1974

Lots of 40th anniversaries this month  - including Radio City, the commercial radio station for Merseyside.

The first programme controller was Gillian Reynolds, now doyenne of radio critics. The station started as I was on attachment to Radio Merseyside as a news trainee, recording interviews for Roger Wilkes' Breakfast show and Eddie Hemmings' Light and Local (and making a World at One lead, once, on the bread strike in Liverpool).

Gillian also co-presented the evening news show, City at Six. I'd be sent to council meetings on spec in the afternoon, and watch their reporter John Perkins beckon councillors out into corridors, when no obvious news story was in sight. It was an anxious half hour listening to City at Six, to see if the dogged Perkins had a genuine scoop, probably with an intro written by Nick Pollard (of Inquiry fame).

Here's the pre-6am opening jingle from the first morning of Radio City.



Some of the original package was reportedly written by Gerry Marsden.  Madeleine Bell of Blue Mink was said to be the solo voice. But I wondered if this, the jingle that came just after 6am, and preceeded first breakfast host Arthur Murphy, might have been Gillian's heroine, Cilla Black ?