The Sound of Sunday on HRB

24 March 1991, the first Iraq war was in the news, John Major was PM and we were in recession.  The first edition of The Sound of Sunday went on the air at 3pm that afternoon.  22 years on, and we have no show this weekend as I am off to Blackpool for the National Hospital Radio Awards.  In those 22 years, there has been one occasion when the show was on a Monday – 26 April 1999 – as part of that year's broadcast marathon.  This Easter Monday we will again be on the air on what would appear to be the wrong day!  That is because Richard Smith takes over the airwaves of HRB the day before with the HBA Big Broadcast for National Hospital Broadcasting Week.  24 hours live including requests for patients listening on the 30 radio stations that will be taking the show.

Back when The Sound of Sunday started, something like that would not have been possible.  No internet, we didn't even have a satellite dish in those days.  Technology has changed things beyond all recognition but it's made lots of things possible like The Big broadcast, and long may that continue!

Six months ago from today (25 January(, the greatest summer the UK has ever seen kicked up a gear as London 2012 got underway with that spectacular opening ceremony and the subsequent weeks of sport we will never forget.

The last 6 months have gone by so quick, but those looking after Olympic Park seem to have been busy.  They've turned it into a building site once more transforming it into the new community of London it will become.

Having spent the day at Olympic Park and experienced the atmosphere of London 2012, one of the most striking things about it was how colourful it all was.  I really hope that is kept in some way when the park is ready to be reopened to the public from later this year.

The temporary venues have now been taken away, the Olympic stadium has started its transformation and the Aquatic Centre is being prepared to have much of its seating removed,  The bright yellow seats where I sat to watch the last night of the Paralympic swimming are now exposed to the elements.

The north part of the park will reopen on July 27th, one year to the day since that famous day in 2012, with the rest due to open at Easter 2014.  I'm sure it will all look perfect in the end, I just hope that it will be able to retain some of the atmospehere and the colour that made last summer so special.

So we have a new year and my new year's resolution will be to write something in the SOS blog every week.  It seems it was November when I last updated it!

The show has been off the air for 3 weeks due to the two requested artists countdowns that we run each year on HRB.  On 30 December it was the Most Requested of the Year 2012 with Adele at number one whilst last Sunday it was the Most Requested of the 21st Century where I was joined by former members Sarah Beattie and David Blower, HRB's Honorary Member Steve Fox and Sunday morning presenter Mark Hopwood for the final 100 of the chart we'd been counting down all week.  Robbie Williams was revealed as the number one.

So we're back this week at 1.30 with HRB's Hall of Fame which profiles artists and groups from that chart, plus new to HRB The Stoned Ranger and Tales of the Tooth Fairy.  To hear more, listen in from 1.30!

The last few weeks have been busy and two of them have seen enforced time off the air fot The Sound of Sunday.

The first of those weeks we were due to be on the air after a planned power outage at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital.  Unfortunately, the original time of 2pm that we were told, turned out to be 4pm so it never happened.

Last week, we were going to be on sandwiched between two live Postcard shows.  Unfortunately on this occasion, the move of Hospedia to another part of the hospital led to no show as we had no listeners on the wards.

This weekend, you get a bite size edition of the show from 3 – 4pm including the continuation of Superman 1940s Style.  It hardly seems possibly that in a month;s time we'll be embarking on another Big Christmas Show, marking the official start of Christmas on HRB with a live 5 hour packed show as always.

This Sunday, you can enjoy another edition of the Wolfman Jack Radio Show, a show you'll hear more of this Christmas on HRB.

The end of the Paralympics last week and the parade through London on Monday probably marked the end of summer.  It's been a fantastic year so far which is being celebrated all this weekend with Chris Bounds on HRB for 2012 minutes non-stop!  He'll be remembering some of those great moments that we have all witnessed over the last few months along with listeners' memories of the year.

This week's Sound of Sunday will follow all of that – at 5.32pm on Sunday afternoon with a 90 minute show that will include the Quiet Quarter of an Hour, Live Wire talking to Rolf Haris and the final episode of the currect Superman 1940s Style story – postponed from last week due to a slight technical issue!

As one season ends, another starts of course, and the return of Strictly Come Dancing means that autumn is definitely here.  When Strictly ends it will be Christmas.  Doctor Who will soon end the first part of its new series and Merlin will be back on Saturday nights and Casualty and Match of the Day have already of course returned.  Attention turning then from London 2012 to the competition of Saturday nights in the ballroom (well TC1 at Television Centre anyway) and no doubt more drama.  Long may it continue.

The Sound of Sunday, HRB this Sunday at 5.32pm

A few months ago I said on air how flat it is going to feel once the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games comes to an end.  At the time, it felt like a long way off but this Sunday that time will come as the closing of the Paralympics takes place.

I spent a fantastic 2 days at Olympic Park this week and got more idea of the sheer scale of the place.  In 1994, someone stood on that site when it was a wasteland with a vision, and boy has that vision come to spectacular reality in 2012.

The park will stay of course, opening to the public next July although I suspect it will look very different.  It's all about the legacy and the park will be at the centre of that.

The athletes of Team GB get another chance to shine as they parade through London on Monday afternoon and I should think a good number of them will gather at the Excel in London for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December.

And for those of us who went to the events of summer 2012, the memories will live on for a good deal longer.

We'll celebrate Team GB's success on the show this Sunday – Sunday 1.30pm.

This Sunday we're back to normal with a bank holiday weekend show that is more packed than the Team GB sycle team's medal cabinet.

We have lots of local Olympic athletes and one of them will be joining us on Sunday.  Chris Mears took part in the diving at London 2012 but it was pretty special for him to be there at all – find out why on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, in the first of what may become a regular feature, we talk about scams with Hampshire Trading Standards.  I've always had an interest in exposing cons and scams – I used to write about them many years ago.  We'll be talking about the sorts of scams that people are being caught out by at the moment and what to look out for plus a scheme that hopefully makes it easier to work out who you can trust.

We'll keep an eye on the football and there'll be all the usual features too.

Join us live from 1.30 on Sunday afternoon.