Tony Blackburn serves up summer specials

Tony Blackburn (credit: BBC)

Radio icon Tony Blackburn is lining up two special episodes of Radio 2’s Sounds Of The 60s this summer.

On 27th June, Tony will include a selection of artists connected to an exhibition at the V&A Museum East: The Music Is Black - A British Story. The exhibition celebrates 125 years of black music-making in Britain and Radio 2 is reflecting it with special programmes across the network.

And on 18th July, Tony will mark the 70th anniversary of the UK’s Official Albums Chart. On Sounds Of The 60s, he will count down the top albums from that decade based on streams and sales. The show will feature many of the era’s greatest artists.

Sounds Of The 60s debuted in 1983 and remains a firm fixture in Radio 2’s Saturday schedule. It is consistently Radio 2’s most demanded show on BBC Sounds and reaches 1.4 million listeners.

The popular strand is produced by Pomona Audio, along with Tony’s Golden Hour on Sunday evenings. After starting his broadcasting life on pirate radio, Tony Blackburn was the first DJ on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. A tireless champion of soul and Motown music, he continues to DJ live on stage and on air. Tony was famously crowned King Of The Jungle in the first series of I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!