Radio 1 Roadshow
Encyclopedia
The Radio 1 Roadshow was an annual summer event hosted and broadcast by BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 from the 1970s through to the 1990s. The roadshow enjoyed three decades of live broadcasts from beach resorts around the UK. The curtain was brought down on the summer roadshows on Monday 13 March 2000, when the BBC replaced them with a series of one-day pop festivals in cities around the UK.

History

The concept for the Roadshow came from Radio 1 producer and later controller, Johnny Beerling
Johnny Beerling
John William Beerling is a veteran radio producer and station controller.-National Service:He began his radio career during his national service from 1955-7 when he ran a radio station for the Royal Air Force station British Forces Aden in the Aden Protectorate, acting as its station manager,...

 and was envisaged and purchased by Tony Miles, built and maintained by John Dean, with engineers Peter Lucken and Johnny Heritage. The first Roadshow was held at Newquay
Newquay
Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....

, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, on Monday 23 July 1973, and was hosted by Alan Freeman
Alan Freeman
Alan Leslie "Fluff" Freeman, MBE was a British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years.-Career:...

.

Various disc jockeys from the station would visit British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 towns, usually on the coast, to play a live set, meet local people to play their requests, take part in competitions and give away "goodie bags" of Radio 1 gifts. Accompanying the DJs were the support crew, led by Tony Miles, nicknamed "Smiley Miley", who had provided the original caravan for the first Roadshow.

Several competitions were devised especially for participation in by the live audience. Most notable were two that ran throughout the Roadshow's history, 'Bits and Pieces' and 'Smiley Miley's Mileage Game'. In the former, contestants selected from the Roadshow crowd had to name a series of pop hits after hearing a tape containing a dozen or so brief excerpts, the winner being the one who accurately identified the most. In the latter, competitors had to assess how many miles the Roadshow truck had travelled from the previous venue, the one making the most accurate guess being deemed the victor.

The typical roadshow summer season started in July and ran for eight weeks, broadcasting live on Radio 1 from the roadshow locations from 10am to 12pm each weekday. By the late 70's they became a key part of the summer schedules for Radio 1, and attracted much support during their run.

The largest attendance was at Sutton Park
Sutton Park
Sutton Park, in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England, is one of the largest urban parks in Europe and the largest outside a capital city; it is larger than Richmond Park in London....

, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, on Sunday 30 August 1992, when 100,000 fans turned up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Radio 1 with live performances from bands including Del Amitri
Del Amitri
Del Amitri were a Scottish pop-rock guitar band, formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1983. The band grew out of Justin Currie's Jordanhill College School band and came together after teenager Currie placed an advertisement in the window of a music store asking for people who could play to contact him...

, Aswad, The Farm
The Farm (band)
The Farm were a British band from Liverpool, popular through the early 1990s. Their album Spartacus reached the top position on the UK Albums Chart when it was released in March, 1991.-History:They formed in early 1983....

 and Status Quo.

In the early 1990s several attempts were made to modernise the Roadshow. Under Matthew Bannister, for example, in 1993 and 1994, the station commissioned an independent production company to make an audio postcard for each venue in advance of the Roadshow's arrival in that place. 36 whistle-stop "2 Minute Tours" were made each year, and broadcast several times in the 24 hours leading up to the Roadshow proper, in order to give a wider reflection of life in each place.

By the mid 1990s the Roadshow had expanded to 54 live dates over 9 weeks. Two trucks reversed back-to-back to form an impressive 75-foot stage frontage.

Demise

The final old-style Roadshow was held at Heaton Park
Heaton Park
Heaton Park, covering an area variously reported as , 247 hectares, , over and is the biggest park in Greater Manchester, England and one of the biggest municipal parks in Europe. The park comprises the grounds of a Grade I listed, neoclassical 18th century country house, Heaton Hall...

, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 in 1999. As part of reforms to the station, the Radio 1 Roadshow was axed in 2000 in favour of a series of one-day pop concerts, called One Big Sunday. These have now been replaced by a single two-day event called Radio 1's Big Weekend
Big Weekend
BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend is a music festival run by BBC Radio 1. It is held once a year, in a different location within the United Kingdom each time...

. The style of the event is more akin to a standalone music festival than the broadcasting-based shows of old. The emphasis is on current artists and new music.

Since the Radio 1 Roadshows demise, some of the crew that were behind the roadshows success have subsequently purchased some of the old roadshow vehicles, and are using them as stages for many local radio station roadshows.

Roadshow Vehicles

There were 4 Roadshow vehicles over the history of the programme:

Mark I (1974–1975) - This was essentially a caravan with a drop-down stage.

Mark II (1976–1981) - This was the first articulated, trailer-mounted vehicle, with a fold-down stage and 2 off-stage areas for technical gear and hospitality. At the end of its Radio 1 life, it became the “Delivery Van” for Saturday Superstore on BBC TV, acting essentially as a Roadshow style element for the Saturday morning children’s show.

Mark III (1982–1989) - As the popularity of the Roadshow increased, a new articulated trailer with a higher and larger stage, plus roof area, was procured by Radio 1. This also offered a larger audio control room and office space for the production team. When it was withdrawn from Radio 1 use, it was re-branded and used by Radio 2, before being sold by the BBC.

Up until 1989 support vehicles were being used in the form of 7.5 & 12.5 ton trucks, these carried most of the audio equipment of which by this date had grown to massive proportions, these trucks were multipurpose vehicles that could themselves be folded out into separate stage areas, as well as host the crew John Dean, Peter Lucken, "Froggy" John Heritage who provided the engineering and Sound system for the roadshow up until the BBC took over. Two of these trucks are owned by PLRS Sound System & Stage Hire and are continuing to be hired out as stage units, and as PA system haulage vehicles on a regular basis

Mark IV (1990–1999) – At the start of the 1990s, a new Roadshow facility was required, with the ability to cater for further live performances and bigger crowds. The new facility consisted of a main vehicle with the core audio facilities and stage, plus a second vehicle that backed up onto the main vehicle, providing office and green room facilities for guests. Special PA lifts were installed to allow the speakers for the PA system to be easily lifted up to the roof. In 2003 it was purchased by Totally Sound Ltd, and is still available for hire.
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