TODAY’S RADIO

Johnnie Walker’s Sounds Of The 70s 3PM, RADIO 2 George McCrae, fresh out of the Navy, was all set for a career in law enforcement when fate stepped in. George and his wife, Gwen – who were already in the music business – were asked to help out at a recording session. Gwen was to sing the high notes of a song, but she was late for the session. George stepped in with his now famous falsetto, and Rock Your Baby became a big disco hit. George joins Johnnie to talk about the career that fate and talent gave him.

Tsar 3PM, RADIO 4 Plots, counterplots and murders seethe in the courts of Tsar Peter III. Peter has married a Prussian princess, who will become Catherine the Great, Empress of All the Russias. Peter, besotted with Prussian discipline, drills his armies and his servants till they are on the point of mutiny. Catherine, meanwhile, becomes committed to her adopted country and embraces, sometimes a little too enthusiastically, all things Russian. This first of a three-part drama, full of intrigue and incident, stars Samantha Spiro as the ambitious and courageous Catherine, and Anton Lesser as Tsar Peter. Open Book

4PM, RADIO 4 Paula Hawkins’s sinister, engrossing thriller The Girl On The Train was a runaway bestseller that sold more than 15 million copies. Now, she has another thriller out, called Into The Water. Paula joins Mariella Frostrup on this regular book programme to talk about her latest work.

Clare Teal 9PM, RADIO 2 People get up and dance to Kansas Smitty’s House Band. Despite their name, the Smitty members come from south and east London, and once had a regular gig under a railway arch in Bethnal Green. They are a smartly dressed and hugely talented bunch, and a shot in the arm for the world of jazz. They give us a live session – and a reason to be cheerful – on tonight’s show.

Macbeth 9PM, RADIO 3 Exams are coming, and William Shakespeare’s blood-steeped tragedy is on the syllabus for lots of students. Get them sat down by the radio for a bit of intense, dramatic and timely revision. SJ

George McCrae (3pm, Radio 2)