Off the chest time

Now I know I wear my heart on my sleeve and people can tell how I’m feeling just by looking at me. I’ve suffered this all my life but I think it’s what makes me me.

Now since last week, I’ve been mulling something over in my head and I really need to get it off my chest. It’s to do with human nature and to be honest it’s always annoyed me.

You may know that I come from a showman’s family and as such am part of a close knit community. I spent the formative years of my life settled down in Seaside towns looking after Arcades and Bingos and left home at 20 and went travelling on fairgrounds.

Now what’s bugging me today revolves about a few events that happened to me between the ages of 20 and 21 and were to do with lorries, engines and the like.

Last week, I went to a surprise 50^th birthday party for a showman that I’ve known for years. It’s always good to see old friends, and yet I only stayed for around 2 hours and then came home.

Why? Because I’m sick of being reminded of things that happened 30 odd years ago that seem to be all that certain people remember about me. Oh yes it was so funny wasn’t it? Maybe if I was in your shoes, but personally I’m sick of hearing about it. Oh and yes, I love having the mickey taken out of me. It’s one of the joys of my life….yeah sure.

Do you know what? I’ve lived a full life since then and yet they only seem to be able to talk about my mishaps. Now it’s not even that big a thing, but I’ll tell you what, I’ve achieved loads of things since then and what’s more I’ll continue to do so. But to say it doesn't grate would be an understatement.

It’s probably why I tend to keep myself to myself. I’ve always found that people love to take the mickey or run people down. Why is that?

I do believe I’m a sensitive soul at heart, and that makes me vulnerable to certain things, but I like who I am, and don’t feel the need to take the crap anymore.

The funny thing is that the same people who like to remind me of my mishaps, are supposedly the people I’ve always called my friends. I’m beginning to wonder whether I need new ones!

What I'm Listening To - T Rex - Electric Warrior

I really didn't appreciate this album when it came out. But then again I was only 11 at the time. I have to say though hearing songs like 'Jeepster ', 'Hot Love' and 'Get It On' (by the way it's not 'Bang A Gong') takes me back to a time when I was starting to feel my feet musically.

I'd grown up listening to my Dad's reel to reel tapes with the hits of the late 50s and early 60s, and then my brother's forays into the world of Motown, Stax and Atlantic in the mid 60s, and by the time the 70s rolled around I was beginning to get an idea of what my music was.

Obviously I'd been influenced the the music I'd heard but all of a sudden I was hearing music that hadn't been theirs. One thing I discovered was that I loved all sorts of songs, but I was more of a singles kid. The only albums I bought were compilations of greatest hits.

Singles wise, I was loving Freda Payne, Chairmen Of The Board and Stevie Wonder. But Lee Marvin's Wandrin' Star was a favourite too. And then Glam started! I didn't know it as Glam then,

As my Dad said - 'Have you seen those soppy twats dressed like women?' And I went looking!

But I digress...

Back to the album.

The first time I heard it was in 1972 at a fairground in Crowthorne. I come from a fairground family and was visiting my sister. I was walking past David Traylen's Octopus, and it was playing on the ride.

It sounded great hearing it out of big speakers and I had to listen to it all because I wanted to hear the songs I knew.

I decided I had to buy it and when I went home I went down to the local record shop and forked out my money to get it.

And since then I've played it quite a bit. Not recently though. In fact not in ages.

I don't think it's as good as The Slider, but as I listen to it now, it brings back loads of memories from back then,

I never did get 'glammed up', but I can remember many that did.

Marc Bolan was more talented than I thought he was back then and this album sounds so good 40 odd years after it was recorded.

A well overdue update

I'm not the best blogger in the world as there's always something I've got to do that seems to take precedence over sharing my thoughts. Oh yes, and I forgot my password to get into the account!

So what do I want to share with you? Well let me start by talking about terrestrial radio and how I feel that people that love what I call 'oldies' are being left behind.

What do I mean? Well in this day and age, 'Oldies' seem to have morphed into 'Classic Hits' and what we appear to be seeing is a moving on from the 'Oldies' of the 50s, 60s and 70s, to the 'Classic Hits' of the 80s, 90s and 00s.

I understand that time moves on, but I can't believe how little of the music that changed life for generations to follow. I feel left out if I listen to radio and can't hear not only the classics from the 'Oldies' era, but what I call the 'Forgotten 45s' either.

I read the following article earlier today and it made me think about things have changed. 

And although I had only read it today, I have been thinking along the same lines for ages. And that's why I put together my Rewind Central music channel/radio station.

Not only do my shows get played on the station on a daily basis, but I've added a jukebox to it,and on the jukebox, you'll hear some of the greatest hits of the 50s to the 80s as well as those long forgotten 45s.

As a snapshot of what gets played on there, here's the songs that have been playing whilst I've been writing this blog.

Dolly Parton - Here You Come Again

Carole King - It's Too Late

Junior - Mama Used To Say

Carly Simon - Why

Meco - Star Wars-Cantina Band

Rock A Teens - Woo Hoo

Monkees - Alternate title

Freda Payne - Band Of Gold

Stevie Wonder - More Than a Dream

Bobby Rydell - Forget Him

Keith Emerson - Honky Tonky Train Blues

Randy & The Rainbows - Denise

Whispers - Mother For My Children

Barry White - Honey Please Can't You See

As you can see it's a pretty varied list of songs.

And that's what I'm looking for in a station. I'd like to think I'm not the only one. We launched Rewind Central at the end of May, and it's growing month on month, not at the speed of light, but steadily.

Also unlike many stations out there today, we don't have a playlist of around 300 records. We've over 2000 on the jukebox and we update and change various songs on a weekly basis. What that means is that you're going to hear a whole range of songs.

During August we changed the whole jukebox and played only 'Forgotten 45s'. People were getting in contact and leaving nice messages about what we were playing.

I can't believe that radio is slowly moving away the formative era of 'Rock 'n' Roll', 'The Swinging 60s' and 'The Sensational 70s' and playing only the same old songs from those eras if they play them at all.

I have to admit I'm very nostalgic and love to look back. So much so I've developed a facebook page to run alongside the channel, and it takes a loving look back at the culture of those eras. You'll find photos that will have you looking back on your own life and smiling to yourself.  

Feel free to climb on board as we take the train back in time. Great music and great memories. They're all there!

I've lots of plans for Rewind Central and I'm aiming to put them in place over the coming months.

In fact why not subscribe to the mailing list and we'll keep you up to date with what's happening

The Four Top Hatters - 45 Men In A Telephone Booth

listen to ‘The Four Top Hatters - 45 Men In A Telephone Booth’ on Audioboo

Brut Advert

listen to ‘Brut Advert’ on Audioboo

A rant about bike riders

I pay around £700 on road tax and insurance per year to be able to drive on the roads of the UK.

And this morning, in the space of 10 minutes, bike riders made me so angry. If I had my way, unless they were insured and paid road tax, I'd ban them on the roads.

Now I know that there will be loads of people who will be up in arms at my comments, but it's my blog and I have the right to say what I think.

I was sat at traffic lights at a major junction in Cambridge this morning, waiting for the lights to turn green, when a woman on a bike came up the inside of me and just turned left and joined the traffic, causing a car to have to pull over to miss her, and cross over into the oncoming lane, almost causing a crash. Obviously the red light didn't apply to her!

If he'd have hit the woman, then he'd have probably killed her and ended up in a court accused of bad driving.

And within ten minutes, I got stuck behind two girls riding bikes, side by side in the middle of the lane, dawdling along and chatting, oblivious to two things - the bike lane to their left, and the fact they were holding up traffic.

Now while I come to mention it - bike lanes - why should we have them? Bike riders contribute nothing in the way of vehicle tax, and they don't pay insurance, so why do we have to have bike lanes?  Keep them off the road.

The alternative as I see it, is to make them take a proper test to prove their competency on a bike when on the road, and make them pay tax and insurance.

And speaking of competency, what the hell do parents think they're up to letting 4 and 5 year olds ride their bikes on main roads? As a driver, they frighten me to death. Yes Dad can be riding his bike up front and Mum can be behind, but can they guarantee that if their darling child should fall off that they're going to be able to scoop them up before some horrible accident happens?

I know it doesn't help living near Cambridge where we've got more bike riders than enough. The trouble is with such large numbers of bike riders in and around the town centre, so many of them are like thugs - they fly by you, many times close enough to catch you if you're carrying anything. Lots feel like they own the road and pavements as well.

Whilst walking through the town the other day I encountered someone having a go at a bike rider for riding on the pavement when the pavement was already full of pedestrians.

I'm sorry, but it drives me nuts!!!!!!

Junk Email.....

When I get up in the morning, it’s not until I’ve had a wash and get my glasses on that I remember I’m no longer the 20 year old I still think I am.

That’s OK, I can live with that. That, my receding hairline, and the enlarging belly.

However it’s not until I sit at my computer to survey my morning’s emails that I realise other people think I’m old too.

Now not for one minute am I going to assume that I understand how all these companies manage to profile me by what I look at on the internet, but one thing’s for sure. ‘They’, whoever they are, seem to know what age group I’m in and I appear to be getting targeted emails. This I’m sure about

Why? Mainly because of the amounts of email I get and what their subjects are. Let me give you an example of what appeared in my mailbox today.

Subject: James, You may be eligible to receive a power chair or scooter at little to no cost. It then goes on to tell me how I can get one of those scooters, that at the minute, either hit me up the side of the legs, or clatters me on the pavement as a geriatric Jenson Button heads for the nearest Starbucks!

Subject: Half price laser eye surgery - request your FREE Info Pack & DVD now! Obviously they know I wear glasses, and to help me into my dotage, they’re going to help me see better to clatter people in my motorised scooter.

Subject: It takes seconds to calculate your claims with our injury calculator. Now I’m not sure whether this is so that when I turn my motorised scooter over and get crushed by it, or because I get beaten up by someone who I run into, I don’t know.

Subject: We can help you use your stairs again. It then goes on to say that (company name) Stairlifts can help you and your family, (They think I’d share it?) once again, have full use of the home you love.  They’ve obviously been in contact with the motorised scooter company and decided that if I can’t walk about very well, that I’m going to struggle with my stairs as well.

Subject: We're here to help make bathing a pleasure again. Now this company, having found out that I need a motorised scooter to run people over when I’m in town, and can no longer get up my stairs without a stairlift, seem to have realised that I now can’t navigate my way into a both or shower anymore. So now I need walk in bathing solutions!

Subject: High Quality Electric adjustable beds for the elderly and disabled at low factory direct prices. Well obviously, after I’ve had to go out shopping with my motorised scooter, made it up the stairs with my stairlift, and bathed in my walk in bath, I’m obviously going to need help getting into bed.

Now if all of the above aren’t bad enough, the next two are getting personal.

Subject: stop and reverse male baldness in its tracks with oral treatment that's effective in 95% of patients. Thanks for that! I think they may be a bit late for me as I’ve been steadily losing my hair for the last 20 years. However, this may have been the first email that affects me directly.

And now the one I’ve been waiting for.

Subject: Don't let erection problems keep you from a more satisfying sexual experience. Wahey!!!!! Viagra. That’s the baby. Now they’ve really sussed me out. If I can’t get around without my motorised scooter, need a stairlift to help me get upstairs to my walk in bath, and have eventually managed to get into bed, then I’m definitely going to need some Viagra. I take it I’ll be needing that so that I don’t fall out of my new electric bed as I certainly won’t be fit enough to have some fun with a lady.

The reason I know this is because, I haven’t had even a sniff of an email regarding mail order brides. I know there must be someone out there peddling them via email.

Now all of this would be funny if it wasn’t true. So is it that once you reach 50, all these companies decide that you’re just about to fall to pieces?

How do these companies find out my email address for starters? And when they do, how do they know I’m not one of the 18-30 holiday set? Why aren’t I getting the emails about dating girls in my area?

Now somehow or other, these companies seem to be profiling me. It must be happening, because why would I be getting email in such a narrowly targeted area?

Well let me tell you, you junk mail senders…..I don’t need any of your wares yet…. I’m still very sprightly…..for my age!

One a day!

Yesterday on facebook I took park in what was called 'TIMELINE: May The 4th Be With You.'
See it here
The idea was that during the course of the day, you took a photo of something relating to your life. At the end of the day, when I looked at the photos, it was amazing the variety of things people did.

I can only say it has inspired me to undertake a little project of my own. I an calling it 'One A Day' and my aim is to take one photo about something relating to what I'm up to each day.

I think my life is pretty boring, so I'm really hoping I can find at least one photo opportunity per day.
I'll put it on here and see how it pans out and how long I can keep it up for.

Anyway, here's my first photo - it was taken just after midday today.

It's a photo across the car park of my local Tesco in Bar Hill. I was just on my way out after having been in the shop. Now we say the country's skint, but judging by the amount of cars in the car park, I'm not so sure.

Inside the shop was heaving and there was plenty of money being spent, not just on weekly shopping , but on plenty of luxuries too. TVs, DVDs,  Phones, and loads of other things.

The photo shows just two sections of the car park and what you can see is possibly about a tenth of the car park.

Solving problems

Well, there's so much to do and sort. I never realised how much work it would take to get the station up and running.

A major challenge we've had is the fact that we're nearly 4 miles from our nearest exchange. It's caused no end of problems keeping the station online during peak periods of the day during the test phase, but we're starting to overcome that through different strategies and planning.

We confirmed another presenter last night and so we're slowly filling the schedule. That's harder to do than I thought it would be. We're aiming to get great shows on board from lots of genres, however including the right presenter is proving more of a problem. I have to admit to being fussy about who we have doing shows on the station. But then again, I'm a bit like that in all things. All I can promise is that we'll have the best we can get.

We're working on the imaging for the station all the time. It's all about being feel-good to me. I want a station that you'll want to listen to because of how it makes you feel. We've got plenty of ideas, but they're going to take money to put in place so that's another area we've got to look at. This station isn't going to be a hobby. It's going to be where I dedicate my time and I'll need to make a living out of it.

I have big plans for where I want this station to go - after all, what's the point in putting effort into it if you don't want to get somewhere?

So sponsorship is another area we're looking at. It would be excellent to be able to raise some support to help the station in it's early stages. There's no doubt, I'm not afraid of hard work and am happy to do plenty of that, and having support behind you certainly would allow us to push on with our plans.

You see, for us, it's more than a radio station, it's about a feeling, and one we want to pass on to others. It's mighty hard out there in the real world for many people, and we'd like to think that people can tune into us to be uplifted and be given a reason to feel better.

There's no doubt, that getting this station up and running will be an all-consuming desire over the next few months - after that, getting us into your consciousness will be our next task as we continue to try and make Smile 101 part of your life!

It's all go....

Cliff Banned!

And so another station says they'll not be playing Sir Cliff on their 60s station because he's not 'cool' enough.

It baffles me how one of this country's most celebrated artists is once again given the cold shoulder. I can only assume it's because of his religious beliefs and as we entered the 90s' and 00's he brought out a few religious singles.

Admittedly, they didn't do anything for me, but I'm confused at how you can block out such an important musical figure from and oldies station in the UK.

I don't like Abba - can't help it, I don't. But it's never stopped me playing their music at a disco and it won't stop me playing them on Smile 101. If the audience like them, who am I to argue?

I fully understand the fact that they've decided he doesn't fit their demographic. I'm sure there's music on Smile 101 I won't play. But surely narrowing their choice of artists to those that they consider cool and trendy, will only cut down on their audience.

I'm keen to play as many different songs on the station as we can. To give the listeners variety, and no doubt I'll be accused of not playing certain  classic artists. Smile 101 is about feel good, and so artists that haven't played what could be thought of as feel good music won't be played.

However, I just think Cliff isn't cool because of his religious views and his goodie goodie image. Sorry, for me it's about his music, and whether I like it or not is irrelevant - he was a pioneer in the UK and therefore he should be in the playlist.

Just my opinion....