Now we are Six

I must be supercharged; two posts in two days. I’m going away for a bit at the weekend I guess, so best to fit them in whilst I can. Just thought I’d stick my oar in on this one, before it gets stale.

If I have to listen to one more person on the radio saying that Radio 1 and Radio 2 are the same kind of station, I’m going to go punch someone. It’s fine giving your opinion, but it’s not fine if you’re basing it on either a) presumption or b) massively outdated evidence. I presume that most of the people saying this were in their early 40s and listened to Radio 2, which, they thought, sounds a lot like Radio 1. Fifteen years ago. No shit! That’s how demographics work! I bet if they listened to Zane Lowe churning out rubbish pop drum n bass they’d have a panic attack.

But the worse view that I heard over and over again today on my usual stalwart, 5Live – another truly wonderful station – was that 6Music was going a job already done by Radios 1 and 2. Bullshit. Radio 1 preaches its “In new music we trust” motto up and down the airwaves, but to get to most of the truly new music you have to listen to either a very precise 3 minutes of a show between 7 and 11pm, or tune in at the kind of time that milkmen get out of bed.

On 6Music, I have enjoyed listening to sessions from bands I’ve never heard of - at times when normal people are awake. I mean, fuck, I even fulfilled a boyhood fantasy and entered Maida Vale studios, to see a friend play a live track for a 6Music show (I stole the pass that I was meant to return, but I assume every musician does that on the first time they go there, so, meh). 6Music is a breeding ground for new talent, and a station that plays music that I can listen to more consistently than any other.

Not only that, but their output includes wonderful comedy. Adam and Joe’s show (currently on sabbatical) is one of the funniest programmes on the radio and the podcast frequently has me attracting funny looks in public when I listen. The fact that they have found a home there, is another reason that makes the station unique. They wouldn’t fit in on any other BBC station.

I won’t pretend I listen to it 24 hours a day, but I listen to it more than I watch BBC1. Or BBC2. Or definitely BBC3. And, I think at the moment that the internet and social media and networking encourage people to jump on bandwagons that, if they’d read about in the paper, they wouldn’t have given a toss about. It feels good to ‘stand up to the man’ (see my previous post on the RatM campaign) and indulge in some community spirit – see Twitter – it only take a couple of celebrities to speak out about something, and suddenly every cares about it more than their own lungs.

But this is something that brings me happiness. In the massive shitstorm that is music radio, it’s nice to have somewhere that feels like it’s run by people who care. Because if I turn on Radio 1 and Fern fucking Cotton is shouting something about texting in what shape your cock is, or how amazing a shade of green she saw on a cereal box this morning or whatever the fuck it is she talks about between piss-poor house tracks and shit-hop, and I can’t turn over and listen to Andrew Collins or Steve Lamacq (one day, I’ll write a whole entry on Steve, you god, you) or Lauren Laverne, I’m going to feel bad.

And I want to feel good, baby.

 

db

Idiots.

This entry has been brewing for some time. Thinking about it, I suppose I mean that in two ways – I have been considering writing it for a few months, and also it has something that has played on my mind for years. Before the tirade, it seems sensible to point out that there probably won’t be much here that most people haven’t thought before, especially recently. But due to the fact I don’t ring into radio shows, I’m going to try and articulate it here as a method of expression/ventilation. I’m also going to try not to be sanctimonious and boring, but I can’t make promises. So, here’s the hot potato:

Politicians.

I’m not going to go into my beliefs in depth, other than to say I’d like to think of myself as a liberal. I’m not aligning myself with any party. I’m not a socialist, I’m not an anarchist, I’m not an anything-ist. As a rule, I engage in political debate on my own terms rather than stating allegiance to someone else’s policies. I admit that this is partly because my political knowledge isn’t as wide ranging as maybe it should be – I’m not ignorant, but I don’t read every party’s manifesto or familiarise myself with many MPs, which is to say there is more information available to me than I absorb.

However, the main thing that really sparked me into writing this was listening to a debate from the House of Commons. Let me outline it, rant a bit, make a smart-arsed closing comment and then I’ll be off.

There were some MPs debating something. What that something was doesn’t matter, but it was the standard deal. Gordon Brown said something, insinuating that what he was saying about it was amazing, then David Cameron said something, making out that Brown’s point would end up with the entire country dying of lack of money or something. This practise in itself is pretty sad. I would like to think that the leaders of our country wouldn’t have to resort to constant one-upmanship to elevate their status.

What really got my goat was that after Brown had made a point, there was a chorus of boos. This is par for the course, I know. But it wasn’t just boos. It was people shouting, in fact, no, screaming derogatory comments. First, the 5Live presenter had to apologise for the language, then the Speaker had to ask two politicians, by name, more than once, to control themselves.

I know that debates get fiery, and that when the blood runs high sometimes you get a bit carried away. But I can honestly say that the only time I would ever consider it appropriate to behave in the way that this men did would be when I was severely inebriated, arguing about football in a pub, probably with some Manchester United supporter called Gaz or something who was trying to convince be that Gary Neville was anything other than a monumental twat who I'd love to punch in cock. But they didn't possess my civility. These people were pathetic. I mean that. I want to say it again.

PATHETIC.

They behaved like rowdy school children, using the most basic and crude tricks they know to get attention and show objection. These are people who my mother and father would have gone out of their way to keep me away from as a child, and who I will keep my children away from. They have nothing to teach anyone, nothing to endear them to anyone. They are relics of a long out of date governmental system that behave like stereotypical public school boys. They also run the country. They need to grow up, because they are shameful, stupid human beings. There are worse.

Politics has been a dodgy business for centuries. But I feel like I have grown up in a country where racism, sexism and homophobia have been pushed into the margins. I feel like I live in a progressive state. I have seen landmark victories against these three evils, and now there seem to be people who are trying to champion them again, even if they claim not too. It is frustrating that our brand of democracy allows parties like the BNP to exist, but I understand it. The fact that people who I share patriotism with might actually give them their vote is far more painful. I don’t want to collate any of the barrages of terrible things said by these people, but I do want to cite something said by one BNP candidate: Nick Eriksen. Read it, if you want. It made me slightly ashamed to be a man.

I know that this is probably not the most coherent article ever written, but I’ve written it in one go, and without any planning. I’m sure if I took a week to write it, it would emerge a lot more articulate and better thought-out, but I’m not going to. I’m just purging, and that’s all it’s going to be.

I don’t plan immerse myself any more into politics, either. I’d rather concentrate on other things.

That’s it.

db