Greg Roskowski was an announcer of

Radio Ceylon Radio Ceylon ( si, ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සේවය ''Lanka Guwan Viduli Sevaya'', ta, இலங்கை வானொலி, ''ilankai vanoli'') is a radio station based in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the first ...

during the height of the station's popularity in the 1950s in the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. Roskowski, born of a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

mother and a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

father, was the booming voice of Radio Ceylon's morning radio programs. The Roskowski family at one time also owned and ran Hotel Nippon, a middle-budget hotel and restaurant, situated in the commercial heart of

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. Hotel Nippon has one of the earliest oriental restaurants and it exists to this day, in downtown Colombo. According to one-time radio colleague

Jimmy Bharucha Jimmy Bharucha, was a Sri-Lankan Parsi broadcaster called a 'colossus in Sri Lanka's broadcasting world'. Bharucha died in Colombo in June 2005. Bharucha who was educated at St. Peter's College, Colombo, had a career in broadcasting spanning 4 ...

, Greg Roskowski used to receive fan mail of over 500 letters a day. Listeners to Radio Ceylon enjoyed his 'wakey wakey' style and he introduced the hit songs of

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

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and

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to audiences in Ceylon and beyond. Greg Roskowski was known as 'Happy-go-lucky-Greg' over the airwaves of Radio Ceylon. He was immensely popular on the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon and the All Asia Service where he presented a countdown of English pop music called the ''Binanca Hit Parade''. Indian listeners of Greg Roskowski's programme then wrote into the station in the thousands clamouring for a countdown programme of

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

filmi Filmi ("of films") music soundtracks are music produced for India's mainstream motion picture industry and written and performed for Indian cinema. In cinema, music directors make up the main body of composers; the songs are performed by playba ...

songs since

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

had banned

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

music. ''

Binaca Geetmala ''Binaca Geetmala'' was a weekly countdown show of top filmi songs from Hindi cinema. It was popular and had millions of listeners. ''Binaca Geetmala'' was broadcast on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988 and then shifted to the Vividh Bharati ...

'', presented by

Ameen Sayani Ameen Sayani is a popular former radio announcer from India. He achieved fame and popularity all across the Indian Subcontinent when he presented his ''Binaca Geetmala'' program of hits over the airwaves of Radio Ceylon. He is one of the most imi ...

, was the outcome – it became an iconic radio programme over the airwaves of Radio Ceylon. Greg Roskowski was one of a handful of 'overseas announcers' working for Radio Ceylon in the 1950s and 1960s when the station ruled the airwaves in the Indian Subcontinent; the others being the American Craig Thompson who co-presented the ''Kiddies Corner'', a program for children and Ameen Syani from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, who presented ''

Binaca Geet Mala ''Binaca Geetmala'' was a weekly countdown show of top filmi songs from Bollywood, Hindi cinema. It was popular and had millions of listeners. ''Binaca Geetmala'' was broadcast on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988 and then shifted to the Vividh Bhar ...

'', a program of Indian filmi music.

References

Bibliography

* Wavell, Stuart. - ''The Art of Radio'' - Training Manual written by the Director Training of the CBC. -

Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සංස්ථාව, ''Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva'', ta, இலங்கை ஒலிபரப்புக் க� ...

, 1969.

External links

SLBC-creating new waves of historySri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roskowski, Greg Sri Lankan radio personalities Sri Lankan people of Japanese descent Sri Lankan people of Polish descent

See also

References

Bibliography

External links