Nearly Didn't Make It...

I missed the tram and had to get the ten to seven one instead. Thankfully there wasn't a band in otherwise I'd have kept everyone waiting. I arrived during the seven o'clock news so all wasn't lost.

7pm-8pm

Labi Siffre 'It Must Be Love'
Susannah And The Magical Orchestra 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'
Guns and Roses 'Don't Cry' (rare demo version)
Yoya 'Major Tom Rocket Man'
Link Wray And The Wraymen 'Batman'
The Vendettas 'Red Lambretta'
Spunge 'Oliver's Army'
Nirvana vs Dead Or Alive 'Spins Like Teen Spirit'
Blondie vs The Doors 'Rapture Riders'
Dum Dum Girls 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out'
Johnny Kidd And The Pirates 'I'll Never Get Over You'
Johnny Bell 'Flip Flop And Fly'
Wilko Johnson 'Bye Bye Johnny'

8pm-9pm 

Pop Will Eat Itself 'Everything's Cool'
Choking Susan 'Mary Mary'
Calling All Astronauts 'What's So Good About'
Bad Shepherds 'The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum'
The Specials 'Too Much Too Young'
The Clash 'Three Card Trick'
Gary Newman 'Down In The Park'
Iggy And The Stooges 'Search And Destroy'
Johnny Thunder And The Heartbreakers 'One Track Mind'
New York Dolls 'Fishnets And Cigarettes'
Robert Wyatt 'I'm A Believer'
Splodganessabounds 'I've Got A Lot Of Famous People Living Under The Floorboards Of My Humble Abode'
Stiff Little Fingers 'Love Of The Common People'
MC5 'Motor City Is Burning'

Not Quite Alone

No Gary this week, but I did have a live band in. Minimum visited Trent Towers from Birmingham.

7pm-8pm

Morrissey 'Reader Meet Author' (acoustic)
The Kids 'I Wanna Get A Job In The City'
The Gizmos 'Rock And Roll Don't Come From New York'
Choking Susan 'Gay Boyfriend'
Alien Sex Fiend 'All The Madness'
The Mighty Lemon Drops 'Inside Out'
Minimum 'Smash Routine'

Minimum live session

Minimum 'KT Explosion'
Peter Schillig 'Major Tom Come Home'
How Many Beans Make Five 'Grown Up Way'
Calling All Astronauts 'Freaks'

8pm-9pm

Blitz 'All Out Attack'
David Bowie 'Ragazza Solo Ragazza Sola'
                     'Heroes' (French language version)
                     'Rebel Rebel' (soulwax mix)
Visage 'Night Train'
The Normal 'Warm Leatherette'
Lurkers 'Let's Dance Now'
Mode Moderne 'Disco Ruff'
The Juju's 'Do You Understand Me'
The Uncalled For 'Do Like Me'
Mighty Vikings 'Love Me Forever'
Dr Feelgood 'Oyeh'

All By Myself

Gary was ill so didn't come in tonight, he was round my house last and he looked rough then so I knew he wasn't doing an Erik. With no band either, this was going to be one of those shows where the music took over.

Not to worry, I had a big bag of pod peas to eat!

7pm-8pm

Bad Shepherds 'Off To The Beer Tent'

Slim Smith 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow'

Presidents Of The United States Of America 'Video Killed The Radio Star'

The Ruts 'Staring At The Rude Boys'

The Rocking Vicars 'Someone Like You'

Startled Insects 'Overzoom'

The Bolshoi 'Away'

The Creamers 'Little White Lies'

Kirsty McColl 'I'm Going Out With An 80 Year Old Millionaire'

                       'They Don't Know'

Sonics 'Cinderella'

Dark Day 'Don't Bother'

The Chameleons 'View From A Hill'

8pm-9pm

Skinny Puppy 'Assimilate'

Devo 'Mongoloid'

Piccadilly Line 'Emily Small'

David Bowie 'Starman'

Tears For Fears 'Ashes To Ashes'

The June Brides 'Just The Same'

Wanda Jackson 'Rockabilly Fever'

Big Mama Thornton 'Hound Dog'

Bo Carter 'Baby Will You Warm My Wiener'

Bad Shepherds 'Going Underground'

Slaughter And The Dogs 'Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone'

Lunch Buddies 'Still Time'

John Otway 'Middle Of Winter'

The Jam 'In The Midnight Hour'

It's Not Us, It's Them

This week's edition of The Sunday Alternative was presented by the reunited radio team of Andy Haynes and Bainy while I was in London.

Satnams Tash - The Petrol Song (Acoustic)

Sam Beeton - Storyteller

Lois  -Sid James

The Amber Herd - Leaving Home

In Isolation - Film Noir Scandal

Hardback Fiction - Piano Long

Brad Dear - They Say

The Gorgeous Chans - San Sebastion

Best Served Chilled - Two Feet, Two Weeks, Weak at the Knees

Lee Gough - Sacrifice

Hayley Queen - Keep the Faith

Leah Sinead - To the Sea

In the North Wood - The A Song

Steve McGill - You Don't Say Us Anymore

Luxury Stranger - Nothing Holy

Rosie Abbott - Victim of My Imagination

Dog is Dead - Glockenspiel Song

Jake Bugg - Two Fingers

Six By Seven - Truce

Locked Out

The show got off to the shakiest start ever this week, as we were locked out of the studio as the show begun. The last live show on a Sunday finishes at five, and then there's an hour long pre-recorded show before we take over at seven. Joe and Sam, our sound engineers, were outside the studio when we got there, unable to get in because someone had locked the door with the 'big lock' so we couldn't get in with the entry code. To make matters worse, the band Throw The Goat turned up. Phone calls and text messages were sent to the station boss to come and let us in, and Gary started listening to the show on his phone so that we could hear what the automated system played from our song library, (thankfully from The Sunday Alternative library and not some pop shite).

Eventually we were able to get in, and I then had the task of putting the show together. The automated system had played 'I'll See You In My Dreams' by Joe Brown, and a song by Dandy Livingstone, I forget the title. I set up the opening jingles and first two tracks, and declared that the show officially starts now. There was then the other problem of the band not bringing instruments with them, as they had thought that I was providing acoustic guitars due to a mix up over email correspondence. Gary rang his brother Craig, (another quarter of Prefontaine) and a guitar was delivered to the show. To say what a poor impression the band had been given of us, Throw The Goat were brilliant company and charming guys. They were over from California on a mini-tour of the UK, and we were their first port of call. Unusually for a live guest, they stayed for the whole show and acted as an audience to our ramblings and contributed some song choices.

7pm-8pm

The Bad Shepherds 'Our House'
                               'What A Waste'
The Who 'To Kill My Appetite'
The Busters 'Don't Worry Be Happy'
The Toy Dolls '500 Miles'
Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy 'Kiss Me'
Throw The Goat 'Southeast Bound'

Throw The Goat live
'Beef'
'Having A Beer'

The Third Bardo 'I'm Five Years Ahead Of My Time'

8pm-9pm

David Bowie and Dave Gilmour 'Comfortably Numb'
NYA 'Back To You'
Joe Strange 'Down In The River'
The Smiths 'Half A Person'
Jeff Buckley 'I Know It's Over'
Queens Of The Stone Age 'Go With The Flow'
The Bad Shepherds 'No More Heroes'
                               'Gary Gilmore's Eyes'
Nirvana vs Rick Astley 'Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit Up'
Guns And Roses vs The Beatles 'Sgt Pepper's Paradise City'
David Bowie and Iggy Pop 'The Passengers'
Huey Lewis And The News 'The Power Of Love' (I was bullied into persuaded to play this by the band and Gary)

I have no fucking idea how to rotate this picture. In my photo album it is the right way up.

A remarkably stress free show tonight, I’m not keen on doing the show solo now I’ve established a good report with Gary, but family commitments kept him away this weekend. My live music guest was Joe Strange, who gave the sound engineers an easy job as he was just voice and acoustic guitar.

Once again, Gary is not doing an Erik.

7pm-8pm

Camper Van Beethoven ‘Pictures Of Matchstick Men’
CF98 ‘Runaway’
Nouvelle Vague ‘Teenage Kicks’
Full Blown Cherry ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’
Furniture ‘Brilliant Mind’
Kirsty McColl ‘There’s A Guy Works Down The Truck Stop Swears He’s Elvis’
Skanic ‘Breed’
The Jasmine Minks ‘Cold Heart’
Thirteenth Floor Elevators ‘Tried To Hide’
The Vaselines ‘Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam’
The Ronettes ‘I Wonder’
The Ramones ‘Baby I Love You’
The Alarm Clocks ‘Yeah’
Razors ‘Heroes’
Placebo ‘Five Years’

8pm-9pm

Human League ‘Do or Die’
Joe Strange ‘I Turned Around’

Joe Strange live in session

‘Ever Since The Day’
‘A Glimpse of You’
‘Caught In The Middle’
‘Roll It Over’

Joe Strange ‘Down In The River’
The Fall ‘Pacifying Joint’
Teardrop Explodes ‘Sleeping Gas’
Eugene Pitt And The Jive Five ‘Never Never’
The Ascots ‘I Need You’
Rip Rig And Panic ‘You’re My Kind Of Climate’

Joe Strange can be Internetted here

Modern Dad Rock #MDR

No live band this weekend, just the two of us playing great music and talking bollocks. We started with ‘Father and Son’ by Cat Stevens, as a lot of people had posted it online in honour of Father’s Day. I followed it with ‘Paranoid’ by Black Sabbath as it is a favourite of my dad’s, and one of the first heavy metal songs that I heard thanks to him, (I still remember that ‘Snowblind’ was the B-side of the single).

A few days ago I saw a television advert for an indie dance classics compilation CD that had obviously been marketed towards Father’s Day and it made me feel old. Surely the whole ‘dad rock’ genre (if indeed it is a genre of its own) is for old dads? Am I now old enough to have ‘dad rock’ pointed in my direction? Some of you may remember a feature of The Sunday Alternative called Dad Rock Classic, in which we strayed from our usual musical outpourings and played something that wouldn’t be out of place on a Top Gear tie-in CD. The on-air discussion about this led us to invent a new marketable genre, Modern Dad Rock™©.

Modern Dad Rock™© is aimed at people who are dads, but not ‘dad rock’ dads, if you know what I mean. Towards the end of the first hour, and for the whole of the second hour, we did away with our planned music and wallowed in the nostalgia of Modern Dad Rock™©

7pm-8pm

Cat Stevens ‘Father And Son’
Black Sabbath ‘Paranoid’
The Offenders ‘Teenage Kicks’
The Lollipop Shoppe ‘You Must Be A Witch’
The Sex Presleys ‘Heartbreak Hotel’
                               ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love’
The Paragons ‘Left With A Broken Heart’
The Pastels ‘Thankyou For Being You’
Mercury Rev ‘Goddess On A Highway’
Utah Saints ‘Believe In Me’
Pearl Jam ‘Even Flow’
Sultans Of Ping FC ‘Where’s Me Jumper’

8pm-9pm

New Order ‘Temptation’
Carter USM ‘The Only Living Boy In New Cross’
Jesus Jones ‘Info Freako’
Transvision Vamp ‘Baby I Don’t Care’
Shakespeare’s Sister ‘You’re History’
Guns and Roses ‘Jumping Jack Flash’
Faith No More ‘Epic’
The Cult ‘She Sells Sanctuary’
EMF with Reeves and Mortimer ‘I’m A Believer’

It was good to have Gary back on board this week, it’s much better doing the show with someone to bounce ideas off and chat to. We mentioned the Prefontaine gig at Jongleurs with Matt Humphries, Josh Kemp, and The Fade. There was also a brief mention of my attempts at compering, Gary and Teegan’s visit to David Bowie Is…at the V&A in that London, and I managed to get through the whole show without insulting anyone.

We also welcomed The Sea Above, a fine band from Leicester who performed live in our very warm studio.

7pm-8pm
Grab Grab The Haddock ‘Nothing To Say’
Batmas ‘Teenage Kicks’
Nine Inch Nails ‘Came Back Haunted’
Depeche Mode ‘Enjoy The Silence’ (dub)
They Might Be Giants ‘I Am A Paleontologist’
The Shop Assistants ‘All That Ever Mattered’
Lulu/David Bowie ‘The Man Who Sold The World’
David Bowie ‘Where Are We Now’

8pm-9pm
Smashing Pumpkins ‘Space Oddity’
The Sea Above ‘Empires’

The Sea Above live session‘Middle Lane’
‘September’
‘Apologies’
‘Scatter’

101ers ‘Keys To Your Heart’
Milkweed ‘Call Me A Doctor’
Sneaker Pimps ‘Ashes To Ashes’
The Smiths ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’
Stone Roses ‘Love Spreads’
Jimi Hendrix ‘Voodoo Chile’

The Sea Above are here

Stressful But Worth It

There were two brilliant live sessions in tonight, which is always a bit hectic, but thanks and thumbs up to Joe and Sam from ROFL Audio for producing the live sound.

Gary is back next week, and is not doing what is known in the radio industry as 'doing an Erik'.

7pm-8pm

The Skids 'The Devil's Decade'
MC5 'Baby Won't Ya'
Scary Cherry And The Bang Bangs 'Don't Wanna'
The Sea Above 'J A R S'
No Authority 'Archibald's Law'
Hot Pistol Shrimp 'LSD'
Calling All Astronauts 'Eye Of God'
Explode The TV 'Pure Water'

Explode The TV live session:
'This Is The Drug'
'Let Love Love You'
'Narcopolitic'
'Digging A Hole'

Visit Explode The TV here

David Fenton 'Fresh Air'

Andy And Joey 'Love Your Company'

The 45s 'Couldn't Believe A Word'

8pm-9pm

David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails 'Scary Monsters'

Shake Hands Eric 'Turning Down The Thunder'

Blind Melon 'No Rain'

Chris Cornell 'Billie Jean'

Dropkick Murphys 'End Of The Night'

Splodganessabounds 'Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please' (dub version)

NYA 'You Are'

NYA live in session:

'Open Your Eyes'

'Acoustacrab'

'You Are'

'Choir Invisible'

NYA 'Choir Invisible'

Visit NYA here

NB: Such is the difference between their studio rockiness and the beautiful gentleness of their acoustic session, it didn't matter that they performed the same tracks as I played. In fact it is interesting to hear both versions so close together. I'm sure you'll agree that the live session was something special, and only the second time they have done it. They did say this was the better of the two!

Sadly, the show ran right out of time and only had time for a very brief chat with Anezka and Dan, the show played out with 'Zombie Eater' by Faith No More, which cut out for the news.

Chernobyl Children's Project

Press release relating to a song you heard on yesterday's show

Last year two friend's of The Procession, Luke and Katie, got involved in a charity called "Chernobyl Children’s Project", (CCP UK), by way of hosting a recuperative holiday for 2 young girls from Belarus. The girls were just 2 of many children living today in Belarus and the Ukraine whose lives have been affected by the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. Even after so long since the disaster, babies are now being born with cancer or leukaemia or with genetic disorders.

The charity provides recuperative holidays in the UK for about 300 children from Belarus. For children who cannot come to the UK, they organise a holiday camp in Belarus, delivers convoys of humanitarian aid, purchase urgently needed medicines for the Children’s Cancer Hospital in Minsk, and support the Children’s Hospice Movement. Volunteers from the UK also can go over to Belarus to help out in orphanages’, hospitals, holiday camps, and so on.

Seeing at first hand through Luke and Katie the benefits of this charity, we felt obliged to try and help out, especially as after March 2013 the UK government will start charging £85 for the visas for children coming from Belarus to England for recuperative holidays, even those for five year olds in remission from cancer.

We have a government petition in place regarding the visas. We are desperately trying to raise awareness of this; as if we can get 100,000 people to sign it we will be able to force a government debate on the issue. As well as this we are looking to volunteer ourselves to go over to Belarus to help out, as well as be involved with the children when they come over here. Even just donating an evening to playing football with some of the kids is a big help.

We are also looking to raise funds, specifically for visa's for 2 children to come over again to stay with Luke and Katie, and also for the trip to Belarus for Katie and Ewelina (Martin's girlfriend), and potentially Paul and Martin from the Procession who have Visa applications awaiting approval. Any additional funds will help with the charities existing projects.

In order to raise both funds and awareness, Martin has organised an all day charity gig at Scruffy Murphy's in Birmingham. As well as the great line up including The Procession as well as established tribute and original acts, lots of local companies have donated prizes, so there will be many fund raising activities throughout the day. The Procession will also be releasing a single which will contain information about the petition with any funds raised from sales going to the charity. The Procession will also be getting involved in summer activities in the UK with the kids on recuperative holidays.

Additionally through the presenter Tom Mallow, we are looking to setup a wider awareness project using a charity called "Sky Badger". They help other charities with similar causes, and have some high profile backers. Tom has helped promote the cause with interviews on his radio show with Martin and Luke, as well as with several people involved with Sky Badger, and is looking himself to organise a charity event in August. In addition to this we hope to promote many more events to help the cause.

Key Dates

26^th April - Season’s Charity single release to mark 27^th anniversary

27^th April – All day charity gig at Scruffy Murphy’s to raise funds / awareness

May - Katie visit to Belarus

May - Martin, Paul, Ewelina visit to Belarus

3^rd/4^th August – Sky Badger Festival, Lutterworth

All August – Belarus Children visit U.K. – Several fun activities to be planned with the kids

7.     31^st August – E-Petition Closing Date

Links:

1.    Charity: http://www.chernobyl-children.org.uk

2.    27^th April, Birmingham Gig Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/events/394568270632638/?fref=ts

3.    Radio Interview: http://soundcloud.com/tommallowinterviews/tom-mallow-interviews-luke

4.    Government Petition: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/37945

5.    Sky Badger: http://www.skybadger.co.uk/

Today was going to be a bit of a struggle, as it was the Dot To Dot festival in Nottingham. Gary was out and about at the festival and tweeted reports, and I had a live session from POM.

7pm-8pm

The Planet Smashers 'Never Gonna Drink Again'
Me First And The Gimmee Gimmees 'Over The Rainbow'
The Polecats 'John I'm Only Dancing'
NYA 'Driving The Nails In'
POM live in session
The Fugs 'Carpe Diem'
The Sea Above 'Empires'
Centre Excuse 'Don't Let Go'
Nine Inch Nails 'We're In This Together'

8pm-9pm

Morrissey 'Drive In Saturday'
Steve Jones 'Suffragette City'
The Plastics 'Last Train To Clarksville'
Skatalites 'Simmer Down'
The Skunks 'YMCA'
The Maytalls 'A Man Who Knows'
Barenaked Ladies 'If I Had $1,000,000'
Buck Owens And The Buckaroos 'Act Naturally'
Talking Heads 'Slippery People'
Gary Numan 'This Wreckage'
Ron McElroy 'World At War'
Throw The Goat 'Southeast Bound'
Wee Willie Harris 'Rocking Chair On The Moon'
The Charlie Daniels Band 'The Devil Went Down To Georgia'
David Bowie 'Let's Spend The Night Together'

POM's website is here

I wasn't going to do the comedy songs at the top of the hour for the 'new' show, but I wanted to pay tribute to Paul Shane so played a clip from Hi-De-Hi followed by his legendary rendition of 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'.

We were pleased to welcome Ryan Thomas in for a live session, it was only organised a few days ago, but it went really well. He's a bit quiet and not very talkative which made me struggle with the interview, but with a voice as magnificent as his, the music does the talking!

7pm-8pm

Paul Shane 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'
Joy Division 'Inside The Line'
Ramones 'Do You Remember Rock 'n'Roll Radio'
Iggy Pop 'Nightclubbing'
Johnny Cash 'Hurt'
Red Hot Chilli Peppers 'Give It Away'
Ryan Thomas 'Down That Road'

Ryan Thomas live session:
'Skinny Woman'
'Elstree Drive'
Walking Blues'
Ain't Gonna Cry'

Ryan Thomas 'Never Did Like The Rain'

8pm-9pm

Mr Bungle 'Egg'
Gregory Issacs 'Puff The Magic Dragon'
Jarvis Cocker 'Heavy Weather'
The Cribs 'I'm A Realist'
Jake Morley 'Freddie Laid The Smackdown'
Calling All Astronauts 'Freaks'
Jesus And Mary Chain 'My Girl'
The Lemonheads 'Into Your Arms'
Carlton And The Shoes 'Just Me'
Be Bop Deluxe 'Fair Exchange'
The Editors 'Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors'

Ryan Thomas can be investigated further here.

By George I Think We've Got It!

We have done it. If the BBC don't come knocking first thing tomorrow morning with a sack full of tenners and a slot on 6Music, then it's their stupid loss. Tonight's show was the turning point in which I felt that we delivered something fucking special. Gary has become a valuable part of the show as a co-presenter, and our live music segment worked a charm. It was an acoustic session tonight, which was a nice change for the band too as it isn't what they are known for. In addition to the new system of the bands introducing themselves, we started something else. We played a studio single by Centre Excuse before their set, and to end their set they introduced the new single, which we had ready. It worked really well, and will definitely become part of the system from now on. The other advantage of doing acoustic sessions is that it doesn't take as long to get ready. Last week's band were good and everything, but they were a six piece and they took ages to sound check.

7pm-8pm

Calling All Astronauts 'Faith In Your Cause' (I was thanked in the sleeve notes for their debut album, so I had decided to play a few of their tonight to return the compliment)
Splodgenessabounds 'Two Little Boys'
The Clash featuring Ian Dury 'Janie Jones'
Snuff 'I Will Survive'
The Hives 'Main Offender'
The Maine 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'
Centre Excuse 'In Your Mind'

Centre Excuse live session
'Game Set Match'
'New Sound'
'Where Do We Go?'
'Introverted'

Centre Excuse 'Control' (new single)

New Order 'Ceremoney'
Calling All Astronauts 'Someone Like You'

8pm-9pm

David Bowie and Gail Ann Dorsey 'O Superman'
Calling All Astronauts 'Scenesters vs The World'
Fuzzbox 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
Plumtree 'Scott Pilgrim'
The Beatles/Joan Jett/Cypress Hill/Rage Against The Machine 'Mash Together'
Flutatious 'Mesmorise'
Calling All Astronauts 'The Demise Of Society'
Joe Brown 'I'll See You In My Dreams'
Pat Boone 'Paradise City'
The Ramones 'I Wanna Be Sedated'
The Jam 'Eton Rifles'

Centre Excuse website is here

Jesus They Are So Fucking Loud

The title of this blog contains all of the words from an internal email that was sent from the office to the studio tonight. It was sent during the sound check, in which the band were indeed fucking loud.

We had a fantastic show, Gary Barwell joined me for co-presenting once again, and we had a very last minute booking from the band All So Reckless, by which I mean last minute; they were booked last night.

7pm-8pm

Ritchie Havens 'High Flying Bird' 'Here Comes The Sun'

Patchwork Grace 'The Love Cats'

Prince Buster 'And I Love Her'

Dandy Livingstone 'Raining In My Heart'

PIL 'Don't Ask Me'

John Otway 'Beware Of The Flowers'

Fantastic Plastic Machine 'There Must Be An Angel'

Gang Of Four 'I Found That Essence'

Bee Gees vs Pink Floyd 'Staying' Alive In The Wall'

8pm-9pm

Buster Bloodvessel 'The Laughing Gnome'

Suede 'The Man Who Sold The World'

All So Reckless live in session:

'Teenage Years'

'Don't Come Crying'

'Wreckless'

Never Mind'

Jesus Lizard 'Monkey Tricks'

Joy Division 'At A Later Date'

Blur 'Under The Westway'

Stone Roses 'Ten Storey Love Song'

The Temper Trap 'Sweet Disposition'

Half Man Half Biscuit 'Hair Like Brian May'

Fuzzbox 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (we only fitted a few seconds of this, so we will play it again soon).

All So Reckless on Facebook

Just The Two Of us

No band this week, but I was joined in the co-presenter's chair by Gary Barwell, singer and guitarist from Prefontaine. We haven't known each other for that long, but have become good friends and can banter well and have a similar sense of humour. As usual, the two best hours of the weekend flew by.

7pm-8pm
Human League 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'
Gary Numan 'Heart'
Spear Of Destiny 'Liberator'
Eisenfunk 'Pong' (this led to me playing a clip of the famous 'Super Morrissey Brothers' tune)
Rip, Rig, and Panic 'You're My Kind Of Climate'
Skatalites 'Simmer Down'
The Toy Dolls 'Any Dream Will Do'
Pavement 'Summer Babe'
Flaming Lips 'She Don't Use Jelly'

8pm-9pm
Black Sabbath 'God Is Dead'
Joe Brown 'Ace Of Spades'
Captain Dangerous 'Then She Kissed Me'
Rick Astley vs Nirvana 'Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit Up'
Junior Gee And The Capital Boys 'Have You Got The Time'
The Tansads 'I Know I Can (But I Won't)
Sisters Of Mercy 'Marian'
The Bates 'Billie Jean'
The Cure 'You're So Happy'

Webpage Blurb

The second show of the returning Sunday Alternative was another triumph, with two stunning live performances from Luna Park and Fields. Those sessions will be available to hear again from this page very soon so watch this space! Those links once again for the bands are:

 

Luna Park http://lunarparkmusic.com/

Fields https://www.facebook.com/Fieldsuk#!/Fieldsuk

 

Again, thanks are due to our friends ROFL Audio for producing these and all of Trent Sound's live sessions http://www.roflaudio.co.uk/

 

What has Steve got in store for you on Sunday 21st April while you let your roast lunch go down? It's a secret. No, not secret, a mystery. Steve doesn't even know yet. Maybe a live band, maybe two, our best advice would be to keep coming back to this page because it'll be announced here first.

 

We do know that Steve will be bringing you a selection of music that you will only hear on The Sunday Alternative, (whether that's a good thing or not is up to your own discretion), such as these tunes that were played last week:

 

First hour 7pm-8pm

Eva Cassidey 'Over The Rainbow'

Klaus Nomi 'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead'

John McCullough 'I'll Dance On Your Grave Mrs Thatcher'

Morrissey 'Margaret On The Guillotene'

Desperate Bicycles 'Blasting Radio'

 

Lunar Park live in session:

'Good Girl'

Ghosts'

'Control'

'Sik'

 

Ned's Atomic Dustbin 'Happy'

Birthday Party 'Mr Clarinet'

Depeche Mode 'About You About Me'

Splodgenessabounds 'I Fell In Love With A Female Plumber From Harlesdon NW10'

 

Second hour 8pm-9pm

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band 'Faith Healer'

Pop Will Eat Itself 'There Is No Love Lost Between Us Anymore'

The Wonder Stuff 'Far Far Away'/'Oh No!'

 

Fields live in session:

'I Know That You Know'

'Conversations'

'Turn It Down'

'Rock Paper Scissors'

 

Sultans Of Ping FC 'Turnip Fish'

Calling All Astronauts 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'

The Jam 'Tales From The Riverbank'

Wedding Present 'A Million Miles'

Ministry 'Lay Lady Lay'

The Beat 'Whine and Grine (Stand Down Margaret)'

 

Steve tweets during the show from the Trent Sound official twitter account @TrentSoundLtd but can be found making weak jokes and flag waving great music at @SteveOliver76 and show updates can be found at @SundayAlt

 

 

                                    

Ding Dong

I went there! I had been planning the opening gag since midweek; open with 'Over The Rainbow' and then ponder on the fuss about not playing a song from The Wizard Of Oz. Satire! I should be on a late night BBC2 show or something. After all the hype surrounding the playing of the song, I had let it be known that whatever the BBC decided, I was going to play the song. My big advantage was that my show starts immediately after the Radio 1 chart countdown, so even if only for the first ten minutes or so, my audience would probably be higher than usual.

This week I did the show solo, something that I enjoyed doing but felt that something was lacking. However, it suited having two bands in as I didn't have to fill with a lot of chatter. We had two brilliant sets, (one in each hour) from Lunar Park and Fields.

7pm-8pm

Eva Cassidy 'Over The Rainbow'
Klaus Nomi 'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead'
John McCullagh 'I'll Dance On Your Grave Mrs Thatcher'
Morrissey 'Margeret On The Guillotene'
Desperate Bicycles 'Blasting Radio'

50% of Lunar Park

Lunar Park live in session:

'Good Girl'

'Ghosts'

'Control'

'Sik'

For more information about Lunar Park, their website is here.

Neds Atomic Dustbin 'Happy'

Birthday Party 'Mr Clarinet'

Depeche Mode 'About You About Me'

Splodganessabounds 'I Fell In Love With A Female Plumber From Harlesdon NW1'

8pm-9pm

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band 'Faith Healer'

Pop Will Eat Itself 'There Is No Love Lost Between Us'

The Wonder Stuff 'Far Far Away'

The Wonder Stuff 'Oh No!'

Fields

Fields live in session:

'I Know That You Know'

'Conversations'

Turn It Down'

'Rock Paper Scissors'

Like Fields on Facebook here

Sultans Of Ping FC 'Turnip Fish'

Calling All Astronauts 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'

The Jam 'Tales From The River Bank'

Wedding Present 'A Million Miles'

Ministry 'Lay Lady Lay'

The Beat 'Whine and Grine (Stand Down Margaret)

Sundays Are Back!

It felt like slipping in to a comfortable pair of slippers, and for some reason I wasn't in the least bit nervous. Ever since I quit The Sunday Alternative, I've wanted to bring it back. Whenever I hear a great song it irritated me that I couldn't share it with anyone via a radio show. I've obviously kept my hand in, doing The Sound Of Nottingham UK, and the array of podcasts, but live radio is a different kettle of fish altogether. The excitement of live radio got back into my system the first time I started doing NottinghamLIVE, and although I love doing that, Sunday gives me chance to share a far wider reach of music.

Today was spent hoping that everything went without a hitch, and the results spoke for themselves. It was especially good to have Andy Haynes co-presenting with me, although I felt a bit guilty about the fact that we didn't have a lot of time to go into long conversation pieces. Booking two live session guests was a gamble, but I think in retrospect it might be a good idea to save that sort of booking until I do the show solo.

Having said that, we had a great double bill of live music in. I'm not the world's biggest fan of tribute bands, but I was impressed when Rebel Rebel sent me some music. With David Bowie being big news at the moment, and with me being a well documented fan of all things Bowie, I decided to go for it and book them in. They played an amazing set, and as the singer said, it is a hard job to have to pick four songs from such an amazing body of work. They also did a brilliant job of 'Where Are We Now', which I imagine has made a sudden entry into the setlist of all reputable Bowie tributes, after ten years of thinking you have all the songs you'll need. Matt Blick, who I've been in touch with via social media, came in and performed in the second hour. I've been critical of the over population of the 'one man and a guitar' performers, but Matt is another one that stands out from the pack. Listening to him from the safety of our recording booth was a pleasure, I can't wait to hear it back. Matt's site is here.

7pm-8pm

AC/DC 'Back In Black' (intro only)
The Undertones 'Teenage Kicks'
The Stone Roses 'I Am The Resurrection'
The Pretenders 'Every Day Is Like Sunday'
The Selecter 'On My Radio'
David Bowie 'Ziggy Stardust'

Rebel Rebel live session
Where Are We Now?
Heroes
Let's Dance
John I'm Only Dancing

Velvet Underground 'Rock 'n' Roll

I forgot to get a group picture of Rebel Rebel, so have a look at their Facebook page.

8pm-9pm

Prefontaine 'Sunday Jingle'
The Bad Shepherds 'Sound Of The Suburbs'
Ramones 'Wonderful World'
The Wonderstuff 'Planet Earth'

Matt Blick live session
Finger Nails
Let's Build An Airport
Brother Bull
Sweet Baby Hand Grenade

The Clash 'Idle In The Kangaroo Court'
New Model Army 'No Rest For The Wicked Ones'

Sadly, my home recording didn't work out, so I'll have to wait until the show is available to download from the site. Which is here by the way.

Top Wave Radio Pilot

The Sunday Alternative might have found a new home on Top Wave Radio, this edition broadcast today at 7pm

The Birthday Party 'Mr Clarinet'
Golden Curtain 'Everything's Fine'
The Petebox 'Lithium'
Emily Needs 'Creep'
Joe Strange 'Ever Since The Day'
Rebel Soul Collective 'Modern Medicine'
The Cult Of Dom Keller 'Worlds'
The Smiths 'Jeanie'
Pop Rivets 'LamberettaVespaScooter'
The Vanity Claus 'The Scream'
Pop Will Eat Itself 'Get The Girl Kill The Baddies'

Pocket Sized Podcast 2

Dog Is Dead 'Teenage Daughter'
Bleed Electric 'A New Reason'
Vamoise 'Come With Me'
The Cheek Of Her 'Beauty Queen'
Hank C Burdette 'Rocking On Down The Line'
Blue Pearl 'Love In Stereo'
Rebekah Delgado 'Trying To Forget'
The Cellophane Flowers 'Rock n Roll'

Pocket Sized Podcast 1

I might not have a radio show but that doesn't mean that The Sunday Alternative shouldn't carry on. Hopefully I'll have time to carry these on, as half hour little episodes so that I can continue to share my music collection.

The Lancashire Hotpots 'Uncle Bernard'
Dave Days 'California Dreamin''
Eddie And The Hot Rods 'Quit This Town'
Captain Sensible 'Do Anything You Wanna Do'
Nina Smith 'Come Home'
Chris Pope 'Mutiney On The Thames'
Nya 'You Are'
Calling All Astronauts 'What's So Good About'

I have resigned from Trent Sound as of today. Below is a copy of the email I sent to the station controller and all of my colleagues.

I have decided that the time has come to resign from Trent Sound, with immediate effect. At first I wanted to try and ignore all the behind the scenes shit and continue to produce my usual standard of radio, but having listened back to my recent shows I can detect from my voice that the enjoyment has gone. Once the enthusiasm dies then the only thing to do is to move on. By occasionally making pre-recorded programmes, I felt that I was doing the right thing so as not to have to rely on replacement presenters, and maintain the continuity of The Sunday Alternative. As I don't believe in bullshitting the audience, I felt it the right move to admit when a pre-rec was being broadcast. I listen to a lot of radio and can tell if a show is live or not, so there is no merit in pretending otherwise. Getting shit from it on Facebook, a public forum, from the station's manager, was unacceptable in my mind and showed me how I was really thought of in Andy Lloyd's eyes. For your information, I have no more or less of an ego than anyone else at the station and it doesn't hurt to be proud of what you do on the radio, I certainly don't need help. The subsequent email exchange that took place between us was just childish. While I regret 'biting', the response only helped to strengthen my feeling that I should quit while I'm ahead.

 

The Sunday Alternative name will live on. For the time being, it will continue as a podcast that will appear every Sunday morning on the show's Mixcloud account, until I find a new radio home for it. The Steve's LP Box segment will also continue.

I will also continue to present The Sound Of Nottingham UK, (the home of Robin Hood on Robin Hood Radio) for Connecticut based Robin Hood Radio, which broadcasts twice over the weekend, (6am Saturday and 6pm Sunday UK time).

 

I have mostly enjoyed my time at Trent Sound, and I hope that the friendships I have made will continue. You all have my number and Facebook/Twitter details.

 

The Sunday Alternative is something I am very proud of, and I know that the show is good enough to continue for a long time to come.

 

I am sorry to have had to resort to this action, I sincerely hope that Trent Sound continues to provide the service that it is committed to. After all, TS is Nottingham's only independent local radio station and local radio is very important. It is genuine when I say that I wish all the very best of luck to all involved at 'Trent Towers'.

 

Thanks must also go to Penny Reeve, Chris Underwood, Erik Petersen, Andy Haynes, Bainy, and Jason Loftus for co-hosting and deputising. Thanks also to Bainy, Andy, and Callum for producing my live music sessions.

 

Regards

Steve Oliver

 

PS- As with everyone else who has left the station, I fully expect to be slagged off until a new target is found. Frankly, I don't fucking care.

Live Again!

9pm-10pm

The Two Gilberts 'Do Shrimps Make Good Mothers?'
Brian Fahey Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbals'
New Model Army 'Vagabonds'
Ministry 'Every Day Is Halloween'
Reel Big Fish 'Ghostbusters'
Angelic Upstairs 'Kids On The Streets'
Billy D And The Hoodoos 'Whyya Do It?'
Toots And The Maytalls 'Pressure Drop'
The Maytalls 'Water Melon'
Dog Is Dead 'Talent Show'
DH Lawrence And The Vaudeville Skiffle Show 'Penn Station'
The Lemonheads 'Into Your Arms'

STEVE'S BIG BAG FULL OF BOWIE

Thursday's Child
The Dreamers
Yassasin


10pm-11pm

Max Bygraves 'Decimilisation'
Wedding present 'Interstate 5'
Captain Sensible 'Happy Talk'
Grandmaster Flash 'White Lines (Don't Do It)'
The Paragons 'The Tide Is High'
John Otway 'The Highwayman'
Seven Little Sisters 'Promised Land'
The Locos 'Don't Worry Be Happy'
Catch 22 'American Pie'
Bill Flagg 'Rockabilly'
The Muffs 'Sad Tomorrow'
Porno For Pyros 'Freeway'
Crass 'Big A Little A'

Branch Out and John Peel

I recorded this week's show this afternoon as I wanted to attend as much of the Branch Out Festival as possible. The pre-record was fairly easy/lazy as I had already prepared the John Peel Day section that was going to take over the whole second hour. As a fan of Fuzzbox, I obviously wanted to play a song in tribute to Jo Dunne, who died two days ago. I gave the rest of the first hour over to Nottingham's finest, who were all performing today.


9pm-10pm

Brian Fahey Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal'
Fuzzbox 'Pink Sunshine' (played in tribute to Jo Dunne)

Captain Dangerous 'Everything Beautiful Reminds Me Of You'
Marc Reeves 'Holding On'
The Smears 'Halloween'
Practical Lovers 'Put It Bluntly'
Will Jeffery 'Dorothy Jean'
Emily Martin 'Guide Me Home'
Breadchasers 'Hold 'em High'
The Afterdark Movement 'Since I've Been Here'
Barnum Meserve 'Stay Awake'
Nina Smith 'I Won't Forget You'
Kappa Gamma 'Just Another'
Hhymn 'These Hands'
Sleaford Mods 'Wage Don't Fit'


10pm-11pm

Intro: John Peel
Mitch Benn 'A Minutes Noise For John'
John Peel introduction: The Undertones 'Teenage Kicks'
The Cure 'Killing An Arab'
The Specials 'Gangsters'
Misty In Roots 'Poor And Needy'
The Wedding Present 'Once More'
Billy Bragg 'A13'
Principle Edwards Magic Theatre 'Sacrifice'
Bogshed 'Spencer Travis'
John Peel introduction: The Ramones 'I Wanna Be Sedated'
Joy Division 'Transmission'
John Peel introduction: Eddie And The Hot Rods 'Teenage Depression'
The White Stripes 'Baby Blue'
The Buzzcocks 'Promises'
The Fall 'The War Against Intelligence'
The Vibrators 'She's Bringing You Down'
UK Subs 'Keep On Running'
Mudhoney 'Here Comes Sickness'
The Slits 'Love ind Romance'
John Peel "Goodbye"

I Am The Wind

I had the most appalling wind this evening, but thankfully I'd blown it all out before my guest arrived. Adam Clarkson (Red Bear) came in to play a couple of songs and talk about his upcoming gigs, including the final Captain Dangerous show of the year next Sunday as part of the Branch Out Festival. Next week's show will be a pre-record for this reason.

9pm-10pm

Lesley Holmes 'He Played The Ukulele As The Ship Went Down'
Brian Fahey Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal'
Reel Big Fish 'Monkey Man'
Jake Bugg 'Lightning Bolt'
Jake Bugg 'Saffron'
Bob Dylan 'Subterranian Homesick Blues'
The Animal Jack Band 'I Can't Strip My Lambretta Down In The Kitchen'
Captain Dangerous 'Everything Beautiful Reminds Me Of You'
Redbear 'Gather All The Animals' (live)
             'Merrow Song' (live)
Captain Dangerous 'Forgive Us We're British'

STEVE'S BIG BAG FULL OF BOWIE: (only time for two this week)
Station To Station
TVC15

10pm-11pm

Theme from Happy Days
The Who 'Magic Bus'
The Madeline Rust 'When The Sugar Dies' (live at The Maze)
Dog Is Dead 'Hands Down'
Jerry Reed 'She Got The Goldmine (I Got The Shaft)'
The Levellers 'The Devil Went Down To Georgia'
Dead Kennedys 'Pull My Strings'
Derrick Harriot 'Monkey Ska'
Captain Dangerous 'Be Careful Who You Lend Your Heart To'
                            'Cheerio'
Calling All Astronauts 'What's So Good About'
Sleaford Mods 'Five Pound Sixty'
The Smears 'Rise Of The Liars'
Will Jeffery 'The Beasts'
Practical Lovers 'Textbook Romance'

I'm Not Here

By radio magic, I managed to be both on air providing the best possible musical choices and across town at The Rescue Rooms at the same time. It's not actual magic, it was a pre-recorded show because I was watching The Beat.

I'm the one on the left.

9pm-10pm

The Cats 'Knees Up Mother Brown'

Brian Fahey Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbal'

The Beat 'Mirror In The Bathroom'

The Procession 'The Simple Things'

The Afterdark Movement 'Made In Britain'

The Exploited 'God Save The Queen'

The Sex Pistols 'God Save The Queen'*

Captain Sensible 'Damned On 45'

Joan Jett And The Blackhearts 'I Hate Myself For Loving You'

The Death Notes 'Ghost'

STEVE'S BIG BAG FULL OF BOWIE:

Absolute Beginners

Rebel Rebel

Teenage Wildlife

*Possible feature, Same Title Different Song. Maybe not.

10pm-11pm

The Mufftones 'It's Hard To Say I Love You'

Faith No More 'War Pigs'

Alice In Chains 'Rooster'

Carter USM 'Rent'

KLF 'What Time Is Love'

The Levellers 'Just The One'

Redbear 'Gather All The Animals'

Ian Dury And The Blockheads 'Itinerent Child'

Morrissey 'Ouija Board Ouija Board'

Skid Row '18 and Life'

Evil Jack 'Happy Valley'

NOTTINGHAM 3:

Will Jeffery 'Bucket And Spade'

The Smears 'Handcuffs And Powderpuffs'

8mm Orchestra 'Kevin Spacey's Box Of Mystery'

All By Myself

Penny should be glad of her perfect timing, as a weekend of Goose Fair food had given me the most powerful wind that I just couldn't contain. An airtight studio was not the ideal place to see out my weekend. Talking of Goose Fair, the rock and roll medley at the beginning, and the song 'Band Of Gold' at the end are in honour of fairground music.

9pm-10pm

Lily Morris 'He's Only A Working Man'
Brian Fahey Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbals'
Del Shannon 'Runaway'
Bill Hayley And The Comets 'Rock Around the Clock'
Buddy Holly And The Crickets 'Oh Boy'
The Champs 'Tequila'
Plague Of Ares 'Rising Sun, Dying Star'
We Are Avengers 'Revolution'
Nina Smith 'Everybody Hurts' (live at #Nottingham Rocks, Saturday 22nd September)
Gene Lamarr and The Blue Flames 'You Don't Love Me Anymore'
L7 'Stuck Here Again'
Mudhoney 'In And Out Of Grace'

STEVE'S BIG BAG FULL OF BOWIE:
Looking For Satellites
Pictures Of Lily
Loving The Alien

10pm-11pm

Sid James 'Double Bunk'
Mikey Dredd 'Barbershop Saloon'
Sex Presleys 'Heartbreak Hotel'
Sex Presleys 'I Can't Help Falling In Love With You'
The Ex-Pistols 'Sex On 45'
Plan B feat John Cooper Clarke 'Pity The Plight'
John Cooper Clarke '(I Married) A Monster From Outer Space'
The Trashmen 'King Of The Surf'
The Madeline Rust 'Red Mist' (live at The Maze, 29th September)
Half Man Half Biscuit 'You're Hard'
UK Subs 'I Live In A Car'
Limozine 'Tokyo 1970'
Eddie And The Hot Rods 'Wooly Bully'
The Vejitables 'Hide Yourself'
Tommy Danton And The Echoes 'Twenty One'
The Baboons 'Drinkin' Gasoline'
Peter And The Test Tube Babies 'I Wanna Rob A Bank'
Freda Payne 'Band Of Gold'

A Reeve And A Reeves

Penny's final outing as my co-presenter went very well and without tears. She will be back occasionally to fill in (having already been asked by Bainy to join him on Notts Live) and so will maintain a relationship with the station.

9pm-10pm

Squeeze 'Goodbye Girl'

Jimi Hendrix 'All Along The Watchtower'

Andy Williams 'Can't Get Used To Losing You'

Brian Fahey Orchestra 'At The Sign Of The Swinging Cymbals'

Harry Champion 'A Little Bit Of Cucumber'

Jessie Wallace (as Marie Lloyd) 'My Old Man Said Follow The Van'

The Thrills 'Nothing Changes Around Here'

The Strokes 'Under The Cover Of Darkness'

Marc Reeves

'Judgement Day'

'Chameleon' (live)

'I Need You' (live)

'Easy Way Out'

David Bowie 'Heroes'

10pm-11pm

Peter Cook And Dudley Moore 'Goodbye'

David Bowwow 'Quite Ahead Of My Time'

PIL 'Poptones'

William Shatner 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

PENNY'S BLUEGRASS JAMBOREE:

Eric Weissberg and Steve Mande 'Duelling Banjos'

Alison Krauss 'Dimming Of The Day'

Earl Scruggs 'Fireball Mail'

Joy Division 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'

Swimming 'Neauton Wireless Crystal'

Kate Bush 'Wuthering Height' (played under sufferance, listen back on Mixcloud for the full context)

NOTTINGHAM 3:

Joshua Keogh 'Stone'

Frankie Rudolph 'Heart On Fire'

Marc Block 'Cradle Of Sunshine'