There used to be a time when the bit between Christmas and New Year would be a sneak preview of those radio disc-spinners who were about to graduate through to the big time and it wasn't that long ago. Sadly this year has just been a bit of a disappointment. I'll put it down to Christmas Day being on a Sunday which has left us with a distinct week between Christmas and New Years.
Dev has taken over the Radio 1 breakfast show for this week and i think its finally clicked what i find disingenuous about him. For the most part, he pretends to be a bit of a geek and avoids most of the too-cool-for-school cliches that afflict some of the Radio 1 roster, but then we'll get to a feature like the resident DJ where a listener will come on an pick singles from a specific pigeonhole. Today is One Hit Wonder Wednesday. The listener chose "Turtle Power" by Partners in Kryme, which i've got to admit i haven't heard for well over a decade and in all truth it doesn't stand up badly. Meanwhile Dev is busy ripping in to the caller, the song and saying how he thinks it'll bomb, then interrupts it half way through to say he's going to finish playing it because it has received such a good reaction on the texts. So the geek without preconceptions suddenly becomes ubercool when music is involved, and its not the first time. If you're going to play a character on the air, then you've got to follow through and not have breaks in the armour otherwise the whole thing sounds like a bad ILR.
Edith Bowman is covering for Fearne Cotton. Sorry, that should read "Edith Bowman's Show About Films". For the 90% of us who aren't obsessed with being at the cinema 24/7, nor fawning over Hollywood's most overpaid (and often undertalented), Bowman's show is interminable. And i genuinely like Edith as a presenter, its just the whole format of the Films show is painfully restrictive.
Huw Stephens is about the only future star i can see from the daytime line up. His weekend afternoon show is excellent and his enthusiasm for music always comes across as sincere. He'd make far more sense presenting the weekday morning show than Fearne Cotton does.
I've also heard some of Ryan Tubridy in for Ken Bruce on Radio 2. It doesn't really move me either way, which is probably exactly when Radio 2 is looking for - new voices to the station either have to be somebody interminably bland or somebody off the telly.
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
No More Christmas Singles
As Spitting Image once sang "No more christmas singles/ They're worse than any war/ If we hear Aled Jones again/ We'll throw up on the floor". Well it looks like they've got their wish. The good old age of the novelty christmas single is dead, as are novelty singles in their entirety if the charts of the past two years are anything to go by. What we have now is a watered down collection of stupid earworm noises looped to infinity by producers who are laughing at anyone dumb enough to buy them. Oh yes, and Rihanna singing about sex.
Anyway, some song reviews?
Katy Perry - The One That Got Away
I'll be honest. I wasn't that averse to some of the songs from Perry's first album, but this fifth single off the awful Teenage Dream album is painful. To my mind, there is something unsettling with how her songs are full of thin innuendo and fake memories of oh-so-perfect teenage years that never really happened for anyone except Danny Baker. Her videos are even worse, an open begging letter for censorship if ever there was one. And this song... Pffft. Just another collection of fake late-teenage memories from some syruppy movie.
The Only Way Is Essex - Last Christmas
Is that autotune i hear? Oh, it is. It is a pointless, cash in cover version? Affirmative. Is there any reason why anyone not requiring sectioning under the mental health act would want to listen to it? Not unless they were reviewing it.
Arianna Morgan - Songbird
Its a ten year old covering a Fleetwood Mac song. Just imagine how painful that would be unless you're a 58 year old reader of the Daily Mail.
T-Pain & Lily Allen - Five o'Clock
I should really have started this post off with something more positive, shouldn't i? I mean, i'm just sounding like a miserable, jaded old git with nothing better to do that post hatred about modern music. I blame Nero. ANYWAY. Down to business. Take around eight lines from a Lily Allen song, loop until more stale than a ten week old Kwik Save loaf, add some fucking abysmal autotune rap from Mr Pain (never has a name been more appropriate - i think his first name might be Tristram) and stretch the whole sorry shithouse out to about an hour. Or maybe it just feels like that. One of the worst records ever.
The Collective - Teardrop
We're supposed to be upbeat and positive about charity singles, no matter how awful, aren't we? The Collective are various young and happening urban types from south London (and Ms Dynamite off of the 90s) rapping about how we "shud be finkin'" about what we do and being mindful of others. I've never heard human emotion being described in such stunted terms. If this is the best you lot could do, then just don't bother next year. It ruins a perfectly good original song with lots of posturing and fake bravado.
The Wombles - Wombling Merry Christmas
Jesus. Has Mike Batt run out of pension or something?
Caution: Next one a bit political.
Military Wives Choir - You know what? I really don't care what its called.
Your husband / boyfriend / FWB joined the army. They should have known at some point there was a fairly good chance they were going to get shot at someday. They could have just taken a job in a bakery. Every corner i turn at the moment there seems to be some Help for Heroes tat or collection of drunks toasting R BWAVE BOYZ and not yet has anyone demonstrated or explained to me why they deserve my sympathy. Yet another charity record is unlikely to do so.
Dirty Mavis - Stop the HS2
Its a record campaiging against building a railway line. I wonder if they're on Ford Records, Vauxhall Records, Toyota Records....?
Anyway, some song reviews?
Katy Perry - The One That Got Away
I'll be honest. I wasn't that averse to some of the songs from Perry's first album, but this fifth single off the awful Teenage Dream album is painful. To my mind, there is something unsettling with how her songs are full of thin innuendo and fake memories of oh-so-perfect teenage years that never really happened for anyone except Danny Baker. Her videos are even worse, an open begging letter for censorship if ever there was one. And this song... Pffft. Just another collection of fake late-teenage memories from some syruppy movie.
The Only Way Is Essex - Last Christmas
Is that autotune i hear? Oh, it is. It is a pointless, cash in cover version? Affirmative. Is there any reason why anyone not requiring sectioning under the mental health act would want to listen to it? Not unless they were reviewing it.
Arianna Morgan - Songbird
Its a ten year old covering a Fleetwood Mac song. Just imagine how painful that would be unless you're a 58 year old reader of the Daily Mail.
T-Pain & Lily Allen - Five o'Clock
I should really have started this post off with something more positive, shouldn't i? I mean, i'm just sounding like a miserable, jaded old git with nothing better to do that post hatred about modern music. I blame Nero. ANYWAY. Down to business. Take around eight lines from a Lily Allen song, loop until more stale than a ten week old Kwik Save loaf, add some fucking abysmal autotune rap from Mr Pain (never has a name been more appropriate - i think his first name might be Tristram) and stretch the whole sorry shithouse out to about an hour. Or maybe it just feels like that. One of the worst records ever.
The Collective - Teardrop
We're supposed to be upbeat and positive about charity singles, no matter how awful, aren't we? The Collective are various young and happening urban types from south London (and Ms Dynamite off of the 90s) rapping about how we "shud be finkin'" about what we do and being mindful of others. I've never heard human emotion being described in such stunted terms. If this is the best you lot could do, then just don't bother next year. It ruins a perfectly good original song with lots of posturing and fake bravado.
The Wombles - Wombling Merry Christmas
Jesus. Has Mike Batt run out of pension or something?
Caution: Next one a bit political.
Military Wives Choir - You know what? I really don't care what its called.
Your husband / boyfriend / FWB joined the army. They should have known at some point there was a fairly good chance they were going to get shot at someday. They could have just taken a job in a bakery. Every corner i turn at the moment there seems to be some Help for Heroes tat or collection of drunks toasting R BWAVE BOYZ and not yet has anyone demonstrated or explained to me why they deserve my sympathy. Yet another charity record is unlikely to do so.
Dirty Mavis - Stop the HS2
Its a record campaiging against building a railway line. I wonder if they're on Ford Records, Vauxhall Records, Toyota Records....?
Monday, 14 November 2011
Sending up the system
Ever since Gary Jules and Michael Andrews scored a Christmas number 1 with "Mad World" in 2003 defeating the Darkness, there has been something of an undercurrent in British popular culture in upsetting the system. This was amplified when the annual practice of sending the X-Factor winner to the festive top spot got well under way and culminated in Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" beating X-Factor victor Joe McElderry in 2009.
Of course, there was plenty of muttering that it was very convenient that a back catalogue single from Sony was up against a new single from a Sony label and thus making tons of cash for the corporation in the process. Regardless of that, the precident had been set and come 2010, a number of campaigns got under way. Biffy Clyro fans protested at then incumbent X-Factor winner, Matt Cardle and his cover of "Many of Horror"; Scott Mills orchestrated a bid to get The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" to the top spot and the too-cool-for-school camp was covered by a collective covering John Cage's silent piece 4'33".
Ultimately, due to the split in the market nobody managed to topple Matt Cardle from the top of the X-Factor wave.
So where does that leave the systemic sabotage? Well, its fair to say that nobody has got a campaign of any momentum together in 2011. There are a few Nirvana fans bleating that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" should be given a push, but ultimately the public feeling is that we can't be bothered this year. Which is a shame. I'd like to see the whole thing sent up properly. Perhaps resurrect a novelty single recorded for an event that has no current relevance. Or maybe we could take something deeply unfashionable that hasn't been heard since it was released. Or something that tabloid readers would find offensive.
Of course, there was plenty of muttering that it was very convenient that a back catalogue single from Sony was up against a new single from a Sony label and thus making tons of cash for the corporation in the process. Regardless of that, the precident had been set and come 2010, a number of campaigns got under way. Biffy Clyro fans protested at then incumbent X-Factor winner, Matt Cardle and his cover of "Many of Horror"; Scott Mills orchestrated a bid to get The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" to the top spot and the too-cool-for-school camp was covered by a collective covering John Cage's silent piece 4'33".
Ultimately, due to the split in the market nobody managed to topple Matt Cardle from the top of the X-Factor wave.
So where does that leave the systemic sabotage? Well, its fair to say that nobody has got a campaign of any momentum together in 2011. There are a few Nirvana fans bleating that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" should be given a push, but ultimately the public feeling is that we can't be bothered this year. Which is a shame. I'd like to see the whole thing sent up properly. Perhaps resurrect a novelty single recorded for an event that has no current relevance. Or maybe we could take something deeply unfashionable that hasn't been heard since it was released. Or something that tabloid readers would find offensive.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
More pointless than Pitbull
I know what you're thinking. It cannot be possible to be more pointless than the plastic party dreckery of Pitbull and his cronies, but i heard something today that was. It comes courtesy of the radio station for people who hate music, Heart.
Cue the awful synth chords that signal the intro of "Give Me Everything" by Pitbull, Neyo and their equine friend Nayer. You know whats coming, some twaddle about pictures on Kodak. But no, this is the version they play on Heart...
The version playlisted by Heart has none of Pitbull's vocals at all. Not even a hype word. Just Neyo and equine friend Nayer repeating the chorus over and over and over and over until your ears bleed. For three minutes anyway.
So there you have it, something more pointless than Pitbull - namely Pitbull without Pitbull.
Cue the awful synth chords that signal the intro of "Give Me Everything" by Pitbull, Neyo and their equine friend Nayer. You know whats coming, some twaddle about pictures on Kodak. But no, this is the version they play on Heart...
The version playlisted by Heart has none of Pitbull's vocals at all. Not even a hype word. Just Neyo and equine friend Nayer repeating the chorus over and over and over and over until your ears bleed. For three minutes anyway.
So there you have it, something more pointless than Pitbull - namely Pitbull without Pitbull.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Another ill thought out set of radio musings...
I've changed my listening habits again. Sorry, i should have warned you. Here is what currently floats my boat or sinks it. As i don't often cover it, i'll start with the commercials.
Absolute Radio 90s (DAB / Web).
If i can't find anything else that takes my fancy then this is normally a safe bet for a short stint. Anything longer than that and you get annoyed by the hourly Oasis or Radiohead track. Despite the "no repeat workday", you'll still get at least three or four records by a number of acts though this. Its purely a music thing for me, given that the station doesn't have a massive level of advertising and the station imaging, based entirely on Matt Berry's shouty persona is distinctive. To be honest, the DJs may as well not be there.
Jack FM, Bristol (106.5 FM / Web)
Jack replaced the AOR-based, silky smooth offering of Original, which despite its failure as a product was soon reincarnated as Smooth on 107.2 (itself replacing Star, the livelier offering). The playlist is a terrific mish-mash of guitar based pop and rock from the 60s to date, with uncomplicated imaging and rarely any live voices on air. There are no DJs as such during the daytime, the only live voices heard are occasional news bulletins.
As an aside, i regret that i didn't get in to Star in Bristol sooner. The station had its flaws (the level of advertising was horrific), but the presenters were lively and the music at least modern. I only discovered it when Sara Cox was sitting in for Scott Mills one afternoon and i couldn't bare listening to her self-absorbed waffle. I had intended to record a few hours of the afternoon drivetime show, but then started seeing posters for Smooth and next time i tuned in, the format had been flipped into the new feelgood schmaltz. It was a genuine loss, as the number of ILR stations broadcasting all genres of chart music is dwindling to barely any. You can't call Heart a modern music station as over 70% of the daytime playlist is now just the same, repetitive feelgood dreck. And while i'm complaining about generic ILRs...
Kiss 101, West / South Wales (101.0 FM / DAB / Web)
Kiss has now got to the point where it epitomises everything i hate about modern culture: Terrible, slurring presenters; Awful advertising where every other spot is for chlamydia testing; Playlists dominated by American artists. The playlists on Kiss actually give a good indication of how well the music team at Radio 1 deal with balancing their output, because the most tuneless ego-driven dirge can appear on Kiss at times, again driven by American R&B performers. When i hear some of the pointless smugness that the likes of Beyonce churn out, it really does depress me that it is the only station that seems to have any connection with the teenage market.
BBC Radio Bristol / Somerset (94.9 / 95.5 FM, DAB, Web)
I'm developing something of a love for the joint output of BBC Radio Bristol and Somerset. Admittedly there is still some dung on there that needs sorting out, but there are also some gems in there. Regular readers of this blog will know i'm a fan of Steve Yabsley (M-F 12-14:00) and his subversive anarchy, but we've now also got Elise Rayner on during the afternoons (M-F 14-16:00). After quite a period of instability following the disappearance then arrest of Peter Rowell, the dismal Anna Ford initially filled in and made the whole thing sound like a gardening phone-in. Ford was then replaced by supply jock of choice James Watt who did an excellent job. Elise Rayner has now taken over (perhaps permanently, but who knows in BBC Local Radio) and is doing a sterling job and has a suave interviewing style which gets the best out of her guests. Also of note on Bristol & Somerset is Richard Lewis on Sunday mornings (10-12:00), who delivers a light hearted excavation of his foibles of the week.
BBC Radio 1 - Matt Edmondson (Wednesday 21:00, also Podcast)
They did it very quietly and nobody seemed to notice, but the Radio 1 comedy hour is back on Wednesday nights. Matt Edmondson's show is a combination of sketches, interviews, production trickery and music. Some of it is quite juvenile, but that massively appeals to my sense of humour, especially seeing as nobody is doing anything like this anywhere else on the radio to my knowledge, especially given the level of work that must go on to prepare the show compared to a normal programme.
BBC Radio 2 - Simon Mayo (M-F 17-19:00, also Highlights Podcast)
I've recently got in to Simon Mayo's Radio 2 show, which seems to be a mixture of everything he's done for the BBC - from the frivolity of Radio 1 to the informed speech from Radio 5. Cobmine all this with a sideways take on the Radio 2 playlist and the show has a distinctive feel, crammed with entertainment. Terrific stuff.
BBC Radio 2 - Richard Allinson (Sat/Sun 03-06:00)
I love Richard Allinson's effortless presenting style and freeflowing programmes. Opinion on the internet seems to be split as to whether he is a hidden Radio 2 headliner or the incarnation of Alan Partridge, but i think there is a clear line between cheesiness and everyman affability, with Allinson falling clearly in the latter category.
For my money, Radio 2 is a collection of polar opposites with the awful (Chris Evans, Jeremy Vine's shouting shop, Steve Wright, Dermot o'Leary) and the sublime (Alex Lester, Ken Bruce, Richard Allinson, Miranda Hart & Jon Holmes, Simon Mayo). You have to think about who is on before pressing the preset...
BBC Radio London - Danny Baker (Mon-Fri 14-16:00)
I'm in something of a quandry over Danny Baker. His endless stream of creativity is superb and as an inventive radio presenter there are few who can hold a candle to him. The problem is that there are a couple of aspects of his personality that raise my ire considerably, particularly his oft aired view that if he was offered a job in the USA he'd take it in the blink of an eyelid. To me that demonstrates a high level of contempt for your audience. Also his appearance of Radio 4's Desert Island Discs was excessive in ego-stroking smugness. We know you're good and we know you're popular, but thats no reason to rub the noses of your audience in the glibness of their own existence. I think there has to be a point where even the most overblown radio jock has to demonstrate some humble humility. I've mentioned Baker's London show as it is a more open show than his Saturday morning gig on 5-Live and i think of it is a less constrained format.
Absolute Radio 90s (DAB / Web).
If i can't find anything else that takes my fancy then this is normally a safe bet for a short stint. Anything longer than that and you get annoyed by the hourly Oasis or Radiohead track. Despite the "no repeat workday", you'll still get at least three or four records by a number of acts though this. Its purely a music thing for me, given that the station doesn't have a massive level of advertising and the station imaging, based entirely on Matt Berry's shouty persona is distinctive. To be honest, the DJs may as well not be there.
Jack FM, Bristol (106.5 FM / Web)
Jack replaced the AOR-based, silky smooth offering of Original, which despite its failure as a product was soon reincarnated as Smooth on 107.2 (itself replacing Star, the livelier offering). The playlist is a terrific mish-mash of guitar based pop and rock from the 60s to date, with uncomplicated imaging and rarely any live voices on air. There are no DJs as such during the daytime, the only live voices heard are occasional news bulletins.
As an aside, i regret that i didn't get in to Star in Bristol sooner. The station had its flaws (the level of advertising was horrific), but the presenters were lively and the music at least modern. I only discovered it when Sara Cox was sitting in for Scott Mills one afternoon and i couldn't bare listening to her self-absorbed waffle. I had intended to record a few hours of the afternoon drivetime show, but then started seeing posters for Smooth and next time i tuned in, the format had been flipped into the new feelgood schmaltz. It was a genuine loss, as the number of ILR stations broadcasting all genres of chart music is dwindling to barely any. You can't call Heart a modern music station as over 70% of the daytime playlist is now just the same, repetitive feelgood dreck. And while i'm complaining about generic ILRs...
Kiss 101, West / South Wales (101.0 FM / DAB / Web)
Kiss has now got to the point where it epitomises everything i hate about modern culture: Terrible, slurring presenters; Awful advertising where every other spot is for chlamydia testing; Playlists dominated by American artists. The playlists on Kiss actually give a good indication of how well the music team at Radio 1 deal with balancing their output, because the most tuneless ego-driven dirge can appear on Kiss at times, again driven by American R&B performers. When i hear some of the pointless smugness that the likes of Beyonce churn out, it really does depress me that it is the only station that seems to have any connection with the teenage market.
BBC Radio Bristol / Somerset (94.9 / 95.5 FM, DAB, Web)
I'm developing something of a love for the joint output of BBC Radio Bristol and Somerset. Admittedly there is still some dung on there that needs sorting out, but there are also some gems in there. Regular readers of this blog will know i'm a fan of Steve Yabsley (M-F 12-14:00) and his subversive anarchy, but we've now also got Elise Rayner on during the afternoons (M-F 14-16:00). After quite a period of instability following the disappearance then arrest of Peter Rowell, the dismal Anna Ford initially filled in and made the whole thing sound like a gardening phone-in. Ford was then replaced by supply jock of choice James Watt who did an excellent job. Elise Rayner has now taken over (perhaps permanently, but who knows in BBC Local Radio) and is doing a sterling job and has a suave interviewing style which gets the best out of her guests. Also of note on Bristol & Somerset is Richard Lewis on Sunday mornings (10-12:00), who delivers a light hearted excavation of his foibles of the week.
BBC Radio 1 - Matt Edmondson (Wednesday 21:00, also Podcast)
They did it very quietly and nobody seemed to notice, but the Radio 1 comedy hour is back on Wednesday nights. Matt Edmondson's show is a combination of sketches, interviews, production trickery and music. Some of it is quite juvenile, but that massively appeals to my sense of humour, especially seeing as nobody is doing anything like this anywhere else on the radio to my knowledge, especially given the level of work that must go on to prepare the show compared to a normal programme.
BBC Radio 2 - Simon Mayo (M-F 17-19:00, also Highlights Podcast)
I've recently got in to Simon Mayo's Radio 2 show, which seems to be a mixture of everything he's done for the BBC - from the frivolity of Radio 1 to the informed speech from Radio 5. Cobmine all this with a sideways take on the Radio 2 playlist and the show has a distinctive feel, crammed with entertainment. Terrific stuff.
BBC Radio 2 - Richard Allinson (Sat/Sun 03-06:00)
I love Richard Allinson's effortless presenting style and freeflowing programmes. Opinion on the internet seems to be split as to whether he is a hidden Radio 2 headliner or the incarnation of Alan Partridge, but i think there is a clear line between cheesiness and everyman affability, with Allinson falling clearly in the latter category.
For my money, Radio 2 is a collection of polar opposites with the awful (Chris Evans, Jeremy Vine's shouting shop, Steve Wright, Dermot o'Leary) and the sublime (Alex Lester, Ken Bruce, Richard Allinson, Miranda Hart & Jon Holmes, Simon Mayo). You have to think about who is on before pressing the preset...
BBC Radio London - Danny Baker (Mon-Fri 14-16:00)
I'm in something of a quandry over Danny Baker. His endless stream of creativity is superb and as an inventive radio presenter there are few who can hold a candle to him. The problem is that there are a couple of aspects of his personality that raise my ire considerably, particularly his oft aired view that if he was offered a job in the USA he'd take it in the blink of an eyelid. To me that demonstrates a high level of contempt for your audience. Also his appearance of Radio 4's Desert Island Discs was excessive in ego-stroking smugness. We know you're good and we know you're popular, but thats no reason to rub the noses of your audience in the glibness of their own existence. I think there has to be a point where even the most overblown radio jock has to demonstrate some humble humility. I've mentioned Baker's London show as it is a more open show than his Saturday morning gig on 5-Live and i think of it is a less constrained format.
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Come back to Welcome Home
Every so often a song comes along that completely takes you by surprising, defying all the conventions of what is currently fashionable and sounding completely fresh. Over the past month of so, i've had one of those epiphanies.
"Welcome Home" by Midlands based band All The Young is a tremendous record. It is a raw, hooky, six minute indie epic with nods to everything from prog to grunge. The modern music industry is currently averse to anything in the vein of traditional rock and roll songwriting, preferring the two minute collection of gimmicks to a soaring, developing symphony like this. Given these difficult fashions, the band need to make good records if anyone is to take them seriously and they certainly are. What is most attractive about "Welcome Home" to me is that is isn't perfect. It showcases a band who are still developing their songwriting and their sound and that is tremendously exciting.
Having heard other songs by the band, they are clearly mean business and enjoy spinning tales of hope in bleak times. If there is any justice in the world, they'll be as famous as Take That by the end of the year.
"Welcome Home" by Midlands based band All The Young is a tremendous record. It is a raw, hooky, six minute indie epic with nods to everything from prog to grunge. The modern music industry is currently averse to anything in the vein of traditional rock and roll songwriting, preferring the two minute collection of gimmicks to a soaring, developing symphony like this. Given these difficult fashions, the band need to make good records if anyone is to take them seriously and they certainly are. What is most attractive about "Welcome Home" to me is that is isn't perfect. It showcases a band who are still developing their songwriting and their sound and that is tremendously exciting.
Having heard other songs by the band, they are clearly mean business and enjoy spinning tales of hope in bleak times. If there is any justice in the world, they'll be as famous as Take That by the end of the year.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Desperately seeking the new Enfant Terrible
Background viewing: The BBC2 programmes "Blood On The Carpet: Walking With Disc Jockeys" (concerning Matthew Bannister's revamping of Radio 1 during the 90s) and "When Moyles Met The Radio 1 Breakfast DJs" (a chronological who's who of the Radio 1 Breakfast programme).
BBC Radio 1 has a problem. Since the Bannister Reforms of the 90s when the ageing "dinosaur" DJs were pensioned off and replaced by new, younger talent, there has been something of a tradition of having an enfant terrible presenting the station's flagship breakfast show. Viewing Steve Wright as one of the dinosaurs, (which divides opinion; he was undoubtedly younger in style than many of his contemporaries, but was properly old-school in hating most of the music he was playing), the first of the demon toddlers to throw tantrums on air was Chris Evans. Evans' diva reputation is well documented, not only at Radio 1, but on through his media career for the next decade. The fundamental key was that Evans got people talking about him, his show and Radio 1, something that hadn't regularly happened since the station's heyday in the 70s.
The precedent had been set. Following Evans' unexpected departure from Radio 1, Mark Goodier sat in briefly as a caretaker before Mark Radcliffe and Mark "Lard" Riley took over. The consensus was that the latter was a failure, but i think that it was harshly judged at the time. Nevertheless, after a short stint they were replaced by Zoe Ball and Kevin Greening.
Unsurprisingly, the partnership of Ball and Greening didn't last very long. Although there was no apparent problems with the relationship between the two, the quietly professional Greening was dropped in favour of Zoe Ball presenting solo and thus the second era of the sensationalist presenter was properly under way. This era was heralded not so much by the non-conformity and endless creative stream that Chris Evans had provided, but more stories of excess, partying and something dubbed by the media as "ladette culture". This was gold for Radio 1, who had somebody on their hands once again who had the attention of the press and could be demonised by them. Listening figures rose accordingly. Zoe Ball's tenure ended in 2000 when she left to devote more time to her family. As an aside, she has since returned to the BBC covering for various presenters on Radio 2 and her style has matured brilliantly whilst still being good fun.
Her friend Sara Cox was waiting in the wings to take on the job and followed the same brash ladette formula as had worked for Ball. Initially there was some success and ratings rose to record levels for the era, but the show started sliding and by the middle of 2003 was in freefall. Cox was exhausted and creatively spent following 18-odd months of heavy pressure to improve the show.
Thus Chris Moyles, the self styled saviour of whichever slot he happened to be working in at the time was enlisted from the start of 2004 and Cox was shifted over to drivetime for the interim until going on maternity leave. Even at the start of his stint on Breakfast, Moyles was a considerably reformed character from the angry brat who had appeared on early breakfast (4am - 7am) in 1997, at which time he had been honing his act on various commercial broadcasters and gradually building a reputation for being outrageous but crucially popular.
There is a marked difference between the Chris Moyles of Early Breakfast (97), weekday afternoons (c. 2001), breakfast (2004) and today. He is undoubtedly mellowing with age and growing accustomed to his celebrity status and with this comes comfort and a reduced level of anger. The hear the evolution for yourself, check out the sound archives on ChrisMoyles.net.
My conclusion of this is that Moyles is no longer the enfant terrible he was marketed as in 2004, and in my opinion he was past his controversial peak by then too. He has recently confirmed that he has a contract to present the show until 2014, shortly before the departure of boss Andy Parfitt from Radio 1 was announced. I'm not saying the two are connected, but the presence of Moyles gives the whole station stability.
The question is who will replace Moyles when he does eventually leave? Greg James is currently favourite in the running, but possibly lacks the headline grabbing impetus that the station needs. I also think he'll be off to TV before long. Of the other up and coming presenters on the station, Nick Grimshaw is a possibility but will likely be tempted by other offers, Dev's show has a sense of painful desperation about it, Huw Stephens is a solid daytime or evening jock and Matt Edmondson is already occupied with several other projects, which is a shame as his style has the most potential of anybody at the moment.
The other problem is that there isn't the breeding ground for new talent on commercial radio any more. If you look at the career of Chris Moyles before he came to Radio 1, none of the stations are now operated independently and evening programming is widely networked, reducing the opportunity for presenters to bring a club radio offering. Club radio is incredibly important to building the careers of radio personalities. By making their show an appointment to listen and making the listeners involved in its success, their popularity grows and their listeners become more religious about tuning in. It also makes it harder for them to be sacked (although it never stopped Moyles from being dismissed at least once) and therefore a more desirable talent for other broadcasters. But can you imagine something like Moyles' Chiltern Network Late Bit show now being broadcast by Heart? You could probably listen to Heart for four hours of an evening without giving a toss about who the presenter is, as they are all identikit smooth voices. Club radio is on life support and Heart, Bauer et al are in danger of killing it.
BBC Radio 1 has a problem. Since the Bannister Reforms of the 90s when the ageing "dinosaur" DJs were pensioned off and replaced by new, younger talent, there has been something of a tradition of having an enfant terrible presenting the station's flagship breakfast show. Viewing Steve Wright as one of the dinosaurs, (which divides opinion; he was undoubtedly younger in style than many of his contemporaries, but was properly old-school in hating most of the music he was playing), the first of the demon toddlers to throw tantrums on air was Chris Evans. Evans' diva reputation is well documented, not only at Radio 1, but on through his media career for the next decade. The fundamental key was that Evans got people talking about him, his show and Radio 1, something that hadn't regularly happened since the station's heyday in the 70s.
The precedent had been set. Following Evans' unexpected departure from Radio 1, Mark Goodier sat in briefly as a caretaker before Mark Radcliffe and Mark "Lard" Riley took over. The consensus was that the latter was a failure, but i think that it was harshly judged at the time. Nevertheless, after a short stint they were replaced by Zoe Ball and Kevin Greening.
Unsurprisingly, the partnership of Ball and Greening didn't last very long. Although there was no apparent problems with the relationship between the two, the quietly professional Greening was dropped in favour of Zoe Ball presenting solo and thus the second era of the sensationalist presenter was properly under way. This era was heralded not so much by the non-conformity and endless creative stream that Chris Evans had provided, but more stories of excess, partying and something dubbed by the media as "ladette culture". This was gold for Radio 1, who had somebody on their hands once again who had the attention of the press and could be demonised by them. Listening figures rose accordingly. Zoe Ball's tenure ended in 2000 when she left to devote more time to her family. As an aside, she has since returned to the BBC covering for various presenters on Radio 2 and her style has matured brilliantly whilst still being good fun.
Her friend Sara Cox was waiting in the wings to take on the job and followed the same brash ladette formula as had worked for Ball. Initially there was some success and ratings rose to record levels for the era, but the show started sliding and by the middle of 2003 was in freefall. Cox was exhausted and creatively spent following 18-odd months of heavy pressure to improve the show.
Thus Chris Moyles, the self styled saviour of whichever slot he happened to be working in at the time was enlisted from the start of 2004 and Cox was shifted over to drivetime for the interim until going on maternity leave. Even at the start of his stint on Breakfast, Moyles was a considerably reformed character from the angry brat who had appeared on early breakfast (4am - 7am) in 1997, at which time he had been honing his act on various commercial broadcasters and gradually building a reputation for being outrageous but crucially popular.
There is a marked difference between the Chris Moyles of Early Breakfast (97), weekday afternoons (c. 2001), breakfast (2004) and today. He is undoubtedly mellowing with age and growing accustomed to his celebrity status and with this comes comfort and a reduced level of anger. The hear the evolution for yourself, check out the sound archives on ChrisMoyles.net.
My conclusion of this is that Moyles is no longer the enfant terrible he was marketed as in 2004, and in my opinion he was past his controversial peak by then too. He has recently confirmed that he has a contract to present the show until 2014, shortly before the departure of boss Andy Parfitt from Radio 1 was announced. I'm not saying the two are connected, but the presence of Moyles gives the whole station stability.
The question is who will replace Moyles when he does eventually leave? Greg James is currently favourite in the running, but possibly lacks the headline grabbing impetus that the station needs. I also think he'll be off to TV before long. Of the other up and coming presenters on the station, Nick Grimshaw is a possibility but will likely be tempted by other offers, Dev's show has a sense of painful desperation about it, Huw Stephens is a solid daytime or evening jock and Matt Edmondson is already occupied with several other projects, which is a shame as his style has the most potential of anybody at the moment.
The other problem is that there isn't the breeding ground for new talent on commercial radio any more. If you look at the career of Chris Moyles before he came to Radio 1, none of the stations are now operated independently and evening programming is widely networked, reducing the opportunity for presenters to bring a club radio offering. Club radio is incredibly important to building the careers of radio personalities. By making their show an appointment to listen and making the listeners involved in its success, their popularity grows and their listeners become more religious about tuning in. It also makes it harder for them to be sacked (although it never stopped Moyles from being dismissed at least once) and therefore a more desirable talent for other broadcasters. But can you imagine something like Moyles' Chiltern Network Late Bit show now being broadcast by Heart? You could probably listen to Heart for four hours of an evening without giving a toss about who the presenter is, as they are all identikit smooth voices. Club radio is on life support and Heart, Bauer et al are in danger of killing it.
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