Radio and I have never really gotten along. It’s mostly my fault. I don’t listen.
badum tish!
Actually, that’s not all that far from the truth. I don’t listen to the radio all that much, it’s just never been a part of any routine. Radio wasn’t a big part of my childhood as it never occurred to me that there might be stations other than those my parents listened to, so for the most part I grew up listening to albums.
The one time I do listen to the radio is in the car on my commute which brings me to my quandary.
What, or more exactly who, should I listen to?
Music wise my tastes lie somewhere between Radio 1 and Radio 2, with Radio Clyde (West of Scotland only) being the closest match (where closest equals “if I have to suffer a mix of chart music”). I’m not a fan of talk shows on the radio, so Radio 4 is out, and Radio Scotland has a jack of all trades approach which just annoys me.
Of course we are only talking about when I’m driving to and from work so I need to find a breakfast show and a drivetime show that I can tolerate.
With Chris Evans moving to the breakfast slot on Radio 2, it seems like there will finally be something decent to listen to of a morning in the car. His evening show was pretty interesting and musically a reasonable fit to my tastes. He’s much less grating on the radio than on TV and as the alternatives are Chris Moyles (Radio 1) or George Bowie (on Radio Clyde), well it’s a no-brainer.
But what of drivetime? Simon Mayo on Radio 2? Puhleeze, there is more personality in a toe-nail clipping. Scott Mills on Radio 1, inane chatter, that whole “off of” bollocks and his playlists always seem to favour the current, most annoying, manufactured tripe. Radio Clyde seems to be where this is heading, which at least gives me local traffic reports but means I have to endure the latest greatest Scottish slang… ohh yeah, and adverts.
And yes, I could just chuck in a CD, but my other half and I don’t share musical tastes, so perhaps the ultimate option is just to switch it off.
What do you do?
Most of the time, I listen to Radio 1, I must admit. I don’t mind Moyles at all (couldn’t abide Wogan on R2) and Mills on the way home is kind-of tolerable for 45 mins.
Given a decent alternative to Mills, I’d happily go elsewhere though.
With Moyles, he used to annoy me, but I do find him more amusing than annoying now. If Evans has grown up and/or improved, I might give him a go in the morning, but it’s just a soundtrack for me driving and waking up, so I don’t mind too much. (And yes, I did mean to put them in that order – Autopilot is my friend!)
I listen to my iPod in the car. On Shuffle.
Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, I listen to a Dublin station called Phantom 105.2 (“Dublin’s Indie Rock”) which is quite good and has almost no chat at all, and never plays “chart” music (you probably can’t get it in Scotland, but they do have an iPhone/iPod Touch app…).
And if that fails, I have my mates’ 80’s compilation mix (CD) in the car, just in case.
I wouldn’t recommend listening to an iPod – certainly not with headphones. You need to be able to hear when you are driving. I usually have Radio 4, being a news addict. I have assorted bits of music in the car too, as radio is rarely pleasing for music. Alternatively, I will make conversation, if I have a travelling companion (Tom is good for this). Otherwise, it is just the normal thing of winding down the window and hurling abuse at random passers-by.
“With Chris Evans moving to the breakfast slot on Radio 2, it seems like there will finally be something decent to listen to of a morning in the car.”
Well I’m glad one person is pleased.
I suspect the a.m. slot on R2 will lose about 50% (if not more) of its listeners. It might gain the odd one or two, but Chris Evans is a huge, huge mistake for their demographic, as I’m sure their figures will show in a few months.
The front of the RT promises that Chris Evans has grown up, so Lyle might be OK…
I think more than one person is pleased BW. Wogan was past his prime, and was never that good to begin with IMO.
I think R2 may lose some listeners but will gain a lot of people of my age group who just can’t listen to R1 anymore. Be interesting to see how it pans out.
Good that you are so accepting of change though, eh! 🙂
I’ve been listening to R4 for years! And even that is dumbing down…
I do think that Wogan was an acquired taste… it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I know lots of 50+s whose it was. I suspect that the majority of TOGS will move to listening to the morning phone-ins on local BBC Radio. There really isn’t much else for *them*.