14 December 2023

17 December 2023

Edition 760, Valley Sunrise

Today’s playlist:

Hour 1:

Julie Anthony – Some Kind Of Friend
Sailor – The Old Nickelodeon Sound (1975)
Jo Smeets – A Simple Song Of Freedom (2022)
Cowboy Bob Wallace – Christmas O Christmas (2023)
Tommy Steele – Little White Bull (1959) (Thomas William Hicks, alias Tommy Steele, Britain’s first teen idol and rock star, born this day 1936 in Bermondsey, London. Turns 87 today.)

Shaza Leigh – Why I Love December (2023)
Grace Rivera – Fly Away
Tom O’Sullivan – A Special Christmas
Billboard Top 20 Tracks of 1960 – No 14: Jack Scott – What In The World’s Come Over You
Gretta Ziller – Cross My Fingers (2023)
James Last Orchestra – Loch Lomond

Hour 2:

Jim Reeves – The Christmas Polka
By Request: John Williamson – A Christmas Photo
By Request: Kamahl – Desiderata
By Request: Porky Pig – Blue Christmas
By Request: Foster & Allen – Christmas Time In Ireland
Stanley Sokol & Polkateers – Varsiovana

By Request: Pussycat – Mississippi
Jason Mark & Col Defries – This Is Christmas
Anne Murray – Shadows In The Moonlight
By Request: Johnny Mathis – The Twelfth Of Never
A Diamond Classic: Gene McDaniels – Spanish Lace (1962)
A Diamond Classic: Bobby Rydell – Do The Cha Cha Cha (1962)

ON THIS DAY (17 December):

1903  Kitty Hawk, North Carolina – The Wright Brothers made their first powered and heavier-than-air flight

1919  The first aerial crossing of Bass Strait was made by Lieutenant Arthur Long.  Flying a single engine biplane, Long took off from a paddock near Launceston and made an emergency landing at the Victorian seaside township of Torquay 3½ hours later.  He eventually reached Melbourne 6½ hours after leaving Tasmania.

1924  Hobart, Tasmania – The first radio concert to be broadcast in the city was transmitted on Hobart’s first radio station, 7ZL.  The announcer was D C Cameron, and it featured the choir of the Lansdowne Crescent State School.
7ZL is now part of the ABC’s Radio National network.

1929 BORN Birmingham, England – Jacqueline Hill, actress who was the first companion to appear in the BBC TV science fiction series Doctor Who in 1963.  In the role of Barbara Wright, she spoke the first words in the series.  Died 1993.

1935  Santa Monica, California, U.S.A. – The first Douglas DC 3 aircraft made its maiden flight.  Over 16,000 DC 3s were built, and used for civilian and numerous military purposes.  They are one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made, with many still flying throughout the world.

1967 DIED Portsea, Victoria – Australia’s then Prime Minister, Harold Holt, who disappeared while swimming in rough conditions at Cheviot Beach.  The biggest air, sea and beach search in Victoria’s history failed to find any trace of Mr Holt.

2003 Hampstead, London, England – Edward Sidney Devereaux, Australian actor, director and scriptwriter, who appeared in numerous Australian and English productions. (Aged 78) 

SKY HIGH – A regular segment during Valley Sunrise and Friday Morning Radio, listing planets visible to the unaided eye (given clear conditions) and when. The outer planets; Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Eris, are not included as specialised equipment is required to see them.

Mercury, the smallest planet is now impossible to see from Earth.

Venus  rises around  3.35 a.m., and is a very conspicuous feature of the morning sky, until it fades from view at dawn, around 5.25 a.m..

Mars cannot be seen, as Earth is now on the opposite side of the Sun.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System, will become visible in the north-north-east around 8.50 p.m.  Jupiter moves across the sky and sets 2.50 a.m.

Saturn will become visible around 9.10 p.m., high in the north-west.  Saturn sets at 12.25 a.m.

The Moon is waxing from New phase.  It now appears as a crescent, rising today at 9.50 a,m.  Moonrise tomorrow, 11.00 a.m.

15 December 2023

Edition 395, Friday Morning Radio

Another three hours of easy listening with indie releases and memories;

A rundown on some roadworks to watch out for in the South;

Railway Round-up (when Tasmanian volunteer-operated Tourist & Heritage trains are running);

And Sky High (which planets are visible and when).

Today’s playlist – If you have a request, please let me know; my e-mail address is; [email protected]

Hour 1:

Angus Gill & Melinda Schneider – Don’t Get Your Tinsel In A Tangle (2022)
Jax Tonic – Sitting Here On A Bench (2023)
Kaiden Page (Age 10) – This Is The Life (2023)
Jerry Wallace – In The Misty Moonlight (1964) (Jerry Wallace born this day 1928 in Guilford, Missouri, USA. Died 2008)
Johnny Young – It’s A Sunny Day (1968)
Percy Faith & His Orchestra – Mucho Gusto

Larissa Tormey – Glow Of Winter’s Eve (2022)
David Curtis – Christmas Day The First Day of Forever (2022)
Dave Clark Five – Glad All Over (1964) (Dave Clark born this day 1944 Tottenham, London, England. Turns 84)
Damian Davis – Today’s Teardrops (2023)
A Diamond Classic: Kathy Kirby – Secret Love (1963)
A Diamond Classic: Chubby Checker – Loddy Lo (1963)
By Request: The Drongos – Jingle Bells

Hour 2:

Toni West – A Christmas Tear (2023)
Matt Monro – This Is The Life
Colin Paul – Dancing With A Stranger (2022)
They Don’t Make Them Like This Anymore: Craig Douglas – Only Sixteen (1959)
Glen Miller – American Patrol (1942) (Glen Miller, presumed dead after his plane disappeared over the English Channel on this day, 1944)
Merilyn Steele – Merry Christmas Anyway (2022)
Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops – Stardust

Henry Mancini & His Orchestra – How Deep Is Your Love
Johnny Mathis – Crazy
Soundtrack – Pinocchio – When You Wish Upon A Star
Rusty Draper – Freight Train
Bruce Mackay – Schoey and Jess (2023)
Slim Dusty – Another Night In Broome

Hour 3:

Inge Augustina – Santa Baby (2022)
Royal Guardsmen – Snoopy’s Christmas (1967)
Barbra Streisand – Second Hand Rose (1966)
Carl Mann – Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes (1960)
Aly Cook – Southern Christmas Stars (2020)
Jade Hurley – Bed of Roses
Victor Buchino & His Orchestra – Cae Cae

Andre Kostelanetz & His Orchestra – Waltz From The Merry Widow
A Diamond Classic: Gene Pitney – 24 Hours From Tulsa (1963)
A Diamond Classic: Seekers – Waltzing Matilda (1963)
Victoria Eman – Here In Christmas Town (2023)
Ray Conniff Singers – Love Is Blue
John Williamson – A Christmas Photo

* Diamond Classics are tracks which were released on 45 rpm singles, and which were charting in Hobart, on this day 60 years ago.

** Most of the Christmas-related tracks in this edition are releases from 2022 or prior years. This is because the majority of 2023 releases arrived too late for inclusion in this playlist. I expect I would not be the only radio presenter who needs such material IN NOVEMBER, when playlists for early December are planned.

ON THIS DAY –

1957  Alice Springs, Northern Territory – In what became known as the Sundown murders, South Australian police commenced one of  the country’s greatest manhunts, for the person who murdered three people at their camp site, 186 miles (300 km) south of Alice Springs ten days previously. A suspect, Raymond Bailey, was arrested in Mt Isa, Queensland the following month, extradited to Adelaide, convicted and executed in June of the following year. 

1968  Claremont, Tasmania – A 15-year-old boy, who was trapped by a rockfall 19 metres underground in a cave known as the Devil’s Den, was rescued after more than 100 men toiled for 30 hours.  

1974  Sydney, New South Wales – Australia’s first regular FM radio broadcasts commenced on station 2MBS-FM.  The programme included Beethoven, Mozart and other classical pieces and Christmas carols.  The station now broadcasts under the callsign 2MBS Fine Music.

ODD SPOT

Paris, France – A diamond ring, valued at over $800,000 was recently reported as missing by a Malaysian businesswoman, who was a guest at the Ritz Hotel.

When employees of the hotel searched for the ring, a security guard eventually found it inside a vacuum cleaner.

As it’s owner had already left the country, the ring was passed to police for safe keeping until she could return to claim it.

Overnight stays at the Ritz range from $2,150 to $50,000. – UPI