Then he played the usual closedown record: Marion Montgomery "Maybe the Morning." In late 1978 '208' was changed from 1439 to 1440 kHz as all European radio stations shifted down 1 kHz. On Sunday January 25th 1965 the Benelux Service was drastically reduced to a daily hour at 18:00 plus an extra 30 minutes on Sundays at 07:30. The format change seemed to revive the audience. The chart moved to Sundays as a Top 20. This was an attempt to create a national pop/dance station aimed at 14-24 year olds. To avoid undue repetition I've sometimes referred to Radio Luxembourg as RL or the nicknames used in Britain, Germany and Czechoslovakia: Luxy, Luxis and Laxik. The Villa Louvigny was in a poor state with furnishings and equipment smashed or looted. Tony Prince said, "Something very special is over." A chart show "Oldies der Woche" (Oldies Week) was aired Sundays 12:00-14:00 where female DJ Uschi Nerke played the best hits from Britain and America 1963-73. A number of programmes were recorded and lasted 15 or 30 minutes such as Edmundo Ros, Gracie Fields, or "Off the Record" (Roy Plomley). In 2006 the Luxembourg government's Inspectors of Labour and Mines studied such problems and confirmed the many antennas were responsible. Programmes were often of 15 minutes. Those who did could expect at least insults. 1s" show Thursdays 19:00-21:00 with Bob Stewart and another DJ. 1s were played. It stabilised its audience despite increasing competition with more than 100,000 listeners per hour average. In 1991 RL moved from Villa Louvigny after almost six decades to the new Kirchberg studios in a purpose-built new building on the north east of the city. As well as playing lots of music, particularly the fashionable dance band music, they played two very popular singers of the time: George Formby and Gracie Fields. Another recounted that the 208 DJ's really liked their job and were enjoying it immensely, unlike the way Czechoslovak Radio music programmes were presented. A good alternative for Radio Paris. The 208 daytime signal was good in the southern Netherlands but also the well-populated Randstad area covering Rotterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht and Amsterdam. While the German Service was audible in winter with darkness between 1971-74 I used to listen to it at odd times during the day via short wave as an alternative to RNI. When she was off ill another secretary, Annemarie, filled in just temporarily and she was so popular she stayed too. The three 208 Services. In 1954 CLR was renamed CLT ('Telediffusion' now being the third word) when it started construction of a TV transmitter and studios. KBS World Radio, the external service of South Korea's public broadcaster, was heard daily from 17:30-18:00 BST/18:30-19:00 CET from early 2008. It had listeners all over Continental Europe as well as the target areas of Great Britain and Scandinavia. A 208 rate card from 1965 shows that a 15 minute segment could be bought between 50-115 depending on the time. A feature on the 16th on RTL's Luxembourg TV showed the anchors for the antenna cables being cut with an oxy-acetylene torch then all three masts falling to the ground. They listened to pop or great soul singers like Otis Redding. In fact, Jo Leemans was known as the Flemish Doris Day in the 1950s. As well as the Dutch and English changes a new managing director for the French Service had rebranded the LW station in 1966. This meant English programmes started at 1945 summer/1845 winter. They were Felix Meurders, Peter Koelewijn and Pépé. His mother used to listen in Australia via short wave when conditions allowed. By October 2014 208 aired an interval signal from 0455 then 'RTL Radio Die Besten Hits alle Zeiten' from 05:00-07:00 CET and 12:00-19:00. His programmes became very popular; after his first programme 6,000 letters came in. In 1933 the station was on 40 hours a week, in 1935 it rose to 87 and in 1936 it was 104. By 1969 the Benelux service was on for 90 minutes except Sundays at 18:00 CET. Over the years the English Service had various records played at closedown time. Sales messages were sent out, typed up, from London. The Sterling Times website says that at the end of 1933 each evening there was a broadcast to one of Britain, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium or The Netherlands. However, one internet post says that there were some good DJ's in the mid/late 1980s like Jessie Brandon, Gary King, Tim Smith and David Lee Stone. In line with changing trends it brought in a new Saturday night format with 'dance music' for the whole evening's transmission. The Best In Classic Rock! This ensured reliability but also provided for some programmes to be made in a home country and sent to Luxembourg by cable. for years. If there's one radio station that has won a warm spot in the collective memory of European radio listeners, it's no doubt Radio Luxembourg. He also said that all those years ago he envisaged building up a station that would sound something like the current BBC Radio 4. Though RL was an initial success Williams had seen the need to attract a real radio person to maintain and increase the momentum. Power had been reduced; 208 was now said to be 300 kW daytimes. I couldn't have been any more happy than to work at 208." "Satellite Times" magazine's survey placed it as the most popular station with 53% of the votes. Speaking about the demolition of the masts, he said it was an emotional moment. Your current browser isn't compatible with SoundCloud. From September 1965 it was on from 06:15 while in 1967 208 was in German 06:15-09:00 and 12:00-19:30 CET. After all while all English programming went to 208. Another listener wrote,"It was alive, it was authentic, it was different from anything that has gone before. The informal speech of the presenters plus their personal and laid back style was unchartered territory in German radio. Over the years there would be quite a number more. Working with various broadcasters, they urged me to tell them stories about my early career in broadcasting with Radio Luxembourg. Since 2002 a local residents association of Marnach village (pop. (Hello, World etc). The 49.26 metre shortwave outlet was added from June 7th 1938; its 8 kW was a lot then and meant it could be received regularly in all parts of the world. Such a high frequency would suit CLR as the ground wave could travel either side of the border to Belgium and the western parts of Germany — though not as far as a low frequency groundwave. it went out 06:00 (Sundays 07:30 because of religious programmes) — 19:00. One innovation of the English Service came in autumn 1948 with start of the "Top 20" show — to be a Luxembourg institution for decades to come. During the 1970s Programme Director Frank Elstner started bringing in the 'RTL' name so that announcements ran. But he was wrong — that's what people wanted. The politician Jaroslav Kunera wrote that many were searching for new information. That afternoon RTL's normal Top Vierzig (40) of 2015 was broadcast. Luxembourg was always the first place for British listeners to hear American records. When the Marnach transmitter shut down on December 31st 2015, there really came an end to an era — for German listeners especially but for the British and others too. It was to be used for Dutch, Luxembourgois and English programmes — no mention yet of German though that country was rebuilding itself. Stuart Henry opened up Sunday evenings with "New Wave Bands" at a time when punk/new wave was prominent. Luxy issued a press release in 1957 saying that their audiences had kept up since iTV started — but a lot of their advertisers switched to ITV. It was still going by the early 1980s but was followed by a German religious programme so that English shows now began at 20:00/19:00 winter. "Luxy aired an assortment of charts with names like Transatlantic Tops, Pop Pools Top Twenty, England's Top Three, America's Top Three and America's Decca Group Top Ten. By the early and mid 1960s you hear hear a number of DJ's on both the London-recorded shows of 208 and the BBC Light Programme; Pete Murray, Jack Jackson, Don Moss, Sam Costa, David Jacobs, Alan Freeman, Denny Piercey, Alan Dell, David Gell and Simon Dee. This was built to improve the reach of 208 into the British Isles and to allow better daytime reception in West Germany, especially the Rhine/Ruhr area which was West Germany's most populated region. This could have been a harmonic of RFE on 719 kHz — on 1438. The Service expanded from being a houswives' choice to airing the first German language chart show at 17:00 on Easter Sunday April 6th 1958. The Radio Luxembourg tape. IBC was handling the advertising. The first 17 were on Long Wave but the 18th, Pete Murray, was on both. Mike Hollis produced a two hour show to mark this end of an era. The German Service continued to do well. Please download one of our supported browsers. The last years of the Benelux Service and new shows on the English 208. which they seemed to have found fascinating. For youngsters of the mid/late 1950s and 1960s the BBC was for their parents. I seem to remember some time back one in Norwegian. But i'd disagree. The end of an era. Radio Luxembourg started with the Top Twenty in Autumn 1948 (at 1293 m. long wave). In 1995 the Luxembourg government awared him the Chevalier de l'Ordre de Mérite du Grand Duchy de Luxembourg medal. Of the familiar names only Helga and Jochen were left. Until 1951 English programmes also went out weekday afternoons. A number of shows were recorded in the 38 Hertford Street, London offices and studios. The weekday lunchtime show gave cash prizes. Already from January 2002 airtime was hired to China Radio International from 2000. ", Another recounted that it "entertained with a lot of wit, spontaneity and repartee." to have been out there with them all and I was utterly heart broken when the 208 signal closed down at 3 am on the 30th of December 1991. From January 1960 208 used the "New Musical Express" chart. A sensation was caused in September 1934 when Williams recruited 52-year-old Christopher Stone to join him in the Grand Duchy. With Radio Paris though due to become a State radio station, the new Radio Luxembourg was a good alternative. RL was the only source of rock and beat music plus information on new trends in the 1950s and 1960s — this was otherwise inaccessible especially in the 1950s. Here three free-standing 250m high steel framework towers were used for the 1250 metres transmissions. It was still his voiceover for the 'Powerplay'. At times they would have a show from outside the Duchy like Rosko, Kenny Everett, John Peel or Johnnie Walker but this was usually a weekend hour long show. There were shows like "Opportunity Knocks", "Double Your Money" and "Take Your Pick" but these and others soon migrated to TV when ITV started in 1955. On early Sunday evenings they continued German religious broadcasts on 208 only. They sounded different from offshore radio jingles but Luxy was not offshore and had had its own identity for decades. (Another reference states that Stone's uncle, Compton McKenzie, did a record programme in 1924.) At first this seemed to be in English. It widened its range of popular programming in direct competition to the BBC Light Programme. The station's success in its own words "astonishes competitors." There was still a selection of European records and a Powerplay. While for the BBC Sunday was a big day Luxembourg had to compete. The average listeners were upmarket skilled workers aged 25-45 with two children. Perhaps that was the " disillusionment with station management" that as the RTL Group's website says caused Benny Brown to leave in 1985. Each day was planned to be geared to a country or language: Monday — Italy, Tuesday — Belgium, Wednesday — Luxembourg, Thursday — German (also for Switzerland, Austria, and German-speaking part of eastern Belgium), Friday — Dutch, Saturday — French, Sunday — English. By 1971 Pépé had been replaced by the more relaxed Romeo. I'm both honoured and sad to say a fond farewell and goodbye after over 59 years of broadcasting. It was the first weekly sales chart as until 1967 the German trade music charts just came out fortnightly. CLT then decided to charge each Service for transmission running costs. On the Dutch Service there was more contraction. By 1982 the English Service had a chart each night, sometimes two, starting at 21:00. A 1954 schedule gives four programmes from 08:30-14:00. By late 1934 it was on every day with Mondays to Saturdays being more the afternoons and evenings. From 1979 they brought in newsflashes to interrupt programmes. This opened a door to a bigger world for me as a teenager in Sweden. He could never have forseen that playing records with inconsequential chat could have been such a great success. By the early 1980s this had all gone. Later it led to the creation of private commercial radio stations in Germany. They also aired an "LP Parade." Focussing on the 208 service, which was opened by Pete Murray on July 2nd 1951 and closed down on 31-12-2015, Philip Champion elucidates the station's history and especially its programmes. I was lucky to work with him once at Red Rose. During the 1970s the antenna system was changed with the building of two new masts to give a set of five 105m tall guyed masts. Later it was replaced by the slightly more strident 'dong-a-dong-a-dong' etc one. Some of the presenters were already known as singers like the Belgian Louis Neefs, actors/actresses or TV hosts. In the mid to late 1970s the only place in the UK to hear pop music in the evening was 208. The BBC could manage just two million — and that was at peak time and after they had introduced some more popular programmes as a result of the competition. Play: Radio Luxembourg 208 Great Britain 208 -- that was the number of radio, back then. It was agreed between the Luxembourg Government and CLT to close Marnach at the end of 2014. In time the news was read by the DJ's with a 'twinkly' music bed before and after each item from 'Action Central Newsroom 208.' Among teenagers two out of three listened to Luxis. However, by December 2015 there was an RTL "Happy Hour" of easy-listening music 21:00-22:00 CET announced as on 1440 with CRI continuing afterwards. There was even "Music from the Ballet" Thursdays 20:00-20:30 followed for the next half hour with "Movie Magazine" by Wilfrid Thomas. Luxy called it the world's first chart radio show. I have counted 85 DJ's/announcers listed as broadcasting from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for the English Service. Contraction on the Dutch Service. 581) had been trying to get the masts closed down. RL allowed him more freedom than the BBC did and this was one of the reasons for his success here. One report says the last hour was in English. News for the French and German Services was provided by the French news agency HAVAS. Regular English programmes started on December 3rd 1933. ... Jingles, Promo's en Fillers . Tony Prince said that the Luxembourg-based DJ's felt a a sense of great service to teenagers; they were aware that playing music was important in teenagers' lives. RADIO LUXEMBURG on 208 METER MW. Barry was particularly popular in Scandinavia where he did appearances for 208 in the mid 1960s. This was turned down but he managed to convince them. By July 1950 Sunday broadcasts in English went out 14:30-19:00 when "continental language" then resumed 21:30-00:30. 1 as that is what the sponsor wanted. There were still recordings made of singers like Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson (yes, the former DJ), Alma Cogan, Frankie Vaughan, Cliff Richard, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde, Adam Faith and The Roulettes and Mark Wynter. They convinced me that I should commit to paper an account of those early days. Radio Luxembourg will fondly be remembered in our hearts and minds as the leader and station of the stars. The station ID on the hour mentioned the FM frequencies and online — but not medium wave. Radio Luxembourg was a pioneer in broadcasting a 'unique' — not syndicated — programme in several languages using the same frequency. Some comments on youtube clips of 208 jingles and programmes show this. More regular tests took place from March 15th on 1191 metres 252 kHz — 56 years before they used it again in partnership with RTE for Atlantic 252. Saved by Jess Callejas. On weekdays you could hear "Superclub" with Oliver 18:00-19:00 where he played the latest hits geared towards younger listeners — certainly no schlager — plus items of general interest to young people and home-made jingles often done by groups which visited his show. The old jingles sung by male and female singers had been fine for the late 1950s and early 1960s but by the mid 60s "This is Radio Luxembourg the great 208 the ring a ding swinging station of the stars" was sounding dated — as was the gong. The audience figures dropped from 1983 as he cut costs and hired DJ's more in the ILR mould rather than those with distinctive voices and styles. And RL played different, modern music influenced by the coming Rock and Roll. Weet iemand van jullie waar ik nog jingles en programma's uit de jaren'80 van Luxemburg English Service kan vinden? The UK masts had not been used after September 2013 when CRI took its English and French programmes off in favour of German only. Serving a host of nations. There were just 60 records at the start. I've counted 52 actual DJ's (not variety show hosts) who made programmes in London. Some say that the early 1960s beat boom would not have happened without 208. 2. Of course everyone will remember the frequent commercial for Horace Bachelor's Infradraw' method of winning the pools from 'K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M , Keynsham, Bristol.'. Looking back several decades later one listener wrote that the channels of today (2008) simply lacked the moments of surprise and the spontaneity of the presenters. Eighteen months later Editor Ray Coleman of "Melody Maker" told him 208 was No. The Managing Director from 1979-83, Patrick Cox, was well known to the RTL Board as he had previously worked for RTL in Paris. I told him one day to stop smoking in the studio. In time the schedule was much expanded. Follow Radio_Luxembourg_208 to never miss another show. The most popular show "Der Luxemburger Funkkanteen" weekdays 12:00-14:00 had various features in each half hour to catch interest. Radio Luxembourg Genre Radio Jingles Comment … David Christian on the English Service since 1969 did his first German show in 1975. David Jacobs was on 20 years, all from London. If he filled in for another DJ he would always hold their audience figures. The day antenna consisted of three 105 m masts in the shape of an isosceles triangle. The pop music they heard triggered a desire for change and liberty among young people behind the Iron Curtain. (2) No doubt these residents carry round a switched-on mobile phone on their person! On May 1st 1948 a Dutch Service was resumed. Due to the dearth of advertising available in England the English early morning shows were quickly dropped in favour of French programming. He was at Luxy until he died suddenly in 1982, aged just 52. During 1978 this show aired Monday through Saturday so that usually the same records like "Rivers of Babylon" and the Smurf Song were played at the same time each day. who can forget luxy fading in and out of our transistor radio when younger. Camillo was on 1958-68, Monika did 20 years from 1963 while Helga (with a very nice voice and apparently very popular) did thirty years 1964-94! Religious broadcasts in German could be heard at 19:30 and 19:45 CET. to Peter Alexander (German schlager singer) and Mireille Mathieu." Bella B' started listening in 1971: "... That was the main source of fresh music." For this look back at "the great 208" my own memories and notes have been greatly helped by a number of websites: Listen to Rob Jones - 1982 on Radio Luxembourg - Marius Collection by airchicks for free. Examples are Frank. The Luxembourg Listener. With a single earphone invisibly in place, and my tiny transistor hidden… In the daytime a 600 kW day aerial was used on 208. It helped professional and amateur musicians in their musical development. Even into the 1960s this was the show talked about at school the next day. The German Service wanted to extend the Oldiesender into the evening after the English had closed down. In 1932 he joined the International Broadcasting Company (IBC) and was sent to their Radio Normandy service broadcasting to the south of England. For some years the station had talked of its "vier frölichen Wellen" — four cheerful Waves — Medium Wave, Short Wave and VHF Channels 6 and 33. medium wave. After the war long wave resumed on November 12th 1945 in French with the words,"Bonjour le Monde, ici Radio Luxembourg." Two 208 DJ's returned years later. In politics it was Radio Free Europe (RFE) which was jammed, for music it was Laxik. Now they could concentrate one language onto LW and use MW for the others. Record retailer and listener 'beacon' later remembered that the DJ's were clearly enjoying themselves. The news incorporated the parent company's name as Bob Stewart's voiceover announced,"RTL 208 News Headlines, compiled in London." You need to enable JavaScript to use SoundCloud. From 1998 it was decided that the oldies had to be at least 15 years old — which now allowed records up to 1983. This successful attempt to provide interesting programming included a 15 minute "208 Editorial" some evenings at 1845 and a "No. While the station had plenty of voiceovers and lively promos it lacked one surprising thing — jingles. Next engineer Nico Scheer showed the big, empty transmitter hall then in another room the twin silent large AEG generators. Rodney Collins wrote that it regularly got audiences of 50,000 in the UK with the strong winter signal and Luxembourg's UK office was able to get some of the daily newspapers to include its schedule as 'RTL International.' In 1936 tests were made on 1236 metres. What were they like? Being seen as a friendly station from the very beginning it attracted listeners. A general entertainment channel. In 2009 it was heard in Tenerife, 2,000 miles away! Stations could split frequencies through the 1980s and early 1990s so that minority-interest evening programming was put on the medium wave outlet with more pop on the FM till late on. Cable carriage costs were said to be very high though. Now there were 270 stations, costing Luxis both listeners and advertising revenue. In Baden-Wurtenberg state a survey showed this rose from 109,000 in 1992 to 306,000 in 1993. Power was 200 kW. The programming by October 2015 on 208 was now: 03:55 CET Interval signal, 04:00 RTL-Deutschlands Hit-Radio' except Sun 06:00-06:30 Missionswerk Freundesdienst (religious), 07:00 China Radio International (CRI), 12:00 RTL etc, 12:10 off air, 16:55 RTL etc, Wed 17:25-17:30 Lutherische Stunde (religious), 18:30 Missionswerk Freundesdienst, 19:00 CRI, (by December) 21:00 "Happy Hour", 22:00 CRI, 24:00 Luxembourg National Anthem, 00:01 off air. By October 28th it was on Sundays 19:00-23:00 with a mix of recorded programmes and the station's 30 piece orchestra. It would take some time for the English Service to regain its popularity and importance. In 2010 Luxembourg's Ambassador to Poland was struck by how many of the political, economic and cultural elite had been listeners to the English Service in their youth. All the great music, the presenters and all the English I learnt. Hannibal from RNI joined in August 1970 on a four week trial but stayed 3½ years as Ullrich. Some were also presented live from Hilversum in the Netherlands between 09:00-12:00 announcing it was from Amsterdam. The BBC seemed to have ended its blacklist of presenters and singers who dared to broadcast on Radio Luxembourg. The plane had the name 'The Luxembourg Listener' painted on the cockpit side. Closing Marnach. Monday featured the "Airplay Chart". The chart was an American idea. This made it one of the fastest information media in Europe. Aged 20 he got a job in 1928 as announcer on a broadcasting steam yacht "Ceto" sponsored by the "Daily Mail" newspaper which sailed round the British coast transmitting music on records and advertisements. Pete Murray did six years in Luxembourg then another 12 from London. By summer 1991 it had been decided to close the English Service on 208 on December 31st. The first presenter was Teddy Johnson who, incidentally, was also the first DJ to get a regular daily show. The format was fun, music and bringing back the memories from the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She got her first transistor radio around 1961. This was the Grand Duchy's second city in the south west of the country and about 10 miles from the capital. Oliver or Karin. One of the longest was a lunchtime half hour by Stan Haag, later to join Radio Veronica, and who was very popular with his 'talk to the listener' presented style. Most were sponsored. The "Powerplay" was reintroduced, played each hour after the news, just as Radio Veronica in November starting airing its hourly "Alarmschijf." Even in the 1970s and 1980s DJ's opening up the English Service would talk of the powerful transmitters in Marnach. Luxi was not politically active; it had been agreed with the Grand Duchy's government that the station was not to interfere with the affairs of the Federal Republic (West Germany.) A new MW transmission site was built at Junglinster for a wavelength of 208 metres frequency 1439 kHz. SoundCloud. One person who met Rolf after a broadcast found him exactly the same personality off air as on the radio. The years 1953 to 1965 were said to be the golden years of the Benelux Service. The first No.1 was "Galway Bay" by Bing Crosby. Stephen Williams, the very first English announcer, was heard again. Just 13 days after opening it had its first female DJ: Elisabeth. Schoolchildren would talk about "die Hitparade" the next day with close school friends. It was aimed at homes served by cable companies plus homes with their own satellite dishes. From around winter 1978 under Tony Prince's leadership the sound was geared more towards the fashionable disco sound for a while. DJ Jochen wrote that in the 1970s and 1980s RL competed with 13 or 14 public broadcasters. The beneficiary was the German Service which had no competition from any other German commercial radio service. The use of a MW transmitter was said to contributed to a spectacular development of CLR's radio business.
Seelische Grausamkeit Kinder, Max Mutzke Pippi Langstrumpf, Brief An Den Vater Veröffentlichung, Das Boot Zerstörer, Magical Mystery Oder: Die Rückkehr Des Karl Schmidt Arte,
Add Comment