Radio Fun and the BBC Variety Department, 1922–67 Martin Dibbs

Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media Radio Fun and the BBC Variety Department, 1922–67 Comedy and Popular Music on Air Martin Dibbs Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media Series Editors Professor Bill Bell Cardiff University UK Dr Chandrika Kaul University of St Andrews UK Professor Alexander S. Wilkinson University College Dublin Ireland Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media publishes original, high qual- ity research into the cultures of communication from the middle ages to the present day. The series explores the variety of subjects and disciplinary approaches that characterize this vibrant field of enquiry. The series will help shape current interpretations not only of the media, in all its forms, but also of the powerful relationship between the media and politics, soci- ety, and the economy. Advisory Board: Professor Carlos Barrera (University of Navarra, Spain), Professor Peter Burke (Emmanuel College, Cambridge), Professor Nicholas Cull (Center on Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California), Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley (Macquarie University, Australia), Professor Tom O’Malley (Centre for Media History, University of Wales, Aberystwyth), Professor Chester Pach (Ohio University). More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14578 Martin Dibbs Radio Fun and the BBC Variety Department, 1922–67 Comedy and Popular Music on Air Martin Dibbs Kingsbarns, St Andrews, UK Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media ISBN 978-3-319-95608-4 ISBN 978-3-319-95609-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95609-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018951786 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. The popular radio entertainer Tommy Handley at the microphone with Clarence Wright during a war-time BBC variety show in Bangor. Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/ CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For Kate, with love ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Radio Fun has been written with the help of many people. Firstly, my thanks to Emily Russell and Carmel Kennedy at Palgrave Macmillan who made the publishing process as smooth as possible despite my constant emails. The book has been written largely from primary source material at the BBC Written Archive Centre and I would like to thank the staff there for their assistance and in particular Jeff Walden for his cheerful and unstint- ing help and advice during my many visits to Caversham Park. I would like to record my thanks to Immediate Media, especially Ralph Montagu, Head of Heritage, for generously permitting me to quote from Radio Times. Acknowledgement is also due to the staff of the National Library of Scotland; the British Newspaper Library in Colindale, London; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; and the University of St Andrews Library. I would like to offer my thanks to the University of St Andrews Modern History Department for partially funding both my master’s and doctoral research from which this book is derived. Thanks are due to my supervisor James Nott for his enthusiasm for my subject. Thanks are also due to Anna Spackman who was there at the beginning at Dundee University back in 1998. I owe a great debt to my oral history respondents and their families who at the time of interview were in their 80s and 90s. I was invited into their homes where I was received most cordially and hospitably. I would like to thank them for their time in recalling their experiences in the Variety Department from the 1930s to the 1980s. They are Bob Colston, vii viii Acknowledgements Elizabeth Terry, Brian Willey, Donald Maclean, Geoff Purrier, Pat and Geoff Lawrence, Peter Pilbeam (who discovered The Beatles for the BBC) and Charles Chilton, a pioneer of broadcast jazz at the BBC, who regaled me with, among many other stories, his meetings with Sir John Reith. I would also like to thank John Fawcett Wilson, producer of Radio 4’s King Street Junior, who answered my questions by phone and Marion Holledge who corresponded with me about her memories of the BBC during the 1940s. It was a privilege to meet them all—sadly, many are no longer with us. Finally, my love and thanks to Kate, my wife, who, throughout the writ- ing and editing process, kept me focused at all times, made sense of the manuscript and so much more. Without her support, this book could not and would not have been written. To her it is dedicated. A NOTE ON PRIMaRY SOURCE MaTERIaL All BBC files cited in this book are preceded by the abbreviation BBC WAC. Individual files are referred to by the subject of the individual docu- ment, but where they are untitled they are referred to by sender to recipi- ent either by name, for example, Watt to Nicolls, or by job title, DV to C(P). BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. ix A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY USED Throughout the book, I have used the term ‘network’ rather than ‘programme’ when referring to particular divisions of the BBC’s radio output. ‘Programme’ rather than ‘show’ is used to indicate a particular radio pro- duction or series although there are a few exceptions. I have also fre- quently abbreviated the BBC Light Programme, Home Service and Third Programme to the Light, Home and Third, respectively. I have used the terms ‘the Department’ and ‘Variety’ as shorthand ways of referring to the Variety Department. As far back as the 1930s, Variety was occasionally referred to as Light Entertainment, but I have tried to restrict this term to the post-1957 period following the renaming of the Department to Light Entertainment (Sound). Variety, Talks, Features, Drama, Children’s Hour and so on, where capitalised, refer to BBC programme-making depart- ments. I have also tended to use the term ‘radio’ instead of ‘wireless’ which today, in the world of electronic communication, has another mean- ing. Inevitably exceptions will have crept in; any errors are my responsibility. xi CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 2 1922–1933: Variety Before Variety 13 The Dawn of Radio Entertainment 13 John Reith: Architect of the BBC 16 Early Programme-Making and Criticism 18 First-Generation Radio Artists 24 Early Organisation of Light Entertainment 26 Cleaning Up Its Act 29 The Trans-Atlantic Octopus 31 Music for the Many 34 The Devil’s Music on Air 37 Ukulele Players and Comedians 40 Conclusion 42 3 1933–1939: The Show Begins 47 Variety Takes Shape 47 Looking for Ideas 51 Bureaucracy and the BBC 55 Keeping It Clean … and British 60 America: Opposition and Influences 64 Variety’s Home-Grown Programmes 68 Dance Music and Crooning 71 xiii xiv Contents Some Like It Hot 74 A Hierarchy of Dance Music 78 The Demon Drink 79 Sunday Policy and Continental Competition 80 Lightening the Schedule 85 Who’s Listening? 90 Variety: A Guinea Pig 93 Change at the Top 97 Conclusion 99 4 1939–1945: We Will Be Working Under Difficulties 107 Variety Goes to War 107 Variety on the Move 111 Assessing Audience Opinion 114 The Forces Programme 117 On the Move Again 122 Keeping Cheerful 126 The Dance Music Policy Committee 134 Jazz and Popular Music 136 Crooning and Slush 138 The Offensive on Drink, Dirt and Foreigners 142 Transatlantic Assistance and Co-operation 148 An In-House Assessment 152 Post-War Plans 157 Departures and Arrivals 162 Conclusion 163 5 1945–1955: A Golden Age for Radio Comedy 171 Normal Service Resumed 171 The Pyramid of Culture 173 Variety Demobbed 175 Chambermaids and Fig Leaves 184 Anti-Americanism Returns 190 Radio Comedy Perfected 194 Another Evaluation 205 That Old Familiar Tune 206 All that Jazz 209 Contents xv Not to Be Broadcast 211 The Inevitability of Change 215 The Light Goes ‘Heavy’ 217 Variety Holds Its Own 221 Conclusion 222 6 1956–1967: Sound into Vision; Popular into Pop 229 The Shock of the New 229 The Future of Sound Broadcasting 231 Managing Decline 238 Keeping It Clean and Wholesome 244 Getting With-It 247 Beat and the BBC: Into the Swinging 60s 249 Jazz: Too Little, or Quite Enough? 253 The Decline of the DMPC 256 New Directions 261 Piracy, Needletime and a Major Reorganisation 265 The End of an Era 269 Conclusion 270 7 Coda 275 Sources and Further Reading 283 Index 291

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