125-514: The Friday Rock Show was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance . Vance also hosted a television version for satellite channel VH1 in the 1990s. This series was axed in March 2002. Throughout most of its run, the show
250-467: A Farfisa organ, giving it a wider variety of sounds. Jackson was inspired by jazz musicians, particularly Rahsaan Roland Kirk , and began to play multiple saxophones (usually alto and tenor ) simultaneously. Hammill, for his part, elected to sing in received pronunciation , exploring the full range of his vocal capabilities. "We were all megalomaniacs," said Banton. "We grabbed our own space as best we could." The band started to gig regularly, including
375-641: A band called Heebalob with Smith. Hammill had already sat in with Heebalob at the Plumpton National Jazz Festival on 9 August, and, impressed by Jackson's playing, invited him to join the band, partly because he also needed a flatmate to help pay with the rent. In September, the new five-piece band began rehearsals in Notting Hill Gate and began to change its sound. Banton, influenced by the effects pedals popularised by Jimi Hendrix , used his electronic skills to modify
500-651: A breakfast show did not come naturally to them. They were replaced by Zoe Ball and Kevin Greening eight months later in October 1997; Greening soon moved on, leaving Ball as sole presenter. The reinvention of the station happened at a fortuitous time, with the rise of Britpop in the mid-1990s – bands like Oasis , Blur and Pulp were popular and credible at the time, and the station's popularity rose with them. Documentaries like John Peel's Lost in Music , which looked at
625-495: A controversial and youth-orientated movement by bringing in club DJ Pete Tong amongst others. There had been a dance music programme on Radio 1 since 1987 and Pete Tong (now the current longest-serving DJ at the station) was the second DJ to present an all dance music show. This quickly gave birth to the Essential Mix where underground DJs mix electronic and club based music in a two-hour slot. Dance and urban music has been
750-618: A countdown by the Controller of Radios 1 and 2, Robin Scott , and a jingle, recorded at PAMS in Dallas , Texas, beginning "The voice of Radio 1" – were: And, good morning everyone. Welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1. This was the first use of US-style jingles on BBC radio, but the style was familiar to listeners who were acquainted with Blackburn and other DJs from their days on pirate radio. The reason jingles from PAMS were used
875-426: A day. In between the tours, the band made an appearance on Belgian television performing "Theme One" and "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Since the studio recording of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" was a collage of multiple recordings, impossible to reproduce live in one setting, the band simply filmed individual sections of the song and spliced them together in the editing suite. It was the only live performance of
1000-552: A distinctive component of the band throughout its career, with Hammill himself having been described as "a male Nico " or "the Hendrix of the voice". Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful, they have inspired several musicians across various genres. The band formed in 1967 at the University of Manchester , after Chris Judge Smith , who had already played in several British rhythm and blues groups whilst
1125-507: A distinctive component of the band throughout its career. It has been described as "a male Nico " and would later on be cited as an influence by Goth bands in the 1980s. Unlike several other notable prog rock keyboardists, such as Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson , Banton considers himself primarily an organist, due to his background in classical and church music, and only ever used that instrument on stage, albeit heavily modified with customised electronics and devices. Hammill said that "Hugh
1250-591: A duo as Evans was not allowed to cross the border when his passport was found to be no longer valid, due to recent increased severity in the Brexit regulations. The passport issue was resolved before the band went on to two shows in Stockholm and Gothenburg , Sweden and one in Oslo , Norway. No one is likely to confuse the savage energy of King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator in their mid-1970s incarnations with
1375-645: A four-piece line-up with a quite different sound, and a shortened name of Van der Graaf, to play the spring tour. They produced the album The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome , released in September 1977; cellist and keyboardist Charles Dickie joined the band in August and remained with them for their last year. A further studio album was never recorded, but this line-up recorded a live double-album Vital in January 1978, featuring several new songs. Jackson reunited with
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#17327730328071500-441: A gaggle of others, some transferred from pirate stations, such as Keith Skues , Ed Stewart , Mike Raven , David Ryder , Jim Fisher , Jimmy Young , Dave Cash , Kenny Everett , Simon Dee , Terry Wogan , Duncan Johnson , Doug Crawford , Tommy Vance , Chris Denning , and Emperor Rosko . Many of the most popular pirate radio voices, such as Simon Dee, had only a one-hour slot per week ("Midday Spin"). I want to slag off all
1625-488: A line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans . The band formed at the University of Manchester , but settled in London where they signed with Charisma. They went through several incarnations in their early years, including a brief split in 1969. When they reformed, they found minor commercial success with The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (released in early 1970 and their only album to chart in
1750-680: A major line-up change and a slight rename to Van der Graaf. The band split in 1978. After many years apart, the band finally reunited at a gig at the Royal Festival Hall and a short tour in 2005. Since then, the band has continued as a trio of Hammill, Banton, and Evans, who record and tour regularly in between Hammill's concurrent solo career. The group's albums have tended to be both lyrically and musically darker in atmosphere than many of their progressive rock peers (a trait they shared with King Crimson , whose guitarist Robert Fripp guested on two of their albums), and guitar solos were
1875-456: A management contract with them in December. Through him, the band acquired a bass guitar player, Keith Ellis , with drummer Guy Evans joining not too long afterwards. This line-up recorded a series of demos for Mercury, before recording a single ("People You Were Going To" b/w "Firebrand") on Polydor Records , which was released in January 1969. Melody Maker said the single was "one of
2000-406: A more pastoral, hippie feel, with prominent use of Hammill's acoustic guitar , later work featured more complex instrumentation and arrangements. Hammill thinks the style of the band evolved due to the culture of music in the late 1960s, stating "the whole of music was laid out in front of you ... it was the blues in wonky time signatures." Both Hammill and Banton have stated that Jimi Hendrix
2125-533: A network of transmitters which had carried the Light Programme. Most were of comparatively low power, at less than 50 kilowatts, leading to patchy coverage of the country. The first disc jockey to broadcast on the new station was Tony Blackburn , who had previously been on Radio Caroline and Radio London , and presented what became known as the Radio 1 Breakfast Show . The first words on Radio 1 – after
2250-472: A new Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio 6 Music between 9 pm and twelve midnight. The show ran for eight years until 28 May 2010. During 2016, Vintage TV began broadcasting a programme entitled 'The Friday Night Rock Show'. Hosted by Nicky Horne , who hosted similar shows on Capital Radio during the Friday Rock Show's peak period, the show's title was chosen with the intention of paying tribute to
2375-654: A new album in Devon . A Grounding in Numbers was released on 14 March 2011. Live at Metropolis Studios 2010 was released as a 2CD/1DVD set by Salvo/Union Square Music on 4 June 2012. The band then toured the eastern part of the United States and Canada during June and July 2012, including an appearance at NEARfest Apocalypse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on 22 June. An album of out-takes and in-studio jams, similar to
2500-490: A new programme, The Friday Rock Show . and on 23 November Radio 1 moved from 247m (1214 kHz) to 275 & 285m (1053 & 1089 kHz) medium wave as part of a plan to improve national AM reception, and to conform with the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 . Annie Nightingale , whose first Radio 1 programme aired on 5 October 1969, was Britain's first national female DJ (the earliest record presenter
2625-468: A new weekend breakfast show. In 1985, Radio 1 relocated from its studios in Broadcasting House to Egton House . In March 1985, Ranking Miss P became the first black female DJ on the station, hosting a reggae programme. In July, Andy Kershaw also joined the station. Simon Mayo joined the station in 1986, while Smith re-joined to replace Read on the breakfast show. In response to
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#17327730328072750-567: A permanent feature on Radio 1 since with club DJs such as Judge Jules , Danny Rampling , Trevor Nelson , and the Dreem Teem all moving from London's Kiss 100 to the station. Listening numbers continued to decline. The breakfast show and the UK Top 40 continued to struggle. In 2000, Zoe Ball was replaced in the mornings by close friend and fellow ladette Sara Cox . The success of Moyles' show has come alongside increased success for
2875-461: A pupil in Oundle School , returned from a trip to San Francisco and, inspired by the bands he had seen, put together a list of possible band names to form a new group. After an unsatisfactory audition they had both attended in response to an advert to form a band, he met fellow student Peter Hammill , who was playing some of his original songs. Hammill had begun writing songs and poetry at
3000-459: A quite bad audio quality full of distortions. Despite the 1978 split, Banton recalled that the group "never descended very far into our sub-conscience". Banton, Jackson and Evans appeared on Hammill's solo albums, and all four occasionally played together. In 1996, the quartet appeared on stage during a concert by Hammill and Evans at the Union Chapel in London to perform "Lemmings", which
3125-505: A regular basis in the 21st century, Peter Gabriel 's "average output has been about 0.2 albums a year". Though the group have generally been commercially unsuccessful outside of early 1970s Italy, they have inspired notable musicians, including Rush and Julian Cope . Philip Oakey of the Human League said, "The band we really cared about was Van der Graaf Generator. That music was so committed." They were also namechecked by
3250-520: A review function"; after the Friday Rock Show began, Peel was able to concentrate on the post-punk styles he was most enthused by at this point. Incidental music was used whilst Vance was chatting between playing discs. Examples are "Red lady Too", George Harrison from his 1968 Apple LP Wonderwall Music ; and "The Stumble", John Mayall with Peter Green . Decca 1967. Also "Open Invitation" by Santana from their 1978 LP Inner Secrets , spliced together by producer Tony Wilson from two guitar passages when
3375-458: A session as a guest, something Fripp had never done before at that point. According to Jackson, Fripp "put headphones on and started searing away", listening to the track once, then performing two takes. "Killer", later to become a live favourite, recycled a middle eight from an old Heebalob song, and Smith received a co-composition credit on the track. The album was released in December, but didn't sell as well as The Least We Can Do... because of
3500-528: A studio session or live performance each week. Many of these studio sessions were engineered, mixed and produced by Dave Dade, BBC Senior Studio Manager, who worked closely with show producer Tony Wilson. Also featured were recordings from the BBC radio archives, both live and studio-sessions, from as far back as the late 1960s. This material included bands such as Led Zeppelin , Deep Purple , Jethro Tull , Uriah Heep , The Nice , Rush and Genesis , among others. At
3625-493: A temporary break for a while. It was moved to Sunday afternoons when Matthew Bannister became controller in October 1993, and then to Sunday evenings in May 1994. For its last year, 1995–6, it was broadcast from Glasgow and presented by John Cavanagh. The format of the programme fundamentally changed when Sturgess took over, firmly setting out its stall in the 'contemporary thrash' genre. Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden fronted
3750-405: A weekly late night show presented by a well known Internet personality called The Internet Takeover . Shows have been presented by various YouTubers such as Jim Chapman and Hannah Witton . In January 2015, Clara Amfo replaced Jameela Jamil as host of The Official Chart on Sundays (4 pm – 7 pm) and in March, Zane Lowe left Radio 1 and was replaced by Annie Mac on
3875-492: Is one of the most instinctive, baffling, and brilliant people I've known and his intuitive hold on the worlds of music and electronics has always astonished me." Banton used clonewheel organs during the 2005 reformation, but since 2009 he has used the Hammond XK-3c , and thinks Hammond have "cracked that sound at long last". Although Hammill has written the vast majority of the songs in the band's catalogue, and all of
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4000-464: Is thought to be Jean Metcalfe of Family Favourites , but given that Metcalfe only presented the programme she is not considered a "true" DJ) and became its longest-serving presenter, having constantly evolved her musical tastes with the times. In 1978, Al Matthews became the first black disc jockey to join Radio 1. His Saturday night show Discovatin ' was broadcast for over two years. During
4125-566: The BBC . It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica , dance, hip hop and indie , while its sister station 1Xtra plays black contemporary music , including hip hop and R&B . Radio 1 also runs two online streams, Radio 1 Dance , dedicated to dance music, and Radio 1 Anthems , dedicated to throwback music; both are available to listen only on BBC Sounds . Radio 1 broadcasts throughout
4250-457: The 1990s the Britpop boom declined, and manufactured chart pop (boy bands and acts aimed at sub-teenagers) came to dominate the charts. New-genre music occupied the evenings (indie on weekdays and dance at weekends), with a mix of specialist shows and playlist fillers through late nights. The rise of rave culture through the late 1980s and early 1990s gave the station the opportunity to move into
4375-494: The 1991 Gulf War ), in which listeners were asked to vote for the best of three demo tapes sent in by aspiring bands. Another feature was the listeners' all-time chart, which took place once a year on the show's anniversary/birthday (Now We Are 1, Now We Are 2, etc.), during which were played the most popular rock tracks, as voted for by the listeners. (This invariably finished with Led Zeppelin 's "Stairway to Heaven" at No. 1.) For most of its run, its intro and closing theme tune
4500-497: The BBC 'Radio Weeks' promotions that took Radio 1, 2 and 4 shows on the road – drew some of the largest crowds of the decade. The station undoubtedly played a role in maintaining the high sales of 45 rpm single records, although it benefited from a lack of competition, apart from Radio Luxembourg , and from Manx Radio in the Isle of Man. ( Independent Local Radio did not begin until October 1973, took many years to cover virtually all of
4625-413: The BBC was a turn-off for some, and needle time restrictions prevented it from playing as many records as offshore stations had. It also had limited finances and often, as in January 1975, suffered disproportionately when the BBC had to make financial cutbacks, strengthening an impression that it was regarded as a lower priority by senior BBC executives. Despite this, it gained massive audiences, becoming
4750-709: The Gouveia Art Rock Festival. There were further concerts in January 2009 in Europe, and the band played several concerts in Canada and the United States in the summer of 2009, among them a performance at NEARfest in Bethlehem PA. It was only the second time Van der Graaf Generator had visited the United States (their first being in New York City in 1976). In spring 2010, the group recorded
4875-483: The UK and was initially a mixture of music and talk). Alan Freeman 's "Saturday Rock Show" was voted "Best Radio Show" five years running by readers of a national music publication, and was then axed by controller Derek Chinnery. News coverage on the station was boosted in 1973 when Newsbeat bulletins aired for the first time, and Richard Skinner joined the station as one of the new programme's presenters. On air, 1978
5000-435: The UK on FM between 97.1 MHz and 99.7 MHz , digital radio , digital TV and BBC Sounds. It was launched in 1967 to meet the demand for music generated by pirate radio stations, when the average age of the UK population was 27. The BBC claims that it targets the 15–29 age group, and the average age of its UK audience since 2009 is 30. BBC Radio 1 started 24-hour broadcasting on 1 May 1991. According to RAJAR ,
5125-594: The UK), and after the follow-up album, H to He, Who Am the Only One (December 1970), stabilised around a line-up of Hammill, Banton, Evans and saxophonist David Jackson . The quartet subsequently achieved significant success in Italy with the release of Pawn Hearts in 1971. After several exhausting tours of Italy, the band split in 1972. They reformed in 1975, releasing Godbluff and frequently touring Italy again, before
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5250-478: The United States with hardly any promotion at all, so sales were minimal, but the group decided to reform in the middle of the recording session. Ellis had already committed to joining Juicy Lucy and was replaced by Evan's former bandmate in The Misunderstood, Nic Potter . The band had also enjoyed flautist Jeff Peach's contributions to the album and wanted to recruit a further instrumentalist. "There
5375-446: The age of 12 while at prep school , and progressed to playing in bands while a pupil at Beaumont College . He was then briefly employed as a computer programmer, during which time he subsequently claimed to have written much of the band's early material, before enrolling at Manchester. Smith was so impressed with the quality of Hammill's original material that the two agreed to form a band together. The band name chosen from Smith's list
5500-526: The band finished ahead of their rehearsal schedule, Potter decided to overdub some electric guitar – an instrument he had never played before. The album was released in February 1970 and made the top 50 in the U.K, Melody Maker said "If all our groups were as together as this, the British music scene would improve ten-fold." Potter, however, did not feel he fitted into the increasingly experimental sound
5625-541: The band for these concerts and appeared on six tracks. By the time the album was released in July 1978, the band had already split because of lack of record company support in the United States and financial difficulties. In 1982 a collection of out-takes and rehearsal recordings from the 1972–1975 hiatus was released (initially on cassette only), called Time Vaults . Intended only as a gift for hardcore fans these are mostly not studio-quality recordings, some of them have even
5750-492: The band had to make a decision whether to stay on at university, or quit their courses and move to London to turn professional. Pearne was not keen to abandon his studies, so decided to leave the group. On arrival in London, Hammill and Smith met up with classically trained organist Hugh Banton , who was a brother of one of their friends back in Manchester. Later that year, they met Tony Stratton Smith , who agreed to sign
5875-651: The band has stabilised around Hammill, Banton and Evans, the members think there is a good balance of opinion, with somebody always having the casting vote. The band have been compared with Genesis due to being label-mates at Charisma Records , sharing management with Tony Stratton Smith and performing on the same bill on the 'Six Bob Tour'. Hammill and Banton both reject this comparison, with Hammill noting that Genesis were far more driven to be commercially successful, whereas he prefers to release music without interference from record companies. In particular, he has mentioned that while he himself continues to release albums on
6000-448: The band to implode, and Hammill left to pursue a solo career in mid-1972. The three remaining members recorded an instrumental album with Nic Potter, Ced Curtis, and Pietro Messina, under the name 'The Long Hello'. Their self-titled album ( The Long Hello ) was released in 1974. Hammill's split with the group was amicable, and Banton, Jackson, and Evans, among others, all contributed to his solo work at various times. By February 1975,
6125-421: The band was developing and tended to wait until the others had worked out their parts during rehearsals, adding his bass lines on top at the last minute. After recording three tracks of their third album, H to He, Who Am the Only One , he decided to quit the band. His last gig was on 9 August at the 1970 Plumpton Festival. The remaining members auditioned Dave Anderson, roadie for Brinsley Schwarz and friend of
6250-620: The band was touring successfully, which included a concert in February at the Royal Albert Hall in support of Jimi Hendrix, it broke up in June after playing a final gig at Nottingham's Pop & Blues Festival on 10 May entirely with borrowed equipment. John Peel , who was compering the show, announced their break-up to the audience. In July 1969, Hammill had begun performing solo at the Marquee Club in London, and since there
6375-417: The band would be continuing as a trio, for live and studio work, without Jackson. He later stated that the reason for Jackson's departure was that he "seemed to have difficulty in understanding what we had mutually agreed" and that he clashed with the other band members. Relationships between Jackson and the others became strained, and Hammill, Banton and Evans realised that the only way the group could continue
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#17327730328076500-531: The band, but after a week's rehearsal found that things weren't working out musically. Banton, meanwhile, had become influenced by Vincent Crane's work in Atomic Rooster , where Crane played the bass lines on a Hammond organ 's bass pedals and suggested that he could do this as well. With just days to go before the next gig, they tried rehearsing as a four-piece, and it was successful. Banton later played bass guitar on certain songs, having already learned
6625-694: The best records of the week". But the single was quickly withdrawn under pressure from Mercury, since it violated the contract band members Hammill and Smith signed the previous year. Smith, feeling superfluous to requirements, left the band, amicably, shortly after the recording of the single. He later released demos featuring his time in Van der Graaf Generator on a CD, Democrazy . The remaining 4 members performed for John Peel on BBC Radio 1 's Top Gear radio show in November, and played several gigs in England in
6750-462: The breakfast show in January 1994, Bannister hired Chris Evans to present the breakfast show in April 1995. Evans was a popular presenter but was dismissed in 1997 after he demanded to present the breakfast show for only four days per week. Evans was replaced from 17 February 1997 by Mark and Lard – Mark Radcliffe and his sidekick Marc Riley – who found the slick, mass-audience style required for
6875-526: The chart there for 12 weeks. The following single, " Theme One ", reached number one in Italy, too. "Theme One" was an instrumental piece, originally written by Beatles producer George Martin as a fanfare for the BBC radio station Radio 1, later to appear on US pressings of Pawn Hearts . Following commercial success in Italy, the band did a six-week tour there at the start of 1972. The band were apprehensive about touring there, concerned they might be playing to half empty venues, but they were all shocked by
7000-651: The chief executive of RadioCentre, was "to identify both areas of best practice and possible savings." The controller of Radio 1 and sister station 1Xtra changed to Ben Cooper on 28 October 2011, following the departure of Andy Parfitt. Ben Cooper answered to the Director of BBC Audio and Music, Tim Davie. On 7 December 2011, Ben Cooper's first major changes to the station were announced. Skream & Benga, Toddla T , Charlie Sloth and Friction replaced Judge Jules, Gilles Peterson , Kissy Sell Out and Fabio & Grooverider. A number of shows were shuffled to incorporate
7125-416: The complexity of their music, the band were well received on the tour, with Hammill noting "at nearly all the gigs, most of the audience have known most of the songs ... It was like a big family actually, exactly as all of us had pictured it in our wildest dreams." While on tour, the band started working out compositions between gigs for their next album, which would become Pawn Hearts . The intention
7250-466: The connection or theme between them. From the beginning of 1985, this was replaced by "Lie Back And Enjoy It". Listeners would send in a list of tracks that would last for about 20 minutes, but did not have to have a connection. The person whose selection was chosen would still receive the record voucher and Van der Graaf 's "Theme One" was still used to introduce the feature. In the late 80s, Vance introduced "Rock War" (later renamed "Rock Challenge" during
7375-448: The country by having that play list monopoly. — Joe Strummer Initially, the station was unpopular with some of its target audience who, it is claimed, disliked the fact that much of its airtime was shared with Radio 2 and that it was less unequivocally aimed at a young audience than the offshore stations, with some DJs such as Jimmy Young being in their 40s. The very fact that it was part of an "establishment" institution such as
7500-494: The disinterested density of Gentle Giant or the more pastoral, at times delicate, stylizations of Genesis or Renaissance (or even Yes in their quieter moments). Van der Graaf Generator are a progressive rock band. Writing in Record Collector , Toby Manning said the music was "philosophical, even intellectual, complex .. at times, terrifying". While the music on The Aerosol Grey Machine (September 1969) has
7625-514: The earlier work with John Anthony at Trident, the sessions were produced by the band themselves, and both the Melody Maker and Sounds thought they were a tighter and more cohesive unit than previously. The album in particular saw Hammill making significant use of the Hohner clavinet keyboard. Still Life followed on 15 April 1976. Banton considers this album one of his favourites by
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#17327730328077750-443: The early weekend shows. Gary Davies and Janice Long also joined, hosting Saturday night late and evening shows respectively. In 1984, Robbie Vincent joined to host a Sunday evening soul show. Mike Smith left for a while to present BBC1's Breakfast Time ; Gary Davies then took over the weekday lunchtime slot. Bruno Brookes joined and replaced Peter Powell as presenter of the teatime show, with Powell replacing Blackburn on
7875-514: The exception rather than the rule, preferring to use Banton's classically influenced organ, and, until his departure, Jackson's multiple saxophones. While Hammill is the primary songwriter for the band, and members have contributed to his solo albums, the band arranges all its material collectively. Hammill's lyrics covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick , along with his confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been
8000-477: The facilities at Trident to the limit and had involved the use of every single tape machine in Trident at some stage." The experiments included tape manipulation and Banton playing Mellotron and synthesizer . According to Jackson, one section of it features the entire band overdubbed 16 times. The album was released in October 1971 and was not a success in the U.K, but proved highly successful in Italy, topping
8125-632: The first live performance of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". In 2014, the group collaborated with Soviet dissident artist Vladislav Shabalin for an art venture titled the Earlybird Project. The title comes from the track of the same name on ALT . In 2015, the group released the live album, Merlin Atmos featuring tracks recorded during the 2013 tour, and After the Flood , an album of BBC recordings from 1968–1977. A new album, Do Not Disturb
8250-597: The first of several live appearances at the Friars Aylesbury in November. Tony Stratton Smith formed Charisma Records and signed the band as his first act, who recorded their second album, The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other from 11–14 December 1969 with producer John Anthony in Trident Studios . Hammill's voice was electronically treated on "After the Flood", while "Refugees" and "White Hammer" featured cello and cornet respectively. Because
8375-407: The format of Arthur Brown's band. Along with two female dancers, the initial line-up was Hammill on guitar and vocals, Smith on drums, wind instruments and vocals, and Pearne on organ (though he did not initially have an instrument). According to Smith, the band initially played as a two-piece, with Smith occasionally using a typewriter as a percussion instrument; their first gig as a three-piece
8500-464: The group is still fun to work with, stating "as far as we're concerned, it's serious fun, but fun nonetheless." Promoting Do Not Disturb , he said "We love making a racket, and that has to do with chaos, which is pretty punk". Hammill's lyrics frequently covered themes of mortality, due to his love of science fiction writers such as Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick , along with his self-confessed warped and obsessive nature. His voice has been
8625-519: The group. In the summer of 1975, the band gigged in Italy without incident, but when they returned to tour there in November, the intense political situation the country was going through caught up with them. The opening concert in Padua was marked with clashes with communists delivering political speeches, and the audience started throwing missiles towards the stage. After a gig without incident in Genoa ,
8750-563: The growth in dance and rap music, Jeff Young joined in October 1987 with the Big Beat show. At the end of the year Nicky Campbell , Mark Goodier and Liz Kershaw all joined, and Janice Long left. Mayo replaced Smith on the breakfast show in May 1988. In September, Goodier and Kershaw took over weekend breakfasts with Powell departing. Campbell took over weekday evenings as part of a move into night-time broadcasting as 1 October 1988 saw Radio 1 extend broadcast hours until 02:00; previously
8875-444: The influence that the use of drugs have had over popular musicians, received critical acclaim but were slated inside Broadcasting House . At just before 09:00 on 1 July 1994, Radio 1 broadcast on medium wave for the final time. In March 1995, Radio 1 hosted an "Interactive Radio Night" with Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq broadcasting from Cyberia , an internet café and featuring live performances by Orbital via ISDN . Later in
9000-626: The instrument in the mid-1960s, and Hammill expanded his instrumental capabilities on stage to cover piano and keyboards as well as guitar. Jackson modified his saxophones to be completely electric, as opposed to simply being amplified through a microphone, and combined the sound with a wah-wah pedal and an octave divider . H to He continued to be recorded sporadically throughout 1970, and featured Robert Fripp of King Crimson contributing guitar on "The Emperor in His War-Room". Producer John Anthony knew Fripp socially and invited him to
9125-467: The lack of a hit. Charisma proposed "Killer" as a single, but the band rejected this. Reviewing the album, Sounds particularly praised Jackson's saxophone work, but critical reception overall was mixed. The Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans quartet that resulted from H to He, Who Am the Only One is now considered the "classic" line-up. The group played on the ' Six Bob Tour ' in early 1971 with fellow Charisma labelmates Genesis and Lindisfarne . Despite
9250-404: The legacies of Tommy Vance and Alan Freeman . NWOBHM band Saxon paid tribute to the Friday Rock Show in their song " Denim and Leather ". A number of recordings, made when Tommy Vance fronted the Friday Rock Show, were issued on an independent record label Raw Fruit Records in the early 1990s. BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by
9375-449: The likes of Graham Coxon , Marc Almond , Stephen Morris , Jello Biafra , Mark E. Smith and John Lydon . Coxon is particularly fond of "House with No Door" from H to He (1970), saying the track is "extremely beautiful, with Jackson's truly lovely sax-and-flute instrumental section." Almond recalled hearing "Killer" for the first time saying, "I'd never heard anything like it before. It wasn't just Peter's snarling operatic vocal, it
9500-507: The lyrics, he is keen to stress that the arrangements of the music comes from all the group's members. In 1976, being interviewed for the Melody Maker , he said that "VDGG is a band, a real band ... of course [it] is something special, it releases in individual terms parts of us that wouldn't be aired otherwise. In 2013, he reiterated, "Some people don't think Van der Graaf is a democracy, but believe me, it's entirely democratic, with everyone having very vocal and forceful opinions." Since
9625-443: The members of the band were ready to work with each other in a full-time capacity again, and they decided to reform the band. All the members were keen on carrying on with new music, with no nostalgia for their previous era, and did not want to play earlier stage favourites such as "Killer" (the opening track on H to He, Who Am the Only One ) and "Theme One". "We didn't want to continue as if nothing had happened," said Hammill. Banton
9750-484: The most listened-to station in the world, with audiences of over ten million claimed for some of its shows (up to twenty million for some of the combined Radio 1 and Radio 2 shows). In the early-to-mid-1970s Radio 1 presenters were rarely out of the British tabloids, thanks to the Publicity Department's high-profile work. The touring summer live broadcasts called the Radio 1 Roadshow – usually as part of
9875-632: The new line-up. On 28 February 2012, further changes were announced. Greg James and Scott Mills swapped shows and Jameela Jamil , Gemma Cairney and Danny Howard joined the station. The new line-up of DJs for In New DJs We Trust was also announced with B.Traits , Mosca, Jordan Suckley and Julio Bashmore hosting shows on a four weekly rotation. This new schedule took effect on Monday, 2 April 2012. In September 2012, Nick Grimshaw replaced Chris Moyles as host of "Radio 1's Breakfast Show". Grimshaw previously hosted Mon-Thurs 10pm-Midnight, Weekend Breakfast and Sunday evenings alongside Annie Mac. Grimshaw
10000-495: The new music evening show. Van der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records . They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s. In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with
10125-440: The next months. Meanwhile, Mercury refused to let the band record, and at the same time Stratton Smith refused to let the other members of the band sign to Mercury too, as he did not think the deal was fair to the band (only Hammill remained now of the original three who had signed with Mercury). On top of that in late January 1969 the band's van and equipment were stolen. The theft aggravated their financial difficulties. Although
10250-663: The pace of the song accelerated. "Jas'Moon" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is another backing track, as is Stanley Clarke 's "Silly Putty" (from the album Journey To Love ). "Chasin' the Voodoo" by Al Di Meola is another (Album: Casino ). The only Mahavishnu Orchestra 45 RPM record "Can't Stand Your Funk" from the 1974 record Visions of the Emerald Beyond was another musical bed for Tommy to talk over. The tracks used as incidental music changed during
10375-501: The people in charge of radio stations. Firstly, Radio 1. They outlawed the pirates and then didn't, as they promised, cater for the market the pirates created. Radio 1 and 2, most afternoons, run concurrently and the whole thing has slid right back to where it was before the pirates happened. They've totally fucked it. There's no radio station for young people any more. It's all down to housewives and trendies in Islington. They're killing
10500-480: The reins fully in October 1993. His aim was to rid the station of its " Smashie and Nicey " image in order to appeal to the under-25s. Although originally launched as a youth station, by the early 1990s, its loyal listeners and DJs had aged with the station over its 25-year history. Many long-standing DJs, such as Simon Bates , Dave Lee Travis , Alan Freeman , Bob Harris , Paul Gambaccini , Gary Davies , and later Steve Wright, Bruno Brookes and Johnnie Walker left
10625-406: The second disc of Present , called ALT was released in June 2012. Hammill has stated that he has enjoyed the current reunion, as "the activity has reinvigorated me. Going from one thing to another is an energizing thing." Hammill revealed via his website that the band's former bassist Nic Potter died on the night of 16 January 2013, aged 61. The group continued to tour in 2013, including
10750-475: The sheer volume of the crowds that came to see them. " Pawn Hearts was seen as the ultimate album by the ultimate band," said Jackson, who at times found it difficult to walk down the street in parts of Italy without being recognised. "The tour was like the prophets have landed ... you couldn't go anywhere without this lunatic 'Generator Mania' breaking out." After the tour, the group was immediately offered another Italian tour, this time doing up to three shows
10875-479: The show by the early 1980s. Initially the show had been intended as a continuation of Alan Freeman 's 1973–78 Saturday afternoon show, and included elements of post-punk and new wave music. The show had the additional good fortune of being able to "borrow" the 88–91 MHz FM transmitters of BBC Radio 2 , allowing listeners to enjoy the music in the best available quality for the time, before Radio 1 finally acquired its own FM frequency in 1988. Before this happened,
11000-453: The show was temporarily given an extra hour from 21:00 to 22:00, probably because Alan Freeman's Capital London 's Monday rock show had been moved to Friday nights starting at 21:00. This was heard on medium wave only, except in London and parts of the south east, where it was relayed by BBC Radio London 's FM transmitter. After Radio 1's move to 24-hour FM broadcasting, the show's time slot
11125-457: The solo tracks by Guy, David, and Hugh." The master tape of the recording sessions has been lost. Fripp again provided a cameo appearance on guitar. While "Man-Erg" had already been performed on stage, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" evolved in the studio, recorded in small sections and pieced together during mixing. According to producer John Anthony , the track features a lot more studio experimentation than on previous albums, saying "we pushed
11250-518: The song until 2013. By June, the band had performed another Italian tour (the third that year) and wanted to start recording new material (some of which ended up on Hammill's 1973 solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night ). However, the combination of working for too long without a break, combined with a lack of support from Stratton Smith and Charisma and continued financial difficulties caused
11375-608: The station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 7.3 million with a listening share of 4.5% as of March 2024. Radio 1 was established in 1967 (along with the more middle-of-the-road BBC Radio 2 ) as a successor to the BBC Light Programme , which had broadcast popular music and other entertainment since 1945. Radio 1 was conceived as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio London , which had been declared illegal by Act of Parliament . Radio 1's initial format
11500-429: The station had closed for the night at midnight. From September 1988, Radio 1 began its FM switch-on, with further major transmitter switch-ons in 1989 and 1990. It was not until the mid-1990s that all existing BBC radio transmitters had Radio 1 added. Previously, Radio 1 had "borrowed" Radio 2's VHF/FM frequencies for around 25 hours each week. On 1 May 1991, Radio 1 began 24-hour broadcasting, although only on FM, as
11625-488: The station in general. In 2006, DJs Scott Mills and Zane Lowe won gold Sony Radio Awards , while the station itself came away with the best station award. A new evening schedule was introduced in September 2006, dividing the week by genre. The licence-fee funding of Radio 1, alongside Radio 2, is often criticised by the commercial sector. In the first quarter of 2011 Radio 1 was part of an efficiency review conducted by John Myers . His role, according to Andrew Harrison,
11750-406: The station or were dismissed, and in January 1995, older music (typically anything recorded before 1990) was dropped from the daytime playlist . Many listeners rebelled as the first new DJs to be introduced represented a crossover from other parts of the BBC (notably Bannister and Trevor Dann's former colleagues at the BBC's London station, GLR ) with Emma Freud and Danny Baker . Another problem
11875-436: The station – including Edith Bowman, Nihal and Rob da Bank. Huw Stephens gained a new show hosting 10 pm – 1 am Monday–Wednesday with Alice Levine presenting weekends 1 pm – 4 pm. Radio 1's Residency also expanded with Skream joining the rotational line-up on Thursday nights (10 pm – 1 am). From December 2014 to April 2016, Radio 1 included
12000-406: The station's MW transmitters were switched off between midnight and 06:00. In 1992, Radio 1, for the first and only time, covered a general election . Their coverage was presented by Nicky Campbell . In his last few months as controller, Johnny Beerling commissioned a handful of new shows that in some ways set the tone for what was to come under Matthew Bannister . One of these " Loud'n'proud "
12125-404: The station. The changes took effect in January 2013. Former presenter Sara Cox hosted her last show on Radio 1 in February 2014 before moving back to Radio 2. In March 2014, Gemma Cairney left the weekend breakfast show to host the weekday early breakfast slot, swapping shows with Dev. In September 2014, Radio 1 operated a series of changes to their output which saw many notable presenters leave
12250-531: The summer months a Wednesday show was also broadcast featuring live acts. At the start of 1981, Mike Read took over The Radio 1 Breakfast Show from Dave Lee Travis . Towards the end of the year, Steve Wright started the long-running Steve Wright in the Afternoon show. In 1982, the new Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show started, initially with Tony Blackburn supported by Maggie Philbin and Keith Chegwin . Adrian John and Pat Sharp also joined for
12375-568: The third day of the tour at the PalaSport in Rome, in front of 40,000 people, saw similar confrontations to the Padua gig. A fire broke out at the venue, but was brought under control. The next day, the band learned that most of their gear had been stolen from the tour van, including Hammill's blue Fender Stratocaster , christened "Meurglys". Despite threats from promoters that the band would continue
12500-419: The time the majority of this material was not available on general release and even today, in the current era of the deluxe edition CD album featuring bonus tracks, some remains unavailable to the general public, mainly because Tony Wilson took the tapes with him when he left the BBC in 1995. Other features included "The Friday Night Connection", a quiz in which listeners had to identify three pieces of music and
12625-550: The tour using hired equipment (which Jackson considered impossible given the electronic modifications he had made to his saxophones), they abandoned the tour. Miraculously, all of Jackson's saxophones had survived the theft. In December 1976, following the World Record tour, Banton quit, and in January 1977, Potter returned to replace him alongside the violinist Graham Smith (formerly of Charisma folk-rock band String Driven Thing ). Jackson then decided to leave, resulting in
12750-513: The years the show was broadcast and towards the late 1980s no background music was used. A complete list of the tracks used as incidental music is as follows; The first top 10 from 1979 called "Now We Are One" was as follows: The second top 10, "Two's Up - The Listeners' Top Ten" was broadcast on 14 November 1980. The third top 10, was broadcast on 13 November 1981. The show was taken over by Claire Sturgess , who had been Radio 1 DJ Simon Bates ' secretary prior to her appointment, but it went on
12875-600: Was " Flowers in the Rain " by The Move , the number 2 record in that week's Top 20 (the number 1 record, The Last Waltz by Engelbert Humperdinck , would have been inappropriate for the station's sound). The second single was " Massachusetts " by the Bee Gees . The breakfast show remains the most prized slot in the Radio 1 schedule, with every change of breakfast show presenter generating considerable media interest. The initial rota of staff included John Peel , Pete Myers , and
13000-437: Was always the idea of having another melodic instrument," recalled Evans. "He [Banton]'ll play a solo, sure, and really give it something, but he doesn't want to do that all the time." Peach was approached to become a full-time member, but dropped out after one rehearsal as he didn't think his playing style fitted the band. The position was eventually filled by saxophonist and flautist David Jackson , who had previously played in
13125-468: Was an influence on the band's sound, with Hammill remarking that "there'd been distortion before, but there hadn't been that real out-there attitude to sound in itself". The group's experimental style has also been compared to Krautrock bands such as Can . Because of their musical influences and line-up, the band tended to play darker musical themes than other progressive bands, with the possible exception of King Crimson . However, Hammill has stated that
13250-627: Was based on a Van de Graaff generator , an electro-mechanical device that produces static electricity with lightning-like flashes – the misspelling is accidental. Smith recalls the reason for this may have been that the device's inventor, the American physicist Robert Van de Graaff , died in 1967, which was widely reported in the media. Among the bands that regularly played the university, including Cream , Jimi Hendrix , and Pink Floyd , they were particularly impressed by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown , and recruited an organist, Nick Pearne, to match
13375-429: Was favourable; BBC Music 's Peter Marsh said the group was "willing to push the envelope a little, and bless them for that", while AllMusic's Dave Thompson said the group "never made a less than fabulous album in their lives. And they're not about to start now." A reunion concert took place at the Royal Festival Hall , London, on 6 May 2005, which was released as Real Time in March 2007. The Festival Hall concert
13500-597: Was followed by several European dates in the summer and autumn. The concert in Leverkusen , Germany on 5 November was filmed for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk TV show Rockpalast , which was broadcast on 16 January 2006. Hammill stated in a December 2005 newsletter that there were no plans for further recordings or performances by the "classic" Van der Graaf Generator line-up of himself, Banton, Evans and Jackson. Hammill subsequently announced that
13625-448: Was hosted by Tommy Vance . Ostensibly for the genre of rock in general, it was most closely associated with heavy metal . In the early 1980s it was the only nationally available outlet for this genre of music, and Vance's enthusiasm for showcasing new bands and his rapport with fans made the show essential listening for rockers. The show played a significant role in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal , which came to dominate
13750-445: Was in the middle of building a custom organ at the time, and halted the project to join the reformed group, using a rented Hammond C3 organ instead. Hammill began playing electric guitar in the band, which had been conspicuously absent earlier in their career. The reformed band worked at a prolific pace, rehearsing, and touring France before recording three new albums in just 12 months, beginning with Godbluff (October 1975). Unlike
13875-438: Was in the student union, which lasted five minutes before the group's amplifiers blew up. The band managed to persuade fellow student Caleb Bradley to manage them, and by the start of 1968, the band had managed to record a demo tape influenced by blues and jazz , sending it to Lou Reizner , then the U.K. head of Mercury Records , who offered the trio of Hammill, Smith, and Pearne a recording contract in May. At this point,
14000-458: Was influenced in particular by Radio London's American-style Top 40 format, in which music was divided into categories played in strict rotation. The new service was initially promoted in the summer of 1967 by trails (voiced by Kenny Everett ) which referred to it as "Radio 247", the station's temporary working title. Radio 1 was launched at 7:00 am on Saturday 30 September 1967. Broadcasts were on 1214 kHz AM (247 metres), using
14125-569: Was later in March 1997 released as The Union Chapel Concert . In 2003, Banton, Jackson, and Evans joined with Hammill to perform "Still Life" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Following the Queen Elizabeth Hall performance, the band members discussed working together. In mid-2004, they began to write and rehearse new material. The result was a double CD, Present , released in April 2005. Critical response
14250-429: Was no group, he decided to record what was intended to be his first solo album at Trident Studios on 31 July and 1 August, with Banton, Evans, and Ellis as session musicians. However, through a deal worked out by Stratton Smith, the album, The Aerosol Grey Machine , was released in September 1969 by Mercury under the group's name in return for releasing them from their contract. The album was initially only released in
14375-440: Was put back half an hour from 22:30 to 00:30, but only for a brief period and after returning to its original slot, the show eventually moved to run from 21:00 to 23:00. By 1993, the introduction into Britain of a much wider choice of television and radio channels had made heavy metal more accessible and the show less important, and Tommy Vance left Radio 1 to join the original line-up of Virgin Radio . The show generally included
14500-648: Was released in September 2016. It included the song "Alfa Berlina" which documented the group's 1970s Italian tours. Critics speculated that it would be the band's last album, though this has not been confirmed. In 2021 the band embarked on a European tour, due to continue until May 2022. On 24 and 25 October 2021 the band played for the first time in Finland, in two concerts at the Savoy Theatre [ fi ] in Helsinki . Hammill and Banton performed as
14625-449: Was replaced by Phil Taggart and Alice Levine on the 10pm-Midnight show. In November 2012, another series of changes were announced. This included the departure of Reggie Yates and Vernon Kay. Jameela Jamil was announced as the new presenter of The Official Chart . Matt Edmondson moved to weekend mornings with Tom Deacon briefly replacing him on Wednesday nights. Daniel Howell and Phil Lester , famous YouTubers and video bloggers, joined
14750-541: Was that the Musicians' Union would not agree to a single fee for the singers and musicians if the jingles were made "in-house" by the BBC; they wanted repeat fees each time one was played. The first music to be heard on the station was an extract from "Beefeaters" by Johnny Dankworth . " Theme One ", specially composed for the launch by George Martin was played for the first time before Radio 1 officially launched at 7 am. The first complete record played on Radio 1
14875-499: Was that, at the time, Radio 2 was sticking resolutely to a format which appealed mainly to those who had been listening since the days of the Light Programme , and commercial radio, which was targeting the "Radio 1 and a half" audience, consequently enjoyed a massive increase in its audience share at Radio 1's expense. After the departure of Steve Wright, who had been unsuccessfully moved from his long-running afternoon show to
15000-649: Was the Dixie Dregs instrumental "Take it Off the Top", and the quiz used the Van der Graaf Generator track "Theme One" (a cover of the theme tune originally written for Radio 1 by George Martin in 1967); other jingles were written and performed by Samson (with Nicky Moore on vocals), Rose Tattoo and Vow Wow . The show replaced John Peel on Friday nights, but Peel's show had previously featured more mainstream styles of rock music than he personally favoured as "part of
15125-430: Was the UK's first national radio series aimed at a gay audience, which was produced in Manchester and aired from August 1993. Far from being a "parting quirk", the show was a surprise hit and led to the network's first coverage of the large outdoor Gay Pride event in 1994. The Man Ezeke became Radio 1's first black regular daytime presenter when he began hosting on Sunday lunchtimes in January 1993. Bannister took
15250-465: Was the busiest year of the decade. David Jensen replaced Dave Lee Travis as host of the weekday drivetime programme so that DLT could replace Noel Edmonds as presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast show. Later in the year the Sunday teatime chart show was extended from a Top 20 countdown to a Top 40 countdown, and Tommy Vance , one of the station's original presenters, rejoined the station to present
15375-527: Was the mix of instruments ... I became an instant fan." Mentioning their reputation as something of an acquired taste, Lydon said, "There's a few Van der Graaf things I like, but I'm not going to recommend anything to anyone. It might not be for them. Music doesn't come with a set of guidelines." Bruce Dickinson – a fan of the band since he saw them at Oundle School aged 13 – hailed Hammill as one of his childhood heroes. Although Van der Graaf Generator are generally categorised as progressive rock , Cope
15500-422: Was to release a double album, and the band recorded the material; however, for economic reasons, the released recording was a single album containing three tracks – "Lemmings", "Man-Erg", and the 23 minute concept piece " A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers ". Reflecting on this, Hammill said: "Charisma Records felt that it wasn't appropriate for us to release a double album and they vetoed the live studio recordings and
15625-696: Was without him. After Jackson's departure, the group took a break before touring as a trio in April and July 2007 over Europe. A concert on 14 April 2007 in the Paradiso in Amsterdam was recorded and streamed on the FabChannel website until March 2009, and was released on DVD and CD that June. The first trio recording, Trisector , was released on 17 March 2008. Live concerts were played in Europe in March and April, and in Japan in June, among them, one at
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