Power on 208 continued to be increased. Later the station changed to 1282 metres 234 kHz. At 18:00 BST/19:00 CET both day and night aerials were connected in parallel to give the 1,200 kW. ILR rules were relaxed, requiring less emphasis on speech. Stephen Williams frequently asked listeners to tune to the new channel as they could hear the same output on both but from the 10th it transferred permanently to Radio Luxembourg. Listen to Radio Luxembourg Top Hits Of 1974 by Radio_Luxembourg_208 for free. 2017-06-07T20:00:42Z. The show ended with the last words of "Goodbye" by Mary Hopkin ("Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye my love, goodbye"). Many East Germans secretely listened to 'Luxis'. There was a mix of young and more mature male and female DJ's, unlike the more male-dominated UK. Since 2002 a local residents association of Marnach village (pop. He resolved to get it into their 'In fashion' list in a short time. 2. They also aired an "LP Parade." It wasn't always easy being a listener in a Communist country. The first intro I heard just seemed like a soft-brush drum sound creeping out of the music till the newsreader spoke. Bob was regarded as a safe pair of hands. "Those transmitters were my voice and those of many others." A schedule for 1966 shows these airing 18:00-18:30. By 1963 208 and 49.26m in English were joined by "our German listeners" on 97 VHF at 21:00. There were now three Services filling the 208 schedule. A common view is that all 208's programmes were sponsored by the big record companies. I was lucky to work with him once at Red Rose. Lyons and Paris were evenings only while Normandy often had breaks for French programmes. See more ideas about radio, radio station, luxembourg. The first 17 were on Long Wave but the 18th, Pete Murray, was on both. Now they could concentrate one language onto LW and use MW for the others. By the 1960s it would have invented game shows for German audiences and by the mid 60s was calling itself 'RTL.' They claimed that lamps, hearing aids, electric hobs, faxes and garage doors wouldn't work properly. For youngsters of the mid/late 1950s and 1960s the BBC was for their parents. Tony Prince said that the Luxembourg-based DJ's felt a a sense of great service to teenagers; they were aware that playing music was important in teenagers' lives. It increased young peoples' interest in music and learning English. When broadcasts were more regular the Icelandic Government complained of constant interference to their own LW channel nearby from the power of the Luxembourg transmitter. The English DJ's were not idle. who can forget luxy fading in and out of our transistor radio when younger. A sensation was caused in September 1934 when Williams recruited 52-year-old Christopher Stone to join him in the Grand Duchy. In 1979 it reverted to Saturdays only. One of the longest was a lunchtime half hour by Stan Haag, later to join Radio Veronica, and who was very popular with his 'talk to the listener' presented style. In other Communist lands there were listeners. Power was 200 kW. News was at 12 minutes to the hour read by a female while a male followed it at 9 minutes to with the weather. Later, in 1959 the RTT (Belgian Post Office) allowed a land-line and so shows were done live from Brussels. By summer 1991 it had been decided to close the English Service on 208 on December 31st. In summer 1990 Tony Morrell hosted "Clock House Avanti" Tuesdays 21:30-22:00 as part of his show up to midnight. The range of popular presenters played pop music as well as Dutch-language light pop. 1 as that is what the sponsor wanted. In 2006 the Luxembourg government's Inspectors of Labour and Mines studied such problems and confirmed the many antennas were responsible. "Also, there was also music on RTL for everyone from Bay City Rollers, Smokie, Sweet etc. With its shorter airtime this was played once every evening. I loved Luxembourg, I loved the Jock's, the station sound, the jingles and the whole spirit that surrounded the longest serving commercial radio station in Europe. Users who like Radio Luxembourg. Serving a host of nations. The only source of rock and beat. The MW transmitter moved to a new site in Marnach in the north-east of the country, high up in the mountains 30 miles from the studios and two miles from the German border. Power on the omni-directional antenna was 150 Kw. A team of announcers catered for their own languages. Among all the jobs Williams had to arrange was one for cue sheets in French for the studio engineers to ensure there were no mistakes; for example, using the gong between each programme. UK audiences were strong in the winter months but suffered in the summer with a poor early evening signal. And as the spring daylight faded behind the bedroom curtains, the hour would finally come for the first hesitantly crackly sounds to arrive across a cooling atmosphere. Yet it was very popular. The line-up of the German Service>. For this look back at "the great 208" my own memories and notes have been greatly helped by a number of websites: Some of its members like Britain no doubt feared attacks on their State broadcasting monopolies. This was incredibly well supported with an initial 4,000 letters leading to a peak of 60,000. A lot of the creative ideas came from DJ/Programme Director Frank. He added "the themed shows gave the station identity and structure." This was the Grand Duchy's second city in the south west of the country and about 10 miles from the capital. Aged 20 he got a job in 1928 as announcer on a broadcasting steam yacht "Ceto" sponsored by the "Daily Mail" newspaper which sailed round the British coast transmitting music on records and advertisements. The BBC and ILR stations like Capital Radio were happy to co-exist with Luxembourg. It was very popular with its target audience and was even heard all over Italy itself. An idea of 208's influence was that around 1955 several records banned by the BBC for religious reasons became hits — and they were only played on RL. Did the record companies really have a stranglehold on the English Service? The "Hitparade" on Sunday afternoons was a family institution. Jingles were from America. He also spoke to motorists, a sector completely ignored by the public broadcasters. It helped professional and amateur musicians in their musical development. Due to the dearth of advertising available in England the English early morning shows were quickly dropped in favour of French programming. Cable carriage costs were said to be very high though. On May 1st 1948 a Dutch Service was resumed. In the mid to late 1970s the only place in the UK to hear pop music in the evening was 208. Users who like Radio Luxembourg jingles '90's; Users who reposted Radio Luxembourg jingles '90's; Playlists containing Radio Luxembourg jingles '90's Despite the directional antennae beaming the signal the other way it was listened to in East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia as listeners' letters showed. An idea of the English Services's fortunes can be gained from a digitalspy post Rodney Collins wrote. As with all the Services the widespread availability of transistor radios from the 1960s had helped listenership. On Sundays at 14:00 they played "Die Nationale Hitparade" then at 15:00 by "Die Internationale Hitparade." To avoid undue repetition I've sometimes referred to Radio Luxembourg as RL or the nicknames used in Britain, Germany and Czechoslovakia: Luxy, Luxis and Laxik. Nearly half the records were in German, the rest English. By October 28th it was on Sundays 19:00-23:00 with a mix of recorded programmes and the station's 30 piece orchestra. RADIO LUXEMBURG on 208 METER MW. One listener recounted recently that Luxy seemed "rather old hat, the DJ's a bit staid and old-fashioned.". The Luxembourg Waltz which was usually played at the end of transmissions was played for the final time to end transmissions on 208 at 22:59 BST/23:59 CET. The Internationales des Radiodiffussions (IdR now ITU) stated that the Grand Duchy's size did not justify it and was allocated a low power MW frequency for its own internal use. By 1969 all English shows were from Luxembourg with the team of DJ's going up from four to five. The court ruled that "the field strength limit of 3 V/m, specified in an EU directive the Government refered to, applies to electric equipment in general but not to transmission facilities where the radiation of an electromagnetic field is not an unwanted side effect but the very purpose," as a local newspaper reported. The German Service was now 'RTL 208' and broadcast on 1440 kHz 05:00-19:00 CET along with FM and short wave at those times and until 01:00. Eventually this became a block of five hours in the morning on 208 plus another three late evening. It was aimed at homes served by cable companies plus homes with their own satellite dishes. Pop musicians like Keith Richard said they were influenced by what they heard of 208. The British authorities protested vehemently that the wavelength used was not being allocated to Luxembourg at the European Broadcasting Conference in Luzern and claimed it would interfere with British aircraft wireless services. Collins wrote that in the mid 1980s 208 was attracting 300,000 UK listeners in half an hour. There were shows like "Opportunity Knocks", "Double Your Money" and "Take Your Pick" but these and others soon migrated to TV when ITV started in 1955. Research after the mid 1970s by Gallup showed that this was quite unpopular so 208 launched its own news service again with UPI and the Press Association. Monday featured the "Airplay Chart". Around this time English programmes were broadcast from six French stations: Poste Parisien on 312 metres plus Radios Toulouse, Normandy on 269.5 metres, Lyons on 288, Cote d'Azur on 240 and Paris. Luxembourg was always the first place for British listeners to hear American records. The first presenter was Teddy Johnson who, incidentally, was also the first DJ to get a regular daily show. 1983 Peter Ross ... with a jingle problem ;-) By restricting transmissions to evenings and nights sales reps were able to sell most of the available airtime for spot commercials and sponsored programmes. Next was the German Service. A transistor radio was the gadget to have — tuned into Luxy. This meant English programmes started at 1945 summer/1845 winter. In fact an Anne Shelton show from 1961 featured Ronnie Aldrich and his orchestra plus pop duo the Brook Brothers known then for their hit "Warpaint". That afternoon RTL's normal Top Vierzig (40) of 2015 was broadcast. A German artist, Eva Sievert, specifically chosen for her linguistic skills, said the first words on Radio Luxembourg for that 13:00-13:30 broadcast, "Allo, allo, ici Radio Luxembourg," then "Achtung, achtung, hier Radio Luxemburg," and repeated it in English. A record retailer posting recently as 'beacon' from the early 1980s said that 208 was important in influencing what people bought. He visited them which they really appreciated. The BBC seemed to have ended its blacklist of presenters and singers who dared to broadcast on Radio Luxembourg. Tony Prince said, "Something very special is over." With listening to RTL on medium wave declining, even more airtime was hired out. She concluded that Laxik helped ordinary listeners survive the Socialist State reality. This Australian broadcast on RL from 1957-66 for his first stint. That is why we could show such success against the BBC in England." At one point 90 minute long shows came in though later went back to two hourly. He also said that all those years ago he envisaged building up a station that would sound something like the current BBC Radio 4. The use of a MW transmitter was said to contributed to a spectacular development of CLR's radio business. One voiceover from Bob Stewart said "RTL International" while a jingle still said "Radio Luxembourg." As several internet posts suggested: (1) Why move to such an area? The "Powerplay" was reintroduced, played each hour after the news, just as Radio Veronica in November starting airing its hourly "Alarmschijf." Maybe listeners had been lost to Radios Caroline South, London and Veronica. A German listener inspired by the station to become a broadcaster wrote that it "was private radio without the now common formatting.". All the great music, the presenters and all the English I learnt. From April 2015 208 was switched off 13:00-17:00 during the music programming. In East Germany listening to foreign stations was forbidden. Please download one of our supported browsers. Listen to Rob Jones - 1982 on Radio Luxembourg - Marius Collection by airchicks for free. In 1971 Station Director Helmut Stoldt said it radiated warmth. Rodney Collins wrote that Mr Schultz and his engineering team needed to do checks on the equipment before the German Service started. If he/she/they had a new record out there was a good chance you would hear it. So the 24 hours a day service was reduced to 18 hours after six months to 06:00-24:00 then six months later shortened to 06:00-22:00 on 208. RL was the only source of rock and beat music plus information on new trends in the 1950s and 1960s — this was otherwise inaccessible especially in the 1950s. He opened the programme with greetings in a number of languages including Yugoslovian ones. Another recounted that the 208 DJ's really liked their job and were enjoying it immensely, unlike the way Czechoslovak Radio music programmes were presented. At the time it was the most modern and powerful radio station in Europe. "Hier ist RTL, Radio Luxemburg ..." At that time they started a sales chart "Der Grossen Acht" at 14:00 based on telephone returns from a limited number of record shops. More ILR stations were opening up. He said. We add results daily with a minimum price of roughly $15 USD. A chart show "Oldies der Woche" (Oldies Week) was aired Sundays 12:00-14:00 where female DJ Uschi Nerke played the best hits from Britain and America 1963-73. A number of firms produced jingles for Luxy, including Alfasound in th UK. The 25 year old also became manager of the English operation there. Pete Murray did six years in Luxembourg then another 12 from London. @Juul ... Hartelijke dank voor de leuke Radio Luxembourg/Luxemburg jingles. Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg.It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). Going for a younger audience he ended the old programming with its drama serials and the like. On Mondays and Fridays there was the "Disco Top 30" with Tony Prince. A 208 rate card from 1965 shows that a 15 minute segment could be bought between 50-115 depending on the time. A notable event was when Paul Anka's "Diana" was the first record to reach No.1 in Britain before doing so in the U.S.A.. One of the reasons was that the 208 DJ's played records they liked rather than what had already been hits abroad. DJ's hosting the chart were: 1948 Teddy Johnson, Spring 1950 Roger Moffat (He started off with Nos.1, 2 & 3 & then played 14 other tracks from the chart, but not in any particular order), 1950 Pete Murray, 1955 Keith Fordyce, 1960 Alan Dell, 1960 David Gell, 1961 Barry Alldis (David Gell stand in), 1966 Don Wardell, 1967 Paul Burnett (Bob Stewart stand in), 1974 David Christian (Tony Prince stand in), 1975 Peter Powell, 1976 Bob Stewart, 1982 Tony Prince, 1983 Dave Eastwood, 1984 Benny Brown, 1985 Jonathan King, 1986 Tim Smith, 1987 Peter Anthony, 1987 Shaun Tilley (The show went to Monday nights at 20:00 and went back to a Top 20 in October 1987 and from 1st December 1990, back to Sundays at 21:00), October-December 1992 Tony Adams. The Top 20 on Sundays was done by Frans van der Drift then Peter van Dam. For a short while circa 1973/4 two of the station's DJ's were on most days: one at 18:00 and the other at 19:00 After a while Zaki left so Mike did the shows on his own. They were announced by the English presenter in that studio but actually played by the Luxembourg engineers. At 08:00 and 20:30 for example there were news bulletins in French and German. The station's General Manager John Catlett gave a fitting closing tribute," This station was the first in Europe to have success by programming what people wanted to hear instead of programming what the government thought people wanted to hear. Radios Rock Radio Old Time Radio Radio Stations Short Waves Title Sequence The Old Days Vintage Music My Childhood Memories. Those who did could expect at least insults. Another legend gone. Cox's replacement, Maurice Vass, came from ILR — having been MD at Devon Air Radio and Centre Sound. Once a week Stan travelled from his Hilversum home to Brussels to record his seven hours per week. It was geared towards penfriends with 'international correspondence' read usually in English mid-show after part of a record which went, "I'm waiting for a letter she has promised me to write, so please Mr Postman I can't wait another night." De Radio Luxemburg Top 30 was een hitlijst van de Engelstalige service van Radio Luxemburg. They soon reverted to a proper DJ schedule. Religious broadcasts in German could be heard at 19:30 and 19:45 CET. Follow Radio_Luxembourg_208 to never miss another show. Also, it seems RL would pay Stone more — 5,000 — than the BBC! Sundays started at 19:00 with Sam Costa though by August it was Roger Day live from Luxembourg, Jimmy Savile was on at 22:00, "Top Twenty" (Paul Burnett) at 23:00 then 00:00 "Late Night Final." Until the British offshore stations Luxembourg had a monopoly of pop music radio in the evenings and at night. He was at Luxy until he died suddenly in 1982, aged just 52. Later though Sundays was just 18:00-19:00. There was a short spell around early 1972 when 208 wouldn't give a schedule as it would be a surprise to find out who was on and when. This show was still popular. It was repeated at 13:00 CET as 208 was kept on through the day. But i'd disagree. In time the schedule was much expanded. He could never have forseen that playing records with inconsequential chat could have been such a great success. In time the DJ's were no longer ones on the BBC but came from the pirates or were non-BBC. When in 1968 it was doubled to 1,200 kW with two Telefunken transmitters combined it became the world's most powerful privately-owned medium wave transmitter then. This revolutionary show was "Die Hitparade" with Chief Announcer 37 year old Camillo. Only in 1980 were the masts lowered to 215m for what was now the French Service. (Another reference states that Stone's uncle, Compton McKenzie, did a record programme in 1924.) A familiar sound in many homes was (Gong) "This is your Station of the Stars, Radio Luxembourg.". Some were also presented live from Hilversum in the Netherlands between 09:00-12:00 announcing it was from Amsterdam. The sounds on 208 changed on January 1st 2001 when airtime was hired to Mega Radio. After the war long wave resumed on November 12th 1945 in French with the words,"Bonjour le Monde, ici Radio Luxembourg." The following Honecker regime tolerated listening to RTL. In 1995 the Luxembourg government awared him the Chevalier de l'Ordre de Mérite du Grand Duchy de Luxembourg medal. A number of programmes were recorded and lasted 15 or 30 minutes such as Edmundo Ros, Gracie Fields, or "Off the Record" (Roy Plomley). Some lasted a number of years. He chose records by Dutch, British, German, Swiss and Scandinavian singers or groups. Studios were in the Villa Lovigny — once a fort built in 1671 — located in the Luxembourg city centre municipal park in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Radio Luxembourg 208 - The World's MOST FAMOUS Radio Station ! "Colourful Radio Luxembourg" generally dropped the sponsorship of short programmes by record companies. Radio Luxembourg was undoubtedly THE most unique radio station in Europe, if not the World. I miss them a lot. From now the third Service to use 208 had all the airtime. The English Service was announcing "Radio Luxembourg is Planet Earth's biggest commercial radio station.". English-speaking listeners may think it ended in the early 1990s but for others the station had yet another two and a half decades to go. Power on 208 now doubled to 1200 kW. Tuesdays had the "Top 30 Albums" at 23:00, the American charts went out on Wednesdays at 21:00 followed by the "Easy Listening" chart at 23:00 while Thursdays had the "Top 30 Futurist." While still pop the English Service had specialist shows. The chart was an American idea. Wavelength was 1293 metres. Another listener wrote,"It was alive, it was authentic, it was different from anything that has gone before. One report says the last hour was in English. By March 2003 they had financial problems and had not built up sufficient listeners and so closed on April 4th at 01:00. these comments made by dj mike hollis brought me close to tears as he spoke them on-air. The German Service's editor had the attitude, ' Why just put on horror stories around the world, even a smile can be good news.'. After all while all English programming went to 208. Increased power. This was built to improve the reach of 208 into the British Isles and to allow better daytime reception in West Germany, especially the Rhine/Ruhr area which was West Germany's most populated region. The slide through the 1970s resumed after 1983 and continued into the 1990s. There were also religious shows paid for by American churches like "The World Tomorrow" with Herbert W. Armstrong, the father of Garner Ted, "Radio Bible Class" and "Back to the Bible". It was said that CRI was keen to prolong its contract for hiring airtime. Working with various broadcasters, they urged me to tell them stories about my early career in broadcasting with Radio Luxembourg. Some comments on youtube clips of 208 jingles and programmes show this. In one year in the 1930s its profit was about 1 million. Changes in the mid and late 1960s Changes were afoot. Perhaps that was the " disillusionment with station management" that as the RTL Group's website says caused Benny Brown to leave in 1985. I've counted 52 actual DJ's (not variety show hosts) who made programmes in London. Rodney Collins (behind the scenes at 208 1974-88) wrote that they often ran the news at 59 minutes past so that if anyone tuned in on the hour they would hear music rather than speech. A new jingle package came in with some voiced by Duncan Johnson. Stephen Williams, the very first English announcer, was heard again. Radio Luxembourg, "the great 208" Marnach, LU: In 1965 the transmission power of the mediumwave transmitter was increased to 600 kW and in 1968 to 1200 kW, resulting in Marnach mediumwave transmitter becoming the most powerful privately owned mediumwave transmitter in … The last of the Benelux Service was replaced by more German. From September 5th 2005 it rebranded itself as 'RTL Radio — Die Besten Hits alle Zeiten' — almost a German copy of Radio 10 Gold in the Netherlands with their slogan "De Grootste Hits aller tijden.". As well as the Dutch and English changes a new managing director for the French Service had rebranded the LW station in 1966. The rate after 23:00 of 70 up to 23:30 then 50 thereafter went up to 80 for Sundays with the "Top Twenty." Among teenagers two out of three listened to Luxis. ), Czechoslovakia and Poland in the evenings. This was because its government had been allocated these under the 1948 Copenhagen European Broadcasting Conference. RADIO LUXEMBURG on 208 METER MW. Each week it received 45,000 letters and cards. The English Service officially launched on Sunday June 4th 1933. — JAN (@Jan_208) March 28, 2019. There were just 60 records at the start. This ensured reliability but also provided for some programmes to be made in a home country and sent to Luxembourg by cable. In 1936 tests were made on 1236 metres. By 1982 the English Service had a chart each night, sometimes two, starting at 21:00. Later there were more cuts in morning, afternoon and evening programmes in favour of the French. Czechoslovak soldiers in their barracks listened almost exclusively to Laxik, according to the Czech "Military Review", much to their officers' despair. to have been out there with them all and I was utterly heart broken when the 208 signal closed down at 3 am on the 30th of December 1991. When the Marnach transmitter shut down on December 31st 2015, there really came an end to an era — for German listeners especially but for the British and others too. Two M.P.s asked questions in the Luxembourg Parliament. While some programmes were carried on LW others went out on the new 208 service which was opened by Pete Murray on July 2nd 1951. Companies which had only their own records played in their 15 or 30 slot were EMI (Columbia, Parlophone and HMV), "D-E-C-C-A" (including RCA Victor), London-American (sometimes with Decca), Capitol, Philips (with Fontana, CBS and Mercury), Pye and for a short while new independent label Oriole. In 2009 it was heard in Tenerife, 2,000 miles away! On a mid Friday evening Tony played the Disco Import Top 10. This was a decade ahead of Radio Veronica's "Alarmschijf" and the reintroduction of 208's own "Powerplay." By July 1950 Sunday broadcasts in English went out 14:30-19:00 when "continental language" then resumed 21:30-00:30. 'Radio Luxembourg Expérimental' was in French, German and Luxembourgois (a German dialect — with some French words — not easily understood by Germans) and they were a success. (19 September 1882 – 22 May 1965) Christopher Stone is considered to be Britain’s first disc jockey (DJ). The station's success in its own words "astonishes competitors." In January 1933 power was increased to 200 kW but it was now on 1185 metres for a number of test broadcasts. Hannibal from RNI joined in August 1970 on a four week trial but stayed 3½ years as Ullrich. So on behalf of the present Luxy team and all the past presenters and staff — this is Mike Hollis saying 'Thank you' and may Radio Luxembourg live on forever in your fondest memories." This was helped by the preponderance of big names who appeared regularly on the air — more regularly than on other stations — plus the long list of celebrity actors and singers who guested on its programmes. One thing they had never been given was publicity so he arranged visits by them with the 208 Summer Roadshow for live appearances in venues in Britain and even Scandinavia. Station Of The 80s by Old Radio Jingles from desktop or your mobile device. Pete said that during the 1950s Luxy let him use his own personality with more freedom than the BBC allowed.