Radio 2 - only for the middle aged ?
Posted by: Allan Probin on 07 July 2001
As my CDS has been back at Naim for a week now receiving a health-check, I've been itching to get some music back in my life. Finally took drastic action today and rigged-up the Sky Digibox in the listening room so I could listen to the radio. The quality is a bit dire compared to the CDS but hey, its music !
Took a look through the radio listings on the BBC website and found this for Radio 2 tonight:
20:00 Jim Morrison - Dark Star
Johnnie Walker presents a 30th anniversary tribute to Jim Morrison, the charismatic rock legend who fronted quintessential sixties band The Doors until his death in Paris on 3 July 1971.
21:00 Stuart Maconie's Critical List
Stuart Maconie presents a series in which he gives his suggestions for a definitive album collection. This week From Rusholme with Love.
22:00 Bob Harris
Bob Harris with music for discerning listeners featuring classic tracks and new releases by established and emerging artists.
Maybe Radio 2 isn't that bad after all. Then again, I'm going to be forty in a few months time.
Allan
Posted on: 07 July 2001 by Mick P
Allan
Ask your 20 year old kid what he thinks of that lot.......sorry sunshine your becoming dated.
Regards
Ye olde Mick
Posted on: 07 July 2001 by Allan Probin
Mick,
Yeah, your probably right. I had exactly the same thought as you just after I posted that.
Jim Morrison, Johnnie Walker, Bob Harris, ...
My son's into Eminem, and he's 12 not 20. He would consider even 20 to be past it !
Allan.
SkyDigibox/52/135s/SBLs
Posted on: 07 July 2001 by Rico
I guess at 34-and-a-bit I'm approaching middle-age rapidly, if only by tuning in to Radio 2! When not catching up with Digweed etc, anyway. Who cares about age anyway - Miles still sounds cool, and that Neu! album rocks.
Rico - all your base are belong to us.
Posted on: 08 July 2001 by jim learoyd
Allan,
I'm 47 and the years are rolling on! I'm afraid to say it is the norm to go from the crap radio 1 to radio 2. Believe me there is some excellent music on this station. Bob Harris as you mention for one.
jim....................
Posted on: 09 July 2001 by woodface
The problem with radio 2 is not the Music, which is generally very good, but the presenters! Ken Bruce, Steve Wright, Jonny Walker (so bad he is actually good? Especially that excrutiating show of his on an evening when he pretends to know the listeners who call in!) are all awful! I think the only one who is listenable is Terry Wogan!
Posted on: 09 July 2001 by Michael
My 21 year old daughter is a dedicated Radio 2 listener .. and has converted several of her uni friends.
Youngsters who are looking for music beyond the charts and of a more "informed" nature are turning to Radio 2 in preference to the constant pumping of Radio 1 and constant commercial pressures of ILR.
When did we ever get to hear the likes of Tori Amos, a live gig with Jewel (widely known in USA but barely represented by other UK radio channels), Bob Harris's discoveries and the best of the crop from the last 30 decades of rock/pop/jazz/blues.
If you havent listened to it since your parent's era...I suggest you give it a whirl!
OK fair do's ....Sunday evenings is still a no-no!
So hey guys ....rest easy in your beds... we are in good company with a new generation of discerning music lovers.... and through a decent tuner the quality ain't that bad either! ( I am using a Denon).
I rest my case.
Posted on: 10 July 2001 by Stephen Bennett
I also listened to radio 2 for the first time saturday. The Morrison doc was good (my g/f said - I was reading) and I enjoyed fellow Lancashire lad Stuart Maconie reminding me of long nights listening to Radio City in the late 70s.
But the WORST thing were the station idents. It was like listening to R2 with my mum in 1962!
Most of my young friends (20-21) listn to Pink Floyd.
Regards
Stephen
Posted on: 10 July 2001 by Rico
XFM is still the nearest thing in UK to a radio station that
RocksRico - all your base are belong to us.
Posted on: 10 July 2001 by Trevor Warwick
I agree - but they are still too heavily playlisted. I liked the first few months of its existence, before Capital took over, when they used to play some really weird stuff. Guess there was no (profitable) audience for that though...
Trevor
Posted on: 10 July 2001 by woodface
The best thing about R2 is Humphrey Littleton on a Monday evening. This guy is a superb broadcaster, I don't like all the things he plays but he knows his stuff and doesn't patronise his audience. He is good writer also.
Posted on: 11 July 2001 by Pete
Of course we've just finished the recent series of Humph on R4 on Monday evenings, and I'm already waiting with baited breath for the next series to marvel at the swanee/kazoo interfaces and Samantha putting some old 7 inchers in a spin, amongst other things...
But these days I mainly listen to Rdaio 3. Especially Late Junction, Andy Kershaw and Mixing It. An incredibly eclectic mix on all of them.
Pete.
Posted on: 11 July 2001 by Andrew L. Weekes
quote:
But these days I mainly listen to Rdaio 3. Especially Late Junction, Andy Kershaw and Mixing It. An incredibly eclectic mix on all of them.
I agree wholeheartedly - three excellent and eclectic programmes, but all on late at night which is a right pain for those of us that have to get up early the next day!
The minidisc recorder comes in useful here.
As for Humph there's little funnier programmes anywhere on the planet, 'Just a minute' is worth listening too also, in fact most of the comedy output on R4 (6.30 every evening) is worth tuning into.
Another goodie is R2 on Thursdays - Paul Jones and an hour of blues.
Andy.
Andrew L. Weekes
Posted on: 12 July 2001 by Stephen Bennett
quote:
Another goodie is R2 on Thursdays - Paul Jones and an hour of blues
Isn't it depressing him having the blues for an hour?
Is blue, blue on the radio?
Regards
Stephen
Posted on: 13 July 2001 by Tony L
quote:
MTV2 on Sky Digital was a very good channel when it started as "M2" (who else would play Sonic Youth at 9 o'clock on a Sunday morning?). It's "broadened it appeal" a bit now, i.e. got duller, but it's still better than any radio channel by a mile.
I've only had Sky digital for a few weeks, so I have not worked out MTV2's scheduling at all yet. Do they actually have a schedule? Whenever I have flicked past MTV2 they seem to be playing Wheatus or Blink 182 or one of a absolute myriad of bands who sound exactly like Wheatus or Blink 182… What are good times to catch more interesting stuff?
I have also heard that VH1 Classic occasionally have some good stuff on, but whenever I flick past they seem to be having a Sting or Eagles retrospective or something equally brain numbing, I later hear someone mention some fabulous footage they showed of The Electric Prunes or West Coast Experimental Pop Art Band… Doh!
Ah well, Sky One has Buffy every day and twice on Fridays, and Duckman is on every day on Play UK…
Tony.
Posted on: 16 July 2001 by Tony L
quote:
Just wondering....is Radiohead getting much air (radio) time in the UK? I really like some of their stuff but find the sonic quality of their CDs (OK Computer, KID A) to be below par.
I have to admit that I really like the recordings of all the Radiohead stuff I have (Bends, Ok Computer, Kid A, and Amnesiac). From a recording engineer's perspective the thing that is difficult about them is that the arrangements are so full. Radiohead seem to have a complete dislike of gaps, and seem determined to plug every hole, as a result the sound is very full with many simultaneous musical strands. I think their recording engineer has done an excellent job given the dense soundscapes the band obviously wanted to achieve. This certainly does put a hi-fi system to work, and I have seldom heard Radiohead work coherently on cheap systems, though bizarrely very little radios do seem to be able to strip the complexity out and leave the core structure of their music in quite a good way.
I often use both Ok Computer and Kid A as a reference when setting my system up or tweaking anything, if it can sort them out well it can usually deal with just about anything else I am liable to throw at it.
Tony.
Posted on: 16 July 2001 by Tony L
quote:
I had my CDSPS recapped recently and I must admit the system has not returned to anything like its former self. I chalked it up to the "famous" Naim burn-in roller-coaster, but , geeesh, that should be behind me now.
When I got my amp done I found it took bloody ages before the openness and clarity returned. I am talking a month or two. It is worth the wait, as when everything is burnt in ok it sounds better than ever.
quote:
BTW, what did you find with your 32.5 permutations? Does your system take a long time to run-up after a shutdown?
I am back with a totally 1987 spec 32.5 now! I tried putting the 72 boards in over the weekend just to check, and in this room I prefer the more relaxed and warmer sound of the original boards. The system as a whole is actually sounding excellent at the moment.
Tony.
Posted on: 24 July 2001 by jim learoyd
Alan, sorry to rob your post, but I hear you demoed the New Neat Vitos. What did you think of them? I heard them briefly and was very impressed. I have got the Elites, so I'm used to and like their sound.
Bob and Derek I must say were very accomodating with my trip up from Leeds.
jim...............
