Re: Tests from uklightradio.co.uk

Thanks Eric

I'd never heard the Gary Byrd track but having heard a 30 second clip on allmusic.com I can quite safely say, if I don't hear it again in my lifetime it won't be a moment too soon. /reaches for the zap button! You mention "noise", well when punk hit that was the first time I found myself sounding like my dad - I loathed it with a passion and still do, the whole thing, from the music to the attitude. The other main contender for the noise "Crown" (pun unintended!) is rap - seems to me the only thing missing in the description is the C in front of the word!

As to content, yes I recognise that your standpoint may be as a broadcaster, mine is a purely selfish one, as a listener. What I was getting at, was that there are surely two aspects to Eric, the radio professional and the individual - forget the radio professional what does the individual think? Enya, yes, a truly original performer with a beautiful totally unique sound - love her material, but wouldn't consider it to be ballad. Ballads would be the material sung by artists such as Dusty, Gene Piney, Roy Orbison as well as the artists we;ve already discussed. I'm struggling for a pigeonhole to describe her material but mood or atmospheric are two inadequate words that spring to mind. Regarding ABBA, last night I went to the pictures to see the screening of the digitally remastered "Abba: the Movie" - seeing that and "Mamma Mia!" a few weeks ago makes me regret never having seen them live even more. True giants in the history of popular music.

As regards your experiences with different types of listener, I obviously don't fit the boxes, but then that's the story of my life!;-) I don't go for speech radio, I don't mind a bit of chat to link music, but it has to be intelligent and/or funny - to give examples of broadcasters that do it for me or did in the past, include Johnnie Walker, Roger Day, Rosko and the loveable genius Kenny Everett. People who DON'T do it for me are Jonathon Ross and Chris Evans. I adore Suzie Q - I was never a big fan of her music, apart from "If you can't give me love" - but she is a real gem. She is knowledgeable, intelligent, articulate and fun and those characteristics transmit themselves in her shows, especially her Heroes series where she interviews artists that she grew up with. She is ten months younger than me so we are contemporaries, except her growing up was in Detroit, through doo wop, R&B and early soul, through the Motown explosion. I just love her to bits and I'm not surprised when you say she's a very nice person to talk to. I only latched onto her radio shows a year or two back, but her programmes are now one of my listening highlights of the week.

Certainly agree that the net is the home of free radio - it's the one part of the broadcasting sphere that meets my needs continually, unlike most of mainstream broadcasting. As for BBC radio, I've said it countless times, Radio 2 is pandering to the 40-somethings and further isolating those of us who are 50-plus. If I feel there is not enough late 50s and early to mid-60s music on the radio, then spare a thought for those currently in their mid to late 60s onwards, those who were pre-rock n roll. Not much for them too. I tend to think the programming given an ideal unlimited scenario would be:

Radio 1 can't comment

Radio 1.5 for the 40 somethings

Radio 2 for the 50 somethings

Radio 2.5 for the 65-plus

I'm staggered why advertisers don't feel they can make radio to my age group to be a viable commercial proposition. We are the biggest demographic group (I mean the baby boomers) and most of us have disposable income with kids grown up and mortgages paid off in a lot of cases. I'm open to properly targetted advertising but maybe the kids at the advertising groups haven't made the effort to understand what we're all about. A bit ironic as when I was a kid I was saying "my parents don't understand me" now I'm older I'm saying "the kids don't understand me" Ha!

On that note, must grease my wheelchair!;-) Toodle-pip!

Alan

--------------
Alan Milewczyk aka The Pole with Soul
Soul pix on the net at http://www.soulman1949.com

----- Original Message -----
From: tesug
To: (Address removed)
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [Anorak Nation] Tests from uklightradio.co.uk

of hearing Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel" for the very first time. It
remains for me, one of the most seismic jolts in the history of
Popular music.
Interesting, if I had to do instant recall like that it would be the Power-Play on 208. You Wear The Crown – Gary Byrd, amazing track.
to be used in 2008? We have locked antlers on this subject before
and will continue to do so
I sincerely hope so as what would the world be if were can't debate views?
do – you are a radio professional but that doesn't make your
opinion any more valid than mine. If you are happier with more
modern music or today's music even, good luck to you, you will
never hear me saying you shouldn't be. All I am saying is that it's
not for me. But please, no more inference that yours is the right
way or the only way! Or that my way is somehow not the right way!
I think we are coming at the above area from differing sides. I have to consider the audience and what works for them. I spend as much time as possible watching people listening to the radio and making adjustments. The age range is from 17 to 71, seriously. It is interesting to see how older people love the talking bits and encourage more of them. The younger age groups will be attracted to both elements – music and speech.
no-one had the balls to take that idea and make it work. By and
large, what I've heard of modern music just doesn't connect with me
one iota, I'm quite simply not interested in listening to it.
Hey, I've never said you can't hold that view! I still maintain there are huge numbers of people, all ages, that can and do connect with, often, 4 decades of music.
Thanks to the net I am able to enjoy "new" (to me) music from my
favourite eras –
Hey – how long have we both been banging on about that. The net gives greater opportunities to air different ranges of radio content, which makes the Net the Free Radio of 2008. Great tool.
Turning to the tracks you mention, personally Humph's "Last waltz"
(which a couple of weeks after the the MOA) wasn't my cuppa tea but
I don't despise it.
I don't despise hardly any music – well apart from that time called NOISE which was once aired on the Last Night of The Proms, thank goodness it appears to have been buried for ever.
Vikki Carr – great ballad,
very well sung (as was another in the same vein, Anita Harris'
"Just loving you"), but then you don't like ballads, do you?
Actually, you would be wrong there. I will often play the outstanding Enya! I can't think of enough positive words to describe my feelings for ALL of her tracks.
I recall Anita Harris being promoted, sorry launched, via the Billy Cotton Band show – she is a good stage/chorus singer. Not an entertainer with the power to attract me. And I am being very serious in that if my life depended on it Vicki Carr would just be a name to me.
was THE favourite genre for me, but it didn't stop me really
enjoying material such as Edison Lighthouse as we moved into a new
decade!
Most of which lead me to remembering how Roy Litchfield and I would have the same debates during QEFM days :-) You and Roy have very similar tastes in music I feel – I would call them MOR mainly.
If we move the clock on a tad, in the 70s I liked artists such as
Neil Diamond, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, the Doobie Brothers, the
Philly Sound, Rod Stewart and the Eagles (whom I discovered through
Tony Allan playing them on Radio Caroline, along with Jackson
Browne). Abba were musically the ultimate – no band has ever
surpassed their harmonies, their sheer sense of melody and the
incredible production – if pushed to quote my favourite song ever,
ever, ever, then it would have to be "Dancing Queen" – sheer
perfection.
I would venture to say Abba were pop perfection – crossed all boundaries, few have done that.
Have to congratulate Neil Diamond for his recent concerts. I had to watch to see if he could still hit the high notes, he did.
The Eighties brought Tina Turner, Eurythmics/Annie
Lennox, Alison Moyet (what a voice).
A clear picture of that which you like – Agreed ALF did have a great voice. As does Tina (but have to say Simply The Best is the only track I would play by choice).
specialist stuff like Brian Matthew, Suzi Quatro (she is a radio
GEM) and Johnnie Walker. Last time I listened to the radio in any
amount was a year ago to Pirate BBC Essex.
Suzi is an outstanding radio talent, and a VERY NICE person to chat with.
It is sad that there are no services to suit you. It reminds me of the news item when Bruce F was talking about the late Sir Billy Cotton. Bruce commented that Sir Bill understood what audiences needed and gave that to them – I was left wondering how Sir Bill would have viewed the boss of the BBC sitting for hours in front of Parliament and/or having to do all sort of crazy paperwork rather than focusing on programming.
More specifically, there was once mentioned that there should be a kind of Radio one and a half – I think that is now Radio Two apart from some of the specialist shows you like. If there had not been a radio three I would have made one and continued down the musical track which inspires you to listen to the radio. Kind of like the old Radio Two but time shifted to earlier music to suit as your radio group is no longer tiny. It's actually quite large and growing – problem being the only people who can serve such a market are state broadcasters.
Come to think of it, the Slovak State broadcaster does quite a good job of serving wide groups via different services. If there was nothing else in SK to listen to I would tune into RadioFM (yes very close to my views). Interestingly it does now appear to follow a more power-gold format at the weekends, hmmmmmmm wonder where they got that idea from.
And before you ask, I do know why it's hard for commercial station to air content for you – the simple answer is people don't think you are warm to commercials. I still think that's daft, but I have to balance making radio with paying the staff!
So that's it, except one question... what the heck is Plinkety
Plink?
All I can say it was a phrase we picked up in the 1960's so thought it was apt. I have a vague feeling it came from Juke Box Jury and Mickey Most is creeping through the haze. The track he was commenting on I can't recall. But safe to say if I could remember it would probably be one of the Anita Harris type tracks so I'll shut up now :-)
Thanks for a good debate
Regards
Eric
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