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Category Archives: Worlds Shortest Radio Show

Worlds Shortest Radio Show

Out with the boys last night.

Or should I say “Out with the middle-aged men”. But we were boys when we met – classmates at a tough old-fashioned Catholic grammar school. It was, even for the 1970s, was a fairly brutal place. Great emphasis was placed on academic excellence, religious fervour and iron discipline. Ex-pupils are now more like former prison […]

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Family outing last night to see Book of Mormon.

Absolutely brilliant and obviously made me think of The Osmonds. It’s almost too easy to remove the middle m from that word but until last night, I hadn’t realised quite how moronic The Osmonds’ Mormon beliefs really are. But among those creepy smiles and insipid cover versions, they did make one great record. The “Crazy […]

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My daughter is sixteen today.

And she’s filled me with love, happiness and pride since the day she was born. I thought about the obvious songs – Sweet Little Sixteen, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen – but their lyrics weren’t written from a father to a daughter. These lyrics were. And when I hear Tony Bennett sprinkle them over Bill Evans’s […]

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On a rainy Bank Holiday Monday…..

…you can either go to Homebase, come home and do a bit of DIY. Or avoid all practical chores and do a bit of this instead. This was Barry White’s first hit as a producer and at 2.55, we hear that famous deep voice on record for the very first time. So ask yourself: On […]

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Pat Kelly sounds like an Irish builder.

Good job he doesn’t sing like one. I’m big fan of Pat Kelly and his gentle rocksteady version of this is even sweeter than Curtis Mayfield’s original. Perfect for a sunny Sunday morning. I met him once at the BBC and he was so nice and humble, genuinely astonished that I’d recognised him. He said […]

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We know we shouldn’t love him but we do.

And never more so than today. I refer of course to Harry Redknapp, the last of the old-school football managers. Today he scored one of the greatest triumphs of his 50-year career by leading QPR to a 1-0 victory over Derby County at Wembley and back into the Premier League. Derby were by far the […]

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UKIP seem to have done distressingly well.

In both the European and local elections. I don’t think this is a good thing but it was great fun this morning hearing Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems spluttering their lame excuses for their failure to stop this happening. I’m sure it was this little ditty that inspired UKIP’s entire philosophy and I’m […]

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I didn’t want to vote for any of them.

The candidates for the European elections were such a bland, unprepossessing bunch. But aren’t they always? How much more fun would it be to have Alice Cooper as your MEP assisted by a chimpanzee? I’ve always loved him. Or should I say I’ve always loved their lead singer because Alice Cooper was originally the name […]

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A record you’ll no longer hear on the BBC.

Huge No.1 hit played countless times by Jimmy Savile, DLT and other Radio 1 DJs at their height of their fame. Yet it seems to have been quietly dropped from most radio stations’ playlists. Can’t imagine why. Gary Puckett is setting a noble example, resisting illicit temptation and telling the young girl to hurry home […]

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The three lives of Soho.

I’ve been working around Soho since the early 80s. Back then, the area had three distinct lives. During the day it was all advertising and film. Around dusk, the restaurant and theatre goers arrived. Then under cover of darkness, it became the world’s most famous red light district. Between about 4am and 6am, Soho grabbed […]

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