If The Buggles meant video tape when they claimed that video killed the radio star, they were a little off the mark. Radio, we still love you, even when you are slightly ga-ga (Queen reference!). Broadcast radio is still going strong while the Betamax versus VHS seems about as relevant as the red rose of Lancaster versus the white rose of York.

Jane and I bought a small radio alarm for the front room today. We probably won’t be using the alarm function much but it provides a clock (to replace an old analogue one that had seemed to to start getting through batteries far too quickly) and gives us access to radio downstairs without having to plug in a smartphone or stream via a tablet or laptop.

It is one of these Sandstrom gizmos and as well as having a decent sound (and the ability to plug into an external speaker for deeper tones) also provides DAB alongside FM tuning. Jane was very impressed when I heard a couple of bars of classical music and identified it as Mussorgsky until I confessed that I’d merely been reading the scrolling programme display.

Long live the radio star!