Radio Programmes

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 August 1949, Page 3

Radio Programmes

Sir, —Your correspondent, “Fed Up takes our radio station to task for its programmes and then says he does not blame the local authorities. He certainly is hard.to please,' when the variety put over the air by 3YZ does not suit him. He particularly complains of the type of recordings used at'the breakfast session. Who would want to listen to “Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27” or “Bruch’s Koi Nidrei, Op. 27” in the morning? Who has time, anyway? Waking up and hearing a breezy record or two, and being reminded of the time between discs while getting ready for for the day’s toil, is in my opinion an excellent start for the day. “Fed Up” must remember that it is a far cry from the days when grand-dad got out the gramophone and played “John Brown’s Body” and “Ten Green Bottles,” which were no doubt the iage in “Fed Up’s” younger days. “Put ’em in a box” and the like.may. be heard from any station, both in; and outside of New Zealand. Has “Fed Up” ever listened to the popularity poll on nearly every station? Such records are “tops” on all these programmes and like all. new releases must run their span of popularity.- .1 consider the local station does an excellent' job in trying to cater Tor all tastes, and trust “Spike” and his associates are given their usual place in our programmes. Hearing critics like “Fed Up” always reminds me of an appropriate recording by Gracie Fields entitled, “He’s .dead but' he rvoh’t lie down.”—Yours,-' etcf; 1 LISTENER. Greymouth, August 1.

Sir, —It is obvious that “Fed Up” is of the firm opinion that the type of programmes that should be broadcast from 3YZ are the type that suits him alone. He overlooks the fact that the big majority of people of this present generation prefer dance music and bright breakfast and dinner sessions, because the day usually becomes a lot brighter when they can go about whistling the tunes they have just heard. “Fed Up” apparently holds that 3YZ's programme should consist of nothing other than the request session, Divine worship, the gardening expert and Mr Kehoe. These items are all right in their place, but who would want to sit down to their meals each day and listen to advice on how to grow a potato or plant a bean? “You never hear this sort of stuff asked for on a request session,” was one of “Fed Up’s” arguments against dance music. One cannot but help smiling at this statement when one thinks of 3YZ’s Saturday morning request session, where an hour or more of dance recordings is requested and also the IYD request session on Wednesday night, where there are three hours of dance requests. Besides these, there are numerous other request sessions that are filled with dance music and popular vocal numbers. In my opinion, 3YZ has a very evenly-arranged programme and caters for all tastes in music, which is how it should be. In conclusion I offer this piece of advice to “Fed Up.” If he examines his radio set he will find a dial on the front panel which upon turning will change the frequency and bring in new stations for him. Failing this suiting him (it may not, as he said himself he was hard to please), I suggest that he reach for the “on-off” switch of his radio and he will find that by switching this to the “off” position he will eliminate the signals altogether and thereby solve all his radio programme worries.— Yours, etc., SATISFIED. Greymouth, August 1.

Sir,—Your correspondent “Fed Up” opens his letter with the remark that he “may be hard to please.” This is obviously an under-statement. “Fed Up” states: “You never hear this sort of stuff asked for in the request sessions.” But perhaps he has never realised that the dance music and popular vocalists section of the request session takes up almost as much time as the rest of the sections put together. Even if his statement was correct, I fail to see how the public can request the latest numbers unless they hear them in a programme. Again I fail to see how the remarks about “Yankee trash” bear any relation to the point in question. At the present time, there are as many new records featuring English and Australian artists as there are American, and I do not think any dollars are being spent on records, as even the American artists are recorded on English, Australian and New Zealand-made discs. “Fed Up’s” remarks about “anything being good enough for the Coast” prove that he is either incapable of or too tired to twist the dial to another station, where he would hear the same records, but probably not arranged in such an attractive way. In my opinion 3YZ is very much up to the' mark in procuring new records and in many cases seems to have them on the air before other stations. The lack of knowledge displayed by contestants in the “quiz” is hardly the fault of the broadcasting authorities. It is unfortunate that a mistake was made in the last “quiz,” but broadminded people will dismiss the matter with the thought that “the best laid plans, etc.” Without wishing to say anything detrimental to the efforts of “Uncle Mick” Spiers, I would like to ask if many listeners would be prepared to go back to the old system and forgo their serials and features. I doubt if many would consider “Uncle Mick’s” library of about 500 records superior to the present seemingly unlimited supply and who does not consider it better to have regular advertised hours, of broadcasting rather than have to switch on at any time in the hope that something is on?—Yours, etc., SATISFIED LISTENER. Greymouth, August 1. ’