''London Sounds Eastern'' was one of the most popular

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...

radio programs on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. It was presented by

Vernon Corea Vernon Corea (11 September 1927 – 23 September 2002) was a pioneer radio broadcaster with 45 years of public service broadcasting both in Sri Lanka and the UK. He joined Radio Ceylon, South Asia's oldest radio station, in 1956 and later the S ...

and produced by Keith Yeomans.

The Launching of London Sounds Eastern -BBC Radio London

The program went on the airwaves on a Sunday evening on

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC Local Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM broadcasting, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Plac ...

. It enjoyed a huge multi-cultural radio audience and was even highlighted in the BBC

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

in 1976. ''London Sounds Eastern'' created broadcasting history in the United Kingdom: it was the first ever Asian programme in English, on the BBC. Until the launch of 'London Sounds Eastern,' Asian radio programmes in the United Kingdom were mostly in the Hindi and Urdu languages and the programme replaced two 30-minute shows which had been broadcast in the Bengali, Hindi and Urdu languages.

Ethnic Minority Broadcasting on the BBC

'London Sounds Eastern' was a real breakthrough in terms of ethnic minority broadcasting. It expanded musical horizons featuring music as diverse as the ghazals of Pakistan, raagas from India and

baila Baila may refer to: Music * Baila music, a Sri Lankan music genre * "Baïla", a 1996 single by the French boy band Alliage from their album ''Alliage l'album'' * " Bailá Bailá", a 2021 song by Swedish singer Alvaro Estrella * " Baila Baila B ...

from Sri Lanka. It even featured music from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Vernon Corea, presenter of London Sounds Eastern was appointed Asian Programmes Officer of the BBC and trained broadcasters from minority ethnic communities for the

BBC Local Radio BBC Local Radio (also referred to as Local BBC Radio) is the BBC's local and regional radio division for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 39 stations. As of December 2024, the network broadcasts to a combined audience of 7.1 mil ...

network. Among those who sought advice on a career in radio was the BBC TV Presenter

George Alagiah George Maxwell Alagiah (; 22 November 1955 – 24 July 2023) was a British newsreader, journalist and television presenter for the BBC. From 2007 until 2022, he was the presenter of the '' BBC News at Six'' and the main presenter of '' GMT'' on ...

. Vernon Corea went on to be the BBC's Ethnic Minorities Adviser. Dia5275 Ravi Shankar

South Asian Stars on the BBC

A whole host of Asian stars were featured -

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

Usha Uthup Usha Iyer Uthup (born 8 November 1947) is an Indian singer known for her deep contralto voice and her versatility across genres and languages. A prominent figure in Indian music since the 1970s, she has received a Filmfare Award, and was honoure ...

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

Pandith Amaradeva Sri Lankabhimanya Wannakuwattawaduge Don Albert Perera (; ; 5 December 1927 – 3 November 2016), better known by his adopted name Amaradeva, was a prominent Sri Lankan Sinhalese vocalist, violinist and composer. Primarily using traditional in ...

, Asian actress

Jamila Massey Jamila Massey (born 7 January 1934) is an Indian actress and writer. Massey has had a long career on UK television and radio. She is known for playing Auntie Satya in the long-running radio soap ''The Archers'', Jamila Ranjha in ''Mind Your Lan ...

and her husband the writer Reginald Massey,

Clarence Wijewardene Vithana Kuruppu Arachchilage Clarence Arthur Somasinghe Wijewardena JP (, ; 3 August 1943 – 13 December 1996), known professionally as Clarence Wijewardena, was a Sri Lankan singer, composer and musician. Considered one of the most respected ...

Annesley Malewana Annesley Malewana () ( Sinhala: ඇනස්ලි මාලේවන) is a Sri Lankan musician. Often considered "The Prince of Sinhala Pop", Malewana is well known for being a master of contemporary Baila worked with popular musical bands The ...

, Mignonne Fernando,

Nimal Mendis Nimal Mendis (1934–2015) was a Sri Lankan singer and songwriter, and was one of a handful of Sri Lankan musicians to appear on the BBC television programme ''Top of the Pops'' (1968). Mendis was a longstanding member of the Performing Rights ...

, The Gypsies, Desmond de Silva were some of the South Asian stars on 'London Sounds Eastern.' Their music reached new audiences in London and hundreds of fans wrote in to BBC Radio London. Vernon Corea featured the different sounds of the Indian sub-continent, from ragaas to contemporary baila.

South Asian Heads of State on the programme

Heads of State have also appeared on the radio programme among them the President of Sri Lanka. Vernon Corea, the presenter of 'London Sounds Eastern' also met with the President of the Maldives when he was invited to the islands to train Maldivian broadcasters at Radio Maldives.

BBC Asian Network

The programme pioneered the way for the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

was among the celebrities interviewed by Vernon Corea for ''London Sounds Eastern''. Listen to the BBC Radio London Jingles from the 1970s - 1980s:
John Allen's BBC Radio London 206 Pages

External links