Shane MacGowan , founder and singer/songwriter of the Irish/UK
band, The Pogues, has died after a long illness. He was 65.
The band was well known for their Christmas hit "Fairytale Of New York.
Some folks, here, mentioned the song quite recently.

Another one is gone.

Sad news from here in the UK.
Christine McVie, from Fleetwood Mac, has passed away in a London hospital.
She was 79. Christine contributed some of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits including "Little Lies" and "You Make Loving Fun".
She will be missed!

From our family, here in the UK, to
all of you, back in Canada and the United States 🇬🇧🇨🇦🇺🇸, please have a safe and Merry Christmas, and, a pleasant New Year.
🎄🎅🤶

Good evening from the U.K.
Hope everyone is fine over home.
Not sure if anyone recalls this radio broadcast.
50 years ago, Halloween night,  Buffalo's  WKBW  produced their adaptation of H.G. Welles'  WAR OF THE WORLDS.
KB originally aired their version back in October, 1968. An updated version hit the airwaves Sunday night October 31st. 1971.  Can't beat the original CBS RADIO MERCURY THEATRE version, Oct.31st  1938 with Orson Wells.
The 1971 KB version featured many great voices that are long gone now.
Jackson Armstrong, Jeff Kaye, 'KB newsmen Henry Brock, Joe Downey, and featured Irv Weinstein from
channel 7's Eye Witness News. Music includes Cher's GYPSIES TRAMPS AND THIEVES,   among other hits from that time, including The Grass Roots, 3 Dog Night, and Rod Stewart.
It was a superb production that, once again, caught listeners in the U.S. and Canada, offguard.
Martian craft landing on Grand Island. Certainly beat out the usual FIRE IN BUFFALO, DETAILS AT 11 !!
Funny to think..The US and China have sent space exploration craft to Mars, not the other way round..lol
I have a copy of the entire show though I cannot locate the tape. 
Perhaps someone knows if there is a copy around somewhere.
It would have made a GREAT  Sunday aircheck from Dale Patterson's Rock Radio Scrapbook.
Greatest website, of its kind, that I have ever seen !

Cheers, All the best everyone.
Steve  (Northwest England)

Good evening from England everyone.
Hope you all enjoyed a pleasant Christmas.
2021 Is NOT starting out well.
Tonight, as was mentioned earlier by Dialtwister, we've lost Gerry Marsden.
Not much more that I can add here I'm afraid.
He definitely had a cheeky broad smile and a handshake that could pull your arm out of the socket...lol
CHUM had a number of Pacemaker hits listed. The one that I recall, amongst all the great songs was GIRL ON A SWING from September 1966. Their soundtrack album FERRY CROSS THE MERSEY was packed with great tunes as well.
My very first time , in Liverpool many years ago, was demanding that I take a ride on the FERRY CROSS THE MERSEY.
It was wonderful. Some young people sitting near us asked me where I was from. CANADA was my answer. Young lad came back with..GORDON LIGHTFOOT..HE'S CRACKER !!!  Meaning: He's great.
Anyway..so sad losing Gerry.
I see we've now lost Larry Green as well. This is so sad indeed.
My condolences to his family and friends.
So much for a new year.
Take care, please...STAY SAFE.

Doug, I completely misunderstood the J. Robert Wood article. Yes, they were just interested in some of the interviews you had on hand. I'm very sorry for getting that story wrong. The Beeb, as it's know, has put together hundreds  of well produced shows, from entertainment to news and sports. Everything in between.  
Their research is incredible, production is superb. Sorry about being incorrect about some things.
Thank you for correcting me.
Take care.

Uh oh.
I'm sorry.  I'll need a scorecard now to keep track of who's who...lol
Glad to have been able to answer your questions.
Please STAY  SAFE !!!

Good evening my friends.
     Dale, I will try to answer your queries first.
Down in London (we're just north of Manchester) there are between 30 & 35 FM stations. They aren't just in Central London, they are in the Greater London Area. This would take in 30 - 50  miles.  
Back in November/December of 1999, I was on the air at one of the GLR  FM stations.
Also, the transmitter output is nowhere near the output of FM signals used in Canada or the United States.
It may sound cluttered yet its really not.
Quite a variety of formats on the FM band here. From Classical to Jazz, Easy Listening to Rock-all types.
Yes, many on-air personalities are stars in their own right. Some, particularly from BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 appear on BBC television shows, or, on ITV or even SKY.
There are no stations OTA airing Christmas music 24/7  either. Rather shocked that stations such as CHFI-FM would do that. Oh well, that's the way things are today.
That is interesting about CHUM's  THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK (1976) having an extra 3 hours added, through TM Production , bringing it up to 1980. I used TM Production materials for many years while being in the U.S.
The wide variety of music, played over here,in the U.K., reminds me so very much, of the radio of years ago in Toronto.  Hope I've been answer some of your queries Dale.
Great to hear from you again, my old friend !

Radio  Active.
I do believe that I stumbled across that FYI article, by Warren Cosford, myself. It was a great read !
Very informative indeed.
Cheers my friend.

Hello Doug !!
I thought I had my information slightly incorrect. Larry Solway wrote THE HISTORY OF ROCK AND ROLL.
Wasn't sure if he was involved with The Beatles Story as well.
I read your complete write-up about putting THE STORY OF THE BEATLES  together, beginning in October, with, I believe was only 4 weeks, before its scheduled air dates (Fri.Nov.13- Sun.Nov.15).
I've heard of working under pressure, yet, that whole thing re-defined it.
Thank you

Hello again.
Yes, I've been here in England for 21 years now. Have a wonderful family, including two smashing granddaughters.
DAB ?  It's really not what many have made it out to be. Just depends on who you ask. I am not personally impressed
with it. Many stations, here in the UK , are still using the AM & FM band, with many using DAB as well.
As for reception, if you're in, or near, a city with DAB, it's not bad. There isn't the range that the Medium Wave (AM) frequencies , or FM frequencies can send out. Long Wave (162-288 AM)  is still popular on this side of the world.
Yes, there was a backlash as many weren't prepared to spend extra money on a new receiver , specifically designed for DAB reception. I think that there will be a real tussle over stations closing down the analogue transmitters.
Purchasing receivers, with DAB, could be expensive indeed. 
My argument ( indeed,  for many here) is that, although DAB may provide you with a superb sound, why bother?
AM sounds just fine here. FM still retains a great sound in stereo. (BTW, sadly, there is no AM STEREO here.)
So, it's just an added  cost to purchase a new receiver with DAB. 
I'm old school.  FM and AM , thank you very much !
I've been keeping up with what's happening back there in Canada. Think you're right. Don't see Canada switching off the AM & FM analogue transmitters any time soon. Personally, I think it was a mistake to try to force DAB down people's throats here. Can't believe Norway got away with it.
Leave digital in the recording studios. Mind you, there is something to be said about using digital signals for other applications. Special  sub-channels, etc.
Mentioning FM,  Toronto seems quite overloaded with FM stations. Unbelievable.
Hope I've helped answer some of your questions. 
 

Hello everyone.
Greetings from the U.K.
It's been quite a while, indeed, since I last visited the SOWNY yellow board.
Now, this is definitely a topic that you, many of you, may recall. It has meant
a lot to me, over the years. Please forgive me for overlooking many details here.

Today, Friday November 13th, marks exactly 50 years ago, when our beloved
1050 CHUM, aired THE STORY OF THE BEATLES.
I cannot believe that 50 years has gone by so rapidly.
Doug Thompson has related this story, as to how the Beatles programme came about.
He, Warren Cosford, the incredible writing talents of Bill McDonald, the late Larry Solway
(I believe Larry was connected with this somehow) along with some great behind-the-scenes
production folks at CHUM, pulled off what, to me, has to be, arguably, one of the finest Beatles
stories ever produced. Large thanks must go to the late Chuck Riley, a great voice-over talent,
who never really liked water served at any restaurant (ask Doug about that story).
This whole production came about within 12 months of the Beatles calling it quits, much to the shock of
many fans around the world.

(Note: THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY-1995, followed the same chronology as the CHUM production,
some 21-25 years earlier. Interesting to note.)

Now, many subsequent Beatles stories have been produced either in Toronto, the US, and most notably
at the BBC, in 1972, hosted by the late great Mr. Brian Matthew ( a longtime friend of the lads, since 1963)
However, sounding very bias here, CHUM's  production stands as , arguably, about the best !!!
Some may take exception to this. That's fine. I believe what started the whole thing rolling was the publication, by  British author, Mr. Hunter Davies, "THE BEATLES; THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY". He knew them, they knew him.
 He was granted nearly unlimited access to their lives, both professionally and personally. Great book for
anyone interested.
Doug, Warren, along with Bill McDonald (Hunter Davies' book in hand as research) an