As you may know, I hate oldies. Especially the tedious ones from groups like Pink Floyd. OMG, save me from the awful Pink Floyd oldies! Except when re-done differently and excitedly using a different instrument. I can actually enjoy this…. Read More ›
If you’ve got a few hours you want to burn, you must check this out. It’s the timeline of every song that’s been number one since 1958 (in America). It plays snippets and scrolls slowly forward replacing each number one… Read More ›
In recent times I’ve become slightly obsessed with Lilly Wood and the Prick. Well, to be more truthful, the single song “Prayer in C”, which, despite being around five years old, was rediscovered by Robin Schultz. He remixed it, without… Read More ›
On this date back in 1967, BBC Radio 1 was born. Happy Birthday, Radio 1. 46 years old, and still sounding like a modern teenager. Quite rightly, today’s Radio 1 is a world away from the Radio 1 that opened… Read More ›
You’ve heard of ‘elevator muzak’, right? That’s the lounge-style stuff that’s already burbling away in a lift (the proper name for what Americans call ‘elevator’) when you get into it. It covers those otherwise embarrassing quietnesses during which total strangers… Read More ›
I recently wrote a tongue in cheek article about Radio Caroline. However this, in contrast, is a very sombre few words on a very related subject. I have to say something quite sad about Ronan O’Rahilly and his health…. Read More ›
It is compulsory for me to mention Radio Caroline at least once every few months, so as I listen to Carmen Allgood‘s excellent Indie Music Wave programme, I thought I’d pen a few words. (Can you spot Christopher England?) Sorry?… Read More ›
Is one of the problems with radio in this country, the simple fact that those in charge of it are too old to be in touch with the listeners? If we carefully examine the listening habits of 97.3% of the… Read More ›
Years ago, I was very very stupid. As a symptom of my stupidity I used to collect jingles. Radio identification jingles. Yes. I know. Whilst the average radio listener is completely unaware of such things as the station’s sonic logo,… Read More ›
I’m not stuck in my ways. I’m not old. But I am very sad. Jack FM has announced that it is going to expand its ‘brand’ to cover large parts of the UK, and to try to get it into… Read More ›
Imagine the horror if, back in 1970, when those 14 souls invested all they had into building the first ever Glastonbury (Pilton) Festival, lots of really old people and BBC Radio 2 (not Radio 1, Radio 2!!) had turned up. Imagine… Read More ›
I was sitting in the Subway in Aintree retail park. Well, actually I’d popped in to use the loo, and felt I ought to buy something lest the highly trained Subway staff drop kick me to the floor and tell… Read More ›
My life doesn’t include the Eurovision Song Contest. It hasn’t done for about 20 to 25 years. I have no interest in it whatsoever, it has no relevance to me and my life and my interests. However, a bit like… Read More ›
In a previous article, or, ok, maybe two (here and here), I declared my love of Steve and Suzy, the Sunday morning duo on internet radio station Big L. I am looking for something from my ‘radio’ that I just… Read More ›
They never learn do they? Old people. It’s been a while since I experienced the venom and angry that infests old people. However, I have been under attack! Recently the boy band JLS announced they were splitting up. I made… Read More ›
My search for radio that I can listen to continues. I’m looking for a radio station that combines current music with a medley of lots of fun or serious bits inbetween. A conversation that is broken up with songs. Modern… Read More ›
I don’t see Sunday mornings that often. I tend to emerge from my sleeping pit in the afternoon. However, when Sunday mornings have to be experienced, I do my usual thing of fiddling around trying to find something interesting to… Read More ›
Back in the days when music radio was still in the hands of the creatives rather than a badly programmed computer, eccentricity was allowed to prevail behind the scenes. London’s Kiss 100 FM, the first legal dance music station, in… Read More ›
It started as one an hour. Within a week it became two an hour. That’s two too many. I’m talking about the invasion of old records being played by Radio 1. Old Christmas records. Bah Humbug. Why is a radio… Read More ›
The ‘segue’ (pronounced ‘seg-way’) when applied to songs on the radio used to mean carefully playing one song after another with them intermingling as one came to a close and the other started. (Yes, it’s also the name of a… Read More ›
I’m guessing that the 1950s and 1960s were simpler times. The lyrics go, “Do you love me now that I can dance?” Yep, life was so simple. But, is it really true that actual ‘love’ would and could be switched… Read More ›
Have I mentioned before that I own one-and-a-half radio stations? Well, I do. They are internet radio stations playing variations of dance music (what other kind of music is there?). I suppose they must be very popular because both appear… Read More ›
Coming from London, a city within which it is perfectly normal for over 60% of the radio stations available to be unlicensed, my move to Liverpool was a wake-up call in this respect. Not only was there far less radio… Read More ›
So then. After a week of Scott Mills holding the fort, Monday arrived and at 6:30 in the morning #teamgrimmy took the reins trying to control the beast that is the Radio 1 Breakfast show. Eight and a half years… Read More ›
The axing of Chris Moyles from the breakfast show came as a response to the need to attract a younger audience. BBC Radio 1‘s remit is to cater for people aged under 30, full-stop. The average age was 32. Many… Read More ›
Many years ago before the mp3 was invented and the ability to ‘segue’ songs (play them one after the other with no silence inbetween) became an essential of even the smallest playback device, it was accepted that there would be… Read More ›
Why do people bother buying and hoarding things like films, DVDs, CDs, mp3s, etc., etc.? It seems to be quite a pointless and old fashioned exercise in this modern day and age. Let’s examine the concept. Let’s say I hear… Read More ›
August 19th, 1989 is 23 earth years ago. Sigh. It’s also a radio anorak anniversary to be marked with black armbands (but only by radio anoraks). You see, 23 years ago, Radio Caroline, the pop pirate, was broadcasting on three… Read More ›
I recently wrote about how radio station bosses have deliberately destroyed the public enjoyment of the work of the radio DJ (here). The ultimate purpose was to rid music-radio of the ‘DJ’ and so remove the associated financial outlays. (A… Read More ›
I’m an anorak’s wet dream, I am. Jeeez. Spare me. It’s August the 14th. Noooooooooo. Back in 1967 this was the day that all the pop pirate radioships fell silent (except those operated under the callsign “Radio Caroline”). Sigh. Radio… Read More ›
Jack FM is a music-radio format devised in America and, owing to our lack of originality in the UK, copied in its original form wholesale. The Jack FM format is simple: There are no radio DJs (or presenters). The songs… Read More ›
“People just don’t listen to the radio via their TVs!” That’s something I’m told on a regular basis by people who really need to get out more. Hey, I’m really sorry about this, but people are listening to the radio… Read More ›
I don’t go on about it, but I own one and a half internet radio stations. I started off helping out and so owning a half, then I added me a whole one of my own. Not unsurprisingly, my internet… Read More ›
Coming from London, a city within which it is perfectly normal for over 60% of the radio stations available to be unlicensed, my move to Liverpool was a wake-up call in this respect. Not only was there far less radio… Read More ›
In early 1997 I blogged about Chris Moyles, saying: Must say a word or two about Chris Moyles’ Late Bit on Capital 95.8 FM in London. He seems to be there 10pm thru 2am Friday and Saturday nights. Whilst he… Read More ›
I like Jimmy Carr. He mainly makes me laugh. His comedy is a little bit close to the edge, yes, but that’s much better than it being safe and traditional, in my humble opinion. However, he does try to pretend… Read More ›
Once upon a time radio audiences were measurable in their millions. This would include the audiences for offshore radio stations like Radio Caroline. Certainly during the 1960s this was so. To the horror of anybody over 30, most teenagers and… Read More ›
At almost any location in London, and any time of day, even the deafest of FM radios will be able to hear between 30 and 40 pirate radio stations. Ofcom has a department that is supposed to stop this happening…. Read More ›
I originally published this back in October last year… The idea that BBC local radio might cease to do much more than relay Radio 5Live has been conveniently leaked into the world of muttering and chattering. A bit like when… Read More ›
Finally nearly all the old fashioned analogue TV has gone. There’s only a couple of areas left, Northern Ireland and Newcastle. They’ll be gone by the end of the year. So, it must be time to turn our attention to… Read More ›
