Radio Ceylon Orchestra

The Radio Ceylon Orchestra were part of Radio Ceylon broadcasting services that dates back 1925, when its first precursor, Colombo Radio, was launched on 16 December 1925 using a Medium Wave radio transmitter of one kilowatt of output power from Welikada, Colombo. Commenced just three years after the launch of the BBC, Colombo radio was the first ever radio station in Asia and the second oldest radio station in the world.

Radio Ceylon became a public corporation on 30 September 1967 and the station's name was changed to the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation. Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake appointed a distinguished Ceylonese civil servant, Neville Jayaweera to head the CBC. When Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972 the station underwent yet another name change as the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC).

Links To Peel
A track from the Radio Ceylon Orchestra playing traditional Sri Lankan classical music, was played by Peel in the late 60's on his Night Ride show, which came from the BBC Archives. The archive material later became part of John Peel's Archive Things album, released in 1970.

Shows Played

 * John Peel's Archive Things (BBC - Vinyl LP 1970)'Pop' Music (Dates are currently unavailable)