BBC Radio London is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater London.
Baila is a form of music, popular in Sri Lanka and among Goan Catholics in India. The genre originated centuries ago among the Portuguese Burghers and Sri Lankan Kaffirs. Baila songs are played during parties and weddings in Sri Lanka, Goa, and Mangalore accompanied by dancing.
Vernon Corea was a pioneer radio broadcaster with 45 years of public service broadcasting both in Sri Lanka and the UK. He joined Radio Ceylon, South Asia's oldest radio station, in 1956 and later the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. During his time he presented some of the most popular radio shows in South Asia, including The Maliban Show, Dial-a-Disc, Holiday Choice, Two For the Money, Take It Or Leave It, Saturday Stars, To Each His Own, Kiddies Corner, and Old Folks at Home. He was well known not only in Sri Lanka, but right across the Indian Sub-Continent from the late 1950s to the 1970s – this was in the heyday of Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia.
Radio Ceylon is a radio station based in Sri Lanka and the first radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis by the colonial Telegraph Department in 1923, just three years after the inauguration of broadcasting in Europe.
Vithana Kuruppu Arachchilage Clarence Arthur Somasinghe Wijewardena JP, known professionally as Clarence Wijewardena, was a Sri Lankan singer, composer and musician. Considered one of the most respected musicians in Sri Lanka, Wijewardena revolutionized Sri Lankan Sinhala Pop Music with the use of the electric guitar in Sinhala music, in the 1960s. Due to his influence on Sinhala pop music, he is often named as the "father of Sri Lankan pop music".
Annesley Malewana is a Sri Lankan musician. Often considered "The Prince of Sinhala Pop", Malewana is well known for being a master of contemporary Baila worked with popular musical bands The Moonstones and Super Golden Chimes.
The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සංස්ථාව, Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva, Tamil: இலங்கை ஒலிபரப்புக் கூட்டுத்தாபனம், Ilangkai Oliparappuk Kūṭṭuttāpaṉam) came into existence on 5 January 1967 when Radio Ceylon became a public corporation. Dudley Senanayake who was the Prime Minister of Ceylon in 1967 ceremonially opened the newly established Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation along with Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa and the Director-General of the CBC, Neville Jayaweera. The first board of Directors of CBC consisted of Mr Neville Jayaweera (CCS), Mr A. L. M. Hashim, Mr Dharmasiri Kuruppu, Mr K.A.G. Perera and Mr Devar Surya Sena. After the first board meeting, it was decided unanimously to appoint the chairman, Mr Jayaweera, as the new Director-General.
Dominicus Corea also known as Domingos Corea and Edirille Rala, was the son of Don Jeronimo Corea and Anna Corea. Don Jeronimo Corea was also known as Mudaliyar Vikramasinha, Commander-in-Chief of King Mayadunne's army. Jeronimo Corea was executed by King Mayadunne's son, Rajasinghe. Dominicus Corea was born in Colombo in 1565. At that time, the Portuguese had colonised Ceylon, and his parents converted to Catholicism.
Nihal Bhareti was a popular radio announcer with the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in Colombo. He joined Radio Ceylon in the 1960s. His mellow voice attracted hundreds of fans in Sri Lanka as well as on the Indian sub-continent.
Karunaratne Abeysekera was one of Sri Lanka's most famous Sinhala broadcasters. He was also a poet and songwriter and was widely admired for his excellent command of Sinhala.
Clifford R. Dodd was an administrator and radio expert, with twenty years experience in broadcasting in Australia, before he arrived in Sri Lanka. He was sent by the Australian Government under the Colombo Plan to work in Radio Ceylon. He was appointed Director of the newly formed Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon.
Christopher Arthur Greet was an actor and radio presenter. He is best known for his work alongside Victoria Wood in the 1998 BBC comedy series dinnerladies.
Vijaya Corea is a radio and television broadcaster and one of Sri Lanka's most well known media personalities. Corea is a household name in Sri Lanka, synonymous with broadcasting and show business for over four decades, and has often been referred to as Sri Lanka's No. 1 Compere.
Owen de Abrew was one of Sri Lanka's leading ballroom dance personalities, he was known as the 'King of Ballroom dancing' in Colombo.
Jamila Massey is a British actress and writer. Massey has had a long career on UK television and radio. She is known for playing Auntie Satya in the long-running radio soap The Archers, Jamila Ranjha in Mind Your Language, and Sanjay Kapoor's mother Neelam in EastEnders.
Kanda Surinduni is a Sri Lankan song composed by Clarence Wijewardena. It was originally performed by the Super Golden Chimes with Wijewardene at vocals in the mid-1970s.
Ernest Corea was a Sri Lankan journalist and a diplomat noted for his work to maintain a free and independent press and for negotiations involving Sri Lanka's development programs.
Piyaneni is a classic Sri Lankan pop song composed by the Sri Lankan musician, Clarence Wijewardena. It is a tribute in song to the love of a father. Wijeywardena used the rhythmic pattern of the Bossa nova for 'Piyaneni'.
Kiddies Corner was a hugely popular children's radio programme broadcast on the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon. The format was devised in 1963. This was the 'golden era' of the radio station, the oldest in South Asia. Millions tuned into Radio Ceylon and it was known as the 'King of the Airwaves' in South Asia in the 1950s and 1960s.
Ivan Corea established autism-related charities, service organisations such as the Autism Awareness Campaign UK and Autism Sunday. He took a lead role in raising awareness about autism.
