Khmer Rouge documentary with radio angle

Khmer Rock and the Killing Fields

Khmer Rock and the Killing Fields
(Duration: 30 minutes)
Availability:

4 days left to listen

Last broadcast on Tuesday, 13:30 on BBC Radio 4.

Synopsis

Robin Denselow tells the story of Cambodia's rock and roll stars who emerged during the late 1960s with a new sound known as Khmer Rock. Under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, almost all these singers and musicians were killed, but they are still revered by Cambodians today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lrv50

Khmer rock revival seeks new audience

By Sarah Cuddon

Decades after Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge silenced the sound of Westernised music in Cambodia, the little-known 60s genre "Khmer rock" is finding new fans.

Khmer rock is the sound of the West meeting the East in the 1960s - a mixture of US surf guitar music, early rock and doo-wop mixed with Cambodian traditional instruments.

At the time, the music was virtually unknown outside Asia but its followers in the West are now burgeoning.

Music writer Nik Cohn is a new fan who stumbled across the sound by chance.

He said: "One night I was watching (the film) City of Ghosts, and there's an amazing moment when Matt Dillon jumps on a motorbike and rides through Phnom Penh and this incredible music comes on. An unbelievable voice.

(snip)

Despite presiding over an often corrupt and repressive regime, he was passionate and liberal about the arts, and encouraged the traditional court musicians to experiment with Western styles.

But influences also came directly from the US - as the American military presence in Vietnam increased, the American Forces Radio Network also became more well-known.

Flying studios operated by the US Navy spread the sound of rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country music to Cambodia.

Much more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8167436.stm

The program features clips of the music, and AFVN broadcasts. Fascinating stuff

CBC World Report gets new anchor

CBC World Report gets new anchor
Last Updated: Thursday, July 30, 2009 |

5:11 PM ET
CBC News

Peter Armstrong is to host World Report on CBC Radio One and Mark Kelley will host a news talk show on CBC Newsworld, CBC announced Thursday.

CBC is reshaping its news programming and reassigning journalists as part of a news renewal initiative. The changes take effect this fall.

Armstrong, who is returning to Toronto from a posting in Jerusalem, will be the new host of morning radio news program World Report, heard across the country.

Armstrong has worked for CBC from Quebec City, Saint John, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.


http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2009/07/30/cbc-journalists.html?ref=rss&loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r5:c0.0743895:b26833390

RIP Walter Cronkite

Not radio related per se, but Walter Cronkite was the consummate news man for so many years.

Ironic that he passed away so close to the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, something for which he will forever be associated.

And that's the way it is...

Tokyo Rose Segment on "History Detectives"

I was just scrolling through the WNED-TV (Buffalo, NY) program listings for the coming week and noticed this program coming up twice this week:

July 20, 2009 at 9:00 PM
History Detectives
Tokyo Rose Recording - A HISTORY DETECTIVES viewer has a recording he thinks holds evidence used in the World War II treason trial of Iva Tugori, aka Tokyo Rose. Toguri was an American citizen who hosted a Japanese propaganda radio show broadcast to U.S. troops serving in the Pacific. These broadcasts were at the center of what was then the costliest trial in U.S. history. The viewer has never been able to play his oversized record, but family lore says it reveals the role his uncle played in this infamous show trial. HISTORY DETECTIVES host Gwendolyn Wright consults with experts from Long Island to Los Angeles. Her answer flips assumptions of guilt and innocence, and gives viewers a fresh angle on what actually happened in and around that trial.

9pm on the 20th; 1230am on the 24th. At least in Buffalo. Check your local listings as they say.

http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/

Yukon to extend CBC's lease on AM transmitter site, letter says

CBC Radio One listeners outside Whitehorse may keep tuning in on the AM dial as the Yukon government says it will extend the public broadcaster's lease on its existing AM transmitter site for three years.

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2009/07/14/cbc-whse-am.html