At some point in my teens, I made the switch from Radio 2 to Radio 1. Perhaps it happened when Terry Wogan left radio for his TV chatshow... which was never the ideal medium for him, though I watched it regularly from the age of 10. You did back then. 7 - 9pm, you watched whatever your parents were watching. Wogan. Corrie. Dallas. Blankety Blank. The Two Ronnies. They say kids these days watch too much TV, but we watched a hell of a lot of it when I was growing up. Yet I still found time to read - lots of books and comics. And play computer games. Atari. Spectrum 48K. And play out too. Maybe there really was more time back then. We managed to cram so much in...
Anyway, Radio 1, when I started listening to it... I couldn't tell you who was on the Breakfast Show, because I never listened to that. But I do remember Simon 'Our Tune' Bates, 'Ooh' Gary Davis and his Bit In The Middle, Janis Long (particularly her Friday Night Selectadisc show, which I've mentioned here before) and Steve Wright.
I loved Steve Wright when I was a kid. Mr. Angry from Purley. Sid The Manager. Gervais The Hairdresser. (Different times.) The Perv. Dave Doubledecks. God, I loved Steve Wright In The Afternoon. I used to tape it while I was at school so I could listen to it when I got home. More than anything else, that was the show that made me want to be on the radio.
I can't listen to Steve Wright today. Of all the current Radio 2 DJs, I find his self-aggrandising "Big Show" the most switch-offable. Even Evans, who I've loathed since the days of TFI Fridays... I can even listen to him, in small doses, without wanting to chuck the radio out of the window. But Steve Wright...
Has Steve Wright changed or have I changed? I think a lot of both, actually. His current show isn't the one I grew up with. Arguably that "zoo format" became old hat and needed to be retired. I think there's still potential in it, but not for someone as smug as Wrighty. Nowadays, the DJs I gravitate towards are the ones who love their music and let that show. Music has always seemed like an unnecessary interruption for Steve Wright... and let's not even get started on Panic again. (I wonder if Steve Wright was one of the reasons I was so against The Smiths back then? He obviously hated them, and like all impressionable teenagers, I went along with the opinions of my heroes.)
Back then, I used to dream about being part of Steve Wright's "Posse". We'll come back to that another time, because there's a rather embarrassing story connected to it.
8. The Sports - Who Listens To The Radio?
I don't know where I came across this song. Somewhere on the blogosphere. Possibly The Dude... or maybe Brian. It strikes me as the kind of thing Brian would dig. I love it, anyway, and really want to track down more by the band, Aussie New Wavers from the late 70s and early 80s. Very reminiscent of early Elvis Costello, who obvious has a few radio songs of his own which we'll get to eventually.
Interesting you should say that about SW because we too have been finding it impossible to listen to his "Big" show any more - Yes we've all grown older together but Steve seems to have stayed in an early '80s time warp. My other half is finding it impossible to listen to Mr Evans either now so we're having to venture into new radio territory - Any recommendations gratefully received.
ReplyDeleteI find a lot of the presenters on 6music fit the bill for me...but as I don't have digital radio in the car like you, I'm rather stuck with 2.
DeleteI feel as if I might have heard that song at the time though no recollection of it - but it just has that whole late 70s new wave vibe going on, as you say. Elvis Costello - yes, plus a sprinkle of Joe Jackson and others I can't put my finger on.
ReplyDeleteAs for SW - yes he and his Posse in the afternoon used to be quite good company on my long drive home from work for a while some years ago. But it just worked in that time and place - I couldn't listen to him now. I remember a time when Radio 2 seemed ok because for a few years (early 2000s? I think) they played a fair bit of contemporary music with a little sprinkle of older stuff, so it seemed to be aimed at my age group then (i.e. late 30s early 40s). Now I listen to it and seems to be aimed at an older audience - but not my kind of older audience! Yes, probably the age I am now indeed, but as if they think that once you hit your 50s you only want to hear old stuff - whereas I still really want to hear what's going on now. I don't like the whole idea that somehow when you get to a certain age the expectation is that you only want to stick to your comfort zone in the past and are somehow not supposed to be capable of embracing the new. I very much want to keep embracing the new. When Radio 2 was a bit more contemporary, Radio 1 was more youth/dance-orientated, so I suppose it was more marginalised then and didn't have much to offer a broader audience. But I would argue that now that Radio 2 has become more of a true oldies station, Radio 1 has opened up more too, to allow a bit more of a cross-over. So, whilst I really have no desire to listen to Drake, Katy Perry or Little Mix or a lot of the stuff that gets played during the day, I can actually appreciate Radio 1 for introducing me to a fair bit of contemporary music these last few years (Blossoms, Spring King, Slaves, Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve, Declan McKenna, Wolf Alice, White...I'm sure I could go on.)
Sorry for that long ramble. You got me started!
Two sprinkles in one comment? Sorry!
DeleteCan't handle Radio One, too much dance music. I know exactly what you mean about Radio 2...they were going in an excellent direction a few years back under their previous programme controller (until she quit following the Jonathan Ross / Russell Brand farrago). After that, the edginess was lost and they've gone very MOR. I like a bit of MOR, but it has to be mixed with edgier stuff (as this blog shows) or I get bored. I have more to say about the current state of 2, but I'll save that for another day.
DeleteSteve Wright is a big supporter of Stewart Lee, which I always think of as an odd fit. I rarely ever heard Wright (or Gary Davis and Simon Bates come to that) when he was on Radio 1. He was on daytime, so i'd have been at work. I knew all those characters from their appearances on TOTP though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can't see why Wright would dig Stewart Lee at all. Or why Stewart Lee would allow such patronage. (If you're familiar with his reaction to James Corden being a fan, you'll know what I mean.)
DeleteI know, but Lee has appeared on Wright's show two or three times over the years and, from the clips I've heard, seems to enjoy the experience.
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