Damon Albarn marks 90 years of BBC radio

Albarn's specially composed piece features sounds from radio's past and present

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• Albarn's Radio Reunited broadcast Listen

A composition by Blur frontman Damon Albarn will be played to radio listeners around the world on Wednesday to mark 90 years of BBC broadcasting.

2LO Calling is a "snapshot of the airwaves" featuring iconic sounds such as Bertrand Russell in Morse code.
The broadcast will be hosted by BBC Radio 2's Simon Mayo who will present his show from London's Science Museum.
It will be the first simultaneous broadcast since 1922, when the British Broadcasting Company was established.
The 2LO transmitter made the first BBC broadcast on 14 November, 1922.
More than 55 BBC radio stations will come together for Radio Reunited. It is estimated the broadcast has a potential reach of up to 80 million listeners.
2LO Calling begins with the chimes of Big Ben and features the first ever broadcast from the 2LO transmitter and the number one song at the time - Three O'Clock In The Morning.

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There is a special musicality to some of the vocal messages, which I tried to preserve”

Damon Albarn

Simultaneous broadcast

The three-minute piece also features messages from listeners around the world along with the sound of the blackbird and skylark, commentary from the Cameroon election and the ubiquitous BBC pips.

"There is a special musicality to some of the vocal messages, which I tried to preserve," said Albarn.
"Added to that, I got to do what I've always wanted - to play along with the pips."
The Science Museum is marking the 90th anniversary with a display featuring part of the original 2LO transmitter.
'Amateur enthusiast' The display takes visitors back to the first broadcast and features two radios used to receive the BBC's early broadcasts, a microphone used in the early BBC Savoy Hill studios and an early copy of the Radio Times from 1923.

Bertrand Russell in Morse code is one of the many diverse sounds in 2LO Calling

Tim Boon, head of research and public history at the Science Museum, said: "The first broadcast by the 2LO 90 years ago marked the moment when radio moved from the realm of the 'amateur enthusiast' to the first proper public broadcasting service in Britain.
"This exhibition takes visitors back to a time when everything, from the technology to the content of the programmes was still new."
Radio Reunited is just one of a series of on-air events to mark 90 years of BBC Radio, which will also feature a wide range of special programming across BBC stations.
Albarn's composition will be played by 55 BBC radio stations at 17:33 GMT on Wednesday.