WELL I TUNED TIO VIP RADIO TODAY , AS I WAS OUT IN THE GARDEN WITH MA WEE SKY GNOME, AND AFTER LISTENING TO SHAUN ROBINS SHOW SOME GREAT 2 STEP STUFF AND VERY SOULFUL AS ALWAYS I THOUGHT RIGHT HAVE A BEER AND TURN TO VIP,

BOB SHANNON YES SOME NICE STUFF THEN WATCHED A BIT OF FOOTBALL WITH ANOTHER BEER, SWITCHED BACK TO VIP, AND WHERE DID YOU GET THE JINGLES IT WAS LIKE SOME LOCAL RADIO STATION FROM THE 70s CHEGARS PLAYS POP AND THE MUSIC THE CARPENTER FOR F*CK SAKE, .

I DO NOT FEEL LIKE A VIP BUT AN OLD GIT, IT WAS SHIT! COME ON MR ROBERTS IF YOU ARE GOING TO TRY AND OUT DO SOLAR YOU HAVE A VERY VERY LONG WAY TO GO,

Edited June 11, 200618 yr by BOO BOO

WELL I TUNED TIO VIP RADIO TODAY , AS I WAS OUT IN THE GARDEN WITH MA WEE SKY GNOME, AND AFTER LISTENING TO SHAUN ROBINS SHOW SOME GREAT 2 STEP STUFF AND VERY SOULFUL AS ALWAYS I THOUGHT RIGHT HAVE A BEER AND TURN TO VIP,

BOB SHANNON YES SOME NICE STUFF THEN WATCHED A BIT OF FOOTBALL WITH ANOTHER BEER, SWITCHED BACK TO VIP, AND WHERE DID YOU GET THE JINGLES IT WAS LIKE SOME LOCAL RADIO STATION FROM THE 70s CHEGARS PLAYS POP AND THE MUSIC THE CARPENTER FOR F*CK SAKE, .

I DO NOT FEEL LIKE A VIP BUT AN OLD GIT, IT WAS SHIT! COME ON MR ROBERTS IF YOU ARE GOING TO TRY AND OUT DO SOLAR YOU HAVE A VERY VERY LONG WAY TO GO,

WAKEY WAKEY!

Oh dear...another idiot not understanding the VIP CONCEPT.

VIP Radio is not a full blown Soul Radio station. It never proclaimed to be!

The sound is for Over 35's...duh.

Stop listening to VIP.....puuullllleeeeaaaazzzz. We are looking for success with sensible listeners not ones who are a bit dim.

I love The Carpenters Close to you, yesterday once more, Superstar, rainy days and mondays...genius

got a ruby and the romantics on a&m sounding a little carpenters but very soulful too!!!!

as it says on the tin...VIP its an over 35 station

me thinks it needs more backing than knocking

sounded good to me on its opening day last monday

I love The Carpenters Close to you, yesterday once more, Superstar, rainy days and mondays...genius

What's the one that Luther Vandross covered?

Edited June 12, 200618 yr by Simsy

got a ruby and the romantics on a&m sounding a little carpenters but very soulful too!!!!

Is that Hurting Each Other? I've got that as well!

WAKEY WAKEY!

Oh dear...another idiot not understanding the VIP CONCEPT.

VIP Radio is not a full blown Soul Radio station. It never proclaimed to be!

The sound is for Over 35's...duh.

Stop listening to VIP.....puuullllleeeeaaaazzzz. We are looking for success with sensible listeners not ones who are a bit dim.

I have it on all the time at home, it sounds good to me!

Cheers

Paddy

What's the one that Luther Vandross covered?

Oh yeah, Superstar. (Don't you remember you told me you loved me, baby) Nice tune.

Edited June 12, 200618 yr by Simsy

Is that Hurting Each Other? I've got that as well!

Thanks Pete for lightening up another debate. I think if we had launched a full blown Northern Rarities station, some idiot would have offered the 'too much Northern being played' line.

Do you get the feeling that one or two nutters( afraid to reveal themselves) like Boo and Soulsearcher are drinking too much hard liquid, starting a brawl, getting a kicking and are too stupid to go home!

Coming up....Thunderclap Newman, Desmond Dekker, Tommy Neal and Greg Perry

Any requests?....................

Coming up....Thunderclap Newman, Desmond Dekker, Tommy Neal and Greg Perry

Any requests?....................

yes here's some from me

glen campbell - witchita lineman

mott the hoople - all the young dudes

roxy music - virginia plain

colin bulnstone - say you don't mind

todd rundgren - i saw the light (this is my favourite record of all time, of any genre)

cilla black - anyone who had a heart

joe jackson - it's different for girls

Is that Hurting Each Other? I've got that as well!

Hurting each other/ baby i could be so good at loving you

A&M

i like both sides Pete

yes here's some from me

glen campbell - witchita lineman

mott the hoople - all the young dudes

roxy music - virginia plain

colin bulnstone - say you don't mind

todd rundgren - i saw the light (this is my favourite record of all time, of any genre)

cilla black - anyone who had a heart

joe jackson - it's different for girls

Joe Jackson....good call

cilla black yo yo??? perhaps

Coming up....Thunderclap Newman, Desmond Dekker, Tommy Neal and Greg Perry

Any requests?....................

Sonny Charles - Black pearl (if you have it)

What about Ginji"Karen Carpenter" James "Love changed his face" this could easily have been slipped onto the Carpenters greatest hits without missing a beat.

All the best

Manus

[todd rundgren - i saw the light (this is my favourite record of all time, of any genre)

===

this is one of my faves too pete along with

england dan and john ford coley - love is the answer

neil sedaka -laughter in the rain

lee garrett - youre my everything..

beautiful tunes...

Coming up....Thunderclap Newman, Desmond Dekker, Tommy Neal and Greg Perry

Any requests?....................

what about "the sun hasn't set on this boy yet" by Nils Lofgren or his

version of "goin back"

WAKEY WAKEY!

Oh dear...another idiot not understanding the VIP CONCEPT.

VIP Radio is not a full blown Soul Radio station. It never proclaimed to be!

The sound is for Over 35's...duh.

Stop listening to VIP.....puuullllleeeeaaaazzzz. We are looking for success with sensible listeners not ones who are a bit dim.

I sincerely wish you luck though with the format and the station - especially with Andy Wint on board, who is one of the most experienced and original thinkers left in British radio.

But this ain't a good way to win friends Kev. Someone misunderstood the concept. So what? Never got hold of the wrong end of the stick yourself? Doesn't make JohnM an idiot. Lighten up baby!

Edited June 12, 200618 yr by Dayo

I sincerely wish you luck though with the format and the station - especially with Andy Wint on board, who is one of the most experienced and original thinkers left in British radio.

But this ain't a good way to win friends Kev. Someone misunderstood the concept. So what? Never got hold of the wrong end of the stick yourself? Doesn't make JohnM an idiot. Lighten up baby!

Words fail me......cash out dude!

WAKEY WAKEY!

Oh dear...another idiot not understanding the VIP CONCEPT.

VIP Radio is not a full blown Soul Radio station. It never proclaimed to be!

The sound is for Over 35's...duh.

Stop listening to VIP.....puuullllleeeeaaaazzzz. We are looking for success with sensible listeners not ones who are a bit di

Well it is a Forum and my point of veiw in scotland we have REAL RADIO , SAGA ECT so why did i buy a sky gnome as all i had to do was buy a wee trany and tune in there and listen to the same stuff but without the 70s dj gingles, it would be so good to have a station playing 60s Northern Rare Soul, Crossover 70s, 80Ss Soul, so you might have gone down the wrong road,

Hi,

Listen to Saga, they obviously play more Soul than VIP.

Anyone have any serious strength asprin?

mott the hoople - all the young dudes

todd rundgren - i saw the light (this is my favourite record of all time, of any genre)

Good call Pete - two of my all-time faves there! 1972 was a good year!

Serious question for you Kev.

A few Stoke Soulies have asked me about the music policy for the VIP night at Kings Hall on August 12th.

This is obviously on topic for this thread so worth asking on here.

Will it be a Soul night as they are expecting, or will it come under the VIP banner of an Over 35s night with a varied selection of music genres to suit that age bracket?

Regards

Mace.

Edited June 12, 200618 yr by Mace

Serious question for you Kev.

A few Stoke Soulies have asked me about the music policy for the VIP night at Kings Hall on August 12th.

This is obviously on topic for this thread so worth asking on here.

Will it be a Soul night as they are expecting, or will it come under the VIP banner of an Over 35s night with a varied selection of music genres to suit that age bracket?

Regards

Mace.

Hi Mace,

For the record, VIP went on air(Sky) a week ago today and appeals to Over 35's who are tired of the same 500 records being rotated by most Gold stations.

However, when it comes to live events, we have to be more sensitive to the public.

What I mean is, you would not expect us to play 'something in the air' followed by 'unsatisfied' . The Stoke Aug 12th night will be a mixture of Motown, Torch Oldies and general 70's like 'the love I lost'

July 22nd will be the regular massive All Nighter.

Please send me regular details for Alsager and your Bidds night. I will be happy to plug em for you.

All the best,

Kev

todd rundgren - i saw the light (this is my favourite record of all time, of any genre)

B sides great too....Marlene....also Can We Still Be Friends....awesome

Lenny

jesus some of the tunes listed you should maybe aim for 45 lolol ....thats a joke btw ...

Im a bit perplexed. If the station is aimed at the over 35s then what do I,born in 1952,and somebody else born in 1971 have musically in common. Im 16 when Beatles and Stones are in the charts, and they're listening to Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue at the same age. So a bit of a wide divergence there and Im wondering where the common ground is supposed to be.

The whole concept sounds rather similar to the rebranded Smooth FM which plays disco and soul hits mainly from 70's and 80's with the odd 60's track [usually Motown] thrown in and is aimed at the same age group I'd guess from nature of the featured advertising.

Did I see that there's a nightly Northern show starting at 8pm. I'd rather watch the TV or video although I suppose I could have it on over the net when Im on here but that's usually an opportunity to listen to a CD.

Back in '69 I'd listen to Mike Raven or tune into American Forces Network from Germany. Never listened to UK radio cos I'd gotten into soul. Why would I want to start listening now to a station playing the Carpenters!!

I remember Todd Rundgren, Mott the Hoople, Colin Blunstone. They were records you flicked past to find the good stuff.

ROD

Im a bit perplexed. If the station is aimed at the over 35s then what do I,born in 1952,and somebody else born in 1971 have musically in common. Im 16 when Beatles and Stones are in the charts, and they're listening to Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue at the same age. So a bit of a wide divergence there and Im wondering where the common ground is supposed to be.

The whole concept sounds rather similar to the rebranded Smooth FM which plays disco and soul hits mainly from 70's and 80's with the odd 60's track [usually Motown] thrown in and is aimed at the same age group I'd guess from nature of the featured advertising.

Did I see that there's a nightly Northern show starting at 8pm. I'd rather watch the TV or video although I suppose I could have it on over the net when Im on here but that's usually an opportunity to listen to a CD.

Back in '69 I'd listen to Mike Raven or tune into American Forces Network from Germany. Never listened to UK radio cos I'd gotten into soul. Why would I want to start listening now to a station playing the Carpenters!!

I remember Todd Rundgren, Mott the Hoople, Colin Blunstone. They were records you flicked past to find the good stuff.

ROD

Hi Rod ,get out ,these were the records you had hid underneath that bloody Telegraph of yours or was it the.............. I'm the same age as you ...now I do feel old......ATB Steve Zelenyj

I remember Todd Rundgren, Mott the Hoople, Colin Blunstone. They were records you flicked past to find the good stuff.

ROD

Shame that they sound better now than your good stuff of then though.

What a one-dimensional reply Rod, didn't think you subscribed to the 'soul or nothing' school of thought.

Pete, Im sorry but 70's pop/rock leaves me unmoved. I like 60's reggae altho more into the lovers-rock type sound of 70's and 80's, rockabilly, doo-wop and 50's jump R&B, and 60's US garage. I don't count them as nothing!!

ROD

Pete, Im sorry but 70's pop/rock leaves me unmoved. I like 60's reggae altho more into the lovers-rock type sound of 70's and 80's, rockabilly, doo-wop and 50's jump R&B, and 60's US garage. I don't count them as nothing!!

ROD

I just remember records that were in the charts and on the radio when I was at school, some of them stayed with me, but I never tried putting them into genres that's why I have to disagree with you, they were just great songs from the early 70's. It's not like I hunted down all their albums I only did that with David Bowie

For the record, VIP went on air(Sky) a week ago today and appeals to Over 35's who are tired of the same 500 records being rotated by most Gold stations.

Touche

Im a bit perplexed. If the station is aimed at the over 35s then what do I,born in 1952,and somebody else born in 1971 have musically in common. Im 16 when Beatles and Stones are in the charts, and they're listening to Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue at the same age. So a bit of a wide divergence there and Im wondering where the common ground is supposed to be.

The whole concept sounds rather similar to the rebranded Smooth FM which plays disco and soul hits mainly from 70's and 80's with the odd 60's track [usually Motown] thrown in and is aimed at the same age group I'd guess from nature of the featured advertising.

Did I see that there's a nightly Northern show starting at 8pm. I'd rather watch the TV or video although I suppose I could have it on over the net when Im on here but that's usually an opportunity to listen to a CD.

Back in '69 I'd listen to Mike Raven or tune into American Forces Network from Germany. Never listened to UK radio cos I'd gotten into soul. Why would I want to start listening now to a station playing the Carpenters!!

I remember Todd Rundgren, Mott the Hoople, Colin Blunstone. They were records you flicked past to find the good stuff.

ROD

I was born in 53 and had an older brother who was into Hendrix/Cream/Beatles/Yardbirds etc and an older sister who went out dancing to Motown and soul. I had both lots of music rammed down my throat and chose the soul route. That doesn't mean that I can't stand anything else. I dj'd in 3 nightclubs for 3 nights a week from 75 to 78 and had to play a real cross section of stuff from Wings to Tavares with some Chuck Wood & Jackie Wilson slipped in between.

I've listened to KR on his show in the afternoon and to be honest the stuff I heard was ok and had a good mix of 60's & 70's soul with some bearable non soul stuff.

I remember when Jazz fm first went on air it played some quite good stuff but unfortunately the general listening public aren't that discerning and they couldn't sustain it, so they rebranded to smooth fm and throw in plenty of commercial stuff.

Personally, if I never hear Luther Vandross - "Never too much" again, it will be too soon.

I can see your point though and I have to say that I don't really listen to the radio that much either nowadays, I've got so much of my own music that I'd rather listen to.

I don't know why, but in 1970 when I used to listen to Seargant Milt Kemp at midnight on American Forces Network, I was listening to new stuff and I wanted to get my hands on it asap, but now when I listen to the middle hour of Richard Searling's show, where he plays new stuff, most of it leaves me cold.

So I have Radio 4 or Talk sport to wake me up in the morning, not because I'm some intellectual, but because it guarantees I won't have some irritating record putting me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

Kev

I just remember records that were in the charts and on the radio when I was at school, some of them stayed with me, but I never tried putting them into genres that's why I have to disagree with you, they were just great songs from the early 70's. It's not like I hunted down all their albums I only did that with David Bowie

Well me too but I must be older. My memories would be Keith West, Lemon Pipers, Simon Dupree's "Kites""Happy Jack", "Pictures of Matchstick Men". Don't know what our age gap is but those are some of the pop songs that stick with me and I think illustrates the difficulty of having a radio station aimed at the over 35s. Those few years between us make a big difference. The 70's pop IMO was absolute bobbins compared to the 60's. I really couldn't listen to a station playing any of those songs you listed.

The only guy I'd go out of my way to listen to on the radio would be Mark Lamarr.

ROD

Im a bit perplexed. If the station is aimed at the over 35s then what do I,born in 1952,and somebody else born in 1971 have musically in common. Im 16 when Beatles and Stones are in the charts, and they're listening to Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue at the same age. So a bit of a wide divergence there and Im wondering where the common ground is supposed to be.

The whole concept sounds rather similar to the rebranded Smooth FM which plays disco and soul hits mainly from 70's and 80's with the odd 60's track [usually Motown] thrown in and is aimed at the same age group I'd guess from nature of the featured advertising.

Did I see that there's a nightly Northern show starting at 8pm. I'd rather watch the TV or video although I suppose I could have it on over the net when Im on here but that's usually an opportunity to listen to a CD.

Back in '69 I'd listen to Mike Raven or tune into American Forces Network from Germany. Never listened to UK radio cos I'd gotten into soul. Why would I want to start listening now to a station playing the Carpenters!!

I remember Todd Rundgren, Mott the Hoople, Colin Blunstone. They were records you flicked past to find the good stuff.

ROD

Ihave to agree when i was younger sitting at the school disco local youth club , waiting for the odd spin off northern to be played in 3 sets of 3 records and that was my night i now listen to talk radio station if not listening to cds cos hate all that pop stuff, i like to listen to SHAUN ROBBINS OR BIG DADDY us older ones are sitting watching corrie or easties or some 3 part drama at that time of night, aslo i liked to listen to KEV ROBERTS show when he was on weekend mornings on sky, all i was saying was that VIP would not make me go out my way to tune in if i had other plans , unlike the others shows which i would put on to cd and listen to in the car,

Well me too but I must be older. My memories would be Keith West, Lemon Pipers, Simon Dupree's "Kites""Happy Jack", "Pictures of Matchstick Men". Don't know what our age gap is but those are some of the pop songs that stick with me and I think illustrates the difficulty of having a radio station aimed at the over 35s. Those few years between us make a big difference. The 70's pop IMO was absolute bobbins compared to the 60's. I really couldn't listen to a station playing any of those songs you listed.

The only guy I'd go out of my way to listen to on the radio would be Mark Lamarr.

ROD

Rod, I've written on here a couple of weeks ago about Keith West's record being my most vivid memory from primary school age...and still, every time I hear it I think of eating breakfast in the kitchen of our council house, listening to the the radio, then setting off for school at 8.30. Our age difference is about 5 or 6 years I think. I love 60's pop and some 70's pop.

I love 60's pop and some 70's pop.

Kev, I'd forgotten guy's name on AFN although I thought it was on around 10pm but my memory is very selective. I do remember listening to him playing Stylistics "You're a big girl now" on Sebring [was it?] and thinking I must get that.

Pete, many's the morning I set off for school at 8.30 and was in the local Stockport record shop at 9.30. Guy there used to write me a sick note for the teacher. Eventually my mum caught me and a mate [Richard Hillel if anyone knows him] in there wagging it and she dobbed us in to the school. Got 6 strokes of the cane and some lecture about letting down the school by being the first kids to play truant in the sixth form. But what an education we got in that shop. "Here she comes" on UK Parkway DJ for £1 [most of a week's dinner money]off "Little Louie". Didn't even know what it was but he said it was good. Very happy days!!!!

ROD

Kev, I'd forgotten guy's name on AFN although I thought it was on around 10pm but my memory is very selective. I do remember listening to him playing Stylistics "You're a big girl now" on Sebring [was it?] and thinking I must get that.

Pete, many's the morning I set off for school at 8.30 and was in the local Stockport record shop at 9.30. Guy there used to write me a sick note for the teacher. Eventually my mum caught me and a mate [Richard Hillel if anyone knows him] in there wagging it and she dobbed us in to the school. Got 6 strokes of the cane and some lecture about letting down the school by being the first kids to play truant in the sixth form. But what an education we got in that shop. "Here she comes" on UK Parkway DJ for £1 [most of a week's dinner money]off "Little Louie". Didn't even know what it was but he said it was good. Very happy days!!!!

ROD

Rod,

You've got me going down memory lane now - I remember in 1969 when a 45 was 6/8d (six shillings & 8 pence for those born after Feb 71) and my school dinner money was 7/6d so I would buy a single each week with my dinner money and then go to the chippy every lunch time and pinch a few chips off the first years to get my lunch. I was so well in with the woman in the record shop that she would let me behind the counter at lunch time while the shop was shut so I could go through the records picking out all the goodies and putting them away until the next week.

yes here's some from me

colin bulnstone - say you don't mind

joe jackson - it's different for girls

Two stunners !

Just my ten penneth.

I used to run a radio station that was also gunning for the 35 - 55 age group market. and here's my perspective.

Station playlist policy juggling is a hard thing to do. Getting the mix right is very difficult and a hell of a lot of time goes into it.

VIP's playlist and policy is very similar to the one we used to use but contains more northern / pop soul tunes during the day than we did. The only northern our our station was the 2 hour sunday night programme that I used to present.

The hardest thing about designing a music policy is to get the mix right to keep as many of your target audience as possible without hitting one particular niche within that market too much, too much of one alienates the other.

At the end of the day a station has to make money, the only way this is done is through advertisers. Contrary to popular belief stations receive no money from anywhere else.

VIP is in a different position to the station I ran. Mine was an 'on air' station as opposed to an internet based / Sky based one. With the plethora of stations available on the web and on sky i believe that the only way to survive is to hit a niche market and hit it hard.

I think that with Kev's influence over the station what VIP has tried to do is to attract the N soul crowd whilst at the same time attracting others from the demographic 35-60.

Unfortunately I dont think this 'mix' will work and will be re-jigged for the following reasons.

For the northern crowd they will be interested in hearing the 'hall of fame' programme but during the day will be lost. Although there is n soul played in the day it does not hit the mark as far as the n soul fans are concerned - bit poppy and not enough of it.

The other listeners that the station attracts may not be keen on those sporadic soul tracks interfering with their 'expected' listening instead opting to listen to a regular 'gold' station which although they play the 500 most common playlist tracks, keep them singing along all day long whilst working or whatever non n soul fans do

What this does in effect is create a new niche market from those who the station believe they are attracting. The northern soul fan who was also into 70's and 80's disco and isnt too fussy on what they hear as long as it's 'feelgood' music

I think that once the audience figures start to settle down and the reports come in of the listener base is that two things may happen.

1. the station moves its policy over to one of the two markets - ie, all gold or all northern / motown.

2. the station changes its daytime music policy excluding the non-mainstream soul but whilst introducing more specialist music programming outside of the 8-6 peak listener hours.

Personally I believe that the former, a 100% soul and motown station would produce more of a dedicated listenership but here lies the problem.

A station of that genre would be limited in its advertiser base and as previously stated advertising pays the wages. Therefore the latter is the most probable route they will take.

Please note Kev that this is not a criticism, just 5 years of radio programming experience coming out. you will be travelling a road i have been on many times and I wish you luck as you take these decisions.

The job of station controller is not an easy one at all. You have the audience to try to please but then you have the rebels in your presenter team who want to stray from the stations policies. You cant get it right all the time and no matter what will always have those who say it's wrong.

Before you all come down hard on Kev, just spare a thought - the job he's chosen to do is very hard and time consuming. I worked about 18 hours a day when i was doing that and i've got to say, although i've had the opportunity to do it again several times i've always turned the opportunity down. Radio takes over your life and saps your strength until you can't think of anything else.

I completely understand where you are

Just my ten penneth.

I used to run a radio station that was also gunning for the 35 - 55 age group market. and here's my perspective.

Station playlist policy juggling is a hard thing to do. Getting the mix right is very difficult and a hell of a lot of time goes into it.

VIP's playlist and policy is very similar to the one we used to use but contains more northern / pop soul tunes during the day than we did. The only northern our our station was the 2 hour sunday night programme that I used to present.

The hardest thing about designing a music policy is to get the mix right to keep as many of your target audience as possible without hitting one particular niche within that market too much, too much of one alienates the other.

At the end of the day a station has to make money, the only way this is done is through advertisers. Contrary to popular belief stations receive no money from anywhere else.

VIP is in a different position to the station I ran. Mine was an 'on air' station as opposed to an internet based / Sky based one. With the plethora of stations available on the web and on sky i believe that the only way to survive is to hit a niche market and hit it hard.

I think that with Kev's influence over the station what VIP has tried to do is to attract the N soul crowd whilst at the same time attracting others from the demographic 35-60.

Unfortunately I dont think this 'mix' will work and will be re-jigged for the following reasons.

For the northern crowd they will be interested in hearing the 'hall of fame' programme but during the day will be lost. Although there is n soul played in the day it does not hit the mark as far as the n soul fans are concerned - bit poppy and not enough of it.

The other listeners that the station attracts may not be keen on those sporadic soul tracks interfering with their 'expected' listening instead opting to listen to a regular 'gold' station which although they play the 500 most common playlist tracks, keep them singing along all day long whilst working or whatever non n soul fans do

What this does in effect is create a new niche market from those who the station believe they are attracting. The northern soul fan who was also into 70's and 80's disco and isnt too fussy on what they hear as long as it's 'feelgood' music

I think that once the audience figures start to settle down and the reports come in of the listener base is that two things may happen.

1. the station moves its policy over to one of the two markets - ie, all gold or all northern / motown.

2. the station changes its daytime music policy excluding the non-mainstream soul but whilst introducing more specialist music programming outside of the 8-6 peak listener hours.

Personally I believe that the former, a 100% soul and motown station would produce more of a dedicated listenership but here lies the problem.

A station of that genre would be limited in its advertiser base and as previously stated advertising pays the wages. Therefore the latter is the most probable route they will take.

Please note Kev that this is not a criticism, just 5 years of radio programming experience coming out. you will be travelling a road i have been on many times and I wish you luck as you take these decisions.

The job of station controller is not an easy one at all. You have the audience to try to please but then you have the rebels in your presenter team who want to stray from the stations policies. You cant get it right all the time and no matter what will always have those who say it's wrong.

Before you all come down hard on Kev, just spare a thought - the job he's chosen to do is very hard and time consuming. I worked about 18 hours a day when i was doing that and i've got to say, although i've had the opportunity to do it again several times i've always turned the opportunity down. Radio takes over your life and saps your strength until you can't think of anything else.

I completely understand where you are

Well said Glynn. I've been in radio since 1982 - your comments are very sound.

Touche

Yes indeed ...Thats made my day Kev...

Can we have "if i were a carpenter"by Tim Hardin please,i am sure some of the soul people who listen in don't know this original version..I really love that track.. I am a fan of old gold stations when working through the day.....Birds...Neil young...Terry Callier etc etc would have me chilling too...

steve

Well said Glynn. I've been in radio since 1982 - your comments are very sound.

Glynn makes a good case. The thing is...there is nothing else like us at present.

We believe in the format, so let's see.

VIP has got to be an improvement on the current Gold scene.

which station dayo?

I love The Carpenters Close to you, yesterday once more, Superstar, rainy days and mondays...genius

Carpenters..... Pure class,Helps me de-stress when driving

which station dayo?

Wyvern, Beacon, Sunshine, BBC H & W.

These days freelance voiceover doing commercials, ID's etc.

presenter, management or both?

presenter, management or both?

Presenter. Was a tad too rebellious for management!!!!

How about you?

Col

long story tee hee

but in a nutshell owner, station controller and presenter of six shows a week of an rsl station for four years, also background in commercial radio as presenter only.

brilliant business isnt it!

dont do it anymore tho - got bored.

now work as a currency trader from home. - funny cos i cant remember when my childhood ambition of train driver and radio DJ changed to investment manager haha.

dont do it anymore tho - got bored.

Bored? How could you? Here's me taking a day off from trying to beat an Enco-Dad library into shape ready for a new scheduling system, too many late nights and RSI - how can you possibly get bored?

Hippo.

ahh, good old enco-dad - never did like that software tho

I used otsjuke as it was then called - otsdj now - much cheaper than enco-dad, less features but if you got into the programming and sceduling module was as powerful.

Must admit i did love radio - always been a DJ since the age of 7 at my brothers mobile disco, seriously thought about getting back into it but then looked at the money and thought naaaahhh!

Still got all the kit though, exciter, 200w tx etc. used to have an optimod too but sold that a while ago.

god, dont start me off on radio!

ahh, good old enco-dad - never did like that software tho

Well, we've been using it on our RSL's for a few years but we go full-time next month, so we're bolting on Powergold. Should be interesting!

Edited June 15, 200618 yr by Jerry Hipkiss