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Sounds of the 70s

Steve Harley
  • Posted at 3:47pm
  • 27 February 2008
  • by SarahDempster-RT
  • 1 comment

For those about to rock, we pity you. February has brought with it crushing news for those whose hearts throb to the beat of a louder drum: Planet Rock is no more. A tiny station with a big heart, a bulging fan base (listening figures topped an astonishing 560,000) and a similarly gargantuan collection of records by middle-aged men in tasselled leather blousons, it has gone the way of all flesh and, sadly, an increasing number of specialist digital stations.

Following a glum announcement from its chief executive about how digital radio is "not an economically viable growth platform", Planet Rock is, with immediate effect, defunct. It has ceased to be. It is an ex-specialist digital radio station. So it's bye-bye to its superlative roster of gruff veteran DJs, its brilliant, mock-menacing jingles and stings ("WE DON'T PODCAST. WE ROCKCAST" etc), and its dogged belief in the collected works of Nazareth.

And it's a particularly heartfelt farewell - one that should really involve dry ice, some Mellotrons and a flaming Viking longship or two - to Rick Wakeman's excellent weekend breakfast bash: the finest accompaniment to one's Saturday morning muffins since Danny Baker's similarly chaotic stint at BBC Radio 2 in the mid-1990s.

What an appallingly crap state of affairs this is, not merely because of the implications for the future of digital radio (ie it's doomed), but because of the vast, Gibson Flying V-shaped hole that now flaps at the heart of the rock listener's diary. Where now for Wishbone Ash enthusiasts and admirers of the third side of Yes's Tales from Topographic Oceans?

Though Bruce Dickinson's Rock Show (Fridays, 10:00pm, BBC 6 Music) provides basic sustenance for classic rock aficionados, its penchant for bands that sound like roadworks on the A1081 may put off listeners who like their rock melodious and good, rather than frightening and rubbish.

Thank Judas Priest, then, for Sounds of the 70s (Thursdays/Fridays, BBC Radio 2), which has been throwing superlative, subtle classic rock shapes in its yawn-and-you'll-miss-it twilight slot for the best part of a decade. The show is presented by Steve Harley: erstwhile linchpin of the perfectly glorious Cockney Rebel, former phwoar-inducing art-pop fox in excelsis and, now, possessor of what is surely the most peculiar voice on radio.

Harley's intonation is extraordinary. With his elongated Deptford vowels, frequent midsentence pauses, soft, flattened R's and 340-a-day growl, he sounds like the Honey Monster trying to start a fight with the microphone after a visit to the dentist. The effect is both vaguely menacing and grippingly intimate. It's also dead sexy. In last week's show, for example, Harley informed us that Isaac Hayes's soundtrack to Shaft was released in "Decembaaaah. Nointeen. Seventy oooooooone." Later, he told us that the demise of Badfinger was "twagic. In the (massive pause, lowering of eyes, possible slow unbuttoning of shirt) extweeeeeeeme." Cor - and, if you will - blimey.

The best thing about Sounds of the 70s, however, the thing that makes it such a twinkling, humble and consistent joy, is the fact that every edition brings with it a treasure chest of long-forgotten classic rock treats. Last week's show gave us dusty corkers from Sparks and Thin Lizzy, in addition to the once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear Harley pronounce the word "Carrickfergus". The best past masters discovery, though, was a band called String Driven Thing, whose 1973 track It's a Game turned out to be a wondrous burst of folk-glam, fiddle-driven loveliness.

As a gap-plugging answer to the death of Planet Rock, you won't find anything better. Turn on. Tune in. And dwop ouuuuut.

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  • Posted on 01 March 2008
  • at 7:22pm
  • by PatJC

I remember the pirate stations going off air (Wonderful Radio London) and now I am going to be deprived of my favourite statio again i.e. Planet Rock. It was why I bought my DAB radios. They not going because they're illegal or unsuccessful. It seems to be because other parts of the company who runs them are failing. Anybody want to buy a successful radio station (please)?

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