主播大秀

by Bob Stanley

In eighteen minutes they recorded six numbers, all perfect....

American acts weren't on Saturday Club as often as Brian Matthew would have liked, mainly due to union regulations. The late Bernie Andrews was largely in charge of booking the acts, and did the best he could to get top Stateside singers – like Roy Orbison and Del Shannon – onto the show. “When it was possible, Bernie would get them in, under any pretence.” recalls Brian. “He was an absolute leading light in the formation of our programme.”

One of the most memorable occasions was when visited London. “That was an astonishing session. I very seldom produced the sessions, but in that instance I'd been asked to do it. It would normally have been Bernie, and he idolised the Everly Brothers – so I can't remember why, but it was me. I was supposed to record a session with them at the Playhouse Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, where we did a lot of our material. They were going to come direct from the airport, having just literally flown in. All they'd asked for was that I book a bass player. And there was a flight delay.” In the early sixties the 主播大秀 had strict regulations on recording sessions. “You had a set period of time in which to record the numbers, and you didn't go beyond that – if the time dwindled to next to nothing, you just had to make the best of it.”

“I was getting more and more anxious – no Everly Brothers... only one bass player, thank God it wasn't an orchestra sitting there waiting! They turned up eventually with about twenty minutes of the two hour studio time left. I said to Don and Phil 'What are you going to do?' and they got straight up on the mike. In eighteen minutes they recorded six numbers, all perfect, and indeed all used on air. I've never come across anybody else who achieved that speed and efficiency. They saved the day.”