ON THE BROADCAST BAND

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20077, 6 April 1935, Page 10

ON THE BROADCAST BAND

“The babblings of half-wits” may have been an apt description of some of the crooner’s songs a year ago, but there is nothing in the language to do justice to some of the newest inanities.

Mr J. Robinson, of Westport, the well-known cornet player, has been engaged to tour the YA circuit.

There has been some argument lately over the YA allocation of church relays. For March (which included five Sundays), the figures were as follows: —Anglican 9, Presbyterian 7, Salvation Army 6. Congregational 6. Church of Christ 5. Methodist 4, Roman Catholic

The “Noaspaper of the Atr,” a snappy news budget, is radiated each Sunday at 7.45 N.Z. summer time by the Hollywood station KNX, on 1050 k.c. YA announcers might profit if they listened in once or twice.

IYA has been spreading rather badly at times lately, and has even interfered with KFI. The greatest vagrant on the air is a Dunedin B grader, which wanders far from its regulation wavelength.

2SM Sydney is remodelling its transmitting outfit, and will shortly radiate its programmes from a single mast, on the American principle. This Is designed to reduce fading, but it may affect the audibility of the station in New Zealand by cutting down its coverage.

From about 9 p.m. onwards the dial begins to bustle with Australian stations which, big and little, are showing plenty of punch. Rather strangely, some of the New Zealand B’s are scarcely as strong as they were two or three weeks ago. but that is only a temporary phase. Americans are gaining volume, and, as is often the case when this happens, the Asiatics appear to be fading out a bit. Taken all over, the dial-twister can find find plenty to occupy his attention at present.

There is an ancient gag concerning the comedian whose ambition is to play Shakespeare tragedian roles. Radio artists have similar weaknesses, and a Jewish singer in Australia with a fine voice has a leaning towards Irish songs, such as “Off to Vilatelphia.”

Most of the criticism levelled at YA programmes comes from men, who direct their fire mainly at the evening concerts. That is not surprising. The day programmes are in the main brighter and more varied than those broadcast at night, and the majority of men are not able to listen-in during the day except on Sundays, when the programme arrangers often do their worst work. Daytime listeners are not asked to listen to local “artists” such as the crooning baritone, the reedy soprano, and the rasping violinist.

An English writer sympathises with radio announcers:—"Dreadful colonels, after the name of some tinpot hole in Northern India is wrongly pronounced, turn red, white, and blue with rage. When they have recovered from the fit of apoplexy into which their unmentionable livers have flung them, they, too, write to Broadcasting House. Is this what they pay their ten shillings a year for? Are they to sit still and hear the name of Ollyballygoolawalla, where they once stuck a wild boar, pronounced like that, by Jove?”

In the eternal wrangle between the classicists and the jazzmad, each section of extremists seems to overlook the fact that their combined forces would not represent 25 per cent of the total number of licenses. So far as the jazz fiends are concerned, it is probable that they are mostly listeners, and not really licensees at all. There is also considerable confusion of thought concerning the definition of classical music and Jazz. Some pedants lump all “dance” tunes together as jazz, and condemn the lot. By doing so they miss a world of melody. Some of the stuff that is strummed out by weird "orchestras,” with a “vocal” accompaniment by a nasal or furrythroated crooner, is debasing, but there are hundreds of attractive numbers with a tuneful rhythm which give pleasure to the great majority of listeners. On the other hand there is an unlimited supply of rich music which, while it may be semi-classical, is Just the reverse of heavy, and which probably makes the widest appeal of all. If programme arrangers would keep away from the two extremes, or cater for the extremists only at definite hours, they would be on side with the bulk of the listeners.