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Media
BBC Radio to celebrate 90th anniversary with special Damon Albarn composition
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 14 November 2012
BBC Radio celebrates its 90th anniversary today and while, at one point last weekend, it looked like the Corporation might celebrate the landmark by completely collapsing into a big messy pile, bosses at the Beeb hope to instead stick with their original plan, to air that previously reported specially-commissioned Damon Albarn track on over 55 of the organisation’s radio stations at the same time, 5.33pm.
Albarn’s composition is called ‘2LO Calling’, and will be heard on most of the BBC’s radio stations. The Blur man will also join Simon Mayo for a special show on Radio 2 broadcast from London’s Science Museum – now home of the 2LO transmitter on which the first BBC broadcast was delivered.
Damon Albarn said of the new composition: “There is a special musicality to some of the vocal messages, which I tried to preserve. The piece is essentially a snapshot of the airwaves, taken over the last two weeks. Added to that, I got to do what I’ve always wanted – to play along with the pips”.
While outgoing BBC Radio boss Tim Davie, currently Acting Director-General for the whole Corporation, added: “We’re thrilled that Damon Albarn has provided this composition, which helps us mark a piece of radio history, bringing audiences together across the world. After 90 years, it is fantastic to see radio still innovating and maintaining its relevance to listeners”.
Watch Damon Albarn speak about how he became involved with the project here:
