Category Archives: Worlds Shortest Radio Show

…..never smoked dope, never done coke and after a quarter of wine gums, I’m anybody’s. But over this glorious summer, I’ve developed a serious addiction to iced coffee and I blame my friend Celeste Wong. She runs Lantana just off Charlotte Street and it’s the best coffee shop in London, so she’s become my caffeine […]

Yep, Radio 3. As part of the BBC proms, performing with the London Sinfonietta. Some people have expressed surprised at this. Not me. Punk was always a very middle-class phenomenon. So the Stranglers fans in the sixth-form common room grew up to be the corporate clients at the Royal Albert Hall. With Hugh and Jean-Jacques […]

…..simply because about 75% of the traffic disappears, and the rest of us can then get anywhere in the A-Z quickly and easily. Wherever you’re going, from Abbess Close to Zoffany Street, this is the track you want. When asked who Maybelline was, Chuck Berry replied “The only Maybelline I ever knew was a cow”. […]

I think of this track as sort of “now”. It was actually eleven years ago. When you’re a teenager, eleven years is a huge chunk of your life. Obviously, as time goes on, eleven years becomes a smaller and smaller proportion. So for me, this record is “now”. The reason for playing it, apart from […]

..that country, folk-y, rock-y vibe that he does better than anyone else. Then there’s the sweet clarity of his voice and the poignancy of his lyrics which make this the perfect track for a lazy weekend in August. And the fact that, if you’ve ever heard The Everly Brothers’ “Walk Right Back”, you’ll know that […]

……that country, folk-y, rock-y vibe that he does better than anyone else. Then there’s the sweet clarity of his voice and poignancy of his lyrics that make this the perfect track for a lazy weekend in August. And the fact that, if you’ve ever heard The Everly Brothers’ “Walk Right Back”, you’ll know that he […]

No.1 hits (excluding instrumentals) where the title of the song is never sung? Bohemian Rhapsody, Space Oddity, Unchained Melody. Good. The Ballad of John & Yoko, The Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde. Obviously. Getting harder now. Annie’s Song, The Ketchup Song, The Hindu Times, Killer, Double Barrel. Not forgetting of course that Rod Stewart never […]

I was out last night with my friend Micky. He never changes. Still rail-thin with rock star hair and Ray-Bans, Mick’s led the sort of life that makes you feel you haven’t lived at all. He had a mate who was a serious drug dealer. Not only that but this bloke was own best customer. […]

Possibly not. But you’ve definitely heard of his father-in-law, Johnny Cash. Which is why you’ll recognise the chorus of this wonderful track and the voice of the man singing it. Apparently, it’s Rodney Crowell’s 62nd birthday today. That’s all the excuse I need.

Take some good quality vanilla ice cream, drizzle on a little extra virgin olive oil then add a couple of pinches of Maldon rock salt. Trust me, sublime. Now take a couple of English folkies doing an acoustic version of a full-on, very American summer staple. The result is equally surprising. At some point today, […]