Radio's Legacy in Popular Culture : The Sounds of British Broadcasting Over the Decades

Radio's Legacy in Popular Culture examines work by novelists, film-makers, TV producers, and songwriters to uncover the manner in which the radio – and the act of listening – has been written about for the past hundred years. It is an accessible account of how radio has appeared in history and popular culture over the decades. Ever since the first public wireless broadcasts, people have been writing about the radio: often negatively, sometimes full of praise, but always with an eye and an ear to explain, and offer an opinion, about what they think they have heard. Novelists including Graham Greene, Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemmingway, and James Joyce wrote about characters listening to this new medium with mixtures of delight, frustration, and despair. Clint Eastwood frightened moviegoers half to death in Play Misty for Me, but Lou Reed's Rock & Roll said listening to a New York station had saved Jenny's life. Frasier showed the urbane side of broadcasting, whilst Good Morning Vietnam exploded through transistor radios with a raw energy all of its own. Queen thought that all the audience heard was gaga, even as the Buggles said video had killed the radio star and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers lamented The Last DJ. This book explores the cultural fascination with radio; the act of listening as a cultural expression – focusing on fiction, films and songs about radio. Martin Cooper, a broadcaster and academic, uses these movies, TV shows, songs, novels and more to tell a story of listening to the radio – as created by these contemporary writers, film-makers, and musicians Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Figures Chapter 1: Constructing a radio culture: The years up to 1922 Writing a radio history How to read, watch and listen across the decades An outline of the book Pre-history: Before the days of the BBC Birth of the BBC Chapter 2: Broadcasting on air, 1922 to 1935 Radio: A history of discovery Writers ask what radio can, and cannot, do Radio causes trouble: The human side of broadcasting How far can it go? Radio’s geographic coverage Part of the fabric of the home: Domesticity and social class Chapter 3: Developing ways of listening : Class and distinction, 1935 to 1938 Forming listening habits: From the personal to the public Winifred Holtby and the fictionalizing of radio Solitary listening Radio as a conversation-starter and as a marker of social class At the movies: People like us listening to the wireless Satirizing radio: Making fun of the new medium Radio in the public space: Communal listening and soundscapes Radio in the public space: Royal broadcasting Chapter 4: The home front: Modernism, war and its aftermath, 1938 to 1949 The wireless comes of age Radio, Modernism and James Joyce Radio news: Journalism and the build-up to war The wireless and entertainment during the war Propaganda, exhortation and cinema’s representations of radio listening After the war: Auntie’s media choices expand Chapter 5: The new Elizabethans and new questions, 1950 to 1968 Post-war radio: From change to revolution The end of the ancient regime The brave new future: Radio and the Festival of Britain Radio on film: Continuity with an edge of suspicion The beginning of the turn: From Auntie to inquisitor Death, intrigue and horror: Radio’s dark side A jumpin’ little record I want my jockey to play From rock ‘n’ roll to pirate radio The Who and the Small Faces: Mod style goes offshore Chapter 6: Britain and the fascination with American radio nostalgia, 1969 to 1979 Don’t touch that dial: Transatlantic inspiration The American influence Play Misty for Me: The radio as a threat to life Baby boomer radio: How youth cultures came of age Format radio: The persistent popularity of American country music British cultural reactions Chapter 7: Video killed the radio star: Satire, politics and international listening, 1979 to 1984 Singing songs about the radio The eventual British responses to radio listening Satire: Radio begins to eat itself The international turn: Radio crossing political borders British politics and radio broadcasting: The late 1970s and early 1980s Chapter 8: Hang the DJ: Critiquing the present, remembering the past, 1984 to 1993 British commercial radio: From public service to profit-seeking Critiques of radio presentation: ‘Hang the blessed DJ’ Criticizing the BBC: Views of the Corporation from within Still looking to the United States: Searching for the art of the DJ British nostalgia of the late 1980s American nostalgia of the late 1980s Chapter 9: Death and psychology: Radio, genocide and loneliness, 1993 to 2006 The growth of local and community radio The satirizing of British radio continues Pirate radio: Making fun of English land-based illegal broadcasters Radio on-screen: The movie soundtrack and the acousmêtre Radio agony aunts and uncles: Stories from Seattle and Glasgow Chapter 10: Listening back and looking forward: Nostalgia and new technology, 2006 to 2022 Hearing, not listening The return to nostalgia? Critique, comedy and satire Crime and thriller: Radio in the here and now Radio and new ways of listening: The next generation Afterword References Primary sources (1): Printed, visual, musical, electronic and works of art Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Novels, short stories and poetry Film and TV Music Radio Chapter 3 Novels and poetry Film Theatre Music Radio Chapter 4 Novels, short stories and poetry Film Theatre Radio Chapter 5 Novels, poetry and magazines Film and TV Music Radio Chapter 6 Novels Film and TV Music Radio Art Chapter 7 Novels Film and TV Music and live comedy Radio Chapter 8 Novels Film and TV Music Radio Chapter 9 Novels Film, TV and video games Theatre Music Radio Chapter 10 Novels and graphic novels Film and TV Music Radio Sculpture Primary sources (2): Contemporary non-fiction: Journals, memoirs, essays, articles and others Secondary sources Index Examining work by novelists, filmmakers, TV producers and songwriters, this book uncovers the manner in which the radio – and the act of listening – has been written about for the past 100 years. Ever since the first public wireless broadcasts, people have been writing about the radio: often negatively, sometimes full of praise, but always with an eye and an ear to explain and offer an opinion about what they think they have heard. Novelists including Graham Greene, Agatha Christie, Evelyn Waugh, and James Joyce wrote about characters listening to this new medium with mixtures of delight, frustration, and despair. Clint Eastwood frightened moviegoers half to death in Play Misty for Me , but Lou Reed's 'Rock & Roll' said listening to a New York station had saved Jenny's life. Frasier showed the urbane side of broadcasting, whilst Good Morning, Vietnam exploded from the cinema screen with a raw energy all of its own. Queen thought that all the audience heard was 'ga ga', even as The Buggles said video had killed the radio star and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers lamented 'The Last DJ'. This book explores the cultural fascination with radio; the act of listening as a cultural expression – focusing on fiction, films and songs about radio. Martin Cooper, a broadcaster and academic, uses these movies, TV shows, songs, novels and more to tell a story of listening to the radio – as created by these contemporary writers, filmmakers, and musicians. "Explores the enduring cultural fascination with radio by looking at 100 years of the representation of radio in fiction, film, TV and pop music"-- Provided by publisher