Any way to capture these somewhere so we can later download for listening? Perhaps that is not legal, I'm not sure anymore.

Don't hurt yourself over it. If you can that's great. If not...we shall survive. Applause for the efforts, indeed.

From the Pacific Northwest the difference is 18 hours (or 6 hours, whichever way you finf it easier. UK is 8 hours ahead of us here, so that the UK is 10 hours difference.
More importantly though, Auckland is 12 hours ahead of the UK and the big rugby semi is on - Wallabies v All Blacks.

Just now (10am. PNW) it is 3 am Aussie eastern and so into Bing's anniversary day - exactly 34 years ago, can you believe it?
And then it is 52 years for Errol Flynn's passing.
Shame of it is that Errol seems to be better remembered than Bing.

Malcolm Macfarlane wrote:

Errol who?

Malcolm, I think Ron means this chap



I think he conquered Burma or something like that.

Last edited by Richard Baker (14/10/2011 1:10 pm)

I'm afraid Alex was mistaken. The radio show presented by Alan Dell which Alex identified as being titled 'The Final Years' was in fact 'The Final Chapter' recorded with Bing and Alan Dell on October 11 1977 and broadcast by the BBC in the UK, with participation by Rosemary Clooney, on December 27 1977.  Bing's eight songs were subsequently released on a BBC LP with other material and recently on the Collector's Choice CD 'Seasons'.

The broadcast of today, October 15th,  from Golden Days Radio, Melbourne, was of the first part, and as received by me over the internet was not of the best audio quality, but many will have a copy of the original. Most will also have the songs at least in first class quality on the 'Seasons' de luxe edition CD. 

I'm not too certain what I had expected - some sort of narrative previously unknown to me of Bing's final years perhaps, but what we had was of Bing's last broadcast performances with discussion between Bing and Alan Dell, Bing's introductions to the specially recorded songs, and an insert from a Michael Parkinson TV interview. No Clooney in this part (and I suspect on consideration of length and time, not in part 2 coming next week). Alan was one of the BBC's top presenters, was a record producer in his own right, and was a prolific sleeve note writer. He died in 1995.

A very welcome broadcast and I am most grateful to Alex Hehr for drawing it to my attention. Anything that keeps Bing's music and memory alive and fresh is a delight to hear.  Re-hearing this broadcast reminded me how Bing came over as so warm and how well he was still singing. It was especially poignant that it was recorded just days before his death (and first broadcast after).

If anyone is interested, drop me an e-mail and I'll send a link to enable a hearing, but as I say, many will have a copy of the original, and so far as audio quality goes, go and get the 'Seasons' CD for the songs if you haven't already done so.

And he was on 'The Bounty' in an early Aussie film and his first film.
Did farming in PNG as well. And at the Spanish war.
Think his 50 years may have been more like a hundred.