Music While You Work: An Era in Broadcasting by Brian Reynolds
Music While You Work is an absorbing, nostalgic review of a bygone era in broadcasting. It is authoritatively written by a passionate devotee and is an intriguing history of one of the best-loved radio programmes. Brian Reynolds, who used to hurry home from school in the 1950s to catch the end of Music While You Work on the radio, tells the story of its inception in the dark days of 1940, when its main purpose was to boost morale in industry with uplifting tunes. The programme ran for 27 years, with subsequent short-lived revivals, and was estimated to have an audience of 4 million at home - not counting factory workers. Brian Reynolds' comprehensive and appealing book includes many amusing anecdotes about live broadcasts that did not quite go according to plan. There are also biographies of nearly fifty of the bandleaders associated with MWYW, as well as sample programmes to show us what we are missing now!