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Radio 1 Magazine 15th Anniversary Edition
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Through our guestbook, you asked for more on the Radio 1 Roadshow. So, as we continue our nostalgic look back to Radio 1 aged 15, at the same time, 1982, the Roadshow was reaching it's own landmark in time, out and about the cities and towns, and beaches of the UK....we continue with...
10 YEARS OF THE RADIO 1 ROADSHOW by Johnny Beerling
What is that old saying about time flying when you're having fun? It certainly doesn't feel like ten years since we first launched our unique caravan on Newquay Sands.
Statistics
are a bit meaningless unless you've experienced the events but in those ten
years, we must have covered some 50,000 miles, broadcast more than 500 shows,
met millions of you listeners, eaten hundreds of seaside breakfasts and compiled
a directory of all that's good and bad in the hotels of the U.K. If Egon
Ronay had asked us, we could tell him where there is a hotel where the owner
personally cooks a superb dinner too big to finish served with excellent wine
when you arrive after midnight, tired, and hungry and thirsty. If he had
asked us too, we could tell of other hotels where they display several stars yet
everything is too much trouble. Perhaps there is a commercial venture
overlooked by 'Smiley' Miley here, a Radio 1 hotel and restaurant guide.
Tony
'Smiley' Miles has also been around since the Roadshow started, boy and man so
to speak, starting as the original driver towing the first ever caravan from
Bristol where it, and he, were both constructed, down to the West Country.
"The thing wobbles" he said "like crazy, whenever I get over
30m.p.h.!" and it took him all weekend to find out how critical the
distribution of weight was within the caravan. It was only years later
that he owned up to me he had never towed a caravan before in his life!
After the first successful tour, he built the Radio 1 Goodie Mobile, a sales
vehicle operating under licence, retailing all the souvenirs of the
Network. We also needed to explain to the listeners in graphic terms how
far our caravan had travelled, so someone invented the Mileage Game where
members of the audience joined in the fun and guessed how far we had moved on
each day. Smiley, being driver, and general dogs body, became a
broadcaster and 'superstar' reporting his travels and - contriving to arrive on
stage to deliver his report in many different manners. On one occasion he
borrowed one of the seaside donkeys and rode onto the stage at a brisk canter -
this brought smiles to the faces of everyone but they were nothing compared to
the laughter from the crowd when the donkey disgraced himself on stage in full
view of Noel
Edmonds. The listeners are probably still wondering
what was so funny about 'Smiley' on a donkey. On another occasion he sough
the co-operation of the local fire brigade and screamed through the audience
with all the sirens going and he has even been known to turn up on a
camel. DLT
says "If an object moves near the Roadshow, Smiley will paint it red,
white and blue and either sell it or ride it!".
Backstage
too over the years, we have had our share of laughs. Mike
Read is a great practical joker and not averse to fitting up the
breakfast table so that the innocent looking sugar lump is actually a chemical
capable of turning tea bright pink. He, and Smiley, are frequently out to
see just who is game for a laugh. Mind you, they don't find it quite so
funny when the tables are reversed with the odd packet of itching powder at the
bottom of their bedclothes or the kipper secreted behind their radiators.
To the producers a week on the road with the Roadshow is rather like being out
with Dennis the Menace and the fifth form, but among the Radio 1 DJs, a stint on
the Summer tour is very much sought after as a super working holiday.
Not all the Roadshows though are staged at Seaside Resorts. Over the years, we have been to many city centres as part of our 'Weeks Out' series. Thank you to all those places that have welcomed us, the Stately Homes, the village fetes, the Agriculture Shows and the Motor Racing Circuits. All the places and the people blur together over the years to be remembered mainly as tremendous fun. One occasion that does stand out as not so much fun though was in 1975, when the Bay City Rollers were due to visit the Roadshow at the Mallory Park Race Circuit. The girl fans couldn't contain their excitement and rushed across the track ignoring the danger from 100mph cars and dived into a lake separating them from their idols. So great was the danger that racing had to be suspended, the Chief Constable of Leicestershire nearly locked me up as the organiser and David Hamilton had to abandon the Roadshow caravan and hide himself away with the Rollers in a not to secure watch tower. That's a day I will never forget, nor, I suspect, will the 40,000 others who came. I wonder what happened to the Rollers, their fans and the traffic jams formed that day. Could be some of them are still stuck in the roads around Mallory Park, they have been pretty quiet lately!
Although
we have lots of laughs we do take the business of entertaining you very
seriously and on behalf of all of us at Radio 1, I would like to say thank you
too, to all the good natured fans who have been prepared to come up on stage and
take part in all those games during the warm-ups and during the
broadcasts. Without you, there couldn't have been any 'Bits and Pieces'
and 'Mileage Games' and the other things we have done, so thank you for ten
years of welcomes everywhere. As long as you want us, you are our
customers and, we will do our best to carry on serving you.
Johnny Beerling
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE RADIO 1 ROADSHOW.
The time is 6.30 on a summer morning. A gentle breeze is blowing off the sea and on the horizon a reluctant sun is struggling to fight it's way above the skyline into the pale cloud streaked sky. The streets are more or less deserted except for the occasional paper boy making his sleepy way around. In the distance a sound is heard, the gentle roar of a 3.5 litre V8 Range Rover towing a very large caravan. The shape of the vehicle is not quite like the average family Sprite. It is long, 22 feet 6 inches long to be precise with a height of 10 feet 6 inches, and looking very like a large white matchbox on four tiny wheels.
The
driver draws to a halt by an area of grass adjacent to the promenade, jumps out
of his Range Rover and lights the first of many cigarettes whilst apparently
waiting for something to happen. He doesn't have too long to wait.
From a neighbouring hotel a couple of equally tired looking engineers appear
along with a slightly older, though no less tired looking man. He is the
show's producer. The only thing that tells them apart, at this stage, is
the fact that the producer's jeans are somewhat less grubby and creased and his
hands don't have the callouses grown by erecting the stage, 50 times or more!
The
producer mutters a few unintelligible asides at his assembled cast and the
driver stubs out his cigarette. This causes him to break into a spasm of
coughing, which, when it subsides, permits him to climb into his vehicle and tow
the caravan onto the appointed site. The group is joined at this stage by
another truck painted in the same red, white and blue livery, this one, which is
a little smaller, contains the back up equipment. Once he has parked, the
men become a well routined team who, like a drill squad, know exactly what each
member has to do. The doors of the larger matchbox are opened and assorted
planks and jacks are thrown out and the team level off the caravan, most
essential if the record players are ever going to play properly. Other
items are thrown out, or lifted gently, depending on their function.
Support spars for the stage, flags and bunting, loud-speakers and most
important, the Lucky Request Bin. One side of the caravan is unfastened
and it hinges upwards to form a protective canopy. One man cranks a handle
at the front end and as if by magic a complete stage slowly appears out of the
opened side. Now it begins to look like the Radio 1 Roadshow. From
the nearby hotel comes the smell of frying bacon, it's just the spur the men
need to make them redouble their efforts. The bunting is erected, the
loudspeakers rigged, and the mains electricity and telephone lines are
connected. The time is 7.30 and it is nearly time for breakfast. A
few inquisitive passers by stop to relieve their dogs whilst gazing at the
action and one or two schoolboys get underfoot and ask for autographs. All
par for the course, as is the little old lady who asks what time the nice Mr. David
Jacobs will be appearing, All seems to be working satisfactorily so
it's time for a break. What is to be done about security in our
absence? No problem. Right on cue comes another mighty roar, and
screeching to a halt is another similar caravan, the Radio 1 Goodie Mobile
driven by the swashbuckling Tony 'Smiley' Miley. So called because he has
never been known to stop smiling, even when he found he had given a customer
change from a £10 note when they had paid with a £5 one.
Smiley agrees to keep a watching eye on the Roadshow whilst the team has breakfast and he sets out his stall of Radio 1 Goodies, Tee shirts, hats, badges, posters, key rings and any other memorabilia.
By
9 o'clock, all is ready. The team looks more awake, the clouds on the
horizon have dispersed and the golden sun is climbing into the clear blue
sky. It is going to be a scorcher. The local authority workmen
appear with a lorry load of metal barriers that used to surround the stage and
caravan. Quite a few potential audience members are about now and they
stand, or sit about, patiently waiting for something to happen. They don't
have to wait too long because the producer and his secretary appear on stage to
sort out the records for the day, and they put on a selection of pleasant pop to
entertain the fans and put them in the right frame of mind for the
show.
By 10 o'clock, all is set. The sun is beating down, a very large crowd has gathered and the producer steps on stage to introduce today's star DJ. A roar of approval goes up from his fans, coupled with one or two groans from those who were expecting Terry Wogan or that nice Mr. Jacobs, and we're off to another two and a half hours of fun. Those of you who have heard the show will know only too well what to expect, and those of you who haven't will have to tune in to find out.
At
12.30, the show comes to an end and the DJ hands back to London for 'Newsbeat'
and you might well think he can take a well earned break. No chance.
Before he can even get to the men's room he is pounced upon by the local
hospital radio DJ who needs an interview and ten jingles for his station as well
as three correspondents from the local press and assorted photographers who want
personally posed pictures.
Not to mention all those fans who are dying for autographs. Somehow he, and his producer, keep smiling and accommodate everyone. Then the DJ makes his way across to the Goodie Mobile to sign autographs for the remaining fans. A queue about half a mile long forms and Mr. DJ starts to sign everything that is thrown in front of him. An amazing selection of objects it is too.
By
2 o'clock, the engineers have wrapped up the main caravan, the autograph queue
has dwindled to nearly nothing and everyone gets their first break of the
day. It's round to the nearest pub for a pie and a pint. What's
that? No pies left! Oh well a pint and a packet of peanuts
then! It's a glamourous life on the road with Radio 1.
By 3 o'clock, everyone is packed, refreshed and all ready to roll. Rendezvous as agreed and the convoy sets off for it's next destination. Most make it by 6 o'clock except for Smiley who had a puncture on the way and had to bribe a garage with two free tee-shirts to gain a rapid repair. That really hurt Smiley, no, not the puncture, the lost profit on two tee-shirts! The gang check in at their new hotel but work isn't quite over. The normal routine is for any local reporters who may wish to chat to the DJ and producer to present themselves at the hotel for a drink before dinner. The sun is setting in the distance as the last reporter leaves and the gang go down for dinner, followed by a relaxing drink or three. One engineer looks out of the restaurant bar at the reddening sky. "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight, looks as if we'll have a good day for the show tomorrow........."
Take a look at Radio 1 Goodies on offer back in 1982 from the Goodie Mobile...
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