The BBC? Hurrah!
As one who long ago abandoned the wastelands of Radio 1, save for the curmudgeonly delights of John Peel's various programmes - even that avenue of pleasure now being closed since the tragedy of last October - I've been amazed to find myself rediscovering the pleasures of the Beeb's national radio stations. Radio 1 is still a no-no, even though I love the genuine enthusiasm of Colin and Edith; their afternoon show is still too full of the kind of waffle the station's long been synonymous with, however wondrous their co-presentation of BBC3's Glasto coverage undoubtedly is. But beyond the digit 1 lie wonders...
Radios 2 and 3 have gradually been shrugging off their awful fuddy-duddy images of yore. Thanks to the recruitment of early-middle-aged enthusiasts such as Jonathan Woss and Mark Lamarr, radio 2 now covers quite a spectrum of pop, rock and R&B from the last five decades, plus it gives excellent coverage to the burgeoning roots-music scene which is gradually rehabilitating folk music. Then there's Radio 3, which actively participates in various jazz festivals (e.g. the London Jazz Festival), World Music festivals (Celtic Connections, WOMAD), inaddition to regular programs pulling together myriad strands of World, Folk, Jazz, and some of the more leftfield experimentalists (Late Junction and the mighty Andy Kershaw's weekly show). Oh, and all that classical stuff I love so much, too. (I spit on Classic FM, with its "mellow classics" mentality and its jarringly inappropriate torrent of commercials).
And now I've discovered another musical delight, in the shape of BBC6, one of the Beeb's new(ish) digital-only stations. When I was a teenager in the late 60s through the early 70s, I always used to wish Radio 1 could be more like its own best shows all the time. Why did I have to settle for the little oases of Peel and Alan Freeman, blokes who steered away from Osmonds and Bay City Rollers and preferred the brighter lands of pop-rock, prog-rock and generally more "album-oriented" stuff. Well, BBC6 is that station! From Phill Jupitus's breakfast show to Craig Charles's funk show, their playlists are stuffed with the best retro pop-rock combined with the best new bands. I think it fair to say the target audience comprises the thirty- and forty-somethings who regularly watch Later With Jules Holland, and who tape every minute of Glastonbury coverage each year. Listen: in the space of a single show on Friday lunchtime, Vic McGlynn played tracks by The Undertones, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Kaiser Chiefs, Pigbag, Suede, Groove Armada, The Skids, Radiohead, The Damned, Pentangle, Traffic, and Carter USM. Pure gold! Then Craig Charles hit us with Freddie Hubbard, Beastie Boys, Spencer Davis, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Freakbass, Gil Scott-Heron, and Nat Adderley.
I'm instinctively suspicious of any station with a playlist, and sad to say BBC6 has one. But it's a bloody eclectic playlist! Plus the presenters are given free rein to add a proportion of their own selections.
Just got to find time to listen to all this extra musical input, now!
Radios 2 and 3 have gradually been shrugging off their awful fuddy-duddy images of yore. Thanks to the recruitment of early-middle-aged enthusiasts such as Jonathan Woss and Mark Lamarr, radio 2 now covers quite a spectrum of pop, rock and R&B from the last five decades, plus it gives excellent coverage to the burgeoning roots-music scene which is gradually rehabilitating folk music. Then there's Radio 3, which actively participates in various jazz festivals (e.g. the London Jazz Festival), World Music festivals (Celtic Connections, WOMAD), inaddition to regular programs pulling together myriad strands of World, Folk, Jazz, and some of the more leftfield experimentalists (Late Junction and the mighty Andy Kershaw's weekly show). Oh, and all that classical stuff I love so much, too. (I spit on Classic FM, with its "mellow classics" mentality and its jarringly inappropriate torrent of commercials).
And now I've discovered another musical delight, in the shape of BBC6, one of the Beeb's new(ish) digital-only stations. When I was a teenager in the late 60s through the early 70s, I always used to wish Radio 1 could be more like its own best shows all the time. Why did I have to settle for the little oases of Peel and Alan Freeman, blokes who steered away from Osmonds and Bay City Rollers and preferred the brighter lands of pop-rock, prog-rock and generally more "album-oriented" stuff. Well, BBC6 is that station! From Phill Jupitus's breakfast show to Craig Charles's funk show, their playlists are stuffed with the best retro pop-rock combined with the best new bands. I think it fair to say the target audience comprises the thirty- and forty-somethings who regularly watch Later With Jules Holland, and who tape every minute of Glastonbury coverage each year. Listen: in the space of a single show on Friday lunchtime, Vic McGlynn played tracks by The Undertones, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Kaiser Chiefs, Pigbag, Suede, Groove Armada, The Skids, Radiohead, The Damned, Pentangle, Traffic, and Carter USM. Pure gold! Then Craig Charles hit us with Freddie Hubbard, Beastie Boys, Spencer Davis, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Freakbass, Gil Scott-Heron, and Nat Adderley.
I'm instinctively suspicious of any station with a playlist, and sad to say BBC6 has one. But it's a bloody eclectic playlist! Plus the presenters are given free rein to add a proportion of their own selections.
Just got to find time to listen to all this extra musical input, now!
posted by PaulV at 20.3.05
6 Comments:
Admit it you're really a TOG.
Like policemen getting younger, it's not the BBC getting better it's you getting older ttfn
Jane
I agree with you about Radio 6. It's great! I used to listen to it through my computer, but now we've got a freeview box, I can listen to it downstairs too :)
Wot's a TOG, Jane? Tired Old Git? Guilty as charged, if that's it! As for the rest, it's probably a bit of both. I still like all the types of music I adored aged 16, and I thought Radio 1 was mostly unadulterated shite even then, so my opinion of R1's not really changed. What HAS happened is my tastes have kept widening. Until age 30 I only actively sought pop and rock, with a slight smattering of jazz and folk. Since then, every couple of years I inadvertently find I've added another genre to the heap: classical, roots, jazz, electro-dance, world, avant-noise... no end to the bloody stuff, and the house is about to collapse under the weight of all the ensuing CD purchases (see earlier blog entry!).
That would be "Terry's Old Geezers/Gals"
Try R2 on a Sunday night, that'll remind you of the good old days of R2
R2 is a top station
My main regret is that I haven't got a digital radio in my car, considering the amount of time I spend in it (usually waiting outside the local hospital for Ann to get off duty). I catch a lot of R4 in the mornings, and try to keep an eye out for interesting programmes on R7. Right now, I'm listening via my laptop to a R4 broadcast from earlier this week, which is pretty cool.
get blogging
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