Two Men And A Baby, On BBC4, Trekking Around Bulgaria, Talking About Opera

Tonight's show was a pre-recorded effort, which we did yesterday afternoon. I don't want to have to do pre-records to often, but as I'm unavailable tonight, it kept the continuity going. It would have been a shame to have had to have got a stand in, when Erik and I are on the brink of international stardom.

We were joined in the studio by Erik's daughter Anya, who was an absolute delight. A really cute little girl, who has such a sense of timing, she was able to stop making noises the instant the song started and the microphone went off. It was funny watching her play a kind of punch-ball game with the microphone when her daddy was attempting to talk into it.

We discussed our attempts to join the rank of the celebrity, and although BBC 6Music haven't been in touch yet, we have some ideas. Based on a tweet I received in the week, I pitched a chat show where I get to fight (and hopefully beat up) celebrities that I don't like. While I'm beating them, I ask them questions about their book/DVD/tour, whatever. Micheal Parkinson never had a punch up with his guests, I'm inventing a new concept in talk shows.

Erik wants to do high brow documentaries, which I have promised we can do after we've made our money doing pantomime and opening school fetes.

We managed to play a few songs too:

Tommy Cooper 'Don't Jump Off The Roof Dad'
The Ramones 'Blitzkrieg Bop'
Belly 'Feed The tree'
Joy Division 'Decades'
The Ataris 'Make It Last'
Illuminatus 'Falling Out Of An Airplane'
Marc Reeves 'Slow' (friend of the show, his videos are on YouTube)
Will Jeffery 'Heavy Hearted Man' (appearing on the show soon)
Wholesome Fish 'Reubens Train'
Weird Al Yankovic 'I Can't Watch This'
Nine Inch Nails 'Hurt'
Jesus Jones 'The Devil You Know'
The Cult 'She Sells Sanctuary'
The Barnum Meserve 'If You Had A Heart It Would Be Made Of Glass' (appearing on the show soon, they came on my old Sherwood Radio show too)
Stereo MCs 'Connected'
The Plasmatics 'Fast Food Service'

Officially Licenced Product

Thanks to my dad for sourcing out a couple of fezzes, (fezi?), and designing the logo. These are just a prototype of course, but soon, when we keep banging on about the fez, we might just start selling these for people to wear at gigs and stuff. The caption refers to one of our conversations last Sunday night, but you knew that!

The BBC Are Listening To This Shit?

After three solo shows, Erik Petersen finally finished his epic Christmas holiday as far as The Sunday Alternative is concerned. It was good to have him back with me, and I have missed him. We have developed a double act of sorts, and by rights should have our own television show, movie deal, and range of breakfast cereals. But for now, the radio show is the only way we can satisfy our fans.

If my canvassing worked, then someone high up at BBC 6Music was listening tonight, and are beating a path to our door to ask us to do the Saturday 10am-1pm slot.

News: If you like the bantering gibberish between Erik and myself, but feel that the records get in the way and that we need more swearing, then fear not. We are currently making plans to bring out a regular podcast. We will carry on with the podcast when 6Music give us the Saturday gig.

We were joined by Nottingham musician Marc Reeves, who was in to promote his new album and to perform a few tracks.

Erik and I discussed the new range of Sunday Alternative merchandising, in particular the fez, the mystery of 'sos', Spud-U-Like, Whoopie John, and eating crocodiles. Or it might have been alligator. Also, I decided that if we kept banging on about taking the Saturday 10am-1pm slot on BBC 6Music, then eventually someone would believe it and have no choice but to give us the gig.

The setlist is not in the order of songs played, as I made a mess of writing it all down.

Will Fyfe 'I Belong To Glasgow'
The Proclaimers '500 Miles' (both played because it is Burns Night on Wednesday)
New Town Kings 'Brighter Days'
Travis 'Why Does It Always Rain On Me'
Jake Morley 'Feet Don't Fail Me Now'
Kamikaze Test Pilots 'Kenny Rogers With A Shotgun'
Marc Reeves 'Handshakes'

Marc Reeves performing live in session:
'Judgement Day'
'Easy Way Out'
'Fears' (All videos available to watch here)

Marc Reeves 'Empty'
Billy Connelly 'D.I.V.O.R.C.E'
Primal Scream 'Loaded'
Volcanoes 'Is Anybody There'
The Stranglers 'No More Heroes'
Doctor Feelgood 'Milk And Alcohol'
AC/DC 'For Those About To Rock'
Fighting Evil Is Cool 'Bruce Campbell'
New Generation Superstars 'I Won't Stop'

Discombobulated

Another solo outing, hopefully my last one as I think Erik is back next week. I travelled back to Nottingham from Teesside to do the show, and it took me a while to settle in. From arriving in Nottingham, having a shower and eating my tea I was then straight out the door and getting a tram to Bulwell for the show. I normally spend some time on a Sunday afternoon preparing, (honest), but I didn't get time. Luckily I arrive at the studio an hour before my show starts, so I had least had time to get some music together, make coffee and do some self promoting tweeting and face-booking (fifteen days into 2012 and I am still logging into facebook like it's 2008).

After a shaky start, as my brain wasn't really in gear, I got into the swing of it and produced a good quality two hours of music. When I'm doing the show alone there is more music and less talk.

Charles Penrose 'Two Lovely Black Eyes'
Calling All Astronauts 'Someone Like You'
The Specials 'Do The Dog'
Baby Godzilla 'Streamline Feline'
Dubwiser 'Ride Your Life Like A Bicycle'
The Hot Knives 'Turkey Stomp'
Jake Morley 'Many Fish To Fry'
Marc Reeves 'Holding On'
Half Man Half Biscuit 'Joy Division Oven Gloves'
Joy Division 'Heart And Soul'
Will Jeffrey 'The Day Off'
Earthprayer 'Prophet'
Forever Never 'The World'
Tommy Cooper 'Don't Jump Off The Roof Dad'
Dead Kennedys 'Holiday In Cambodia'
New Order 'Blue Monday'
Suede 'Animal Nitrate'
Depeche Mode 'I Feel You'
Tsunami Bomb 'No One's Looking'
Tenpole Tudor 'Swords Of A Thousand Men'
Tears For Fears 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love'
The Frank And Walters 'After All'
Fighting Evil Is Cool 'The Hobo Song'
The Ska-Dows 'Apache'
Morrissey 'Certain People I Know'
Audio Karate 'Senior Year'
Anti-Freeze 'Birthday Weekend'

Happy Birthday David Bowie

Another solo affair, with Chris unavailable and Erik still pissing about pretending it is Christmas. Today is of course David Bowie's 65th birthday so it gave me an excuse to play some of the Dame's songs. Although I played a few of the more popular songs, I also broadcast a couple of less obvious compositions. I also played 'The Laughing Gnome'. Somebody had to!

George Formby 'When I'm Cleaning Windows'
David Bowie 'Life On Mars'
Half Man Half Biscuit 'Dickie Davis Eyes'
Fighting Evil Is Cool 'Brain Salad' and 'Ten Times More'
The Beat 'Mirror In The Bathroom'
Selector 'I Can See Clearly Now'
Mick Jagger and David Bowie 'Dancing In The Street'
Jake Morley 'Pondering On A Scenario In Which I'm The Hero'
Felice Brothers 'River Jordan'
David Bowie 'Starman' and 'Ashes To Ashes'
Buck Owens 'Act Naturally'
Bernard Cribbins 'Hole In The Ground'
David Bowie 'The Laughing Gnome'
Circus Envy 'Three Score And Ten' (first session on my Trent Sound show, watch them performing this song here)
Patrick Plunkett 'Attracting Attention' (another friend of the show, as seen here)
David Bowie 'Teenage Wildlife' and 'Some Are'
Kill21 'Whole Lotta Rosie'
Dirty Habit 'Verge Of Insanity'
Nirvana 'The Man Who Sold The World'
Golden Troubadours 'Road Of Bones' (friend of the show, as seen in session here)
Captain Dangerous 'Everything Beautiful Reminds Me Of You' (first session I recorded, as you can see here).
David Bowie 'Loving The Aliens'

Happy New Year

My first show of 2012 was a solo affair, Chris Underwood was at a party and Erik Petersen had taken the drastic step of leaving the country to avoid co-presenting duties, having given some bollocks about going home for Christmas.

I continued the Christmas number one countdown, which was a mistake that I had committed to. The first half of this countdown on the last show featured some good music among the not so good, this show showed that the not so good overruled during the 1980s and 1990s.

The Sunday Alternative will return to normal service next week, and the unsigned bands, alternative classics, indie hits, rarities and general John Peel-ish credibility will eventually wash away the memories of the Christmas show when I played The Spice Girls.

Mud 'Lonely This Christmas' (1974)
Queen 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (1975)
Johnny Mathis 'When A Child Is Born' (1976)
Wings 'Mull Of Kintyre' (1977)
Boney M 'Mary's Boy Child' (1978)
Pink Floyd 'Another Brick In The Wall' (1979)
St Winifred's School Choir 'There's No One Quite Like Grandma' (1980)
The Human League 'Don't You Want Me?' (1981)
Renee And Renato 'Save Your Love' (1982)
The Flying Pickets 'Only You' (1983)
Band Aid 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' (1984)
Shakin' Stevens 'Merry Christmas Everyone' (1985)
Jackie Wilson 'Reet Petite' (1986)
The Pet Shop Boys 'Always On My Mind' (1987)
Cliff Richard 'Mistletoe And Wine' (1988)
Whitney Houston 'I Will Always Love You' (1992) (I skipped a few really bad years)
Mr Blobby 'Mr Blobby' (1993)
East 17 'Stay Another Day' (1994)
Spice Girls '2 Become 1' (1996)
Spice Girls 'Too Much' (1997)
Spice Girls 'Goodbye' (1998)
Westlife 'I Have A Dream' (1999)
Bob The Builder 'Can We Fix It?' (2000)
Robbie Williams And Nicole Kidman 'Somethin' Stupid' (2001)

I gave up at this point, although I played Tears For Fears original version of 'Mad World' (Christmas number one for Michael Andrews and Gary Jules in 2003) and Jeff Buckley's version of 'Hallelujah', which was criminally covered by Alexandra Burke and was Christmas number one in 2008. The show ended without me saying goodbye, as I perfectly timed the 2009 Christmas number one, Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing In The Name' to fade out for the news just before the "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" bit.

Tell Them Johnny Cash Sent You

Tonight was The Sunday Alternative Christmas party, a lavish affair, black tie and everything. Actually it wasn't. I met Erik Petersen for pints of Guinness beforehand in an empty pub in Bulwell. The fact that the barman announced that he would close as soon as we left was incentive enough to order another round.

To say this was my first show with a good drink inside me, (Sunday lunch doesn't count), it was a fantastic two hours of radio that if you missed, Santa will kill a baby rabbit.

The theme of the show was Christmas number ones, which started in 1952 with 'Here In My Heart' by Al Martino. This was the first song in which sales figures came from records, rather than sheet music. I mentioned how I correctly predicted how the download rule would open the chart to subversion, despite being two years early. I managed to get as far as 1974, which was 'Lonely This Christmas'. The Christmas number one run through will continue on New Years Day, no show next week as it is Christmas Day.

We also spoke of Cliff Richard, and a little story that I don't like to talk about, about how I saved Christmas. It was strange to be playing such a musical departure from my usual output, and between this and my January 1st show, the comparisons with John Peel should fade away. I'll be back with cool indie music and unsigned bands on January 8th.

The songs played, were all Christmas number one. In brackets is the year that they topped the festive hit parade.

Al Martino 'Here In My Heart' (1952)
Frankie Laine 'Answer Me' (1953)
Johnnie Ray 'Just Walking In The Rain' (1956)
Harry Belafonte 'Mary's Boy Child' (1957)
Conway Twitty 'It's Only Make Believe' (1958)
Cliff Richard And The Shadows 'I Love You' (1960)
Danny Williams 'Moon River' (1961)
Elvis Presley 'Return To Sender' (1962)
The Beatles 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' (1963)
The Beatles 'I Feel Fine' (1964)
The Beatles 'Day Tripper' (1965)
Tom Jones 'The Green Green Grass Of Home' (1966)
The Beatles 'Hello Goodbye' (1967)
Scaffold 'Lily The Pink' (1968)
Rolf Harris 'Two Little Boys' (1969)
Dave Edmunds 'I Hear You Knocking' (1970)
Benny Hill 'Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West) (1971)
Little Jimmy Osmond 'Long Haired Lover From Liverpool' (1972)
Slade 'Merry Christmas Everybody' (1973)
Mud 'Lonely This Christmas' (1974)

It would have been good to finish the 1970s, so I could do the rundown again. After 1969 I read through the list using 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbals', which isn't as easy as Tony Blackburn makes it appear.

Listen to some waffle in piss poor sound quality on The Sunday Alternative soundcloud.

Christmas With The Notts Live Chaps

I was out of town tonight once again, and so those nice boys from Wednesday night's Notts Live show kept my seat warm once again.

There seems to be a seasonal pattern to their play list!

Eels 'Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas'
Ebeneezer Pop and The Scrooges 'Santa Is Dead'
Sufjan Stevens 'Put The Lights On The Tree'
Six By Seven 'I Believe In Father Christmas'
Run DMC 'Christmas In Hollis'
Noah 23 'Psychedelic Christmas'
Barnes and Barnes 'Fishheads'
Love Fungus 'Eight'
Tori Amos 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
The Polyphonic Spree 'Happy Xmas (War is Over)'
Rusholme Ruffians 'Last Christmas'
Spaceships Are Cool 'Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?'
Ramones 'Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)'
Low 'Just Like Christmas'
George Harrison 'Ding Dong Ding Dong'
The Fall 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing'
The Timelords 'Doctorin' The Tardis'
The KLF '3am Eternal (Growling Machines Remix)'
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu 'It’s Grim Up North'
Whitemoor 'Three Words At Christmas'
Emily Needs 'The Christmas Soldier'
Maps 'Stay Another Day'
Imogeine Pease 'Silent Night'
Slade 'Merry Xmas Everybody'

Accordions, Amish Radio, And A Man Called Whoopee John

L-R William Tennant, Erik Petersen and myself. I rock the cardigan look.




Tonight's show was a very enjoyable one indeed, in which I was joined again by Erik Petersen from The Nottingham Evening Post, (as I still insist on calling it) and comedian/singer-songwriter William Tennant.

Erik came on my show a couple of weeks ago to discuss his campaign to save Broadmarsh Wimpy, and stayed for the whole show. He settled in well, was relaxed at the mic, and has a lightening comic ability that I can work with. So I asked him to come back and do it all again. The results were again amazing, so hopefully he will become a full member of team Sunday Alternative.

William coped very well amid the chaos of the show, and having driven from Manchester to make the appearance, joined in with our bantering as if we were a seasoned comedy troupe.

I also played the odd record...

Tessie O'Shea 'Nobody Loves A Fairy When She's 40'
Billy Fury 'Halfway To Paradise'
Calling All Astronauts 'Someone Like You'
Nirvana 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Johnny Cash 'I Walk The Line'
New Generation Superstars 'Way Back Home'

William Tennant
'I'll Never Play Doctor Who Now'
'The Night I tried To murder Mr Benn'
'Pogonophobia'
All the above songs performed live, see the videos here.

Bernard Cribbens 'Right Said Fred'
Neds Atomic Dustbin 'Kill Your Television'
New Town Kings 'Dynamite'
Any Trouble 'Name Of The Game'
Captain Dangerous 'Forgive Us We're British'

(There were two other songs, but I didn't write them down and can't remember them now writing this several hours afterwards.)













Erik enjoyed sitting on a stepladder, look at his happy face!



I have a stepladder, I never knew my real ladder!

The Wednesday Chaps Do Sunday

Due to family commitments, I was unable to do my show this week. Trent Sound's very own super-sub Andy Haynes, joined by his Notts Live partner Bainy, kept my seat warm this week.


'On My Radio' The Selecter
'Reasons to be Cheerful (Part 3)' Ian Dury and the Blockheads
'Sunday' Yuck
'Austere' The Joy Formidable
'Cult Leader' Ollie Byrd
'Where Is My Mind?' – The Petebox
'Bullet' War Elephant
'Love Is The Law' The Seahorses
'Sorted For E’s And Wiz' Pulp
'Mazes' Moon Duo
'Solitude Is Bliss' Tame Impala
'Different Songs' Sheen
'Down Down' Cud
'Big' New Fast Automatic Daffodils
'Two Little Boys' Rolf Harris
'Maggie May' Rod Stewart
'Crystal Methods' Psych Tigers
'Sunstorms' The Sorry Kisses
'Our Velocity' Maximo Park
'Daydream In Blue' I Monster
'Lippy Kids' Elbow

Andy will also be steering the good ship Sunday Alternative on December 11th.

The show is available to download in two parts from my show page.

Wimpy Rants And 1980s Shopping!

A fun show today in which I didn't play half the music I'd lined up, but it didn't seem to matter. Erik Petersen from The Nottingham Evening Post, (as I still call it) joined me to discuss his campaign to save the Wimpy in Broadmarsh from closure. Wimpy in Broadmarsh is under no threat of closure, this is just in case!
Based on my blog from a few days ago, tonight's theme was turning Broadmarsh into a 1980s themed shopping centre. We had tweets suggesting Radio Rentals, (which I had to explain to Erik), Chelsea Girl, Fine Fair, C&A, and the Broadmarsh Co-Op. I also explained Spud-U-Like to Erik, which given the success of Nottingham's very own Dinner Jackets, we know could come back!

Somehow, we managed to drift off the subject and brought in bad spelling, text speak, facebook, Christmas porn, and general other bug bears. In the midst of all this, Chris turned up with some treats courtesy of We Are Delish.

If this doesn't get Chris and Erik a modelling job with We Are Delish, then there's no justice.

The campaign to save Wimpy grew from a peaceful protest to an all out blitz spirited uprising, with tweets coming in suggesting an 'occupy' movement with tents outside Wimpy, a naked flash mob, (not entirely sure why being naked is so important but if it makes a difference), a charity single by Long Dead Signal, (managed by Chris, who might stop answering the phone until this all blows over), and a mass singalong inside the branch. That would be great publicity for the campaign, and ironic that we all got barred from the place we were trying to save, despite nobody suggesting they needed saving. If you know what I mean.

I played some songs too:

Marie Lloyd 'A Coster Girl In Paris'
Ian Dury And The Blockheads 'Sweet Gene Vincent'
Gene Vincent 'Pistol Packing Mama'
Half Man Half Biscuit 'Four Skinny Indie Kids'
Rocket From The Crypt 'I'm Not Invisible'
Alkaline Trio 'Private Eye'
Patrick Plunkett 'Attracting Attention' (Patrick is a friend of the show from a couple of weeks ago)
The Lancashire Hotpots 'Technical Support Song'
Nirvana 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' (as another plug for the Christmas number one campaign)
Kenneth Williams 'Song Of The Australian Outlaw'
Joy Division ' The Eternal'
Guns And Roses 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' and 'Whole Lotta Rosie'
Calling All Astronauts 'Someone Like You'
Lctrcn 'Gebaude9'
Long Dead Signal 'Black Waltz'
Blind Melon 'No Rain'

I wasn't in tonight due to fatherly duties, so Jason Loftus stood in for me. He didn't send me the set-list despite several requests, I could note them all down from the download, but I can't be bothered. Here is a photograph of Jason instead.



The show can be enjoyed again, you can even download and keep it forever, by going to my show page.

Good Name For A Tribute Band

Patrick Plunkett (on the left of this picture), a bit tall for the 'arm around' photo.

The set list won't be in exactly the order of play, as I kept rearranging things.

Will Fyfe 'I'm 94 Today'
Circus Envy 'Regret' (first session band on Trent Sound, see the video here)
Big Youth 'Screaming Target'
Clancy Eccles 'Feel The Rhythm'
Broken Links 'Substitute Yourself'
Kamikaze Test Pilots 'The Inmates Have Taken Over The Asylum'
'Chikken'
Gone Till Winter 'Here Me Out'
Illuminatus 'Wolves'
Barnum Meserve 'Broken Window'
Joy Division 'Heart And Soul'
Bob Newhart 'Driving Instructor'

Patrick Plunkett 'Hooked On Desire*'
'Millionaire*'
'Come Here Tonight*'
(All the above performed live in the studio, see the videos here)

Patrick Plunkett 'Attracting Attention'
Sex Pistols 'Holidays In The Sun'
Jim White 'Blink Of An Eye'
The Pointed Sticks 'Out Of Luck'
Nemo Shaw 'The Wood It Burns'
Gallery 47 'Blue Chelsea Girl'

Trick Or Treat

A very tenuous Halloween show, with my dad joining me in the studio.

Marie Lloyd 'When I Take My Morning Promenade'
Iron Maiden 'Number Of The Beast'
Cat Stevens 'Father And Son'
Yunioshi 'Hakushi'
Status Quo 'Rocking All Over The World'
The Ramones 'Surfin' Bird'
Nirvana 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Rage Against The Machine 'Killing In The Name'
Elvis Presley 'Heartbreak Hotel'
Dubwiser (can't remember the song played, I just wrote the band name in my notebook)
Half Man Half Biscuit 'Dickie Davis Eyes'
The Petebox 'Where Is My Mind'
New Town Kings 'Dynamite'
Kaiseer Chiefs 'Everyday I Love You Less And Less'
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band 'Look Out, There's A Monster'
Bobby 'Boris' Pickett 'Monster Mash'
Iron Maiden 'The Evil That Men Do'
Black Sabbath 'Paranoid'
Deep Purple 'Black Night'
Helloween 'Halloween'
The Jam 'Batman'
Broken Links 'We're All Paranoid'
The Damned 'Elouise'
Long Dead Signal 'A Question Of Violence'
The Golden Troubadours 'Please'
Damn Vandals 'Bayonet'

We're Getting The Band Back Together, Whether You Like It Or Not!

A good bit of interaction this week, which is one of the many reasons I am glad to be doing the show live. Today's subject was inspired by the reformation of The Stone Roses, an opinion divider if ever there was one, about bands that you'd like to see reform. We strayed away from the unsigned element of the show for large periods of time, but we enjoyed it. Also, as my daughter was sat at home listening, I played some Bon Jovi for her. Please accept my apologies for this, and be assured that this is still the coolest radio show going.

George Robey 'I Stopped! I Looked! I Listened!' (always like to start with a classic bit of music hall ditty)
The Undertones 'Teenage Kicks'
The Smiths 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'*
Guns And Roses 'Paradise City'*
Faith No More 'Ashes To Ashes'*
Soundgarden 'Black Hole Sun'*
Danny And The Juniors 'At The Hop'*
The Ronnettes/The Ramones 'Baby I Love You'*
Obsessive Compulsive 'Man vs Machine'
Gorillaz 'Feel Good Inc'
Separation Envy 'Ashes To Embers'
Edenshade 'Consequences'
Bon Jovi 'Living On A Prayer' (please read the introduction to the set-list for a good reason why I chipped away at my credibility to play this)
The Stone Roses 'I Am The Resurrection'
Showaddywaddy 'Hey Rock And Roll'*
Kings Of Leon 'Sex On Fire'
The Specials 'Friday Night, Saturday Morning'
Pure Reason Resolution 'Black Mourning'
Marc Reeves 'The Game'
Injured Birds 'Doldrums'
Swimming 'Neutron Wireless Crystal'
Thompson Twins 'Doctor Doctor'*
Queen 'Hammer To Fall'*
Joy Division 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'*

*Played as part of the 'bands you'd like to see reform' topic.

CakePops, Shop Gigs, And The Sad Fate Of Myspace Tom

One of my most enjoyable shows, with Chris Underwood as my co-presenter once again. I have asked Chris to do it more often, as we worked well with each other tonight, with us bouncing ideas around and injecting humour into our chat without either of us becoming too DJ-ish. (I'm a broadcaster not a DJ).

Also, Chris brought in some cake pops, made by his girlfriend Neli's company We Are Delish, who became the unofficial sponsor of the show. Although my offer of doing a modelling shoot for her advertising hasn't earned me a call back...


Stanley Holloway 'The Lion And Albert'
Charlie Drake 'Splish Splash'
Guns And Roses 'Heartbreak Hotel'
Yunioshi 'Thunderbird'
Circus Envy 'Say Something' (my first guests, re-live September 11th here)
Long Dead Signal 'Asleep At The Wheel'
Depeche Mode 'Behind The Wheel'
Bloodgroup 'My Arms'
De-Staat 'Sweatshop'
Obsessive Compulsive 'Exit'
The Jezabels 'Endless Summer'
Blondie 'Rip Her To Shreds'


Theme from Bottom
Skin The Pig 'Shadows Of Broken Wings'
Tastebuds 'Hold The Candle Closer'
The Broom Hill String Band 'The Monkey The Engineer'
Barnum Meserve 'Broken Window' (archive set from The Oliver Sessions, watch it here)
'She Lies Beneath'
The Selector 'I Can See Clearly Now'
Duke01 'RTK'
Symphony Cult 'On Your High Horse'
Jim Parker 'Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye'

Chris wrote a blog about today too. It's on his website.

Sorry I'm Late

A strange show for me tonight, as I didn't get in until just after half past nine and didn't really feel like I hit my stride. Being on the road meant that I knew I was going to be late, but I felt unable to set my stall out properly and my main speech just came from introducing the songs.

Arthur Askey 'The Bee Song'
Illuminatus 'Murdocracy'
Tom Moriarty 'Where Are You Now?'
The Golden Troubadours 'You Made It So' and 'Sunshine Eyes'
Jackie Edwards 'All Shook Up'
Is Shepherd 'Pine Box'
Volcanoes 'The Atheist' and 'Vexihomp'
The Raid 'Heads Or Tails' and 'The Pea And The Pod'
Havana Rocks 'All You People'
25 Past The Skank 'Come Again'
The Ska-Dows 'Apache'
Alright The Captain 'Rostov Could Get It'
Yunioshi 'Believe It'
Royal Gala 'Blue Rinse'
Edenshade 'God Is A Comedian'
Half Man Half Biscuit 'Four Skinny Indie Kids'
Freda Payne 'Band Of Gold' (played because it is a fairground type of song, on the night that Goose Fair closed for another year).

Show 4

Flying solo tonight, without a live music session or a guest co-host. A guy called Liam came in to have a look round, he'd emailed me to ask about getting into radio so I invited him along. Despite advertising this show tonight as a solo, I did chat to Liam on mic, as he is looking for a band. He also took control of the desk to see what a piece of piss this radio lark is.

George Robey 'What Was There Was Good' (down with the kids, me)
Dion 'Runaround Sue'
Obsessive Compulsive 'A Cocktail Of Toxins'
Story Is Over 'Finding The Way Home'
Captain Dangerous 'Everything Beautiful Reminds Me Of You' (taken from The Oliver Sessions, watch the video here )
Nirvana 'Lithium'
Weird Al 'Smells Like Nirvana'
Eddie And The Hot Rods 'Do Anything You Wanna Do'
Joy Division 'Atrocity Exhibition'
Krissy Matthews 'When Times Were Hard'
Jimmy The Squirrel 'How I Go'
Golden Troubadours 'Sunshine Eyes'
George Harrison 'My Sweet Lord'
The Lancashire Hotpots 'You Could Get Hit By A Bus Tomorrow'
Alex Blood And The Diggers 'Manifesto'
Skeleton Crew 'How Come I'm Never Around'
Allotment Dogs '1 Thousand Words'
Jake Morley 'Freddie Laid The Smackdown' (version taken from The Oliver Sessions, watch the video here)
The Sights 'That's Rock 'n' Roll'
Rebel Territory 'On The Rock n' Roll'
'Falling For You'
Twikki 'A Home And A Family Waiting'
Humphrey Ocean 'Whoops-A-Daisy'

As a tribute to David Croft, I ended with the following television themes:
Allo Allo
Hi-De-Hi
Dad's Army

Show 3

The Golden Troubadours


Adam Clarkson and Rob Rosa from Captain Dangerous

The third show for Trent Sound, and still going well. I managed one microphone fuck up tonight, towards the end of the show but apart from that it went swimmingly with two excellent live sets.

The Felice Brothers 'River Jordan'
REM 'The One I Love'
Nirvana 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
'Come As You Are'
Captain Dangerous 'Everything Beautiful Reminds Me Of You'
'Executing Elliot' (performed live, watch the video here)
'Forgive Us We're British'
Tom Moriarty 'Life's A Mystery'
Skin The Pig 'Shadows Of Broken Wings'
Jake Morley 'Freddie Laid The Smackdown'
Story Is Over 'Benchmark For Action'
'Finding The Way Home'
Captain Sensible 'Damned On 45'
The Golden Troubadours 'Sunshine Eyes'
'Silent Revolution' (performed live, watch it here)
'You Made It So' (performed live, watch it here)
'Please'
October Sky 'The World In Stereo'
The Amber Herd 'Magnolia'
Wolfcrusher 'Skeletoniser'
Hadfis Huld 'Pop Music'

Show 2

Co-host for the evening, Dick Venom (or Dick's manager Frankie Hymen)












Jack Kansas, lead singer with Damn Vandals




Laurel and Hardy 'The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine'
The Clash 'I Fought The Law'
Splodgeanessabounds 'Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps'
The Stooges 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'
Illuminatus 'Clarify'
Dick Venom And The Terrortones 'Sticky Pants Trance'

Damn Vandals 'Can't Go Dancing When You're Gone'

Jack Kansas, lead singer of Damn Vandals live in session with the following four tracks:
Napoleon And Josephine
Union Jack Boxes
Daddy Smokes A Cigarette
Bright Lights

(all the above available to watch here)

The Cult Of Dom Keller 'Worlds'
Captain Dangerous 'Forgive Us We're British'
The Lancashire Hotpots 'You Could Get Hit By A Bus Tomorrow'
Dubweiser 'A Ton On U Boombox'
Dick Venom And The Terrortones 'Cadillac Twist'
Circus Envy 'A New Dawn'
The Fall 'I'm A Mummy'
White Stripes 'Fell In Love'
The Sandells 'Batman'
The Cramps 'I Wanna Get In Your Pants'
The Stooges 'Penetration'
Joy Division 'Decades'
Dick Venom And The Terrortones 'RockinRollin Vampire Man'
'Lily And The Killers'
Mick Farnes And The Deviants 'Let's Loot The Supermarket'
John Cooper Clarke 'Evidently Chickentown'

The Comeback: Show 1

Circus Envy, first live band for the new show





Stanley Holloway 'Alt, Who Goes Theer'
Max Wall 'England's Glory' (The first two tunes no doubt showing how down with the kids I am. The more observant listener will remember that 'England's Glory' was the first song I played on Sherwood Radio. Keep a note of that for future pub quiz victory).
The Selector 'On My Radio'
Sham 69 'If The Kids Are United'

Circus Envy 'The Burning Sky'
'Regret'*
'Last Cigarette'*
'Snakes And Ladders'
'Three Score And Ten'*
'Say Something'

Captain Dangerous 'Everything Beautiful Reminds Me Of You'
The Skids 'Into The Valley'
Bad Manners 'Lip Up Fatty'
Yunioshi 'Thunderbird'
Barnum Meserve 'If You Had A Heart It Would Be Made Of Glass' and 'Autumn Park'
Damn Vandals 'Can't Go Dancing When You're Gone'
Dick Venom And The Terrortones 'Terrortone Pheromone'
Long Dead Signal 'Nostalgia' and 'Fight Or Flight'
Yunioshi 'CTRL'
New Town Kings 'Stringalong'
Half Man Half Biscuit 'Joy Division Oven Gloves'
Swimming 'Neutron Wireless Crystal'

Theme from Grange Hill (outro)

*Performed live in session, see the videos here














Chris Underwood, my co-pilot for the evening















Glad it's over!