And unlike some lesser awards shows, these are given for and
therefore named after the year in which the work was done rather than
the year we're a few weeks in to....
BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR: Joint award to Iain Lee and Katherine Boyle
My job means i have about six hours of radio time most Saturdays and in order to make the most of this opportunity, i tend to utilise this to listen to a variety of podcasts and radio programmes rather than material broadcast live to air. I spent most of the year starting Saturday with Iain Lee's 3CR Breakfast Show podcast, which was a bit loud for Saturday morning but superbly produced and crammed full of content (plenty of it especially recorded for the podcast). During the Summer came the announcement that Iain and his breakfast producer Katherine Boyle were also taking a Saturday lunchtime slot (traditionally the space where BBC local radio imports a few members of the local WI to talk about chutney). The lunchtime show (dubbed "the Rabbit Hole") was a free for all phone in show, always in the custody of Lee and Boyle and occasionally nudged in direction by them; the sort of thing that used to populate every late night radio slot across the country back in the 80s and 90s, but which has since disappeared altogether. The main difference was that this was going out at midday on a Saturday and therefore couldn't fall in to the trap of ending up lewd as some of the late night shows did, instead it just got weird. But good weird. Really good weird.
The show was punctuated by various eclectic songs from Lee's music collection which fitted the free-roaming tone perfectly. For a presenter who has confessed to "not getting" music radio, he does a bloody good job of it.
Sadly it wasn't to last. Lee's departure came from 3CR following him upsetting a homophobic christian after calling him out as a bigot during the breakfast show, which incurred the wrath of some fundamentalist christian media organisation and despite protestations from an army of fans, various LGBT and atheist groups, his time at 3CR was over.
So, this award is not specifically for the breakfast show, the Rabbit Hole show, nor being shat on from a great height, but because the sum of this year's work for Lee and Boyle was greater than many broadcasters achieve in their lifetime.
Twitter: @iainlee and @properkath
RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: BBC Radio Sheffield.
As with last year, i've listened to far too much local radio broadcast for an area some 200 miles away from me. Toby Foster's breakfast show with Amy Nagy and Silent Dan Green has been in superb form and the extra production values being invested in the podcast are much appreciated. Clueless with Howie Pressman, Kat Cowan and Cuthbert Cluemaster has had some superb editions this year with some excellent laugh out loud moments. Bernie Clifton's weekend show Live-ish has had some brilliant episodes too, one from early in the year with the current line up of The Grumbleweeds was excellent radio. So many local radio stations could learn a great deal from Radio Sheffield, but the lesson isn't a cherry picking exercise. It is about developing an overall tone, a team of presenters who clearly get on with each other and are happy to inventively cross promote shows without it feeling forced by management.
Twitter: @bbcsheffield
Breakfast folks: @tobyfoster @amygracenagy @danmgreen
Clueless folks: @howiepressman1 @katherinecowan @radiocluemaster
FACTUAL PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR: BBC Radio Cornwall Special - The Coliseum
The decline of the British Seaside holiday has been well documented, and while the businesses which fall along with visitor numbers can be found at many resorts, few are as iconic as Cornwall's Coliseum entertainments venue. The Coliseum, sited on the beach at Carlyon Bay near St Austell featured a theatre, nightclub, restaurants and amusement arcade, an echo of something for everyone on the traditional family holiday. The final operations at the centre eventually folded in 2003 and it was finally demolished in 2015, prompting this nostalgic and atmospheric trip through the history of the site.
SONG OF THE YEAR: The Blow Monkeys - This is Your Life
Having bought a new phone in the spring, this is apparently what i've played the most this year. I did treat myself to a CD of Whoops! There Goes The Neighbourhood! during the summer and the original version of This is Your Life is still a belting pop classic.
MOMENT OF THE YEAR: The Vernon Click
That precise time just after 10am on weekdays when Chris Moyles signs off on Radio X and Vernon Kay starts blaring on.
AND EVERYTHING ELSE BRILLIANT:
Lives in a Landscape (BBC R4); John Finnemore's Double Acts (BBC R4); Kermode & Mayo's Wittertainment (BBC R5L); Jon Holmes, particualrly for getting Ofcom complaints on his first weekend breakfast (Radio X); Steve Lamacq's Roundtable for being occasionally brilliant but equally infuriating (BBC 6M); Hunted (BBC WM).
Wednesday 23 December 2015
Saturday 5 December 2015
Listening List 04: Tom Robinson, The Rabbit Hole, WM's Legends Weekend and a storming Clueless
It has been a while since i wrote about my recent listening exploits, so here are a few highlights:
Tom Robinson: Now Playing @ 6 Music - Cassettes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06q652r
I've never previously listened to much of Tom Robinson's output on 6Music and judging by this show, i think i may well have been missing out. In collaboration with Cassette Store Day (Record Store Day's magnetic younger sibling), listeners were invited to suggest songs which fit with the theme. So far, so 6Music. The difference was the variety of material that was played - amongst all the standard indie fare that is so prevalent on 6Music were offerings from Utah Saints, The Grid, Inxs and The Adventures of Stevie V amongst others. The whole thing was threaded together beautifully by Tom Robinson without a hint of musical snobbery, but with some superb recorded inserts and a lot of nostalgia thrown in for good measure. 6Music needs to be making more shows like this and less sniffy oneupmanship.
Iain Lee and Katherine Boyle: The Rabbit Hole. (BBC Three Counties Radio)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p032l483 or http://theiainlee.podbean.com/
The rather acrimonious departure of Iain Lee from 3CR has been covered elsewhere, so i won't dwell on that. The saddest part of the fallout for me was not the loss of the breakfast show, but the departure of this utterly epic two hours of Saturday lunchtime radio. Two superb broadcasters, no agenda, callers and superbly eclectic music. It took a couple of episodes to get in to its stride, but was belting out radio gold by the time the show came to an unfortunate end. The unexpected twists and turns of the conversation were so refreshing compared to the heavily scripted offerings that tend to populate daytime radio elsewhere.
WM Legends Weekend: Tony Wadsworth and Julie Meyer (BBC WM)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0368x2f
It is very easy for nostalgic shows to wallow in their own self importance, but Tony Wadsworth and Julie Meyer took a different approach to their guest re-appearance in the late evening slot on BBC WM, instead putting together a proper edition of their previous show with guests along with the fond nostalgia for their former show. Topics covered included stargazing, transvestites and a local folk act, all delivered in Tony and Julie's distinctive and engaging bickering style. The Midlands' favourite married couple of broadcasters sounded effortlessly settled in this revisit of their old format whilst still being interesting and engaging, which is not often found in late night radio these days.
Clueless (BBC Radio Sheffield) - 22nd November 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p037jxb0
As a regular listener to Radio Sheffield's Clueless, i still get surprised by how damned good the show can be. This episode was a complete barnstomer with the regular crew of Howie Pressman, Kat Cowan, Cuthbert Cluemaster and Yas the Magnificent delivering a very entertaining three hours of cryptic clue solving, arguing, squabbling, running jokes, getting lost, tantrums and Frank. Whilst the show is always good, every so often the whole thing comes together with tremendous effect and this was one of those occasions.
Tom Robinson: Now Playing @ 6 Music - Cassettes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06q652r
I've never previously listened to much of Tom Robinson's output on 6Music and judging by this show, i think i may well have been missing out. In collaboration with Cassette Store Day (Record Store Day's magnetic younger sibling), listeners were invited to suggest songs which fit with the theme. So far, so 6Music. The difference was the variety of material that was played - amongst all the standard indie fare that is so prevalent on 6Music were offerings from Utah Saints, The Grid, Inxs and The Adventures of Stevie V amongst others. The whole thing was threaded together beautifully by Tom Robinson without a hint of musical snobbery, but with some superb recorded inserts and a lot of nostalgia thrown in for good measure. 6Music needs to be making more shows like this and less sniffy oneupmanship.
Iain Lee and Katherine Boyle: The Rabbit Hole. (BBC Three Counties Radio)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p032l483 or http://theiainlee.podbean.com/
The rather acrimonious departure of Iain Lee from 3CR has been covered elsewhere, so i won't dwell on that. The saddest part of the fallout for me was not the loss of the breakfast show, but the departure of this utterly epic two hours of Saturday lunchtime radio. Two superb broadcasters, no agenda, callers and superbly eclectic music. It took a couple of episodes to get in to its stride, but was belting out radio gold by the time the show came to an unfortunate end. The unexpected twists and turns of the conversation were so refreshing compared to the heavily scripted offerings that tend to populate daytime radio elsewhere.
WM Legends Weekend: Tony Wadsworth and Julie Meyer (BBC WM)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0368x2f
It is very easy for nostalgic shows to wallow in their own self importance, but Tony Wadsworth and Julie Meyer took a different approach to their guest re-appearance in the late evening slot on BBC WM, instead putting together a proper edition of their previous show with guests along with the fond nostalgia for their former show. Topics covered included stargazing, transvestites and a local folk act, all delivered in Tony and Julie's distinctive and engaging bickering style. The Midlands' favourite married couple of broadcasters sounded effortlessly settled in this revisit of their old format whilst still being interesting and engaging, which is not often found in late night radio these days.
Clueless (BBC Radio Sheffield) - 22nd November 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p037jxb0
As a regular listener to Radio Sheffield's Clueless, i still get surprised by how damned good the show can be. This episode was a complete barnstomer with the regular crew of Howie Pressman, Kat Cowan, Cuthbert Cluemaster and Yas the Magnificent delivering a very entertaining three hours of cryptic clue solving, arguing, squabbling, running jokes, getting lost, tantrums and Frank. Whilst the show is always good, every so often the whole thing comes together with tremendous effect and this was one of those occasions.
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