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BBC Election Replay - 1970 and 1974

1974 on Friday 3 October (September 2003)

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:-(
A former member
DAS - you're actually thinking of Richard Baker's last news bulletin (New Year's Eve 1982).

Mark Boulton - the instrument you're thinking of was called the Musitron (and I love Joe Meek / Del Shannon as well ...)
NG
noggin Founding member
Mark Boulton posted:
Yes - the Mellotron was more of an analogue sampler in that the sounds it played were recorded and played back. However I believe the later models expanded on this - and I can't honestly remember whether they were from Mellotron or a rival - that rather than having a 'flute' tone or a 'trumpet' tone, sets of basic waveforms would be etched into 'toothwheels', and you would 'build' a sound by selecting levels of various permutations of these.

In this way, you would create a new wave profile and hence a new sound timbre.

I may be confusing it with something else, but yes, the original Mellotrons were tape-based (as heard famously on Beatles records), whereas the later ones I'm thinking of have toothwheels instead.

In fact, I think even earlier than the Mellotron there was another machine that worked on the same principle - the name of which escapes me - used in the early 60s by the likes of Joe Meek here in London and Del Shannon over in the States (who was bigger in the UK than in his home country). Joe Meek produced records such as The Tornados' "The Ice Cream Man" and Del's hits "Runaway", "Hats Off To Larry" and "So Long Baby" are excellent examples of this.

Anyway, we digress...! Embarassed


But surely the most famous Joe Meek record is "Telstar"!?
DA
Dan Founding member
noggin posted:
But surely the most famous Joe Meek record is "Telstar"!?


Oh, fabulous tune - it was one of many classic instrumentals we used to play during ad breaks on Classic Gold Radio, in case one of the stations failed to opt. Happy days Very Happy
WE
Westy2
It was 'Happy Days' when we had our own locally owned radio stations !!

Do local management ever have a say in programming, or do they have to take whatever 'national' management say they have to take? (In other words, if 'national' say jump, do 'local' say How High !)

(Yes I was a former Beacon/WABC listener until GWR got their grubby hands on the stations !)
CA
cat
james2001 posted:
Whayt I noticed is that there were no filmed reports as far as I saw during the programme. A modern day election programme would be full of them.


Well, not really.

"Modern day" election programmes are not hugely different in substance from the sort of programmes you would find a few decades ago.

Debate/Results/Interviews/Analysis/Constituency Reports/More Debate

That's it.

They've introduced some gimmicks over the past few years - Sky's use of VR and the Election Active thingummy, plus the whole helicopter obsession, but that's about it.

There are very, very few (if indeed any) recorded reports during the main hours of the election programmes. Sky and ITV don't take adverts either, because they simply cannot afford to miss the results.

The next thing I'd expect from election programmes is more of the interactive stuff Sky did two years ago, and the vidi-printer style of results service rather than constantly wiping straps across the screen. It's far more functional than the present set up, although not sure how difficult to set up. Most of the results come from the PA anyway.
LO
Londoner
Don't forget the 1974 coverage from 8am this Friday:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3153184.stm
KA
Katherine Founding member
Any chance of a Dimbleby appearance with this one?
NS
NickyS Founding member
c@t posted:
[Most of the results come from the PA anyway.

Not true in BBC terms - the BBC have a real person at every count in the UK and they phone in the results to a special line ... I always remember in my local radio days that you could earn a few extra quid if you were first to ring the results in ahead of ITN - in those days BT had to put in special phone lines for us (oh how things have changed with mobile phones/technology).
RE
Re-it-er-ate
From the start, to so far, the bloke presenting, Alastair Burnett, doesn't seem to have the same energy and presenting ability as Cliff Michelmore!

The graphics are slowly improving too!
JA
james2001 Founding member
Looks like this weeks is in cropporama mode! Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad
NG
noggin Founding member
NickyS posted:
c@t posted:
[Most of the results come from the PA anyway.

Not true in BBC terms - the BBC have a real person at every count in the UK and they phone in the results to a special line ... I always remember in my local radio days that you could earn a few extra quid if you were first to ring the results in ahead of ITN - in those days BT had to put in special phone lines for us (oh how things have changed with mobile phones/technology).


Yep - As I understand it the main TV election services on terrestrial - i.e. BBC News and ITN - send someone to every count to return the results. ITN have always prided themselves of being quicker to air than the BBC - but have occasionally been caught out when they have reported results before they have been declared (often candidates know by looking at the piles of votes how things are going) I think the BBC will only firmly report once the returning officer has returned!
NG
noggin Founding member
james2001 posted:
Looks like this weeks is in cropporama mode! Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad


4:3 on DSat at 1045. (Albeit in 12P16)

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