Alan Dell’s Big Band Sound programmes for some years followed immediately after his Dance Band Days shows. The programmes, of one hour duration, featured mostly the American bands and vocalists from the 1930s through to the 60s and subsequent re-creation units. The BBC varied the time slots over the years and also separated the two show days of the week at one point.

These shows were recorded off-air from FM broadcasts, and originate from my own and others’ archive tapes. Most of the shows are complete and dated, but regrettably a few are cut off either at the beginning or the end due to the vagaries of automatic recording timers of the day, and some were taped without noting the broadcast date.

This is an ongoing project to present as many of Alan Dell’s shows as possible: if you can help with recordings that aren’t on this website, or if you have complete shows for those which are incomplete, please do get in touch! And if you can supply playlists (for which regrettably I don’t have the time to compile due to other commitments), please do let me know.

While every effort has been made to remove any extraneous FM interference, inevitably some remains on occasion.

Please note that these are intended for personal enjoyment only and may not be sold or copied for redistribution of any kind. Copyright remains with the BBC.