BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Obituary: Alan Keith Obituary: Alan Keith Alan Keith: Veteran broadcaster Alan Keith was a familiar voice for three generations of BBC radio listeners, and he presented the BBC Radio 2 music programme, Your Hundred Best Tunes, for 44 years. For more than 43 years, Alan Keith delighted his many listeners with his selection of popular and light classical music, his clipped tones instantly recognisable to all who heard them. He was born Alec Kossoff, in October 1908, when King Edward VII was still on the throne. The brother of the actor and broadcaster, David Kossoff and the uncle of the late rock guitarist, Paul Kossoff, he changed his name to Alan Keith in the 1920s. He studied at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), where he won a silver medal in 1928. Soon afterwards, he was appearing in George Bernard Shaw's own production of Major Barbara in London's West End. By 1935, Alan Keith was already an established voice on BBC radio.

His career also featured a spell as a stand-up comic at London's Windmill Theatre and he worked, for three years, as an interviewer for BBC radio's In Town Tonight. Alan Keith came up with the idea for Your Hundred Best Tunes, and the programme's first edition broadcast on the Light Programme, later to become BBC Radio 2, on 15 November 1959. Little did anyone know at the time that it would keep him employed well into his 90s. Alan Keith graced the airwaves since 1935 The show was originally commissioned for a 13-week run, but its huge success, and positive feedback from listeners, led to an open-ended run which has continued right up to today. Alan Keith selected his own music, regularly visiting the listening room at the BBC's gramophone library to choose his favourite tracks. Interviewed by the Radio Times, Alan Keith spoke frankly about his programme. "It was a very tentative choice and likely to arouse listeners as much as the planners," he said. "I hope people write and tell me their favourites in case I've missed anything. They must, however, bear in mind the standard I used in choosing.

"A tune must be popular, and it must be good of its kind - even if it's only a Cockney ballad it must have class." Of all the tunes which Alan Keith played over the years, perhaps the most popular was the duet from Bizet's opera, the Pearl Fishers. But he featured everything from Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, through O Sole Mio and Albinoni's Adagio. The programme's playlist, which changed very little over the years, inspired a number of albums - which sold three million copies between them - and a loyal audience of listeners with whom Alan Keith built his own personal rapport. Radio Rewind - Radio 2 - Your 100 Best Tunes with Alan Keith 1959-2007 The show was first heard on the Light Programme on Sunday 15 November 1959. The original title was 'The 100 Best Tunes In The World'. Alan Keith, who came up with the idea of the programme, was originally contracted for a 13 week run. The show broadcast live from Broadcasting House. The first series featured Alan's own selections from his research with music publishers.

The series was so popular that the Light Programme planners extended its run. The letters poured in and on 12 February 1960 the programme changed its name to Your 100 Best Tunes. Its time slot was eventually extended to an hour. When the Light Programme ceased in 1967 Your Hundred Best Tunes found a home on Sunday evenings at 9pm on BBC Radio 2. Listeners' polls were organised - the last of these was held in the BBC's 75th anniversary year, 1997. The top ten listener votes were: 1. In the Depths of the Temple (The Pearl Fishers) - Bizet 2. Finlandia - Sibelius 3. The Water Music - Handel 4. Rusalka s Song to the Moon (Rusalka) - Dvorak 5. Ode to Joy - Symphony No 9 - Beethoven 6. Adagio from Cello Concerto in E Minor - Elgar 7. The Nuns' Chorus (Casanova) - J. Strauss II 8. Piano Concerto No 2 in C Minor - Rachmaninov 9.

Suite - The Planets - Holst 10. I Know That My Redeemer Liveth (Messiah) - Handel The show was a favourite listen for many. The late Earl Spencer, father of Diana Princess of Wales, declared it one of his radio highlights and in 1988 he even presented the show whilst Alan was on holiday. Poet Ursula Vaughan Williams and distinguished oboist Lady Evelyn Barbirolli have also presented the show. Alan passed away in 2003 aged 94, the longest serving and oldest presenter on British radio. He had presented the show for 44 years and had already taken the decision to step down with a recorded farewell programme. BBC Radio 2 veteran Keith dies aged 94 | Media | The Guardian BBC Radio 2 veteran Keith dies aged 94 Tuesday 18 March 2003 09.49 EST First published on Tuesday 18 March 2003 09.49 EST Share on Messenger Close Alan Keith, Britain's oldest national radio DJ and the creator of BBC Radio 2's Your Hundred Best Tunes, died today at the age of 94 after a short illness.

Keith, who presented Best Tunes for 44 years, had been due to announce his retirement on Sunday but was taken ill at the weekend. A pre-recorded programme announcing his decision to step down had to be pulled at the last minute. The broadcaster was a month older than Radio 4 veteran Alistair Cooke, who still presents his long-running Letter From America slot. Radio 2 chiefs will run a final show, which Keith recorded to sign off his career, on Sunday March 30 in the programme's regular 9pm slot. "I was very sad to learn of Alan's death. For more than 30 years Your Hundred Best Tunes was an appointment to listen for millions and he will be sorely missed," said the Radio 2 controller, Jim Moir. "His death marks the end of a 70-year association with the BBC, an achievement unlikely to be equalled. He will have an honoured place in broadcasting history." The first edition of Best Tunes was broadcast on Sunday November 15 1959, shortly after Keith presented his programme idea to decision-makers at the Light Programme, which went on to become Radio 2.

The show was initially commissioned for a 13-week run but its huge success resulted in an open-ended run that has continued until now. Former TV newsreader Richard Baker will step in as the new presenter from April 6. An interview Baker recorded with Keith in 1998 to mark his 90th birthday will be broadcast again in place of this Sunday's edition of Best Tunes. Keith, who lived in north London, was famed for his perfect diction, honed at Rada where he trained as an actor. His BBC career began with appearances in radio dramas. Keith went on to become a compere for broadcasts and worked as an interviewer before presenting Best Tunes. His family - wife Pearl and children Brian and Linda - said Keith died of a "short illness" at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London. Music Programmes Music Programmes Listen to the Band :This was (and still is) a brass and military band programme which commenced during the second world war and has continued, on and off, to the present day. Early programmes were sometimes comprised of records but studio performances soon became standard, with brass bands alternating with military bands in a half hour of mainly light music.

In recent years brass bands have been used almost exclusively, due to military bands being required to charge a fee which is compatible with professional Musician Union rates. During the seventies the programme was replaced for a while by 'Strike Up the Band' - the only difference being a slightly lighter and more commercial repertoire. After sixty years, the signature tune of 'Listen to the Band' , Lionel Monkton's 'Soldiers in the Park' was inexplicably dropped by the BBC a few years ago. The programme has been a permanent feature of Friday night on Radio 2 for many years now and is now one of the few remaining programmes on the station to feature instrumental music. (Information kindly provided by Brian Reynolds ). Concert Hour : The hour was between noon and 1pm, on weekdays on the Home Service from March 1946 to December 1964, when music was commonplace on the Home Service - as opposed to the much rarer event which it is today. Grand Hotel : Relays of Light classical music started in 1925 from The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne and were, to quote the Radio Times of the era, 'Music of the Palm Court Orchestra'.

The Lounge Hall of the Grand was used - it did not actually have a Palm Court. The 'Grand Hotel' programme itself ran on Sundays from 1943 to 1973 and was generally broadcast live, usually from the Concert Hall at Broadcasting House but occasionally on location. It was hosted by violinist Albert Sandler until early in 1948 when he was taken ill and left the programme being replaced by Tom Jenkins (Sandler died the following August). Both had previously been musical directors of the Grand Hotel Eastbourne (Sandler 1924-28 and Jenkins 1938-40). However other hotels were also used, notably the Royal Bath, Bournemouth and these programmes were not called 'Grand Hotel'. It lapsed for a couple of years before returning for its final series in 1951 when it was pre-recorded and introduced by Tom Jenkins with the Palm Court Orchestra and guest baritone Alfred Swain. Max Jaffa took over in 1956, succeeding Jean Pougnet, and stayed to the end. Featured artists at this time were Jack Byfield, Max Jaffa and a different singer each week.

Vanessa Lee was a favourite of the programme, but many other operatic sopranos were also invited to appear. Reginald Leopold directed the Palm Court orchestra for 17 years, until 1973. The programme was revived for a while in the eighties using Max Jaffa and subsequently the show went round the regions using different musical combinations. It was revived in 1995 for a one-off celebration using a larger orchestra conducted by Roderick Dunk The programme's signature tune was Strauss's 'Roses from the South'. There was a similar programme, now forgotten, called 'Carnival Concert', which featured John Blore and his orchestra (with interval music by organist Charles Smart) playing 'music from the Winter Garden'. offers a 'Reginald Leopold and Grand Hotel' CD for ï¿½9.95 (ref .C110) Memories for You : requested tunes played in strict tempo by Victor Silvester's Ballroom Orchestra in a series heard on both Light and Home services. Your Hundred Best Tunes : Gentle, quiet and serene record programme presented by Alan Keith on Sunday evenings since 1959.

(It was called 'The Hundred Best Tunes in the World' until February 1960). Alan Keith was the longest-serving disc jockey on British radio; his rich and mellifluous tones could be heard every Sunday evening for 44 years on Radio 2's Your Hundred Best Tunes, bringing a touch of solace and relaxation to the airwaves. The programme was devised by Keith in 1959 and first broadcast in November that year. It was a simple formula; Keith would choose a selection of light classical music from the BBC gramophone library and introduce each extract in his matchless modulated style. He died, whilst still presenting the programme weekly, in March 2003. Richard Baker then took over the programme until it was axed in 2007, after 48 years, to make way for a new-look schedule. Melody on the Move : was a breakfast-time light music programme broadcast (initially) at 8.30a.m until 9.00a.m provided by a different BBC staff orchestra each day ( the BBC West of England Light Orchestra , for example).

It ran without a break between September 1958 and December 1960, by which time it had been extended to 45 minutes (commencing 8.15 a.m) but the number of editions had been reduced to three per week. It returned in January 1962 for a further 21 month run on Monday mornings, this time extended to 60 minutes and usually featuring the London Light Concert Orchestra or the London Theatre Orchestra, both of which were augmented versions of the BBC's London Studio Players , conductors being Michael Krein and Reginald Kilbey respectively. Sometimes a guest ensemble or soloist was also included. Its final incarnation was in the late sixties as a thirty minute programme every weekday at 11.30a.m. again featuring mostly BBC orchestras but this time presented by the avuncular Jimmy Hanley. Not surprisingly 'Melody on the Move' had, as its signature tune, the Clive Richardson composition of the same name. (Information kindly provided by Brian Reynolds ).

Signature Tune Mid-Day Music Hall : was a variety show which started in 1953 and was broadcast live every Monday and Friday (alternating with Worker's Playtime on Tuesday and Thursday). It was originally compered by Michael Miles and then later, in the sixties, it was introduced by Bill Gates. Max Miller appeared in the programme regularly once a month towards the end of his career when he had more or less retired. The signature tune was 'Over The Sticks'. Henry Hall's Guest Night : One of the major musical figures from the golden age of wireless, Henry Hall's 'chat show' saw Britain through the dark days of war, and bearing a famous signature tune in 'Here's to the Next Time', it ran for 972 editions until the late '50s. Hall's regular greeting, 'Hello everyone, this is Henry Hall speaking', became something of a national catchphrase. Signature tune Housewives Choice : A very popular record request programme broadcast on the Light Programme from 1946 to 1967. Specifically aimed at women at home, at an hour (09:10) when their menfolk were supposed to have left for work, it was nonetheless nearly always presented by men.

- among them Godfrey Winn, Edmundo Ros, Gilbert Harding, Richard Murdoch, Sam Costa and Eamonn Andrews. The one who enjoyed the closest association with the show, however, was vocalist and bandleader George Elrick, whose bright and breezy style was heard, on and off, for two decades. His hallmark was to hum along to the signature tune which came about by accident when he did it without realising he was still on air. He feared the sack but the producer liked it and so did the listeners so it became standard. The very first presenter was Robert MacDermott on 4th. March 1946. The signature tune was called In Party Mood by Jack Strachey and is available on CD here and here Sing Something Simple with the Cliff Adams Singers (right) : "Songs simply sung for song-lovers" was the subtitle for this half-hour of non-stop pop-songs. It became a warm, smooth, cosy and sentimental Sunday-evening institution. Beginning on the Light Programme in 1959, initially on Fridays but soon moving to Sunday nights where it stayed every week until the death in October 2001 of Cliff Adams.

The Adams Singers were originally accompanied by accordionist Jack Emblow and his quartet. Pick of the Pops began in 1955 and was presented by Franklin Engelmann as 'a choice of current popular gramophone records'. He was succeeded by Alan Dell and then David Jacobs who hosted it at 10.40pm on Saturday nights. In 1961 it was incorporated into 'Trad Tavern' with presenter Alan Freeman. Its theme tune was 'At the Sign of The Swinging Cymbal'. It Later it moved to Sunday teatime. Record Roundup : Jack Jackson's Saturday night programme. Record Roundabout : Jack Jackson also later presented this programme on Saturday lunchtimes with lightning cutting between, and mixing of, comedy extracts and music. Jack Jackson had a fictitious cat called Tiddles who used to meaow at appropriate moments when he liked a tune, hence the picture of Jack with a cat. Jack would often ask what Tiddles thought about a particular record, receiving a suitable squawk.

Tip-Top Tunes : Bandleader Geraldo's 'Tip-Top Tunes' series that ran on both the BBC Light Programme and General Overseas Service featured mostly the regular Geraldo line up heavily augmented into a large concert orchestra personnel. The earlier programmes featured singers Carole Carr, Dick James, Sally Douglas and Archie Lewis and top big band soloists playing everything from small group swing to adventurous concert arrangements by the likes of Robert Farnon and Wally Stott (later Angela Morley). The 'Tip-Top Tunes series ran mainly from 1946 to 1954 after which there were some revivals later on in the era as well as one off occasional specials later on. (Information kindly provided by Phil Farlow) Kings of the Keyboard : was a showcase for piano music, broadcast in the late fifties. The writer recalls getting out of school football on Friday afternoons to visit the Concert Hall, Broadcasting House to attend the recordings of this series, transmitted on Sundays. The idea of the programme, which had been entitled 'Concert Grand' several years previously, was to present contrasting styles of piano music performed by a number of well-known pianists.

A typical programme from August 1959 featured Valerie Tryon (concert pianist), Reub Silver and Marion Day (two pianos), Bill McGuffie (latin-american music) and the Ian Stewart Quartet (rhythmic piano music). The fact that female pianists took part may explain why, when the series was revived in the early seventies, it reverted to its original title 'Concert Grand'. (Information kindly provided by Brian Reynolds ). Continental Serenade : Ran from 1942-53 on Saturday afternoons on the Light Programme. Jacques Vallez and his Septet broadcast from 1956 and featured Jacques on cello and Musical Saw (he often played the saw on TV in the fifties). The programnme continued to be broadcast with the Septet until 1963. Marching and Waltzing : A light music programme which ran (albeit intermittently) for over 40 years. Starting during the war, initially as a record programme, it soon graduated to using studio music using a military or brass band to play the marches and a light orchestra to play the waltzes.

For many years the resident orchestra was The Raeburn Orchestra conducted by Wynford Reynolds . When Reynolds became terminally ill in 1958, Bernard Monshin conducted his orchestra for a while. Other orchestras took over after the death of Wynford Reynolds in January 1959 with Anton and his orchestra eventually becoming resident orchestra. The programme commenced and ended with the band playing the Sousa march 'King Cotton' and the orchestra playing a part of 'Vienna Blood' (Strauss), a novelty feature being that band and orchestra would combine for the last part of the waltz. However,this idea could only be used when both contributions were live ( the marches were sometimes pre-recorded) and ceased altogether when,in the sixties, it was decided to utilise BBC staff orchestras to play the waltzes. The Midland Light Orchestra did it for a while but were known to hate the programme because it meant a three-hour session (rehearsal plus the one - hour broadcast) playing in three-four time which they found monotonous!

After their participation ceased, the orchestral part of the programme was provided by the BBC Northern Ireland Light Orchestra , apart from a series around 1980 when it was decided to use the London Studio Players (augmented with brass) for the waltzes, with a different guest conductor each week. The BBC,in its infinite wisdom decided to bill this in the 'Radio Times' as - 'The Orchestra conducted by......'. The writer thought this was ridiculous and told the producer, Charles Clark-Maxwell that they should find a name for it! So they decided to call it 'The Langham Orchestra' - obviously oblivious to the fact that there had been a Langham Light Orchestra back in the Fifties! For the final series in 1984, the BBC introduced the idea of having the band and orchestra switch roles for two pieces in each programme. This resulted in the writer's waltz 'Souvenir de Montmartre' being played by the Band of the Royal Artillery (Woolwich) in one of the last programmes! Maybe that was the final straw!

It is worth mentioning that,for a while in the seventies, a variant on 'Marching and Waltzing' was broadcast, initially featuring the BBC Northern Ireland Light Orchestra and guest brass and military bands entitled 'Brass and Strings and Other Things' - a cumbersome title later shortened to 'Brass and Strings', when the orchestral content was provided by a section of the BBC Radio Orchestra. These programmes differed only to the extent that the music did not have to be confined to marches and waltzes. (Information kindly provided by Brian Reynolds ). Music Box : Ran from 1958 until 1967 and was one of several well-remembered shows occupying the 10 a.m. slot on the Light Programme, hitherto occupied predominently by theatre organ programmes. Initially, it featured one of several small ensembles, such as the Billy Mayerl Rhythm Ensemble, Cecil Norman and the Rhythm Players and Sidney Davey and his players . By 1959 it had its own resident group, The Charlie Katz Novelty Sextet, with a guest instrumentalist or singer (sometimes both).

It also acquired a resident presenter, Tim Gudgin, whose humorous ( seemingly unscripted) interactions with the players added to the charm of the programme, as did the distinctive high pitched laugh of Charlie Katz - a fine violinist who, as a 'fixer' was one of the most powerful men in the music business. The series spawned two long-playing records entitled 'Every Tuesday 10.a.m. Music Box'. They began and ended with the programme's signature tune 'The Pied Piper' - played on the ocarina! There was a special 'last ever show' in 1963 but public demand soon brought it back and it ran on until 1967, when the Light Programme became Radio 2, and several light music shows ended. (Information kindly provided by Brian Reynolds ). Introduction Make Way for Music : A slice of daytime entertainment from the Light Programme with singer Sheila Buxton accompanied by the Northern Dance Orchestra conducted by Alyn Ainsworth. The signature tune was called 'Melody Time', an unpublished work by Alyn Ainsworth.

Bright and Early : was a cheerful programme of uninterrupted music, rather in the style of Music While You Work, which was broadcast six days a week in the Home Service at 6.30 a.m. for 25 minutes. Commencing just after the war,initially as a record programme, it started using studio sessions in May 1947 with a different ensemble every day - light orchestras, dance bands, cinema organists and brass bands had their allocated slots each week. Popular contributors included Troise and his Banjoliers , Frank Baron and his Sextet and Primo Scala and his Accordion Band . The show continued until September 1958, the last year featuring predominantly BBC staff orchestras. It returned in January 1962, this time on the Light Programme for a full half hour but as a brass band slot on Thursday mornings. Although this delighted many, the BBC received a few complaints from people who preferred to be soothed out of their slumber - one correspondent to 'Radio Times' suggesting that every note was created 'in the devil's forge'! In the Autumn of 1963 the programme reverted to a six days a week format ,once again featuring mostly BBC orchestras.

An exhiliarating start to the day, 'Bright and Early' finally bowed out on 1st January 1965. (Information kindly provided by Brian Reynolds ). Morning Music : During its 20 year reign on BBC radio, 'Morning Music' probably gave more air-time to light music than any other programme. It started in November 1945, broadcast between 7.15 and 7.50 a.m every day except Sunday on the Home Service and was an important vehicle for the many light music combinations on the air, which included major recording artists such as Mantovani, Charles Williams and Sidney Torch. Dance bands such as those of Lew Stone and Felix King also contributed as did all of the BBC's Staff light orchestras. The programme had brief announcements and time checks every ten minutes. In 1949 the programme moved to a later slot - between 8.15 and 9.00a.m.

again using a mixture of theatre orchestras such as Harold Collins , speciality orchestras formed essentially for radio such as those of Louis Voss and Anton , plus large recording orchestras under the direction of the likes of Ron Goodwin, Frank Chacksfield, Norrie Paramor etc. 1957 saw a major overhaul of BBC schedules and 'Morning Music' transferred to the Light Programme, running from 7.00 to 9.00 a.m. and consisted of unannounced studio-recorded instrumental music from three or four contrasting orchestras or ensembles every day. The programme varied in length over the years and by January 1965 was running from 5.30 to 9.00 a.m and utilising over 35 musical combinations each week!. For clarity it should be pointed out that at certain times during the early sixties, similar styled programmes such as 'On Your Way', 'Melody On the Move', 'On with the Bands' and 'The Bands Play On' occupied the last section of this marathon and at certain times the day opened with the 30 minute programme 'Bright and Early' (mentioned elsewhere in these pages).

But from January 1965 it was three and a half hours of 'Morning Music' - undoubtedly the longest daily programme on radio . In October 1965 the programme was re-named 'Breakfast Special' - added ingredients being a presenter and vocalists on record,thus reducing the need for so many studio orchestras. It continued until 1972 when it was replaced by the 'Terry Wogan Show' which used records to the exclusion of studio recorded music and must have come as a severe blow to the studio musicians for whom breakfast time radio had for so long represented a major part of their livelihood. (Information kindly provided by Brian Reynolds ). Semprini Serenade : 'Old Ones, New Ones, Loved Ones, Neglected Ones....' A series, produced by Alastair Scott-Johnston, had previously featured pianist Arthur Young, but he was emigrating to Australia. An actor, Michael Brennan, during his army service, had heard a pianist in Italy, became his agent, and brought him to Britain. His name was Albert Semprini (left). He was accompanied by Harry Rabinowitz and the BBC Revue Orchestra.

Some critics dismissed it as musical treacle but a loving and loyal audience lapped it up for more than 25 years during which he made more than 700 programmes. The Ted Heath Band Show : Ted Heath and his Band Introduction Peter Calls the Tune : Saturday evening show on the Light Programme with Peter Haigh playing records. Those were the Days : A programme of old time dance music which ran from 1943 until 1976. Harry Davidson and his Orchestra provided the music and the studio audience were invited to dance to the Boston Two-step, The Palais Glide, The Veleta and The Empress Tango, and countless other dances. The various old-time dance societies were well represented in the studio audience, thus ensuring a high standard of performance - rather important, as the sound of people falling over each other, followed by expletives would not have been desirable on the air! Complete with a master of ceremonies, this delightful programme of light music really evoked the charm of an earlier age. Harry Davidson continued as M.D. until declining health forced his retirement in 1966. He died early in 1967 by which time the music was in the hands of Sidney Davey and his Orchestra.

Sidney had held the position of pianist, chief arranger and deputy conductor of Harry Davidson's orchestra for many years and was the obvious successor. The programme ended with Sidney's retirement in 1976. There were other radio programmes featuring old -time dance music during this period, noteably 'Time for Old Time' with Sidney Bowman and his orchestra and 'Take Your Partners' featuring the Sydney Thompson Old-time orchestra and, from 1976, the Bryan Smith orchestra was a popular ingredient of 'Radio Two Ballroom'. (Information kindly provided by Brian Reynolds ). The Jack Payne Record Show : Saturday lunchtime show on the Light Programme with Jack Payne introducing 'popular gramophone records from here, there and everywhere'. Melody Hour : was a light music programme, broadcast on Sunday afternoons from 1954 to 1961 and featured well-known orchestras contrasted with a guest vocalist as well as an instrumental ensemble, such as George Scott-Wood and his Music or Henry Krein and the Montmartre Players or maybe a two-piano partnership.

The programme boasted some of the top names when it came to the orchestras used: High profile conductors such as Robert Farnon, Cyril Ornadel, Peter Yorke, Frank Chacksfield, Ron Goodwin, Sidney Torch, Geraldo, Jack Coles , Gilbert Vinter , Bernard Monshin , Max Jaffa, Michael Collins and Lou Whiteson were amongst those who contributed programmes over the years. The BBC Concert Orchestra also sometimes took part and, on one occasion in 1957 combined with the BBC Midland Light Orchestra for a special edition, broadcast live to Germany as well as simultaneously being seen on BBC television! In 1960, the programme was extended to 90 minutes and additional guest artists were included in the line-up. Because of the extra time, the programme was retitlled 'Melody Time'. Although the Sunday series ended in 1961, a similar show entitled 'Midday Melody Hour' was broadcast at 11.30a.m during the sixties. (Information kindly provided by Brian Reynolds ).

Desert Island Discs was originally introduced by Roy Plomley in 1942 and has had over 2000 castaways in its long run, including Royals, Prime Ministers, stars of stage and screen, legions of the great and the good - and invited each to chose eight records to spend the rest of their lives with. The signature tune is called 'By the Sleepy Lagoon' by Eric Coates. The first castaway in 1942 was Vic Oliver, comedian. Show Band Show : Long running music and comedy series 'spotlighting the world of popular music' and showcasing the new BBC Show Band directed by Cyril Stapleton. The Stargazers; (Lto R) Cliff Adams, Dick James, Marie Benson, Freddie Dachtler and Ronnie Milne Rikki Fulton was the Scots compere in the first broadcast in October 1952 introducing Cliff Adams and The Stargazers, Julie Dawn and the Show Band Singers with Harold Smart at the organ. Features included 'Melody-Go-Round'.

'Hit Parade', 'Down South' with Freddy Randall and the Dixielanders, Happy Birthday', 'I Hear a Violin' with Louis Stephens, 'Melodies and Memories' with Bill McGuffie at the piano and 'South American Way' with the Show Band Strings in Tango Time. Show Band Show Intro By 1955 the comedy compere was Alfred Marks reading scripts by Dick Vosburgh and Brad Ashton. The new series beginning in August 1956 was written and introduced by Bob Monkhouse and Dennis Goodwin and introduced new singing star Dawn Lake. Saturday Club : Two hours on Saturday morning on the Light Programme which weaned a generation of youngsters on squeaky clean pop music. Brian Matthew was mine host from 10am. to noon. It ran from 1957-69. A Golden Treasury of Music and Song : Home Service series at noon on Saturdays from 1956-65 Flat Spin : Jimmy Young's first programme as DJ in 1953.

Organ Programmes Reginald Foort at the original BBC Theatre organ in the BBC Studio at Langham Place The most famous Theatre Organist of all time was Daventry born Reginald Foort who made his radio debut as a pianist on 15 January 1923, and as an organist on 12 May 1926 in a relay from the New Gallery cinema in London. This was the first of a long series of cinema organ recitals : he reached his thousandth on 9 July 1939. To mark the occasion, he returned to the BBC Theatre Organ, for which he had become the BBC's resident Organist from 20 October 1936. He resigned in 1939 to tour the country with his mighty Moller "Portable" organ which was transported in a series of large removal vans! Foort wrote his original signature tune, 'Regal Chimes', for the organ carillon at the Regal Cinema, Marble Arch. Dudley Savage MBE for many years broadcast a hospital request programme from the Royal (ABC) cinema in Plymouth. He both introduced & played requests on the Royal organ.

When it was axed, the resultant petition was said at the time to be the largest the BBC had ever encountered. Dudley Savage's signature tune - Smiling Through Melody For Late Evening : Ronald Brickell played the organ of the Regent / Gaumont Bournemouth with Mervyn Saunders (singer) & Harold C Gee (violin). Sandy MacPherson at the BBC Jubilee Hall Studio organ Sandy was originally the organist at The Empire Cinema, Leicester Square (1928). He became BBC staff organist from 1938 when he succeeded Reginald Foort. Throughout the War, and until his retirement some years after, he remained extremely popular. He made his 6000th. broadcast on 12 July 1952, still the soft-spoken Canadian 'Sandy' loved by millions who never knew his real names were Roderick Hallowell MacPherson. His many popular series included Sandy's Half Hour, Twilight Hour, From My Postbag, At Your Request, and the long-running, atmospheric series Chapel in the Valley.

Reginald Dixon 'I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside' was his apt signature tune as he was the resident organist of the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool for almost fifty years. He toured in the off season & whilst in the RAF in the war he appeared at the Gaumont Exeter for a Sunday concert before the organ was damaged by enemy action. Dixon also presented Housewives Choice on a number of occasions. See Also: R2OK ! - the light music Light Classical music on Radio 2 So, first of all, what IS Light Music? Ian Warburton explains: LIGHT MUSIC�A NOTE Do you remember the days when Eric Coates, Robert Farnon, Ronald Binge, Haydn Wood and many others composing in a similar vein provided much of the staple fare of the old Light Programme? If so, you may wonder what happened to change things. If not, it may occur to you to wonder what you were missing. Definitions in this field aren�t set in stone but there�s both overlap and distinction between light and light classical music. The latter covers the world of overtures, intermezzi, ballet music and the like.

Light music proper is a bit more difficult to pin down but usually consists of three to five minute pieces, sometimes grouped into suites etc but often stand-alone. In his sleeve-note for the double CD the Great British Experience, light music expert David Ades describes it as �accessible music which can be readily enjoyed for what it is� and adds a definition coined by broadcaster Denis Norden, who describes light music as �not just tuneful round the outside, but tuneful right through�. This kind of music is to be found in the cultures of many nations but I want to look particularly at British light music. This was still alive and well at the dawn of BBC Radio 2 in 1967, when such programmes as Melodies for You and Grand Hotel were prominently placed in the schedules. In addition, the more general appeal programmes, such as Breakfast Special or Sam Costa�s lunchtime show, included light music in reasonable quantities. Meanwhile, Radio 4 kept the flag flying with programmes such as Morning Melody and Invitation to Music, which could be put out at times when schools broadcasts weren�t needed. At the same time Radio 3 broadcast at least one concert per weekday which featured one of the BBC�s several light orchestras.

As for the record companies, their level of issues wasn�t exactly generous but there were several worthwhile ones around this time, including two albums by Sir Vivian Dunn and the Light Music Society Orchestra. Then in the early 70s, it all began a rapid decline. Light music never quite disappeared but it became harder and harder to find. What happened to make this so? The general shows gradually dropped light music from their schedules. Grand Hotel was axed (it was to make a temporary return in the 80s) and the orchestral content of Melodies for You moved towards featuring light classical rather than pure light music. Such light music as continued to be included tended to consist of the same handful of pieces repeated endlessly. BBC Radio 4 became more speech-led and the necessity to provide alternative programming during school holidays disappeared when the schools programmes went on to VHF only. Several BBC light orchestras were either axed or were reconstituted to play mostly pop and dance music. This of course led to a diminution of available orchestras to supply light music to BBC Radio 3. The record companies concentrated almost entirely on one or two extremely prominent light music composers, such as Eric Coates, and more or less ignored the others.

I�m sure this list isn�t exhaustive! In the last issue of the house magazine of the Light Music Society, its Chairman, Ernest Tomlinson, describes the frustrations of trying to get BBC Radio 2 and Radio 3 to take any interest at all in the genre, with a low water mark being reached in the late 80s. Then, quite unexpectedly, the recording companies began to show a revival of interest. A seminal release was English Miniatures, issued in 1991 and featuring the Northern Sinfonia conducted by Richard Hickox in music by Edward German, Roger Quilter and others. Around the same time, the Marco Polo label announced its intention to issue a whole series of CDs in this vein. These were initially released on a one-composer-per-CD basis but compilations were to follow. The remarkable success of this series led other companies to make new recordings and also reissue the best of their back catalogue. The first revival of light music peaked in about 1997 but, after a slight pause, there seems to have been a second wind which continues to this day. Much of the material is rediscovered from an earlier era but a good deal of new repertoire is also appearing.

But has the BBC responded to this? BBC Radio 3 has risen admirably to the challenge by introducing Brian Kay�s Light Programme. Though a total of one hour per week isn�t really enough, the show itself is of very high quality and ranges remarkably widely. BBC Radio 2 has occasionally run series of Legends of Light Music and sometimes features light music pieces on Melodies for You, 100 Best Tunes and one or two other programmes. But shouldn�t there be a specialist hour or two on Radio 2 each week to devote to this once much-loved music, which new generations are now discovering for themselves? If you want to sample some of this music, collections abound. A start might be to obtain the Great British Experience CD referred to above�UK CD GB 50, issued by EMI and, as far as I know, still available. This double-CD consists of 50 reissued vintage recordings. If you want to hear what the new recordings sound like and don�t mind a certain amount of duplication with GBE, try any of the 6 CDs by Ronald Corp and the New London Orchestra�4 British, 1 European and 1 American.

If you show signs of getting really hooked in this area, why not enquire about membership of the Light Music Society? Its Secretary is Hilary Ashton, 19a, Eshton Terrace, Clitheroe, Lancs BB7 1BQ, tel (01200) 427066, email hilary.ashton@talk21.com Happy listening and I do hope that you�ll gain as much pleasure from this genre as I have over many years. (c) 2006 Ian Warburton And so, what IS Light Classical Music? Light classical music is the 'easy listening' and tuneful music from the orchestral and operatic world, and includes the very popular ballet suites, tuneful arias and movements from the popular concertos, symphonies and orchestral suites written during the last 400 years or so. In recent years BBC Radio 3 has broadcast a more serious playlist, in keeping with it's scholarly image, and rarely features the light classical genre, indeed Radio 3's weekday late evening schedule rarely features any classical musical and it has handed that function to Classic FM.

Thankfully Radio 2 still finds room in it's schedule for light classical music and light music. For British music, it is important that programmes of light music and light classical music remember the many British composers active since the mid-nineteenth century who composed orchestral suites, overtures and incidental music but who have been overshadowed by the popularity for Elgar, Delius and Vaughan Williams. Again, thanks to recent CD issues and to Radio 2 and to the Brian Kay programme on Radio 3, the music of many excellent British composers have found a new audience. Look out for the music of Roger Quilter, Granville Bantock, George Butterworth, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Hamish Macunn, Herman Finck, Albert Ketelbey, Gerard Finzi, Percy Grainger, Constant Lambert, David Lyon, Anthony Hedges. 100 Best Tunes Your Hundred Best Tunes was created by its longtime presenter Alan Keith, and was first on the air 15th November 1959.

Originally conceived to search out and present the "100 Best Tunes in the World" in the light/classical genre, with regular listeners' polls, the programme was presented by Alan Keith until his death in 2003. The last series of the programme was presented by Richard Baker until January 2007. Radio presenter Alan Keith, was believed to be the oldest national DJ when he died in March 2003 at the age of 94. Keith had been due to announce his retirement to listeners, had already pre-recorded his final show for Sunday 30 March. Radio 2 decided to broadcast the show on that date. BBC Radio 2 controller Jim Moir, at the time, said of Alan Keith "For over 30 years his programme, Your Hundred Best Tunes, was an appointment to listen for millions and he will be sorely missed. His death marks the end of a 70-year association with the BBC, an achievement unlikely to be equalled. He will have an honoured place in broadcasting history." Alan Keith's career in entertainment began at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and he went on to appear in George Bernard Shaw's west end show Major Barbara.

His radio career began in 1935 and saw him perform as a variety show compere and interviewer on the radio seriesIn Town Tonight. He himself came up with the idea of Your Hundred Best Tunes, which was originally contracted for a 13-week run, but it was going on more than 40 years later. Alan Keith would play listeners' light classical favourites and there were certainly many favourite pieces of music played several times a year particularly by Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky and there were regular votes for '100 Best Tunes', the last vote was in 2002/2003. When he took over the show Richard Baker played a more varied playlist and included many neglected British composers. The final programme of Your Hundred Best Tunes was broadcast on Sunday 21 January 2007.

The last listeners' poll is listed at Y100BT final poll John Wright, 26 August 2005; updated 16 February 2007 Friday Night Is Music Night Friday night has been 'music night' for over fifty years, first of all on the Light Programme and then on BBC Radio 2, which makes it the world's longest-running 'live music' programme on radio. It features the BBC Concert Orchestra, and is frequently broadcast from theatres and concert halls throughout the UK. Part of the BBC SOPP for Radio 2 requires that Friday Night Is Music Night (FNIMN) produce regular music arrangements and promote British music by featuring new and promising singers and stars of musical theatre. Currently, Barry Wordsworth is the Principal Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra. He also conducts the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as appearing frequently as guest conductor with many of the major British orchestras. You can read about Barry at IMG Artistes and at Guildmusic.com In 2005 the FNIMN series has included several styles of music, several established music al stars and many up and coming artistes.

Featured singers of light opera and musicals include Yvonne Patrick, Janet Shell, Jacqueline Barron, Michael Dore, Anne Sophie Duprels, Richard Coxon, Grainne Renihan, John Barrowman, Jacquelyn Fugelle, Simon Grant, Catherine Bott and Sean Ruane. The wide repertoire of the BBC Concert Orchestra can be realised by checking out the FNIMN Playlists , most Friday night there will be at least two of these composers featured: Puccini, Leoncavallo, Verdi, Mozart, Lehmann, Sondheim, Rodgers/Hammerstein, Berlin and Lloyd-Webber. FNIMN has also recently catered for the pop fans with shows featuring Donny Osmond, Lucie Silvas and for swing fans Michael Bubl� John Wright, 20 September 2005 Melodies For You Alan Titchmarsh presents a programme of popular vocal and instrumental melodies from a wide range of genres - classical, opera, musical theatre, parlour songs and music from the masters of popular song, such as Gershwin and Cole Porter.

Alan's show continues the tradition of Melodies For You but seems to be just playing his favourite music and unable to convey the same deep knowledge and experience of previous presenters, John Wright, 16 February 2007 Acknowledgements: Alan Keith | The Times Alan Keith Published at 12:00AM, March 19 2003 Radio presenter who made Your Hundred Best Tunes obligatory Sunday night listening for 43 years BRITAIN’s oldest disc jockey through his presentation of Your Hundred Best Tunes on Radio 2 on Sunday evenings, Alan Keith was the doyen of the BBC’s regular broadcasters, having been born just a month before that other remarkable veteran of the airwaves, his friend Alastair Cooke. He had presented his music programme since 1959 and it became a weekly appointment with their radio sets for millions of listeners over the next 43 years. Keith’s rich, well-upholstered voice always spoke in conversational tones and was greatly cherished, especially by women listeners.

And they never tired of letting him know how much Subscribe now BBC - Press Office - Broadcaster Alan Keith OBE dies at 94 RADIO 2 Broadcaster Alan Keith OBE dies at 94 BBC Radio 2 Broadcaster Alan Keith OBE, who at 94 was believed to be the oldest regular voice on the airwaves, died today (Tuesday 18 March) after a short illness. James Moir, Controller Radio 2 says: "I was very sad to learn of Alan's death. For over 40 years his programme, Your Hundred Best Tunes, was an appointment to listen for millions and he will be sorely missed. His death marks the end of a 70 year association with the BBC, an achievement unlikely to be equalled. He will have an honoured place in broadcasting history." Alan, who had presented his weekend Radio 2 show Your Hundred Best Tunes for 44 years, had already taken the decision to step down and had recorded a farewell programme which will be broadcast as a tribute on Radio 2 at 9.00pm on Sunday 30 March.

Richard Baker who was due to replace Alan when he stepped down will present a special programme celebrating Alan's unique radio career at 9.00pm on Sunday 23 March featuring an interview Alan gave on his 90th birthday. The programme was originally transmitted on 18 October 1998. Richard will also be the new regular presenter of Your Hundred Best Tunes from 6 April. Your Hundred Best Tunes was first broadcast on Sunday 15 November 1959. Alan, who was born on 19 October 1908 - a month before Alistair Cooke - had a broadcasting career with the BBC spanning 70 years. He started in 1933 working in various radio dramas. The simple format of Your Hundred Best Tunes was Alan's own invention - with familiar tunes that he thought would run for six weeks, maybe six months. The show has been credited with helping to popularise classical music and appears to have been the first to regularly feature popular classics such as the Pachelbel Canon, Allegri's Miserere and Albinoni's Adagio for Organ and Strings.

With 70 years' broadcasting experience, Alan Keith's voice was legendary for its rich and soothing tones. His first step toward public performance started when he won a scholarship to the prestigious Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art. By 1928 he was performing in Shaw's West End production of Major Barbara and by 1935 Alan Keith was firmly established on the radio airwaves. Alan worked as a variety show compere in 1936 in the old St George's Hall (outside Broadcasting House) which was destroyed by bombs in 1941. He was also an interviewer on the radio series In Town Tonight for three of its 27 years. Alan put his thespian aspiration down to the enjoyment of reciting as a child. The son of a London businessman, there was no trace of theatrical blood in his family. He was awarded his OBE in 1991. Your Hundred Best Tunes - a brief history In the autumn of 1959 Alan Keith submitted a programme idea to radio producer Michael Bell who worked in the BBC's Gramophone Department. The proposal was for a series featuring the "100 Best Tunes in the World".

The idea was immediately accepted at the Light Programme Planning Meeting - which ended with senior BBC executives arguing as to what their favourite tune would be. In a memo dated 17 September Michael Bell said: "The Light Programme would like Mr Keith to compile a list of the hundred best tunes in world, and as this will involve a certain amount of research with music publishers, record companies etc, they have agreed to a fee of 10 guineas to cover this work." Two months later the first ever programme was broadcast on Sunday 15 November 1959. The original title was The 100 Best Tunes In The World. Alan was contracted for a 13 week run. In those days the show was half an hour long (10.00-10.30pm) and broadcast live from a Broadcasting House studio. The original series featured Alan's own selections from his research. Many of the BBC Gram Library staff recall Alan's weekly visits to the listening room to decide on the best recording of each piece. The series was so popular that the Light Programme planners extended its run - and the programme has been on air ever since.

The letters poured in and on 12 February 1960 the programme changed its name to Your 100 Best Tunes. Its time slot was eventually extended to an hour. When the Light Programme ceased in 1967 Your Hundred Best Tunes found a home on Sunday evenings on BBC Radio 2. Listeners' polls were organised - the last of these was held in the BBC's 75th anniversary year, 1997. The top ten was: 1. In the Depths of the Temple (The Pearl Fishers) - Bizet 2. Finlandia - Sibelius 3. The Water Music - Handel 4. Rusalka’s Song to the Moon (Rusalka) - Dvorak 5. Ode to Joy - Symphony No 9 - Beethoven 6. Adagio from Cello Concerto in E Minor - Elgar 7. The Nuns' Chorus (Casanova) - J. Strauss II 8. Piano Concerto No 2 in C Minor - Rachmaninov 9. Suite - The Planets - Holst 10.

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth (Messiah) - Handel The show was a favourite listen for many. The late Earl Spencer - father of Diana, Princess of Wales - declared it one of his radio highlights and in 1988 he presented the show whilst Alan was on holiday. Ursula Vaughan Williams and Lady Evelyn Barbirolli have also presented the show. Alan Keith - Telegraph Alan Keith 12:05AM GMT 19 Mar 2003 Alan Keith, who has died aged 94, was the longest-serving disc jockey on British radio; his rich and mellifluous tones could be heard every Sunday evening for 44 years on Radio 2's Your Hundred Best Tunes, bringing a touch of solace and relaxation to the airwaves. The programme, originally entitled The Hundred Best Tunes in the World, was devised by Keith in 1959 and first broadcast in November that year. It was a simple formula; Keith would choose a selection of light classical music from the BBC gramophone library, and introduce each extract in his matchless modulated style, interspersed with small snippets of information.

He was contracted for a 13-week run of half-hour shows but the series was so popular that the run was extended and the show became an hour long; it has been on air ever since. Initially broadcast on the Light Programme, since 1967 Best Tunes has been transmitted each Sunday night on Radio 2. The name was changed in February 1960 when Keith had finished playing his own personal hundred best tunes. But he continued to play music he liked and while most of the tunes were well known, he did occasionally include a personal favourite. "I really try to create an intimacy on the show," he said recently, "a one-to-one conversation. Even after all these years there isn't a piece of music I hate hearing." In the early years he envisaged his listeners "as thoughtful folk sitting round a fire on a winter's evening". Although times changed and many of them were probably driving on the motorway after a weekend away, Keith maintained the highest standards for four decades, adapting the programme and giving it a contemporary feel. He was impervious to accusations that the music was undemanding and - arguably - unadventurous. "Nothing far out, you know," he once said.

That meant no Hindemith, perhaps some Britten, but certainly no Schoenberg. The most requested tunes included Jerusalem, the chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco, Bruch's Violin Concerto, Elgar's Nimrod, Pachelbel's Canon and (invariably number one) the duet from The Pearl Fishers. Into this list Keith cleverly inserted some less well known pieces. Gounod's St Cecilia's Mass, Allegri's Miserere and Albinoni's Adagio were given their place alongside the (inevitable) Psalm 23 (always sung by the Glasgow Orpheus Choir) and Kathleen Ferrier's Blow the Winds Southerly. He always brought a polished atmosphere to the programme and made a point of choosing the best recording available. While he preserved an affection for the Callas/ Toscanini/Menuhin era of artists he was also keen to give the next generation a hearing. He delighted in ending each programme with carefully chosen religious music.

Occasionally it was Britten's War Requiem or Cherubini's Mass, but usually it was the tried and tested; Verdi's Requiem, Handel's Messiah or Master Ernest Lush singing O For the Wings of a Dove. They closed the programme on a suitably reflective note. Unlike some of the more vociferous and enthusiastic disc jockeys in his profession, Keith was the master of self-effacement. On one occasion, having played Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No 1, he ventured that "Elgar was well aware that he had a tune that would knock them flat," before adding hastily, "his words", in case anyone suspected that Keith would have thought up such a vulgar expression himself. Alan Keith was born Alexander Kossoff on October 19 1908 in the East End of London and attended Dame Alice Owen's School at Islington, north London. In 1926 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating two years later with the Silver Medal. He made his professional debut in The Moving Finger at the Garrick Theatre.

For 10 years Keith was active in the West End in such plays as Late Night Final at the Phoenix, Dinner at Eight at the Palace and Magnolia Street at the Adelphi, and went on to make his Broadway debut in Matriarch in 1934. From the mid-1930s, however, he devoted his career to the radio, firstly in numerous plays and then combining that with interviews for magazine programmes. For several years he was a roving reporter for the long-running In Town Tonight. In the late 1950s he also appeared on the big screen; Long Knife (1958) was not a success, but Yesterday's Enemy (1959) gained some acclaim. Keith spent much of his time, however, devising and creating radio programmes for the BBC, resulting in the inception of Best Tunes. During the show's 44-year run he was not one to absent himself for long holidays, but when he was away the BBC found high-profile substitutes.

In 1988 Earl Spencer, the father of Diana, Princess of Wales, presented the show, while in 1990 Rosalind Runcie, the wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was the stand-in. Both steered a safe musical ship and stayed within the Keith canon. A compassionate and courteous man, he was believed to be the oldest regular voice to be heard on the national airwaves. Alistair Cooke - the only other serious competitor - is a month younger. Keith had recently decided to step down from the show and recorded his final programme just before his death. Alan Keith, who died yesterday, was appointed OBE in 1991. He married Pearl Rebuck in 1941. She survives him with a son, Sir Brian Keith, a high court judge, and a daughter.

Obituary: Alan Keith | Media | The Guardian The Guardian Mellifluous broadcaster who introduced thousands of best tunes Tim McDonald Tuesday 18 March 2003 19.19 EST First published on Tuesday 18 March 2003 19.19 EST Share on Messenger Close For hundreds of thousands of Radio 2 listeners over more than 40 years, the words "Good evening . . . and welcome," delivered in a grave and immaculately modulated voice, were indelibly associated with a programme that formed the centrepiece of their Sunday night listening. The speaker was the veteran broadcaster Alan Keith, who has died aged 94; the programme - his own idea - was Your Hundred Best Tunes. Keith came up with the format in 1959; he would simply play his 100 favourite records on the air. Initially, it was thought the series could sustain a six-week run - perhaps six months at a push. After the first broadcast, however, listeners wrote in to disagree with the choice of music, and Keith challenged them to submit their own selections.

Their tenacity in doing so turned Your Hundred Best Tunes into one of the longest-running radio programmes of all time. For audiences at home, picking their top tunes became a parlour game, but ideas also poured in from factory workers, schools, members of the armed services, prisoners, and even ships' crews at sea. Education authorities used the programme as a learning tool, and many people found an opening to classical music through Keith's brief, but informative, introductions. Somewhat dismissively, the Radio Times described the programme as "pops for squares", but it survived down the years as other programmes vanished. Keith particularly relished Nancy Mitford's remark that her idea of heaven was listening to Your Hundred Best Tunes. Record spin-offs sold 3m copies, and earned him a gold and five silver discs. Born in London, the son of a shopkeeper (and brother of the actor David Kossoff), Keith was educated at Dame Alice Owen's school, Islington. In 1926, he won a scholarship to Rada, where, two years later, he was awarded a silver medal.

He understudied in The Moving Finger at the Garrick theatre, performed in George Bernard Shaw's West End production of Major Barbara, and appeared in a number of Basil Dean productions. In 1930, he scored a notable success in America with The Matriarch, and his West End reputation was enhanced in such plays as Late Night Final (Phoenix, 1931), Dinner at Eight (Palace, 1933) and Magnolia Street (Adelphi, 1934). Keith made his radio debut in 1935, presenting a variety show from St George's Hall, the London venue just outside Broadcasting House which was flattened during the second world war. By 1936, he was introducing a record programme and, for three years, he was an interviewer on the weekend magazine In Town Tonight. Always in demand as an actor, he appeared in countless radio plays, including the role of Sgt Braddock in Last Chance, and, in 1950, he featured as Billy the Kid in a number of episodes of Charles Chilton's Riders Of The Range.

Though he also appeared on television, he remained primarily a radio artist, turning up from time to time in Sunday Cinema, the series of Desmond Carrington adaptations of British and American feature films. Keith put a huge amount of preparation into his programmes. Your Hundred Best Tunes only occupied an hour of air time each week, but he would be found in seemingly permanent residence in the BBC record library, painstakingly searching catalogues and listening carefully to select the best performances of each piece. Audiences found his distinctive voice comforting, and it made for perfect evening listening. Although occasionally criticised as dated and formal, Keith knew that excellence and professionalism were timeless qualities, which he also brought to his other programmes, among them Among Your Souvenirs and The Golden Years. After 60 years of almost continuous broadcasting, he was awarded an OBE in 1991; he had intended to announce his retirement on last Sunday's Your Hundred Best Tunes. In 1941, Keith married Pearl Rebuck. They had two children, Brian, who became a distinguished judge, and Linda. · Alan Keith, actor and broadcaster, born October 19 1908; died March 18 2003

Question: Which Radio 2 programme was presented for many years by Alan Keith ?
Answer: YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES