BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA Archive on 4 20:00 Wednesday 20 December Available now on BBC Sounds

Sing Christmas; On Christmas Day 1957, the BBC made a ground-breaking hour-long live broadcast. Christmas songs were transmitted from around the British Isles. Texan folklorist and broadcaster Alan Lomax was the host.

The broadcast was a mixture of ancient carols, folk songs, calypso, West African music, dixieland, skiffle, children's carols and glees. Singers across the country contributed live performances, with Lomax sitting at the centre of the web in a Birmingham studio.