6 January 2011

Round 1 To Zane Lowe

I’ve been listening intently to the temporary BBC R1 daytime schedule to see if it’s made any difference. The first day was pretty average but Zane Lowe got into his stride eventually in taking over Chris Moyle’s early morning slot. But boy is he a patronising brown-nose!!! It’s embarrassing to listen to but Lowe’s one-hour session with Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour did stand out as the best musical hour I’ve heard on R1. Low point emerged this morning as Lowe attempted the same hour session with boxer David Haye. It just didn’t work at all. The boxer wanted to talk about was boxing and Quaker Oats sponsorhip and Lowe’s very average interviewing skills could not stem the flow… So a bit of a mixed bag but frankly anything is better than the dreadful music and meaningless verbage from high-earning Chris Moyles (reported in 2006 to be earning a colossal £600,000 per annum).

There was one other ‘memorable’ moment a couple of mornings ago when Lowe attempted to heap praise on Chris Moyles including the statement that he thought Moyles was the best breakfast DJ in the world. It was over the top, unconvincing and smelt of a much lower paid Lowe (back in 2006 reputed to earn a measly £130,000 per annum) trying to make a point…

Who Is Vangelis?

Annie Mac follows Lowe in the new, temporary schedule and frankly it doesn’t work at all. Today she interviewed Sound Of 2011 short-listed Nero and during the quite pleasant conversation one of the duo mentioned the major influence of Vangelis on their music. Annie Mac quickly asked, “Who Is Vangelis?” There was a short silence from Nero who must have been a little surprised at this question. So just for you Annie Mac:

Vangelis Biography

He is best known for his Academy Award winning score for the film Chariots of Fire, and scores for the films Blade Runner and 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Vangelis began his professional musical career working with several popular bands of the 1960s such as The Forminx and Aphrodite’s Child, with the latter’s album 666 going on to be recognized as a psychedelic “classic”. Throughout the 1970s, Vangelis composed music scores for several animal documentaries, including L’Apocalypse Des Animaux, La Fête sauvage and Opéra sauvage; the success of these scores brought him into the film scoring mainstream. In the early 80s, Vangelis formed a musical partnership with Jon Anderson, the lead singer of progressive rock band Yes, and the duo went on to release several albums together as Jon & Vangelis. In 1981, he composed the score for the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire. The soundtrack’s single, “Titles”, won Vangelis the Academy Award for Best Original Music Score and also reached the top of the American Billboard. In a career spanning over 49 years, writing and composing more than 40 albums, Vangelis is regarded by some music critics as one of the greatest living composers of electronic music. Okay Annie?

Then there’s there’s the utterly awful presenter Huw Stephens who should not be working on any radio station. His choice of music is dreadful and he sounds like someone whose been pulled out of a Welsh primary school to present.

Same Old, Same Old

The R1 Playliss had been stuck in a holiday groove since the 15 December but was eventually updated yesterday. And guess what? It’s the same old shite and disappointingly is still being used during this one week ’specialist DJ takeover’. The A list is Adele, Bruno Mars, Cee Lo Green, Chase & Status, David Guetta, Diddy, Eliza Doolittle, Ellie Goulding, Jessie J, Katy B, MRC, Nero, Kings Of Leon, Professor Green, Rihanna, Tinie Tempah, White Lies and Wretch 32.

Ch…Cha..Changes

So here’s my take on this one-week BBC R1 ‘experiment’. It’s not about music, or competition or audience numbers or demographic, it’s about MONEY. At last the BBC is coming under some pressure to trim its sails from government. Mark Thompson (BBC head honcho) has yet to make his mark on the corporation but has seen in some detail the costs of running the radio channels. Radio 1 and 2 cost fortunes to run, many times more than equivalent commercial and digital stations. And the biggest cost is wages. Back in 2006 The Sun newspaper revealed the wages of several BBC Radio 1 presenters and it was shocking.

CHRIS MOYLES £600,000, JO WILEY £250,000, SARA COX £200,000, EDITH BOWMAN £175,000, ZANE LOWE £130,000, SCOTT MILLS £130,000, COLIN MURREY £170,000, PETE TONG £70,000 (for just 3 hours work per week).

Just for these individuals that totals over £1.8 million at today’s prices. Then add broadcast support staff and management (Moyles has 4-5 staff working with him each morning)… Perhaps it’s no accident that the presenters taking a week off are easily the highest paid.

Radio 1/2 are eating money at a rate of knots, and as if there was no tomorrow. Many of the highest paid presenters were remunerated by the same people who awarded such riches to you-know-who (who also happen to have left last year…). The BBC is reluctant to reveal current presenter salaries publicly and I’m not surprised. I think BBC radio have been told to lose at least 30% of its wage bill, and perhaps as much as 50%. Replacing them at fair but much lower wages should not be hard.

WE WILL SEE…

Music That Means Something

Yesterday I happened to pass a second-hand music/movie shop and decided to see if I could find some bargains. I did and today played one of my bargian £1 buys. It was the film Philadelphia which I actually bought on the basis of its soundtrack - one of the finest ever recorded. But today I really discovered how good the film is and how much more moving the music made it. Many years ago I saw a film directed by Costa Gravas called Z. It was a political thriller with a score by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis (who also wrote the music for Zorba The Greek). Theodorakis had been detained by the Greek junta and I believe actually smuggled out music while in jail. His music score for Z helped build the drama and excitement to fever pitch.

I also remember vivadly the music score for the film depicting a real and vile murder of a USA family called In Cold Blood based on Truman Capote’s book. Quincy Jones’s score magnified the suspence, fear and foreboding of this brilliant film shot in black and white. Add to the sheer quality of the music the necessity for the highest sound quality and you have a genre of music that can provide a superb and unique listening experience that more than justifies the investment in good quality hi-fi equipment.

Melody

In my earlier blog I included the lyrics to the song (’Do It Like A Dude’) that has launched Jessie J into orbit and probably won her the Sound Of 2011 top slot. It’s a catchy pop song with meaningless and stupid lyrics. When I choose songs/albums to play and review one key requirement is that they convey some meaning and message. But just as important in my view is melody - the vital component that always hits me before anything else.

The head of Radio 1 would have you believe that melody equates with pop song. Here’s what he said:

“Ones doing really well for us at the moment are the Hoosiers, Scouting for Girls, the Wombats… it depends how far you want to stretch the definition of pop, but you could argue that acts like the Kaiser Chiefs and Pigeon Detectives are making such melodic music you could call them pop.”

Now I’m really confused… You see I always believed that melody is something that’s found in all music including classical, jazz, spiritual, all styles of rock and so on. Indeed it’s fundamental to all great music, and not just popular (pop) music. But his words do give one a clue to why the R1 playlists are so mediocre. They rely solely on melody/hooks with no real concern over lyrical content. It’s dumbing down in the extreme…