I have always found great pleasure in hearing a song on the radio and awaiting the outcome of the track name and artist, writing it down and looking for it on record to play out while DJing. This regularly happens when I listen to my favourite radio programmes.
While my working day is filled with the latest band du jour on repeat, I can go to my little comfort zones and listen to The Organist Entertains and most especially Dale Winton’s Pick of the Pops and Brian Mathews’s ‘Sound of the 60′s.
The later two are programmed on a Saturday morning / afternoon. In all the years I’ve listened to Brian’s deep old man voice, I immediately feel at home as I tune in the wireless, and make a cup of tea .
The Hollies’ Carrie Ann’ is the first of many songs that flow out of airwaves. This makes me happy. The Dave Clark 5′s ‘Catch us if you can’ is next and I’m there.
Dale Winton’s Pick of the Pops used to air on Sunday afternoons, I used to love guessing the year while chopping my Sunday dinner veg, but now it is in the lunch spot on a Saturdayso sometimes double dose of mid 60′s British pop at it’s height. Where else would you get this at lunch time. My obsession with dating everything from doors on houses to fonts on shop
fronts to the car over the road on the 1980′s pavement comes from god knows where.
A radio programme which plays an hours worth of music from a certain year each week is heaven to me, a challenge, what year is it?
Hopefully by the middle of the show I have the year in question covered to the month.
I love Saturday mornings.
Fox Base Alpha
InteriorMonologue
22/07/2009
In an updated type version, my housemate and I were sat watching ‘Vintage American Classics’ last night on MTV2. Nirvana, Beck, Blink 182. When did these become vintage? We did play guess the year though. And got it wrong. I felt old.
Maybe I’ll stick to guessing the year of stuff released before I was born. That way it can’t depress me.
Vivers
24/07/2009
“1980s pavement”? Like a pavement wearing shoulderpads with a brick sized phone? Ace.
“This is your old mate Brian Matthews…”
pixieglas
25/07/2009
dale is the soundtrack to my saturday box office shift! i love his voice, it really suits the show which is a proper enjoyable family friendly stuff.
it was great when radio 6 started but i have become so incensed by george lamb i’ve had to stop listening for the most part. he is the sort of dj i was trying to avoid by listening to them, i feel like i’ve been cheated on by a lover “i thought you were different!”. its usually safe in the evenings to switch on without hearing someone inane but must admit that mostly i stick with radio 4. i was 50 when i was 5.
anyone else got any good show recommendations?
(i would say “anything with sandi toksvig” but i might be kicked off…)
FoxBaseAlpha
27/07/2009
The Organist Entertains celebrated the 40th Anniversary of it’s half hour show last month, with a special programme live from Blackpool Ballroom,it was splendid.
I can’t abide George Lamb or most of daytime 6 Music anymore, poor show.
pixieglas
04/08/2009
ta, i’ll check it out!
two recent radio 4 shows i’ve stumbled upon that you can listen to again (iplayer, sweet iplayer) are “musical migrants” (on earlier today at about 9.30am today, well worth looking up) and joan armatrading’s short series “favourite guitarists”.