Fight O'clock Revue Has Been Revived

Radio Record, 5 June 1936, Page 12

Fight O'clock Revue Has Been Revived

Broadcast Revues Not Easy, Says Will Bishop —

Listeners will be pleased:to see in the 2YA programmes for Saturday, June 13, a revival of Will Bishop’s Eight O’Clock Revue. In the few words on these pages Mr. Bishop tells of. the preparation required for the presentation of these revues.

[ PERSUADED © the , Broadcasting Board to let me revive the Hight. O’clock Revue, because I believe that this type of entertainment is much

too scarce in the presentday programmes and the warmth of the welcome which listeners extended to our initial effort broadcast recently makes me think that I may be right for once. . Plays, both recorded and locally produced, have been encouraged to a very considerable extent during the past year or two, which is all to the good. On the other hand, light musical entertainment of the revue type seems to

have been neglected to an almost equal extent, which is all to the bad. Of course, any revue is essentially ou much the same lines as our "Music, Mirth and Melody" hours’ broadcast every night from one or other of the YA stations, but there is, fortunate:y for the "local artist," something in the local product which seems to appeal to quite a large section of our customers’ It is not by any means so easy as it may look to turn out broadeast revues;

In the case of stage shows there is always the opportunity (invariably taken) of dewriting the entire script after a_ first night audience has heartily disapproved of the performance, but there is no such chance of putting things right

in broadcasting. In addition it is necessary to provide at ledst _ twice as much material for radio presentation as is required to fill in the . Same time before the public, and it is a pretty tough job to find the neces: _ sary amount of suitable material we require, Being extremely fund of hard work . I have determined to make it a bit tougher still by deciding that the Hight O’clock Revue will not include anything (Continued foot next page. )

(Continued from previous page.) which is recorded and broadcast from 2YA. I think they have between thirty ‘and forty thousand records there, and it might be as well if I apologise in advance for any slip-up in this direction. However. in the words of other, and more distinguished loca} artists, we hope to continue to offer items which are new as far as is "humanly possible" because J am confident that our efforts to do so were largely responsible for the heavy fan-mail which we received after our first revue. The kind letters from all those listeners who took the trouble to tell us how much they en joyved our show were greatly anpreciated by the entire company. and: I should like to take this opportunity of thanking both ef them.