Entertainment
A Whiter Shade of Pale is top of the pops
The song has topped a list of 200 selected by the station’s listeners.
“Boom Radio is an independent commercial radio station, run by Baby Boomers for Baby Boomers.” – Boom Radio
A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum comes in at number one for the Boom Radio listeners. The station launched in February online and on DAB in selected areas, rolling out across most the UK last month earlier than planned on DAB due to the initial success of the station’s format.
The output aims at the ‘baby boomers’ born between the 1940s and early 60s, the first time any station has directed its music and presentation at such an audience since the demise of Magic AM in 2015 – and even that was limited in how much ‘classic music’ it could play.
The success of Boom Radio proves that the Ray Rose headed Magic AM format could have been a success with investment, however, it was axed for several failed rebrands – currently on Greatest Hits Network from Bauer Media. The main audience Boom is seeking to lure over however is those ‘left out in the cold’ by the BBC, notably Radio 2 and its ever-shifting search for younger listeners.
The idea for Boom Radio was conceived and developed by Phil Riley and David Lloyd, two radio executives with lengthy careers in commercial radio, who felt there was a gap in the market. Riley’s background in radio includes his role as Chief Executive of Chrysalis Radio, where he oversaw the launch of Heart, and the network’s eventual sale to Global Radio, while Lloyd has worked both in presenting and executive roles at stations such as LBC and Virgin.
Top: David Hamilton can be heard daily. Above: Dame Esther Rantzen hosts a Sunday evening show on Boom Radio.
The Boom Radio Top 200 showcases the kind of music that is aired on the station with presenters including Esther Rantzen, David Hamilton, Diana Luke, Roger Day and Nicky Horne.
The chart-topper from 1967, A Whiter Shade of Pale, was Procol Harum’s debut single and is a track often used to illustrate ‘the sound of the sixties’. In second place was Queen’s 1975 masterpiece Bohemian Rhapsody. The Freddie Mercury penned piece spent 14 weeks on and off at number 1 and has become the 3rd best-selling single of all time.
In third-place it was back to 1966 and The Beach Boys’ God Only Knows. Fourth in the list as picked by Boom Radio listeners was Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkle, a 1970 hit. The top five is completed by Waterloo Sunset from The Kinks. Terry and Julie were thought to be Terence Stamp and Julie Christie, but writer Ray Davies later denied they were his inspiration.
