It made Cliff Foenander a household name in South Asia: Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia, played the number one hit across the Indian subcontinent.
Radio Ceylon was known as the 'King of Airwaves' in the Indian sub-continent.
As a result of Edward Harper's efforts and that of the pioneering Ceylonese engineers, Radio Ceylon came into being - it is the oldest radio station in South Asia.
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Radio Ceylon was known as the 'King of the Airwaves' on the Indian sub-continent.
Radio Ceylon recorded music programmes from the Coconut Grove as well as the Galle Face Hotel itself, presented by some of the popular Radio Ceylon announcers in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Livy Wijemanne and Vernon Corea.
The song, 'Master Sir,' was first featured in the early 1970s on Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia.
In the 1960s Clarence Wijewardena was mentored by the pioneer Radio Ceylon broadcaster, Vernon Corea who helped him to reach the pinnacle of fame in the music world in Sri Lanka.
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The Moonstones were managed by the advertising man Sri Sangabo Corea and were mentored by the legendary Radio Ceylon broadcaster Vernon Corea and his cousin Vijaya Corea.
The young musicians were mentored by Sri Sangabo Corea together with veteran Radio Ceylon/SLBC broadcasters Vernon Corea and Vijaya Corea.
After winning a poetry contest, Malini was taken to Radio Ceylon by Perera and sang "Budu Sadu" on Karunaratne Abeysekera's popular programme Lama Mandapaya.
The announcers trained in the 1950s by Clifford Dodd and Livy Wijemanne went on to become legendary announcers of the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon, among them: Vernon Corea, Tim Horshington, Greg Roskowski, Jimmy Bharucha, Christopher Greet and others.
Listeners to Radio Ceylon enjoyed his 'wakey wakey' style and he introduced the hit songs of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior, Bill Haley & His Comets, Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley to audiences in Ceylon and beyond.
The programme built up a huge following on the island and thousands of children tuned in to listen to 'Uncle Craig,' over the airwaves of Radio Ceylon—the programme had a mix of stories, plays, maths tables, children's songs sung by a range of artistes such as Burl Ives, Danny Kaye and Max Bygraves together with children's folk songs in Sinhala and Tamil.
Wijemanne worked very closely with the Australian administrator, Clifford Dodd who came to Radio Ceylon under the Colombo Plan.
Clifford Dodd, an Australian administrator, was appointed (via the Colombo Plan) as the first Director of the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon and he contributed to the station's popularity across the Indian sub-continent.
He continued giving his input when Radio Ceylon became the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.
Some of Ceylon's first music stars such as Nimal Mendis, Bill Forbes, Des Kelly and Cliff Foenander, were interviewed by Vernon Corea, for Radio Ceylon.