Category Archives: Worlds Shortest Radio Show

As he grieves for his daughter Peaches who died yesterday. Geldof is famously difficult and irascible but a magnificent human being who has done so much for his fellow man. Yet he’s suffered so much in his personal life. There can be no greater tragedy than the death of a son or daughter and it’s […]

Who knows? But we do know that Jo Whiley has been incredibly fortunate. Never the most brilliant of broadcasters, she is nonetheless still enjoying a long and lucrative career on national radio. Cynics suggest that it’s simply because the BBC are desperate to have more female voices on air. The same sly whispers are now […]

This was mine. The last of literally thousands. By the mid-90s, my favourite format was being phased out in favour of the CD. Yet with their awkward plastic cases and cold digital clarity, CDs were initially a huge flop. They seemed set to go the same way as 8-tracks and Betamax until Gerald Kaufman MP […]

It was just the theme to a second-rate, instantly forgettable movie sung by a band with a silly, gimmicky name. Ah, but it was written and produced by Norman Whitfield. This man had been Motown’s most innovative producer in the 60s and 70s but he was notoriously difficult. By 1975, was out of work and […]

One: They always lead with the forecast for Western Scotland and Northern Ireland, even though it only affects a tiny minority of the population. The huge majority in the South-East have to wait because heaven forfend the BBC should be accused of a “London bias”. Two: The reality is seldom as bad as the forecast. […]

I’m assuming that, fifty years ago, this meant exactly what it means today. In which case, it was a very saucy proposition. Especially coming from the famously pure and chaste Doris Day who celebrates her 90th birthday today. Despite the squeaky clean aura which she always managed to maintain, Doris has led the sort of […]

I generally don’t like gloomy French films with sub-titles. As old Steptoe once said, “I don’t go to the pictures to read” but I found myself at a screening of Asghar Farhadi’s latest film “The Past” and I feared the worst. Sure enough, it was a depressing tale about the emotional pain wrought by complex […]

In the late 80s, a lot of musical snobbery was directed at Stock Aitken & Waterman. They were derided for their phenomenal success in producing hits for the likes of Rick Astley, Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan. Real soul fans loathed what they regarded as this plastic, manufactured pop. But they adored “obscure” old American […]

Fantastic. But I do hope that all those happy couples who tied the knot this weekend remember how vital Tom Robinson was to that happiness. He’s always been a hero of mine. As a musician, broadcaster but most of all, as a courageous campaigner for gay rights. In 1978, Britain was not as tolerant of […]

You’ll be familiar with Seal’s vocal version of this. Over-familiar. In fact, you probably never want to hear it again as long as you live. That’s because when it was released in the mid-90s, it was instantly seized upon by every bland, pre-programmed AOR radio station in the country and played over and over and […]