Sugar Rush Birthday Girl

Tonight we were wearing our oldest music t-shirts, mine used to be black of course. It dates from 1999 I think, and was given to me by John Otway himself, who is a casual acquaintance of mine. How's that for name-dropping?

I didn't have a good start to proceedings today, as (and here is our little secret), the final hour of the show is pre-recorded. Now we broadcast until midnight, but Andy the boss isn't willing to wait until midnight for us to do the show live, and he doesn't trust anyone to lock up. Obviously we'd prefer to do the whole show live, but at least we have a three hour show now. Penny was running late due to her birthday celebrations, so I did the pre-recorded show by myself. It was weird having to pretend it was now just after the eleven o'clock news, and I didn't explain Penny's absence in case she appeared at any time. As the 'live' section of the show finished just before the eleven o'clock news, we made a point of saying that Penny had to leave early because of catching a bus.

The show wasn't a smooth one by any means, I was already stressed out because I couldn't get in the pre-record studio straight away. There were minutes between finishing that and starting the live show at nine. I like to have a coffee and a think before the show, but I had to go straight in without any real preparation. We had the first section lined up of course, but it took us both a while to relax into the show. Penny was disoriented from some rather heroic birthday partying, and even slipped up and said "fuck" on air, which we glossed over with good humour. I'm amazed I've never dropped that clanger myself, as I am a naturally sweary person in casual conversation. As good as the show sounded, we were both doing it like ducks; smooth and calm on the surface, but flapping around underneath.

That's not to say we didn't enjoy it, I can't speak for Penny but I thought it was a brilliant piece of radio that I can't wait to hear again. Having Penny there has made a hell of a difference to the show, and I am looking forward to a long and successful partnership (professionally of course) with her.

We played the usual high quality musical offerings too:

9pm-10pm
Altered Images 'Happy Birthday' (for Penny's birthday)
The Flying Burrito Brothers 'Dark End Of The Street' (played in tribute to Chris Etheridge)

'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal' (the talk-over intro)

Lily Morris 'Waiting At The Church' (music hall opener)
Sex Pistols 'God Save The Queen'
The Carpenters 'Rainbow Connection'
Since Monroe 'DJ'
The Wonder Stuff 'Blackberry Way'
Paul Curtis 'Nottingham Song'
Mike and Bernie Winters 'Batman' (played as part of Nottingham's Batman connection)
The Jam 'Batman'
Stevie Wonder 'Signed Sealed Delivered, I'm Yours'
Beck 'Loser'
Johnny Cash 'Rock Island Line'
Queen 'Hammer To Fall'
Run DMC and Aerosmith 'Walk This Way' (this week's 'dad rocker')

Hip hop style posing from Daniel and myself, no idea why this seemed like a good idea. We seem to be making a definite point of keeping our bottoms as far away from each other as possible.

10pm-11pm
Morcambe and Wise 'Bring Me Sunshine'
Faith No More 'The Real Thing'
LL Cool J 'I Need Love'
Ian Dury and the Blockheads 'Reasons To Be Cheerful Part Three'
Yunioshi 'Believe It'
You Slut! 'My Bloody Jesus Explorer On Fire'
Patti Smith 'Until The End Of The World'

Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll:
Paul Revere and the Raiders 'Louie Louie'
Luka 'Smells Like teen Spirit'
Paperbox 'I Love Rock and Roll'

11pm-12am (Just me for this bit)
Alexei Sayle 'Allo John, Gotta New Motor?'
De Heiderjoosies 'Wannabe'
Lenny Kravitz 'Are You Gonna Go My Way?' (acoustic blues version)
Laurel and Hardy 'Johnny Won The Lottery'
The Lucky Strikes 'Beast Burnt Down'
Golden Troubadours 'Silent Revolution'
The Raid 'Heads or Tails'
We Show Up On Radar 'I'll Be A Ghost'
Wholesome Fish 'Reubens Train'
Rapunzel MAP 'Hologram Girl' (a familiar name for Trent Sound listeners, as she co-presents Nottingham LACE in addition to her singing career).
Jake Morley 'Sideline'
The Wonder Stuff 'Save It For Later'
Fresh Eyes For The Dead Guy 'The Shape Of Bruno Brookes'
Bow Wow Wow 'C30 C60 C90 Go!'

The Best Gig I Didn't Go To

This is the profile picture that will be appearing on several Sunday Alternative sites. Can you guess what time we posed for it?

The show gets better and better, tonight was a classic and I really enjoyed it. I think the future of the show is bright, Penny and myself work very well together. To say that we only met the week before her first show, this is a comfortable radio partnership and have started to look forward to the show again. The comedy element with Erik was cool and everything, but we did run the risk of jumping the shark a bit. I'm glad to be steering the show back to the original remit, and returning to an emphasis on music. We also had a good response to the topic this week, the best gig you didn't go to. You had tickets but couldn't/didn't go, and have regretted it since. There was one that I didn't see until it was too late, from Andy Davis:

Had a ticket for the opening night of Rock City - Iron Maiden, 1980? It was cancelled because of a problem with the venue and never rescheduled, I waited over a year to claim my refund just in case. I think the first Rock City gig was Shakin' Stevens a couple of weeks later!!!

In answer to the question mark, Rock City did indeed open in December 1980 and Iron Maiden were cancelled because of problems with the electrics. I wonder if had Andy kept the ticket until 1996, when Maiden returned to Rock City, they would have honoured it. The fact that Maiden performed at Rock City in 1996 surprised me, as they would surely have been stadium sized by then. Unless this was a special secret gig. By coincidence, I asked Penny on air if she would rather a gig or a concert, and we agreed on gig. I would much rather see a band upstairs in a pub than at the Ice Arena, (as I call it). A listener contributed to the subject with her tale of missing Guns and Roses at Rock City in 1987, but seeing them at Donnington a year later. The idea of seeing the 'proper' Guns and Roses in a club venue seems so far fetched now, especially as they moved up the ladder fairly quickly. I saw them in Milton Keynes in 1993, and I am so glad that I did given what they are nowadays, although it was at a stadium concert. Rock City, we agreed, is the biggest club level venue in Nottingham, so once a band gets bigger they progress to the theatre or the arena, depending on their popularity.

We did of course play some musical offerings of the highest quality:

Bert Weedon 'Guitar Boogie Shuffle'
Jeff Healey 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'

(Both above songs came before the official opening tune, in tribute to Bert Weedon, who died this week).

'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbals' (opening introductions talk-over)
Harry Champion 'I'm Henry The Eight I Am'
Jane's Addiction 'Been Caught Stealin'' (prompting a tweet from @NurseGeek1975 congratulating me on such a link. I really have a passion for the Victorian music hall comedians and their songs. I am planning a music hall show for the station, just a one-off pre-record for the Bank Holiday).

David Bowie 'It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City'
Practical Lovers 'Put It Bluntly' (appearing on the show on 20th May)
Fighting Evil Is Cool 'Life In Magazines'
Fists 'Weekend'
Hot Japanese Girl 'Mixtape'
The Futureheads 'Hounds Of Love'

Stevie Nicks 'The Edge Of Seventeen'*
Guns and Roses 'Paradise City'* (these two songs played to top and tail the 'best gig you didn't go to' discussion. We talked over Nino Rota's 'Romeo and Juliet', or the Our Tune theme, as it is popularly known).

Journey 'Don't Stop Believin'' (this week's 'dad rock classic', taking the concept back to my original intention. Hopefully, at least one listener followed the lead and videoed themselves singing along and will send it so I can add it to the blog).

Reg Varney 'Come On And Tickle My Fancy' (the comedy song that opens the second hour)
The Clash 'Armagideon Time'
The King Blues 'What If Punk Never Happened'
Radiohead 'Sit Down Stand Up'*
Nirvana 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'* (Again these two songs were used to accommodate the subject, and once again we talked over the theme from Romeo and Juliet. As soon as 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' kicked in, I realised that I had fucked up because a version appears in the 'Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll feature).
Kagoule 'Silvercloud'
Cantaloupe 'Hubbub'
Prince and The Revolution 'Let's Go Crazy'
The Wedding Present 'Brassneck'

Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll:
The Naverones 'Louie Louie'
The Meat Puppets 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
L'Arc en Cial 'I Love Rock and Roll'

We now have a page on Reverbnation. The songs are all taken from our live sessions, and are only available for streaming. There isn't a lot to the page yet, but I hope to be adding a weekly video of the two of us.

In other news, as from next Sunday the show is running until midnight, giving us an extra hour.

Disco Daniel

This is Daniel James. He is the technical guy here at Trent Sound, who edits programmes, makes jingles, (including my own feature jingles), is a producer, and finds time to bat off all my demands when I roll in at the weekend. He also presents Club Classics on Friday nights, and the Saturday morning show. All in all, he is an important member of the Trent Sound family, and a man I'm pleased to call a friend.

He has the moves!

Take Your Coat Off If You're Staying

Tonight's show passed by in such a whirl that I forgot to take some pictures for the blog, which is a shame.

I was joined by local writer Penny Reeve, who settled in to co-hosting with such ease it was as if she'd always been by my side in the studio. The response was great, there was a lot more interaction from the listeners this week, and the show was a lot more fun than it has been for a while. The only problem I had on a technical level was that I couldn't play the 1950s children's radio series Dick Barton: Special Agent. I needn't have worried though, as time soon caught up with us. With Penny as co-host, the show looks as if it will move back into a musical emphasis, which is a good thing for the show.

There have been a few tweaks to the format:
Spoken intro over 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbals' comes before the opening music hall song.
Dad rock plays up to the ten o'clock news. There is still a comedy song to bring in the second hour.
Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll now closes the show.

Gerry and the Pacemakers 'You'll Never Walk Alone' (played for the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy before the show started properly)
Jessie Wallace (as Marie Lloyd) 'My Old Man Said Follow The Van'
Snuff 'The Sound Of The Underground'
Madness 'Bed and Breakfast Man'
The Specials 'Skinhead Symphony'
Nouvelle Vague 'Friday Night and Saturday Morning'
Practical Lovers 'Textbook Romance'
8mm Orchestra 'One Small Step'
One Direction* 'Dreaming'
Seether 'Careless Whisper'
Captain Dangerous 'Forgive Us We're British'
The Beatles vs Guns n' Roses 'Sgt Pepper's Paradise City'
Jimi Hendrix 'All Along The Watchtower'
Huey Lewis and the News 'The Power Of Love' (played as this week's 'dad rock classic' as I watched the Back To The Future trilogy last weekend)

*The American band One Direction, who are taking legal action against Simon Cowell for the use of the name.

Mike and Bernie Winters 'Batman'
The Only Ones 'Another Girl Another Planet'
The Fall 'Winter'
New Order 'Jetstream'
Bad Manners 'Wooly Bully'
The Decemberists 'Rise To Me'
Half Man Half Biscuit 'Joy Division Oven Gloves'
The Clash 'London Calling'
Swimming 'Neutron Wireless Crystal'

Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll:
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 'Louie Louie'
Patti Smith 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Britney Spears 'I Love Rock and Roll'

New Co-Host Klaxon

I am joined on this week's show by the third (hopefully) permanent co-presenter of The Sunday Alternative, Penny Reeves.

Erik Petersen remains AWOL, having made no effort to contact me. I can't operate like that, so along with a slightly revamped show format, I now have a new face sitting to my left in the studio.

This week's subject is 'late to the party'. What did you discover that was everyone else's old news? I didn't see The Mighty Boosh until I saw all three series on demand.

Sunday, 9pm trentsound.com

Sat At Home Eating Easter Eggs While This Is On

I recorded this show yesterday so I didn't have to drag myself away on a bank holiday. While this show was being broadcast, I was full to the brim with roast dinner and chocolate eggs. A new co-host joins me next week, she came to see me while I was recording. News on this to come.

Charles Penrose 'The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo'
The Clash 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go?'
Love At Death Beach 'Transfixion'
The Ataris 'Make It Last'
Dawes 'Million Dollar Bill'
Negativeland 'Perfect Scrambled Eggs'
Patrick Plunkett 'Attracting Attention'
The Felice Brothers 'Ponzi'
The Riffs 'Peter Gunn Theme' (sharp eared listeners will remember that this was my first opening theme way back on Sherwood Radio)
Therapy? 'Totally Random Man'
The Eviltones 'Eyes'
25 Past The Skank 'Come Again'

Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll
Toot and the Maytalls 'Louie Louie'
Goya 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
The Arrows 'I Love Rock and Roll'

Frankie Howerd 'Three Little Fishes'
Guns n' Roses 'You Could Be Mine'
Wedding Present 'Back For Good'
Allotment Dogs 'Everything Comes Around'
mi6 'Weight Of The World'
Will Jeffery 'Heavy Hearted Man'
The Libertines 'Can't Stand Me Now' (played for my friend and colleague Andy from Notts Live, who is the world's biggest Libertines fan)
JD and the FDCs 'We Close Our Eyes'
Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher 'That's Entertainment'
Kagoule 'Silverback'
James 'Sit Down'
The Golden Troubadours 'Please'
Nirvana 'Lithium' (played as this week's 'dad rock classic' as it was the anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death last Thursday)

April Fool

At the very last minute, Erik texted me to inform me that he wasn't coming in. When I'm solo I always have to play more music, which isn't really a problem, but it loses continuity for the double act dynamic.

George Formby 'Why Don't Women Like Me?'
AC/DC 'Highway To Hell'
Desperate Bicycles 'Advice On Arrest'
Spoek Mathambo 'Control'
Linsay Ulman 'Bloodsucker'
Muse 'Please Please Please Let me Get What I Want'
Ray Charles 'Bein' Green'
Obsessive Compulsive 'Virago'
Useless ID 'No Time To Be A Teenager'
Barnum Meserve 'Stay Awake'
'Winter Mourning'
The Smears 'Scrape Patrol'

Louie Smells Like Rock and Roll
The Kinks 'Louie Louie'
The Flying Pickets 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Ghoti Hook 'I Love Rock and Roll'

Frank Carson 'Ip Dip Chibberty Dip'
Pearl Jam 'Release'
The Kinks 'All Day And All Of The Night'
Tsunami Bomb 'No One's Looking'
The Jam 'Going Underground'
Patti Smith 'Because The Night'
The Smears 'Freak Show'
Half Man Half Biscuit 'Four Skinny Indie Kids'
Proper English Gentlemen 'Friend Of A Friend'
Gallery 47 'Narcotic'
Faith No More 'Be Aggressive'
Hey Gamal 'Take Your Time'
Is Shepherd 'Pine Box'
Johnny Cymbal 'Mr Bassman'
The Raincoats 'Adventures Close To Home'
The Oppressed 'Do Anything You Wanna Do'
Visitor 'Close To Hell'
Stiltskin 'Inside' (This week's 'dad rock classic')