The Afrikaans name for a bird, NYE 1977
Jan 05, 2022, 07:52 PM
"This is from a broadcast of South African radio station on NYE 1977. The polite chat and well wishes bring in the year when Steve Biko would be murdered by Afrikaner police. The bit I am captivated by is the explanation to foreign listeners what the Afrikaans name for a bird is.
I was two years old when this was broadcast. I remember Radio 2000 in the house, along with the world service. The radio was a mystery to me. I used to hunt for stations on AM, flicking across from fm out of curiosity. There’s no map or index. Surfing the spaces between stations was intriguing, but mostly disconcerting. The edge of a clear signal was infuriating. The noise drowns everything out.
Listening to this broadcast now, I enjoyed the fizz and pips. It is a bit like crickets and birds and leaves, ambient noise of the bush. It made me nostalgic for the names of things, and the Afrikaans words that I never understood, and when news had no meaning. For the joy of serendipity in an ocean of ignorance."
I was two years old when this was broadcast. I remember Radio 2000 in the house, along with the world service. The radio was a mystery to me. I used to hunt for stations on AM, flicking across from fm out of curiosity. There’s no map or index. Surfing the spaces between stations was intriguing, but mostly disconcerting. The edge of a clear signal was infuriating. The noise drowns everything out.
Listening to this broadcast now, I enjoyed the fizz and pips. It is a bit like crickets and birds and leaves, ambient noise of the bush. It made me nostalgic for the names of things, and the Afrikaans words that I never understood, and when news had no meaning. For the joy of serendipity in an ocean of ignorance."
Composition by Marg Laing.
Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave