Murray Walker 'Life in the Fast Lane' BBC 2 Sunday 1900hrs
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
Hmmmm. That's debateable.
Not really. Go and ask the public to name a sports commentator. Go and ask the public who Murray Walker is. Go and ask the public who other commentators are, Sid, Maskell, Aggers, the golf guy etc.Put those results together and Walker will come out on top by a long margin as the most name checked bloke. The only other one who would come close is Motty.
Walker was outstanding. The only complaint that can be levelled against him is in the accuracy of his commentating and even then that became part of the charm of his style and his errors are in folklore now. Murray spoke to the 7yr old boy in you and he did it better than anybody else. That is and always will be the single biggest aspect of the job. If you are relaying on the commentator to know whats going on then you dont know enough to complain.
Don't get me wrong - I like Murray. He was extremely engaging - and can still be. But he was hopelessly inaccurate at times and often lost his bearings with races. Back at the time when he was commentating in the 70s and early 80s, he could be extremely frustrating to listen to.
I think the population has a huge affection for him - mainly because of his enthusiasm and for the fact that he is still around and probably the last survivor of what we now recognise as an era when the BBC coverage of a sport was THE coverage.
If you asked the question about who the most recognised commentator was (say) back in 1980 (when Murray was at his peak, so to speak) I would guess that the answer would probably have been someone like David Coleman or even David Vine (who seemed to be commentating on everything back then).
The fact that in 1981 Private Eye produced a book about commentator mistakes called Coleman Balls rather than Murray Ballls says a lot.
I think the population has a huge affection for him - mainly because of his enthusiasm and for the fact that he is still around and probably the last survivor of what we now recognise as an era when the BBC coverage of a sport was THE coverage.
If you asked the question about who the most recognised commentator was (say) back in 1980 (when Murray was at his peak, so to speak) I would guess that the answer would probably have been someone like David Coleman or even David Vine (who seemed to be commentating on everything back then).
The fact that in 1981 Private Eye produced a book about commentator mistakes called Coleman Balls rather than Murray Ballls says a lot.
1980?
Eric televised sport in 1980 was spliced highlights, snooker, international football/FA Cup and Olympics.
Murray peaked in about 1990-1994.
He was never frustrating to listen to, if you had to listen to him to know what was going on then you werent paying enough attention. You should *never* have to relay on the commentator to know whats going on.
Eric televised sport in 1980 was spliced highlights, snooker, international football/FA Cup and Olympics.
Murray peaked in about 1990-1994.
He was never frustrating to listen to, if you had to listen to him to know what was going on then you werent paying enough attention. You should *never* have to relay on the commentator to know whats going on.
Eric Mc said:
Don't get me wrong - I like Murray. He was extremely engaging - and can still be. But he was hopelessly inaccurate at times and often lost his bearings with races. Back at the time when he was commentating in the 70s and early 80s, he could be extremely frustrating to listen to.
I think the population has a huge affection for him - mainly because of his enthusiasm and for the fact that he is still around and probably the last survivor of what we now recognise as an era when the BBC coverage of a sport was THE coverage.
If you asked the question about who the most recognised commentator was (say) back in 1980 (when Murray was at his peak, so to speak) I would guess that the answer would probably have been someone like David Coleman or even David Vine (who seemed to be commentating on everything back then).
I agree.I think the population has a huge affection for him - mainly because of his enthusiasm and for the fact that he is still around and probably the last survivor of what we now recognise as an era when the BBC coverage of a sport was THE coverage.
If you asked the question about who the most recognised commentator was (say) back in 1980 (when Murray was at his peak, so to speak) I would guess that the answer would probably have been someone like David Coleman or even David Vine (who seemed to be commentating on everything back then).
I guess he was right for his era - but then so were folk like Raymond Baxter. Lovely to listen to as we became accustomed to their voices, we didn't know any better.
DJRC said:
1980?
Eric televised sport in 1980 was spliced highlights, snooker, international football/FA Cup and Olympics.
Murray peaked in about 1990-1994.
He was never frustrating to listen to, if you had to listen to him to know what was going on then you werent paying enough attention. You should *never* have to relay on the commentator to know whats going on.
Are you implying that sport wasn't covered before the 1990s. The nature of the coverage may have been more highlights based, mainly becauiuse of the fact that there was limited room in TV schedules back then to squeeze evereything in - there being only three channels.Eric televised sport in 1980 was spliced highlights, snooker, international football/FA Cup and Olympics.
Murray peaked in about 1990-1994.
He was never frustrating to listen to, if you had to listen to him to know what was going on then you werent paying enough attention. You should *never* have to relay on the commentator to know whats going on.
That does not mean that commentators were not household names nor does it mean that the nation was ignorant of sport and sportsmen and women.
The commentators of that era became legends probably to a greater extent than modern commenattaors PRECISELY bacuse there were so few of them and audiences tended to be bigger for specific sporting programmes (due to fewer channels). Names like David Coleman, David Vine, Harry Carpenter, Dickie Davies and Murray (to a lesser extent) were top household names.
I would argue that Murray's legendary status is that he is a legacy from that era rather than to any great prowess behind the microphone. Indeed, others laughing at Murray's mistakes - noteably Clive James and the aforementioned Coleman Balls - helped build the legend.
I would agree that Murrays commentaries got better from about 1980 onwards - mainly because he had someone in the box with him to correct him when he made one of his mistakes.
And even before 1980 Murray was commentating on live GPs. I well remember listening to him in action at numerous British and Monaco GPs and shouting at the telly when he was blathering about someone going missing when we could all see the car parked on the side of the track (James Hunt at the 1979 Monaco GP - for instance).
Coleman is better remembered as a tv presenter these days, same with Vine.
Ill give you Carpenter, the 3rd I should have mentioned after Murray and Motty.
You missed my point though. By a considerable distance. Again.
OK, Ill try one last time. Murray and his commentating were nothing to do with the technical aspects of the job. It was purely about the human element he brought to the role. His skill was in humanising his topic, the technical, mechanical aspects of F1 became merely a backdrop to the more important bit for him which was picking the human story. You always alyways always miss this Eric. Doesnt matter whether its planes or car, you always miss the human narrative. You think the story is about the technical detail of what is being discussed, it isnt, its always about the human detail and you miss it everytime. Anyway thats enough from me on this one otherwise it will only become another pointless argument and Ill have to write another email apologising for calling you whatever it is Ill end up calling you.
Toodles.
Ill give you Carpenter, the 3rd I should have mentioned after Murray and Motty.
You missed my point though. By a considerable distance. Again.
OK, Ill try one last time. Murray and his commentating were nothing to do with the technical aspects of the job. It was purely about the human element he brought to the role. His skill was in humanising his topic, the technical, mechanical aspects of F1 became merely a backdrop to the more important bit for him which was picking the human story. You always alyways always miss this Eric. Doesnt matter whether its planes or car, you always miss the human narrative. You think the story is about the technical detail of what is being discussed, it isnt, its always about the human detail and you miss it everytime. Anyway thats enough from me on this one otherwise it will only become another pointless argument and Ill have to write another email apologising for calling you whatever it is Ill end up calling you.
Toodles.
garethj said:
Eric Mc said:
The fact that in 1981 Private Eye produced a book about commentator mistakes called Coleman Balls rather than Murray Ballls says a lot.
I read that Murray Walker actually had more entries than David Coleman through the magazine 
DJRC said:
Coleman is better remembered as a tv presenter these days, same with Vine.
Ill give you Carpenter, the 3rd I should have mentioned after Murray and Motty.
You missed my point though. By a considerable distance. Again.
OK, Ill try one last time. Murray and his commentating were nothing to do with the technical aspects of the job. It was purely about the human element he brought to the role. His skill was in humanising his topic, the technical, mechanical aspects of F1 became merely a backdrop to the more important bit for him which was picking the human story. You always alyways always miss this Eric. Doesnt matter whether its planes or car, you always miss the human narrative. You think the story is about the technical detail of what is being discussed, it isnt, its always about the human detail and you miss it everytime. Anyway thats enough from me on this one otherwise it will only become another pointless argument and Ill have to write another email apologising for calling you whatever it is Ill end up calling you.
Toodles.
And maybe you are missing my point i.e. that Murray is more famous NOW than when he was actually commentating regularly. And I would argue that Murray was probably busier as a commentator well before the 1990s as back then he did more than just motor racing..Ill give you Carpenter, the 3rd I should have mentioned after Murray and Motty.
You missed my point though. By a considerable distance. Again.
OK, Ill try one last time. Murray and his commentating were nothing to do with the technical aspects of the job. It was purely about the human element he brought to the role. His skill was in humanising his topic, the technical, mechanical aspects of F1 became merely a backdrop to the more important bit for him which was picking the human story. You always alyways always miss this Eric. Doesnt matter whether its planes or car, you always miss the human narrative. You think the story is about the technical detail of what is being discussed, it isnt, its always about the human detail and you miss it everytime. Anyway thats enough from me on this one otherwise it will only become another pointless argument and Ill have to write another email apologising for calling you whatever it is Ill end up calling you.
Toodles.
I'd highly recommend you get hold of BBC's audio cassette (probably out of production now - sadly) called "Murray Walker at the BBC". I bought it when it was new and it makes great listening - especially when Murray recounts the tale of how he came to be commentating on World Championship Weight Lifting.
garethj said:
Eric Mc said:
I wonder why they called it Coleman Balls then?
Perhaps because they didn't know who would say what when they started it?I read it in a book called Bedside Wheels that was written by Murray Walker about 20 years ago, not sure how true it was, or if it's still true
The book Coleman Balls was a compilation of quips that had already appeared in Private Eye - so they knew what and how many comments they were going to put into it. Indeed, they had so much material, they did at least two sequels. I rememeber reading them at the time and creasing myself laughing - especially with Bill Tidy's cartoons accompanying many of the gaffs.
Eric Mc said:
garethj said:
Eric Mc said:
The fact that in 1981 Private Eye produced a book about commentator mistakes called Coleman Balls rather than Murray Ballls says a lot.
I read that Murray Walker actually had more entries than David Coleman through the magazine "made to make your mouth water".
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