'Parables in Melody' was the first ever contemporary Christian music program ever to be broadcast
over the airwaves of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in Colombo. The radio program was recorded in London for the National
Christian Council of Sri Lanka.
The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) is a collective body
of thirteen protestant churches and Ecumenical Organisations in Sri Lanka.
Churches:
- Church of Ceylon - Diocese of Colombo
- Church of Ceylon - Diocese of Kurunegala
- Methodist Church
- Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya
- Church of South India
- Dutch Reformed Church
- Presbytery of Lanka
- The Salvation Army
Ecumenical Organisations:
- Young Men's Christian Association
- Young Women's Christian Association
- Student Christian Movement
- Christian Literature Society
- Ceylon Bible Society
Parables in Melody was presented and produced by Sri Lanka-born journalist and writer, Ivan Corea - he
was invited to do so by the Bishop of Colombo of the Church of Sri Lanka. The program was broadcast to Christian radio
audiences in the island of Sri Lanka on the 'Christian half hour' slot of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation from 1979-1981.
'Parables in Melody' was recorded in London at the Radio Worldwide studio. RW were situated in Upper Norwood
in 1979 - the programme engineer was Bill Caldwell who also introduced the programme with his unmistakable Scottish accent.
Top pop star Cliff Richard was interviewed for the program by Ivan Corea at the Greenbelt Rock Festival.
Cliff Richard spoke about his music, his life and the fact that he had only stepped on Sri Lankan soil en route to Singapore
in 1972 when he disembarked at the Bandaranaike International Airport and some of the hostesses at the airport offered him
a cup of Ceylon Tea. He told Ivan Corea he would love to come back and say hello to his fans personally. The interview was
broadcast over the airwaves of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) it was the first ever interview with Cliff Richard
for a South Asian radio station.
The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation is one of the finest radio stations in the world - formerly known as Radio Ceylon
is the oldest radio station in South Asia. Sri Lanka has a rich history in broadcasting, it is only a few years younger to
the great broadcasting institution, the BBC in London.
Broadcasting on an experimental basis was started in Ceylon by the Telegraph Department in 1923, just three years
after the inauguration of broadcasting in Europe. Gramophone music was broadcast from a tiny room in
the Central Telegraph Office with the aid of a small transmitter built by the Telegraph Department engineers from the radio
equipment of a captured German submarine.
The results proved successful and barely three years later, on December 16,
1925, a regular broadcasting service came to be instituted. Edward Harper who came to Ceylon as Chief Engineer
of the Telegraph Office in 1921, was the first person to actively promote broadcasting in Ceylon. He launched the first
experimental broadcast as well as founding the Ceylon Wireless Club together with British and Ceylonese radio enthusiasts.
Edward Harper has been dubbed 'the Father of Broadcasting in Ceylon.'
Radio Ceylon became a public corporation on January 5th 1967. The Prime Minister of Ceylon Dudley Senanayake ceremonially
opened the newly established Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.
Many other top world musicians were also featured on Parables in Melody among them Bryn Haworth, Adrian Snell, Larry
Norman, Randy Stonehill, Second Chapter of Acts, Honeytree (who visited Sri Lanka in the 1990s), Nutshell, B.J.Thomas, Keith
Green among them.