Photo: barb_ar @ flickr
The silver lining of the George Lamb shaped cloud that hovers over BBC 6 Music's mid-morning schedule is that I've been forced to search out new delights for my pre-lunch listening.
Before Lamb's controversial appointment my work-day radio habit was Gideon Coe between 10 and 1 before tuning into my favourite American station, North Carolina's WNCW, for the afternoon. With 6 Music's live output during the morning no longer to my taste these are the five shows I'm listening to most on the iPlayer.
Gideon Coe
George Lamb's brilliant predecessor now has a graveyard slot but thanks to the iPlayer it's possible to listen to his three-hour evening show in the same morning slot he used to occupy. I think Gid's become more of a duffer with his nightly show and I imagine him presenting it wearing slippers.
God's Jukebox with Mark Lamarr
This superb Radio 2 show is broadcast at an even more unsociable hour than Coe's. Few people seem to like Mark Lamarr an in individual; he often comes across as arrogant and rude. There's no doubt that he has excellent musical taste though and his enthusiastic, eclectic picks from the 50s to the present day are the nearest I've heard to the musical education I've had from Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour.
Marc Riley
Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley's nightly Radio 1 show in the early 90s was the first programme that really hit me as genius radio. While his erstwhile colleague gets comfy at Radio 2, the man Lard continues on 6 Music in much the vein as he's always done with wonderful session guests and surreal non sequiturs.
Guy Garvey's Finest Hour
My 6 Music pal Jane tipped me off to the Elbow front-man's weekly radio show. His band have always struck me as dull but behind a mic I was immediately won over by Garvey's Mancunian charm. Evidently we have similar musical tastes and as a musician Garvey gets much more out of his guests than most other DJs. Perfect in every way.
McClean's Country
Another co-worker, Rory, suggested that Ralph McLean's Friday night show on Radio Ulster would warm my twang-loving heart. He was right. If I was a DJ I'd imagine my playlist would be remarkably similar to McClean's - a mix of quality new Americana like Hayes Carll and Cherryholmes and the non-cheezeball end of the country spectrum: Steve Earle, Gram Parsons, Tones Van Zandt and the like.
Related Posts
Related Links
6 Music - Gideon Coe
Radio 2 - Mark Lamarr's God's Jukebox
6 Music - Marc Riley
6 Music - Guy Garvey's Finest Hour
Radio Ulster - McClean's Country
2 comments:
Don't know if they are up your alley Nige but the Adam & Joe show and Craig Charles' funk and soul show are both tremendous. It's a bit of a cliche to say this but I often attract suspicious looks on South West Trains giggling at the A&J podcast, while Craig Charles' playlist is great.
Although he is prone to the odd crass moment like recently asking Ian McLagen when he last saw Ronnie Lane. 'Er he died in 1991' said Mac.
'Oh yeah, I was thinking of Denny Lane'.
I've always enjoyed the Adam & Joe show a lot when I've heard it but as I tend to listen to 6 Music at work, programmes with a lot of talking aren't ideal. I must get my iPod fixed and subscribe to the podcast. I've never heard Craig Charles' show. I used to quite like Robot Wars though. I'll have a listen.
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