Charles Parker Radio Days

The Centre for Broadcasting History Research at Bournemouth University established Charles Parker Day to celebrate not only Charles Parker and his work, but the radio feature itself, its past, present and future. The first Charles Parker Day was held in 2004 in Bournemouth (his birthplace) on his birthday, 5 April, and included the launch of the first Charles Parker prize. See below for information about other Parker days.

The fifth Parker Day was held on 4 April 2008 at the Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth, organised by the Centre for Broadcasting History Research. It celebrated the fiftieth anniversary – in July 2008 – of the first Radio Ballad - The Ballad of John Axon.

Speakers included:

• Piers Plowright: Voices as Music – some thoughts on the Canadian virtuoso Glenn Gould’s radio documentaries 1969 – 1978
• Alan Hall: Composing Radio – A feature-maker’s consideration of the volatile combination of pure sound and music in the process of ‘composing radio’
• Andy Cartwright: Editing the Ballads – The Radio Ballads introduced a form of editing which pushed forward the techniques of feature-making. Cartwright, of Soundscape Productions, examined these techniques and talked about why they still sound radical today.
• Sean Street: Choreographing Chaos – US Feature-maker David Isay, a Bronx Flophouse and the oral history of despair. A study of Isay’s seminal NPR radio programme.

Plus other speakers celebrating Charles Parker and the development of radio features.

2005
The second Parker Day was celebrated in Birmingham, where much of his work was carried out, in conjunction with the University of Central England Department of Media and Communication and as part of Banner Theatre's 30th anniversary celebrations from 8-9 April.

2006
The third Charles Parker Day was held in Bournemouth on 7 April 2006. Speakers included both academics and practitioners. Gillian Reynolds opened proceedings with an over-view of the Charles Parker Archive Trust and its work, followed by Sian Roberts, who gave an exciting presentation about the development of the Connecting Histories project. BBC producer Kate MCall talked about Norman Corwin, the veteran American producer, whose programme, The Lonesome Train had influenced Parker in terms of style, and Graeme Miles brought the spirit of Charles himself to life in a moving and amusing talk in which he painted a vivid picture of working on some of the programmes which followed The Radio Ballads. Ken Hall, from the University of Teeside provided valuable discussion relating to Parker’s work beyond the Radio Ballads, while Seán Street discussed vernacular radio and community, with special reference to CBC Radio’s Newfoundland-based Fisheries Broadcast.

A central part of the afternoon – and a highlight of the day – was a two-handed presentation by Sara Parker and John Tams, in which they talked through the making of the six new Radio Ballads, recently broadcast on Radio 2. The sense of reflection by practitioners on a process on which – in John Tams’ words “the ink was barely dry”, made for fascinating insights. Andy Cartwright of Soundscape Productions took delegates through the process of his innovative radio feature, Then – Now, broadcast in January; this carried the spirit of Charles Parker’s “gathering” into a new age – the recording of a single agreed minute by more than 100 recordists all over Britain, to create a sound poem made up of a murmur of voices – “people greeting people who they’ll never, ever know.”

2007
The fourth was held on 30 March 2007 at the University of Central England. Speakers included Ben Harker (the official biographer of Ewan MacColl), folk culture archivist Doc Rowe and documentary specialist Prof Bert Hogenkamp. See full programme.