Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Sparky

I remember Uncle Mac. He fought a losing battle against a rising tide of pop music requests using Spark's magic piano, the Laughing Policeman and various other 'acceptable' music. I once heard him lecturing someone for referring to children as 'kids'. "Kids are young goats, not children!" he declared.

He used to finish his broadcasts with the words "Goodbye children... Everywhere". His career came to an untimely end when he added the words "You little b*s*t*r*s". believing the microphone was dead. It wasn't, and a million children asked their scandalised mummies what a b****** was! Sadly I missed this event.

In his defence, he had been badly injured in the war, and was in constant pain, so perhaps one might forgive him for being a bit grouchy. As I child I remember rather liking his irritability.

Still have Sparky's Magic Piano on 33 1/3 rpm. Used to love it as a child. Handed down from the previous generation. Got nothing to play it on now. Sounded pretty crackly, back in the day.