Anyone hoping to hear, in about seven hours time, Brian Matthew do the programme that he has done for over a quarter of a century on BBC Radio is going to be disappointed. Brian has been ill [well he had a fall] in November and he has been missing from 'Sounds of the Sixties' since then. Tim Rice has been standing in. Those with the power have decided to 'retire' him despite Brian himself saying that he is fit to carry on..

Matthew, 88, is Britain’s oldest regular radio presenter and has been with the station since 1954. If I am in the house on a Saturday morning, it is part of my routine...I listen to that while I try and get about 25 other jobs done before midday...BM has a great voice for radio and he knows a massive amount about popular music from the Sixties and since then.

Read the link if you are interested..it includes this...'The BBC said in a statement that, due to Matthew’s ill health, it had been mutually agreed that it was “the right time for him to step off the weekly treadmill of presenting the show”.

Brian is outraged about the 'mutual agreement' stuff..he disputes this statement..more fake news?

I will miss him anyway as will plenty of others.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01 ... -dj-brian/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Agreed...brilliant show.

Agree. I always liked him.

Cant agree with everyone I suppose....matter of taste...the chap's presentation bores me utterly sh!tless personally so I avoid him like the plague despite my love of all things sixties.

Not listened to this programme but remember Saturday Club back in the fifties and sixties and listened each week
Agree with hampsteadclaret's post that he has a great voice for radio and sad to hear he has been removed by the BBC even though he is 88

Listening to it now. Such a pity about Brian, Tim Rice is boring and his choice of music is too obscure. They should get Tony Blackburn in.

Always listen to the show when I can and find Brian Matthew gives a lot of information about the music he plays. I will miss his presentation but a suitable replacement for me would be David Hamilton, who is also very knowledgeable about what he plays.

Amazing presenter - I love it when we hear him from the 1960s as well. A beautiful quality to his voice as he's aged.

Always remember him from 'Thank your lucky stars'.

BM is/was an institution in my eyes, hearing his voice and the music always seems to transport me back to a good time certainly in my life and will certainly will be missed. Decision to retire him will have been made by some BBC upstart who knows what`s best for us older members of society and is wide of the mark again. Have a good retirement Brian.

Bad news this but inevitable, nothing lasts forever. I'm not sure about the "weekly treadmill" thing though, I'm sure he used to go in one day and record about three shows. Got to agree that Tony Blackburn would be a good choice, you had to be there to do the job properly

Listened to ' since the mid 80's. Saturday morning not the same without it. Tim Rice seems a decent fellow but as the terrace chant goes 'you're not Brian Matthew'. Hard act to follow and really don't understand him being discarded like this. Radio 2 has a tradition of elderly presenters in the past, Brian Keith and more recently David Jacobs. Great to hear this morning his rendition of 'Goodness Gracious Me' under his pseudonym of Matt Bryant with Linda Joyce(Linda Evans).
Maureen Evans, I meant.

He was certainly a link to my early youth with such programmes as Easybeat, Saturday Morning Club and Thank your lucky Stars. It's difficult for the youth of today to understand that back in the early '60's there was very little pop music on the radio. Plus it was mainly listened to on medium wave so quality was very poor especially after dark. Brian Mathews was a brilliant broadcaster and a DJ who knew what he was talking about, unlike lot today. Personally I'm disappointed with the Beeb's decision. I think Tim Rice is growing into the job but like a few have said, I also think Tony Blackburn is a good shout as long term replacement.

The "Sounds of the Sixties" playlist is most likely to be compiled, in the main, by producer Phil Swern from his huge collection of 60s material, rather than by the presenters themselves, so the change of presenter is unlikely to signal a significant change in the show's content or format. I don't know Phil personally but that's the impression I've gained through a bit of correspondence with or about him in the past.

It's not just that Brian Matthew is a hard act to follow; as it's a weekend morning show the presenter needs to have a bit of energy in their delivery, but in a laid back way; so not a Chris Evans hyper-type. But at the other end of the scale (until today) Tim Rice has often sounded as if he's about to announce some really bad news.

been mystified why the BBC have been so 'quiet' about his absence from the show.

Now to be 'retired' against his wishes is just crass!

love his presentational style and delivery.

will be missed and I just might continue giving the show a miss from now!

Good luck Brian!

I remember him on Saturday Club in the sixties when he regularly had the Beatles on.
He's got a wealth of knowledge about music and something I've listened to on Saturday mornings for years. Hope he manages to get back to what he's exclent at.

I'm sure I read they're thinking of dropping the show altogether and replacing it with yet another breakfast type show headed by Dermot O'Leary. Sad if this happens.

Time to move on at 88 and make way for a youngster.

Around midnight in the 80's

I share the views of most on here that this is a sad state of affairs. To be honest, barring Jeremy Vine, Radio 2 barely gets a look in for me these days but I used to love this show, an institution which was very much part of my weekend routine, the musical balance between obscure and mainstream just right and the background information well researched and really interesting, all delivered with the greatest authority and style from a guy at the hub of the music scene since back in the very day.
Yes, of course things need to move on, but the way this has been handled is just shoddy. It's a shame to think that there wasn't someone at the BBC who could have reeled in whichever whizz-kid was responsible for this and ensured that they treated him with some much deserved respect and maybe given him one final year before retiring the show, or maybe continuing with the weekly guest presenters as they did several years ago when some stellar names from the 60's music scene sat in when Brian was ill.
Anyway, what's done is done, I just wish Brian a long and happy, albeit enforced, retirement. Oh, and BBC - **** off.

Great post cricketfield, well said.
Thanks for the replies.

11..redwasp..Brian has a small studio/musical recording equipment at his home, where in recent years he has done the programmes and then sent them to the BBC.

- as much as the music, I enjoyed listening to the research that had been done on many of the songs.

The day the BBC stops Johnny Walker's 'Sounds of the Seventies' or Trevor Nelson on a Saturday night, is when I stop paying my licence fee..

Brian Mathew and Phil Swern are very knowledgeable about music.they used to play some different music from the sixties. It's a shame it's come to end. But radio 2 have form in treating staff badly. Just read Johnnie Walkers book.

BBC have become something I no longer like, trust, or am proud of.

Always seem to have an agenda, or an opinion that they want to push, without being overt.

Thoroughly dislikeable institution.

- just an update on this one...

Brian is broadcasting this morning, after his illness,.. it will be his last 'Sound of the Sixties'..a good effort to let him finish things off properly after such a long stint working for the BBC..[8.05-10.00am]

- now playing..'Breaking up a Dream' by Grapefruit [Beatles protogees]...never heard of it..



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... odbye.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Listening to Danny Baker but will catch up with Brian's last show at some point if I remember.

I cannot put up with that Millwall motor-mouth on 5-live, with his 'superior' and offbeat sense of humour.

- or am I missing something?

So, he'll be back with something else soon.

If you like Frank Skinner, he's on absolute radio with a couple of sidekicks on Saturday mornings.

hampsteadclaret wrote:I cannot put up with that Millwall motor-mouth on 5-live, with his 'superior' and offbeat sense of humour.

- or am I missing something?

Everyone to there own Hampstead, it's not compulsory.

Blatant ageism. SOTS on next week at 6 am with Tony Blackburn followed by yet another breakfast show with the self-centred.irritating, gob&hi£e, Dermot something. Absolute disgrace.

Brian Matthew is one of the last broadcasters for whom the music is most important. Most of them nowadays are
" broadcasters" / presenters/ voice over artists/ actors/ models with precious little interest in music.

Sad news that Brian Matthew has passed away today.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39541162" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes I heard this sad news a couple of hours ago..he was a top broadcaster and he had a good innings, and made a sound and substantial contribution to British musical culture.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-n ... d-10186923" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

R.I.P. Brian..top broadcaster ..

That's a blinkin' shame - thanks for the memories Brian, may you rest in peace.

By the way, another one here for Johnny Walker's Sounds of the 70's - brilliant programme.

Brilliant broadcaster, Saturday mornings have not been the same since he finished (was it January).

RIP Brian.

Good night pop picker.

Sounds of the sixties was my favourite radio programme, presented by such an interesting and knowledgeable DJ Brian Mathew.
It is always a sad time when someone like Brian passes away but he has left his legacy which will be remembered by a lot of his fans.
An extremely hard act to follow, but the change the BBC have made certainly tarnishes his memory

So sad to hear this news. His presentation of S.O.T.S. was first class, delivered in a way at which you could follow his every word and not in an excited ramble as is the case with many presenters. The present show is very poor in comparison to the one Brian left us with.

May you rest in peace Brian.

Very much part of my life listening to the radio. Saturday Club, Around Midnight and of course SOTS. As mentioned above his legacy is being treated discourteously by the BBC.