Aye, them were the days. Sammy Jacob (the other original share-holder) sold out a little too readily in 1998: the station, which was only six months old at that point, could still have survived without Capital's grubby millions. (And without their hideously stilted playlist policy, obviously.)
Edit:
Actually, scratch that. I think Parry was the prick who sold XFM to Capital Radio in the first place.
Mostly a 5 Live man myself. In the morning, at least. It's pretty hit and miss. Rachel Burnham has a lovely deep voice.
This morning, some old bloke actually managed to get the C word into an interview. You could hear the door slamming during the weather report as
god- fearing Nicky Campbell stormed out in despair. You could tell it took him a full 20 minutes to recover.
I'll admit to being partial to some Classic FM as I generally can't bear music radio, but even then the enjoyment is sometimes spoiled by pompous operatic bellowing, and / or some posh twat phoning in to say they're enjoying listening to Classic FM on their day off while painting with water colours and could they please have some Beethoven.
Sean of the Shed wrote: Yeah, Campbell is a vomit inducing twat. Every caller on that programme should go on there and shout "cunt" until his head explodes.
Sean, please, please, please email this request to Jim'll Paint It. I'd pay for a psoter of that.
And the very best wishes to you and your wife, just read on the other thread.
Yeah, Campbell is a vomit inducing twat. Every caller on that programme should go on there and shout "cunt" until his head explodes.
Sean, please, please, please email this request to Jim'll Paint It. I'd pay for a psoter of that.
And the very best wishes to you and your wife, just read on the other thread.
Seconded, on both counts. Apologies for the absurdity of the juxtaposition, but figured it might make you smile a bit so it's got to be worth it.
E10 Rifle wrote: There's lots of good stuff on Radio 4. However, the worst thing on it is the first thing on it when most people get up. The Today programme sums up most of what's wrong with British political journalism – faux-aggressive status quo-defending insubstantial shite.
Exactly, prior to 9am is one of the few times when R4 isn't my default radio listening. The Today Programme's portentous self-regarding tone and style are awful.
I genuinely prefer Nicky Campbell's Partidge-esque wibbling on R5 until the phone-ins start.
I remember the early days of Xfm, I was working at University College London and applied to be their music librarian. Didn’t get the job, but I did get a free t-shirt in return for dispensing Xfm stickers and flyers from the UCL library check-out desk. In the first few weeks of transmission the DJs were always in our post-work drinking haunts.
It got the last FM licence, didn’t it. I remember it was quite a scramble with a plethora of competing stations. It was a brave and adventurous outfit in that first year. I think it was the first place I heard Aphex Twin’s Come To Daddy. Shame hardly anyone else was listening.
I remember the early days of Xfm, I was working at University College London and applied to be their music librarian. Didn’t get the job, but I did get a free t-shirt in return for dispensing Xfm stickers and flyers from the UCL library check-out desk. In the first few weeks of transmission the DJs were always in our post-work drinking haunts.
It got the last FM licence, didn’t it. I remember it was quite a scramble with a plethora of competing stations. It was a brave and adventurous outfit in that first year. I think it was the first place I heard Aphex Twin’s Come To Daddy. Shame hardly anyone else was listening.
350,000 per week at the takeover, apparently - which was nonetheless well short of the target of half a million. (I got one of those Xfm t-shirts too, for similar reasons.)
The station really felt like its own universe for that first year: I loved the low-rent atmos, knowledgeable DJs and ads for obscure music events in London. I still have several tapes (yeah, grandad) of the early restricted-licence broadcasts, but wish I'd recorded more from the pre-Capital 104.9 days. Fair brings a tear to the eye...
Sean of the Shed wrote: Yeah, Campbell is a vomit inducing twat. Every caller on that programme should go on there and shout "cunt" until his head explodes.
Can't remember the exact quote, but I liked an episode of Mid Morning Matters where one of Alan Partridge's guests was praising Campbell as someone with the gravitas to present news and the common touch to present game shows. "Or basically fail at both" said Partridge.
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