Tribute to Bob Rogers​

2021

Songbook / Radio Programme

 

From September 2019 to July 2020, I studied graphics in Pilsen, Czech Republic.

On account of the coronavirus outbreak, my initial departure date in March 2020 was cancelled. I was stuck for four months in a foreign land, although I never once experienced distress, thanks to Reminiscing with Bob Rogers—a six-hour Saturday night radio show hosted by a 93-year-old DJ. I had been listening to the show throughout my Saturdays of student life.

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Even when the Czech Republic was under lockdown, I travelled to Prague on almost empty trains. Inside a com-partment, I placed my speaker on a fold-up table and listened to past recordings of the show, whilst following the shifting scenery—an hour’s ride through evergreen trees, weekend houses, prefabricated panel apartments and castle ruins. Those were my days of isolation; I still see images of this dreamlike halt slide past me.

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Bob Rogers retired that October. I decided to make up for my lost Saturdays by creating my own six-hour radio show, along with an illustrated book of songs.

 

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