Twitter's gone a bit loopy today with the news that the BBC could be axing digital radio station 6Music. Thousands of Tweeters are angry enough to #savebbc6music. Apparently George Lamb, Tom Robinson, Bruce Dickinson, Craig Charles, Dave Pearce, Don Letts, Guy Garvey, Liz Kershaw, Steve Lamacq et al are producing shows in the spirit of John Peel (one good reggae track followed by ten fucking awful indie tracks?) and are doing what the BBC is all about (innovation and education) and not just lining their pockets with licence payers' money by doing bugger all other than making self-love to the sound of their own boring voices and playing generally boring music in a boring vacuum of boringness.
As a middle-aged white man with impeccable music taste you would think 6Music would be aimed at the likes of me but even if I did like 80% of the tracks they played I've got music coming out of my ears here at home and there on the internet.
I don't need self-appointed music experts droning on, advising me on what I should be listening to. I'm old enough to work that out myself.
The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig
2 days ago
And now apparently Phil Jupitus has said shutting it down is "an affront to the memory of John Peel." Yeah, let's project our opinions onto those of a dead man. I don't know what Peel would have thought of 6music either, but I do know he was constantly disheartened by the schmindie bilge which dominated the Festive 50 every year. The same bilge which dominates most 6music shows.
ReplyDeleteGood point Geoff. It's like when Woolworths closed and everyone suddenly missed it but hadn't really used it for years. George Lamb is a good argument for voluntary euthenasia.
ReplyDeleteImpeccable.
ReplyDeleteIf Phil Lynott were alive today - I know he'd agree with you.
Spot on. I've never felt the need to have my tastes validated by hearing music I already own played on the radio. The one case for a BBC music station would be if they played unsigned acts exclusively, but then all the sleb trendies wouldn't know what to think about stuff that wasn't already popular.
ReplyDeleteTimmy - It's a bit rich coming from a man who is an affront to the memory of Ian Dury. One of the few good things about 6Music is that it doesn't employ Phill Jupitus any more. Let the old punk/2 toner while away the rest of his days playing large ladies in crap musicals and listening to his Ordinary Boys CD.
ReplyDeleteRog - I think I'd prefer a radio show presented by George's dad, Larry.
Kaz - *clenched fist*
Bob - And surely we don't need DJs in this day and age. Digital radios give you the track and the artist/s throughout the song and you could have a digital voice to announce between tracks.
ReplyDeleteWith a few exceptions for adverts, all I could find on the radio driving across southern TX, LA, AL, MS and FL was fundamentalist Christian radio. It sounds as if 6Music is as annoying as that.
ReplyDeletePS. I pinched your stuff recently.
I think 6Music is pretty fundamentalist.
ReplyDeleteI saw you pinch my stuff. You're welcome to do it any time you like.
Surely radio 3 must be even more of a minority taste than 6?
ReplyDeleteI like 3 though, they have plays on it sometimes.
Somebody once calculated that when it came to Radio 3's more esoteric programming, it would be cheaper to buy a job lot of the relevant CD and deliver copies to each and every listener.
ReplyDeleteAn enormous Yes from me. Bang on the money.
ReplyDeleteBilly - I presume Radio 3 is for your serious classical music listener whereas Classic FM is for your Pavarotti philistine. Does Radio 3 really need a thousand presenters? It's not as if they were alive when the music was being written.
ReplyDeleteTim - Radio 3 has its place in the UK's cultural life. I can imagine it would be a beneficial accompaniment to plotting a murder.
Mr London Street - I do get it right sometimes.
You have stuff to pinch?
ReplyDeleteAnything I'd be interested in?
I'll let you know next time we're away.
ReplyDeleteYou're too hard on John Peel. 6Music's failure is that it pandered to the Peel generation and not to today's young people. My kids (19 and 17) have no clue it even exists, yet both are keen on new music.
ReplyDeleteword ver: Bread
I must confess that 6Music has passed me by altogether, let alone mourning its demise.
ReplyDeleteI shan't spend too long crying into my pillow.
Then again I'm still avoiding Twitter which sounds like a trolls' paradise to me.
Malc - I don't consider myself part of the Peel generation, more the 70s/80s Melody Maker/NME generation. There's so much music for young people to find online nowadays and if they want to be guided on which artists to check out there is a lot of literature out there to help them.
ReplyDeleteLaura - Twitter can be what you want it to be. With 6Music you get what you're given like in an old people's home.
You are absofrickinlutely right..who cares if radio disappeared altogether?
ReplyDeleteI haven't listen to r a d i o since the late 70s & early 80s?
All we need to save is the emergency transmitting bit so that we can listen to our transistors and find other humans to mate with after the nuclear war takes down the interwebs.
Spot on, Donn. And the stations that emit white noise will be more entertaining than 6Music.
ReplyDelete