Out of the Glow
Out Of The Glow presenter Paul Featherstone is a veteran of NZ community radio, with a background of almost 20 years specialising in devising, producing and presenting documentaries on a number of topics.
Although Paul was first involved with Plains FM in 1989, it wasn’t until 2006 when Out Of The Glow was born. An enthusiastic radio and TV memorabilia collector, Paul wanted to make a programme that was different to other nostalgia programmes on the radio. He saw there was a niche for focus on the spoken word, rather than the music. Paul also wanted to make a programme where the presenter would take a secondary role to the excerpt, in order to encourage the listener to fully engage with the extract and in turn, recall their own personal feelings and memories associated with that era.
Out Of The Glow is a weekly hour-long pure nostalgia fest, which delves deep into archives from the English-speaking world. The extracts comprise interviews, talks; segments from film musicals, serials, radio comedies and documentaries; excerpts from plays, quizzes and panel shows; sports commentaries, religious programming, readings, commercials, jingles and news events. Paul handles this huge scope of material effortlessly, tying one excerpt to the next with warm, and unbiased narration that demonstrates his expert knowledge and love for the genre his programme represents.
Over 3-4 days, each programme is drafted, thoroughly researched, scripted, presented and produced remotely, with the assistance of technician Steve Bell.
In 2007 Out of The Glow’s programme aired on 21st September was a finalist in the Best Community and Access category (Spoken) in the New Zealand Radio Awards.
Paul devoted a portion of the show to celebrating 3ZB’s 70th birthday, remembering Dick Weir, “ChickenMan”, George Balani, Rory Christie and Town Talk. Later in “New Zealanders To The Fore” from 1979, regular National presenter Philip Liner reminisced with Cyril Brown about past Mobil Song Quests.
US and BBC radio comedy excerpts from years gone by featuring Lucille Ball, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and “Know Your Place” respectively were included. “Strange Tales Of Britain” made an appearance, as did a tribute to Ed Arnold with an extract from “Grand Ole Opry”. Finally an episode from bygone Australian serial Gunsmoke ended the programme.
Comedy, talks, featurettes, interviews, drama, commercials, documentaries, news events, sound tracks, personalities, commentaries, themes and music from broadcasting history. Hear selections from a collection gathered by Paul Featherstone over the past three decades.
This programme has been broadcast since June 2006.
