BBC Radio 1 'In Concert' Archive, 1971-1979

[EagleEye250]

A lot of them such as some "BBC: In Concert" were often on the TV as well, as all episodes of "BBC Sight & Sound: In Concert" were on the TV at the same time as BBC Radio 1 FM Stereo as a simulcast.

These were the days long before stereo TV. Viewers were told to turn their TV sound on "mute" and tune your Hi-Fi (provided you've got a good signal of stereo FM BBC Radio 1) and listen to the radio on your Hi-Fi or a good sounding radio, or via your headphones.

The radio would be in sync perfectly with the TV picture, so you got a TV picture and stereo sound together.

These were stereo simulcasts and lasted from around 1975/85. After this, proper stereo television was slowly brought in and stereo simulcasts were no longer needed for TV music concerts and general music programmes.

 

[Nai Noswad]

Pete Drummond did many and Annie Nightingale - though I was propping up the bar at that time on a Saturday evening, I got in a few Mackesons to watch UFO, Lone Star, Tom Petty and maybe Ian Dury..

 

[EagleEye250]

Pete Drummond did many and Annie Nightingale - though I was propping up the bar at that time on a Saturday evening, I got in a few Mackesons to watch UFO, Lone Star, Tom Petty and maybe Ian Dury..

Yes, correct. Pete Drummond did "BBC Sight & Sound". I do have loads of episodes recorded from BBC Four to DVD of both shows, but they're in mono. I don't have the stereo track for many of them though.

The problem now is that when they re-run them both they play the mono tape that was on BBC Two & BBC Four for any stereo simulcast. Up until around 1985 the BBC found recording different to record a picture on the same tape with stereo sound.

Because of this, stereo simulcasted programmes from those times were recorded also to a separate 2-track stereo audio tape for the stereo sound for the radio with the 1-track mono track with the picture tape. There's a way to dub the stereo track over the picture, but they seem reluctant to do it.

I have a Phil Lynott box set which contains a CD of Thin Lizzy's BBC: Sight & Sound in stereo. It also contains the video of the same concert... in mono.