Radio Songs #74: Now, one day a man in a pinstriped suit…

There are big schedule changes afoot at my favourite radio station, BBC Radio Scotland. For years now, I’ve been listening to late night shows from that station (and a couple from BBC Radio Ulster) to help me get to sleep, and to keep my mind from racing when I wake up in the wee small hours. Radio has always been a big part of my sleep routine, even as a child I slept with the radio on and if I woke up in the night, it was reassuring to have a friendly voice there playing interesting music to keep the night at bay.

The Kinks – Around The Dial

These days I don’t listen to live radio, but through the wonder of BBC Sounds, I always have a bank of shows to go to in the night. Mickey Bradley and Ralph McLean on the Irish station; Iain Anderson, Natasha Raskin-Sharp, Roddy Hart and Ricky Ross from Scotland. There’s nothing on Radio 2 or 6Music for me anymore. 2 is too mainstream, far too much chance of hearing U2, Celine Dion and Simply Red. 6Music is too in love with dance music, or more likely to play something too loud which will wake me up with a hammering heart. And I can’t listen to commercial radio (what’s left of it) because of the ads (irony, I know, because I spent a large part of my life writing those bloody things).

Lucy Spraggan – Don’t Play This On The Radio

Anyway, Radio Scotland has a new programme controller, and I lived through enough of those in my time in radio to know that it’s rarely good news. Most new programme controllers arrive in the job with a mantra of “If it ain’t broke – fix it”, and so it is at Radio Scotland. Two of my favourite shows are ending while a third is being shuffled to the weekend in order to create a new regular late show that will appeal to the 45+ demographic… i.e. it’ll sound just like Radio 2. I may be prejudging, but I expect we’ll hear a lot more U2, Celine Dion and Simply Red.

Neil Young – Payola Blues

Farewell then to veteran broadcaster Iain Anderson, who's been on Scottish radio since the days of the Ark, but has always been a reliable place to go to hear the best singer-songerwritery material of the last 60 years. And an even sadder farewell to the wonderful Natasha Raskin-Sharp, a presenter with a Peel-like commitment to shining light on artists that never get played anywhere else on the radio. I’ve listened to both their shows for over a decade now, I’ve welcomed them into my home, they’ve become warm, stalwart, dependable friends, and I’ve valued the comfort they’ve given me in the long dark nights of the soul… I fooled myself into thinking they’d always be there.

Tom Petty – The Last DJ

There’s a campaign running to save these shows, to get BBC Radio Scotland to reverse it’s schedule changes (slated for the New Year), a campaign backed by a lot of the independent Scottish musicians who have come to rely upon the shows for airplay. I’ve signed the petition (currently at 15,000 signatures), but I don’t hold out much hope. Because I’ve worked in radio, and I’ve seen too many good presenters forced out over the years because the market testing showed audiences didn’t want individual choice or musical eclecticism.

Public Enemy - How To Kill A Radio Consultant

A week or so before the announcement, Iain Anderson played my favourite song by Mark Germino, and took a moment to dwell upon its message. I didn’t understand the significance at the time. I do now.

Now, one day a man in a pinstriped suit
Took the owner of the station to a restaurant booth
His pitch was simple, “you'll increase your sales
“If you only play the song list we send in the mail.”
He guaranteed a larger audience
Less confusion and higher points
“But your drive-time jock won't get to do his thing.
“Hey he's not half bad, tell me, what's his name?”