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Farmhouse
in Oakley
 By
1960, my musical tastes
were broadening and the
time spent listening to Radio
Luxembourg became
less. Even so, whenever
possible I would tune
in to 208 and catch
the DECCA-sponsored
showcase shows on
Monday and Wednesday
nights. There were still
some great discs being
produced on the London
American label. I am
afraid that the shows
sponsored by E.M.I. and
the other smaller
record companies
had fallen by the
wayside at this time.
It was not until
1963-1964, that Radio
Luxembourg became my
station of choice once
more. By now, I was in my
second year of college
and was sharing a house
with three other
students. We had rented
an old farmhouse that was
said to be part Tudor
in the village of Oakley,
which is in a
then-forgotten part of Buckinghamshire
near Brill. Living
where we did, in what was
then countryside,
required driving to and
from college each day.
This was a distance of
some sixteen miles a day
and took us along winding
and twisting lanes
without the aid of street
lamps. Since we went home
around 10 p.m. each
night, our only light
came from the headlights
of the car. Our route
often proved hazardous
especially when once a
mist had fallen, which
was generally the case in
winter. The route was
also potentially
treacherous from any
animal out for an evening
stroll. It was necessary
to maintain a constant
vigil since it was
commonplace to encounter
a deer leaping across the
road just as we were
approaching or to come
across the odd cow or two
out for a wander and
enjoying their freedom
after escaping through a
broken fence. It was
during these rides home
that the car radio would
be turned on and tuned to
Radio Luxembourg. Most
nights, we were lucky as
reception was good. Each
one of us in the car had
been brought up
listening to Radio
Luxembourg although
none of my colleagues was
as obsessed with early
rock quite to the
extent that I was. The
ride home was made all
the more pleasant by
our community singing!
Once a favourite song
was played, none of us
could help ourselves, and
we would all sing along
with the singer. There
was one song in
particular that we all
liked and would sing at
the top of our voices as
we whizzed around those
dangerous bends and that
was Then he kissed me by
The Crystals. I
remember that we were
very much taken by the
basic tune of the song
and by the violins, which
seemed to carry the
listener around and
around and up into the
clouds! Despite the
passing of years and the
changing of tastes,
whenever I hear that
particular song, no
matter where I am or whom
I am with, my imagination
quickly whisks me up and
transports me away to
those dark and winding
lanes on a winter’s
night and into that old Ford
Prefect where once
more I am seated with
those three fellows and
us singing at the tops of
our voices
……… Well
he walked up to me and he
asked me if I wanted to
dance
…………………
Charles
S.P. Jenkins
In 1971, I
returned to Europe after
living for two years in
Toronto. I was now
settling into life in
Paris and was working at
a large hospital in the
south-east of the city. I
remember on one evening,
soon after going to work
there, I found myself
alone in the laboratory
and feeling a bit melancholy.
It was late autumn
when the light in Paris
can be quite startling.
The roofs of the
buildings about the
laboratory were of terra
cotta and gave off a
warm glow from the
reflection of the setting
sun. The sky was still of
an intense blue together
with a few wispy clouds.
The evening air was still
and warm. I remember
sighing. Such evenings
tend to fill me with melancholy,
as they cause me to think
back and relive past
events. As I stood there,
my mind wandered back to
when I was a child and I
remembered times spent
looking out of windows
and watching the beauty
unfold in the sky as the
sun slowly set. I turned
on the radio that was on
a shelf in the hope of
finding some suitable
music to fit the mood and
getting a little annoyed
that I could not find
anything pleasing. I
began to move the dial
along the medium wave without
thinking. Suddenly, I
heard the familiar sound
of the gong and I
realised that I had tuned
into Radio
Luxembourg!
It wasn’t that I
had forgotten about the
station, it was just that
I hadn’t thought
of it in what seemed an
age. I was surprised when
I realised that I had not
listened to it in over
four years! As I
listened, I recognised
that its format had
changed. There were no
longer sponsored programmes.
Now disc jockeys played
the hit tunes of
the day with suitable
breaks for commercials.
It was like being back in
North America! I
remember, as I stood at
the open window and
smoked, I watched the sun
as it set and saw those
brilliant colours
stretched across the sky
slowly fade away to
night, and I was filled
with an unbearable
sadness while in the
background I could hear
the radio station that
had once been of such
importance to me. I never
did listen to Radio
Luxembourg
again after that
evening.
Charles
S.P. Jenkins
.
.
I remember
listening to Radio
Luxembourg as a kid. From
1950 to about 1955, I
remember various artists
having their own show. I
remember listening to the
likes of Winifred Attwell
Show, Vera Lynn, David
Whitfield and Frankie
Laine, each with their
own fifteen minute
programmes. There were a
number of game shows too.
Radio
Luxembourg was a
commercial station and so
had adverts. The one
advert that especially
sticks in the mind is Horace
Bachelor with his
spelling of Keynsham,
spelt K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M!
I think that it would
be impossible to forget
that one! I also remember
fondly The Ovaltineys and
can still remember their
introductory song
…… We are
the Ovaltineys, little
girls and boys! Ovaltine
is a malt drink and was
enjoyed at bedtime by
many people in Britain
since it production here
in 1913. I remember
reading that the company
closed its British plant
in 2001. The drink is now
produced only in
Switzerland, but it is
still available to all
around the world.
Sometime
in the mid 1950s, things
changed at Radio
Luxembourg. This was
due to changing musical
tastes with the coming of
rock ‘n’
roll. I liked the
Decca Record Shows the
best, especially Jimmy
Savile’s Teen and
Twenty Club. In these
shows, you got to hear
the really great stuff
was being released on the
London label. Sadly the
reception was not always
good and the signal would
fade away when your
favourite records were
being played. I never
realised it at the time,
but most of the
programmes that we
listened to on Radio
Luxembourg were not
recorded on the Continent
at all but in London.
Apparently they were
transported to Luxembourg
and then beamed back!
Radio
Luxembourg was not
popular with the B.B.C.
and with a number of
idiotic people who wrote
letters to newspapers
denouncing the music that
was played and saying
that it would corrupt the
minds of the young! I
wonder what these people
would say now to Punk,
Rap and Gangsta
Rap? Regardless of
the critics, the radio
station was greatly loved
by just about everyone
under twenty five and had
a vast audience in the
late 1950s. In the
mid-sixties, with the
arrival of the pirate
radio stations, the
numbers listening to the Radio
Luxembourg declined
and continued to do so
once the B.B.C. changed
its format and began to
play more and more of
the music that the
listeners wanted.
Eventually,
Radio Luxembourg closed
down. This was a sad day
for everyone that
remembered the station
during its heyday. Today
we are inundated with
music. We now have it in Hi
Fi and in a
digital format. As
great as the quality now
is, and as faultless as
the reception is, I
sometimes wish for that balmy
times when I used to
lay in my bed at night
with my transistor
radio tuned to Radio
Luxembourg pushed up
against my ear. These
were happy and special
times and the music never
sounded better to me!
Submitted by a visitor to the website
 It
is amazing what memories
the mind will drag up
………. and
the time by my H.
Samuel Everite watch
is...............
Regards
Rob
Humphreys
.
Dan
Dare was my favourite
Radio Luxemburg
programme in the early
50s, but I could barely
hear it as the reception
we had was quite poor. I
used to be an avid
wireless "tuner
in" i.e. I drove my
Dad to distraction
fiddling with the
wireless (a 1930’s
one not one of those new
fangled transistor
things) and trying to get
Radio Luxemburg,
Hilversum, Radio Athlone,
AFN, British Forces
Network, and Voice
of America English
language broadcasts. The
latter I could usually
get pretty well and the
main programme on there
seemed to be by Jo
Stafford. Radío
Luxemburg I could
listen to on my
grandparents' Rediffusion
cable service as they had
it as part of their
package, but that was
only once or twice a week
when we visited them.
Bob
Saunders
.
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