Paul Robey writes:

Request shows used to be a staple of radio stations back in the days when you’d have to send in a proper letter and then sit glued to every edition of the programme in the hope you’d be mentioned.  But if you were - it’d be a real excitement, which probably explains why the likes of Family Favourites and Junior Choice are still so fondly remembered.

I used to host occasional request shows a few decades ago, trying to read letters scribbled illegibly on all manner of random pieces of paper. Then I’d have to hope that the record chosen was actually in the radio station’s huge library, stacked with LPs and singles from floor to ceiling. Alas, given how many folk used that library – and how many discs had gone ‘absent’ over the years, I wasn’t always lucky, nor was the listener!

In my previous life as a hospital radio presenter, Jim Reeves’s I Love You Because appeared in just about every programme – and Release Me was also a favourite from patients, who didn’t realise that their clever choice had been chosen every week since the radio station opened.

Here at Boom, our weekly request show does what it says on the tin. It’s the one point of the week when you genuinely choose the records and, given our vast record collection, we can usually find just about anything. Whether it’s a long, forgotten song that holds cherished memories or something fitting for a special occasion.   

I assemble the programme a few days in advance, reading though all the emails and trying to arrange the music in a suitable order. I’m always attracted to those requests where there’s a great story behind the song choice.  I must confess a few fall by the wayside, especially if I’m asked to say hello to their husband but there’s no name – or a record which I don’t think will go down too well with the audience at large.

One of my weekly highlights is our Children’s Favourites feature, where we focus on one of those wonderful tracks aired so frequently years ago – and often played by Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart - from Nellie The Elephant to Sparky’s Magic Piano. We receive so many great suggestions each week that we’re planning another two-hour special, dedicated to Children’s Favourites, on Sunday, December 28th. It’ll be a very popular show, so I’d recommend you drop me a line now in preparation!

And then, of course, there’s our weekly Television Heaven slot, where we play the familiar music which heralded one of those hugely successful TV shows of yesteryear. Of course, we’ve played the brilliant Black Beauty and Fireball XL5 themes by popular demand – and we recently included the haunting strains from the opening of A Family At War, which generated some lovely response. Do get in touch and tell me about the TV theme that evokes special memories for you.

I hope you can join me this Sunday evening from 6 for Boom’s Only Request Show!

Paul