So where is the Blues Podcast?
A couple of people have asked me what has happened to the new blues podcast. That is heartening as I did not know that anyone listened to them. It is also quite depressing as time has obviously been passing me by. So, where is the blues podcast? Basically it is sitting on the stairs in my house, well, the CDs are. What I need to do is to take them into my home studio and to do the do, as they say. However, more important issues are pressing. The main one being that I am to be made redundant. The prospect of no cash coming in as from mid April is scary, both for me and my bank manager, credit card providers, etc. One good thing to come out of this bombshell (and it was a bombshell, no indication that the company may be about to ditch 50% of the Health and Safety team) is that I have started studying for a H & S qualification (NEBOSH General Certificate if you are interested). About time too, I have been avoiding studying to get on with the practical suff, reducing accidents at work, doing risk assessments and generally nagging the middle managers to take H & S seriously. It worked too. Only 1 accident in the last 35 days (best ever result since we began to keep records in 2004). The near misses are now being reported rather than ignored and I have just organised Health Promotion Days for the 400 people who work for the firm. The result? The company is now able to delegate the responsibility for H & S to the same middle managers that I have been nagging for the last 18 months to get their acts together. An own goal if ever there was one. With only 2 weeks left in the business I am tempted to take an afternoon off and to record the show. Trouble is, I feel this responsibility towards the workers and can not just walk away, not until 18th April anyway.
Real Rock and Blues podcast!!
So it has been a while………….. I wrote some time ago about Ribble Valley Radio. I had a show on the station playing what I like to call real rock and blues. I am afraid that RVR has gone the way of all flesh…… As a community radio station the biggest problem was always funding. In the first year we raised £26,000 and spent £21,000 of that on equipment and £5,000 paying the Performing Rights people and offcom for the licence. Finally, after 3 years the strain was too much and RVR folded. We are in the process of starting a new station, but in the meantime…………… I have started a web site called realrockandblues.com. There is a lot of work to do, of course, it is amazing how much time a small web site can take up. I thought that just writing about music would be enough, but it wasn’t. I really miss broadcasting! It really is the most fun that you can have with your clothes on! The solution? Podcasting! The first podcast is here Real Rock and Blues Show 1. A pretty natty title (Show 1) I think that you will agree. Why not give it a listen? So What is Real Rock? That is a really good question. Real rock, as I see it, is music (not necessarily ‘rock’) that poses questions. I hate music that could be played in a lift. Real music demands attention and thought. What I think I dislike is inoffensive music, and that varies from person to person. So, what you get here is my ‘real rock’ and that might not be yours, and that is fine. One of the great things about music is that it appeals to different people and means different things to different people. Who makes Real Rock?So many people; Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Wreckless Eric, Roger Chapman, Crimzon, Nick Cave, Beefheart, Zappa, Zoot Horn Rollo, John Coltrane, Miles Davis. Anyone working with imagination and with honesty. The list is almost endless. Who does not make ‘real rock’? Oasis, Kaiser Chiefs, any boy band, The Monkees, any girl band, anyone who thinks that they do, Bedingfield, Blunt, Grey etc. etc. This is rather like the old definition of art. “I do not know what it is, but I know what I like.” I hope you like what you hear, let me know. All the best, Phil
Phil’s British Heart Foundation Donation – you know it makes sense
