Radio was vastly different in the 1950s from the way it is today. There were no FM, DAB or internet stations.
Ryde-Hunters Hill community station 2RRR presenter Brian Crabbe recounts the history of that era, accompanied by some of the voices and music of the time, in a one-hour special next week.
In Sydney there were only eight AM stations, two ABC and six commercial and in the early 1950s only 2UW remained on air for 24 hours. There was not much in the way of news or current affairs programs, and no talk-back radio.
These were the days when radio serials, radio plays, quiz shows and variety shows predominated and most stations had their own auditoriums.
But the arrival of television in 1956 brought great change, particularly to the commercial stations. While recorded popular music previously had limited exposure on the major stations 2GB, 2UE and 2UW, apart from the half hour hit parade of the eight most popular songs of the day, now these stations began to embrace a music format.
Listeners can hear that documentary on Brian’s program “There goes that song again”, on Tuesday, 21st July at 3pm, repeated on Friday 24th July at 11am, on 2RRR 88.5FM, streamed on the web at 2rrr.org.au, or soon after as a podcast on the station’s website.
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