Tagging bbc radio songs via mobile phone
posted on Aug 30, 2005 - View this thread

RIP Tommy Vance. For years the voice of BBC Radio 1's 'The Friday Rock Show' and, for TV viewers throughout the UK, the voice of a multitude of adverts, Tommy Vance has died following a stroke. RIP you gravel-throated bringer of rock.
posted on Mar 6, 2005 - View this thread

The recent post that revived the rude ‘Rainbow’ kids show sketch reminded me of the our (that is, British) obsession with comic double entendre - the ability to accept the filthiest things as long as there is a parallel innocuous interpretation. I think it is something to do our love for wordplay and subtext, our innate hypocrisy and the belief that sex is, in fact, rather naughty. Perhaps the prime example are the Julian and Sandy sketches that ran on the BBC Radio show ‘Beyond Our Ken’ from 1964-69. Over Sunday lunch, millions (there was ONLY the BBC in those days) listened to two very camp characters saying outrageous things in Polari (underground gay slang). A much earlier prime example is the great dirty joke (it’s the one in blue at the bottom of the page) that got comedian Max Miller (died in 1963) banned from the BBC for 5 years. A more recent case of innuendo is, of course, Mrs. Slocombe’s pussy. Of course the double entendre can also be unintentional.
posted on Feb 27, 2004 - View this thread

The Funniest Brits Since Monty Python, The Fast Show And The League Of Gentlemen are definitely Ricky Gervais* and Stephen Merchant whose giggly, gloriously silly and shockingly juvenile improvised radio antics can be heard every Saturday on xfm. Radio is so often overlooked and underestimated as a vehicle for comedy that it hurts. This is probably more so in America than in the UK. [Don't know about Canada or Australia, although they produce so many excellent comedians.] Sooooo... What's your idea of radio comedy gold?
*Gervais, in case you've never to have heard of him, is the star of the magnificent The Office, recently aired on cable, along with Ali G, and returning to America in a bastardized version; already featured on MetaFilter.
posted on May 4, 2003 - View this thread

Joanne's beaus one thru four revealed. Something which really exposes the underbelly of the football (soccer) world. Phone-in host and media guru Danny Baker wrung some milleage a few years ago from a single caller over a number of months. Joanne, a woman of generous virtue, was quietly working her way through the back four of a well known Premiereship football team, and calling Baker's saturday show both morning and evening revealing all but names in shocking yet hilarious detail. The British tabloids and football chatrooms were ablaze with theories about who these four players were and also the two managers involved (one of which paid her £5000 to retain naked photos she had taken of him, lest a red-top get hold of them). Well now we finally know - and with all of Joannes calls collected together for the first time. [Real Audio, streaming and download]
posted on May 18, 2001 - View this thread