''London Sounds Eastern'' was one of the most popular

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...

radio programs on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. It was presented by

Vernon Corea Vernon Corea (11 September 1927 – 23 September 2002) was a pioneer radio broadcaster with 45 years of public service broadcasting both in Sri Lanka and the UK. He joined Radio Ceylon, South Asia's oldest radio station, in 1956 and later the Sr ...

and produced by Keith Yeomans.

The Launching of London Sounds Eastern -BBC Radio London

The program went on the airwaves on a Sunday evening on

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM broadcasting, FM frequency, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, ...

. It enjoyed a huge multi-cultural radio audience and was even highlighted in the BBC

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

in 1976. ''London Sounds Eastern'' created broadcasting history in the United Kingdom: it was the first ever Asian programme in English, on the BBC. Until the launch of 'London Sounds Eastern,' Asian radio programmes in the United Kingdom were mostly in the Hindi and Urdu languages and the programme replaced two 30-minute shows which had been broadcast in the Bengali, Hindi and Urdu languages.

Ethnic Minority Broadcasting on the BBC

'London Sounds Eastern' was a real breakthrough in terms of ethnic minority broadcasting. It expanded musical horizons featuring music as diverse as the ghazals of Pakistan, raagas from India and

baila Baila (also known as bayila; from the Portuguese verb ''bailar'', meaning ''to dance'') is a form of music, popular in Sri Lanka and among Goan Catholics. The genre originated centuries ago among the Portuguese Burghers and Sri Lankan Kaffirs. B ...

from Sri Lanka. It even featured music from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Vernon Corea, presenter of London Sounds Eastern was appointed Asian Programmes Officer of the BBC and trained broadcasters from minority ethnic communities for the

BBC Local Radio BBC Local Radio (also referred to as Local BBC Radio) is the BBC's local and regional radio division for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of forty stations. History The popularity of pirate radio was to challenge a change within ...

network. Among those who sought advice on a career in radio was the BBC TV Presenter

George Alagiah George Maxwell Alagiah ( born 22 November 1955) is a British newsreader, journalist and television news presenter. Since 3 December 2007, he has been the presenter of the ''BBC News at Six'' and was previously the main presenter of ''GMT'' on ...

. Vernon Corea went on to be the BBC's Ethnic Minorities Adviser. Dia5275 Ravi Shankar

South Asian Stars on the BBC

A whole host of Asian stars were featured -

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

Usha Uthup Usha Uthup Iyer (born 7 November 1947) is an Indian pop, filmi, jazz, and playback singer who sang songs in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. "Darling", which she recorded with Rekha Bhardwaj for the film ''7 Khoon Maaf'', won the Filmfare Award ...

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

Pandith Amaradeva Sri Lankabhimanya Wannakuwattawaduge Don Albert Perera ( si, වන්නකුවත්තවඩුගේ දොන් ඇල්බට් පෙරේරා; ta, டபிள்யூ. டி. அமரதேவா; 5 December 1927 – 3 Nov ...

, Asian actress

Jamila Massey Jamila Massey (born 7 January 1934) is a British actress and writer. Massey has had a long career on UK television and radio. She is known for playing Auntie Satya in the long-running radio soap ''The Archers'', Jamila Ranjha in ''Mind Your Lan ...

and her husband the writer Reginald Massey,

Clarence Wijewardene Vithana Kuruppu Arachchilage Clarence Arthur Somasinghe Wijewardena Justice of the peace#Sri Lanka, JP ( si, ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන, ta, கிளாரன்ஸ் விஜேவர்தன; 3 August 1943 � ...

Annesley Malewana Annesley Malewana () ( Sinhala: ඇනස්ලි මාලේවන) is a Sri Lankan musician. Often considered "The Prince of Sinhala Pop", Malewana is well known for being a master of contemporary Baila worked with popular musical bands The M ...

Mignonne Fernando Mignonne Fernando is a Sri Lankan singer, part of the popular group "The Jetliners". Early life Born Mignonette Malathi May Rutnam, she won Radio Ceylon's Talent Contest at the age of seven. Her interest in law was overtaken by her passion fo ...

Nimal Mendis Nimal may refer to *Nimal Bandara, Sri Lankan politician *Nimal Gamini Amaratunga, Sri Lankan judge *Nimal Gunaratne Air Vice Marshal Nimal Herat-Gunaratne, VSV, USP, SLAF was the Director Health Services of the Sri Lanka Air Force from 1992 ...

, The Gypsies,

Desmond de Silva Desmond or Desmond's may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Desmond'' (novel), 1792 novel by Charlotte Turner Smith * ''Desmond's'', 1990s British television sitcom Ireland * Kingdom of Desmond, medieval Irish kingdom * Earl of Desmond, Irish a ...

were some of the South Asian stars on 'London Sounds Eastern.' Their music reached new audiences in London and hundreds of fans wrote in to BBC Radio London. Vernon Corea featured the different sounds of the Indian sub-continent, from ragaas to contemporary baila.

South Asian Heads of State on the programme

Heads of State have also appeared on the radio programme among them the President of Sri Lanka. Vernon Corea, the presenter of 'London Sounds Eastern' also met with the President of the Maldives when he was invited to the islands to train Maldivian broadcasters at Radio Maldives.

BBC Asian Network

The programme pioneered the way for the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...

was among the celebrities interviewed by Vernon Corea for ''London Sounds Eastern''. Listen to the BBC Radio London Jingles from the 1970s - 1980s:
John Allen's BBC Radio London 206 Pages

External links