Podcasts about brmb

Send us a textJulian Wharam has enjoyed four decades on radio stations across the country. These have included stints on Radio Aire, Red Dragon, BRMB, Heart Radio, Real Radio and Radio Wyvern.In this weeks edition of Radio Greats, Julian sits down with Luke to share stories of the stations he worked on and the people he worked with. This includes invaluable advice from Carl Kingston, working with Bruno Brookes and presenting shows for Radio Aire, to how a chat with Mark Franklin at a Cranberries gig led to a job at Red Dragon, where he achieved many great highlights - including presenting a feature that has never been re-created. Presenting shows for BRMB, Real Radio and Heart and how a chance of moving to Worcester led to a re-entry into the radio world.Big Thanks to Aircheck Downloads and Julian for the use of content. 

The man behind the creation of jingles of many heritage ILR Stations, kicks off the new series of Radio Greats. But who is the real Muff Murfin? The man behind the sounds of many stations.Well in this episode of Radio Greats, Muff sits down with Luke to reflect on his life and career in the music industry, how he got into creating radio jingles and how he would pitch jingles to potential stations. How a Capital jingle lead to him creating the theme music to Gladiators before moving on to run stations including Kix 96, The Bear, Mansfield and Sunshine. And relaunching Wyvern and BRMB and bringing back some old friends of the airwaves.Big Thanks to Aircheck Downloads and Radio Rewind for use of content.PRS: Your Song, Elton John PRS: Maggie May, Rod Stewart

For the past 55 years Les Ross has been one of Birmingham's most recognised radio presenters, presenting Breakfast on BRMB for over 26 years, as well as a career on BBC Radio Birmingham, Radio Tees, XTRA AM and Boom Radio.In the last episode of the season - Les sits down with Luke to reflect on the past 55 Years, from getting the bug for Radio - to winning a DJ event. How he an advert in the paper lead to him joining BBC Radio Birmingham - before launching Radio Tees in Stockton. Returning to Birmingham and spending 26 years on BRMB and XTRA AM, before embarking on a career over to Saga Radio, Boom Radio and the brand new BRMB.Big Thanks to Aircheck Downloads, Radio Moments, Jeff Featherstone and Professor1036 for the use of content and Thank you to Paul Ellery and Producer Paul for arranging the interview with Les at The BRMB Studios.

We've featured some presenters who are synonymous with the stations where they plied their trade for an impressive amount of time - Fresh at Beacon and Elliott Webb at BRMB for example - and there's no denying that James Heming is Mr Invicta. He spent the majority of his career at a station in Kent, somewhere he admits he couldn't have pointed to on a map before moving there! And for an incredible 19 of years of his time there, he was on Breakfast. Not bad for a cover jock... He also opens up about his ill-fated stint on XFM breakfast; his bromance with a well-known fellow Invicta presenter; and how he dropped the F bomb on at 8.10 one morning! So tune in and rip the knob off! (If you know, you know...)   James's socials: https://www.instagram.com/jamesjheming/ | https://x.com/jamesheming James on XFM! https://www.aircheckdownloads.com/uk-airchecks/xfm-london/1990s/james-heming-aug-29th-1998-230 Listen to James, weekend mornings, 7-11: https://www.madeinkent.co.uk/shows   If you enjoy the podcast, just want to give you a quick reminder that we'd be grateful if you would support us on Ko-Fi:  https://ko-fi.com/crunchandroll  

Rachael Hopper has been retired from the radio business since 2010, but before then she enjoyed a 20 year career as a presenter and producer on the GWR Network, Radio 1, Capital and Heart Radio.In this edition of Radio Greats, Rachael sits down with Luke to share her career of the wireless. From working with her Mum at BBC Radio Cumbria, to losing out to Margaretha Taylor on a Radio contest for BRMB. Presenting Breakfast on RAM FM in Derby and Evenings on Mercia and how Geri Halliwell stole her hairstyle. Producing Dave Pearce and Pete Tong at Radio 1, before presenting on Capital Radio. Working for Heart and how after becoming a Mother, she left the radio business.Big Thanks to Aircheck Downloads for the use of content.

Foxy's guest this episode is a former Whatnotter. You know, from the Saturday Whatnot on Essex Radio... No? If that's not ringing any bells, maybe you know him from his mere 26 years at Key 103 / Hits Radio. YES! That Mike Toolan! Of course he's one of the biggest names in the business and who's been on Radio Aire, BRMB and Capital, as well as an actual GENERATION on 103FM in Manchester, so won't need too much of an introduction. We'll just whet your appetite with some of the contents of our hour with him: Find out who he pretended to be to get on air in the USA. What word did he get someone to say that got him sacked from hospital radio. How he drove a colleague to turn up to his show armed with an actual gun! Who got the Radio 1 gig when he was down to the final two candidates. How he felt when he was replaced on breakfast with a former guest. And how he felt when he was reinstated. If that hasn't got your juices flowing, you're listening to the wrong podcast.   Listen to Mike on the Hits Radio network weekdays from 4: https://planetradio.co.uk/hits-radio/presenters/mike-toolan/ Classic Toolan here, including an incredible snoop from a 1993 Rock FM show: https://www.aircheckdownloads.com/audio-search?term=mike+toolan&sort_bef_combine=relevance_DESC Mike's Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Toolyboy  

Hold on to your headphones, Tiger Tim's roaring onto Crunch & Roll, and he's grrrrrrrrrreat! (Sorry). Early on in his chat with Foxy he tells us that it is "no holes barred"... He's happy to to go through the many highs and some notable lows of his career, spanning Capital and BRMB to TFM and Minster, and plenty more besides. We've cover how he was once told he couldn't say his own name right by one manager, the magic of warming up for Chris Tarrant every morning, and turning down a big gig for the sake of his health and sanity. There's strong language and adult content in this episode. And if you are affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, you're not alone and there's help and support at www.drinkaware.co.uk.   If you're a regular listener to the podcast, firstly thank you - we love you. But if you'd like to support the podcast / contribute to the 969media Christmas party, we'd be eternally grateful if you would click here: https://ko-fi.com/crunchandroll   Check out Tim's magic here: https://timlichfield.com/ Listen to Tim on YorkMix Radio from 3pm weekdays: https://yorkmix.com/radio/

When we started this podcast, we wrote down a list of people we'd love to have on, and sitting close to the top (between the hairy cornflake and Alan Tichmarsh) was today's guest, Jo Russell. We've been pestering her to come on for ages but wasn't having any of it, until John upped the appearance fee to two bottles of Blossom Hill, then she was in! We worked with her for several years at BRMB and didn't know 10% of the stuff she talked about in this episode, so unless you're her mum, you probably don't have a clue either. There's the story of leading a double life in her early career - insurance sales person by day, radio presenter by night. There's the story about people pretending to be her in Nottingham at the height of her fame while on Trent. And how she once had a very pleasant sacking by one of radio's great managers. There's strong language in this episode (much to Jo's surprise!).   Hear Jo & Sparky on Gem breakfast: https://planetradio.co.uk/gem-106/presenters/gem-breakfast-show-jo-sparky/

John describes Elliott as Mr BRMB, and for most people that's probably how they see him too. But there's so much more to his story. During the course of this episode you might come to regard him as Mr Sacked for Gross Misconduct; Mr Gave Moyles a Pep Talk; or Mr Told His Boss To Fuck Off. Oh, and find out all about his part in radio's most controversial promotion. Get ready to get caught up in Elliott's web. Sorry. Contains strong language.   Hear Elliott doing his thing on BBC Hereford and Worcester, weekdays from 10: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00drqfg Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/elliottjwebb Insta: https://www.instagram.com  

Steve Priestley has enjoyed over 30 years on the Radio from a career across the country. He has presented shows for Fox FM, BRMB, Magic 105.4 FM and The Breeze Network.In this weeks edition of Radio Greats, Steve sits down with Luke to chat about his 30 year career on the Radio, how it was his dream to work for Capital, being part of the launch team of Fox FM in Oxfordshire, how a meeting with Richard Park lead him to present shows for BRMB and how he got the chance to work at Euston Tower with the Network Charts. Making it to London for Magic 105.4 and presenting over the 7/7 Bombings, moving up North for The Bauer City 1 Network and returning South to present on Breeze, before returning back to The North to take on Afternoons on Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire.Big Thanks to Aircheck Downloads, for use of content.

John Spencer-Barnes is a former radio broadcaster and journalist for the BBC. He was born in Dudley, England in 1961 and educated at Wolverhampton University. He began his career as a freelance broadcaster at BRMB in Birmingham and then moved to the experimental BBC service WM Heartlands in East Birmingham between 1989 and 1991. He was involved in the campaign for community radio and was News Editor of the UK's first community radio station, Wear FM in Sunderland. He later broadcast with the Chiltern Radio Network at Northants 96, Chiltern FM and Severn Sound. He was the launch manager of Welsh commercial station Radio Maldwyn and 107.9 Huddersfield FM in West Yorkshire. He also spent a period as manager of the commercial radio station at Freetown in Sierra Leone. In 1994 he became News Editor of 97.4 Rock FM and Red Rose 999 in Preston, Lancashire. While at Rock FM, he co-ordinated the EMAP Radio response to the IRA bombing of Manchester.[2] The bomb had taken Manchester's Key 103 and Piccadilly Magic 1152 off air. He arranged an emergency news service for the Manchester stations and a replacement radio service from a studio in Preston. His more recent career was at the BBC where he broadcast at BBC Hereford and Worcester, BBC Radio Berkshire and was the presenter of the Late Show on BBC Radio Lancashire, which was simulcast to BBC Radio Manchester, for more than a decade. He is a Director of the Maritime Volunteer Service and the Director of Communications for the organisation. He is a Trustee of the search and rescue charity Bay Search & Rescue which operates on the sands of Morecambe Bay and elsewhere in the country. He is also the town crier of St Anne's on the Sea.

Charlie Jordan has spent the best part of three decades working on Radio Stations across the country, including stints for Capital, BBC Radio 1 and Smooth Radio.In this weeks edition of Radio Greats, Charlie looks back on the 30 Years of Radio, from getting her first gig on Buzz FM, before making the move to London to work on Capital Radio, working for BRMB and presenting shows for the National Radio 1. And How Buying a Cream Egg lead her to present drive on Smooth Radio West Midlands.Big Thanks to Aircheck Downloads for the use of content.

Harriet Scott has worked in the Radio Business for the last three decades and has hosted shows for Viking, 210FM, BRMB, Virgin, Heart and Magic.In this edition of Radio Greats, Harriet chats with Luke to share her Radio journey, from getting the radio bug, how it was Al Dupree who gave her the foot in the door at Viking, where she hosted Breakfast, Saturday Evenings and Drivetime. How it was her aim to move to London and how Steve Wright Persuaded her to host Breakfast on 210FM. Presenting shows for BRMB, Virgin and Heart, how it was a learning curve at BBC Local Radio and becoming Breakfast Host on Magic Radio.Big Thanks to Aircheck Downloads, 210Thames Valley, Ben Atkinson and Brian Clearly for use of airchecks.

Phil Upton has spent the last 35 Years in Radio across the West Midlands and has been dubbed by many as Mr. BirminghamThis time, Phil joins Luke to share his stories about being on the wireless for over three decades. From DJ-ing at Nightclubs, to getting an offer by Phil Riley to join BRMB, Working for Heart and Galaxy, why returning to BRMB was a mistake and making the move to BBC Local Radio to from Breakfast on CWR.Big Thanks to Aircheck Downloads for use of content.

Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! This week's guest is Dan Morfitt.  Jurassic Park! He now resides in the good ol' US of America, but before he fled these isles, he worked at loads of big stations. Kerrang? Tick. Radio Aire? Absolutely. Key 103? Just a bit. Hallam FM? But of course. BRMB? Don't mind if I do. Foxy chats to him about the crazy days at Kerrang (the C word went up the transmitter, and a microphone went up... well, listen and find out), being drunk in-charge of an overnight show, and throwing peanuts at Steve Lamacq. As usual, there's naughty words and content you probably shouldn't let your kids listen to.   Listen to Dan's podcast Top Content, which he presents with Mike Peters, because it's very good indeed: https://podfollow.com/topcontentpod/view And you can catch him on https://wfmu.org/ too. Twitter: https://twitter.com/danmorfitt Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danmorfitt/ Website: https://danmorfitt.com/ 

Bob Lawrence has spent over 40 Years in the Radio Business, both in front and behind the mic and working on all aspects from Hospital, Pirate and Commercial.This time Bob shares with Luke his radio journey, from how he developed the bug for the Wireless. How His Brother introduced him to Radio, how working for Radio Caroline was a dream and then working for stations in the Midlands including BRMB and Beacon and how the move to Beacon was like a Football club move and joining UDJ and the behind the scenes drama.Big Thanks to Aircheck Downloads for use of content. 

Mark might not be a household name like a few of the guests on Crunch & Roll, but anyone familiar with his work knows that doesn't mean he's not a great character of the industry. He was a Viking FM stalwart; plied his trade on the Hit Music Network (but didn't know what stations he was actually on); moved to Beacon, Wyvern and BRMB; all before the lure of Nile FM drew him to Cairo. Foxy's chat with him is honest, funny and at times, introspective. He covers topics from how he got himself removed from Michelle Collins' Christmas card list, to the unusual place he was when he received a job offer. This episode contains adult themes and strong language.   Listen to Mark's excellent new podcast, Host Protocol now, where he talks to valued voices from Egypt and beyond. From movie stars and directors, to influencers and journalists. From the world of movies, music, sport, business and much more. https://podfollow.com/1637436284/view

Robin Banks is Foxy's first guest on the Crunch & Roll podcast. Most people listening will know of Robin and have listened to him on Atlantic 252, Kiss 100, Beat 106 or BRMB. He's a massive on-air presence, a creative pioneer and one of the hardest working people in radio. But as with the best presenters, he admits that he has, on occasion, been a 'bit of a dick'! In this episode find out what led to him ripping a studio door off, how he threw a former boss under a bus with Jay-Z and and why a disastrous debut on Galaxy made him check into rehab. This episode contains adult themes and strong language.   And if you want to listen to Robin on the radio, catch him on Hi-FM in Oman https://www.hifmradio.com/ or subscribe to his weekly podcast, 'The Worst of Robin and Johnny' https://podfollow.com/1217357124/view. Twitter: @r_banks | @hifmradio Instagram: robinbanksshow | hifmradio Facebook: /robinbanksshow | /hifmradio    

Graham Mack has enjoyed 30 Years of Experience in Radio Presenting and Management in both Australia and the UK, working on stations from 2CR, BRMB, Century, TFM and BOB FM.This time on Radio Greats he reflects to Luke about the 30 Years on work on Radio, from listening to Piccadilly and Radio City, to emigrating to Australia to achieve his dream on stations out there. Arriving back and working for 2CR, how Clive Dickens got him on BRMB, to working for Century and TFM and reuniting Russ and Jono for Fix Radio.Thanks to Graham and Aircheck Downloads for use of content/ 

It's the return of our ocassional series, We Can't Have Nice Things.  This week, we look at radio contest and promotions that went badly wrong, often at the draft stage.  Free nude wedding anyone? 1-star review shirt! and shirt raising money for Ukraine Red Cross at yourbrainonfacts.com/merch 02:45 Radio Luxembourg's Ice Block Challenge 06:02 Bait & switch 10:12 Rules are rules 17:36 Review and news 20:40 No accounting for taste 22:15 Library of Chaos 27:27 Good, better, breast 30:08  Playing matchmaker  Links to all the research resources are on the website. Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter,  or Instagram.  Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi.  Or buy the book and a shirt. Music: Kevin MacLeod, Bobby Richards . Canadian radio station AMP Radio in Calgary, caused a lot of buzz with a promotion called “Bank it or Burn it” which asked listeners to vote whether they should #BANK C$5,000 and give it away to a listener, or #BURN the money, literally. With 54% of the votes, the option to #BURN emerged victorious, and AMP Radio burned C$5,000 and put it on YouTube.   A YouTube video was posted of the station's morning show hosts throwing the bills into an incinerator.  AMP Radio defended their actions noting that businesses can easily spend C$5,000 on marketing in a week, and that their promotion has garnered a lot of talk, but at what price?  While this promotion received a lot of attention, the vast majority of it came from outraged Calgarians claiming that they would no longer be listening to station. However, that hasn't stopped AMP Radio from continuing the promotion.  The second phase is currently underway, and this time C$10,000 is at stake.   Radio stunts, and their shifty cousins, radio hoaxes, have been with us since the early days of broadcasting as a favorite marketing tool to gain listeners and advertising sponsors. Orson Welles' 1938 "War of the Worlds," caused widespread panic among listeners, who actually believed Martians were invading.  The fallout can range from disappointment to embarassment to property damage, crimes against the person, and even deaths.  You probably recall the incident in California in 2007 where a contest called Hold Your Wee for a Wii, where contestants had to drink a large volume of water and the last person to go to the bathroom would win a video game console, resulted in a woman's death from acute water intoxication.  New Yorkers are unlikely to forget the day "shock jocks" Opie and Anthony finally went too far with a contest that encouraged people to have sex in public, with one couple opting to have their dalience in St. Patrick's Cathedral.     Today's topic was voted on by our patrons, including our newest member Paul D and Pigeon and our All that and Brain Too supporters, David N and EmicationLikely, who just got a bonus mini dealing specifically with radio pranks while I struggle, and struggle it is, to confine this episode to promotions and contests.  The pranks go way, way worse.  Patrons get early, ad-free episodes, but you can also get a glimpse of next week's show and what it's like hanging out in the booth with me by following my tiktok; I've start live-streaming *some of the recording process.     There's nothing new under the sun and that applies to radio contests as much as anything else in life.  Take Radio Luxembourg's and the ice block expedition of 1958.  The challenge: to transport three metric tonnes of ice from the arctic circle to the equator, without the benefit of any form of refrigeration.  The prize was set at 100,000 francs per kilo of ice that made it to its destination as a solid, or about a million bucks per tonne in today's money.  Radio Luxembourg felt they could put their money where their mouth is since who could transport ice that far without refrigeration?  The contest drew fewer hopefuls than your average ‘say the phrase that pays' call-in, but the Norwegian company Glassvatt took them up on it.  A company that produced fiberglass insulation, incidentally, and is still in business today.     Ice was cut out of the Svartisen glacier in 200kg blocks, flown to the nearest town, and melted together into a single 3,050kg block of ice.  It was then wrapped in the company's signature glass wool and placed in an iron container on a truck donated by the Scania company and fueled with with gas donated by Shell.  This was an opportunity for publicity for everyone involved, not just the radio station.  Together with a film crew and a van full of equipment, they  expedition set off from the Norwegian city of Mo i Rana on February 22, 1959, stopping in Oslo to pick up over 600 lbs/300kg of medicine to schlep along to a hospital in Lambarene, Gabon, because when else was so much cold storage going to be going that way?   They made stops in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, which was the comparatively easy bit, then on to Algeria, Niger, and finally Gabon.  That's when the going got tough.  Not a lot of paved roads across the desert, plus Algeria was in the midst of a civil war for independence from France.  Getting stuck in the sand was a frequent occurrence that cost them hours of digging-out time in the 120degF/50C heat, and their supply of water ironically rather limited.   It took a month a day, but they did it!  And the giant block of ice had only lost about 11% of its weight to melting, so even if Radio Luxemborg didn't pro-rate for partial tons, Glassvatt was still looking to collect about $2mil.  Except.  Radio Luxembourg had withdrawn the offer.  When an insulation company stepped up to their ‘move ice without refrigeration' challenge, Radio Luxembourg got cold feet, npi.  The cancellation wasn't the jerk move it sounds like; they actually called it off before the Glassvatt truck even set out.  Glassvatt decided to continue anyway, because even without the prize, it still seemed like good publicity.     That's really the name of the game, the whole reason radio stations do these things.  It's the aural equivalent of butts in seats.  You've got to entice the public to listen to your station over all their other options.  They can be cheaply run, these contests.  Folks my age probably won a bumper sticker, which costs the station very little, or some concert tickets, which often cost the station nothing since they come from the promoter.  But a constant need for contests means you've got to keep them interesting while not blowing through the promotions budget.  This leads some DJs to get creative and not in a good way.  Oh and a word about DJ.  My mom really wants me to refer to radio DJs as “on-air radio personalities” such as when I reference her background in FM radio in NY and FL in the 70's, because these days “DJ” means Skrillex types, but I can't be asked, so for today, they're all DJs.   In 2005, a Bakersfield, CA station announced they were giving away a Hummer to the person who could correctly guess the number of miles that two Hummers the station had had supposedly driven around the town during the course of a week.  The answer was 103.9, the same as the radio station's frequency, which one Shannon Castillo cleverly guessed.  She must have been on cloud 9 to have won herself a $60k vehicle, which if I were her I would sell because it would cost $60k in gas, so you can imagine her disappointment when she went to collect her prize and was handed a remote control car.  Castillo hired an attorney, and I don't blame her, who pointed out that the station had indicated that the vehicle had 22” rims, so either they were claiming it was a real vehicle or that was one jacked-up RC car.  Castillo sued the station for $60k, but as if often the case, lot of news outlets carry the initial story about the lawsuit, but nobody cared to report how it came out.  That's my research bug-bear.  Well, one of them.   A similar but 166% worse frustration was felt by that same year by Norreasha Gill, a KY woman who was the to the lucky tenth caller in a contest to win “100 grand.”  This was going to be life-changing!  She told her kids how they could finally buy a home of their own and have financial stability, so she probably saw red when she turned up at the station to collect her prize, only to be handed a 100 Grand candy bar.  I like caramel, rice crispies, and chocolate as much as the next person, probably more than a lot of next persons, but I totally agree with Gill suing the radio station for 100,000 actual dollars.   Pulling the wool over peoples' eyes is not only mean-spirited; it can also land businesses into all manner of trouble.  You can't say “it was just a joke” and go about your business.  A FL Hooters, not a radio station, I grant you, learned that lesson in 2001 when they held a contest among their waitstaff for most drinks sold, with the prize being a Toyota.  The winner was blindfolded and led out into the parking lot to discover her Toyota was a toy Yoda, a foot-tall figure of the puppet from Star Wars.  She quit and sued the owners of the franchise, settling out of court a year later.   Radio stations operate under the auspices of the Federal Communication Commission, and they have some pretty firm opinions about what shenanigans you can get up to if you want to do it on the broadcast airwaves.  The rules require a radio station fully and accurately disclose the material terms, aka the relevant details of the contest, which cannot be deceptive, misleading, or patently false, and then to follow through with those terms.  If you're talking about a contest on the air, you have to give the material terms on the air.  It's not good enough to say “we're giving away a hundred grand, see the website for more info” and on the website, admit that it's a candy bar, no siree.  No claiming it was just a joke if you made it out to be a legit contest.     The FCC fined a Kansaa station $4,000 for failing to announce all material terms of a contest, even though it was on the website, and for failure to comply with the terms for their Santa's Sack contest.  Listeners were to call in and guess what was in Santa's Sack and you'd win what was in the sack plus a teddy bear; seems simple enough.  A listener who guessed the sack held $1,000 was told she was wrong, but the next day, she heard someone else guess $1k and that person was proclaimed the winner.  The first caller complained to the station and when that went nowhere, filed a complaint with the FCC.  With the feds breathing down their necks –don't forget, the FCC isn't just about issuing fines, they can yank your broadcast license– the radio station claimed it was an innocent mix-up among the staff, some of whom included the value of the $10 teddy bear and some didn't, and that the rules were on their website.  The radio station then sent a check for $1,000 to the complainant, meaning they were out $5k over a $10 teddy bear and for want of a memo.     The FCC issued KDKA in Pennsylvania with a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, a scary-sounding document that says “Look what you did!  I should take away your license for that.”  On Thanksgiving day 2007, a DJ, I assumed bored or annoyed at having to work a holiday, said that he'd give away $1,000,000 to the thirteenth caller and he'd do it once an hour.  A listener called and was told he was the thirteenth caller and was then placed on hold for 43 minutes before being put through to the DJ and immediately hung up on.  The station claimed that the on-air contest rules did not apply here because listeners should have realized it was a joke.  The FCC disagreed, since the DJ never said anything to indicate he wasn't serious, at one point saying it was “the real deal,” and he announced the “contest” *several times during his 3-hour show.  After finding that the on-air contest rules applied, the FCC smited them–smote?-- for the tag team of failure to announce the material terms *and failure to comply with said terms, i.e. pony up the dough, and fined the station $6,000.   An LA station got their own Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture and $6k fine after they held a contest online with a drawing for tickets to the musical Les Miserables.  Their web site said the contest would run from 3:50 pm on May 29 to 8:50 pm on June 2.  A listener complained to the FCC after the station awarded the prize to three people at only 3:00.  Yer man must really have wanted to see Les Mis.  The radio station responded that the on-air contest rules didn't apply to its contest because the contest was exclusively online.  The FCC disagreed.  The rules apply to "all contests conducted by the licensee and broadcast to the public" and since the radio station had announced the contest several times on-air and told listeners who entered the contest to stay tuned, it was an on-air contest.   You don't necessarily need the FCC in your stable to hold a radio station's feet to the fire.  Just ask the folks at Singapore's Gold 905 after their big-money game “The Celebrity Name Drop.”  They made a montage of 14 celebrity voices, edited so that each celebrity said one word of “Gold 9-0-5, the station that sounds good, and makes you feel good.”  I couldn't find a clip of it, but if you do, hit up the soc meds or post it in soc.   To win $10,000, the caller had to correctly identify each voice in order.  It took a skilled ear, as well as listening out for other people's right and wrong guesses.  Muhammad Shalehan thought he had it after a month of puzzling and repeatedly trying to get through the phone lines, but when he read his list of names, the DJ said he got one wrong.  A few weeks later, Gold905 declared they had their winner, one Jerome Tan, and that was a wrap.     Except.  Listeners jumped on the station's FB page, pointing out that Shalehan had given the right answer more than two weeks earlier.  Mediacorp, the station;s parent company, said that Shalehan's attempt was invalidated because he failed to pronounce the string of celebrity names accurately, specifically that of Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet.  So Muhammad went to the mountain or in this case, the internet, whereby Shelahan was able to locate Hadley's management and ask if they could help.  He then got a video from Hadley himself, confirming that, while Muhammad Shalehan has a “slight accent,” he had, in fact, “pronounced my name absolutely correctly.”   Armed now with some pretty bitchin' evidence, Shalehan went back to the station again.  After viewing Hadley's video, Mediacorp …. still refused to pay out. [sfx]  But they offered to make a “goodwill gesture” of $5,000.  By then, the online community, a barely-controlled and badly-tempered beast on the best of days, was having none of it, making for some long work-days for the PR department.  Finally, Mediacorp relented and paid Muhammad Shalehan the full $10k.     MIDROLL  don't forget ad sting   If these stories haven't made you face-palm and ask “what were they thinking,” I'd bet my mortgage one of these will.  Strap in, kids.  The tragic Hold Your Wee for a Wii contest wasn't the first or only radio station promotion to involve urine.   In 1999, KOMP 92.3-FM of Las Vegas DJ Greg McFarlane was trying to think up a novel approach to give away some Mötley Crüe tickets.  His first idea was to have contestants re-enact the Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee sex tape live on-air, fully clothes of course; wouldn't want to be in bad taste.  Idea number 2: make contestants drink their own urine.  Y'all 1999.  What was the value in seeing Motley Crue in 1999?  That cheese had been moldy for years.  Three die-hard fans actually came into the studio, then lost their nerve when confronted with the fact that McFarlane was in no way kidding.  Then, in McFarlane's own words, “The fourth guy walks in, pushes everyone out of the way and throws it down like it was Pepsi.”  So concert tickets for guy #4 and an empty cardboard box to McFarlane, to gather his personal effects because he's just been sacked.   Hey, remind me to check my stats and see how many people jumped ship in the last 60 seconds.  For those still with me, we go now to a library in Ft Worth, TX, where the staff suddenly found themselves terrorized by crowds of people ransacking the stacks.  Unbeknownst to them, a KYNG DJ thought it would be a keen idea to announce that he had hidden $100 in $5 and $10 bills between pages of books in the library's fiction section.  Even adjusted for inflation, that's just under $200 to try to outcompete hundreds of other people for.   "People started climbing the bookshelves; they started climbing on each other, and books became airborne," library spokeswoman Marsha Anderson said, adding that 3k books had been thrown on the floor and some ended up ripped and with broken spines.  Count the books on your nearest bookcase or shelf.  How many of those would need to get to 3k?  That's a lot of damage!   Do I need to say that the library has an amount of heads-up from the radio station and that amount was none, or did you just assume because what librarian would agree to that?  More than 500 people stampeded through the Fort Worth Central Library looking for the money.  There was money in the library – the station claimed it was $100 and that was the only amount it was ever said to be, whereas a number of people in the money-mob thought it was as high as $10k.  A KYNG spokesman said the DJ was only trying to boost public interest in the library by giving away about $100, and they had no idea where people got the $10k idea.  That was after the fact of course.  In the moment, it was the librarians who had to handle the situation...because they couldn't get ahold of anyone at the radio station.  They told the crowd the only thing that could possibly make them stop looking – that someone already found the money and had just left.     Sometimes it's not judgment that's wobbly; it's taste, subjective as that may be.  BRMB in Birmingham, England ran a contest where they would pay for the winner's wedding, which as anyone less clever than my hillbilly butt getting married in my own yard both times can tell you can really run into money.  There was, of course, a catch.  The station reserved one creative right for the wedding that the station paid for.  This wedding had to be conducted au naturale.  In the buff.  Nude.  At a minimum, the happy couple had to be in all their glory; don't know if there was a maximum.  The lucky couple, who won by listener vote, had been together for eleven years, attributing their long engagement to the cost of the wedding.  Again, back yard, it's free.  The station paid all the expenses and the bride and groom held up their end…as it were, though the bride had her veil and the groom used a top hat as a fig leaf.   Your other why-is-this-so-expensive life event would come just after the end of your life, your funeral.  It costs as much as a decent used car and you don't even get to enjoy it.  Half of that would be handled if you won the contest offered by Radio Galaxy in Germany – they'd pay for your funeral, provided your funeral cost less than 3000 Euro and a modest one could.  Listeners sent in their own epitaphs, that being the words on their tombstone, like how Winston Churchill's says “I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”  But you can't have a party without a party-pooper and the radio station was hit was a lawsuit from the Association of German Undertakers.  Also in Germany, station RTL 89.0 wanted to give away a Mini Cooper, but couldn't apparently be asked to put a lot of effort, or forethought, into it.  They just said, pull off the most amazing stunt.  Because that's safe.  Whatever the other entries were paled in comparison to the stunt submitted by the eventual winner – he would have the word mini tattooed on … how to put this delicately?... onto an appendage which most gentlemen would find distressing to have labeled “mini.”  The winner, Andreas Muller, went through with it, live on air with the female host looking on.  Can you imagine if the station refused to give him the car though?   That kind of personal touch would have been right up the alley of the folks at WDVE 102.5 in Pittsburgh.  Every year, for the festive holiday season, they hold a "Breast Christmas Ever."  Yep, they foot the bill for breast enhancement surgery.  To the surprise of no one, the event has come under fire from both feminist groups and health care advocates, who should like us to remember a boob job is surgery and surgery carries risk.  But sometimes, even the tackiest contest isn't as bad as it seems - there's always a silver lining if we look for it.  A Calgary station did a similar give-away and the winner, by popular vote, was a 19 year old trans-female listener who was quotes as saying having breast implants would mean she wouldn't "have to face so much bigotry on a daily basis."   Ottawa radio station Hot 89.9 looked at all that and said Hold My Molson's.  They put on a “Win a baby!” contest.  Specifically, they would pay for up to three rounds of in-vitro fertility treatment up to $35,000.  The contest drew criticism like jellowjackets at a cook-out, but it wasn't without redemption – it brought attention to the issue of IVF funding in Ontario just before voters head to the polls to vote if the provincial government should be required to pay it like other health care.   Said Beverly Hanck, executive director of the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada, “The station is clearly, clearly capitalizing on vulnerable patients that are desperate to have a family.”  The fact that couples have to turn to a radio contest at all points to a “sad state of affairs” in Ontario, she added.   Morning show host Jeff Mauler said the contest was intended to appeal to the station's 24 to 54 year old demographic, but that it has opened up a dialogue about an issue that is “more common than you think.”  “Anyone who complains is lucky enough to have kids or doesn't want kids,” Mauler said. “Anyone in the struggle doesn't slam the contest.” Common enough that more than 400 couples applied for the contest, which they launched on Labor Day.  Because of course they did.   If babies aren't your thing, how about a full-grown human woman?  Edmonton's the Bear FM also poked the bear with their contest to win a Russian bride.  The Bear partnered with an on-line matchmaking service that connects Russian women with foreign husbands.  Problem the first: eww.  Problem the close second: it's not uncommon for women you can meet through such services being exploited.  Employment and Immigration Minister Thomas Lukaszuk found the contest so offensive, he pulled his ministry's advertising from the station.  The prize included a free two-week trip to Russia, and $500 spending money.     New Zealand radio station The Rock FM sponsored their own contest in which the winner would be flown to the Ukraine to pick a bride from an agency, originally called “Win a Wife.”  When people complained, they changed it to “Win A Trip To Beautiful Ukraine For 12 Nights And Meet Eastern European Hot Lady Who Maybe One Day You Marry.”  Well, does what it says on the tin.  This is the same station that, when they needed a contest for Valentine's Day 2012, crab-walked around love and instead offered to cover all the costs of one lucky couple's divorce.  Asterisk, you had to drop the Big D bombshell on them live on the air.  Who says romance is dead?  No one who's watching OFMD on a binge loop for the last 9 days…not that I know anyone like that.  It's just a hypothetical.  An offly specific hypothetical   If you're thinking to yourself, it can't get worse than that, you haven't been paying attention.  Again in Canada (it's always the quiet ones), a Halifax radio station q104 put on a foreign bride contest.  The contest, which would send the winner to Prague, closed on March 8, International Women's Day.  The program director JC Douglad said firmly that there was no sexual connotatioin to the contest.  The men are promised dates with women in the Czech Republic, but they station made no warranty, express or implied, as to how those dates will go.  Okay, sure, but you've kind of undermined your position by calling it the "Male is in the Czech," didntcha?   And that's…AMP Radio defended their actions noting that businesses can easily spend C$5,000 on marketing in a week, and that their promotion has garnered a lot of talk, so it was kind of the same thing.  While a lot of Calgarians vowed to stop listening, then went on to do it again, this time with $10,000. this podcast remember thanks  

David Franics has spent the past three decades working in the Radio Industry. From starting off with work experience at just 16 in 1990, he was offered the dream to work for the station he always wanted to work on when Richard Park offered him a weekend job!In this edition of Radio Greats, David chats to Luke about how he got into the radio business, working on stations from Capital, Chiltern, Red Dragon, BRMB, GEM and City 2 to name a few. How Clive Warren gave him Snoop sessions, how he found his stint at Red Dragon in Cardiff. How shy he was to work with Adrian John at Capital Gold in Kent and how his dream came true to work with Rachel New on Free Breakfast.Special Thanks to Aircheck Downloads and Paul Easton for content

From helping out on a charity appeal to dominating late night music radio for generations. In this hour of Radio Moments – Conversations, Graham Torrington tells how his early love for radio led to his arrival at BRMB to help with the annual Walkathon. Graduating quickly from occasional shows to daytime contemporary radio, he quickly made his mark before the potential of a late-night love songs programme was unleashed. Pushed aside from the station he loved, he moved to the challenged Buzz FM and then onto help launch Kix 96 as Programme Controller.  Graham tells of the call which led then to his appointment at GWR and how his reputation grew as the company expanded to dominate numerous UK markets - to the annoyance of some. Graham tells of the evolution of Late Night Love, the genuine value he feels it brought to listeners and the art of getting the stories from them. As another takeover ended his spell with that group, he talks of life at the BBC and how he once again created late night magic of a more comforting flavour. As Graham retires from UK radio – for now at least – he tells too the things he never mentioned on air about his own life. What are his stories? This is Graham Torrington – in his own words – alone. Hear the whole ‘Radio Moments Conversations’ series here (https://podfollow.com/radiomoments-conversations) – and sign up for the regular podcast for this ongoing series   

The teenage tape reclaimer - whose DNA now remains across UK radio and whose influence is felt around the World. Clive Dickens opens up rarely – and looks back even more rarely. In this hour of Radio Moments Conversations he shares the journey from his roots at a new Chiltern Radio and how he speedily scaled the heights to group programme director. As the industry began to consolidate, he tells of his move to the Capital Group, working with Richard Park – and the challenges and opportunities of its newly-acquired BRMB. He talks of the many crossroads in his life – and the encounter that helped him seize them – including the move from Capital to forge his own path. Clive tells the frank story of the battle for the Absolute Radio name and the impact of the economic crash – and also of his proud legacy there. He explains his passion for technology, tells the Shazam story, reflects on his work in markets around the world and talks of his move to Australia to Southern Cross Austereo. He shares fascinating insight into the Australian media world and offers his thoughts on the media and communications future – from his new role in Sydney as VP Product Development, TV and Content at the huge telecoms company Optus. This is Clive Dickens – in his own words – alone. Hear the whole ‘Radio Moments Conversations’ series here (https://podfollow.com/radiomoments-conversations) – and sign up for the regular podcast for this ongoing series   

Do you ever look back on periods of your life and a big smile comes on your face as you remember how life used to be? On this episode I take a feel good trip down memory lane with my good friend of many years BBC Radio 4 Broadcaster Winifred Robinson. It might not be a cure for Covd19 but I guarantee our conversation is a cure for the Monday Blues. Find out more about Rob Goldstone: https://isanenglishmanin.com

This is a secret episode! Over the course of this series, several folk have asked whether I’d (David Lloyd) ever be interviewed.  Several luminaries kindly volunteered to interview me. Given the calibre of all the other subjects, I felt reticent. But – with lockdown and also passing 100  episodes - I thought I might succumb. I invited my oldest friend, Mark Runacus MBE to pose the questions. He and I met at hospital radio and he went on to accomplish a huge amount in the ad world. Radio missed his talents. He has been a wonderful friend. In this hour of Radio Moments Conversations, I talk about my journey from shy anorak to radio station manager and regulator. I open up about my childhood, the excitement of hospital radio and the glee of my first gig at Nottingham’s Radio Trent, before moving on to management at a troubled Leicester Sound. Then, walking out the door in tears to no job,  I tell of the unexpected task of establishing Lincs FM. Equally unexpected, I was recruited to the then regulator, the Radio Authority  where I helped both to licence and reprimand radio stations. Moving from there to run the music and speech regional Century brand for Border TV, before crossing to Chrysalis to seize the reins of a couple of the Galaxy stations, London then beckoned and a wonderful stint at the helm of LBC, before leaving as it became part of the foundation for Global Radio. Down the road in Golden Square, I moved to programme and market Virgin Radio and help manage the brand transition to Absolute. The most recent chapter saw me at Orion Media, where we bought and then sold a handful of major market commercial stations including BRMB, Gem 106 and Beacon. In my own words – this is my story. There’s a much better account of all this – and everything that surrounds it in our mad radio world  in my book Radio Moments (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Radio-Moments-Years-Life-Inside/dp/1785902725/ref=sr_1_1?) : Fifty years of radio – Life  on the Inside. Hear the whole ‘Radio Moments Conversations’ series here (https://podfollow.com/radiomoments-conversations) – and sign up for the regular podcast for this ongoing series. Music by Larry Bryant (http://www.larrybryant.com/) . 

This episode of Campbell's Footballs sees me chat to talkSPORT's Ian Danter. Ian in his early was a musician before embarking on life in sports broadcasting. We discuss Ian's times at BRMB presenting "The Barmy Brummies" and on Heart FM presenting "The Sunday Carve Up"  before moving to talkSPORT. Ian tells me about his love for Birmingham City FC, working with Adrian Durham, memories of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and much more. Ian is also the host of the current "Barmy Old Podcast" which you can find on all major platform providers. In association with Toby Johnson and Rory Hope Music. 

Back again! Ian plus his top team, Sean Percival & Andy Robinson, bring a load of new topical stuff to the table along with some archive BRMB & Heart FM sketches from years ago! Featuring: Boris has a prang and goes all Freddie on us! Does football benefit from fake crowd noise? Mr Henpecked Des going up in the world Status Quo have their say on relegation/litigation issues in football Black Country Bob takes aim at John Prescott back in 2006 plus loads more!

Ian, Sean Percival and Andy Robinson bring you more new 'hot off the press' sketches and world-famous parody songs, plus the occasional trip down radio's memory lane for Ian's BRMB & Heart fans of yore! Featuring: Simon & Garfunkel salute the return of English football behind closed doors... Boris is channeling 'The King'! We celebrate one of the UK's finest singers on a milestone birthday Des heads for a theme park Black Country Bob questions the PM's sartorial elegance Mr Statue plus loads more...

New & archive sketches, songs and general silliness from Ian Danter along with his co-writer & the 'voice of Bob', Sean Percival, including items from his BRMB & Heart FM comedy shows that aired between 2002-2006... Featuring: NEW! How rockers Heart & Sir Cliff are coping during lockdown Black Country Bob attacks Labour over the '06 smoking ban NEW! We press the talkSPORT red button once again Des recalls his time working in a factory NEW! Mr Men story narrated by Arthur Lowe

More great memories for fans of the Barmy Brummies on BRMB or the Sunday Carve-Up on Heart FM as Ian digs up more archive sketches and songs, along with some new material this week! Includes Politically incorrect MP Black Country Bob challenges Tony Blair about our 'special relationship' with Dubya Steve Bruce sings as his Birmingham City side got walloped by Liverpool NEW! Virtual Horse Racing Des installs satellite TV And we press the revolutionary 'talkSPORT red button' for the first time!

More archive sketches and parody songs from Ian Danter's time on the 'Barmy Brummies' at 96.4 BRMB & the 'Sunday Carve-Up' on 100.7 Heart FM in the early 2000's. In this episode: Black Country Bob slags off the House Of Lords Des goes to the hairdressers  Gordon Ramsay at a kids party Parody Songs from 'Blur', 'Spandau Ballet' & 'Chris Rea' and much much more...

talkSPORT & Planet Rock presenter Ian Danter delves back into his archive of comedy sketches and songs from his 'Barmy Brummies' & 'Sunday Carve Up' shows at BRMB & Heart FM in the early 2000's  Features:  • Des Lynam sings Craig David,  • MP Black Country Bob on Pensions,  • a Mr Men story you won’t have heard  • plus David O’Leary & Steve Bruce join me!

Sara Cox leaves Radio 1; Margaret Thatcher guests in the JY prog; the first farming prices  on radio; Mayo leaves Radio 1; BRMB begins Enjoy the last week in radio history, ending February 21st 2020

Phil Riley is a radio and podcast entrepreneur. Starting as a trainee at Birmingham-based BRMB in the 90s, he ultimately became programme controller. He launched the first ever Magic station, and led the transformation of Heart FM into one of the UK’s key industry players. Now a senior independent advisor, he has been called one of the most influential people in commercial radio. In this in-depth interview, Phil describes his journey from “doing grunt work” at BRMB to selling it as part of a reported £50m deal, discusses how micropayment models could lead to podcasts being monetised, and with over half of listeners now tuned into national digital stations, answers the question: “Can local radio survive?”

Some 40 plus years back, at the old BRMB, when I was the rock DJ, I booked a session with UB40. It was a custom advance mix of six of the tracks that later saw the light of day on UB40's first album, Signing Off. It was by far the most successful session I'd ever set up. It was the only session that generated calls from listeners before I'd even played a track.   Coming up to now... in 2019, UB40 Sax man and chief Brummie about town, Brian Travers has had to step back from the band for health reasons. These are covered in the podcast. It's not pretty. However, Brian did reappear on stage with the band at the end of 2019 at their hometown concert. It was a very emotional moment. But during his period of enforced convalescence, he's thrown himself headfirst into a fresh set of activities. Brian Travers Arts was already established as a second activity. with painting, sculpture and glasswork. At one of his first shows (with Havill and Travis), his glass dildo with Clarice Cliff-inspired embellishments was a standout. I just wish I hadn't been holding it when Brian snapped me... But there;'s a lot more. Brian's devoted a ridiculous amount of energy to raise funds for the doctors, medical staff and the medical facilities which pulled him though. The next step might be his own foundation.  When something as drastic as Brian's condition steps up and slaps you across the face, you realise, possibly for the first time, that there's a limited time left for you to do things. Brian has taken this as a personal cue to work on a massive range of projects, while awaiting clearance to get back with the band.  You'll hear about some of this.  But you'll also hear a stream of stories. And Brian is nothing if not a master story-teller. It was a joy to sit down with him and swap anecdotes, talk music... and life.  Links UB40 Signing Off (Spotify) King Saxophones Brian Travers Arts  The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. But they all have stories. The intro and outro music in this series comes from the great bass player Mike Hatton, who you can hear interviewed in series 1, here. 'Everything Changes' is included in his excellent 2019 album 'Bassic Salvation'.  Subscribe! Subscribe to the Podcast through your podcast host to automatically download each episode to your chosen device. These will then land with you first, before everyone else hears about it.  If you would prefer email updates each time a podcast episode (or blog post) is published, you can subscribe to the mailing list. Head here and scroll down to the signup form.      

If you think that all Jasper Carrott had to do with music was to wander on stage with a guitar before bringing an act on stage, think again. Jasper has been deeply involved in music all his life, and has some interesting views on the music business, artists' fees, the record industry, performance and audience reaction, gained from deep experience at his gigs and venues. I've talked several times with Jasper about his career. We do go back a bit, which is actually part of the point of the Lives in Music series. I was in radio at the old BRMB when Jasper had his hit. I wound up playing (rather badly) in charity football matches with him back in the day. But he seems to have had a very interesting ride. Music and musicians have been key, much more than you might think. He's even sharing a vocalist with Robert Plant's current band - there's a pub quiz question for you. You can stream or download the podcast here, or if you can't wait, scroll down to the end of this post for the podcast player. Links - music clips and artist websites Music clips are mostly from the late 70s, John Martyn excepted. Jasper Carrott - Magic Roundabout Jasper Carrott - Funky Moped  (a vintage TOTP clip) Simon and Garfunkel - The Sun Is Burning (Ian Campbell composition) Al Stewart - Old Compton Street Blues Johnny Coppin Decameron - Journey's End Harvey Andrews  Mike Silver Jake Thackray Joe Brown John Martin - Small Hours with some background details. I may have embroidered the story... Links - present day and ancient history Jasper Carott's website Jasper Carrott on wikipedia The Boggery Folk Club Ian Campbell on Birmingham Music Archive Lives in Music The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories. The theme music for this series is by Big Q Fish. 'Boksburg Jive Toon' was written by Brian Neil, and recorded at the Jam House, Birmingham, in 2017. Subscribe! Subscribe to the Podcast through your podcast host to automatically download each episode to your chosen device. These will then land with you first, before everyone else hears about it.  If you would prefer email updates each time a podcast episode (or blog post) is published, you can subscribe to the mailing list. Head here and scroll down to the signup form.  

Don't even think about the number of guitars he's got these days. Charming, witty, and with vast musical knowledge, Horace Panter is brilliant company.  I really can't remember first chatting with Horace Panter, but it might well have been in 1978, when the Specials played at Birmingham University. They were at that fantastic phase in a new band's career, when the band has gelled, strings of gigs have knocked them into shape, and the whole point of the exercise seems to be coming together in an exciting way. I asked them if they would do a session for the old BRMB Radio that night. If not then, it would have been at the now long-gone Outlaw Studios, when the band squeezed six songs out of that three hour session for BRMB. I went on air with those songs the next day. That probably makes me the first DJ to have played the Specials on radio, by the way. Jerry Dammers left the session in a grump once his vocals were down, but Horace was the soul of patience and courtesy. And it's been that way ever since. Talking music with Horace is completely engrossing and serious fun. It was really, really enjoyable. And, d'oh, I learned something about basslines for Time is Tight and Rescue Me. Marvellous for my age, me. We veered off my initial Lives In Music track, and wound up gossiping about all sorts of things, as you'll hear. Music Links Needles and Pins - The Searchers Fifth Dimension - The Byrds All or Nothing - Small Faces Judy in Disguise With Glasses -John Fred & his Playboy Band Rescue Me - Fontella Bass Time is Tight - Booker T and the MGs Nite Klub - The Specials Blank Expression - The Specials Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum Gangsters - The Specials Monkey Man - Toots and The Maytals Ghost Town - The Specials Okie From Musgokee - Merle Haggard The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band Willin' - Little Feat Six Days On The Road - Taj Mahal BHS - Sleaford Mods Wind Whispers - Pete Williams     Band Links The Specials website and wikipedia pages Horace Panter on facebook Horace Panter Art on facebook and website Lives in Music The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories. Lives in Music is a Radio To Go production.   The theme music for this series is by Big Q Fish. 'Boksburg Jive Toon' was written by Brian Neil, and recorded at the Jam House, Birmingham, in 2017. Subscribe! Subscribe to the Podcast through your podcast host to automatically download each episode to your chosen device. These will then land with you first, before everyone else hears about it.  If you would prefer email updates each time a podcast episode (or blog post) is published, you can subscribe to the mailing list. Head here and scroll down to the signup form.    

'And then, Bill Haley and the Comets arrived with Rock Around the Clock' and that was the end for Big Bands...' Older (and not so old) UK readers of these notes will remember the TV show Bullseye, which was made first by ATV and then by Central TV. This Lives in Music episode features the man who dashed off the theme for that show. Twenty five years on, he still gets royalties for Bullseye - and his other TV theme compositions. The show survives on repeat on one of Sky's remoter TV channels. So repeat fees still land in John Patrick's account. I first met John when I started work in the 70s at the first commercial radio station in Birmingham, BRMB. John was on the board. At that time, he was also the music director at ATV/Central. And he wrote the very first BRMB jingle package - The Sound Way To Spend Your Day, which you can hear in full on this launchday audio clip.   But that's really not more than a footnote in John's career. He is now well into his ninth decade; he still plays. He's had a long career as musician, composer, Musicians Union official, broadcast exec and more. But his particular perspective is very interesting - he was making music professionally before rock and roll arrived to upset the apple cart. And his entire career has been framed by the adjustments that tastes and new technology have brought to the life of a working musician. Ironically, that led to him hanging with Frank Sinatra in Vegas. Not at all bad for a local boy.  The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories. The theme music for this series is by Big Q Fish. 'Boksburg Jive Toon' was written by Brian Neil, and recorded at the Jam House, Birmingham, in 2017. Don't forget to subscribe! Don't forget to subscribe!

Memories from the last seven days in radio history - week ending 27th September 2019. Jane Garvey's last 5 Live Drive; Tony Blackburn and Peter Powell's last Radio 1 shows; the BBC launches DAB; Luxembourg stops its international broadcasts in advance of the War; 'Singing Together' begins; Les Ross ends his BRMB breakfast days; Xfm becomes Radio X and Chris Moyles returns. Follow the 'Radio Moments - This Week in History' weekly podcast  here (https://podfollow.com/1459316855)

It was his love of radio which governed his choice of university – before a career which saw him emerge as one of the key UK radio programmers of his generation – leading the way on research and the psychology of radio. In this hour of ‘Radio Moments Conversations’, Francis Currie shares his early hospital and student radio days and his graduation to a young Mercia Sound. He tells of his spell at LBC and onto his dream station ‘The SuperStation’, albeit past its glory days. On-air work followed at Rock FM and Tfm as he began to identify the detail of radio programming – and that his talents might lie in other areas than on-air. At Minster, his programming skills were honed, before being appointed programme manager at Invicta in Kent. That station’s acquisition by Capital generated a major opportunity to programme BRMB – where Francis started to establish how best to handle radio’s biggest personalities and managers. Following a farewell to the Capital group, he tells of a quirky Melody Radio and how he engineered the brand change to Magic on its acquisition by EMAP – a group which was to offer him opportunities beyond radio. Having transferred to Chrysalis, Francis opens up about the challenges of taking Heart to its Number One status in London for the first time – how he felt on the day of that victory - and how he felt as he was ejected when the company. After a successful spell in consulting worldwide, he was part of the team which brought together Chris Evans and Virgin Radio before moving back into consultancy. In his own words, this is the Francis Currie story. Hear the whole ‘Radio Moments Conversations’ series here (https://podfollow.com/radiomoments-conversations) – and sign up for the regular podcast for this ongoing series. Music by Larry Bryant (http://www.larrybryant.com/) . 

He was the shoe salesman from Leicester who became the first presenter to graduate to Radio 1 – before falling out of the station in the 90s shake-up. In his hour of 'Radio Moments - Conversations, Adrian Juste opens up about his love of the 60s pirate stations which prompted his early work at young BBC Radio Leicester – and then on to BRMB where he didn’t really get on with management - or his breakfast show. He talks about jobbing for Radio 1 producing trails from his home studio; and the call from Derek Chinnery which led to his regular programmes on the Network where he was to interpret the Jack Jackson comedy format for the modern age. Adrian talks about his distinctive voice work – and speaks candidly about his feelings about his own fate, and others’, as Radio 1 was being adjusted abruptly in the 90s – and life since. In his own words – this is the Adrian Juste story. Hear the whole ‘Radio Moments Conversations’ series  here (https://podfollow.com/1459316952) – and sign up for the regular podcast for this ongoing series. Music by Larry Bryant (http://www.larrybryant.com/) .

The unmistakeable Beacon sound powers through, from the chap who’d started it off from Wolverhampton three years before. In this excerpt from a Beacon Top 40 in November 1979, Mike Baker does the business, with that slick sound he’d honed – as had many others - at UBN, the United Biscuits Network. Witness how Beacon claimed ‘The West Midlands’ rather than its licensed area (then Wolverhampton and the Black Country) - then in separate ownerships the station battled over the significant BRMB overlap. Hear the ads and lengthy news (5 minutes) typical of the time too, a Terry Wogan voiceover – a fireworks PSA – nodding to the meaningful speech required - and the Toby jugs thing… Mike Baker died in 2013.

Feelgood radio from Birmingham's king of breakfast radio, Les Ross on BRMB in October 1979. Tighter than earlier ILR years, but replete with smiles from the off-the-cuff humour and the general energy, sound and feel.   Enjoy here too the ad breaks, with so many famous singalong ads. and an interesting music policy.

Phil Williams' final show on BBC Radio 5 Live was a special occasion; I was part of his regular Team Talk feature, as one of contributors for several years. Alongside others including Ian Herbert, Ian Ladyman, Alison Bender and Conor McNamara, we all came together for one last hurrah. The conversation moved onto Aston Villa's playoff hopes and reminiscences of Tony Butler and even a cameo appearance by Villa's European hero, Nigel Spink! Wherever Phil ends up on the dial, follow him. He's a fine broadcaster and a good mate. Cheers Phil!

Few individuals can lay claim to having been present at the birth of UK commercial radio, and also being there at the launch of Hallam, Mercia and in the early throes of Viking. Ian Rufus was. In this edition of the Radiomoments ‘Conversations’ series, Ian reflects honestly on his decades in the business. He tells of LBC’s troubled first year, its industrial strife and its journalists going unpaid – and his time at the helm as the earliest commercial radio mergers were staged. He tells of insider share dealing, regulatory obstinacy – the birth of the network chart show - and his proudest moments. In his own words, from his redundancy from press - to his spell at the helm of one of the UK’s biggest radio groups, this is the Ian Rufus story. Ian died in May 2016. Enjoy the whole Conversations series [here](https://www.davidlloydradio.com/conversations). Music by [Larry Bryant](http://www.larrybryant.com/).

He was one of a small breed of football commentators who came to define the commercial radio approach to football coverage in the UK. Partisan, passionate – and hard-working. His commitment to the industry – and to the City of Birmingham – has now lasted thirty five years.  Here, he speaks of his early days at a young BBC Birmingham through to learning his trade at BRMB - and arguing the toss with his incoming boss, Richard Park. He relates stories of the great times, tells of his personal struggles and shares the raw conviction of his radio philosophy. This is more than just a tale of a sports broadcaster, it is the inspiring story of local boy done good. “People like us don’t have cars”. In his own words, this is the Tom Ross story. Tom's book is now out - and a compelling read. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Games-Gone-Autobiography-Tom-Ross/dp/1780915292 (This edition of Conversations draws largely on material originally produced by David 'Salty' Salt.)

He was the former ballet dancer who went on to run the engineering department at one of the nation’s biggest radio groups. In this edition of #radiomoments ‘Conversations’, Quentin Howard shares stories of his early days at BRMB and Severn Sound, the expansion of GWR and the creation of the first UK national commercial FM network. Hear too the story of how DAB began - and how close it came to not beginning - and a taste of his current role distributing content around the World at BFBS.  In his own words, this is the Quentin Howard story.

His calm, firm hand was on the tiller of the radio industry for decades, from both port and starboard.  A military career seemed less appetising once his booming voice was heard behind the BFBS microphone, and he soon returned home to debut on the UK’s fledgling commercial radio stations, progressing from Radio 210 in Reading to BRMB and then to the senior programming role at Radio Victory. Paul switched to regulation at a time when his industry understanding and intellect were invaluable to a cautious regulator. He identified a route to allow for sponsorship and to license more stations in each market. He then crossed the floor to head the radio industry’s trade body, then AIRC, now Radio Centre, where this Titled gentleman fought to equip this commercial medium to win good business and compete with the BBC in ever-changing times. In his own words, this is the Paul Brown story. See the whole Conversations series [here.](https://www.davidlloydradio.com/conversations) Music by [Larry Bryant.](http://www.larrybryant.com) 

This is the life story of the commercial radio broadcaster who fulfilled his dream to work on the local station he loved and how he became its most famous performer.  In this hour of #radiomoments ‘Conversations’, Les Ross tells of the journey from a job at a registrar’s office to a new BBC Radio Birmingham and his launching the new Radio Tees, before the agony of his transfer to his beloved BRMB. He opens up about his personal challenges, and how he really feels about the management he’s experienced over the years. Plus, what led to his final BRMB goodbye. In his own words, this is the Les Ross story. Enjoy the whole Conversations series [here](https://www.davidlloydradio.com/conversations). Theme music by [Larry Bryant](http://www.larrybryant.com/).

He spearheaded the original Talk Radio UK, managed the talk output of BRMB in its early days, and managed programming for Mercury and the Allied Group. He also played a major role in news training in the National Broadcasting School and was a senior executive at the Radio Authority, later Ofcom.   In this hour of Conversations, Martin Campbell recalls his days in press and talks through his radio life, from the early days at Pennine and Trent through to his more recent exploits. He offers his thoughts on news standards and training; and shares some starry anecdotes. In his own words, this is the Martin Campbell story. Hear the whole ‘RadioMoments Conversations’ series  here (https://podfollow.com/1459316952) – and sign up for the regular podcast for this ongoing series. Music by Larry Bryant (http://www.larrybryant.com/) .

From  a lucky traineeship through to managing the purchase of that very station and its neighbours three decades later, via the creation of UK brand-led radio. In this hour of 'Radio Moments - Conversations', Phil Riley opens up about his personal roots - and tells of his journey to BRMB. His business school spell in New York, prepared him for his first programme directorship as he created the new Xtra AM in the West Midlands. Poached to run struggling Radio Aire, he took that company to profitability and launched its successful Magic 828. Joining Chrysalis Radio as it began its activities proper in radio, Phil launched Heart in Birmingham and London, the first mainstream competitor to the early tier of commercial radio, and the first to roll out that brand and its values in multiple regions - paving the way for brand-led radio we witness today. Phil tells of the sale of Chrysalis Radio to become the foundation for Global Radio  and of his private equity-funded projects which, as Orion Media, were to result in the purchase of the stations in the Midlands shed by Global on their GCap acquisition. He opens up too about life since, including his role at Celador and in holding the reins at Bauer's newly acquired assets as they were instructed to hold-separate. Research and evidence-led - and one of the most respected executives in UK commercial radio this is the Phil Riley story - in his own words. Enjoy the whole Conversations series here (https://www.davidlloydradio.com/conversations) . Music by Larry Bryant (http://www.larrybryant.com/) . (This edition is based on a fresh interview with Phil in May 2020)

This week the Two Voices Radio chaps are back in the Sunday Breakfast Show radio studio after a Summer break. They discuss old radio stations. How did Andy's house move go? Good advice if you are planning a move. They talk of old junk that's now becoming collectible. Plus... they've seen signs of retailers putting in Christmas stuff... in September! Aaaargh!!!

This week the Two Voices Radio chaps are back in the Sunday Breakfast Show radio studio after a Summer break. They discuss old radio stations. How did Andy's house move go? Good advice if you are planning a move. They talk of old junk that's now becoming collectible. Plus... they've seen signs of retailers putting in Christmas stuff... in September! Aaaargh!!!

It's happened to us all.  We move from station to station. And we usually remember where we are. But just maybe on the odd occasion, we mess up.  A station name, frequency or phone number from a former life spurts out your mouth.  Or even your own phone number.   Jo Russell was on Trent for a lifetime - but a full ten years after leaving  - and having been through Absolute, BRMB and Free en route to her current home at Gem in the East Mids - for some reason the word 'Trent' came out. Maybe it was just because she was back in her home city.  The brain is a funny old thing.

After 35 years, it's now time to blow the final whistle. Leaving Free Radio (formerly BRMB) hasn't been an easy decision for me to make, but I know you'll understand it is time. I'm not retiring though! I'll still be on here, and you'll hear me elsewhere I'm sure. Thanks for listening over the years, you'll never know how much that means to me.

This programme from 1992 starts with the news that Radio Netherlands board of governors has approved relays of its programmes via transmitters in the Former Soviet Union. Broadcasts to Asia should have improved reception quality. BBC World Service had fire-alarm at Bush House. BBC will also hire airtime in Russia. DW likewise. We review the Sony ICFSW15. Nick Meanwell is the new presentation manager at Radio Netherlands, ex BRMB. Jeff White is on the line to report Radio Recovery, to serve those affected by Hurricane Andrew. 

A farewell - and tribute - to just some of radio's cast who bowed in 2015. Sandy Chalmers - BBC Broadcaster, producer and manager. Richie Benaud - Former Australian cricketer who became a highly regarded commentator. Ian McDougall - Former BBC foreign correspondent. Gary Owens - American radio presenter and voice actor. Shaw Taylor - TV and radio presenter. Derek Chinnery - Controller of BBC Radio 1 from 1979 to 1985. Jean-Louis Cremieux-Brilhac Monitored all radio broadcasts from occupied France and responsible for sending information to the resistance movements. Colin Bloomfield - BBC local radio sports commentator. Susan Sheridan - Actress and voice artist. Her voice acting roles included Trillian in the BBC radio series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Peter Donaldson - BBC Chief Announcer. Richard Wheatly - Jazz FM CEO and executive chairman of The Local Radio Company Mike Allen - Capital Radio and hip-hop DJ; also on Talk Radio, LBC and Smooth. Emily Bull - KLFM journalist and IRN newsreader of the year. Kathy Secker - North East BBC local radio legend. Bob Hopton - BBC Radio 2; Radio Tees ; and the programmer who brought Les Ross to BRMB.

This week on the Radio Today Programme with Broadcast Bionics, Stuart Clarkson talks to Victoria Derbyshire as she prepares to leave her daily 5 live show after 16 years at the station. Victoria also talks about her early career at BRMB, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, BBC GMR - and reveals more about her new TV programme for the BBC News Channel. Plus this week's radio news and Radio Moments with David Lloyd.

Phil Riley on BRMB's 40th anniversary, Free Radio and the arrival of Communicorp. Plus news and David Lloyd's Radio Moments. A TDC Production.