"Paul left on November 1976 to become the tour manager for Queen and I started doing it," he recalls. For people of a certain age, they will remember how Radio Butlins used to come on to wake up all the campers and tell them what would be happening that day. "Creek Mary's Blood," a lament inspired by Dee Brown's novel of the same name, benefits from the talent of Native American musician John Two Hawks, who also appeared on the studio version of the song. "There was a story of somebody who said they were walking along the corridor of the Halls of Residence at Queen's one Sunday night and in every room, Downtown was playing," he says. Join now, it’s free to become a member. In his day job, John progressed to production manager and then head of programming, but Take It Easy series one came to an end in 1990 when Cool FM took over the FM frequency and Downtown was moved to medium wave. In September 1977 it became Take It Easy and that conjured up more things like The Eagles - it was a closer match for what the show was doing.". Take It Easy series two became a feature of U105 and John continued at the station until May 2008, but carried on with the show until just over a year later, before leaving to take some 'me time', travelling around America, Australia and Europe. "The best compliment I got was when it started and people were saying it sounded like it had been there for quite a while - I took that as a positive," he says. "But we were getting into the time of the Troubles and the city just closed. It's a satisfying ending for a symphonic metal extravaganza, but the real pleasure comes in knowing that it can be experienced all over again. Because Downtown was the first Northern Irish station to broadcast in stereo, John featured items such as the Hi Fi Swap Shop and Sound Advice. But there was a godsend in the news - Harold Wilson resigned and Downtown station was the first in the UK to flash the news. It’s hard to believe it’s been 46 years since the Beatles’ disbanded, and today we look back at the final song of their career – ‘Long and Winding Road’. John says his proudest moments include the awards his stations have won, winning the U105 licence and the award they won for the Downtown drama Voices From The Somme, an honour that was particularly poignant as his grandfather Jim Maultsaid had fought at the WW1 battle. I made this lyric video of Marianas Trench's new song 'End of an Era' ASTORIA now available on iTunes In the end, this dedication to realism is a minor complaint when compared to the benefits, as demonstrated to great effect with the opening number, "Dark Chest of Wonders." The group is in its element here, and its energy doesn't diminish a bit over the course of the two discs it takes to capture the tour-ending show. This piece brings it all together -- the song itself, dark, theatrical and operatic, with Turunen's rich voice floating over power chords, a charging rhythm section, an orchestral backing track, and the enthusiastic crowd at her feet. Where were you? "First there were the engineers who came in to work in the studios, then the journalists started to arrive, then the presenters - people like Hendy, Big T and Candy Devine started in January. It's the end of an era as John Rosborough steps down from Downtown Radio and one of NI's longest running music shows When John Rosborough steps … TikTok Upload video
Throughout that time, the show has evolved with the times, so listeners this Sunday can expect to hear a host of tracks that he has introduced to his audience, everything from Fleetwood Mac to Passenger and The Adventures and The Eurythmics to Lady Antebellum: "I'm really going to go right across the years with artists that have become synonymous with the show.". The disc comes to a close with the sprawling, gothic "Wish I Had an Angel," a looser and more straightforward rock song that sees Turunen and Hietala alternating their vocal duties for what would be the last time. "March 16 was a bit surreal - everyone was in early as we were opening at 6am. "The show was initially called Nice and Easy, but that conjured up a very old-fashioned kind of music. There's the crowd, the blast of pyrotechnics, the echo of the music filling a cavernous arena. He also featured a Student News spot shortly after midnight on Sunday night targeted at students returning to their studies after the weekend. Under the first programme controller, Don Anderson, John worked first as a continuity announcer and then as cover for a classical music show before covering for Paul Prenter's Sunday night show. Vocalists Tarja Turunen and Marco Hietala soar above it all, their delivery all the more impressive considering that this would be their last concert together -- Turunen was dismissed from the band after the show. She became a member of Starts at 60 and got access to amazing travel deals, free masterclasses, exclusive news and features and hot member discounts! As a child, he grew up in Crossnacreevy in the Castlereagh Hills: "It was idyllic, in that it was in the country but also close to the city. But it was exciting to be in at the beginnings of a new radio station - John started in December 1975 and the station had pledged to be up and running by St Patrick's Day 1976. I was fascinated with it. There are points on the album when this becomes a detriment (particularly during slower, quiet numbers like "Stone People"), but there's nothing more authentic on a live recording than capturing the requisite concertgoer whose duty it is to break the mood by shouting at inappropriate times. The proceedings take an abrupt turn immediately afterward as Nightwish launch into a rollicking cover of Gary Moore's "Over the Hills and Far Away," transformed into a power metal epic as Holopainen and Vuorinen trade riffs between verses and choruses.
The Beatles hold the all-time record for the number of number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at 20, achieving this in 74 months; an average of one number one single per 3.7 months, another all-time record. Today in 1970, the song hit number one, making it the 20th number one song by the Beatles, and signalling the end of an era.
But the radio bug soon bit again and in 2009 he was back conducting a research project for the BBC. Recording a band this layered (Guitars! Drums! A few years into the Troubles, there wasn't much of a music scene in Belfast. Instead, each song plays to the band's strength and uses the crowd's energy and enthusiasm to drive forward and craft memorable moments. By 2000, he was getting itchy feet and was appointed station director of the new Citybeat station, overseeing an impressive team that included a young Stephen Nolan who was hosting a successful interactive current affairs programme. The vibe continues on "Planet Hell," the first of several songs to showcase a Turunen / Hietala duet and solos by keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and guitarist Emppu Vuorinen. "The moment that I can point back to when I became definitely interested in radio was on a family holiday at Butlins Mosney. The End Of An Era: The 10 Best Songs Of The Decade. And she entered to win a $10K trip for four people to Norfolk Island in 2021.
Do you remember when the Beatles broke up? Despite the controversies surrounding the song, it was still a chart topper and sold 1.2 million copies in the first two days of its release, and began a 10-week long chart run.
There's an element of Zen that's involved when listening to Nightwish -- you don't question the pageantry or analyze the music; you just let go and enjoy the experience.
He also reminiscences about the lighter moments, but admits it will be bittersweet to leave the show: "The listeners have been very constant and loyal and I am going to miss having that regular contact with them.
It was a different city altogether.". he says. Phil Spector made changes to the last ever recorded song by the band and added orchestral sounds which annoyed many.
Keyboards! in a setting like this is always a risky venture, but the sound quality on End of an Era is exceptional; it manages to capture the vastness of both the venue and the act without being marred by reverberation or uneven tone. In March 2004, Ofcom announced that it would be offering a licence for a new Belfast radio station and John was approached by no fewer than five different parties keen to get him on board. John (67) admits he's spent the summer putting a vast amount of thought into what will be the final playlist of Take It Easy, ensuring a good spread of fan favourites across the decades that it's been on air.
Perhaps it's no surprise then that End of an Era beings with "Red Warrior" from The Last Samurai booming over arena speakers while thousands of fans roar their approval. "When I was 11 I got a radio for my birthday and about two weeks later I discovered this new station - Radio Caroline.
When Paul McCartney broke up the Beatles in court, he said Phil Spector’s post-production modifications on the song as one of the reasons he left the band. Powerful performances and dark, romantic themes continue to dominate throughout End of an Era, but this does not mean that the album slows down or becomes monotonous. "Probably my favourite band at the time would have been The Doors," he says. Members get more. "We just made it one day ahead of that, on March 16," he says. It's a fine choice to open the concert, and the recording re-creates everything but the visuals. The Beatles did their final UK tour in December 1965.
Then in the summer of 2010 it was announced that Take it Easy would return to Downtown.
Throughout lockdown, John continued to broadcast on Sunday nights, tapping into the archive in order to deliver a Covid-free repeat show from the same week a few years back, with the ads and news removed. Fortunately, Nightwish don't appear to have brought their internal tensions on-stage.