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The Final Fanfayre

4 Extra Debut. In 1974, four young Middlesbrough girls won a national competition and got to make a record for The Osmonds. From 2023.

It's 1974 and, half a decade after The Beatles and Elvis Presley dominated the charts, a new generation of artists were capturing the hearts and minds of the nation鈥檚 young female fans - The Jackson 5, The Bay City Rollers, and above all David Cassidy and The Osmonds.

The Final Fanfayre is a different kind of fan story.

Fanfayre were a band of Osmond fans made up of two sets of teenage sisters. They played Osmond songs and loved the group so much that, when an opportunity to audition to be their European Fanclub band arose, the four youngsters from Middlesbrough applied - and won!

It's 2023 and, 50 years on, broadcaster Paul Gambaccini reflects on fandom in the mid-70s, as sisters Ali and Bev reminisce about their time in Fanfayre and what it was like to be part of the group and travel to a London studio to record their single, Donny's Girl.

New Storytellers presents the work of new radio producers and this series features the winners of the Charles Parker Prize 2023 for the Best Student Radio Feature.

These awards are presented every year in memory of the pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. The series is introduced by Charles鈥 daughter, Sara Parker, an award-winning radio producer in her own right.

The Final Fanfayre was produced by Dom Brown who is studying MA Radio, Audio and Podcasting at the University of Sunderland.

The judges said of his feature, 鈥淲hat a blast!鈥 鈥淎n Interesting subject, well put together鈥 and 鈥淓vocative of the time. This simple piece works brilliantly because of the sheer power of the women鈥檚 reminiscences.鈥

Producer: Dom Brown

A Soundscape production for 91热爆 Radio 4, first broadcast in July 2023.

Available now

14 minutes

Last on

Thu 8 Aug 2024 09:30

Broadcasts

  • Mon 31 Jul 2023 13:45
  • Sat 23 Dec 2023 05:45
  • Wed 27 Dec 2023 20:45
  • Thu 8 Aug 2024 09:30