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.
Monday, 12 October 2015
The West goes Clueless
Sunday saw the first episode of BBC Radio Bristol / BBC Somerset's joint Clueless outing, the first such effort of a Treasure Hunt style programme in the west country (aside from BBC Wiltshire's truly awful pilot Treasure Quest a few years ago). I am planning to put together a comprehensive round up of all the Treasure Hunt games that are going on around the country on BBC locals, but in the mean time here are my thoughts on Clueless West.
Host Richard Lewis is a man at ease with most things. His Sunday morning show has been a very relaxed and amiable affair for many years now. Whilst he never sounded flustered with the new format (which does feel somewhat as though it has been foist upon him), there were a few odd junctures which are hopefully only a transitional factor - two interviews with people unrelated to the rest of the show were shoe-horned in. Perhaps these were booked prior to the decision of the new format being adopted...?
The layout of the main Treasure Hunt part of the show is similar to that of the Three Counties / Northamptonshire offering hosted by Jonathan Vernon-Smith on a Saturday morning where two clue hunters are following two sets of clues on a single programme. This evolved from the previous incarnation where JVS took care solely of Northants and a separate programme happened on 3CR. As a man familiar and well rehearsed with the format, JVS has morphed fairly successfully in to presenting the double hunt. Attempting to start a new show from scratch using the double hunt approach was always going to sound messy from the offset and the Clueless West offering did so.
The cluesetter and adversary character on Clueless West is played by "The Farmers Wife", who is only briefly on air to give out clues or drop the odd hint. Compared to the higher profile roles of BBC Sheffield's Cluemaster or BBC WM's Voice, this feels like a bit of a lost opportunity. The Farmers Wife is most similar in tone to BBC Norfolk's Questmaster. Although i think this is a bit of a low key role for somebody who should be more pivotal to the show, it is better than the unheard adversary Les from 3CR/Northants, BBC Radio York's Keeper from Finders Keepers or the taped inserts on Lincolnshire's Pirate Gold.
The clues got noticeably simpler as the two hunts went on, having provided a moderate challenge on clues one and two, the later Bristol clues were very simple and perhaps indicated the lack of feasibility in reaching the final destination. Staging such a show around Bristol is never going to be an easy task given the city's geographical layout and incessant traffic problems. I do wonder if the format would be better being simplified to one hunt which encompasses both areas.
The competition between the two regions was played up fairly well and a feature i've not come across before was introduced to put a "Roadblock" and associated ten minute penalty in the way of the opposing team. I think ten minutes might be over-egging the penalty somewhat, especially given how many sub three minute wins and losses can be found on other shows.
In terms of staff, cluehunters James Hanson (Somerset) and Sasha Bigwood (Bristol) did a reasonable job. Hanson sounds more at ease with the format, perhaps helped by travelling around the rural Somerset Levels rather than Bristol. I've never cared for Sasha Bigwood since she presented a request show on Radio Bristol many years ago which was one of the most consistently awful things ever on British radio. Her voice reacts with me like fingernails down a blackboard, thus trying to be subjective about her performance is difficult.
The soundscaping of the start of the show was put together nicely and the grandstand finish and associated tension bed were fairly well put together until the walls of Shepton Mallet prison put paid to the connection between cluehunter Hanson and the studio.
Overall, the format will take time to bed in properly and hopefully a few tweaks will be made (most notably the unrelated telephone interviews - surely meeting these people is what the hunts are there for?), but it does show some promise. Richard Lewis is a solid host, although i have concerns there may be some aggravation at having lost his previous open format. If the whole lot can be drawn together more tightly, it could become a solid staple of the schedules around the west country.
Host Richard Lewis is a man at ease with most things. His Sunday morning show has been a very relaxed and amiable affair for many years now. Whilst he never sounded flustered with the new format (which does feel somewhat as though it has been foist upon him), there were a few odd junctures which are hopefully only a transitional factor - two interviews with people unrelated to the rest of the show were shoe-horned in. Perhaps these were booked prior to the decision of the new format being adopted...?
The layout of the main Treasure Hunt part of the show is similar to that of the Three Counties / Northamptonshire offering hosted by Jonathan Vernon-Smith on a Saturday morning where two clue hunters are following two sets of clues on a single programme. This evolved from the previous incarnation where JVS took care solely of Northants and a separate programme happened on 3CR. As a man familiar and well rehearsed with the format, JVS has morphed fairly successfully in to presenting the double hunt. Attempting to start a new show from scratch using the double hunt approach was always going to sound messy from the offset and the Clueless West offering did so.
The cluesetter and adversary character on Clueless West is played by "The Farmers Wife", who is only briefly on air to give out clues or drop the odd hint. Compared to the higher profile roles of BBC Sheffield's Cluemaster or BBC WM's Voice, this feels like a bit of a lost opportunity. The Farmers Wife is most similar in tone to BBC Norfolk's Questmaster. Although i think this is a bit of a low key role for somebody who should be more pivotal to the show, it is better than the unheard adversary Les from 3CR/Northants, BBC Radio York's Keeper from Finders Keepers or the taped inserts on Lincolnshire's Pirate Gold.
The clues got noticeably simpler as the two hunts went on, having provided a moderate challenge on clues one and two, the later Bristol clues were very simple and perhaps indicated the lack of feasibility in reaching the final destination. Staging such a show around Bristol is never going to be an easy task given the city's geographical layout and incessant traffic problems. I do wonder if the format would be better being simplified to one hunt which encompasses both areas.
The competition between the two regions was played up fairly well and a feature i've not come across before was introduced to put a "Roadblock" and associated ten minute penalty in the way of the opposing team. I think ten minutes might be over-egging the penalty somewhat, especially given how many sub three minute wins and losses can be found on other shows.
In terms of staff, cluehunters James Hanson (Somerset) and Sasha Bigwood (Bristol) did a reasonable job. Hanson sounds more at ease with the format, perhaps helped by travelling around the rural Somerset Levels rather than Bristol. I've never cared for Sasha Bigwood since she presented a request show on Radio Bristol many years ago which was one of the most consistently awful things ever on British radio. Her voice reacts with me like fingernails down a blackboard, thus trying to be subjective about her performance is difficult.
The soundscaping of the start of the show was put together nicely and the grandstand finish and associated tension bed were fairly well put together until the walls of Shepton Mallet prison put paid to the connection between cluehunter Hanson and the studio.
Overall, the format will take time to bed in properly and hopefully a few tweaks will be made (most notably the unrelated telephone interviews - surely meeting these people is what the hunts are there for?), but it does show some promise. Richard Lewis is a solid host, although i have concerns there may be some aggravation at having lost his previous open format. If the whole lot can be drawn together more tightly, it could become a solid staple of the schedules around the west country.
Thursday, 20 August 2015
Ofcom. You have failed.
Travelling along the M6 between Birmingham and Cheshire twice in the past week gave me a chance to review the radio offerings in a part of the country i'm not regularly in. I have to say i wasn't impressed. To say there is no choice is putting it mildly. Almost every ILR on the dial is doing the same thing. Gem 106, Signal 1, Free Radio, Heart and Capital are interchangeable. There might be mild differences between the brands of banal pop they peddle, but nobody is doing anything remotely interesting. The highest level of variety between the stations is the adverts.
If this is the "variety" being offered by a regulated market, then the regulator has failed.
The variety is more stark between BBC locals in the area. Treasure Hunts, Gardening phone-ins, Football commentary, Minority programmes, a bloke who sounds like he really wants to be Simon Bates(1).
BBC Radio Stoke sounds like it is actively chasing the Smooth audience and promoting the same bland "the greatest hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s" schtick that all the b-grade ILRs are up to. Its a shame because James Watt (weekday afternoons) is much better than the playlist and slow pace of the show suggests.
(1) - Colin Young, BBC Radio Shropshire. If there was an Olympic event in talking slowly and leaving unneccessary pauses, he'd be the odds on favourite.
If this is the "variety" being offered by a regulated market, then the regulator has failed.
The variety is more stark between BBC locals in the area. Treasure Hunts, Gardening phone-ins, Football commentary, Minority programmes, a bloke who sounds like he really wants to be Simon Bates(1).
BBC Radio Stoke sounds like it is actively chasing the Smooth audience and promoting the same bland "the greatest hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s" schtick that all the b-grade ILRs are up to. Its a shame because James Watt (weekday afternoons) is much better than the playlist and slow pace of the show suggests.
(1) - Colin Young, BBC Radio Shropshire. If there was an Olympic event in talking slowly and leaving unneccessary pauses, he'd be the odds on favourite.
Thursday, 13 August 2015
Listening List 03: Clifton in Clubland, The Great Bleep Forward, Penn School, Kent Queues and Mark Forrest
A small selection of oddments that have crossed my ears recently...
Radio: Clifton in Clubland or The Golden Days of the Working Men's Clubs. (BBC Radio Sheffield)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02r9fzy
BBC Radio Sheffield are rapidly gaining a very good reputation for their one off shows and documentaries. Last year's doc on the TV film Threads was very well put together and this two hour long special fronted by comic Bernie Clifton is a warm and atmospheric tribute to the highly organised entertainment scene which thrived in South Yorkshire (and across the North). The guest list for the subject matter is exceptional with none of the shoehorning in of talking heads which a TV version may have generated, Clifton riffs particularly well with Tony Christie and Cannon & Ball. The subject is also thoroughly explored over the two hour show with turns of all varieties being celebrated. My only criticism would be that there is little exploration of the decline of the Working Men's Club, although mention is made of the resurgence of live performance in smaller venues as the public tire of stadium performances.
Radio: The Great Bleep Forward (BBC 6 Music)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t6s96
This 2004 documentary presented by Andrew Collins is repeated fairly regularly on the 6 Music overnight schedules. On paper, it should be brilliant - i'm fond of both the subject matter and Andrew Collins' sharp and witty narration. The execution feels like something of a missed target, the victim of the sort of music snobbery which runs throughout 6 Music's programming and playlist. There is endless lip service paid to what the cool kids like to think is all electronic music, but scant attention is paid to anything post 1982. The early historical aspects of the birth of electronica is enlightening, but as soon as we move on to more commonly known music history, everything becomes a little partisan. In terms of lip service paid, the New Romantic movement seems apparently the most important thing to have ever happened to electronica. Rave is practically ignored, while Chicago House is credited with being the genesis of anything that came after it. The only mentions of European electronica are the obligatory hero worship of Kraftwerk. Because of the gaping chasms of whole movements which are missing from the programme, Collins' usually entertaining schtick becomes tiresome. The series seems a missed opportunity covering a subject which could be revisited to deliver a better balanced telling of the story.
Radio / Podcast: Iain Lee and Team - Penn School (BBC Three Counties Radio)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrvh3/episodes/downloads
Despite Louis Barfe's superb write up of the 3CR coverage of the situation where a privately run school for children with severe communication difficulties has been allowed to go in to receivership having found itself over £1m in debt, i feel compelled to add my voice to the praise being directed to Iain Lee, Justin Dealey, Katherine Boyle and the rest of the staff on the Three Counties Breakfast show. The compassionate but firm handling of the situation highlighted many failures over recent years, which were responded to not by the school's governors or trustees, but by a Soho based PR firm. It is the sort of story which should be a national scandal and proper answers demanded from those who have been placed in a position of trust.
As an aside, Iain Lee is very much a marmite character and those assuming he is the same cocksure face that presented Channel 4's The 10 o'clock Show would be much mistaken. He has developed his skills as a broadcaster very well, moving from the Human Zoo format he presented on LBC and Absolute to bring some much needed life and lightness to the perennial bland beige worthiness of BBC Local Radio breakfast. The whole team on the 3CR show demonstrate how local radio doesn't have to be persistently earnest and hand wringing in order to show respect for and relevance to the region it serves.
Radio: Gridlock Kent (BBC Radio Kent)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ypcg3
I tend to scan through the listings for the BBC Local Radio Specials from time to time in order to see what sort of things have been going on around the country. As i have a fair familiarity with East Kent, i started listening to this to hear the exciting story of Operation Stack, where HGVs heading for blocked ports or the Channel Tunnel get parked on the M20. Sadly, i only managed about 20 minutes. It soon became clear that there was a lot of hi-jacking going on for cheap political points rather than people wanting to actually resolve the situation. I also hadn't realised that the show went on for THREE HOURS and had been broadcast from 22h00 on a Monday night. On the plus side, i believe that the insomniacs of Kent were delighted with the programme...
And finally: A thought about Mark Forrest.
I heard a segment of Mark Forrest's national early evening show last week and i think i've finally worked out what it needs to make the format... errrm... less shit. The show is trying to be a radio equivalent of The One Show by collating interesting stories from all of England's BBC local stations. It falls in to the inevitable trap of constantly plugging what is "coming up later" and breaking stories up to play records we've all heard a thousand times before. I think the solution would be to revise to format to become predominantly speech based. Perhaps a record at the start and end of each hour and maybe between inserts, but otherwise collate the stories in to a more rich and engaging format, which doesn't lose the interest of the listener as a 15-20 minute segment gets stretched out interminably over an hour.
Radio: Clifton in Clubland or The Golden Days of the Working Men's Clubs. (BBC Radio Sheffield)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02r9fzy
BBC Radio Sheffield are rapidly gaining a very good reputation for their one off shows and documentaries. Last year's doc on the TV film Threads was very well put together and this two hour long special fronted by comic Bernie Clifton is a warm and atmospheric tribute to the highly organised entertainment scene which thrived in South Yorkshire (and across the North). The guest list for the subject matter is exceptional with none of the shoehorning in of talking heads which a TV version may have generated, Clifton riffs particularly well with Tony Christie and Cannon & Ball. The subject is also thoroughly explored over the two hour show with turns of all varieties being celebrated. My only criticism would be that there is little exploration of the decline of the Working Men's Club, although mention is made of the resurgence of live performance in smaller venues as the public tire of stadium performances.
Radio: The Great Bleep Forward (BBC 6 Music)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t6s96
This 2004 documentary presented by Andrew Collins is repeated fairly regularly on the 6 Music overnight schedules. On paper, it should be brilliant - i'm fond of both the subject matter and Andrew Collins' sharp and witty narration. The execution feels like something of a missed target, the victim of the sort of music snobbery which runs throughout 6 Music's programming and playlist. There is endless lip service paid to what the cool kids like to think is all electronic music, but scant attention is paid to anything post 1982. The early historical aspects of the birth of electronica is enlightening, but as soon as we move on to more commonly known music history, everything becomes a little partisan. In terms of lip service paid, the New Romantic movement seems apparently the most important thing to have ever happened to electronica. Rave is practically ignored, while Chicago House is credited with being the genesis of anything that came after it. The only mentions of European electronica are the obligatory hero worship of Kraftwerk. Because of the gaping chasms of whole movements which are missing from the programme, Collins' usually entertaining schtick becomes tiresome. The series seems a missed opportunity covering a subject which could be revisited to deliver a better balanced telling of the story.
Radio / Podcast: Iain Lee and Team - Penn School (BBC Three Counties Radio)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrvh3/episodes/downloads
Despite Louis Barfe's superb write up of the 3CR coverage of the situation where a privately run school for children with severe communication difficulties has been allowed to go in to receivership having found itself over £1m in debt, i feel compelled to add my voice to the praise being directed to Iain Lee, Justin Dealey, Katherine Boyle and the rest of the staff on the Three Counties Breakfast show. The compassionate but firm handling of the situation highlighted many failures over recent years, which were responded to not by the school's governors or trustees, but by a Soho based PR firm. It is the sort of story which should be a national scandal and proper answers demanded from those who have been placed in a position of trust.
As an aside, Iain Lee is very much a marmite character and those assuming he is the same cocksure face that presented Channel 4's The 10 o'clock Show would be much mistaken. He has developed his skills as a broadcaster very well, moving from the Human Zoo format he presented on LBC and Absolute to bring some much needed life and lightness to the perennial bland beige worthiness of BBC Local Radio breakfast. The whole team on the 3CR show demonstrate how local radio doesn't have to be persistently earnest and hand wringing in order to show respect for and relevance to the region it serves.
Radio: Gridlock Kent (BBC Radio Kent)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ypcg3
I tend to scan through the listings for the BBC Local Radio Specials from time to time in order to see what sort of things have been going on around the country. As i have a fair familiarity with East Kent, i started listening to this to hear the exciting story of Operation Stack, where HGVs heading for blocked ports or the Channel Tunnel get parked on the M20. Sadly, i only managed about 20 minutes. It soon became clear that there was a lot of hi-jacking going on for cheap political points rather than people wanting to actually resolve the situation. I also hadn't realised that the show went on for THREE HOURS and had been broadcast from 22h00 on a Monday night. On the plus side, i believe that the insomniacs of Kent were delighted with the programme...
And finally: A thought about Mark Forrest.
I heard a segment of Mark Forrest's national early evening show last week and i think i've finally worked out what it needs to make the format... errrm... less shit. The show is trying to be a radio equivalent of The One Show by collating interesting stories from all of England's BBC local stations. It falls in to the inevitable trap of constantly plugging what is "coming up later" and breaking stories up to play records we've all heard a thousand times before. I think the solution would be to revise to format to become predominantly speech based. Perhaps a record at the start and end of each hour and maybe between inserts, but otherwise collate the stories in to a more rich and engaging format, which doesn't lose the interest of the listener as a 15-20 minute segment gets stretched out interminably over an hour.
Sunday, 19 April 2015
Record Store Day releases i'd like to see
A box set of rarities by somebody you've never heard of? Oh yes. That market is well catered for by Record Store Day. Here is a small collection of suggestions from somebody with a rather wider musical taste than the average RSD grockle. I'm not fussy on formats - vinyl, CD, cassette, minidisc, just get the music out there.
Culture Beat - Obsession (Eurodance)
The top of my wish list is Culture Beat's lost final album, Obsession. According to my memory (which may well be wrong, it often is), the old CultureBeat.com website listed this as having been recorded (circa 2002-3?). How true that is, i suspect we'll never know. In this era, Culture Beat were in something of a state of flux following the relative flop of their rather bland fourth album Metamorphosis which had failed to make any major impact commercially. A change of vocalist had seen Jacky Sangster replace Kim Sanders (who went on to work on several Schiller albums) and the group were unsure of their direction. Later releases Can't Go On (2004) and Your Love (2008) showed further changes of direction which the Obsession album may make more sense of.
Utah Saints - Wired World (Dance)
Now here is something which definitely does exist. Following the success of their first eponymous album, Utah Saints recorded their second fairly shortly afterwards and released the lead single Ohio. I'm not really sure as to why it was never released, although there is the suggestion that the duo didn't want to get on a treadmill of churning out music. Low quality bootleg copies were leaked and their other two studio albums are sufficiently interesting to suggest that this would have been worth listening to.
Chicane - Easy to Assemble (2003, Dance / Trance)
Chicane's third album was scheduled for release on WEA. Huge internet piracy of promo copies and a souring of relations between Nick Bracegirdle and the label saw the release get delayed several times (thus fuelling further piracy) and eventually cancelled altogether. Although promo CD copies are available, it would be interesting to know if these were the finished product.
PKA (Dance / Rave)
Phil Kelsey, aka PKA was responsible for one of my favourite singles of all time - 1992's Powergen (Only Your Love). This song is part of my long standing suspicion that most dance genres will have a definitively brilliant record released right at the end of the lifespan which will be criminally ignored. As the rave scene fell apart and what would become the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically targetted dance music, PKA released this complex, catchy and euphoric rave anthem. I'd love to hear anything else that Kelsey was working on at the time.
A Brand - 45 RPM / Hammerhead (2004, 2006: Art Rock / Belpop)
Dead Man Ray - Berchen / Trap / Marginal (1998, 2000, 2001: Indie / Belpop)
These early releases from the Flemish indie scene which reached a peak towards the end of the Noughties are now very difficult to find any trace of.
Dead Man Ray have retained something of a cult following having contributed a member to dEUS (Rudy Trouve) and kickstarted the solo career of Daan Stuyven who has since had considerable success in Belgium, releasing some seven studio albums and further compilations reworking earlier songs. The band had a distinctive yet variable sound which combined electronica, lo-fi rock, indie, trip hop and most things in between. Unlike many bands who fused these genres, the result was still catchy and rarely self indulgent.
Artrockers A Brand have continued on to release some superb albums (Judas, Future You) with nods to everything from disco to punk whilst retaining a spite and a sharp edge to keep the sound interesting. Their first two longplayers are now very difficult to locate.
Ryu (Ryutaro Nakahara) - Rainbow Drop / AI (2003, J-Trance)
This debut 12" from Ryu showcased his background as a games music designer and demonstrated his versatility with a hyperactive and joyous pair of dance tracks with the most phenomenal builds and melodies.
Scatman John - Pripri Scat / Super Kirei (Eurodance / J-Pop)
The myth of various artists being "huge in Japan" is often banded around with little regard for reality, but in the case of Scatman John Larkin, it was true. Two songs were recorded in Japan as tie-ins with advertising campaigns. Super Kirei going on to become his biggest hit in the territory and was backed with a reminder of Larkin's jazz background - a cover of Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender. If this isn't cool enough for RSD, then perhaps Larkin's long forgotten eponymous debut LP from 1985 might be considered for a reissue?
Various Artists - Studio Brussel Switch 1 (Electronica)
For twelve years from 2001 to 2013, Belgian radio station Studio Brussel's Switch series compiled a history of contemporary electronica. Each release ran to around 25 tracks of current dance, club and leftfield hits focusing on emerging trends and provides a time capsule of dance music of the period with a degree of honesty rarely seen amongst compilations in the UK. If you listen back to radio shows from five or ten years ago, it is amazing the number of songs which were on heavy rotation at the time but haven't been heard since. Sadly it looks as if 2013's Switch 22 was the final instalment in the series, as Studio Brussel have been gradually phasing out the Switch brand which at its peak ran all night programming on Friday and Saturday. This first edition of the series is the only one which is not widely available and also the only to be released on EMI. Editions 2-9 were released by 541 and 10 onwards on La Musique Fait La Force.
Bent van Looy - Little Star (Pop)
The lead performer of Das Pop, Bent van Looy released his debut solo LP Round The Bend in 2013. This song appeared online during a session for the Dutch Onder Invloed project and later as part of the LoFiDogma series. It has since become a regular part of van Looy's live show along with I Don't Believe in Miracles, which also forms part of the Onder Invloed session. I think the two would make an excellent 7"...
I'm sure i'll think of more at some point, but perhaps this'll give the nosebleeders who collate the RSD material some ideas away from the usual collection of rock, folk and obscura.
Culture Beat - Obsession (Eurodance)
The top of my wish list is Culture Beat's lost final album, Obsession. According to my memory (which may well be wrong, it often is), the old CultureBeat.com website listed this as having been recorded (circa 2002-3?). How true that is, i suspect we'll never know. In this era, Culture Beat were in something of a state of flux following the relative flop of their rather bland fourth album Metamorphosis which had failed to make any major impact commercially. A change of vocalist had seen Jacky Sangster replace Kim Sanders (who went on to work on several Schiller albums) and the group were unsure of their direction. Later releases Can't Go On (2004) and Your Love (2008) showed further changes of direction which the Obsession album may make more sense of.
Utah Saints - Wired World (Dance)
Now here is something which definitely does exist. Following the success of their first eponymous album, Utah Saints recorded their second fairly shortly afterwards and released the lead single Ohio. I'm not really sure as to why it was never released, although there is the suggestion that the duo didn't want to get on a treadmill of churning out music. Low quality bootleg copies were leaked and their other two studio albums are sufficiently interesting to suggest that this would have been worth listening to.
Chicane - Easy to Assemble (2003, Dance / Trance)
Chicane's third album was scheduled for release on WEA. Huge internet piracy of promo copies and a souring of relations between Nick Bracegirdle and the label saw the release get delayed several times (thus fuelling further piracy) and eventually cancelled altogether. Although promo CD copies are available, it would be interesting to know if these were the finished product.
PKA (Dance / Rave)
Phil Kelsey, aka PKA was responsible for one of my favourite singles of all time - 1992's Powergen (Only Your Love). This song is part of my long standing suspicion that most dance genres will have a definitively brilliant record released right at the end of the lifespan which will be criminally ignored. As the rave scene fell apart and what would become the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically targetted dance music, PKA released this complex, catchy and euphoric rave anthem. I'd love to hear anything else that Kelsey was working on at the time.
A Brand - 45 RPM / Hammerhead (2004, 2006: Art Rock / Belpop)
Dead Man Ray - Berchen / Trap / Marginal (1998, 2000, 2001: Indie / Belpop)
These early releases from the Flemish indie scene which reached a peak towards the end of the Noughties are now very difficult to find any trace of.
Dead Man Ray have retained something of a cult following having contributed a member to dEUS (Rudy Trouve) and kickstarted the solo career of Daan Stuyven who has since had considerable success in Belgium, releasing some seven studio albums and further compilations reworking earlier songs. The band had a distinctive yet variable sound which combined electronica, lo-fi rock, indie, trip hop and most things in between. Unlike many bands who fused these genres, the result was still catchy and rarely self indulgent.
Artrockers A Brand have continued on to release some superb albums (Judas, Future You) with nods to everything from disco to punk whilst retaining a spite and a sharp edge to keep the sound interesting. Their first two longplayers are now very difficult to locate.
Ryu (Ryutaro Nakahara) - Rainbow Drop / AI (2003, J-Trance)
This debut 12" from Ryu showcased his background as a games music designer and demonstrated his versatility with a hyperactive and joyous pair of dance tracks with the most phenomenal builds and melodies.
Scatman John - Pripri Scat / Super Kirei (Eurodance / J-Pop)
The myth of various artists being "huge in Japan" is often banded around with little regard for reality, but in the case of Scatman John Larkin, it was true. Two songs were recorded in Japan as tie-ins with advertising campaigns. Super Kirei going on to become his biggest hit in the territory and was backed with a reminder of Larkin's jazz background - a cover of Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender. If this isn't cool enough for RSD, then perhaps Larkin's long forgotten eponymous debut LP from 1985 might be considered for a reissue?
Various Artists - Studio Brussel Switch 1 (Electronica)
For twelve years from 2001 to 2013, Belgian radio station Studio Brussel's Switch series compiled a history of contemporary electronica. Each release ran to around 25 tracks of current dance, club and leftfield hits focusing on emerging trends and provides a time capsule of dance music of the period with a degree of honesty rarely seen amongst compilations in the UK. If you listen back to radio shows from five or ten years ago, it is amazing the number of songs which were on heavy rotation at the time but haven't been heard since. Sadly it looks as if 2013's Switch 22 was the final instalment in the series, as Studio Brussel have been gradually phasing out the Switch brand which at its peak ran all night programming on Friday and Saturday. This first edition of the series is the only one which is not widely available and also the only to be released on EMI. Editions 2-9 were released by 541 and 10 onwards on La Musique Fait La Force.
Bent van Looy - Little Star (Pop)
The lead performer of Das Pop, Bent van Looy released his debut solo LP Round The Bend in 2013. This song appeared online during a session for the Dutch Onder Invloed project and later as part of the LoFiDogma series. It has since become a regular part of van Looy's live show along with I Don't Believe in Miracles, which also forms part of the Onder Invloed session. I think the two would make an excellent 7"...
I'm sure i'll think of more at some point, but perhaps this'll give the nosebleeders who collate the RSD material some ideas away from the usual collection of rock, folk and obscura.
Saturday, 18 April 2015
Some thoughts on Record Store Day...
This might end up a bit freeform, i apologise in advance in case this gets a bit meandering.
Saturday 18th April 2015 is the first Record Store Day for a few years that i haven't partaken of. It isn't especially down to a lack of enthusiasm, more the fact that i was working my 33rd consecutive Saturday. But moaning about your work patterns doesn't make for an interesting music blog, so i'll air a few concerns i have about the event.
There have been a few voices who have aired irritations with RSD as a concept. The spectre of the buyers who purchase only for instant resale (generally for the most commercial or marketable acts) are of huge irritation to many bloggers and Twitter users. I can't say i approve of the actions of those who buy only to resell, but the capitalist society we live in dictates that people will exploit a market. Personally, i lay more blame at the door of those who buy from eBay and the like at massively inflated prices. It is the same argument as those who declare irritation at the high cost resale of gig tickets. I can understand the urge to attend a gig, but less so to own something that it is probably possible to own on another format at a fraction of the cost.
Part of the hysteria is generated by the ridiculously limited runs of some titles which will obviously be huge sellers and the blame for this has to be laid at the door of the major labels. As an example Tony's Muziekhuis (probably Belgium's largest independent record shop - https://www.facebook.com/TonysMuziekhuis) posted on Facebook in the week preceding RSD15 that they were not expecting to receive any copies of the Foo Fighters 10" EP and that there were only 25 copies being made available to the whole of Belgium. This is a state of affairs which benefits (at most) 25 people, whilst leaving hundreds disappointed. But how can this be seen as A Good Thing by anybody? Surely leaving the market to cope with a fraction of the product it needs to meet demand is just crap business. It isn't as if RSD products should be making anybody a loss - given the high retail prices, there should easily be enough value in there for everyone along the food chain to take their cut. Three or four times as much product of a highly desirable title means three or four times more people get to enjoy it, the retailers take more money, the distributors, record companies and bands make more money. Unless i'm very much mistaken, everyone would be a winner. So why the bullshit just to create hysteria?
Another factor that irritates me is the sheer mass of releases which are aimed squarely at the 6 Music audience. Don't get me wrong, i think 6 Music has its place, but a huge majority of the RSD releases over recent years have been aimed at squarely at middle aged white men who always wanted a job on the NME to sneer at anything they didn't think was cool enough. Dance, most electronica and pop all get squarely ignored because they are deemed unworthy by the illuminati who like all the cool music that you should like. The sort of thing you should like (and therefore buy on RSD) is a one sided 7" reissue of a b-side which features one of Husker Du belching.
I have been quite underwhelmed with some of the releases i've purchased on previous RSDs. I'd like to think that if somebody is going to go to the trouble of repressing something that it would be worth listening to and a banal remix of something isn't worth shelling out bordering on a tenner for a 7". By far the best release i've bought was the Bis LP from 2014 (Data Panik Etcetera), which is a solid album and i didn't resent spending £20 on it.
Thanks to the likes of Last Shop Standing, i am frequently told that new record shops are opening regularly. Sadly this isn't the case in the West of England. We have lost Head in Weston-super-Mare and Acorn Music in Yeovil over the past year and to my knowledge no new shops have opened in their place.
Of course, these gripes also sidestep the sheer hell of how normal British values of personal space and queueing disappear for the morning of RSD as we flick through boxes full of obscure reissues that just might be obscure for a reason.
Well done for reading this far. I had originally intended to write a list of RSD issues i'd like to see, but i'll add that to another post.
Saturday 18th April 2015 is the first Record Store Day for a few years that i haven't partaken of. It isn't especially down to a lack of enthusiasm, more the fact that i was working my 33rd consecutive Saturday. But moaning about your work patterns doesn't make for an interesting music blog, so i'll air a few concerns i have about the event.
There have been a few voices who have aired irritations with RSD as a concept. The spectre of the buyers who purchase only for instant resale (generally for the most commercial or marketable acts) are of huge irritation to many bloggers and Twitter users. I can't say i approve of the actions of those who buy only to resell, but the capitalist society we live in dictates that people will exploit a market. Personally, i lay more blame at the door of those who buy from eBay and the like at massively inflated prices. It is the same argument as those who declare irritation at the high cost resale of gig tickets. I can understand the urge to attend a gig, but less so to own something that it is probably possible to own on another format at a fraction of the cost.
Part of the hysteria is generated by the ridiculously limited runs of some titles which will obviously be huge sellers and the blame for this has to be laid at the door of the major labels. As an example Tony's Muziekhuis (probably Belgium's largest independent record shop - https://www.facebook.com/TonysMuziekhuis) posted on Facebook in the week preceding RSD15 that they were not expecting to receive any copies of the Foo Fighters 10" EP and that there were only 25 copies being made available to the whole of Belgium. This is a state of affairs which benefits (at most) 25 people, whilst leaving hundreds disappointed. But how can this be seen as A Good Thing by anybody? Surely leaving the market to cope with a fraction of the product it needs to meet demand is just crap business. It isn't as if RSD products should be making anybody a loss - given the high retail prices, there should easily be enough value in there for everyone along the food chain to take their cut. Three or four times as much product of a highly desirable title means three or four times more people get to enjoy it, the retailers take more money, the distributors, record companies and bands make more money. Unless i'm very much mistaken, everyone would be a winner. So why the bullshit just to create hysteria?
Another factor that irritates me is the sheer mass of releases which are aimed squarely at the 6 Music audience. Don't get me wrong, i think 6 Music has its place, but a huge majority of the RSD releases over recent years have been aimed at squarely at middle aged white men who always wanted a job on the NME to sneer at anything they didn't think was cool enough. Dance, most electronica and pop all get squarely ignored because they are deemed unworthy by the illuminati who like all the cool music that you should like. The sort of thing you should like (and therefore buy on RSD) is a one sided 7" reissue of a b-side which features one of Husker Du belching.
I have been quite underwhelmed with some of the releases i've purchased on previous RSDs. I'd like to think that if somebody is going to go to the trouble of repressing something that it would be worth listening to and a banal remix of something isn't worth shelling out bordering on a tenner for a 7". By far the best release i've bought was the Bis LP from 2014 (Data Panik Etcetera), which is a solid album and i didn't resent spending £20 on it.
Thanks to the likes of Last Shop Standing, i am frequently told that new record shops are opening regularly. Sadly this isn't the case in the West of England. We have lost Head in Weston-super-Mare and Acorn Music in Yeovil over the past year and to my knowledge no new shops have opened in their place.
Of course, these gripes also sidestep the sheer hell of how normal British values of personal space and queueing disappear for the morning of RSD as we flick through boxes full of obscure reissues that just might be obscure for a reason.
Well done for reading this far. I had originally intended to write a list of RSD issues i'd like to see, but i'll add that to another post.
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