Category Archives: Worlds Shortest Radio Show

I met up with my old friend Laurence Barber today. We were supposed to be talking about work and ended up talking about second hand cars. We both love cars but not in a Top Gear, petrol-head way. It’s about the freedom and independence they bring, the means to be in a different place every […]

Out of a possible twelve. In other words, “100%”. To put it another way, “Could not have been better”. Or maybe “Top of the Year”. My daughter’s GCSE results arrived this morning and made me as proud as it’s possible to be. In one so talented, she also has a lovely absence of arrogance. She’d […]

He wasn’t a close friend but I liked him a lot. His wife asked me to come so of course, I did and was delighted to see that God had not been invited. Having endured countless requiems that were quite literally godawful, I found this lovely secular service sad but uplifting. It was a wonderful […]

Ian Maybank and I have an only one stipulation when meeting for lunch. The name of the venue must be a clunking great pun. Hence we’ve enjoyed fish & chips at The Codfather, sweet & sour chicken at Kung Food and today it was pie & mash at The Pie Minister. This track seems appropriate […]

The Premier League is back and this season, unlike almost all previous ones, QPR are in the top flight. I used to live in Shepherds Bush, a ten minute walk from Loftus Road and I went along to most home games. But then came marriage, children and a move north into Arsenal country. Meanwhile QPR, […]

His name’s Don Williamson, 80 today and long retired from being branch manager at NatWest in Kensington. He’s my ex-girlfriend’s dad and a wonderful human being. Don came from an era when a bank manager was a well-known and respected figure, a pillar of the local community and genuinely concerned for his customers’ financial well-being. […]

Never a great singer, he was nonetheless a huge star in the early 60s, in that strange post-rock’n’roll, pre-Beatles era. This is probably the only good record he ever made but he was a smart and resourceful survivor. He came from nothing, lived on his wits and never, ever gave up. When the “singing” career […]

…used to have regular comedy nights. The pub was five minutes from me so I went quite a lot. One night they introduced a surprise guest – Robin Williams, Hollywood superstar and the most famous stand-up comedian in the world. He was in London promoting a movie and just wanted to try out some new […]

…can be inexplicable. I remember an American writer saying to me, “But you guys don’t even have weather”. In the US they suffer real extremes of hot and cold, as well as have hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. How they must laugh every time they see the UK brought to a standstill by a light flurry […]

What were they thinking of? Having him sitting in for Graham Norton yesterday morning. John Bishop is a great stand-up and a very funny man. But with his thick accent and poor diction, he was a disastrous choice for a radio presenter. Unfortunately, it now seems that if you’re famous for something other than presenting […]