Radio: Swing and Mr. Nasty

For relief from British broadcasting, especially on Sundays, pre-war Britishers had simply to twirl their radio dials to Radio Normandie, Luxembourg, Juan-les-Pins or any of the other gay, Continental "outlaw" stations. Outlaws they were because, unlike BBC, they carried advertising. Favorites they were for variety, swing, snap—courtesy of Lux, Pepsodent, Alka-Seltzer, etc. But war put the commercial "outlaws" out of business—precariously situated Luxembourg for reasons of neutrality, Normandie and other French stations for la belle propaganda. This left blacked-out Britishers wholly at the mercy of BBC, which furnished news in the passive...