Last Radio 2 Closedown

Hear Sarah Kennedy, then reading news on BBC Radio 2, closing down the station for the last time. The following night, a programme called 'You & The Night and the Music' (Da da da da da da dah dah) filled the gap twixt night and day. It's strange to believe that even so recently, stations would close down each evening. After a fond and warm 'goodnight', a piercing tone would fill the air until breakfast-time.

On commercial radio, it was magical (if only for me) to hear that tone punctuated by the necesary station identifications. Once radio matured and grew; power supplies stabilised after industrial strife; and needle-time regulations were worked around, stations ebbed into round-the-clock services. It was, of course, all live back then in those pre-voicetracked days. Mind you, it did give young presenters like me a good chance to be truly awful on the radio when no-one was listening. And handle some truly bizarre middle-of-the-night 'phone calls. Goodness.