Herb Alpert Radio Scotland REMINDER

[TonyCurrie]

Back in 2000, BBC Scotland made a 19-part series for BBC Radio 2 about the world's great arrangers. The series included programmes about Percy Faith, Bert Kaempfert, Nelson Riddle, James Last, Neal Hefti, Quincy Jones... well, you get the general idea. A wonderful series full of anecdotes and great music.

Now that I'm scheduling Radio Scootland's night-time programming, I've arranged to repeat the entire series in August, and it includes a half-hour programme on Herb's skill as an arranger. The Herb Alpert episode airs in the early hours of Saturday, 11th August at 00:00GMT (which will be 8pm Friday 11 Aug in New York). Like all BBC Radio Scotland programmes, the shows will all be available to listen to online as well as to "listen again" via our website http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland

Many of you will want to hear the whole series, which has some knockout stuff in it. Here's the schedule - all days are early morning UK and if you're in the USA, Canada or South America, the programmes will be heard the evening before, local time.

July 31: Mantovani
Aug 1: Bert Kaempfert
Aug 2: Percy Faith
Aug 3: Geoff Love
Aug 4: Ray Conniff
Aug 7: no programme
Aug 8: James Last
Aug 9: Nelson Riddle
Aug 10: Robert Farnon
Aug 11: Herb Alpert
Aug 14: Xavier Cugat
Aug 15: Paul Weston
Aug 16: Esquivel
Aug 17 & 18: Andre Kostelanetz (a 2-part programme)
Aug 19: Stan Kenton
Aug 20: Billy May
Aug 23: Neal Hefti
Aug 24: Pete Rugolo
Aug 25: Quincy Jones

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

Do you all remember the writer/arranger Hugo Montenegro? I think he passed away when he was in his 50's. later....J

 

[DAN BOLTON]

Montenegro is featured at www.spaceagepop.com. I remember his arrangement of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY vividly. There is a discography and link to Amazon at the site, as well. Just go to the main page and click on the biography link.


Dan

 

[TonyCurrie]

You're all accustomed by now to schedules changing before they happen, so you won't be all that surprised to learn that I've had to reschedule the entire series of THE ARRANGERS because of some last-minute changes further down the food chain!

Revised dates and times will follow when I've worked it all out.........

 

[TonyCurrie]

Of course, this could all change again if something comes along to knock my schedules out of place, and it won't be confirmed until six weeks before transmission. But the latest plan is to run the programmes at 01:00GMT (8pm EST) and the dates in EST are as follows (NB: no programme on Monday 4 Sept, so series starts on a Tuesday):

Sep 5: Mantovani
Sep 6: Bert Kaempfert
Sep 7: Percy Faith
Sep 8: Geoff Love

Sep 11: Ray Conniff
Sep 12: James Last
Sep 13: Nelson Riddle
Sep 14: Robert Farnon
Sep 15: Herb Alpert

Sep 18: Xavier Cugat
Sep 19: Paul Weston
Sep 20: Esquivel
Sep 21 & 22: Andre Kostelanetz (a 2-part programme)

Sep 25: Stan Kenton
Sep 26: Billy May
Sep 27: Neal Hefti
Sep 28: Pete Rugolo
Sep 29: Quincy Jones

 

[Numero Cinco]

Tony: This is a superb lineup. I wish I could hear the broadcasts. Are there rights issues or BBC protocol that would prevent these broadcasts—and, to be sure, your series on Alpert, TJB, and A & M—being issued as CDs?

 

[TonyCurrie]

Tony: This is a superb lineup. I wish I could hear the broadcasts. Are there rights issues or BBC protocol that would prevent these broadcasts—and, to be sure, your series on Alpert, TJB, and A & M—being issued as CDs?

Unfortunately, yes. All of the programmes use whole or part of commercial recordings, and whilst the BBC pays considerable amounts of money to the licensors for the right to play the music on the radio, they are prohibited from issuing copies of the programmes - in any form - as permanent recordings.

The exception is the "Listen Again" feature on the BBC's websites, which by agreement allows each programme to remain avlaible for listen on demand for seven days from the date of the original broadcast.

All of "The Arrangers" series will be available to "Listen Again" via the BBC Radio Scotland website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland

They're very absorbing programmes, with many very unique interviews. I guess many who inhabit this forum will enjoy some or all of the shows.

 

[Rudy]

They're very absorbing programmes, with many very unique interviews. I guess many who inhabit this forum will enjoy some or all of the shows.

The last week of broadcasts is especially interesting: Kenton, Rugolo, Hefti, Billy May...I'm going to have to try to remember to listen to all of these! Thanks for posting!

 

[DAN BOLTON]

Great lineup, Tony...thanks for turning me onto a great new source for infotainment. I've added BBC2 to my list of favorites...there's a lot of good programming there.



Dan

 

[TonyCurrie]

With profuse apologies, yet another change to the transmission dates and times of this series.

First an explanation: most of the overnight programming on BBC Radio Scotland is taken from the current daytime schedule, and that only leaves three or four gaps which are filled by archive programmes. Earlier in the summer, it looked as though we were going to have an extra hour to fill every night; however, some recent programme changesto the daytime schedule mean we no longer have that problem, and as a result THE ARRANGERS won't be broadcast on a daily basis but will instead run weekly.

The programmes can be heard on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at 2.00am UK Time with a repeat on Wednesday night/Thursday morning at 3.30am UK Time (beware - this changes from summer time on October 29th).

The dates (shown as night/morning for clarity) are as follows:-

Oct 17/18 (rpt Oct 18/19): Mantovani
Oct 23/24 (rpt Oct 24/25): Bert Kaempfert
Oct 31/Nov 1 (rpt Nov 1/2): Percy Faith
Nov 7/8 (rpt Nov 8/9): Geoff Love
Nov 14/15 (rpt Nov 15/16): Ray Conniff
Nov 21/22 (rpt Nov 22/23): James Last
Nov 27/28 (rpt Nov 28/29): Nelson Riddle
Dec 5/6 (rpt Dec 6/7): Robert Farnon
Dec 12/13 (rpt Dec 13/14): Herb Alpert
Dec 19/20 (rpt Dec 20/21): Andre Kostelanetz
Dec 26/27 (rpt Dec 27/28 ): Andre Kostelanetz pt.2
Jan 2/3 (rpt jan 3/4): Xavier Cugat
Jan 9/10 (rpt Jan 10/11): Paul Weston
Jan 16/17 (rpt Jan 17/18 ): Esquivel
Jan 23/24 (rpt Jan 24/25): Stan Kenton
Jan 30/31 (rpt Jan 31/Feb 1): Billy May
Feb 8/9 (rpt Feb 9/10): Neal Hefti
Feb 15/16 (rpt Feb 16/17): Pete Rugolo
Feb 22/23 (rpt Feb 23/24): Quincy Jones
The programmes will air on BBC Radio Scotland, and you can listen live or listen again by going to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland

Hope you can all catch the Herb episode just before Christmas!

 

[CherryStreet]

That's great Tony... BUT how can we get copies of your 4-part Herb Alpert show???

NOW THAT WOULD BE A CHRISTMAS PRESENT! How about it Santa?

 

[norderney]

Question for Tony. I notice that BBC Radio Scotland currently relays BBC Radio 5 Live from 01.00 to 06.00 each morning. As these programmes in the series The Arranger will be broadcast at 02.00, does this mean the BBC Radio 5 Live relay is going to end?


Also, for any one interested BBC Radio Scotland can be heard in STEREO all over the UK via Sky Digital channel number 0116.
The satellite details are:
Astra 2D satellite at 28.2° East
Transponder 47
Frequency 10.80275 GHz
Horizontal polarisation
Symbol Rate (Mbaud) of 22
Forward Error Correction (FEC) 5/6

Andrew Smith

 

[norderney]

I have just been looking again at BBC Radio Scotland schedules and notice that although FM carries Radio 5 Live, MW carries the Night Shift programming. This means we may not be able to listen to The Arranger series via Sky Digital satellite, as I think Sky Digital takes the FM service.

 

[TonyCurrie]

I have just been looking again at BBC Radio Scotland schedules and notice that although FM carries Radio 5 Live, MW carries the Night Shift programming. This means we may not be able to listen to The Arranger series via Sky Digital satellite, as I think Sky Digital takes the FM service.

No - Sky Digital and Freeview take the AM service. The Internet feed normally follows the FM service, except between 0100 and 0600 when it follows AM. Yup, confusing, isn't it? But it means you'll be able to hear the series.

 

[cfpmike]

I used the listen again. I get 5 1/2 min. of another program before the arrangers start. So I missed the last 5 min of the program.

 

[TonyCurrie]

Sorry about that, Mike - the system works on clock-hour starts, whereas much of the Nightshift doesn't - however there should have been enough leeway for you to get the end of the programme. I'll make sure it's sorted next week.

 

[TallPaulInKy]

The Arrangers appears to be excellent. I remember seeing (and hearing )Mantovani in concert when he toured America in the late 60s. I understand he toured the states every other year. Quite something for a recording orchestra. I have a video of bert kaempfert and his Orchestra, another fave of mine. However I will throw a stone at the guy running the show prior to the series. He manages to be 5 minutes late every week. He is just a DJ playing records (I have done the same, so I kjnow from where I speak). If he can be 5 minutes late, regular as clockwork every week, he could be on time. He just doesn't want to. This weeks arrangers show was cut off in mid sentence on listen again.
Thanks for scheduling it Tony, too bad the others there don't take their jobs seriously.

 

[TonyCurrie]

Thanks for that, Paul, but the "DJ playing records" is actually me. And I do take my job seriously, believe me. There are no "others there".

The scheduling of 5 hours of programming (all of which was made for 26 minute slots, not 30 minute slots) requires a "fill" of 8 minutes per hour or 40 minutes a night. This often results in blocks of music or short features that extend well beyone the clock hour - which doesn't matter at that time of night anyway. The NIGHTSHIFT project is a unique experiment for BBC Scotland, inasmuch as it's the only part of the day that's left to a single person to schedule, source, copyright clear, edit, and present.

The only imperative is that the block starts and finishes on time - the rest of it is intentionally flexibile within the NIGHTSHIFT programme strand. Few programmes start or finish exactly on the hour or half hour. The problem is, however, that the 'Listen Again' system was not designed to take into account the way we now work overnight. That's being revised.

 

[TallPaulInKy]

The problem is, however, that the 'Listen Again' system was not designed to take into account the way we now work overnight. That's being revised.

Simple solution, pretend there is a network newscast coming up at 2AM, and end the records on time. The Arrangers is a 30 min show. The Listen Again works fine, it is recording and posting thirty minutes starting at 2AM on Wednesday morning. When you manually give a time cue of 5 mins past 2 you already now you've missed the cue.

 

[cfpmike]

Tony, I have been really enjoying the show so far. Can't wait to here all of them. I'm putting them into iTunes so I can listen to them on my iPod. I did the same four the 4 Herb Alpert shows and the Bob Edwards show with Herb.

Mike Calhoun

 

[TallPaulInKy]

Tony,
The clock is running slow again, only 22 minutes of Ray Conniff got on Listen Again.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

The BBC Radio Scotland broadcast featuring Herb Alpert should be airing at 9:00 p.m. E.S.T. tonight. See Tony Currie's previous posting, above.

 

[Mr Bill]

The BBC Radio Scotland broadcast featuring Herb Alpert should be airing at 9:00 p.m. E.S.T. tonight.

Or maybe only 22 minutes of it

--Mr Bill

 

[DAN BOLTON]

Heard the broadcast live, and it was great! Good to hear from John, Pat and Bob, too. A couple of things stood out for me...I'm trying to imagine THE LONELY BULL as a stack piano piece as TWINKLE STAR was originally intended, and John's tale of a bird making a deposit on his fretboard during a live performance surely must be every guitarist's worst nightmare. Oh, well...no need for Fingerease!


Dan