"Needle time" was created in the United Kingdom by the Musicians' Union and Phonographic Performance Limited to restrict the amount of recorded music that could be transmitted by the BBC during any 24-hour period. Until 1967 the BBC was allowed to play only five hours per day of commercial gramophone records on the air.
It meant that BBC music radio show producers were always looking for artists to record songs live in dedicated sessions so that they could play a song each programme from the artist. So we, as "Petticoat & Vine" benefitted greatly by being asked to record sessions for various BBC radio shows such as Radio 2's "Night Ride" "The Tony Brandon Show" and several others, which was great for us in raising our profile. So periodically we'd take the train or drive to the BBC's Maida Vale or Paris Studios and record maybe six or seven songs to be played over the coming weeks, thus saving "needle time".
Here are some of the songs from one of the sessions that were also songs we played in our live set at the time...
It meant that BBC music radio show producers were always looking for artists to record songs live in dedicated sessions so that they could play a song each programme from the artist. So we, as "Petticoat & Vine" benefitted greatly by being asked to record sessions for various BBC radio shows such as Radio 2's "Night Ride" "The Tony Brandon Show" and several others, which was great for us in raising our profile. So periodically we'd take the train or drive to the BBC's Maida Vale or Paris Studios and record maybe six or seven songs to be played over the coming weeks, thus saving "needle time".
Here are some of the songs from one of the sessions that were also songs we played in our live set at the time...