The second focus group took place tonight with a lot of Kate's friends taking part although Olly didn't really make the effort to get some of his round.
However it all went well and I got some interesting reponses save from Kate going on about Total Wipeout.
Before that I listened to the first Grooveline on X Stream East Radio and it got off to a good start. Not too much has changed as Stephen's still using the instrumental version of "Open Your Eyes" from 4hero's most recent album as the main theme which was used on Blast last year before the show became a more ad-libbed show towards the end of it's run.
Personally I think it's rather downtempo but it's his show not mine and overall it's great to have it back.
My favourite track was one by Incognito offshoot Para Diso which contained a clever use of sampling the track "Shine On" from their Jazz Funk album from nearly 30 years ago. Still one I play on my DJ sets at the Undercroft, normally followed by the similar sounding "Biyo" from Earth Wind And Fire's "Spirit" LP.
Over in Harrow, a slightly less astute comment about music took place where Chilvers met up with Steven and Pete for a grill night at one of Spoons in London and Steven suggested that N*Dubz were better than the Beatles.
Honestly, that's like saying a tube of Smarties is better than a curry.
I wouldn't even compare the Beatles to Incognito or Earth Wind And Fire, especially as the latter did a rather good take on the song "Got To Get You Into My Life" which is probably better known as a definitive EWF tune than one by Lennon and McCartney.
I'm hoping the visit back to London tomorrow will be worth it as I need to get this focus group more or less done sooner or later.
I'm not sure if I'll stay up for The Wire tonight as I want to get back as early as possible, but I know the series gets better as the first episode I saw contained that legendary Polaroid scene.
That happens to be transmitted next Tuesday so I'll definitely be looking forward to that.
Right now though I just want to have a good laugh.
Whilst all this was going on,
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Big 22
This is pretty impressive, blog post number 2200 and I'm nearing my 1000th Tweet.
If I carry on writing this rubbish, I'll hopefully reach 2500 posts by the end of my time at Uni.
I spent the morning going through some of my old Alfasound Collector Tapes that are now in digital form on my hard drive.
These included a few ones I haven't heard before including resings for Pirate stations and overseas stations in Europe, Ireland and even America with UK package resung with US singers.
Some of the notable ones included packages for what was then known as RTE Radio 2, which by the end of the 80s was 2FM and used jingles by Century 21 which were a lot more punchier and less corny than the Alfasound ones.
I also had a listen to Volume 27 from 1996 which contained a lot of stuff I'd never heard before including the 1992 package for BBC Radio Leicester which were resings of JAM packages for WLS in Chicago, some of which had been on both Radio 1 and Radio 2 15 years earlier.
My favourite had to be one for The Breeze in Essex which was the AM station for Essex FM and had a resing of the whole "Beat 92" package.
These included the cuts I had done for me a few years ago including that superb promo bed which I use at the end of the show.
I have't actually said Bruno Brookes' line at all in the last semester, instead going for lines such as "Be Nice To Each Other" and "Don't do anything stupid, unless you're being framed!"
There's still a few more I plan to use towards the end although I'll possibly do Bruno's one on the last show. Although the man himself once did an adlib for the 2006 North West Radio Night, which was designed as a light dig for then Hit 40 UK host Simon Hirst.
I've been up to more rummaging as well, still in July 2004 and another vintage episode of OFAH, that being "The Yellow Peril" from series 2 where they end up painting a chinese restaurant only to find it's luminous paint.
My favourite bit is when the phone rings, and Del fearing that it's the owner of the restaurant asks Grandad to tell him that he's not around.
Of course Grandad being the dim one he is, isn't so succesfull;
"Ello!
Oh hello Mr Chin.
No, no Del's gone out.
I'm not sure, where've you gone to Del?"
I loved Lennard Pearce's character in the series but Buster Merryfield was just as good as Uncle Albert and is more or less established for me as one of the main characters from when I can remember the series first time round.
Although at the time I thought it was weird seeing Nicholas Lyndhurst in a BBC sitcom as my earliest memory of him was as Ashley in the LWT late 80s sitcom "The Two Of Us" which he did when Only Fools took a break for three years, after the episode where Del eventually turns down an offer to take his business overseas.
Nowadays, Nicholas Lyndhurst will always be recognised as "that plonker".
Towards the end of the tape are the opening and closing titles from what had to be one of ITV1's worst Saturday night line ups ever.
First of all was "Celebrities Under Pressure" which had ran for two series already hosted by Melanie Sykes, but this time with Mel having her second child, Vernon Kay took over but it didn't mean the show improved.
Around the time Vernon had just started his weekend morning show on Radio 1 and was still doing T4 and you got the idea he really wanted to be an all round entertainer.
Not for me.
The theme tune to the programme wanted to be intense, sounding like a cross between the Mission Impossible theme, and "Take Me I'm Yours" by Squeeze.
The other show was even worse, which I've probably referred to quite a few times, that being "Simply The Best" what you could call "It's A Knockout" for the noughties.
This was an incredibly strung out show done from an outdoor stadium in St Helier, Jersey and was presented by Phil Tufnell and Kirsty Gallacher.
A presenting duo who go together about as well as a curry with an orange inside it.
This particular edition had a team from Manchester competing against a team from London, each lead by two celebrities who weren't exactly A-list and a long way from C-list.
Representing Manchester was Paul Tonkinson, and Sarah Cawood who is actually from London. And representing Sarah's true hometown were Jeff Brazier and former Eastender Lucy Speed.
The opening titles were very similar to that of Hole In The Wall, featuring computer generated stick people falling into water.
However the viewing public at the time were not ready for such splashing and messing about, and it has to be said that the show makes Hole In The Wall, and Total Wipeout look credible.
One of the dreadful gimmicks was the hastily contrived "evil referee" Paul Derkins and guess which music he came out to? That's right "O Fortuna".
If you really need any music guaranteed to put the fear of god into people, then for me it has to be that really bad brass band version of "Sprach Zarathustra" as played by Chris Moyles in the last couple of days.
It was a shambles overall and sadly it had cost producers Channel Television a lot of money meaning that a planned drama for the ITV network had to be abandoned.
Definitely a show that will make a reappearance in my revised Saturday Night tangent later this year, for all the wrong reasons.
If I carry on writing this rubbish, I'll hopefully reach 2500 posts by the end of my time at Uni.
I spent the morning going through some of my old Alfasound Collector Tapes that are now in digital form on my hard drive.
These included a few ones I haven't heard before including resings for Pirate stations and overseas stations in Europe, Ireland and even America with UK package resung with US singers.
Some of the notable ones included packages for what was then known as RTE Radio 2, which by the end of the 80s was 2FM and used jingles by Century 21 which were a lot more punchier and less corny than the Alfasound ones.
I also had a listen to Volume 27 from 1996 which contained a lot of stuff I'd never heard before including the 1992 package for BBC Radio Leicester which were resings of JAM packages for WLS in Chicago, some of which had been on both Radio 1 and Radio 2 15 years earlier.
My favourite had to be one for The Breeze in Essex which was the AM station for Essex FM and had a resing of the whole "Beat 92" package.
These included the cuts I had done for me a few years ago including that superb promo bed which I use at the end of the show.
I have't actually said Bruno Brookes' line at all in the last semester, instead going for lines such as "Be Nice To Each Other" and "Don't do anything stupid, unless you're being framed!"
There's still a few more I plan to use towards the end although I'll possibly do Bruno's one on the last show. Although the man himself once did an adlib for the 2006 North West Radio Night, which was designed as a light dig for then Hit 40 UK host Simon Hirst.
I've been up to more rummaging as well, still in July 2004 and another vintage episode of OFAH, that being "The Yellow Peril" from series 2 where they end up painting a chinese restaurant only to find it's luminous paint.
My favourite bit is when the phone rings, and Del fearing that it's the owner of the restaurant asks Grandad to tell him that he's not around.
Of course Grandad being the dim one he is, isn't so succesfull;
"Ello!
Oh hello Mr Chin.
No, no Del's gone out.
I'm not sure, where've you gone to Del?"
I loved Lennard Pearce's character in the series but Buster Merryfield was just as good as Uncle Albert and is more or less established for me as one of the main characters from when I can remember the series first time round.
Although at the time I thought it was weird seeing Nicholas Lyndhurst in a BBC sitcom as my earliest memory of him was as Ashley in the LWT late 80s sitcom "The Two Of Us" which he did when Only Fools took a break for three years, after the episode where Del eventually turns down an offer to take his business overseas.
Nowadays, Nicholas Lyndhurst will always be recognised as "that plonker".
Towards the end of the tape are the opening and closing titles from what had to be one of ITV1's worst Saturday night line ups ever.
First of all was "Celebrities Under Pressure" which had ran for two series already hosted by Melanie Sykes, but this time with Mel having her second child, Vernon Kay took over but it didn't mean the show improved.
Around the time Vernon had just started his weekend morning show on Radio 1 and was still doing T4 and you got the idea he really wanted to be an all round entertainer.
Not for me.
The theme tune to the programme wanted to be intense, sounding like a cross between the Mission Impossible theme, and "Take Me I'm Yours" by Squeeze.
The other show was even worse, which I've probably referred to quite a few times, that being "Simply The Best" what you could call "It's A Knockout" for the noughties.
This was an incredibly strung out show done from an outdoor stadium in St Helier, Jersey and was presented by Phil Tufnell and Kirsty Gallacher.
A presenting duo who go together about as well as a curry with an orange inside it.
This particular edition had a team from Manchester competing against a team from London, each lead by two celebrities who weren't exactly A-list and a long way from C-list.
Representing Manchester was Paul Tonkinson, and Sarah Cawood who is actually from London. And representing Sarah's true hometown were Jeff Brazier and former Eastender Lucy Speed.
The opening titles were very similar to that of Hole In The Wall, featuring computer generated stick people falling into water.
However the viewing public at the time were not ready for such splashing and messing about, and it has to be said that the show makes Hole In The Wall, and Total Wipeout look credible.
One of the dreadful gimmicks was the hastily contrived "evil referee" Paul Derkins and guess which music he came out to? That's right "O Fortuna".
If you really need any music guaranteed to put the fear of god into people, then for me it has to be that really bad brass band version of "Sprach Zarathustra" as played by Chris Moyles in the last couple of days.
It was a shambles overall and sadly it had cost producers Channel Television a lot of money meaning that a planned drama for the ITV network had to be abandoned.
Definitely a show that will make a reappearance in my revised Saturday Night tangent later this year, for all the wrong reasons.
Back In The Grooveline
It's quite a long way to go, but already, events king Phil Harris has organised a Big Phat Dissertation Deadline Party at the Undercroft on the 23rd of April where everyone has been invited to celebrate the handing in of our dissertations.
And when I say everyone, even a few of the first years will be turning up as well such as Matt And Rob, and Phil's partner Annabel and a few of her mates.
One person who won't be there is Matthew but I can't say I'm surprised as I've never seen in celebrating with us in any of the previous years.
Although as mentioned many times before, it won't be a dissertation deadline bash without Patrick from Journalism as he always enjoys a drink,
and a cigarette of course.
I'm hoping Phil will be getting DJs to help out later on in the night as I'd really love to do another DJ battle again where me and Phil take it in turns to play one record after another but we don't know what the next person's going to play.
The day after, the celebrations will continue as Incognito will be performing a gig in Camden. I haven't received the tickets yet, but according to Seetickets they're waiting arrival but if they haven't arrived by the Monday of that week I'll be in touch.
On that same subject I'm rather gutted about doing my focus group this evening as tonight at 7pm sees the return of Grooveline with Stephen to the airwaves on X-Stream East, an internet station for East London.
The show's only an hour long this time but it looks pretty packed with the return of features such as The House Of Grooveline, and The Album Of The Month which for April is 4hero's 1998 release "2 Pages".
I haven't actually listened to the album in full before although there are a couple of really good tunes on there and well orchestrated.
There won't be any more featured albums on my show as not only will there be barely any time to fit any in for April and May, I normally tend to mess about during the summer shows and let the show go in any direction I want it to.
I'm planning another covers show, and one devoted entirely to Positive Pairings as I haven't done any for Santana, Matt Bianco, or Alison Limerick amongst others.
I also plan to do a few surprise pairings such as David Bowie as quite a lot of his songs have influenced some superb modern soulful covers.
Anyway, the return of Stephen to the airwaves fits in perfectly as after him, there's Peter Young's show on Solar Radio between 8 and 10pm including the feature called "The Ones That Got Away" containing several forgotten soul and rare groovers from over the years.
Who says radio is getting turgid?
And when I say everyone, even a few of the first years will be turning up as well such as Matt And Rob, and Phil's partner Annabel and a few of her mates.
One person who won't be there is Matthew but I can't say I'm surprised as I've never seen in celebrating with us in any of the previous years.
Although as mentioned many times before, it won't be a dissertation deadline bash without Patrick from Journalism as he always enjoys a drink,
and a cigarette of course.
I'm hoping Phil will be getting DJs to help out later on in the night as I'd really love to do another DJ battle again where me and Phil take it in turns to play one record after another but we don't know what the next person's going to play.
The day after, the celebrations will continue as Incognito will be performing a gig in Camden. I haven't received the tickets yet, but according to Seetickets they're waiting arrival but if they haven't arrived by the Monday of that week I'll be in touch.
On that same subject I'm rather gutted about doing my focus group this evening as tonight at 7pm sees the return of Grooveline with Stephen to the airwaves on X-Stream East, an internet station for East London.
The show's only an hour long this time but it looks pretty packed with the return of features such as The House Of Grooveline, and The Album Of The Month which for April is 4hero's 1998 release "2 Pages".
I haven't actually listened to the album in full before although there are a couple of really good tunes on there and well orchestrated.
There won't be any more featured albums on my show as not only will there be barely any time to fit any in for April and May, I normally tend to mess about during the summer shows and let the show go in any direction I want it to.
I'm planning another covers show, and one devoted entirely to Positive Pairings as I haven't done any for Santana, Matt Bianco, or Alison Limerick amongst others.
I also plan to do a few surprise pairings such as David Bowie as quite a lot of his songs have influenced some superb modern soulful covers.
Anyway, the return of Stephen to the airwaves fits in perfectly as after him, there's Peter Young's show on Solar Radio between 8 and 10pm including the feature called "The Ones That Got Away" containing several forgotten soul and rare groovers from over the years.
Who says radio is getting turgid?
Moan Clones
Morning.
Not a lot's planned today apart from buying some more bread, fizzy stuff and the new Radio Times as "it's out today".
My second focus group takes place later tonight although I'm rather nervous it could include more female than male participants due to Olly being lazy about the whole thing. All of his mates that I know are either on holiday or busy with other things.
Whatever happens, my moderator won't known if I'm bullshitting anyway in the transcript.
Right now Chris Moyles is switched on as normal, and fellow student Steven happened to be working with Sima Kotecha at Newsbeat yesterday, the woman now known for her attempts at getting the attention of
Whoopi Goldberg at the Oscars.
She was also rather pleased that I talked about it on the site and provided the audio of the moment itself, but despite it happening on Greg James's show, Chris seems to more associated with it.
Whoopi herself happens to be in the UK this week which is very rare as she has a fear of flying.
Chris always being one to make negative comments on the rubbish records has given a slating to a band who sound exactly like Nickelback but just as shite. Them being Theory Of A Dead Man (which you'd wish you were after hearing Nickelback) and "Hate My Life" which is an example of a song that pretty much ticks the wrong boxes.
It's more or less been part of the show for Chris to rip the piss about really rubbish records, as I can remember back in 1997 when he played LL Cool J's "Phenomenon" by saying that it sounded like "a record that wasn't finished".
I can't remember the tune that it was based on, although the chorus half inched one of the lines from Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines".
It always seems to be the really rubbish records that Chris gives a slating to, and it's more than evident when he does Chegger's Pop Quiz when there's a question such as "Do you like Snow Patrol?" to which the correct answer is "No".
I think the only time the answer was "Yes" was when the question was about Röyksopp.
Overall, rather the moan about ther rubbish that's ever present, it's better to laugh at it.
Not a lot's planned today apart from buying some more bread, fizzy stuff and the new Radio Times as "it's out today".
My second focus group takes place later tonight although I'm rather nervous it could include more female than male participants due to Olly being lazy about the whole thing. All of his mates that I know are either on holiday or busy with other things.
Whatever happens, my moderator won't known if I'm bullshitting anyway in the transcript.
Right now Chris Moyles is switched on as normal, and fellow student Steven happened to be working with Sima Kotecha at Newsbeat yesterday, the woman now known for her attempts at getting the attention of
Whoopi Goldberg at the Oscars.
She was also rather pleased that I talked about it on the site and provided the audio of the moment itself, but despite it happening on Greg James's show, Chris seems to more associated with it.
Whoopi herself happens to be in the UK this week which is very rare as she has a fear of flying.
Chris always being one to make negative comments on the rubbish records has given a slating to a band who sound exactly like Nickelback but just as shite. Them being Theory Of A Dead Man (which you'd wish you were after hearing Nickelback) and "Hate My Life" which is an example of a song that pretty much ticks the wrong boxes.
It's more or less been part of the show for Chris to rip the piss about really rubbish records, as I can remember back in 1997 when he played LL Cool J's "Phenomenon" by saying that it sounded like "a record that wasn't finished".
I can't remember the tune that it was based on, although the chorus half inched one of the lines from Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines".
It always seems to be the really rubbish records that Chris gives a slating to, and it's more than evident when he does Chegger's Pop Quiz when there's a question such as "Do you like Snow Patrol?" to which the correct answer is "No".
I think the only time the answer was "Yes" was when the question was about Röyksopp.
Overall, rather the moan about ther rubbish that's ever present, it's better to laugh at it.
A Bank Holiday Weekend Of Mediocrity
I must be one of the only people at University, or at my age overall who isn't bothered by the Reading/Leeds line-up announcement made yesterday.
I know it's early days yet but if I was to actually attend a festival with anyone from University, I would end up feeling left out, and would possibly verge on a mental breakdown lashing out that I wouldn't want to pretend to enjoy acts who I'd otherwise think are mediocre.
Yes there are high profile acts such as Radiohead and The Kaiser Chiefs but just because I have their albums on my hard drive, doesn't mean they're any good.
There are even sub standard EWF, or George Benson LPs as well, but I keep them on there because they're good warm-ups before listening to an album that's superb afterwards.
But no, it's really not for me and it would be a waste of money.
I've never been a festival person to be honest. Especially when all my favourite bands such as George Benson, Shakatak and Incognito perform at ones either in Europe or even further because there's barely a festival of that sort in the UK that I know of because when it comes to that sort of music, the majority of people here are just miserable gits.
Having said that there are events that aren't festivals as such, more as Soul Weekenders, such as the ones at Caister in Norfolk, and Southport where the likes of Tortured Soul and the Sunburst Band make appearances.
I'd really love to go to one of them because the sort of people there are really lovely and welcoming who just enjoy being themselves, rather than the pressured and crowded atmosphere of big alternative lead music festivals.
I just get the idea that a lot of others like to be either dull or colourless around me.
Anyway, I've noticed that according to one of their presenters on Twitter, Absolute Radio have become thieving magpies and have been doing a feature where they play an album in it's entireity. This week it was "Nevermind" by Nirvana which was one of those that Zane Lowe played his occasional strand on Radio 1 last year.
I know it's impossible to come up with new ideas in radio, but people nowadays are just being lazy by copying ideas full on, rather than taking bits and pieces out of them and giving their own twist.
I'm certain my "Positive Pairing" item on the Soul Show has been done several times on other stations but I've never heard that name used before, possibly on the basis that it's really stupid.
But it's not as bad as the many stations who use the "Golden Hour" tag for their guess the year features, and even when Chris Moyles does it on Fridays, you know he's being a bit tounge in cheek.
When Ricky and all that lot were running Smoke Radio in my second year, Ricky especially just wanted it to be a clone of Radio 1 despite me warning him that it wasn't what we were about.
When he started doing the chart rundown he originally wanted it to go out between 4 and 7 on a Sunday albeit pre-recorded, before taking the sensible option of doing the whole thing live on a Saturday lunchtime which worked better.
If there's any format in terms of music programming that I've wanted us to be similar to, it has to be the "Hotter And Fresher" format as used by Essex FM and Mercury FM in the late 90s, which had a good mix of old and new, but with a slightly higher emphasis on the latest tunes which at times could be 6 weeks before release date, and a very wide selection of oldies ensuring no repetition.
The problem is, I've never been (or have been fit to be) the head of music for Smoke Radio and those who have appeared to have other ideas.
Sam Gregory, one of the station's founders used to get a bit of stick for saying "Be Yourself, And True To Your Style" when it all began 5 years ago, but they're very approriate words.
Although I can't really say that myself when I resort to playing idents that say
"If It Moves, Funk It"
I really am turning into a grumpy old bastard and turning 24 will probably emphasise that even more.
But when you're tired at this time of night is really hard to feel positive about things.
Anyway, I managed to watch the first episode of The Wire without falling asleep although it is rather difficult to get your head round. However slowly but surely it gave a good introduction to the Baltimore Police force, and the rather violent goings on of the drug dealers who live in the area.
I then watched the Jade Goody episode of Piers Morgan's "You Can't Fire Me I'm Famous" in what must be her only television appearance since the Celebrity Big Brother row.
I never saw any of it on television as a result of barely switching it on back then, but the news was impossible to avoid and I thought she got what she desereved at the time with her perfume products recalled from shelves and newspapers and magazines abandoning her.
I'd have loved to have seen the show where she was evicted to an empty Big Brother house and confronted Davina who took her to the studio. She was briefed during the break that they would be showing two video tape packages one of which were her comments towads Shilpa Shetty.
Jade mentioned in the interview with Piers that she thought one of the others would be of her general behaviour in the house but oh no. It was actually a montage of the various TV news programmes reporting on what had happened and the impact of what it resulted in to the extent of Indian's burning effigies of Jade in protest.
This more or less confirmed that as a celebrity she was finished.
When watching the documentary I put everything that happened after it was transmitted to one side, but to be honest I never really thought much of her at all even before what had happened in January 2007.
It will be interesting to see how Charlie Brooker deals with the news coverage of her dying days on this week's Newswipe.
For now though, a rather late Good Night.
I know it's early days yet but if I was to actually attend a festival with anyone from University, I would end up feeling left out, and would possibly verge on a mental breakdown lashing out that I wouldn't want to pretend to enjoy acts who I'd otherwise think are mediocre.
Yes there are high profile acts such as Radiohead and The Kaiser Chiefs but just because I have their albums on my hard drive, doesn't mean they're any good.
There are even sub standard EWF, or George Benson LPs as well, but I keep them on there because they're good warm-ups before listening to an album that's superb afterwards.
But no, it's really not for me and it would be a waste of money.
I've never been a festival person to be honest. Especially when all my favourite bands such as George Benson, Shakatak and Incognito perform at ones either in Europe or even further because there's barely a festival of that sort in the UK that I know of because when it comes to that sort of music, the majority of people here are just miserable gits.
Having said that there are events that aren't festivals as such, more as Soul Weekenders, such as the ones at Caister in Norfolk, and Southport where the likes of Tortured Soul and the Sunburst Band make appearances.
I'd really love to go to one of them because the sort of people there are really lovely and welcoming who just enjoy being themselves, rather than the pressured and crowded atmosphere of big alternative lead music festivals.
I just get the idea that a lot of others like to be either dull or colourless around me.
Anyway, I've noticed that according to one of their presenters on Twitter, Absolute Radio have become thieving magpies and have been doing a feature where they play an album in it's entireity. This week it was "Nevermind" by Nirvana which was one of those that Zane Lowe played his occasional strand on Radio 1 last year.
I know it's impossible to come up with new ideas in radio, but people nowadays are just being lazy by copying ideas full on, rather than taking bits and pieces out of them and giving their own twist.
I'm certain my "Positive Pairing" item on the Soul Show has been done several times on other stations but I've never heard that name used before, possibly on the basis that it's really stupid.
But it's not as bad as the many stations who use the "Golden Hour" tag for their guess the year features, and even when Chris Moyles does it on Fridays, you know he's being a bit tounge in cheek.
When Ricky and all that lot were running Smoke Radio in my second year, Ricky especially just wanted it to be a clone of Radio 1 despite me warning him that it wasn't what we were about.
When he started doing the chart rundown he originally wanted it to go out between 4 and 7 on a Sunday albeit pre-recorded, before taking the sensible option of doing the whole thing live on a Saturday lunchtime which worked better.
If there's any format in terms of music programming that I've wanted us to be similar to, it has to be the "Hotter And Fresher" format as used by Essex FM and Mercury FM in the late 90s, which had a good mix of old and new, but with a slightly higher emphasis on the latest tunes which at times could be 6 weeks before release date, and a very wide selection of oldies ensuring no repetition.
The problem is, I've never been (or have been fit to be) the head of music for Smoke Radio and those who have appeared to have other ideas.
Sam Gregory, one of the station's founders used to get a bit of stick for saying "Be Yourself, And True To Your Style" when it all began 5 years ago, but they're very approriate words.
Although I can't really say that myself when I resort to playing idents that say
"If It Moves, Funk It"
I really am turning into a grumpy old bastard and turning 24 will probably emphasise that even more.
But when you're tired at this time of night is really hard to feel positive about things.
Anyway, I managed to watch the first episode of The Wire without falling asleep although it is rather difficult to get your head round. However slowly but surely it gave a good introduction to the Baltimore Police force, and the rather violent goings on of the drug dealers who live in the area.
I then watched the Jade Goody episode of Piers Morgan's "You Can't Fire Me I'm Famous" in what must be her only television appearance since the Celebrity Big Brother row.
I never saw any of it on television as a result of barely switching it on back then, but the news was impossible to avoid and I thought she got what she desereved at the time with her perfume products recalled from shelves and newspapers and magazines abandoning her.
I'd have loved to have seen the show where she was evicted to an empty Big Brother house and confronted Davina who took her to the studio. She was briefed during the break that they would be showing two video tape packages one of which were her comments towads Shilpa Shetty.
Jade mentioned in the interview with Piers that she thought one of the others would be of her general behaviour in the house but oh no. It was actually a montage of the various TV news programmes reporting on what had happened and the impact of what it resulted in to the extent of Indian's burning effigies of Jade in protest.
This more or less confirmed that as a celebrity she was finished.
When watching the documentary I put everything that happened after it was transmitted to one side, but to be honest I never really thought much of her at all even before what had happened in January 2007.
It will be interesting to see how Charlie Brooker deals with the news coverage of her dying days on this week's Newswipe.
For now though, a rather late Good Night.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Physical Fundraising
I'm now well into the Summer of 2004 and I stumbled across a VHS which had various bits of the 2004 Sport Relief appeal as shown on BBC 1 on Saturday the 10th of July that year.
It happened to be the dreaded weekend I returned to cleaning the tables in the poorly refurbished cesspit, sorry customer restaurant at ASDA and changes were certainly not for the better.
We ended up moving the clearing down area to nearer the door where the sink was behind as opposed to someone's orginal bright idea of having it right in the middle, behind a table for christ's sake.
Not good at all.
Also on the same night Channel 4 showed their documentary "Who Killed Saturday Night TV" which I've watched at least once a year from then onwards and was a rather dark programme inspired by the excellent articles from "Off The Telly" on the subject, but the programme itself didn't quite match it, in terms of how it could have been.
It should have really been a three part series as opposed to a 2 hour one off programme but it was still a good watch.
Anyway, Sport Relief and the first half of the nights proceedings was with Gary Lineker and Gaby Logan who had hot footed it from ITV specially for the night.
Although she would later join the BBC permanently due to ITV not letting her take part in Strictly Come Dancing which inevitably happened along with her partner Kenny in 2007, where Gaby was controversially booted out early in the series in favour of Kate Garraway.
On that subject the 3 of the couples from the first series including winner Natasha Kaplinsky made an appearance performing a special routine set to a medley of sports themes such as Ski Sunday, Superstars, Wimbledon, and Grandstand.
This was followed by an appearance from Bruce to present the check of all the money raised from the phone votes in aid of Sports Relief but not before doing a joke about Jonathan Ross completing the Sport Relief mile by shouting "I've Won! I've Won!" although what he actually said was "I've Run!"
The official single that year was Rachel Stevens and one of her better hits "Some Girls" and there were other performances from Lionel Richie, and Badly Drawn Boy who many thought was past his best by 2004.
Dick And Dom presided over a stunt which involved Ray Stubbs being swung into a large bag of manure if they were to raise over a million pounds. I can remember writing on this very site that if anyone was up for that sort of treatment, it had to be Ron Atkinson.
Stephen Fry hosted "They Think It's All A Question Of Sport" which had been done in the 2002 show as well, although this time round the finale was a Gladiators obstacle course, the obstacles being the Gladiators themselves that is.
Stephen took on the role of John Anderson, but commentary as ever was provided by Big John Sachs.
The second half of the show was presented by Jamie Theakston and Tess Daly where items included a Rugby Vs Football contest refereed by Eammon Holmes, and the obligatory celebrity boxing match were Sid Owen was defeated by "Posh" Ben Fogle.
From 2008 onwards they moved Sport Relief to earlier on in the year in March and had the live show broadcast on the Friday night to complement Comic Relief in the same way, swapping each year.
I didn't actually see it however due to all the chaos, which towards the end ended up as boredom, of the Smoke Radio Marathon.
Anyway, another of the events introduced in 2004 was the Sport Relief Mile and they had quite a lot of runners making an apperance in the studio, one of them being a blink and you'll miss it appearance from Richard Herring on possibly his first sighting on the BBC in five years.
This leads onto tonight's third edition of Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle which this week looked at political correctness "gone mad".
Some of it was actually very relevant in terms of the new SU president as his idea of banning alcohol from the SU bars so as not to offend muslims defines the subject perfectly.
I'll say it again in case he happens to be reading, if you don't like alcohol, rather than make pointless measures to ban it, it would save a lot of time if you just made the decision not to go to the fucking bar!
Back to Stewart Lee and I rather like the jolly nature of the opening titles in contrast to the rather dark nature of the show. The music in the titles themselves being a version of "Tom Hark" which was later made famous by the Pirahnas and is still very popular on the football terraces.
I'm about to head downstairs to watch the Wire on BBC 2 although whether Dad will still be awake, I have no idea.
It happened to be the dreaded weekend I returned to cleaning the tables in the poorly refurbished cesspit, sorry customer restaurant at ASDA and changes were certainly not for the better.
We ended up moving the clearing down area to nearer the door where the sink was behind as opposed to someone's orginal bright idea of having it right in the middle, behind a table for christ's sake.
Not good at all.
Also on the same night Channel 4 showed their documentary "Who Killed Saturday Night TV" which I've watched at least once a year from then onwards and was a rather dark programme inspired by the excellent articles from "Off The Telly" on the subject, but the programme itself didn't quite match it, in terms of how it could have been.
It should have really been a three part series as opposed to a 2 hour one off programme but it was still a good watch.
Anyway, Sport Relief and the first half of the nights proceedings was with Gary Lineker and Gaby Logan who had hot footed it from ITV specially for the night.
Although she would later join the BBC permanently due to ITV not letting her take part in Strictly Come Dancing which inevitably happened along with her partner Kenny in 2007, where Gaby was controversially booted out early in the series in favour of Kate Garraway.
On that subject the 3 of the couples from the first series including winner Natasha Kaplinsky made an appearance performing a special routine set to a medley of sports themes such as Ski Sunday, Superstars, Wimbledon, and Grandstand.
This was followed by an appearance from Bruce to present the check of all the money raised from the phone votes in aid of Sports Relief but not before doing a joke about Jonathan Ross completing the Sport Relief mile by shouting "I've Won! I've Won!" although what he actually said was "I've Run!"
The official single that year was Rachel Stevens and one of her better hits "Some Girls" and there were other performances from Lionel Richie, and Badly Drawn Boy who many thought was past his best by 2004.
Dick And Dom presided over a stunt which involved Ray Stubbs being swung into a large bag of manure if they were to raise over a million pounds. I can remember writing on this very site that if anyone was up for that sort of treatment, it had to be Ron Atkinson.
Stephen Fry hosted "They Think It's All A Question Of Sport" which had been done in the 2002 show as well, although this time round the finale was a Gladiators obstacle course, the obstacles being the Gladiators themselves that is.
Stephen took on the role of John Anderson, but commentary as ever was provided by Big John Sachs.
The second half of the show was presented by Jamie Theakston and Tess Daly where items included a Rugby Vs Football contest refereed by Eammon Holmes, and the obligatory celebrity boxing match were Sid Owen was defeated by "Posh" Ben Fogle.
From 2008 onwards they moved Sport Relief to earlier on in the year in March and had the live show broadcast on the Friday night to complement Comic Relief in the same way, swapping each year.
I didn't actually see it however due to all the chaos, which towards the end ended up as boredom, of the Smoke Radio Marathon.
Anyway, another of the events introduced in 2004 was the Sport Relief Mile and they had quite a lot of runners making an apperance in the studio, one of them being a blink and you'll miss it appearance from Richard Herring on possibly his first sighting on the BBC in five years.
This leads onto tonight's third edition of Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle which this week looked at political correctness "gone mad".
Some of it was actually very relevant in terms of the new SU president as his idea of banning alcohol from the SU bars so as not to offend muslims defines the subject perfectly.
I'll say it again in case he happens to be reading, if you don't like alcohol, rather than make pointless measures to ban it, it would save a lot of time if you just made the decision not to go to the fucking bar!
Back to Stewart Lee and I rather like the jolly nature of the opening titles in contrast to the rather dark nature of the show. The music in the titles themselves being a version of "Tom Hark" which was later made famous by the Pirahnas and is still very popular on the football terraces.
I'm about to head downstairs to watch the Wire on BBC 2 although whether Dad will still be awake, I have no idea.
"Ruud Gullit - Nowhere!"
More laughs have been in store so far tonight, first of all starting off with a compilation I found of some of the funniest hidden camera stunts as hosted by Phillip Schofield. A man who has been a victim of many in his TV career.
The programme contained examples from past and present and around the world, with one of the more recent from MTV's "Punk'd" where Chris Chilvers' stunt double Ashton Kutcher played elaborate pranks on Hollywood celebrities, in this case Justin Timberlake.
The former N'Sync star found a load of repo men at his house who were removing his items and he was so distraught, he ended up phoning his mother on his mobile.
Also included were two of Noel Edmonds Gotchas, them being Dave Lee Travis, and Dale Winton. Both of them were interviewed and Dave came across pretty well, although Noel mentioned that he felt rather guilty about invading his much treasured Darts On The Radio competition and revealed that Dave never spoke to him for at least two years.
The programme took the risk to show the original Gotcha award intact even letting a mention of the term "Gotcha Oscar" slip out which got Noel into trouble with the American film Academy.
Miserable so and sos.
There were also a couple of moments involving Jeremy Beadle, the first involving a stunt on Game For A Laugh where a couple were on a car ferry and their car suddenly disappeared on their return although it was actually hidden inside a lorry.
The couple were interviewed on the show and they still had their trophy as presented to them 23 years ago which when viewed close up had the old LWT logo on the bottom corner.
The other stunt came from 8 years later in 1989 where market trader Dave Hughes had his lorry knocked into the River Thames resuting in several high pitched screams, possibly higher than Minnie Ripperton.
The reaction to when he removes Beadle's divers helmet is brilliant and is relieved to find it was all a joke.
Following on from the pranks was a showing of the 1989 Only Fools And Horses Christmas Special "The Jolly Boys Outing".
I can remember watching this when I was just four years old and the scene that sticks in mind from back then is that really nice montage of them messing about in Margate, accompanied by Nillson's "Everybody's Talkin'".
It's also used in the end credits with the slightly livelier "Margate" by Chas And Dave who were once approached by John Sullivan to perform the programme's theme tune.
I always thought the episodes of OFAH from 1989 onwards were the better ones as they developed perfectly and had some of the funniest moments such as the unexploded dolls, the singer with the lisp, and Raquel having the baby.
The Christmas Special was the first one after Rodney and Cassandra got married at the end of the winter 1989 series which contains that brilliant scene at the end where Del's left alone in the reception room with Simply Red's "Holding Back The Years" playing. You really start to feel sorry for the character at that point.
The episode also included Will Downing and Mica Paris's cover of the Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway tune "Where Is The Love" which had only just been released before the episode was transmitted which proved that John Sullivan was pretty much on the ball when it came to choosing current pop songs for the episodes.
On of the 1996 Christmas specials including The Spice Girls "2 Become 1" being another example.
Anyway Rodney's left Del to join Cassandra's dad at the printing company which results in Albert being hired as Del's "look-out". The job involving him watching for the police to come, or in Del's case "the marching bands of the Metropolitan Police Force playing 'I Shot The Sheriff".
Then again if they had Light Of The World with them it wouldn't be too bad at all.
I'm surprised with the amount of mild swearwords they got away with, considering the episode was originally shown at a 4pm afternoon timeslot in 1989 such as when Rodney accidentally deletes the spreadsheets on his computer.
In that same scene the radio can be heard in the background and in a lucky moment of silence there's an appearance of one of the GLR jingles by Airforce.
They're still remembered today as in our lecture about station branding two years ago, Matthew mentioned he was doing a focus group for BBC London with some teenagers who had never listened to the station but could recall the older GLR jingles and melody logo.
The scenes on the coach are brilliant where Denzil reveals to Del that he's taking anti-biotics because he has an ear infection. This being the late 80s results in several jokes about how he got the infection or "disease" as Del refers to it.
There's a great joke when they're giving out the drinks and when the crate is passed onto Denzil he finds there's a bell instead of a drink.
I'm glad they did that though because they could have used something a lot worse.
Trigger as always has some of the best lines in the episode such as these examples;
Mickey Pearce: "You can't see Del Boy standing in a kitchen cutting all those loaves! Probably got some idiot to do it for him"
Trigger: "No, I made them for him"
When him and Mike the barman help the drunk driver back onto the coach;
Trigger: "What do you think's wrong with him?"
Mike: "What do I think? Well, snow-blindness would be my bet"
Trigger: "Yeah? I thought he was pissed"
And that great one liner when the radio catches fire;
"Ain't this coach fitted with a fire distinguisher?"
One of my favourite moments is this really nice scene with Del and Rodders away from all the chaos on a jetty in Margate, where Del talks when him and a mate set up a seafood stall called "Eels On Wheels" but things didn't go quite to plan;
Del: "You know what killed off Eels On Wheels don't you. It was television"
Rodney: "What, The Cook Report?"
Del: "No, no, when television started humanising fish"
Rodney: "What?"
Del: "When they started to make fish human! First of all there was that shark thing Flipper! There was Squiddly Diddly the octopus who used to play the drums, there was Michael Fish!"
Rodney: "And that put you out of business?!"
Del: "Yes! Mothers complained that their children refused to eat our home made fish fingers in case they were related to the Man From Atlantis!"
"And that report from the Council Heath Inspector didn't help either"
"Could have made it bruv. Could have made it"
Rodney: "You will Del, you will"
Del: "Never stop believing eh?"
Rodney: "Come on Andy. Time to go home!"
And then Del starts walking like a marionette puppet.
At least they didn't sing the song though.
As those who will have seen the episode will know the radio blows up, shortly followed by the coach meaning that they all have to stay the night in Margate and Uncle Albert ends up being injured by a brick smashing through the hotel window.
Del also meets Raquel for the first time since the 1988 Xmas Special who's now working in a nightclub with a rather obnoxious assistant called Ramondo as played by Robin Driscoll who co-created Mr Bean.
There's a brilliant line where they break into Cassandra's apartment and beat up Ramondo only to find that he's gay, and when Del says that she doesn't have anything to fear, Rodney starts whistling "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly".
It's quite literally line after line of hilarity in this episode and knowing some of the exterior locations seen in the episode makes it even more fun.
I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to visit Margate whilst I'm here at this time, but places such as Southend and possibly Brighton beckon before I finish University.
Especially during sunset.
As for the rest of tonight, I plan to watch the third episode of Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, and a documentary I recently discovered which isn't really good timing but whatever, Jade Goody being the subject of Piers Morgan's "You Can't Fire Me I'm Famous" from 2007.
I wonder if Piers was ever subject of the series himself, as I bet his ego resulted in him saying those exact words when he was sacked as editor of the Mirror five years ago.
Apparently Charlie Brooker will be touching on how the TV news have handled Jade's passing on this week's Newswipe according to his Twitter, which will definitely be worth the watch and possibly say what some of us have really been thinking.
The programme contained examples from past and present and around the world, with one of the more recent from MTV's "Punk'd" where Chris Chilvers' stunt double Ashton Kutcher played elaborate pranks on Hollywood celebrities, in this case Justin Timberlake.
The former N'Sync star found a load of repo men at his house who were removing his items and he was so distraught, he ended up phoning his mother on his mobile.
Also included were two of Noel Edmonds Gotchas, them being Dave Lee Travis, and Dale Winton. Both of them were interviewed and Dave came across pretty well, although Noel mentioned that he felt rather guilty about invading his much treasured Darts On The Radio competition and revealed that Dave never spoke to him for at least two years.
The programme took the risk to show the original Gotcha award intact even letting a mention of the term "Gotcha Oscar" slip out which got Noel into trouble with the American film Academy.
Miserable so and sos.
There were also a couple of moments involving Jeremy Beadle, the first involving a stunt on Game For A Laugh where a couple were on a car ferry and their car suddenly disappeared on their return although it was actually hidden inside a lorry.
The couple were interviewed on the show and they still had their trophy as presented to them 23 years ago which when viewed close up had the old LWT logo on the bottom corner.
The other stunt came from 8 years later in 1989 where market trader Dave Hughes had his lorry knocked into the River Thames resuting in several high pitched screams, possibly higher than Minnie Ripperton.
The reaction to when he removes Beadle's divers helmet is brilliant and is relieved to find it was all a joke.
Following on from the pranks was a showing of the 1989 Only Fools And Horses Christmas Special "The Jolly Boys Outing".
I can remember watching this when I was just four years old and the scene that sticks in mind from back then is that really nice montage of them messing about in Margate, accompanied by Nillson's "Everybody's Talkin'".
It's also used in the end credits with the slightly livelier "Margate" by Chas And Dave who were once approached by John Sullivan to perform the programme's theme tune.
I always thought the episodes of OFAH from 1989 onwards were the better ones as they developed perfectly and had some of the funniest moments such as the unexploded dolls, the singer with the lisp, and Raquel having the baby.
The Christmas Special was the first one after Rodney and Cassandra got married at the end of the winter 1989 series which contains that brilliant scene at the end where Del's left alone in the reception room with Simply Red's "Holding Back The Years" playing. You really start to feel sorry for the character at that point.
The episode also included Will Downing and Mica Paris's cover of the Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway tune "Where Is The Love" which had only just been released before the episode was transmitted which proved that John Sullivan was pretty much on the ball when it came to choosing current pop songs for the episodes.
On of the 1996 Christmas specials including The Spice Girls "2 Become 1" being another example.
Anyway Rodney's left Del to join Cassandra's dad at the printing company which results in Albert being hired as Del's "look-out". The job involving him watching for the police to come, or in Del's case "the marching bands of the Metropolitan Police Force playing 'I Shot The Sheriff".
Then again if they had Light Of The World with them it wouldn't be too bad at all.
I'm surprised with the amount of mild swearwords they got away with, considering the episode was originally shown at a 4pm afternoon timeslot in 1989 such as when Rodney accidentally deletes the spreadsheets on his computer.
In that same scene the radio can be heard in the background and in a lucky moment of silence there's an appearance of one of the GLR jingles by Airforce.
They're still remembered today as in our lecture about station branding two years ago, Matthew mentioned he was doing a focus group for BBC London with some teenagers who had never listened to the station but could recall the older GLR jingles and melody logo.
The scenes on the coach are brilliant where Denzil reveals to Del that he's taking anti-biotics because he has an ear infection. This being the late 80s results in several jokes about how he got the infection or "disease" as Del refers to it.
There's a great joke when they're giving out the drinks and when the crate is passed onto Denzil he finds there's a bell instead of a drink.
I'm glad they did that though because they could have used something a lot worse.
Trigger as always has some of the best lines in the episode such as these examples;
Mickey Pearce: "You can't see Del Boy standing in a kitchen cutting all those loaves! Probably got some idiot to do it for him"
Trigger: "No, I made them for him"
When him and Mike the barman help the drunk driver back onto the coach;
Trigger: "What do you think's wrong with him?"
Mike: "What do I think? Well, snow-blindness would be my bet"
Trigger: "Yeah? I thought he was pissed"
And that great one liner when the radio catches fire;
"Ain't this coach fitted with a fire distinguisher?"
One of my favourite moments is this really nice scene with Del and Rodders away from all the chaos on a jetty in Margate, where Del talks when him and a mate set up a seafood stall called "Eels On Wheels" but things didn't go quite to plan;
Del: "You know what killed off Eels On Wheels don't you. It was television"
Rodney: "What, The Cook Report?"
Del: "No, no, when television started humanising fish"
Rodney: "What?"
Del: "When they started to make fish human! First of all there was that shark thing Flipper! There was Squiddly Diddly the octopus who used to play the drums, there was Michael Fish!"
Rodney: "And that put you out of business?!"
Del: "Yes! Mothers complained that their children refused to eat our home made fish fingers in case they were related to the Man From Atlantis!"
"And that report from the Council Heath Inspector didn't help either"
"Could have made it bruv. Could have made it"
Rodney: "You will Del, you will"
Del: "Never stop believing eh?"
Rodney: "Come on Andy. Time to go home!"
And then Del starts walking like a marionette puppet.
At least they didn't sing the song though.
As those who will have seen the episode will know the radio blows up, shortly followed by the coach meaning that they all have to stay the night in Margate and Uncle Albert ends up being injured by a brick smashing through the hotel window.
Del also meets Raquel for the first time since the 1988 Xmas Special who's now working in a nightclub with a rather obnoxious assistant called Ramondo as played by Robin Driscoll who co-created Mr Bean.
There's a brilliant line where they break into Cassandra's apartment and beat up Ramondo only to find that he's gay, and when Del says that she doesn't have anything to fear, Rodney starts whistling "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly".
It's quite literally line after line of hilarity in this episode and knowing some of the exterior locations seen in the episode makes it even more fun.
I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to visit Margate whilst I'm here at this time, but places such as Southend and possibly Brighton beckon before I finish University.
Especially during sunset.
As for the rest of tonight, I plan to watch the third episode of Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, and a documentary I recently discovered which isn't really good timing but whatever, Jade Goody being the subject of Piers Morgan's "You Can't Fire Me I'm Famous" from 2007.
I wonder if Piers was ever subject of the series himself, as I bet his ego resulted in him saying those exact words when he was sacked as editor of the Mirror five years ago.
Apparently Charlie Brooker will be touching on how the TV news have handled Jade's passing on this week's Newswipe according to his Twitter, which will definitely be worth the watch and possibly say what some of us have really been thinking.
"Here Comes Da Relaunch!"
At not a successful one at that, oh no. Courtesy of 97Channel the opening moments of the 2001 Relaunch of the Big Breakfast from Monday the 22nd of January that year.
I've spoken about it at length before but it really couldn't have come on a worse day. It was a Monday morning, it was bloody raining, and it was
George W Bush's first day in office.
Everything about the relaunch was wrong as they broke some of the golden rules that helped the Big Breakfast to be what it was. As you can see in the clip there was the addition of fancy studio lights, and they even started using steadycams with autocues which really didn't work.
Just that awful shot of Paul Tonkinson's smug face after the titles was enough to turn me off, although I gave it the first show before deciding to spend an extra hour in bed each morning.
The whole show was appalling to the point of newsreader Jasmine Lowson uttering a rather forced "I like your new house!" to the new hosts, reminiscent of Peter Smith on Rick and Sharon's arrival. It even got taken off by Channel 4 presentation before the credits had even finished.
I happened to be watching the show from that last Friday yesterday where Richard Bacon was guest hosting with Lisa Snowdon and the late Richard Whiteley.
The Countdown host said it was sad to see the end of the old format after the last four years but wished the new Big Breakfast team the best of luck.
5 months later he was on the show again where Richard Bacon was now presenting alongside Amanda and the show had started transforming back to it's old self (or attempting to do so) and he said it was great that it had gone back to how it was.
Just over a year later he made another appearance on what was the last ever show.
As I've mentioned before, switching on the television is the last thing I'd think of doing in the early mornings.
I've spoken about it at length before but it really couldn't have come on a worse day. It was a Monday morning, it was bloody raining, and it was
George W Bush's first day in office.
Everything about the relaunch was wrong as they broke some of the golden rules that helped the Big Breakfast to be what it was. As you can see in the clip there was the addition of fancy studio lights, and they even started using steadycams with autocues which really didn't work.
Just that awful shot of Paul Tonkinson's smug face after the titles was enough to turn me off, although I gave it the first show before deciding to spend an extra hour in bed each morning.
The whole show was appalling to the point of newsreader Jasmine Lowson uttering a rather forced "I like your new house!" to the new hosts, reminiscent of Peter Smith on Rick and Sharon's arrival. It even got taken off by Channel 4 presentation before the credits had even finished.
I happened to be watching the show from that last Friday yesterday where Richard Bacon was guest hosting with Lisa Snowdon and the late Richard Whiteley.
The Countdown host said it was sad to see the end of the old format after the last four years but wished the new Big Breakfast team the best of luck.
5 months later he was on the show again where Richard Bacon was now presenting alongside Amanda and the show had started transforming back to it's old self (or attempting to do so) and he said it was great that it had gone back to how it was.
Just over a year later he made another appearance on what was the last ever show.
As I've mentioned before, switching on the television is the last thing I'd think of doing in the early mornings.
"Trick Me Once"
Further trawling, still in June 2004 and starting off with a compilation programme looking back at some of the highlights from over 20 years of Tarrant On TV.
Of course, it wasn't just Chris Tarrant who hosted the show as there was also Clive James on TV and Floyd on TV where both Clive, and Keith Floyd had turns at looking at some of the world's weirdest television.
One of the clips shown on the programme was from Sweden's Robert Aschberg Show which involved a version of Blind Date which was more or less the same as over here, with the only difference being that the contestants were naked.
On a similar note was an Australian spoof advert from "The Denton Catalogue" advertising swimsuits designed as his and hers naked bodies. Tarrant then commented that they tried so hard not to use the phrases "down under" or "digereedoo".
Olly seems to clearly remember an ad from the same show, when we saw the programme many years ago which was for a necklace called "Wake Or Die" which had a sharp blade facing the top so if you fell asleep during a programme, you'd nod off onto the sharp implement.
There were also a couple of clips from Jerry Springer where he had to deal with some America's greatest bastards, them being individuals and even whole families who were very religious with extreme right principles.
The father of the family lashed out at the host because of his Jewish background and caused the audience to react in support of Jerry.
Tarrant's show also included a few more serious pieces of footage such as a genuine phone call to the police from a woman who was about to be shot by her husband.
The balance between the more light hearted and serious stuff was done really well as they normally played one of the more sensitive items before the break.
But one of the funniest bits was an ad from New Zealand for BASF, set on an army camp where one of the soldiers recieved a tape from his girfriend with a song she had done for him that was acutally a rejection tape.
Very well known around the world and one of the funniest ads that's been made.
Speaking of which it also reminds me of this Federal Express ad from the early 80s that made John Moschitta a household name in the US.
Tarrant's programme was definitely one of my favourites in the late 90s although one clip I quite liked was a German gameshow where teams of contestants were challenged to steal a real car and actually risked getting arrested.
Also on the same tape was that week's edition of Jonathan Ross which was the last one of the series before Euro 2004 where Jonathan showed encouragement for England, before pointing out that it was the British Broadcasting Corporation and not the English Broadcasting Corporation.
He acknowledged this by saying "To Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales,
Your teams are rubbish and you didn't qualify"
The star guest this week was Gordon Ramsay, fresh from Hell's Kitchen and what I believe was his only chat show apperance and possibly TV appearance in the weeks after the show had finished. Jonathan had a button which bleeped when he pressed it in case Gordon uttered any naughty words.
It's probably a shame Jonathan didn't have it on hand when ringing up Andrew Sachs four years later.
As well as Hell's Kitchen, they also talked about Kitchen Nightmares which Jonathan said he preferred out of the TV series Gordon had done at the time.
There was definitely more of that to come in addition to the US series and the recent "Great British Nightmare" which I'd say has to be one of my favourite television shows of the year so far.
Not only did it give an insight into some of the worst restaurant owners in the UK, but it also showed how they were coping as a result of the recession.
Other guests on Jonathan's show that week included Kelis who looked stunning.
There were plenty of jokes about her "Milkshake" as you'd expect but there was also a preview of her latest single "Trick Me" which will always remind me of being in a fellow college student's car being driven to The Bishop's Finger near the Westgate Tower for a few drinks after lectures.
I immediately thought that we hadn't heard from Kelis after that although she did do that rather nice duet with Cee-Lo called "Lil' Star" a couple of years ago.
Plenty more viewing's in store for the rest of the day, and here's hoping I can stay up in order to watch The Wire on BBC 2 without sleeping.
It may be worth investing in a "Wake Or Die" necklace.
Of course, it wasn't just Chris Tarrant who hosted the show as there was also Clive James on TV and Floyd on TV where both Clive, and Keith Floyd had turns at looking at some of the world's weirdest television.
One of the clips shown on the programme was from Sweden's Robert Aschberg Show which involved a version of Blind Date which was more or less the same as over here, with the only difference being that the contestants were naked.
On a similar note was an Australian spoof advert from "The Denton Catalogue" advertising swimsuits designed as his and hers naked bodies. Tarrant then commented that they tried so hard not to use the phrases "down under" or "digereedoo".
Olly seems to clearly remember an ad from the same show, when we saw the programme many years ago which was for a necklace called "Wake Or Die" which had a sharp blade facing the top so if you fell asleep during a programme, you'd nod off onto the sharp implement.
There were also a couple of clips from Jerry Springer where he had to deal with some America's greatest bastards, them being individuals and even whole families who were very religious with extreme right principles.
The father of the family lashed out at the host because of his Jewish background and caused the audience to react in support of Jerry.
Tarrant's show also included a few more serious pieces of footage such as a genuine phone call to the police from a woman who was about to be shot by her husband.
The balance between the more light hearted and serious stuff was done really well as they normally played one of the more sensitive items before the break.
But one of the funniest bits was an ad from New Zealand for BASF, set on an army camp where one of the soldiers recieved a tape from his girfriend with a song she had done for him that was acutally a rejection tape.
Very well known around the world and one of the funniest ads that's been made.
Speaking of which it also reminds me of this Federal Express ad from the early 80s that made John Moschitta a household name in the US.
Tarrant's programme was definitely one of my favourites in the late 90s although one clip I quite liked was a German gameshow where teams of contestants were challenged to steal a real car and actually risked getting arrested.
Also on the same tape was that week's edition of Jonathan Ross which was the last one of the series before Euro 2004 where Jonathan showed encouragement for England, before pointing out that it was the British Broadcasting Corporation and not the English Broadcasting Corporation.
He acknowledged this by saying "To Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales,
Your teams are rubbish and you didn't qualify"
The star guest this week was Gordon Ramsay, fresh from Hell's Kitchen and what I believe was his only chat show apperance and possibly TV appearance in the weeks after the show had finished. Jonathan had a button which bleeped when he pressed it in case Gordon uttered any naughty words.
It's probably a shame Jonathan didn't have it on hand when ringing up Andrew Sachs four years later.
As well as Hell's Kitchen, they also talked about Kitchen Nightmares which Jonathan said he preferred out of the TV series Gordon had done at the time.
There was definitely more of that to come in addition to the US series and the recent "Great British Nightmare" which I'd say has to be one of my favourite television shows of the year so far.
Not only did it give an insight into some of the worst restaurant owners in the UK, but it also showed how they were coping as a result of the recession.
Other guests on Jonathan's show that week included Kelis who looked stunning.
There were plenty of jokes about her "Milkshake" as you'd expect but there was also a preview of her latest single "Trick Me" which will always remind me of being in a fellow college student's car being driven to The Bishop's Finger near the Westgate Tower for a few drinks after lectures.
I immediately thought that we hadn't heard from Kelis after that although she did do that rather nice duet with Cee-Lo called "Lil' Star" a couple of years ago.
Plenty more viewing's in store for the rest of the day, and here's hoping I can stay up in order to watch The Wire on BBC 2 without sleeping.
It may be worth investing in a "Wake Or Die" necklace.
"Made By Children, For Children"
I managed to write my draft background chapter which is just over 900 words long which I think is pretty good although it will probably improve further once I add a few quotes in.
That makes the total word count of my dissertation just under 4000 words so getting the whole thing done within the next two weeks should go pretty smoothly.
After I finished writing, I decided out of the blue to have a gander at one of my favourite episodes of The Simpsons, "Girly Edition" from Series 9 back in 1998.
This involves Lisa and Bart presenting a news programme for younger viewers called "Kids News" where Bart is soon promoted from sports reporter to Lisa's co-anchor much to her jealousy.
In order to prove Lisa wrong, Bart gets advice from Kent Brockman to start producing human interest stories, under the name "Bart's People".
They become very successful tugging at the heart of viewers and Lisa starts trying to do her own with the Union Express train and the mentally ill cat owner being some of the funniest parts of the episode.
Lisa then gets her own back by on Bart by setting him up to report on Groundskeeper Willie who has been after him and ends up attacking him resulting in Lisa coming to rescue him.
They then put their differences aside and relaunch the show as the more "trendier" "Kidz News" only for it to be cancelled and replaced by "The Mattel And Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour".
I thought that was a brilliant send up as it not only took the mickey of how such programmes were just adverts for toys, but also how rubbish similar series such as Power Rangers were from my perspective.
According to Wikipedia it happens to be one of Yeardley Smith's favourite episodes although I remember reading in another magazine that her overall favourite was "Lisa's Substitute" from series 2 in 1991 where she develops a crush on substitute teacher Mr Bergstrom who was voiced by Dustin Hoffman.
A very well made episode as it shows how Homer learns an important lesson in being an utter fool in front of someone and has to deal with all the problems with the rest of the family at the end.
It's understandable that Yeardley's favourite episodes involve Lisa as she's rarely voiced any other characters, apart from the young girl who Homer discovers when he becomes a missionary for PBS.
I may actually have another gander at the "Substitute" episode as I haven't seen it in years and was one of the first to be shown on the BBC back in 1996.
That makes the total word count of my dissertation just under 4000 words so getting the whole thing done within the next two weeks should go pretty smoothly.
After I finished writing, I decided out of the blue to have a gander at one of my favourite episodes of The Simpsons, "Girly Edition" from Series 9 back in 1998.
This involves Lisa and Bart presenting a news programme for younger viewers called "Kids News" where Bart is soon promoted from sports reporter to Lisa's co-anchor much to her jealousy.
In order to prove Lisa wrong, Bart gets advice from Kent Brockman to start producing human interest stories, under the name "Bart's People".
They become very successful tugging at the heart of viewers and Lisa starts trying to do her own with the Union Express train and the mentally ill cat owner being some of the funniest parts of the episode.
Lisa then gets her own back by on Bart by setting him up to report on Groundskeeper Willie who has been after him and ends up attacking him resulting in Lisa coming to rescue him.
They then put their differences aside and relaunch the show as the more "trendier" "Kidz News" only for it to be cancelled and replaced by "The Mattel And Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour".
I thought that was a brilliant send up as it not only took the mickey of how such programmes were just adverts for toys, but also how rubbish similar series such as Power Rangers were from my perspective.
According to Wikipedia it happens to be one of Yeardley Smith's favourite episodes although I remember reading in another magazine that her overall favourite was "Lisa's Substitute" from series 2 in 1991 where she develops a crush on substitute teacher Mr Bergstrom who was voiced by Dustin Hoffman.
A very well made episode as it shows how Homer learns an important lesson in being an utter fool in front of someone and has to deal with all the problems with the rest of the family at the end.
It's understandable that Yeardley's favourite episodes involve Lisa as she's rarely voiced any other characters, apart from the young girl who Homer discovers when he becomes a missionary for PBS.
I may actually have another gander at the "Substitute" episode as I haven't seen it in years and was one of the first to be shown on the BBC back in 1996.
"I Just Wanna Bounce On Those Balls"
It looks as if a celebrity edition of Total Wipeout won't be impossible at all
if today's Chris Moyles Show is anything to go by.
Sports presenter Carrie Davis said that she love to go on the programme with the reason being "I just wanna bounce on those balls" which ended up being played quite a lot throughout the show.
Jo Whiley at the end of the show said that she would want to appear on the show as well although along with many, rather than falling off the giant balls I'd want her to bump into the pole below.
The highlight of today's show had to be a part where continuing with Matt Fincham's obsession with brass band covers following Royksopp, they managed to find possibly the worst. A dreadfully out of tune arrangement of the theme to "2001 A Space Odyssey".
Whilst those in the studio thought it was side splitting, I thought that the rather grainy and distorted audio quality and out of tune instruments made the whole thing rather sinister, and the sort of thing that could result to severe problems in the long term, if you know where I'm coming from.
Chris suggested that they come on to that song at the beginning of One Big Weekend in a couple of months which would possibly work rather well.
One of the presenters on Smoke who I won't mention, once suggested playing it at the beginning of their show after a long absence but that would be the equivalent of expecting a delicious spag bol and ending up with a pot noodle.
The best version of "Sprach Zarathustra" has to be the one by the James Taylor Quartet as it's done in a different key, is more uptempo, and sounds more like the theme to a 1960s detective series, as I guess that's what they were aiming for.
It's taken from their "Absolute JTQ Live" album which wasn't actually recorded with a live audience, but performed live with the cheering added later.
I'm hoping the radio rooms will be open when I get back as there are so many funny bits from the show that I want to grab off the iPlayer while I can.
Although it should be pointed out that it's more or less as sinful as home-taping the Top 40 was in the 80s but so many people did it anyway.
if today's Chris Moyles Show is anything to go by.
Sports presenter Carrie Davis said that she love to go on the programme with the reason being "I just wanna bounce on those balls" which ended up being played quite a lot throughout the show.
Jo Whiley at the end of the show said that she would want to appear on the show as well although along with many, rather than falling off the giant balls I'd want her to bump into the pole below.
The highlight of today's show had to be a part where continuing with Matt Fincham's obsession with brass band covers following Royksopp, they managed to find possibly the worst. A dreadfully out of tune arrangement of the theme to "2001 A Space Odyssey".
Whilst those in the studio thought it was side splitting, I thought that the rather grainy and distorted audio quality and out of tune instruments made the whole thing rather sinister, and the sort of thing that could result to severe problems in the long term, if you know where I'm coming from.
Chris suggested that they come on to that song at the beginning of One Big Weekend in a couple of months which would possibly work rather well.
One of the presenters on Smoke who I won't mention, once suggested playing it at the beginning of their show after a long absence but that would be the equivalent of expecting a delicious spag bol and ending up with a pot noodle.
The best version of "Sprach Zarathustra" has to be the one by the James Taylor Quartet as it's done in a different key, is more uptempo, and sounds more like the theme to a 1960s detective series, as I guess that's what they were aiming for.
It's taken from their "Absolute JTQ Live" album which wasn't actually recorded with a live audience, but performed live with the cheering added later.
I'm hoping the radio rooms will be open when I get back as there are so many funny bits from the show that I want to grab off the iPlayer while I can.
Although it should be pointed out that it's more or less as sinful as home-taping the Top 40 was in the 80s but so many people did it anyway.
Getting And And Going: Back To Bed
Morning.
Last night was well spent with the Dara O'Briain episode of Apollo which probably is the funniest one ever in terms of all the comedians performing.
Stephen K Amos was superb with several jokes about black stereotypes although my favourite line was one about his primary school teacher being
"a jack of all trades, and a master of fuck all"
Frankie Boyle as you'd expect was hilarious to the point of me having to push the pause button in order to recover from laughing at the previous joke before going on to the next.
As mentioned last time round the joke about the electronic train doors is genius and actually had me in tears, although you'd think why National Rail decided to waste so much money, as the instructions aren't really explained well and it can result in embarrassing consequences.
I also liked the joke about someone going up to him and saying he looked like "the wee bear off 'Bo Selecta'".
I wish they had kept the text messages at the end of the show in the last series although quite a lot of the comedians in the 2007 series always ended up doing the "Where's Jack Dee, from Jack Dee" joke.
Getting up isn't easy at all as I haven't got my Bug with me and my Freesat TV doesn't have Chill as one of their channels which is what I normally have on overnight.
I would have 5 Live switched on but Dotun Adebayo was presenting last night so that was out of the question.
However because I don't have the Bug it means I have to get out of my bed to swtich over the channel to listen to Chris Moyles before getting back into bed and listening to it half asleep, always falling asleep completely whenever he plays a record.
Speaking of getting up, I've managed to find an application of an MP3 alarm clock although it only really works properly once you've registered.
It allows you to use any MP3 file at all, although rather than a song, I've used one of the many sound effects I have on my hard drive and I'm pretty certain you can guess which one!
After this morning's Popmaster I hope to make a start on my background chapter with the aim of reaching 500 or more words. It shouldn't be too much of a struggle.
Last night was well spent with the Dara O'Briain episode of Apollo which probably is the funniest one ever in terms of all the comedians performing.
Stephen K Amos was superb with several jokes about black stereotypes although my favourite line was one about his primary school teacher being
"a jack of all trades, and a master of fuck all"
Frankie Boyle as you'd expect was hilarious to the point of me having to push the pause button in order to recover from laughing at the previous joke before going on to the next.
As mentioned last time round the joke about the electronic train doors is genius and actually had me in tears, although you'd think why National Rail decided to waste so much money, as the instructions aren't really explained well and it can result in embarrassing consequences.
I also liked the joke about someone going up to him and saying he looked like "the wee bear off 'Bo Selecta'".
I wish they had kept the text messages at the end of the show in the last series although quite a lot of the comedians in the 2007 series always ended up doing the "Where's Jack Dee, from Jack Dee" joke.
Getting up isn't easy at all as I haven't got my Bug with me and my Freesat TV doesn't have Chill as one of their channels which is what I normally have on overnight.
I would have 5 Live switched on but Dotun Adebayo was presenting last night so that was out of the question.
However because I don't have the Bug it means I have to get out of my bed to swtich over the channel to listen to Chris Moyles before getting back into bed and listening to it half asleep, always falling asleep completely whenever he plays a record.
Speaking of getting up, I've managed to find an application of an MP3 alarm clock although it only really works properly once you've registered.
It allows you to use any MP3 file at all, although rather than a song, I've used one of the many sound effects I have on my hard drive and I'm pretty certain you can guess which one!
After this morning's Popmaster I hope to make a start on my background chapter with the aim of reaching 500 or more words. It shouldn't be too much of a struggle.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Old Fashioned Topical Humour
I decided to go back even further for the rest of tonight, after finding a VHS of stuff, mainly from 2001 including the first episode of 2DTV.
This was a case of either good or bad timing as the war had just broken out in Afghanistan and there were several jokes about Osama Bin Laden including a spoof of the Blue Planet where he appeared underwater unexpectedly.
There was also several funny sketches with George Bush as voiced by Jon Culshaw, with his assistant trying to explain things to him with the help of sock puppet "Professor Liebstrom".
The episodes only lasted 10 minutes at this time due to the topical nature of the show although they were later extended to half an hour.
A lot of the team from Dead Ringers worked on the show, not just the voices but the writers who included Tom Jameson and Nev Fountain.
However I felt the series went downhill after the likes of Jon Culshaw stopped doing the voices and it slowly disappeared not long after.
On it's arrival it was the show a lot of us talked about at college the Monday after as it went out on Sunday nights which was a brilliant timeslot, and provided many of what I'd call "much needed laughs" as I was getting through the awkward period of starting college.
I can remember when the war itself broke out as it was on a Sunday evening and quite a lot of commercial stations went out of the Pepsi Chart early to give coverage on the latest developments. Invicta FM wasn't one of them but several GWR stations took a syndicated show with Chris Brooks who back then was at Essex FM.
The Monday after I can remember clearly as during a break I went into Canterbury and the HMV where they were playing JTQ's recently released "Hammondology" compilation in store and ended up buying the album and it more or less stayed in my CD player throughout the term.
I've probably said this before but rather than buy any of the individual albums, buy that compilation as it really does contain all their highlights and not a dull track at all.
Moving onwards, another programme on that tape which also took the mickey out of the war was the first edition of the 2001 series of The Frank Skinner Show.
Jonathan Ross once said on his Radio 2 show that he would set the video 5 minutes late to record his show in order to avoid him singing "Funtime Frankie".
And I really wouldn't blame him.
Anyway, the sketch itself had Frank dressed up as the terroist saying it was difficult to find anyone to record the videos, but he had finally managed to find someone; "So thank you Prince Edward".
He then fell over by accident and it turned into a spoof of the home video show which had the name "You've Bin Laden!".
The guests on Frank's show included Ant & Dec who came on to the Skinnerettes rendition of "Sing If You're Glad To Be Gay" followed by some questions over those rumours which were taken with good humour.
Frank went onto talk about SMTV and in particular Wonkey Donkey where he decided to try out a few on the boys themselves. He didn't say the answers but the first one was a monkey who had a white streak on his head, and the other was a kitten with a plastic turd on top of it.
They also chatted about Pop Idol which had only just started and had become very popular, and prompted a showing of the YMCA girl. Frank then asked "But is it really as bad as:" and then it started playing "#Let's get ready to rhumble!"
to which they all agreed yes.
On the subject of Pop Idol the tape also had one of the This Morning specials from after the series finished, which were presented by John Leslie and Fern, alongside finalist Hayley who I'll say again, must be the sister of Hannah, a helper I had at college who was only 4 years younger than her and without a Brummie accent.
Hayley was also This Morning's reporter for the 2002 Brit Awards which were hosted that year by Zoe Ball and Frank Skinner, who managed to slip in a few jokes about her former co-host Jamie Theakston who recently had an unfortunate incident in a brothel.
A lot of the stars at the awards were very positive about the show including Beverley Knight who was a huge fan of Will and was flattered that she was also one of Will's favourite performers.
H & Claire from Steps said they were fans of Gareth, partly because he had appeared on their CBBC series "Steps To The Stars" the year before and unleashed his singing talent there.
Anyway, the guests included other finalist Laura Doherty AKA "The Sofa Queen" because she'd end up on the sofa with the contestants with the lowest votes each week, along with Rosie Ribbons, and Haifa Kayali who was in the final 50.
I was never a fan of Rosie as she was rather dull and moody, but she caught Pete Waterman's eye and ended up letting tears come out of it.
She released a solo single at the end of the year but ended up having the same sort of success as Zoe Birkett.
Haifa on the other hand was stunning and had a husky voice similar to her idol Taylor Dayne and was pipped at the post by Gareth and Zoe in the first studio heats.
When John and Fern asked the guests if they'd do it all over again, Laura and Rosie said they wouldn't, as the final 10 got a lot of exposure and the overall experience was a once in a lifetime one, although Haifa said she'd more than happily give it another go despite reaching the final 50.
In fact Haifa appeared in the first series of the X-Factor in 2004 but didn't make it past boot camp.
The tape also has the "Munny Bunny" competition preceeding the Pop Idol strand which was basically a return to the old Midday Money competition but with a different name.
At the start of the series Midday Money had been poorly revamped to make it look like Millionaire with overly dramatic music stings and lighting effects.
However Munny Bunny went back to the old traditions of the black background with tiny lights, with the musical stings dropped in favour of the old heartbeat sound effect and the mechanical hooter when the time was up.
However John and Fern had abandoned the idea of asking at least two more questions after the time had ran out.
I seem to remember Lenny Henry guesting on the show and taking the mickey out of the game which involved him mimicking a mate of his in a Jamaican accent saying "Richard and Judy are giving away money!
And if you run out of time, they give you more time!"
Speaking of quizzes I attempted to endure Chris Moyles' Quiz Night for the second week with the intention of switching off at the end of the first part if it was rubbish.
I ended up switching off sooner as one of the questions was asked or should that be sung, by Chris De Burgh the bastard.
This isn't "Chris Moyles' Quiz Night" it's "I'm Chris Moyles and these are all my celebrity mates".
Stick to radio Chris, even Scott Mills is better on the Lottery than your attempt at a television show.
Second year TV student and my flatmate from last year Michael Washington works as a runner on that show and normally takes part as a contestant in the rehearsal as seen in this photo (the one on the left).
I'd prefer to see him on there rather than David Walliams etc.
I plan to spend the rest of tonight, or should that be early tomorrow morning, enjoying a few genuine laughs in the form of the "Apollo" and possibly one of the funniest, with Dara O'Briain as the compere with special guests Stephen K Amos and Frankie Boyle.
I particuarly remember Frankie Boyle's routine being hilarious with one of my favourite jokes being about the revolving doors on train toilets, bearing a resemblance to the cover behind the car on a quiz show.
If anyone at home's reading this tomorrow and was woken up by my laughter, well you now know why.
Good Night.
This was a case of either good or bad timing as the war had just broken out in Afghanistan and there were several jokes about Osama Bin Laden including a spoof of the Blue Planet where he appeared underwater unexpectedly.
There was also several funny sketches with George Bush as voiced by Jon Culshaw, with his assistant trying to explain things to him with the help of sock puppet "Professor Liebstrom".
The episodes only lasted 10 minutes at this time due to the topical nature of the show although they were later extended to half an hour.
A lot of the team from Dead Ringers worked on the show, not just the voices but the writers who included Tom Jameson and Nev Fountain.
However I felt the series went downhill after the likes of Jon Culshaw stopped doing the voices and it slowly disappeared not long after.
On it's arrival it was the show a lot of us talked about at college the Monday after as it went out on Sunday nights which was a brilliant timeslot, and provided many of what I'd call "much needed laughs" as I was getting through the awkward period of starting college.
I can remember when the war itself broke out as it was on a Sunday evening and quite a lot of commercial stations went out of the Pepsi Chart early to give coverage on the latest developments. Invicta FM wasn't one of them but several GWR stations took a syndicated show with Chris Brooks who back then was at Essex FM.
The Monday after I can remember clearly as during a break I went into Canterbury and the HMV where they were playing JTQ's recently released "Hammondology" compilation in store and ended up buying the album and it more or less stayed in my CD player throughout the term.
I've probably said this before but rather than buy any of the individual albums, buy that compilation as it really does contain all their highlights and not a dull track at all.
Moving onwards, another programme on that tape which also took the mickey out of the war was the first edition of the 2001 series of The Frank Skinner Show.
Jonathan Ross once said on his Radio 2 show that he would set the video 5 minutes late to record his show in order to avoid him singing "Funtime Frankie".
And I really wouldn't blame him.
Anyway, the sketch itself had Frank dressed up as the terroist saying it was difficult to find anyone to record the videos, but he had finally managed to find someone; "So thank you Prince Edward".
He then fell over by accident and it turned into a spoof of the home video show which had the name "You've Bin Laden!".
The guests on Frank's show included Ant & Dec who came on to the Skinnerettes rendition of "Sing If You're Glad To Be Gay" followed by some questions over those rumours which were taken with good humour.
Frank went onto talk about SMTV and in particular Wonkey Donkey where he decided to try out a few on the boys themselves. He didn't say the answers but the first one was a monkey who had a white streak on his head, and the other was a kitten with a plastic turd on top of it.
They also chatted about Pop Idol which had only just started and had become very popular, and prompted a showing of the YMCA girl. Frank then asked "But is it really as bad as:" and then it started playing "#Let's get ready to rhumble!"
to which they all agreed yes.
On the subject of Pop Idol the tape also had one of the This Morning specials from after the series finished, which were presented by John Leslie and Fern, alongside finalist Hayley who I'll say again, must be the sister of Hannah, a helper I had at college who was only 4 years younger than her and without a Brummie accent.
Hayley was also This Morning's reporter for the 2002 Brit Awards which were hosted that year by Zoe Ball and Frank Skinner, who managed to slip in a few jokes about her former co-host Jamie Theakston who recently had an unfortunate incident in a brothel.
A lot of the stars at the awards were very positive about the show including Beverley Knight who was a huge fan of Will and was flattered that she was also one of Will's favourite performers.
H & Claire from Steps said they were fans of Gareth, partly because he had appeared on their CBBC series "Steps To The Stars" the year before and unleashed his singing talent there.
Anyway, the guests included other finalist Laura Doherty AKA "The Sofa Queen" because she'd end up on the sofa with the contestants with the lowest votes each week, along with Rosie Ribbons, and Haifa Kayali who was in the final 50.
I was never a fan of Rosie as she was rather dull and moody, but she caught Pete Waterman's eye and ended up letting tears come out of it.
She released a solo single at the end of the year but ended up having the same sort of success as Zoe Birkett.
Haifa on the other hand was stunning and had a husky voice similar to her idol Taylor Dayne and was pipped at the post by Gareth and Zoe in the first studio heats.
When John and Fern asked the guests if they'd do it all over again, Laura and Rosie said they wouldn't, as the final 10 got a lot of exposure and the overall experience was a once in a lifetime one, although Haifa said she'd more than happily give it another go despite reaching the final 50.
In fact Haifa appeared in the first series of the X-Factor in 2004 but didn't make it past boot camp.
The tape also has the "Munny Bunny" competition preceeding the Pop Idol strand which was basically a return to the old Midday Money competition but with a different name.
At the start of the series Midday Money had been poorly revamped to make it look like Millionaire with overly dramatic music stings and lighting effects.
However Munny Bunny went back to the old traditions of the black background with tiny lights, with the musical stings dropped in favour of the old heartbeat sound effect and the mechanical hooter when the time was up.
However John and Fern had abandoned the idea of asking at least two more questions after the time had ran out.
I seem to remember Lenny Henry guesting on the show and taking the mickey out of the game which involved him mimicking a mate of his in a Jamaican accent saying "Richard and Judy are giving away money!
And if you run out of time, they give you more time!"
Speaking of quizzes I attempted to endure Chris Moyles' Quiz Night for the second week with the intention of switching off at the end of the first part if it was rubbish.
I ended up switching off sooner as one of the questions was asked or should that be sung, by Chris De Burgh the bastard.
This isn't "Chris Moyles' Quiz Night" it's "I'm Chris Moyles and these are all my celebrity mates".
Stick to radio Chris, even Scott Mills is better on the Lottery than your attempt at a television show.
Second year TV student and my flatmate from last year Michael Washington works as a runner on that show and normally takes part as a contestant in the rehearsal as seen in this photo (the one on the left).
I'd prefer to see him on there rather than David Walliams etc.
I plan to spend the rest of tonight, or should that be early tomorrow morning, enjoying a few genuine laughs in the form of the "Apollo" and possibly one of the funniest, with Dara O'Briain as the compere with special guests Stephen K Amos and Frankie Boyle.
I particuarly remember Frankie Boyle's routine being hilarious with one of my favourite jokes being about the revolving doors on train toilets, bearing a resemblance to the cover behind the car on a quiz show.
If anyone at home's reading this tomorrow and was woken up by my laughter, well you now know why.
Good Night.
Standing The Heat
Nearing the end of my swear marathon, one of the tapes also contained what's probably the earliest episode of Strictly Come Dancing I have which was show 4 from series 1 transmitted in the first week of June 2004.
Quite a few things were different, as I've mentioned in an earlier post about the series final where the theme tune was slightly slower, Len Goodman's hair was less grey, and Anton Du Beke was a bit thinner.
One of the more obvious differences was the use of a VT demonstrating the different dances which in this show were the fox trot and the pasa doble.
Nowadays the majority of the viewers know them off by heart as an Indian takeaway menu.
Another difference was that the dances themselves and the vote off were all done in one show which only lasted up to the semi final as from then on and series 2 onwards they would seperate the results to be shown later that night, and more recently as a Sunday night show.
Returning to Hell, and the last couple of episodes saw things really reaching new heights as by now each chef had a go at filling Gordon's shoes and running the pass, giving out orders from the tickets brought in.
The celebrity diners included Anthea Turner and her sister Wendy, the late John Inman, and actor/former Blue Peter presenter Tim Vincent.
It's also worth noting more of the celebrities who appeared in the background during Angus's link which rather ironically included Alexander Armstrong, and another featured a brief appearance by then Saturday morning stunner
Holly Willoughby, although her hair wasn't looking so good back in 2004.
One of the highlights in the penultimate show was a VT about the unsung hero of the show, Maitre D' Jean-Phillipe who ended up going with Gordon when the show went to the States and still appears on there today.
Jean mentioned that his favourite moment was when Prick Reeves wanted a fried egg and the "comedian" got just a taste of what Jean had to put up with from Gordon every night.
Referring back to the clientele, and there was a return apperance from Antony Worral-Thompson who had also brought with him fellow chefs Aldo Zilli, and Jean-Christophe Novelli who would take over from Gordon in the second series.
The latter two ended up performing alongside a few other Z-list chefs on the disastrous X-Factor Battle Of The Stars in 2006, which luckily I didn't see as I was away on our "non-holiday" in Spain.
On a smilar note aside, there was a trailer within the show for one of Neil Fox's many unsuccesfull forays into television post Pop Idol, that being "No Talent Required" (ironically), which involved four builders being trained for a week to put on a pop performance.
Edwina was the next chef to be sacked much to the excitement of Gordon although when she was about to be interviewed by Angus she brought on a knife and looked as if she was going to stab the host.
The grand final saw Jen, James and Matt given the task of preparing lunch for Gordon, Angela and Sarge which despite a bit of aggro lead to succesful results.
The first one to leave was Matt Goss who got on well in his interview with Angus but later spat out at him in a newspaper for the jokes he made about him during the series.
Examples included when Gordon gave his signature dish 1 out of 10, and Angus said it was "his first number 1 in years", and when Belinda got booted out "leaving just one singer. James"
Matt said that "If Angus was going to be a wanker, he should have been one to my face" which lead to it being mentioned on his appearance on Buzzcocks later in the year where Mark Lamarr said "That's an Angus Deayton video I don't want to see"
Jennifer Ellison became the overall winner and was congratulated by those in the restaurant and all of the contestants who had returned, even Roger Cook.
It was more or less evident that Matt and James wanted Jennifer to win as they were all good sports, and Gordon said he would hire her with Jennifer convinced it was the best thing she had succeeded at, even surpassing acting and singing.
Having said that not many of the contestants hogged the limelight after the series thankfully. Jennifer released another single that summer before persuing a career on stage, while a couple of years later, James replaced Ardal O'Hanlon in the lead role in "My Hero" which wasn't so succesfull and resulted in the series being dropped.
Overall with my re-viewing of the first series over, I plan to scour more through some of the stuff I recorded in 2004 which probably includes more comedy panel shows, chat shows and many episodes of Balamory.
Quite a few things were different, as I've mentioned in an earlier post about the series final where the theme tune was slightly slower, Len Goodman's hair was less grey, and Anton Du Beke was a bit thinner.
One of the more obvious differences was the use of a VT demonstrating the different dances which in this show were the fox trot and the pasa doble.
Nowadays the majority of the viewers know them off by heart as an Indian takeaway menu.
Another difference was that the dances themselves and the vote off were all done in one show which only lasted up to the semi final as from then on and series 2 onwards they would seperate the results to be shown later that night, and more recently as a Sunday night show.
Returning to Hell, and the last couple of episodes saw things really reaching new heights as by now each chef had a go at filling Gordon's shoes and running the pass, giving out orders from the tickets brought in.
The celebrity diners included Anthea Turner and her sister Wendy, the late John Inman, and actor/former Blue Peter presenter Tim Vincent.
It's also worth noting more of the celebrities who appeared in the background during Angus's link which rather ironically included Alexander Armstrong, and another featured a brief appearance by then Saturday morning stunner
Holly Willoughby, although her hair wasn't looking so good back in 2004.
One of the highlights in the penultimate show was a VT about the unsung hero of the show, Maitre D' Jean-Phillipe who ended up going with Gordon when the show went to the States and still appears on there today.
Jean mentioned that his favourite moment was when Prick Reeves wanted a fried egg and the "comedian" got just a taste of what Jean had to put up with from Gordon every night.
Referring back to the clientele, and there was a return apperance from Antony Worral-Thompson who had also brought with him fellow chefs Aldo Zilli, and Jean-Christophe Novelli who would take over from Gordon in the second series.
The latter two ended up performing alongside a few other Z-list chefs on the disastrous X-Factor Battle Of The Stars in 2006, which luckily I didn't see as I was away on our "non-holiday" in Spain.
On a smilar note aside, there was a trailer within the show for one of Neil Fox's many unsuccesfull forays into television post Pop Idol, that being "No Talent Required" (ironically), which involved four builders being trained for a week to put on a pop performance.
Edwina was the next chef to be sacked much to the excitement of Gordon although when she was about to be interviewed by Angus she brought on a knife and looked as if she was going to stab the host.
The grand final saw Jen, James and Matt given the task of preparing lunch for Gordon, Angela and Sarge which despite a bit of aggro lead to succesful results.
The first one to leave was Matt Goss who got on well in his interview with Angus but later spat out at him in a newspaper for the jokes he made about him during the series.
Examples included when Gordon gave his signature dish 1 out of 10, and Angus said it was "his first number 1 in years", and when Belinda got booted out "leaving just one singer. James"
Matt said that "If Angus was going to be a wanker, he should have been one to my face" which lead to it being mentioned on his appearance on Buzzcocks later in the year where Mark Lamarr said "That's an Angus Deayton video I don't want to see"
Jennifer Ellison became the overall winner and was congratulated by those in the restaurant and all of the contestants who had returned, even Roger Cook.
It was more or less evident that Matt and James wanted Jennifer to win as they were all good sports, and Gordon said he would hire her with Jennifer convinced it was the best thing she had succeeded at, even surpassing acting and singing.
Having said that not many of the contestants hogged the limelight after the series thankfully. Jennifer released another single that summer before persuing a career on stage, while a couple of years later, James replaced Ardal O'Hanlon in the lead role in "My Hero" which wasn't so succesfull and resulted in the series being dropped.
Overall with my re-viewing of the first series over, I plan to scour more through some of the stuff I recorded in 2004 which probably includes more comedy panel shows, chat shows and many episodes of Balamory.
Intensive Heat
More swearing chefs were in order of this afternoon where by this point of the series Gordon was acknowledging that this was a very tight business and had asked some of his own kitchen staff to come in in the early hours and make early preparations.
He didn't want the celebrities to think he was taking the piss but they saw it as more of a relief with regards to their workload.
Around this time all of the chefs signature dishes were now on the menu but Edwina unhappy with the standards of her guinea fowl decided at the last minute that she couldn't be arsed to make the dish much to Gordon's irritation.
This resulted in possibly one of the best lines of the series; "I mean one minute you're shagging our Prime Minister, and now you're trying to shag me from behind".
I presume that when Edwina joined the show, her weekend late night show on 5 Live had been dropped but she showed at any cost that she could still be a pain wherever.
I tend to forget that like fellow contestant Jennifer Ellison, Edwina was also from Liverpool and has tiny hints of a Scouse accent in her voice.
In addition to this was the fact that Gordon had asked three food critics from the biggest newspapers to attend one morning to try their signature dishes and would later return that evening to attend the restaurant itself.
One of them being Charles Campion from the London Evening Standard whom Angus made several jokes about his weight in his links.
This ended up in a rather unfortunate line from Gordon in one of his on screen interviews where he said; "none of them are messing about, or jerking off"
In addition to the critics was an appearance by Gordon's old boss
Michel Roux who was rumoured to be Gordon's replacement for
the second series.
Other celebrity diners included Sian Lloyd and Lembit Opik, Patsy Kensit, and former contestant Dwain Chambers.
And Lee Latchford-Evans.
Another sacking took place and this time Al Murray got the lowest number of viewers votes. To be honest though he was starting to get a bit too big for his boots and was actually rather bitter about being voted out when it happened.
From a presentation perspective, it's weird seeing the LWT endcap (with purple Granada branding) at the end of each programme as LWT had been long gone as an on-air brand in the London region, although by the end of 2004 it had disapeared all together.
Only two more episodes to go thank goodness although there's still plenty of other stuff I may look through tonight from around the same time and possibly even further.
You could say it was a wasted life of some sorts but I know I'm not the worst.
It all comes down to the fact that barely any of my VHS's have episodes of Big Brother on them.
He didn't want the celebrities to think he was taking the piss but they saw it as more of a relief with regards to their workload.
Around this time all of the chefs signature dishes were now on the menu but Edwina unhappy with the standards of her guinea fowl decided at the last minute that she couldn't be arsed to make the dish much to Gordon's irritation.
This resulted in possibly one of the best lines of the series; "I mean one minute you're shagging our Prime Minister, and now you're trying to shag me from behind".
I presume that when Edwina joined the show, her weekend late night show on 5 Live had been dropped but she showed at any cost that she could still be a pain wherever.
I tend to forget that like fellow contestant Jennifer Ellison, Edwina was also from Liverpool and has tiny hints of a Scouse accent in her voice.
In addition to this was the fact that Gordon had asked three food critics from the biggest newspapers to attend one morning to try their signature dishes and would later return that evening to attend the restaurant itself.
One of them being Charles Campion from the London Evening Standard whom Angus made several jokes about his weight in his links.
This ended up in a rather unfortunate line from Gordon in one of his on screen interviews where he said; "none of them are messing about, or jerking off"
In addition to the critics was an appearance by Gordon's old boss
Michel Roux who was rumoured to be Gordon's replacement for
the second series.
Other celebrity diners included Sian Lloyd and Lembit Opik, Patsy Kensit, and former contestant Dwain Chambers.
And Lee Latchford-Evans.
Another sacking took place and this time Al Murray got the lowest number of viewers votes. To be honest though he was starting to get a bit too big for his boots and was actually rather bitter about being voted out when it happened.
From a presentation perspective, it's weird seeing the LWT endcap (with purple Granada branding) at the end of each programme as LWT had been long gone as an on-air brand in the London region, although by the end of 2004 it had disapeared all together.
Only two more episodes to go thank goodness although there's still plenty of other stuff I may look through tonight from around the same time and possibly even further.
You could say it was a wasted life of some sorts but I know I'm not the worst.
It all comes down to the fact that barely any of my VHS's have episodes of Big Brother on them.
Soul And Statements
Another morning well spent with the soulful stuff where amongst the highlights this were were "New York Afternoon" by Mondo Kane, an early 80s latin jazz/pop record that was popular amongst the fans back then and sounded very similar to Matt Bianco's "Half A Minute" that was also played amongst one of the newer tracks from former vocalist Basia.
To be honest I thought that Matt Bianco were better without Basia and Danny White, were it was just Mark Reilly on vocals and Mark Fisher on keyboards providing many stunning albums ideal for the warm weather.
The original line up reformed in 2004 with Fisher departing in good terms but they then went separate ways again and Mark Fisher rejoined again and along with Reilly to continue the band as a duo and performing in many venues and festivals around the world.
I'm hoping to get another focus group sorted out before going back to London although a few setbacks have come up again due to one of the individuals being on holiday next week. However if it all falls through before then, hopefully I'll be able to get something sorted after getting back from London next Monday.
Anyway, it's probably a good time to refer to my Hall Of Shame blog posts and state that none of the names mentioned in the audio were designed to be ridiculed in a volatile way at all, and it should be pointed out that a lot of them are now very good friends of those who took part in the recordings.
Admittedly I haven't seen a lot of them for many years, possibly since when friends of family Jane and John got married in May 2004 and most of our grudges from many years before had gone at even that time and we were more interested in having as much as we could to drink.
If anyone wants me to remove the files because they cause distress let me know, but I won't accept ones asking me to get rid of them just because of the swearing and naughty jokes.
Remember, back then we were just stupid little children.
To be honest I thought that Matt Bianco were better without Basia and Danny White, were it was just Mark Reilly on vocals and Mark Fisher on keyboards providing many stunning albums ideal for the warm weather.
The original line up reformed in 2004 with Fisher departing in good terms but they then went separate ways again and Mark Fisher rejoined again and along with Reilly to continue the band as a duo and performing in many venues and festivals around the world.
I'm hoping to get another focus group sorted out before going back to London although a few setbacks have come up again due to one of the individuals being on holiday next week. However if it all falls through before then, hopefully I'll be able to get something sorted after getting back from London next Monday.
Anyway, it's probably a good time to refer to my Hall Of Shame blog posts and state that none of the names mentioned in the audio were designed to be ridiculed in a volatile way at all, and it should be pointed out that a lot of them are now very good friends of those who took part in the recordings.
Admittedly I haven't seen a lot of them for many years, possibly since when friends of family Jane and John got married in May 2004 and most of our grudges from many years before had gone at even that time and we were more interested in having as much as we could to drink.
If anyone wants me to remove the files because they cause distress let me know, but I won't accept ones asking me to get rid of them just because of the swearing and naughty jokes.
Remember, back then we were just stupid little children.
The Road To 25
Morning.
It doesn't really look like it's going to be that a memorable day, to the possible extent of it being Groundhog Day, in terms of spending the majority of it trawling.
From 1pm of course as Robbie's on Jazz FM spinning the soulful stuff, and I never realised that Gil Scott Heron would be turning 60 this week.
I always assumed he would be older but it happens to be the same day
as Chris Evans and Phillip Schofield on the 1st of April.
In the case of Evans it seems very appropriate.
Ahead of next Sunday, I've had a look at the fights lined up for Wrestlemania 25 next week and it looks set to be a corker.
I've been convinced by Chilvers to stay in London for that extra bit longer to watch it at "The Big Gay House" with Denis and possibly Tudor so it should be worth it and good fun.
Anyway, amongst the bouts are an extreme rules match between brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy, a 25 diva Battle Royale, and best of all a special anniversary match with Chris Jericho against 4 established fighters including Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, with Ric Flair in the oppositions corner.
What could be another "reward" for the constant dissertation work.
It doesn't really look like it's going to be that a memorable day, to the possible extent of it being Groundhog Day, in terms of spending the majority of it trawling.
From 1pm of course as Robbie's on Jazz FM spinning the soulful stuff, and I never realised that Gil Scott Heron would be turning 60 this week.
I always assumed he would be older but it happens to be the same day
as Chris Evans and Phillip Schofield on the 1st of April.
In the case of Evans it seems very appropriate.
Ahead of next Sunday, I've had a look at the fights lined up for Wrestlemania 25 next week and it looks set to be a corker.
I've been convinced by Chilvers to stay in London for that extra bit longer to watch it at "The Big Gay House" with Denis and possibly Tudor so it should be worth it and good fun.
Anyway, amongst the bouts are an extreme rules match between brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy, a 25 diva Battle Royale, and best of all a special anniversary match with Chris Jericho against 4 established fighters including Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, with Ric Flair in the oppositions corner.
What could be another "reward" for the constant dissertation work.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Broken But Unlikely Dreams
I very rarely take advantage of the fact that I have access to several TV channels on Freesat at my disposal whilst I'm back in Canterbury.
Although to be fair there's quite a bit of rubbish on there at times, such as the heavily edited American Idol shown on ITV2.
They're now into the voting stages with the studio audience and it looks as if barely anything's changed at all, to the point of the theme tune staying the same since the original Pop Idol 8 years ago.
However I like the fact that all the contestants are sat together ahead of the voting which is something you would never get on The X Factor as it seems to be a popularity contest for the judges every year and it's evident that barely any of the contestants have a personality.
This is all down to the fact that the on screen captions with the phone numbers have a photo of the mentor superimposed on them as opposed to one of the contestant.
I very much doubt I'll be watching the following series when it returns later in the year for all of those reasons and the over dramatic sense of it all.
Also because I won't be at University and don't need to have that crap in mind in order to start a conversation.
There's rumours that series 3 winner Leona and recent winner Alexandra are set to be working with Timbaland on their records which could prove succesfull.
What would really impress me however would be if they'd work with Bluey as I'd see it as a boost rather than a downturn as anything he produces for any artist can work perfectly and tick all the right boxes musically.
I can dream.
Anyway the programme I saw tonight had guest appearances from Stevie Wonder, and to a lesser extent Smokey Robinson not because of him as an artist but because he was duetting with Joss Stone who despite having a standout (if otherwised forced) singing voice, still hasn't found her proper talking voice.
There was also a guest appearance by season 2 winner Ruben Studdard from all the way back in 2003 performing his latest realease, although I'll remember him best for his version of the late 80s gospel favourite "Ain't No Need To Worry" orginally by the Winans.
That's The Winans as in the band, not BeBe and CeCe Winans.
All a bit confusing.
This was followed by a few more visits to Hell's Kitchen series 1 where at this stage the red and blue teams were ditched and they all formed into one big team where from this stage on it was every chef for themselves.
Each chef was also asked to prepare a signature dish with the standout being Jennifer Ellison's Chateau Brion which was essentially steak and chips, which Gordon was impressed with but Jen was unsure if it would sell.
Her thoughts were turned the other way round however as it sold out within 15 minutes and became very popular automatically putting her in Gordon's good books as the best cook in the team.
The other highly rated signature dish was Al Murray's fish pie made with smoked haddock, smoked salmon and crayfish tails which added a twist on the traditional recipe.
One of the people trying it was Al's lovely looking wife although they ended up splitting last year.
At this point of the series Al was becoming very determined and focus to the point of being very competetive although Edwina was still being a pain as always, with Gordon at one point saying she was "like a granny that won't die".
Some of the celebrity diners included Nicholas Parsons and his wife Ann, Jimmy Carr, and Jerry Springer who was in London as he was guest presenting the drivetime show on Capital Gold that week. Gordon was particuarly interested to see him as he'd been on his chat show that was broadcast on ITV a few years earlier.
There were also a few less welcome arrivals (in terms of status) who were dealt with in a tounge in cheek manner such as Charles and Diana Ingram, prompting Gordon to cough "Bullshit!" on their arrival.
The team came up with the idea of putting a red strepsil in place of a cherry on one of the appetisers which lead to good humoured results.
Even worse was James Hewitt who head chef Angela Hartnett referred to as a "nobber". And that's being kind.
Also appearing were Newsround's Lizo Mzimba who was with Richard Blackwood, and Lizo referred to Jennifer's Chateaux Brion as
"the best beef I've had in years"
Probably the reason why Phillip Schofield wasn't seen in the series.
I hope to finish the series by tomorrow and on Monday I plan to work on my background chapter for my dissertation, ahead of my appointment at Laurel House that afternoon which isn't really a reward, but more of a reassurance as to what will be happening over the summer and ways of preventing a repeat of what happened two years ago.
But what's worse, ending up in hospital for acting manically, or the pain and depression that follows after leaving?
I'm probably going to end up being dreadfully depressed by the end of the year, and it has to be said that a lot of people in the hospital were really lovely people and took interest in the music I liked and ended up adding to the computer they had in there.
One young woman rather enjoyed the Dianne Reeves CD I had added which I imagine is ideal listening when things are too much to handle.
We were all in our own little worlds but at least we were allowed music and DVDs to enjoy in our rooms which Mum and Dad did provide me a lot of. It's a times like that I wish I had owned an iPod as a lot of my music is on my external hard drive.
The way I seem to be typing now is slightly similar to how I was in August 2007 so I'm slightly worried I may end up going a bit too far or possibly proposing to someone via MSN messenger.
Yes, that did happen at the time and the certain individual's names became acronym poems whilst I was in St Martin's Hospital.
I wish I had kept some of the things I drew or coloured in whilst I was in there.
Although to be fair there's quite a bit of rubbish on there at times, such as the heavily edited American Idol shown on ITV2.
They're now into the voting stages with the studio audience and it looks as if barely anything's changed at all, to the point of the theme tune staying the same since the original Pop Idol 8 years ago.
However I like the fact that all the contestants are sat together ahead of the voting which is something you would never get on The X Factor as it seems to be a popularity contest for the judges every year and it's evident that barely any of the contestants have a personality.
This is all down to the fact that the on screen captions with the phone numbers have a photo of the mentor superimposed on them as opposed to one of the contestant.
I very much doubt I'll be watching the following series when it returns later in the year for all of those reasons and the over dramatic sense of it all.
Also because I won't be at University and don't need to have that crap in mind in order to start a conversation.
There's rumours that series 3 winner Leona and recent winner Alexandra are set to be working with Timbaland on their records which could prove succesfull.
What would really impress me however would be if they'd work with Bluey as I'd see it as a boost rather than a downturn as anything he produces for any artist can work perfectly and tick all the right boxes musically.
I can dream.
Anyway the programme I saw tonight had guest appearances from Stevie Wonder, and to a lesser extent Smokey Robinson not because of him as an artist but because he was duetting with Joss Stone who despite having a standout (if otherwised forced) singing voice, still hasn't found her proper talking voice.
There was also a guest appearance by season 2 winner Ruben Studdard from all the way back in 2003 performing his latest realease, although I'll remember him best for his version of the late 80s gospel favourite "Ain't No Need To Worry" orginally by the Winans.
That's The Winans as in the band, not BeBe and CeCe Winans.
All a bit confusing.
This was followed by a few more visits to Hell's Kitchen series 1 where at this stage the red and blue teams were ditched and they all formed into one big team where from this stage on it was every chef for themselves.
Each chef was also asked to prepare a signature dish with the standout being Jennifer Ellison's Chateau Brion which was essentially steak and chips, which Gordon was impressed with but Jen was unsure if it would sell.
Her thoughts were turned the other way round however as it sold out within 15 minutes and became very popular automatically putting her in Gordon's good books as the best cook in the team.
The other highly rated signature dish was Al Murray's fish pie made with smoked haddock, smoked salmon and crayfish tails which added a twist on the traditional recipe.
One of the people trying it was Al's lovely looking wife although they ended up splitting last year.
At this point of the series Al was becoming very determined and focus to the point of being very competetive although Edwina was still being a pain as always, with Gordon at one point saying she was "like a granny that won't die".
Some of the celebrity diners included Nicholas Parsons and his wife Ann, Jimmy Carr, and Jerry Springer who was in London as he was guest presenting the drivetime show on Capital Gold that week. Gordon was particuarly interested to see him as he'd been on his chat show that was broadcast on ITV a few years earlier.
There were also a few less welcome arrivals (in terms of status) who were dealt with in a tounge in cheek manner such as Charles and Diana Ingram, prompting Gordon to cough "Bullshit!" on their arrival.
The team came up with the idea of putting a red strepsil in place of a cherry on one of the appetisers which lead to good humoured results.
Even worse was James Hewitt who head chef Angela Hartnett referred to as a "nobber". And that's being kind.
Also appearing were Newsround's Lizo Mzimba who was with Richard Blackwood, and Lizo referred to Jennifer's Chateaux Brion as
"the best beef I've had in years"
Probably the reason why Phillip Schofield wasn't seen in the series.
I hope to finish the series by tomorrow and on Monday I plan to work on my background chapter for my dissertation, ahead of my appointment at Laurel House that afternoon which isn't really a reward, but more of a reassurance as to what will be happening over the summer and ways of preventing a repeat of what happened two years ago.
But what's worse, ending up in hospital for acting manically, or the pain and depression that follows after leaving?
I'm probably going to end up being dreadfully depressed by the end of the year, and it has to be said that a lot of people in the hospital were really lovely people and took interest in the music I liked and ended up adding to the computer they had in there.
One young woman rather enjoyed the Dianne Reeves CD I had added which I imagine is ideal listening when things are too much to handle.
We were all in our own little worlds but at least we were allowed music and DVDs to enjoy in our rooms which Mum and Dad did provide me a lot of. It's a times like that I wish I had owned an iPod as a lot of my music is on my external hard drive.
The way I seem to be typing now is slightly similar to how I was in August 2007 so I'm slightly worried I may end up going a bit too far or possibly proposing to someone via MSN messenger.
Yes, that did happen at the time and the certain individual's names became acronym poems whilst I was in St Martin's Hospital.
I wish I had kept some of the things I drew or coloured in whilst I was in there.
Money Can't Buy Me Laughs
Another enjoyable afternoon despite the weather being a bit mixed, spent listening to PY on Jazz FM where this week he played a selection of jazzy Beatles covers.
These included one of the tracks from George Benson's "The Other Side Of Abbey Road" which is another of the albums on my hard drive that I've yet to listen to, and Ella Fitzgerald's version of "Can't Buy Me Love" which was the first ever record Peter Young played on Jazz FM in March 1990.
Definitely one I'll be playing on my next covers special after Easter.
Not a lot in terms of television entertainment tonight, with Robin Hood on BBC and the return of Primeval on ITV1 attempting to fill the void left by Doctor Who this year.
In terms of getting me to stay in for them they haven't succeeded.
I'll probably enjoy another old edition of Apollo again, this time the one with Jimmy Carr as the compere who was very funny saying the sort of things that no one else would dare to utter.
It will be interesting to see how Michael McIntyre's new tour series fares when that starts in a few weeks.
These included one of the tracks from George Benson's "The Other Side Of Abbey Road" which is another of the albums on my hard drive that I've yet to listen to, and Ella Fitzgerald's version of "Can't Buy Me Love" which was the first ever record Peter Young played on Jazz FM in March 1990.
Definitely one I'll be playing on my next covers special after Easter.
Not a lot in terms of television entertainment tonight, with Robin Hood on BBC and the return of Primeval on ITV1 attempting to fill the void left by Doctor Who this year.
In terms of getting me to stay in for them they haven't succeeded.
I'll probably enjoy another old edition of Apollo again, this time the one with Jimmy Carr as the compere who was very funny saying the sort of things that no one else would dare to utter.
It will be interesting to see how Michael McIntyre's new tour series fares when that starts in a few weeks.
More Burnt Bits
After this mornings unnerving train journey I decided to continue what I've been doing back in London, by reliving more from the kitchen of hell 5 years ago.
By this point of the series things were more or less on good form and James Dreyfuss had started adding a bit of humour towards things during the days preparation. One such moment being an impromptu rendition of the Pet Shop Boys "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing" in response to Edwina's indignance.
Another bit that I liked was when Belinda Carlisle accidentally put salt instead of sugar into a souffle but in this instance Gordon saw the funny side as it wasn't urgent and joked that he would remove Belinda's CD from his car.
However by this part of the series Gordon was starting to get at his wits end with Edwina Currie's behaviour in the kitchen and resfusal to co-operate.
She was by no means obnoxious or mouthy at all, just lazy and it seemed like her overall intention was to wind up the 3 Michelin star chef.
Either that, or as Angus suggested she had a total death wish, which is what I was hoping for.
I loved it when Gordon said that John Major should get a knighthood for managing to put up with her for four years.
Edwina wasn't the only problem as Amanda Barrie let stress get to her and ended up taking a swing at Gordon, and the chef wouldn't have any of it which showed that despite being hostile with his mouth, he knew where to draw the line when it came to aggressive behaviour of a physical nature.
That particular incident was another that was picked up on "The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year" when after they saw Matt Goss suggesting that Amanda should go outside, Jimmy Carr said "Yes, and get everyone in a circle
shouting 'fight fight fight'"
Despite the aggrovation it didn't hinder an overall good service to those in the restaurant who included Leslie Joseph, Jenny Eclair, comedian Lee Mack, Tony Blackburn and his wife Debbie (bizarre considering Gordon's opinions on vegetarians), and Gary Rhodes who would end up being one half taking over from Gordon in what was well and truly the "difficult second series".
As a reward, Gordon gave the celebrities half a day off on the Sunday of which was Jennifer Ellison's birthday, so they spent the night getting boozed up and adlibbing a song about James which provided a few laughs.
It wasn't enough to warrant a spin off single thankfully.
Amanda ended up leaving on the same day after all the aggrovation got to her but left gracefully with the others accepting her decision.
On the same show however was the first departure as a result of viewer votes and Belinda Carlisle was the first to leave having the fewest votes.
Which brings things along to some of the music used in the show during some of the VT packages where one of the songs was Jet and "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" which at the time was rather new.
Nowadays it's difficult to hear the song without being reminded of "Live At The Apollo" as it was adapted as the opening theme to the series pretty soon after.
It was also weird hearing the original version of "Bang Bang" by Nancy Sinatra in Belinda's highlights VT as it was a year before the Audio Bully's completely redifined the song to the point that it's impossible to even think of wanting to hear the original again.
That wasn't the only song from the Kill Bill Soundtrack included as it seems to be an unwritten rule that any music from a Tarantino movie becomes commonplace on television, with the other example being "Woo Hoo" by the 5,6,7,8s.
Rather bizarrely "Battle For Honour And Humanity" wasn't included despite it being played to death everywhere else with the most notable examples being The X Factor, and the Half Time Ramble on The Chris Moyles Show.
The latter only lasted a year before they got Sandy and the boys to do their own version of which the last 20 seconds are still used for Producer Rachel to say what's coming up on Radio 1 later in the day.
The trawling shows no signs of stopping, possibly for life.
By this point of the series things were more or less on good form and James Dreyfuss had started adding a bit of humour towards things during the days preparation. One such moment being an impromptu rendition of the Pet Shop Boys "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing" in response to Edwina's indignance.
Another bit that I liked was when Belinda Carlisle accidentally put salt instead of sugar into a souffle but in this instance Gordon saw the funny side as it wasn't urgent and joked that he would remove Belinda's CD from his car.
However by this part of the series Gordon was starting to get at his wits end with Edwina Currie's behaviour in the kitchen and resfusal to co-operate.
She was by no means obnoxious or mouthy at all, just lazy and it seemed like her overall intention was to wind up the 3 Michelin star chef.
Either that, or as Angus suggested she had a total death wish, which is what I was hoping for.
I loved it when Gordon said that John Major should get a knighthood for managing to put up with her for four years.
Edwina wasn't the only problem as Amanda Barrie let stress get to her and ended up taking a swing at Gordon, and the chef wouldn't have any of it which showed that despite being hostile with his mouth, he knew where to draw the line when it came to aggressive behaviour of a physical nature.
That particular incident was another that was picked up on "The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year" when after they saw Matt Goss suggesting that Amanda should go outside, Jimmy Carr said "Yes, and get everyone in a circle
shouting 'fight fight fight'"
Despite the aggrovation it didn't hinder an overall good service to those in the restaurant who included Leslie Joseph, Jenny Eclair, comedian Lee Mack, Tony Blackburn and his wife Debbie (bizarre considering Gordon's opinions on vegetarians), and Gary Rhodes who would end up being one half taking over from Gordon in what was well and truly the "difficult second series".
As a reward, Gordon gave the celebrities half a day off on the Sunday of which was Jennifer Ellison's birthday, so they spent the night getting boozed up and adlibbing a song about James which provided a few laughs.
It wasn't enough to warrant a spin off single thankfully.
Amanda ended up leaving on the same day after all the aggrovation got to her but left gracefully with the others accepting her decision.
On the same show however was the first departure as a result of viewer votes and Belinda Carlisle was the first to leave having the fewest votes.
Which brings things along to some of the music used in the show during some of the VT packages where one of the songs was Jet and "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" which at the time was rather new.
Nowadays it's difficult to hear the song without being reminded of "Live At The Apollo" as it was adapted as the opening theme to the series pretty soon after.
It was also weird hearing the original version of "Bang Bang" by Nancy Sinatra in Belinda's highlights VT as it was a year before the Audio Bully's completely redifined the song to the point that it's impossible to even think of wanting to hear the original again.
That wasn't the only song from the Kill Bill Soundtrack included as it seems to be an unwritten rule that any music from a Tarantino movie becomes commonplace on television, with the other example being "Woo Hoo" by the 5,6,7,8s.
Rather bizarrely "Battle For Honour And Humanity" wasn't included despite it being played to death everywhere else with the most notable examples being The X Factor, and the Half Time Ramble on The Chris Moyles Show.
The latter only lasted a year before they got Sandy and the boys to do their own version of which the last 20 seconds are still used for Producer Rachel to say what's coming up on Radio 1 later in the day.
The trawling shows no signs of stopping, possibly for life.
Another Long Haul
There are several reasons why I hate getting the train back to Canterbury.
One of them being that there's an awful lot to carry and it doesn't help when TFL start fucking about with the Underground closing lines at weekends for engineering.
I ended up having to go from Green Park to South Kensington via the Picadilly Line and then getting a Circle Line train to Victoria.
Then there's the train journey back to Canterbury which is full of people who decide to take their foul smelling fast food with them, which for me is more offensive than body odour.
It also didn't help that on the seat opposite me was some dickhead with his MP3 headphones turned up really loud and was playing the same tune on repeat which resulted in me carrying all my bags to the next carriage.
I always end up forgetting something when leaving my room in halls, and this time round it was my mobile phone. Bollocks.
I don't get many calls that often per day, but to leave without it has made things slightly difficult. I'm sure I'll manage until Wednesday though when I get back to London for a couple of days.
Anyway asides the dreadful journey, I spent the time re-reading Chris Moyles's "Difficult Second Book" which admittedly isn't as good as "The Gospel" but contains a few interesting chapters.
One of which being about Chris's enthusiasm for Comic Relief which dates back to when him and fellow DJ Spence McDonald from Signal 1 in Stoke went to BBC Television Centre to be in the audience for the 1995 TV show. They also blagged their way to the backstage party where Chris met Prick Reeves and sheepishly proposed an idea for a sitcom which he wanted him to star in.
However the only problem they had was booking a hotel to stay in, late at night in West London so they ended up taking a few words of advice through Spence's ex Picadilly colleage Chris Evans who was one of the presenters that night.
It then goes on to talk about the Red Nose Rally which took place 10 years later and the Rallyoke from 2007 which involved them travelling round the country in a lorry, along with classic TV cars such as K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider and General Lee from The Dukes Of Hazard.
One of the features they had during the week was "The Truck Of Luck" where a lucky caller could win a truck full of very expensive prizes. He then goes onto make a rather cheeky comment about how the idea was used on a CBBC series hosted by Reggie Yates called "The Mighty Truck Of Stuff".
However that's probably one for my Saturday Morning telly tangent, I mean analysis which I plan to have a go at writing after the dissertation.
Chris also talks about his Channel 5 chat show from 2002 which was also mentioned on Jonathan Ross last night where it was orginally going to be called "Chris Moyles Live" but a week before transmission it was changed to "Live With Chris Moyles".
This started to worry Chris because it could mean he could be axed from the show and replaced and in the end he was, because after Christmas, Christian O'Connell then hosting breakfast on XFM took over.
The show's probably infamous for a phone in caller from Birmingham on the first show as it was after the weekend that an earthquake happened.
Chris: "Did you feel the quake last night?"
Caller: "I fookin' did"
I had no idea Chris had done the Great North Run around the same time, although in the book itself he lays into those who enjoy running to keep them fit asking what sort of pleasure they get out of it.
Anyway I'm home now and hopefully I'll get some productive stuff done while I'm here.
One of them being that there's an awful lot to carry and it doesn't help when TFL start fucking about with the Underground closing lines at weekends for engineering.
I ended up having to go from Green Park to South Kensington via the Picadilly Line and then getting a Circle Line train to Victoria.
Then there's the train journey back to Canterbury which is full of people who decide to take their foul smelling fast food with them, which for me is more offensive than body odour.
It also didn't help that on the seat opposite me was some dickhead with his MP3 headphones turned up really loud and was playing the same tune on repeat which resulted in me carrying all my bags to the next carriage.
I always end up forgetting something when leaving my room in halls, and this time round it was my mobile phone. Bollocks.
I don't get many calls that often per day, but to leave without it has made things slightly difficult. I'm sure I'll manage until Wednesday though when I get back to London for a couple of days.
Anyway asides the dreadful journey, I spent the time re-reading Chris Moyles's "Difficult Second Book" which admittedly isn't as good as "The Gospel" but contains a few interesting chapters.
One of which being about Chris's enthusiasm for Comic Relief which dates back to when him and fellow DJ Spence McDonald from Signal 1 in Stoke went to BBC Television Centre to be in the audience for the 1995 TV show. They also blagged their way to the backstage party where Chris met Prick Reeves and sheepishly proposed an idea for a sitcom which he wanted him to star in.
However the only problem they had was booking a hotel to stay in, late at night in West London so they ended up taking a few words of advice through Spence's ex Picadilly colleage Chris Evans who was one of the presenters that night.
It then goes on to talk about the Red Nose Rally which took place 10 years later and the Rallyoke from 2007 which involved them travelling round the country in a lorry, along with classic TV cars such as K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider and General Lee from The Dukes Of Hazard.
One of the features they had during the week was "The Truck Of Luck" where a lucky caller could win a truck full of very expensive prizes. He then goes onto make a rather cheeky comment about how the idea was used on a CBBC series hosted by Reggie Yates called "The Mighty Truck Of Stuff".
However that's probably one for my Saturday Morning telly tangent, I mean analysis which I plan to have a go at writing after the dissertation.
Chris also talks about his Channel 5 chat show from 2002 which was also mentioned on Jonathan Ross last night where it was orginally going to be called "Chris Moyles Live" but a week before transmission it was changed to "Live With Chris Moyles".
This started to worry Chris because it could mean he could be axed from the show and replaced and in the end he was, because after Christmas, Christian O'Connell then hosting breakfast on XFM took over.
The show's probably infamous for a phone in caller from Birmingham on the first show as it was after the weekend that an earthquake happened.
Chris: "Did you feel the quake last night?"
Caller: "I fookin' did"
I had no idea Chris had done the Great North Run around the same time, although in the book itself he lays into those who enjoy running to keep them fit asking what sort of pleasure they get out of it.
Anyway I'm home now and hopefully I'll get some productive stuff done while I'm here.
Cackles And Canterbury
Morning.
Just before going to bed last night I watched the first episode of the 2007 series of Apollo on the iPlayer where Jack Dee was the compere.
Originally transmitted in November of that year, this series provided much needed laughs and helped to bring back my sense of humour after the rather traumatic period in October, and Jack Dee was on top form with jokes taking the mickey out of the X Factor and about the various TV phone in scandals.
One of those in the audience happened to be GMTV's Penny Smith who Jack said that her job was to "burn the phone bills".
Others in the audience included Coronation Street's Wendi Peters who plays Cilla, Duncan James who earlier that year had taken part in Dancing On Ice, and newsreader Michael Buerk.
Jack Dee had been the compere of Apollo for the first two series in 2004 and 2005 and this was the ideal introduction to the third series as they would be having different hosts throughout the series which I thought made it better and made the show even more popular than it was, with some of my favourites in that series being Jimmy Carr and Dara O'Briain.
At the bit of the show at the end where he reads jokes sent to his mobile, one of them was actually one of Bernard Manning's old jokes about when the police found a man who was found in the River Thames with a plastic penis in his mouth, wearing ladies clothing, and also wore a Chelsea strip. However the policemen kept the last thing quiet as they didn't want to give his family any embrassment.
Of course Bernard's joke involved a Manchester City strip, as he was always prepared to make jokes about the team he supported throughout his life.
In about half an hour I'm heading back to Canterbury on what's quite a significant day as it's 18 years since we moved there from East London.
From a television point of view however, it's 20 years since the BBC introduced Newsroom South East as the replacement for London Plus in the South East area for regional news. Guy Michelmore was the main presenter and he even composed the theme tune to the programme!
It was launched on a Tuesday as it was after the Easter weekend although on Easter Monday in 1989 Invicta Radio split frequencies to become Coast AM on medium wave and Invicta FM on their stereo frequencies.
Back then they were still based in Canterbury in the building now occupied by Bar Bars.
Expect me to add some of the old jingles by the time they get changed to Heart although they're probably a few vintage Invicta FM jingles already on my blog.
I'm not sure what I'll be doing when I get back to Canterbury although I may watch tonight's first episode of the third series of Robin Hood although I've never really been able to watch a whole series.
It's not a great line up tonight anyway as the programmes preceeded by a repeat of Total Wipeout. Have they punished us enough?
Probably not so as they plan to do a Champion of Champions show later in the year and what I'd prefer to all an "all-star" version of the show which I reckon will be quite a struggle to achieve judging by the fact that the BBC were finding it difficult for celebrities to take part in "Hole In The Wall".
And yes, they will be doing a second series.
But overall if people are enjoying the series then it must be doing something right although as mentioned before, some people don't like Jonathan Ross.
Let's hope the journey back to Canterbury contains any similar obstacles, especially ones involving water.
Just before going to bed last night I watched the first episode of the 2007 series of Apollo on the iPlayer where Jack Dee was the compere.
Originally transmitted in November of that year, this series provided much needed laughs and helped to bring back my sense of humour after the rather traumatic period in October, and Jack Dee was on top form with jokes taking the mickey out of the X Factor and about the various TV phone in scandals.
One of those in the audience happened to be GMTV's Penny Smith who Jack said that her job was to "burn the phone bills".
Others in the audience included Coronation Street's Wendi Peters who plays Cilla, Duncan James who earlier that year had taken part in Dancing On Ice, and newsreader Michael Buerk.
Jack Dee had been the compere of Apollo for the first two series in 2004 and 2005 and this was the ideal introduction to the third series as they would be having different hosts throughout the series which I thought made it better and made the show even more popular than it was, with some of my favourites in that series being Jimmy Carr and Dara O'Briain.
At the bit of the show at the end where he reads jokes sent to his mobile, one of them was actually one of Bernard Manning's old jokes about when the police found a man who was found in the River Thames with a plastic penis in his mouth, wearing ladies clothing, and also wore a Chelsea strip. However the policemen kept the last thing quiet as they didn't want to give his family any embrassment.
Of course Bernard's joke involved a Manchester City strip, as he was always prepared to make jokes about the team he supported throughout his life.
In about half an hour I'm heading back to Canterbury on what's quite a significant day as it's 18 years since we moved there from East London.
From a television point of view however, it's 20 years since the BBC introduced Newsroom South East as the replacement for London Plus in the South East area for regional news. Guy Michelmore was the main presenter and he even composed the theme tune to the programme!
It was launched on a Tuesday as it was after the Easter weekend although on Easter Monday in 1989 Invicta Radio split frequencies to become Coast AM on medium wave and Invicta FM on their stereo frequencies.
Back then they were still based in Canterbury in the building now occupied by Bar Bars.
Expect me to add some of the old jingles by the time they get changed to Heart although they're probably a few vintage Invicta FM jingles already on my blog.
I'm not sure what I'll be doing when I get back to Canterbury although I may watch tonight's first episode of the third series of Robin Hood although I've never really been able to watch a whole series.
It's not a great line up tonight anyway as the programmes preceeded by a repeat of Total Wipeout. Have they punished us enough?
Probably not so as they plan to do a Champion of Champions show later in the year and what I'd prefer to all an "all-star" version of the show which I reckon will be quite a struggle to achieve judging by the fact that the BBC were finding it difficult for celebrities to take part in "Hole In The Wall".
And yes, they will be doing a second series.
But overall if people are enjoying the series then it must be doing something right although as mentioned before, some people don't like Jonathan Ross.
Let's hope the journey back to Canterbury contains any similar obstacles, especially ones involving water.
Friday, March 27, 2009
"Bit Of Blue For Dads"
I had a gander at Peter Kay's "Top Of The Tower" DVD earlier tonight and it's a shame he didn't really take his stand up career further after his second tour, as he was one of the best observational comics around.
Although the reason could possibly be that he only really made observations about things that happened in the 1970s.
Asides that, there were parts of the DVD that still had me laughing such as him talking about for example, your dad pretending to put you into a headlock when a police car drove past, or asking why mums brought rubbish fizzy drinks such as Rola Cola.
One of my favourite parts of that routine is when Peter recounts his mother forcing him to drink it by saying "there's people starving in Ethiopia" to which Peter would respond "Send it over there then! They'll send it back!"
Quite a lot of the catchphrases have become stuck in my vocabulary as whenever it starts to rain moderately I will utter "It's Spitting!" in a jokey manner.
It's pretty much inescapable, along with the fact that thanks to Chris Moyles,
I can never utter the word "whoopee" in a sarcastic manner.
I love it at the end of the performance after possibly the third encore where Peter gives his rendtion of the Jim'll Fix It theme which probably relates to an early TV appearance on "The Sunday Show" in 1997 where Jimmy Savile was brought on to reveal that Peter had written in asking to fix it for him to sing the closing theme tune at the end of the programme.
During the end credits I liked how it used of the Lindisfarne song "Run For Home" which added quite a sentimental touch to it, especially with the caption dedicating the video to Peter's dad Michael who died aged just 51 in 1999.
Quite a few other familiar faces who would later appear in some of Peter's TV shows had cameos in the opening and closing sketches including Paddy McGuinness, Smug Roberts, Archie Kelly, and Jayne Tunnicliffe who I think bares a resemblance to fellow third year Caroline.
Dave Spikey also appears as "Jerry St Clair" and like I've said before the rather difficult relationship between them on screen possibly reflects how they got on in real life.
Following on from this I watched would could possibly be fellow radio student Eric's worst nightmare, that being Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
with Chris Moyles as one of the guests.
The interview itself was mainly about the Kilimanjaro climb which raised 3 million pounds for Comic Relief, but they did talk about the radio show and Jonathan mentioned that he thought the jingles were awful.
Then again the ones on his Radio 2 show aren't great in all fairness;
"Yeah Jonathan!"
However Chris defended them and even mentioned Sandy Beech who runs Music 4 who produce them for the show. Although that isn't his real name of course as I believe his first name is Carl.
Speaking of jingles, Jonathan had got some of his own produced for tonight's show which were done in a slightly similar if not amaterish style but they were rather funny.
Especially the one for Rhys Ifans who was also on the show that went
"#Rhys Ifans!, Rhys Ifans!" in a rather laddish punk rock style.
I'm heading back over to Canterbury tomorrow, I don't know exactly when but it will definitely be before midday.
Quite a lot to carry back with me, including the infamous Marantz recorder.
Good Night.
Although the reason could possibly be that he only really made observations about things that happened in the 1970s.
Asides that, there were parts of the DVD that still had me laughing such as him talking about for example, your dad pretending to put you into a headlock when a police car drove past, or asking why mums brought rubbish fizzy drinks such as Rola Cola.
One of my favourite parts of that routine is when Peter recounts his mother forcing him to drink it by saying "there's people starving in Ethiopia" to which Peter would respond "Send it over there then! They'll send it back!"
Quite a lot of the catchphrases have become stuck in my vocabulary as whenever it starts to rain moderately I will utter "It's Spitting!" in a jokey manner.
It's pretty much inescapable, along with the fact that thanks to Chris Moyles,
I can never utter the word "whoopee" in a sarcastic manner.
I love it at the end of the performance after possibly the third encore where Peter gives his rendtion of the Jim'll Fix It theme which probably relates to an early TV appearance on "The Sunday Show" in 1997 where Jimmy Savile was brought on to reveal that Peter had written in asking to fix it for him to sing the closing theme tune at the end of the programme.
During the end credits I liked how it used of the Lindisfarne song "Run For Home" which added quite a sentimental touch to it, especially with the caption dedicating the video to Peter's dad Michael who died aged just 51 in 1999.
Quite a few other familiar faces who would later appear in some of Peter's TV shows had cameos in the opening and closing sketches including Paddy McGuinness, Smug Roberts, Archie Kelly, and Jayne Tunnicliffe who I think bares a resemblance to fellow third year Caroline.
Dave Spikey also appears as "Jerry St Clair" and like I've said before the rather difficult relationship between them on screen possibly reflects how they got on in real life.
Following on from this I watched would could possibly be fellow radio student Eric's worst nightmare, that being Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
with Chris Moyles as one of the guests.
The interview itself was mainly about the Kilimanjaro climb which raised 3 million pounds for Comic Relief, but they did talk about the radio show and Jonathan mentioned that he thought the jingles were awful.
Then again the ones on his Radio 2 show aren't great in all fairness;
"Yeah Jonathan!"
However Chris defended them and even mentioned Sandy Beech who runs Music 4 who produce them for the show. Although that isn't his real name of course as I believe his first name is Carl.
Speaking of jingles, Jonathan had got some of his own produced for tonight's show which were done in a slightly similar if not amaterish style but they were rather funny.
Especially the one for Rhys Ifans who was also on the show that went
"#Rhys Ifans!, Rhys Ifans!" in a rather laddish punk rock style.
I'm heading back over to Canterbury tomorrow, I don't know exactly when but it will definitely be before midday.
Quite a lot to carry back with me, including the infamous Marantz recorder.
Good Night.
"That Was Then..."
More laughs have ensued, this time through an episode of HIGNFY from late May 2004 where Dara O'Briain was the host only two weeks after previously hosting the programme.
This suggested that Hat Trick were possibly becoming serious about finding a possible permanent host as Alexander Armstrong appeared twice that series, but it wasn't to be.
However it was still good fun with one of the main stories being the raised profile of the UK Independence Party which at the time had Robert Kilroy Silk and Joan Collins as their members.
It's good that there are programmes such as Have I Got News For You as it's more or less my way of keeping up to date with political developments as they just rip them to shreds and provide laughs with them, with the rise and fall of UKIP being no exception.
It was also the week when there was a fire in the Momart warehouse in Leyton East London, where works of art by Charles Saatchi and Tracy Emin were destroyed.
However the funniest parts of the programme included one of the questions in the Odd One Out round where those included were Adam Faith, Spike Milligan, Mussolini and Mel Blanc, where the answer was that they'd all written their own epitaphs apart from Adam Faith who was more remembered for his last words before his death in 2003;
"Channel 5's all shit isn't it? Christ the crap they put on there, it's a waste of space"
Ironically and rather sadly, Faith's final TV apperance was in an ill fated BBC 1 sitcom "The House That Jack Built" which co-starred Gillian Taylforth.
There was also a rather amusing story from a headline in the Missing Words round which involved Tony Blair's new spin doctor Dave Hill being in deep water for an incident reminiscent of Stephen Byers and Jo Moore two years earlier, when he said that the collapse of a roof at a Paris airport was a good time to undermine the Paris Olympic bid.
Hill later said that it was designed as a flippant remark that wasn't designed to cause offence to which Dara responded "that's a nice use of the Ron Atkinson defence there"
There should be another series of the programme starting by the time I return to Uni after Easter which should see me through my final semester although it's at the end of this year that the current contract for the programme runs out.
I'm pretty certain it will be renewed though as it still does well for BBC 1 and I can't see programmes such as Mock The Week being a threat, as because it's slightly funnier with an emphasis on high profile stand ups, it only has one series a year scheduled slap bang in the summer whereas HIGNFY has two series a year in the Spring and the Autumn and focuses more on topical items.
Although each guest host throughout the series is a case of hit and miss but thankfully Ann Widdecombe won't be returning after finding it hard to cope with guest Jimmy Carr on her last apperance.
As for the rest of tonight, more laughs are in store with another viewing of Peter Kay's "Top Of The Tower" DVD which gave birth to the now infamous "Garlic Bread" routine.
This suggested that Hat Trick were possibly becoming serious about finding a possible permanent host as Alexander Armstrong appeared twice that series, but it wasn't to be.
However it was still good fun with one of the main stories being the raised profile of the UK Independence Party which at the time had Robert Kilroy Silk and Joan Collins as their members.
It's good that there are programmes such as Have I Got News For You as it's more or less my way of keeping up to date with political developments as they just rip them to shreds and provide laughs with them, with the rise and fall of UKIP being no exception.
It was also the week when there was a fire in the Momart warehouse in Leyton East London, where works of art by Charles Saatchi and Tracy Emin were destroyed.
However the funniest parts of the programme included one of the questions in the Odd One Out round where those included were Adam Faith, Spike Milligan, Mussolini and Mel Blanc, where the answer was that they'd all written their own epitaphs apart from Adam Faith who was more remembered for his last words before his death in 2003;
"Channel 5's all shit isn't it? Christ the crap they put on there, it's a waste of space"
Ironically and rather sadly, Faith's final TV apperance was in an ill fated BBC 1 sitcom "The House That Jack Built" which co-starred Gillian Taylforth.
There was also a rather amusing story from a headline in the Missing Words round which involved Tony Blair's new spin doctor Dave Hill being in deep water for an incident reminiscent of Stephen Byers and Jo Moore two years earlier, when he said that the collapse of a roof at a Paris airport was a good time to undermine the Paris Olympic bid.
Hill later said that it was designed as a flippant remark that wasn't designed to cause offence to which Dara responded "that's a nice use of the Ron Atkinson defence there"
There should be another series of the programme starting by the time I return to Uni after Easter which should see me through my final semester although it's at the end of this year that the current contract for the programme runs out.
I'm pretty certain it will be renewed though as it still does well for BBC 1 and I can't see programmes such as Mock The Week being a threat, as because it's slightly funnier with an emphasis on high profile stand ups, it only has one series a year scheduled slap bang in the summer whereas HIGNFY has two series a year in the Spring and the Autumn and focuses more on topical items.
Although each guest host throughout the series is a case of hit and miss but thankfully Ann Widdecombe won't be returning after finding it hard to cope with guest Jimmy Carr on her last apperance.
As for the rest of tonight, more laughs are in store with another viewing of Peter Kay's "Top Of The Tower" DVD which gave birth to the now infamous "Garlic Bread" routine.
"Prison Would Be A Relief Right Now"
Almost at the halfway stage of Hell's Kitchen series 1 where in the middle of the first week there were two departures.
The first of which being athlete Dwain Chambers who found the pressure too much to take and decided to leave despite the fact that everyone thought he was getting better.
This resulted in a rather tearful farewell although it's understandable that Dwain was rather down as he wanted the experience to boost his confidence after his recent drug problems.
The other celebrity to leave but in a less heartfelt manner was Tommy Vance who had only been there for two days. I can remember him refusing to tell Gordon that he was leaving which resulted in this comment between him and Al Murray;
Al: "You're aware that he is a great chef"
Tommy: "And I'm a great DJ"
Tommy appeared on the following days show as one of those attending the restaurant where he admitted to Angus that he was a "lazy git" but came up with this rather unfortunate line;
Angus: "And what do you make of what you've eaten so far?"
Tommy: "Well I'm not dead yet"
It was interesting to see both Mark Curry and Yvette Fielding in the background during one of Angus's links in what could have possibly been their first appearance together in 15 years after Mark left Blue Peter.
I'm not sure how well Yvette would have done as one of those in the kitchen itself if the pancake incident in 1988 was anything to go by. That resulted in the classic line "Mark, I think I've joined your club!"
Despite the departures things seemed to be improving and by the Wednesday they were able to provide a full service with the majority of the meals meeting Gordon's standards.
To add more pressure there had been visits by the food critics of both the Observer and The Times, with the critic from the times complaining that his risotto was too salty whereas Gordon, and fellow head chef Angela Hartnett saw nothing wrong with it at all.
The funniest part came when alleged comedian Prick Reeves was present along with his lovely wife Nancy and asked Jean Phillipe if they could make him a fried egg.
Gordon wasn't impressed and said to the maitre d' "I'm not here, sweating my bollocks off to cook some dickhead a fried egg" .
He then asked Jean Phillipe to bring the customer over and Reeves was subjected to a tounge lashing where Gordon quite rightly called him a "fucking twat".
Couldn't have put it better myself.
It's worth mentioning that during the first series they tended to stop bleeping out the fucks halfway through the show although when it returns for series 4 in a few weeks there may not be any at all judging by ITV's standards.
Although in one episode there were 4 utterances of "shit" from Gordon in 30 seconds and when said in an angry manner I can understand why it could be shocking.
Although in my case I find it rather amusing.
One part that I picked up on was when the chefs were relaxing in the upstairs lounge, Amanda Barrie brought up the issue of when Gordon bollocked Abi Titmuss for laughing during a crucial part of the service and that if Gordon ever spoke to her like that she would be furious.
We got to see Amanda's attitude in the flesh later in the series providing one of the many memorable moments.
Having watched back through the series, I can possibly suggest that Claudia Winkleman will be no patch on Angus Deayton as the presenter although she's no where near as bad as other presenters on television and it's evident she has a sense of humour as seen on shows such as 8 Out Of 10 Cats.
The first of which being athlete Dwain Chambers who found the pressure too much to take and decided to leave despite the fact that everyone thought he was getting better.
This resulted in a rather tearful farewell although it's understandable that Dwain was rather down as he wanted the experience to boost his confidence after his recent drug problems.
The other celebrity to leave but in a less heartfelt manner was Tommy Vance who had only been there for two days. I can remember him refusing to tell Gordon that he was leaving which resulted in this comment between him and Al Murray;
Al: "You're aware that he is a great chef"
Tommy: "And I'm a great DJ"
Tommy appeared on the following days show as one of those attending the restaurant where he admitted to Angus that he was a "lazy git" but came up with this rather unfortunate line;
Angus: "And what do you make of what you've eaten so far?"
Tommy: "Well I'm not dead yet"
It was interesting to see both Mark Curry and Yvette Fielding in the background during one of Angus's links in what could have possibly been their first appearance together in 15 years after Mark left Blue Peter.
I'm not sure how well Yvette would have done as one of those in the kitchen itself if the pancake incident in 1988 was anything to go by. That resulted in the classic line "Mark, I think I've joined your club!"
Despite the departures things seemed to be improving and by the Wednesday they were able to provide a full service with the majority of the meals meeting Gordon's standards.
To add more pressure there had been visits by the food critics of both the Observer and The Times, with the critic from the times complaining that his risotto was too salty whereas Gordon, and fellow head chef Angela Hartnett saw nothing wrong with it at all.
The funniest part came when alleged comedian Prick Reeves was present along with his lovely wife Nancy and asked Jean Phillipe if they could make him a fried egg.
Gordon wasn't impressed and said to the maitre d' "I'm not here, sweating my bollocks off to cook some dickhead a fried egg" .
He then asked Jean Phillipe to bring the customer over and Reeves was subjected to a tounge lashing where Gordon quite rightly called him a "fucking twat".
Couldn't have put it better myself.
It's worth mentioning that during the first series they tended to stop bleeping out the fucks halfway through the show although when it returns for series 4 in a few weeks there may not be any at all judging by ITV's standards.
Although in one episode there were 4 utterances of "shit" from Gordon in 30 seconds and when said in an angry manner I can understand why it could be shocking.
Although in my case I find it rather amusing.
One part that I picked up on was when the chefs were relaxing in the upstairs lounge, Amanda Barrie brought up the issue of when Gordon bollocked Abi Titmuss for laughing during a crucial part of the service and that if Gordon ever spoke to her like that she would be furious.
We got to see Amanda's attitude in the flesh later in the series providing one of the many memorable moments.
Having watched back through the series, I can possibly suggest that Claudia Winkleman will be no patch on Angus Deayton as the presenter although she's no where near as bad as other presenters on television and it's evident she has a sense of humour as seen on shows such as 8 Out Of 10 Cats.
No Turning Back
With all the stuff that's been going on this afternoon I decided to have a lie down whilst listening to Dina Carroll's "Only Human" album which was her second solo LP from back in 1996.
It's a bit more downtempo than "So Close" as it seemed she wanted to appeal to a larger audience who enjoyed the slushy ballads more than her dance based tunes although there are some good tunes on the album such as the singles "Escaping" and "Living For The Weekend" as well as other standouts such as "Mind, Body And Soul" and a rather interesting cover of "I Don't Want To Talk About It" previously performed by Everything But The Girl, and Rod Stewart.
It's just gone 5pm as I type and to paraphrase one of her earlier hits
"It's Too Late" with regards to getting the Marantz back.
Although I'm pretty certain there maybe one or two people
who still haven't even read the e-mail that was sent at such an inapropriate time.
One such individual who would be in no position to return their's would be Stewart as he's been behind the bar all day where I popped over at lunchtime for a glass of water, and he's been asked to work for an extra two hours.
Whilst all this has been going on there seems to have been a lot going on in the news of media with one of the big stories being Chris Moyles getting a bollocking from Andy Parfitt over his Will Young parody.
Definitely deserved as that was probably a step too far and rather childish to the point of petty schoolboy bullying.
Although those who constantly moan about wanting Chris Moyles off the air will have as much hope as the chances of me wanting Scott Mills to depart.
Another radio related story comes with the news that UKRD are set to by the stations in The Local Radio Company.
Radio Today Article
This comes after several stations within the group have merged together or have been sold off such as Ivel FM in Cornwall where our old station voice
Tim Ley used to present.
Elsewhere, This Morning's Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford have announced that they are to finally to tie the knot. I really hope that this isn't a desperate attempt to overshadow the news of Fern Britton's departure.
As I type I'm listening to Jake and Spike on the last ABB of the semester where they're well and truly being themselves with Jake's introduction to a record by the Dirty Pretty Things going along the lines of;
"They're a band who have now split up. That's how cutting edge this station is".
No disrespect to anyone but I can fully understand how distraught Chris has been with regards to how the music has been handled on Smoke since he gave up that role.
I know he was very commercial in some of his choosings but at least he kept things consistent with the best playlist being in May 2007 during the first Smoke's Out 4 Summer where the A-list consisted of tracks that were set for release in June or possibly July blended in with a great selection of classic tracks as well.
What I suppose you could call "Hotter And Fresher".
It's a bit more downtempo than "So Close" as it seemed she wanted to appeal to a larger audience who enjoyed the slushy ballads more than her dance based tunes although there are some good tunes on the album such as the singles "Escaping" and "Living For The Weekend" as well as other standouts such as "Mind, Body And Soul" and a rather interesting cover of "I Don't Want To Talk About It" previously performed by Everything But The Girl, and Rod Stewart.
It's just gone 5pm as I type and to paraphrase one of her earlier hits
"It's Too Late" with regards to getting the Marantz back.
Although I'm pretty certain there maybe one or two people
who still haven't even read the e-mail that was sent at such an inapropriate time.
One such individual who would be in no position to return their's would be Stewart as he's been behind the bar all day where I popped over at lunchtime for a glass of water, and he's been asked to work for an extra two hours.
Whilst all this has been going on there seems to have been a lot going on in the news of media with one of the big stories being Chris Moyles getting a bollocking from Andy Parfitt over his Will Young parody.
Definitely deserved as that was probably a step too far and rather childish to the point of petty schoolboy bullying.
Although those who constantly moan about wanting Chris Moyles off the air will have as much hope as the chances of me wanting Scott Mills to depart.
Another radio related story comes with the news that UKRD are set to by the stations in The Local Radio Company.
Radio Today Article
This comes after several stations within the group have merged together or have been sold off such as Ivel FM in Cornwall where our old station voice
Tim Ley used to present.
Elsewhere, This Morning's Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford have announced that they are to finally to tie the knot. I really hope that this isn't a desperate attempt to overshadow the news of Fern Britton's departure.
As I type I'm listening to Jake and Spike on the last ABB of the semester where they're well and truly being themselves with Jake's introduction to a record by the Dirty Pretty Things going along the lines of;
"They're a band who have now split up. That's how cutting edge this station is".
No disrespect to anyone but I can fully understand how distraught Chris has been with regards to how the music has been handled on Smoke since he gave up that role.
I know he was very commercial in some of his choosings but at least he kept things consistent with the best playlist being in May 2007 during the first Smoke's Out 4 Summer where the A-list consisted of tracks that were set for release in June or possibly July blended in with a great selection of classic tracks as well.
What I suppose you could call "Hotter And Fresher".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)