TV show, where he performed 'Got My Mojo Working'.

Although John's biggest success, the angst-ridden pop ballad 'Let the Heartaches Begin', occurred after the demise of Radio London, he had made two earlier Fab 40 appearances. These were in October 1965, with 'How Long Will It Last' and November 1966, with 'Cuckoo'.

Several Sixties icons featured in the three-part 'where are they now and what are they doing' programme 'After They Were Famous', broadcast on ITV.

Wednesday's programme focussed on 'ex-medics', including Richard Chamberlain and Jim Dale. Hearthrob, Richard Chamberlain, whose TV role inspired an unlikely ladies' fashion in the form of 'Dr Kildare-style blouses' is now an artist in Hawaii.

Jim Dale, who turns seventy in August, is enjoying a wonderful year. He has won three 'Audies' for his audio book recordings and his just received an MBE in the Queen's birthday honours.

Many people would not recall Jim's early career beyond his many Carry On film appearances. In fact, he became an early 'teen idol', dropping the surname 'Smith' in favour of 'Dale'. As George Martin's first recording artist, he released a number of successful singles, scoring a #2 hit, Be My Girl, in 1957. He also hosted the pop programme, 6-5 Special and Thank Your Lucky Stars, including the last-ever edition. He penned the lyrics for the title song for Georgy Girl, a cinema success and a Top Five hit for the Seekers, both in the Big L Fab 40 and the national charts.

Jim's own website makes no mention of his having been a 208 DJ, but Ben Healy says he recalls listening to Jim on 208. Jim is certainly pictured in that role, in a trio of photos in the 1965 edition of the Radio Luxembourg Book of Record Stars.

Congratulations to Caroline DJ Simon Dee, who was seventy on July 28th. Simon was aboard the Fredericia from the start of broadcasting at Easter 1964 but transferred to the Mi Amigo at the Caroline/Atlanta merger. Simon famously introduced Jimmy Smith's live Hammond performance from the deck of the Mi Amigo.

Aylesbury in Bucks is the most unlikely place for a beach party. Why? Because it is the farthest point from the sea in the UK! This didn't stop local councillor Ray Ghent coming up with the idea for a day of fun at Aylesbury-on-Sea. Alongside imported sand for the sandcastle competitions, there were mermaids and donkey rides.

Vale Park in Aylesbury became home to a day's broadcasting by Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio. The programme was also relayed to Hemel Hempstead and St Albans hospitals, with some of their presenters taking part.

Before the 10am start time for the Outside Broadcast, back in the confines of SMHR's land-locked studio, Martin Kinch got listeners in the mood by playing many summer sounds of the sixties.

Stoke Mandeville's Chief Engineer Paul Andersson made sure the broadcast was all above board and legal, otherwise someone may have had to walk the plank. Tarmac is so hard to fall on!

Click on the studio picture (centre) for a larger view

How tickled I am, Missus!

Appropriately, the Follow That Dream label is issuing the soundtrack to Elvis's film Tickle Me, on July 18th 2005 in the UK – exactly 40 years to the date the Tickle Me EP entered the Big L Fab 40 at #30! (For more details, see the Fab 40 18/07/65). The film is available on VHS.

Fans of things extremely silly, will enjoy clicking here to visit a website where you can tickle Elvis and make him quiver and giggle!

A Sad Week for Soul Music

Renaldo 'Obie' Benson Jun 14 1936 – July 1st 2005

Obie Benson, whose rich bass voice and clever choreography routines were an integral part of Motown's Four Tops (left) for an amazing fifty years, has died in his birthplace of Detroit, Michigan. He last appeared with the Tops in April this year, before being beset by failing health.

Obie was also a songwriter, who co-wrote the Marvin Gaye classic What's Going On.

Sadly, only two original members of the Four Tops remain; Abdul "Duke" Fakir and Levi Stubbs. The Tops are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and were honoured last year on the floor of the Michigan Senate with a resolution marking the group's 50th anniversary. (See Happenings, June 04) They appeared at Live Aid in Philadelphia. The Four Tops graced the Big L Fab Forties with no less than nine singles.

Luther Ronzoni Vandross, 20th April 1951 – 1st July 2005

Luther Vandross has died in New Jersey, aged only 54. The award-winning singer, who sold millions of albums, suffered a severe stroke in 2003 and never fully recovered.

Luther's break came in the mid-Seventies when he became a backing singer for David Bowie.

Full obituaries for Luther and Obie can be found at Toby Walker's Soulwalking site.

The Real Story of Live Aid

Chris says: My intention was to write a feature about the original Live Aid in 1985. Why? Because at the time, I played a part in setting up and looking after all the satellite feeds for the transmission. One small problem got in the way. Where the heck is all my memorabilia of the day? On the morning of Live 8, it finally dawned on me where the file was located...

Eventually, I'll relate the story of how the whole broadcast very nearly wasn't in stereo, how on earth (or in space!) the tv signals reached more parts of the world than were previously thought possible, and why if it hadn't been for a technological first and a little control room next to the Guinness factory in Park Royal, west London, and... well, I won't spoil it!

In one of the meetings in the run-up to the broadcast, Bob Geldof gave us his message (below left), and you can see the first page of the running order of artists as it was given to us for 2nd July. According to the recent TV documentary, most of them weren't even booked by then!

Click on either pic for a larger version

As many Radio London visitors who love the Big L Fab 40 enjoy looking at chart comparisons, we have added two surveys from Canada to our Fab Forties for 18/04/65 and 20/06/65. C-FUN was one of Vancouver's top stations in the Sixties and the station's weekly chart was the C-FUNtastic Fifty.