A COMMERCIAL BONANZA FROM NEIL SIDDAWAY

It's just four months until Metro Radio celebrates its fortieth anniversary and although still a "work in progress" this tribute website has been available on the internet (albeit in a much reduced form compared to this new Google Blogger site) for over eleven years!

Sadly, by necessity and not choice the old website is no longer maintained and has long fallen into disrepair after being very kindly hosted for many years by the company of a former Metro Radio member of staff. The replacement US-based free webhost was anything but reliable, and logging on to my dashboard for the ftp of new files became impossible.

I deliberately decided to make this re-launched website 'live' as soon as the main pages and posts were up and running, the aim being to encourage former presenters and members of staff to contact and send me multimedia that they're prepared to release to the public domain for historical and educational purposes.

The great news is that my decision turned out to be fortuitous. Metro Radio listener Neil Siddaway from Middlesbrough, Teesside has contacted me with a whole wonderful bonanza of Metro Radio jingles and commercial breaks from the late 1970s.

Len Groat with those ubiquitous 1970s
and 1980s NAB cartridges containing
both jingles and commercials.

Without a doubt, anyone who spent any time at all listening to Metro Radio at the cusp of the eighties decade will remember Neil's recordings. Neil has spent much time and effort transferring the precious compact cassette recordings into digital format, so that we all can enjoy a real nostalgia trip down radio's memory lane. As well as a great selection of Metro Radio jingles, recordings include commercials for the James Bond Moonraker movie, North Eastern Electricity Board (NEEB), Dewhirst The Master Butcher, Rutherford's of Morpeth, Datsun Cherry At The Mill, Ryhope, Northern Gas, Fine Fare Superstores, McEwans Best Scotch, "Home Now", and House of the Rising Sun", Sgt Peppers, Saville Row and  Mr Rahman, Westgate Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. And this is just a small selection!

Infact there is so much audio material from Neil, that I've decided that it would be ultimately easier for everyone's navigation if the site had another brand new page. Hence, all of Neil's recordings are available in one easy to find place, and that is the Time for a Commercial Break page.

My advice would be to keep calling back regularly as Neil is supplying new material all of the time (this advice goes for the Metro Radio 261MW 97VHF Tribute website generally, as new information and material is being uploaded on virtually a daily basis).

So take a listen to these fantastic recordings that I know you're going to enjoy, and thank you Neil... and keep 'em coming!

There is a place for everyone's recordings, material and/or memories on this website, so if you have any material you wish to share be it on audio cassette, or in digital format, please contact myself, Andy Fleming here. Many thanks.

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