When the wireless ruled: radio gaga from the Goa of the Sixties

When the wireless ruled:

radio gaga from the Goa of the Sixties

By Tony Fernandes
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
tonferns@hotmail.com

"This is the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon," came the
announcement over the radio as Felicio sat in the front
balcao (balcony) of his house early in the morning. It was
the usual routine, rising early to study. Then after a cup of
tea, Felicio would pick up the Philips portable transistor
radio from the showcase, carry it outside, and place it on
the 'sopo' (a mud-cement combination of blocks of seats on
either side of main door of houses in Goa).

The radio was quite new to Felicio's house then. Only two
other families had a radio in the entire village.

Felicio's mother had stitched and fitted a custom-made cloth
cover for it to keep the dust away. It had a flap that
exposed only the dial. Flip the cloth cover over the handle
of the radio, pull up and adjust its aerial, and it would
then be time to tune to his favourite station Radio Ceylon,
as it was known then.

Searching for the station on the dial was quite easy once one
got the hang of it. Switching to Short Wave, turning the knob
and aligning the needle precisely to its position on the 31
Meter Band, and with a little bit of fine tuning it came on
loud and clear -- the magic of Radio Ceylon.

At times certain orientation of the set would be required for
a better reception. Through the clutter of other stations in
that particular region of the radio dial, it was immediately
recognizable by its crispness and clarity.

Felicio shuffled and zipped through the static and clatter
along the radio dial. Various other broadcasts like Voice of
America, Vividh Bharati and Radio Moscow popped out clear and
sharp too. Atmospheric conditions were more favourable for an
optimum reception of these broadcasts in early mornings and
late evenings. Popular programs could be received and heard
crystal-clear during these times.

The instrumentals played from 7 am to 7.30 am were a real
treat. From The Jumping Jewels with 'Zambezi' and The Shadows
with 'The Foot Tapper' were raging hits.

Radio Ceylon also relayed BBC News from London at 7.30 am
Indian Standard Time everyday. The news began at the end of
the familiar six distinct pips of Greenwich Time Signal. This
was also the time when family members automatically turned
towards their clocks and check watches to check their
accuracy. It would have been precisely 02.00 hrs GMT, in London.

The announcement 'This is BBC World Service' preceded the
news. It was good news and bad news from the Western world
that was often heard relayed through those years. Included in
the news were reports about Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin
orbiting earth, the assassination of President Kennedy, and
the death of Marilyn Monroe, the Air India crash on Mont
Blanc, the tragedy of the Vietnam War and the deaths of three
astronauts in the launch pad fire at the start of the first
manned Apollo mission.

As Felicio and his brother walked to school they would pass
on the news they heard on the radio to other boys they met
along the way.

But what this station of Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation in
Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was probably most renowned
for was its 'Binaca Hit Parade' on Sundays, playing the
latest English vocal top tunes that played a part in greatly
influencing that generation with Western (English) music.

Another popular broadcast was 'Binaca Geetmala' hosted by
golden-voiced celebrity Ameen Sayani. In the evenings, its
daily two-hour long listeners' choice program was exciting to
look forward to. The suave voices of disc jockeys Vijaya
Correa and Eric Fernando reverberated through the air. Then,
the world's most popular hits ruled the waves -- from Elvis
Presley to the Beatles. 'Happy Birthday to Me' by Hank
Locklin, 'May the Good Lord bless and keep you' by Connie
Francis were frequently heard, but the solemn narration of
the 'The Deck of Cards' by T. Texas Tyler as the sun went
down sent a chilling tingle down Felicio's spine.

          Sometimes, as he walked home from a football match,
          or as he bicycled after having a bag of wheat
          ground into flour at the flour-mill in the
          neighbouring village, just a little after sundown,
          it was not unusual to hear these songs from the
          Radio Ceylon's listeners' choice program coming out
          from road-side houses.

Hank Locklin's 'Send me the pillow that you dream on' and
Paul Anka's 'Diana' were popular and often-requested songs.
Songs by Ricky Nelson, Nat King Cole, Peter & Gordon, Everly
Brothers, Doris Day, Bobby Darin, Brian Hyland, and Bobby
Vinton would definitely be remembered by kids of those days
till the present day.

Pat Boone's 'Speedy Gonzales' was quite a hit then with "the
plaintive cry of the young Mexican girl" piercing through the
stillness of the evening air. Felicio always wondered if he
had missed out on any of his favourite songs when the radio
was temporarily switched off just before the recitation of
the Angelus.

Tracks by Dutch Swing College Band and Acker Bilk were often
aired on special Jazz and Swing quarter-hour programs. By 9
a.m. a lot of chirp, clatter and other radio disturbances
were audible as the signal got weak.

LOVE FOR KONKANI, ENGLISH AND PORTUGUESE

Another broadcasting station that developed and shaped
Felicio's love for Konkani, English and Portuguese music was
Emissora de Goa from the late fifties up to the morning of
18th December 1961. (See some history from the All India
Radio site at http://www.airpanaji.gov.in/history.htm )

Portuguese songs 'Encosta tua cabecinha', 'Sonho' and 'Vem,
vem minha flor' were often heard on the air-waves. (See
http://youtube.com/watch?v=B2ZI9VC1234&feature=related for a
rendering of Encosta a Cabecinha.) The studios were located
at Altinho, Panjim, and the transmitters at Bambolim, Goa.

It was silenced temporarily by the bombs dropped by Indian
air force jets at the time of Goa's take-over by the Indian
Government. Happy days were there again when after a respite
of about two months broadcasting resumed with transmission ID
as All India Radio, Panjim, three times a day, on Medium
Wave.

During the Portuguese era transmission began at 7 am with the
Portuguese national anthem. After the take-over it was
replaced by Vande Mataram followed by Christian and Hindu
devotional hymns, news in Konkani, Konkani songs and Marathi
programs.

Second transmission began at noon again with English vocal
and instrumental music, news in English at 1.30 pm relayed
from All India Radio, Delhi, followed by English classical
music up to 2.30 pm. It was on the air again at 6 pm with a
line-up of Konkani songs, Marathi songs, bhajans and plays.
Weekly late night Konkani plays were regular features. Sunday
morning children's programme was a real treat to the young
children.

The station, after it became a part of the net-work known as
All India Radio, Panjim, also relayed from A.I.R. Bombay,
songs by Alfred Rose, songs from Konkani films 'Amchem Noxib'
and 'Nirmon', songs by Anthony Mendes and Miguel Road in a 30
minute program starting at 8.20 pm, immediately after the
news in Marathi (Bathmi).

A.I.R. News relays began with the word 'Akashwani'. The most
popular broadcast listened to in many Goan homes was probably
the listeners' request program of Konkani songs broadcast at
6 pm on Sunday evenings. Alfred Rose's Konkani songs 'Deu
Nidonk Nam' and 'Sui, Sut, Cator' were major hits.

Young Menezes's lightning-speed singing was a sensation,
moral woes were well-depicted by Alexinho de Candolim and
Souza Giao yodelled his way into the hearts of listeners of
all ages. Those were the melodious days of Felicio's
childhood -- the days when a group of village boys sat down
and wrote words of the songs as they were played on the
radio. English and Konkani songbooks were compiled by the
village boys that initially contained some misheard lyrics
which were later corrected!

Among the English fare of songs that were given air-time
those days were hits by Jim Reeves, Cliff Richard and the
Shadows and Elvis Presley. Big Band Sound of instrumental
music by Billy Vaughn, Latin rhythms by Edmundo Ros and a
wide range of dance music played by Victor Sylvester were
often heard too. Johnny Tillotson's song 'True True
Happiness' in particular was a big hit.

Announcer par excellence of that era was the prominent
announcer and newsreader, Imelda Dias, with her pleasant and
clear voice gracing the radio airwaves. She was a disc jockey
on an afternoon program called: 'Your favourites and mine',
besides presenting the ever-popular Sunday listeners' choice
of Western music and songs.

Billy Vaughn's 'Sail along silvery moon' and 'Summer Place'
were soothing preferences, while the hilarious vocal 'Que la
la, que la la' (and the giggle) must have enthused many.

It was believed that the Short Wave transmission of Emissora
de Goa was so powerful that it could be received and heard in
places as far away as the Portuguese colonies in Africa.

OUT OF RANGE

During the time of Felicio's college days in Bombay in
mid-sixties, Radio Goa was of course out of range there, and
he missed it terribly, but Radio Ceylon would still make its
presence with its "most powerful transmitter and first
broadcasting station in Asia" at the time.

But Saturday would be one day that Felicio would long for.
Many eagerly looked forward to listen to the English program
broadcast by All India Radio, Bombay, called Saturday Date
airing the latest hits of the time. 'White on white, lace on
satin' by Danny Williams, 'He'll have to go' by Jim Reeves,
'Edelweiss' and other hits from 'Sound of Music', and 'Lara's
Theme' (Somewhere my Love) from 'Dr. Zhivago' and 'Baby
Elephant walk' by Lawrence Welk & his orchestra were popular
tunes heard then, not forgetting Nat King Cole's 'Cat
Ballou'.

IN ABU DHABI

The furthest place that I have picked up the SW signal from
Radio Ceylon was in Abu Dhabi (then a sheikdom of the Trucial
States of Oman, and a British Protectorate) in 1969 on a
Philips portable transistor radio.

Radio Ceylon has probably influenced and contributed the most
in broadcasting a huge variety of Western music to countries
in South East Asia. One popular artist and everyone's
favourite was Jim Reeves with a huge range of romantic songs.

He was well-known to many listeners in Goa, Bombay and in the
Indian sub-continent in general. Many singers tried to
emulate his vocal style. There was one particular guy from
Byculla in Bombay who sang at various Goan functions and
sounded exactly like Jim Reeves. He was known as 'Bombay Jim
Reeves'. In fact I think Jim Reeves was more popular in India
and Ceylon for his sentimental songs than any other Western
singer besides Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Ricky Nelson or
the Everly Brothers.

The radio literally played a significant and influential role
in our lives in Goa those days when we were young. It gave us
some enjoyment and formed part of our growing up.

Singing was a part of our social upbringing, be it at
Laudainhas at the chapel, at the house of a family member or
at a neighbour's place before his departure for Bombay or
Africa, or at the singing-session on the evening of San Joã
in the balcao of the house near the well.

The very clear reception received by a German-made Grundig
valve radio that used a long external wire antennae, near the
village chapel in the adjacent village, was admirable. We
held the radio in awesome wonder and considered it as part of
our life-style.

I still remember commuting to Mapusa to purchase batteries
for the radio from Auto Popular, the stores at the side of
Casa Bela.

          They were the glorious days of Medium and Short
          Wave radio. There may not have been many radios,
          but there were certainly lot of listeners. The
          youngsters of that era were also held spellbound
          when the first pocket transistor radio made its
          debut. People who had radios in the villages always
          welcomed their neighbours to listen to interesting
          programs.

Music, besides being a listening pastime in the comfort of
the 'balcao' in the evenings during the long monsoon season,
was also pursued by many Goans as part or full-time careers
in Bombay and Goa. They studied music notation, composing,
sang in bands and played a wide range of musical instruments,
from the violin and cello to the saxophone and piccolo. It
was no wonder then and it is no wonder now, that there must
be some truth after all in the saying that "music is in the
Goan blood". Many Goans have composed and played various
musical instruments on the soundtracks of India cinema.

          Today when I mention the names of 1950's and 1960's
          singers, or just happen to sing or hum those old
          tunes impromptu in the Western world, people are
          surprised and turn their heads almost in disbelief.
          I have often been asked how I know or remember
          those old tunes and words so well, and in key. That
          gives me an excellent opportunity, and pleasure, to
          introduce myself and give them a little info about
          Goa.

Goanet Reader goanetreader at gmail.com 
Mon Jun 9 14:19:35 PDT 2008