The United Kingdom’s music scene in the 1960s was a time of growth and innovation.
It saw the rise of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and many more bands which inadvertently formed the British Invasion.
Ironically, this music was rarely broadcast from radio stations within the UK.
“In the UK back in the 50s/60s/70s, there was no commercial radio. Those of us who were growing up as teenagers in the 60s, we had no source for pop music,” said star of stage and screen John Waters.
“The only radio was the BBC, and they didn’t really play that music – they considered it overly commercial. So, everybody of my generation turned our radio dials to a broadcast that came from mainland Europe in the duchy of Luxembourg which is situated near Belgium and the Netherlands. That’s what the record industry decided they would use to broadcast the music.”
That was called Radio Luxembourg.
Going by the same name is a show by John Waters and Stewart D’Arrietta which is coming to The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre this week.
“We received Radio Luxembourg on the medium wave on our transistor radios, and we all listened to rock and pop music through that medium,” Waters explained.
“So, I’ve used it as the title for this show because it’s a compilation of some of the greatest hits of the British rock movement of the 60s.”
The upcoming performance will include a six-piece band and brief commentary from Waters about what it was like to be a teenager growing up in that era of songwriting.
One experience that stuck with the performer was his first time hearing The Beatles over the airwaves.
“I did hear the very first Beatles single release on Radio Luxembourg. I hadn’t heard of the band, and I hadn’t read about them in the newspapers yet because indeed they weren’t famous,” Waters remembered.
“Their first single that came out in the UK was called ‘Love Me Do’.
“There was a show on Radio Luxembourg that I was listening to called ‘Pop Party Time’ or something, and it was recorded in a studio with guests and a small audience.”
When he heard the recording of ‘Love Me Do’, Waters was in awe, but he couldn’t predict the music movement that was about to start.
“It had a bluesy harmonica intro, and I thought it sounded like an American band, but then the band was introduced and interviewed, and they turned out to be scousers with these Liverpool accents,” Waters explained.
“I couldn’t believe it, I thought it was incredible. That was my first taste of the band that came to be synonymous with the whole 60s pop movement.”
So, turn back the dial on your radio and head to The Joan on August 16 as John Waters celebrates the songs of the British Pop Invasion that forever changed modern music.
Tickets are available online at https://www.thejoan.com.au/whats-on/john-waters-radio-luxembourg.
