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Amazing music played by an amazing line-up - that’s Radio 2 today. But soothing instrumental light music, middle of the road classics, and a weekly soap opera were the mainstay when the station opened in 1967...

1967: The Light Programme closes

Out with the old and in with the new

By the late 60s, the Light Programme established after the war, was beginning to show signs of age. Part of the audience was demanding something new.

How could you conceive of a new station from scratch, what would it sound like? For young people in 1967 the old service was a turn off, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ surveys of the time proved that. It sounded stuffy so pop music moved to Radio 1. This opened up opportunities for new formats on Radio 2, with greater potential for new music genres of all types, provided they were still ‘light’. Personalities like Terry Wogan began to emerge, whilst the formal announcers of the past took a back seat.

1967: Radio 2 launch

A launch with Breakfast Special

Launching a new radio station is no mean feat. Will everything work technically? All went well on day one, and listeners liked what they heard.

The Sound of Music was a fitting start for the station, now devoted to light music. In the early days much of the output was still shared with Radio 1, so there was a curious mix of instrumental music up against the likes of Jimi Hendrix! Paul Hollingdale was the first voice to be heard on the new station, complete with American style ‘jingles’, news, requests, and the shipping forecast. The easy going music and chat style was still new to British listeners, but it quickly proved very popular.

1969: Waggoners' Walk

Waggoners’ Walk – the swinging soap that time forgot

1969 and singing London was still swinging – just. As the memory of flower power faded the Radio 2 daily soap Waggoners’ Walk went on air.

A rambling house of bed sits and flats in Belsize Park was the setting, where ‘young things’ rubbed shoulders with more ‘sensible’ characters. The storylines were laden with social issues and a permissive attitude to sex, but the approach didn’t quite fit the mood of the cash strapped 1970s. After a few years, the 4 strong writing team got it right, the press and public loved it, but it fell victim to the huge cuts underway in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in 1980, and Radio 2 never again broadcast a daily drama.

1969: Sport on 2

Sport on Two – Radio’s Grandstand

Putting sport on Radio 2 was a clever move by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ management. It drew in a young male audience that would never normally listen to the station.

The fast paced formula, described as radio’s very own Grandstand, became a fixture for many. A seemingly never ending stream of reporters up and down the country covered the weekend’s action, and for 20 years the voices of Renton Laidlaw and results announcer James Alexander-Gordon became as well-known as their TV counterparts Frank Bough and Graham Goode. The programme came to a natural end when ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 5 started, as all radio sport moved to the new network.

1972: Wogan

Wake up to Wogan – again!

For a generation of a certain age, Radio 2 could never be complete without a daily dose of Wogan.

Terry hosted breakfast on Radio 2 from 1972 until 1984 when he left for his own TV show, returning to the early morning slot from 1993-2009. At its height in 2008, 8.1 million people were listening, beating Radio 1 in the ratings war. Terry had already had a presenting career, beginning as an announcer on RTE in Ireland and then freelancing for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ. The 80s were Terry’s heyday as his early evening chat show on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ 1 really took off. His Eurovision commentaries were, of course, legendary!

1973: Jimmy Young

30 years of JY

Consumer information, recipes and current affairs was the staple diet of the Jimmy Young Show, aired on Radio 2 (and Radio 1 until 1973).

Jimmy Young acted as a bridge between the groovy sound of Radio 1 and the more sedate output of Radio 2 as both stations shared frequencies in the early years. Known on-air as ‘JY’, he had been a crooner in the 1950s, and broadcast on Radio Luxembourg before joining the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.

The big political interview, which was to become a regular feature of the show, often made the headlines. Labour politician Roy Hattersley described his style as "courtesy with a cutting edge", and so it was for 30 years.

1976: Pete Murray

Actor, DJ, Come Dancing presenter – Pete Murray did it all!

The comfortable sound of Radio 2 in the 1970s was epitomised by Pete Murray in his Open House programme. With its ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Counties sensibility and assumed audience of ‘housewives’, the show conjured up a sense of middle class sociability.

Murray trained at RADA, was a popular Come Dancing presenter, and fronted two Eurovision Song Contests. As newspaper reviewer on Breakfast Time in 1983 he declared his support for the Conservative party and was never asked to present ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ radio programmes again.

1981: Sheila Tracy

‘Keep the lipstick off your dipstick’ the surprising sound of Sheila Tracy

‘I wasn’t allowed to play anything loud or fast’, said Sheila recalling her first radio show in 1963. That was soon to change!

Sheila was something of an enigma. She was the first woman newsreader on Radio 4 (1973), one of the few female trombonists in the UK, and presenter of the only ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ radio programme devoted to truck drivers!

Some of their CB slang she innocently relayed caused consternation among the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ hierarchy but that didn’t stop her. Her 21 years spent as presenter on Radio 2’s Big Band Special won her most acclaim, and in 2004 she returned to the show to play the trombone as part of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Big Band itself.

1990: Brian Matthew

The Brian Matthew Story

Brian ‘Sounds of the Sixties’ Matthew tops the poll for being one of the longest serving broadcasters in the UK, having begun his career in 1946.

Starting with music presenting, news reading, and acting work on the British Forces Network in Germany, Brian went on to train at RADA in 1949. Acting was not to be, and after various roles at the Old Vic in London he became a milkman, before being scooped up by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in 1954.

There he remained until he was 88, when in 2017, he presented his final Sounds of the Sixties, his best remembered programme. His successful Round Midnight arts programme was equally popular, and ran for 12 years.

1996: Steve Wright

Taking Radio 2 by storm Steve Wright brings a touch of anarchy to Saturday mornings

Saturday mornings were never to be the same again when Steve Wright jumped ship from Radio 1 and secured the top late morning slot on Radio 2.

Findings in a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ review in the early 90s showed that 40 somethings felt dispossessed, and no longer knew if they were Radio 1 or 2 listeners. At the time Wright said the move was "no great psychological leap. I have had good reactions from people who say their ideal station is somewhere between (Radio 1 and 2). Everyone is welcome from nine to 90."

Since 1996 Steve has interviewed countless celebrities, played some of the nation’s favourite tracks, and kept his famous ‘posse’ in line - just!

2005: The Radio 2 Festival in a Day

Radio 2 live music history. From Abbey Road to the Festival in a Day

Live music has always been a big feature of Radio 2, from venues up and down the UK and abroad.

The Radio 2 Festival in a Day outside broadcast has brought people closer to the station when they thought they never were a typical Radio 2 listener!

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Concert Orchestra has been performing live editions of Friday Night is Music Night since the programme began in 1953, and a one-off highlight came from EMI’s Abbey Road studio when Jo Wiley met the legendary Stevie Wonder.