The Pioneers, Royal Holloway College

This collection consists of about seven hours recording of student functions during 1965 ~ 1968.
Mainly the recordings are of folk music, but there is also rag entertainment, poetry, a carol service, and a short broadcast on Radio London.  As permissions to publish are granted, short clips will be published here.  There is much much more in the Audio Archive BUT YOU NEED TO REGISTER and log in to see this.

CLIPS

College Choir: This clip is a short extract from the Christmas Carol service of 1966  

Richard Hoyes: Following the reunion, Richard Hoyes has permitted us to include the following clip from his poem, "In reply to your letter".   The background to this is that Dr Roy Miller, warden of Kingswood, sent a letter in 1966 explaining that, due to building delays, the allocation of student rooms would be relocated from the lower-lower ground floor to higher floors but with horizontal co-ordinates of position preserved as far as possible!  Puzzled?  So were we all!  Richards's poem playfully explains how the College was cheated into purchasing and then converting an old nunnery into student accommodation, but which turns out to be admirable for its purpose, despite building delays and those perplexing horizontals.  In the introduction to his poem Richard expresses a concern that he hopes Dr Roy Miller will never hear it.  Oooops - Roy was present when the poem was replayed at the reunion! 

Mervyn Brown: At the moment, we are indebted to Mervyn Brown, who has allowed us to use a short extract from his tale of an irritating young lad with a banjo and his practical joker magician father who were ostracised by their village, but welcomed back when they saved the village from the giant 'Obby Yo Yo'.

Di Rigby: After extensive enquiries, we have finally traced Di Rigby.  She tells us that her life since RHC has been "interesting and chaotic".  That sounds about right!  Di could never keep a straight face for long, as she always saw the amusing side of life.  This out-take from one of her recording sessions is a gem!

Folk Group: Also featured, is the infamous 'three clangs' ~ a sound effect used in the most startling folk song ever produced at RHC, and should be remembered by all Pioneers!  The 'three clangs' were produced by striking the case of one of the Student Union steel dustbins - I wonder if any of them still exist?

This is the provisional catalogue of the Audio Archive and excludes bands. Title names are, in many cases, guesswork and are for indicative purposes only. If you can identify any of the “artist unknown” acts, or provide correct title names.

In order to preserve the ambiance of the original recordings, introductions and applause have been retained. If there is sufficient demand, future releases could include an additional edited version with just the musical content (feedback on this topic would be appreciated).

These recordings are compressed in order to minimise downloading speed from the web. Quality is therefore slightly less than the original. Also, these recordings have received minimal post-production editing; meaning that hum and other recording defects may be noticeable. Subject to demand, consideration will be given to electronically enhancing these recordings and producing a high-quality CD/DVD version.

Di Rigby

Mervyn Brown

Pete, Barney, Sam

Rag Ent (Note: Songs by named artists appear under their own headings)

Rag Ent (Musical sketch)

The Savoy Opera Society, 1967, Part 1

Nawal Kharusi - Overseas Student

Others

Artist(s) Unknown