The Magic of the Air-Waves (of the Nineteen-Sixties) WHEN WIRELESS RULED THE AIR-WAVES Part III & IV OF IV

The Magic of the Air-Waves (of the Nineteen-Sixties)

WHEN WIRELESS RULED THE AIR-WAVES Part III & IV OF IV

Part III

During my college days in Bombay in mid-sixties, Radio Goa was of course out of range there, and I 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 I 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’.

Part IV

During my working days in the late 1960's in the Trucial States of Oman (now the United Arab Emirates), it was the R.A.F. Radio Station that was broadcasting the latest songs of the time on Medium Wave. Among the frequently heard popular songs in the afternoon were The Scaffold's 'Lily the Pink', Mary Hopkins' 'Those were the days' and 'Sound of Silence' by Simon & Garfunkel.

The oil company ARAMCO had three stations broadcasting on FM. Clasical on 94.1 FM, Light Music on 103.8 FM, and Pop on 88.8 FM.Mhz - but the problem was the signal received from these stations was very weak. Clear reception was only in the summer months, especially on humid days and nights, very early in the morning or on foggy days and nights. Dedicated FM tuners with external antennae gave better reception. Some radios were better than others. 

The Nordmende, Telefunken, Grundig and Philips radios were excellent, giving a very clear reception. My 'Crown' FM Tuner was good too! Reception clarity mainly depended on the weather during the early and later summer months, due to the atmospheric phenomenon called 'thermal inversion' that effects transmission signal. Basically, cool, humid air aids signal transmission to further distances than normal, as it gets trapped below a blanket of warm air. The signal then 'zig-zags' along the top side of the warm air blanket reflecting it into space, and then gets penetrated to your radio via the cold air, thus effecting a better signal gain.

I purchased my first Philips FM Radio in November 1967, and then a Crown FM tuner in November 1968, but had tried in vain to receive any FM signal from the ARAMCO station. until the night of Christmas Eve when I heard a string of beautiful and spine-chilling Christmas Carols in the still of night of December 1968 until the wee hours of the morning. May be Santa Claus had something to do with this sensational phenomenon. Well-kown news reader Larry Barnes presented the news from United Press International with a crisp and clear voice and signature ending line "I am Larry Barnes' is the one that I remember up to this very day.

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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. I was 22 years young then.

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 during my teens. 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. Gentleman Jim as he was known, was my Mom and Dad's favourite singer, and perhaps a favourite of many other parents of that era.

There was one particular guy from Byculla in Bombay who sang at various Goan functions and sounded exactly like Jim Reeves in the mid-1960's. 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 Everly Brothers.

The radio literally played a significant and very influential role in our lives in Goa those days when we were young. It gave us substantial enjoyment and formed part of our growing up. Singing was a part of our social upbringing, be it at ‘Laudainhas’ (sung litanies in the village chapels, at the house of a family member or a neighbour before his departure for Bombay or Africa for employment, or at the jam-session on the evening of ‘San João’  in the balcão (Port. balcony) of the house near the well. ('San João' is a Christian festival of the Baptism of St. John the Baptist, when the young and old folks traditionally celebrate in an unique fashion).

The very clear reception received by a 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’. Those were the days - the glorious days of Medium and Short Wave radio.

All the folks in Goa, especially in my village of Guirim Cumbiem Morod may have not been able to afford a radio easily, but they made sure they listened to certain radio programmes at their neighbours house who had a radio. People who had radios in the villages always welcomed their neighbours to listen to interesting programs. 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. Music, besides being a listening pastime in the comfort of the ‘balcão’ 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 music, singing in bands and playing in orchestras in Bombay. The Hindi film industry had Goan musicians, let alone they borrowing Goan Konkani song tunes. Goans 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 Indian cinema. Music was taught to children at a very young age in the Parochial Churches.

Today, in the Western countries, when I mention the names of 1950's and 1960' singers, or just happen to sing or hum those old tunes impromptu, people seem to be often surprised, turning their heads, almost in disbelief. I have often been asked as to 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 long lecture about Goan heritage, and time permitting, a history lesson about Goa and India at the same time and also about the famous radio stations of those halcyon days of yore - Radio Ceylon  and Emissora de Goa. That includes enlightening those who know not in which part of the world Goa or Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) is located.

Tony Felix (Felicio) Fernandes

Guirim, Cumbiem Morod, Bardez, Goa.

(End of Part III & IV of IV)