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Danny Baker - The Game

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    Danny Baker - The Game

    There is a letter in the December WSC that mentions Danny Baker's The Game. Not living in the UK, this was new to me (although I used to listen to his 606 podcasts and downloaded a lot of the Baker and Kelly Mp3s that someone shared on this board back in the day). I watched the first episode of The Game last night ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t1ECK9yWK4 ) and it was good stuff. Line of the episode: Pat Jennings went down a lot too but he kept his eyes open (in references to the Cock Club keeper). I'm guessing that the market for Sunday league viewing was small and that's why there weren't many episodes.

    Am I missing any other Baker programs that are worth checking out? The show he started doing after the 606 show never worked for me since I didn't really care about interviews with celebrities. Not enough football for me.

    #2
    It's a tricky one as he's always been better on the radio.

    Other than his Own Goals & Gaffs videos, the only thing that springs to mind is Walking With Giantkillers, an FA Cup special he did with Kelly in the early 2000s. It's on YouTube, albeit the quality of the upload I've seen is atrocious.

    He's just started a podcast with Gary Lineker called Behind Closed Doors. I've listened to the first couple of episodes and it shows promise.

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      #3
      I know I'm going to get excommunicated for saying this, but I think he's a fucking dickhead.

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        #4
        I hope that you're sure of your ground before suggesting that Chris Evans' best friend could possibly be a dickhead, EIM.

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          #5
          He repeats himself a lot. Very narrow box of tricks, it seems to me. And the Evans/Gazza lack of self-awareness combined with just assuming everything you say is hilarious without actually doing the homework. A bit of a London version of Maconie in that he knows less than he tries to fool you into thinking he does.
          Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 15-11-2018, 10:07.

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            #6
            Baker's no genius - and he does repeat himself a lot - but he's good at his thing, which is a lot more than one might say for the majority in similar positions. (He's also a very decent writer.)

            The Game was a fun series. The fact that they didn't extend it beyond a few episodes was probably right, however.

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              #7
              Originally posted by EIM View Post
              I know I'm going to get excommunicated for saying this, but I think he's a fucking dickhead.
              You'll find there's a surprising number of us on here who think that Baker's a bag of toss.

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                #8
                Lots of things to query regarding Danny Baker, and I didn't like his autobiographies much. But I love him as a broadcaster. I think he's got an absolutely remarkable touch for drawing the best out of everyone he talks to.

                I know his son, he's a really nice guy who runs a great record label.

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                  #9
                  I'm sure we've debated Baker's qualities about a dozen times before on here and opinion has been distinctly mixed.

                  I think he's one of, if not the, finest radio broadcasters in this country of the last few decades and one of the few mainstream media figures who absolutely gets football fandom. However, his work in other fields ranges from great to mediocre and I almost completely avoid him on twitter (as I do with most people I admire, it's a terrible reductive medium).

                  I fully understand why he strongly divides opinion though.
                  Last edited by Ray de Galles; 15-11-2018, 13:09.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                    I think he's one of, if not the, finest radio broadcasters in this country of the last few decades and one of the few mainstream media figures who absolutely gets football fandom.
                    He's very good at hosting radio phones ins and he absolutely gets football fandom. He realises that real football fans don't go round talking about who they want to buy, or whether they think their left back should be on the right. He realises it's about more than that. The grounds, the pies, the songs, buses, trains, scarves. In a nutshell everything surrounding the game and he gets people to ring in about that instead. His phone-ins getting people to call on different categories draws the best out of people and gets some really funny stories in.

                    Having said that, I find I can listen to his Radio 5 Saturday AM show only occasionally rather than regularly as he just goes on to much rather than taking the calls.

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                      #11
                      Have a listen to these clips for a start. There are a host of other

                      Some of them are from when he was alone on talk sport and got a bit ranty at referees, but the ones where he is with Danny Kelly can not be bettered.

                      In terms of his radios, he was excellent at breakfast on his stints at LBC (there are ten 'best of' on youtube)

                      It didn't works so well at Radio 1 and I find his current 5 Live show unbearable.

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                        #12
                        I enjoyed his early stints on R1 for a variety of reasons, the main one being that his tenure there utterly pissed off Dave Lee Travis to the nth degree.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                          I enjoyed his early stints on R1 for a variety of reasons, the main one being that his tenure there utterly pissed off Dave Lee Travis to the nth degree.
                          I remember the BBC programme "blood on the carpet" being particularly good about that, with DLT and Adrian Juste wandering around the old radio centre giving out about the way they were treated, like they were exiled royalty or something, hilarious

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                            #14
                            I do still admire his skills as a broadcaster but I wouldn't want to spend five minutes in his company. He just seems to be an unbearable curmudgeon without someone else (with the ability and quick wit to rein him in) giving him a focal point.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by elguapo4 View Post
                              I remember the BBC programme "blood on the carpet" being particularly good about that, with DLT and Adrian Juste wandering around the old radio centre giving out about the way they were treated, like they were exiled royalty or something, hilarious
                              The book about that period in Radio 1's history, The Nation's Favourite by Simon Garfield, is excellent.

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                                #16
                                I enjoy Danny Baker in most things he does. His radio show is a fun listen, Cradle To Grave was good, his books are a decent read, and Brushing Up On... was great.

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                                  #17
                                  I have been familar with Baker since 'Sniffin' Glue' and would generally give him credit for long service as a decent writer and entertaining broadcaster. However if I had only come into contact with him in the last decade via his now tiresome Saturday show and his prickly twitter account I don't think I'd like him much.

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                                    #18
                                    I'm quite enjoying the Baker-Lineker podcast; they make an interesting pair.

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