I was up with the lark yesterday morning, so heard a lot of Radio 2 40th anniversary programming. In fact, I listened most of the day.
I laughed out loud when Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart came on, and played the 'ello darlin', huh-ha-ha-ha-ha' jingle. I've not heard it in years. Then he played all the old faves like Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah and My Brother. It was a real trip down memory lane. I loved Junior Choice as a child.
After that came Kenny Everett, with a show from that very day in 1981. Hits like O Superman (tipped for the top), You'll Never Know and other autumnal nuggets got an airing. I've never actually heard a Kenny Everett radio show before, and I have to say I wasn't that impressed. So many voices it was hard to find the real Ken in there. I think we know now what that entailed, but back then it was all hiding behind a lot of mainly unfunny stuff.
Smashie and Nicey followed doing a pisstake Pick Of The Pops, and they were rubbish. So puerile it was pathetic. I don't really see the point of them doing this. It was meant to be a celebration, so why not run an old Fluff one instead? That would have been a far more fitting tribute. Halfway through this, I turned if off.
It was good to have another chance to see the old Radio 1 episode of Blood On The Carpet later on BBC4, reminding us what a monster Chris Evans was and how out of touch the station had been. I've Sky+ed the Peel and Caroline Arenas.
I love stuff about radio.
9 comments:
I enjoyed the Kenny show, but I know exactly what you mean about his style - he couldn't complete a single sentence in his own voice without lapsing into a comedy accent. It was great hearing an entire show from times past, though. Hugely evocative. I love O Superman.
I liked Junior Choice too, despite a hugely inept performance from Stewpot. No wonder they won't let him on Radio 2 permanently, he was dreadful. Puff the Magic Dragon is one of the saddest records ever made, I think. But in a good way.
I didn't listen to Pick Of The Pops, on the grounds that it was bound to be crap.
You made the right decision Chris. I agree about Puff, it still makes me well up. Anything by Peter Paul and Mary is automatically great in my dog-eared book.
Sorry I missed that Junior Choice, but I caught the Everett and Michael Aspel on Family Favourites, and really, you can't beat them for a warm, nostalgic feeling. Simon Garfield's book The Nation's Favourite is a must-read for anyone who wants to know the inside line on Radio One. And Stewpot? Danny Baker rumbled him as a man who was a DJ, but hated music, a bit like Tony Blackburn is revealing himself to be in his new autobiography.
Surely that was Everett's radio 'schtick', though? He never, ever purported to show the 'real me' on air, and not did he have any reason to. Mr Zany from day one and a good thing too.
For what it's worth, I laughed out loud quite a few times at the repeated show.
Well, I thought Ev was fantastic. You don't get that sort of level of effort from DJs any more - Radio 1 jocks only get noticed now when they don't bother turning up for work. Plus the carefully-synchronised timechecks meant you could pretend it was 1981 for two hours.
I've no frame of reference for Two-Way Family Fabourites, however, and so found the whole thing immensely depressing - soldiers in Afghanistan asking for Angels by Robbie Williams and the like. Brrr.
And we did pretend it was 1981 for those few hours.
I think I prefer Kenny on the telly.
'Plus the carefully-synchronised timechecks meant you could pretend it was 1981 for two hours.'
Yes, yes, that was what I especially loved!
I saw the Blood on the Carpet documentary and thought it was ludicrous, all the dark shots and grainy film as if it was a piece on the cold war. A few DJs got fired, that's all, it wasn't as if a government fell.
Yes, Huw, I agree about the overly-dramatic nature of the programme, all a bit silly and with the Jim Carter narration it made it sound like a matter of national importance. Which it was.
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