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The Show Rockola grew out of Rockabilly Country, an earlier weekly series David Simmons brought to BFBS back in October 1981. When the fad for rockabilly passed in Britain, Dave Raven, then Head of Music at BFBS London, had the bright idea of expanding David's show to include all rock and roll. Thus Rockola was born, with its first airing in October 1983. The format has remained the same ever since:
The name Rockola was chosen in fond memory of the jukebox of the same name. As the original American versions of 50s rock and roll songs weren't played on British radio at the time, you could only hear them on Radio Luxemburg, or on jukeboxes like Rockola, Seeburg and Wurlitzer. David Simmons compiles Rockola himself, but listeners may remember his erstwhile producer, Denys, who worked on the show in the 80s and 90s.
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The Music Rockola plays a mixture of Motown; soul....and rock and roll, which began in the mid 50s, growing out of black urban rhythm and blues and white country music. It exploded when Bill Haley had a hit with "Rock Around The Clock", and Elvis Presley followed with "Heartbreak Hotel". In fact, Elvis's first label boss, the late Sam Phillips of Sun, is reputed to have said: "Find me a white boy who can sound black and I'll make us both rich."
Over the years, Rockola's scope has widened to include later material that fits the show, like some Creedence Clearwater Revival, Amazing Rhythm Aces, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, or New Orleans funk from The Neville Brothers. "If it sounds right, we'll play it," says David. Dwight Yoakam, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Go Getters, Big Sandy & The Fly Rite Boys, Delbert McClinton, Rod Piazza, Papa Mali, Sonny Landreth, Texas Tornados, Vitello Tonnato and Zachary Richard are just some of the current artists that have featured recently on Rockola. |
The Man Rockola is presented by David Simmons. An Essex boy, he grew up in Southend-on-Sea, attended Westcliff High School for Boys, studied law briefly and badly at University College, London, and later graduated from St. John's College, Oxford, with a BA [and MA] in human sciences, specializing in human genetics. After a period in West Africa as a translator at the Presidency in Yaoundé, Cameroun, he started his radio career with the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation in Bern, then moved back to London and joined the BBC. He did the first daily telephone talk shows in the UK; a weekly blues, soul and R&B show on Radio One; and "Soul 77" on BBC Radio London. For Radio Four, David wrote and presented "Science Now"; reported for current affairs programmes, and made documentaries. He then worked, first as a journalist then as a senior executive, with two American television news companies: Worldwide Television News [WTN], owned by ABC News in New York, and Associated Press Television News. David's time at WTN included four years as their director for Latin America. He speaks French, Spanish and poor German. He lives in North London with his wife, several of their many children, and Ziggy, their large chocolate Labrador. A qualified Blue Badge tour guide and lecturer, David also writes and produces destination travel features. You can email David at David.Simmons@bfbs.com
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| Rockola goes out on the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) Radio Two network in Germany, Cyprus, Gibraltar and Southern Spain, Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia, Belize in Central America, Brunei, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands, both in the South Atlantic. |
David's All-Time Rockola Top 15 1 You Can't Catch Me - Chuck Berry
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Here is the playlist for the current Rockola. Each show is available online and on demand as a "Listen Again" feature at www.bfbs2.com/listen/rockola.html - or you can just: click here and listen to the latest Rockola on the web NOW! The current show contains a feature on my recent visit to Marrakech. See the Morocco link at "Rock & Roll Tours" below!
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