St Swithin, Chris Moyles and Andy Murray

It has been nearly a month since my last blog which is jolly poor on my part. It isn’t that I haven’t had enough to write about – just that I have been busy and then too tired to be inspired enough to open the laptop. However, I am quite certain I shall be making up fo it in the coming few weeks.

Today is St Swithin’s Day – Swithin was the Bishop of Winchester back in 852 and the 15th July was his ‘feast day’…tradition has it that whatever the weather was on his feast day, this will continue for 40 days. For the benefit of the many unfortunate individuals in the UK who have suffered flooding over the last few weeks, one might hope that it remains dry today. I think a period of dry weather – certainly over the next few weeks – might also mean I can try to reclaim my garden from the army of slugs and weeds that have invaded in recent weeks. High temperatures do not interest me at all – but dry and maybe a bit of a breeze would be lovely, thanks!

The Radio One Breakfast Show DJ, Chris Moyles, announced his departure from the show this week. I can understand why – my blog of the 28th February suggested it was time for Moyles to move on – and it was a surprise that Nick Grimshaw was appointed to the Breakfast Show slot – but I think the Daily Mail article following the announcement was rather OTT and brutal. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2171966/Chris-Moyles-leaves-Radio-1-Farewell-cultural-barbarian.html  I have never pretended to be a fan of Moyles and I think his side kick ‘Comedy Dave’ has rather a tragic nickname and comes across poorly on the show, but the DM article is rather unnecessary.

Andy Murray may have lost the Wimbledon final, but he has won the hearts of millions with his tearful speech last Sunday. His manner was always rather dour and miserable – as though he didn’t want to give anything away to the public or his fans – but the tears and emotion he displayed last Sunday ensured he was swiftly moved from the ‘Miserable Bastard’ category to ‘Awwww……let’s invite him round for tea’ category in the eyes of the public. And his appearance in the audience on ‘Mock the Week’ was a master stroke. We saw smiles, we saw him relaxed and we  saw the rest of the audience love him to bits. Tim Henman was always a bit public school boy – but Andy Murray has shown he has emotion and passion – and for me he is now in the ranks of ‘people I would go for a drink with.’

 

 

Radio One – Greg James gets naked, my career advice for Moyles and one to watch – Matt Edmondson

This evening I heard the news that Radio One DJ Scott Mills is being sidelined from the Drivetime show to the mid afternoon program, with Greg James taking over at Drivetime. As I have been known to voice the odd opinion about radio presenters (See Jan 7th blog re Radio Two stand ins) I felt that it would be appropriate to put forward my opinion on this piece of news.

Now, shall we just say that I am at the top end of the Radio One target audience in terms of age  …..and, to be fair, I have been listening to Radio Two a lot recently as I enjoy Chris Evans in the morning. Where my loyalties lie on the way home, however, depends on my mood. Sometimes I have Radio Two on….sometimes I have Radio One….so the news that Greg James is about to take over at Radio One could mean I have a new favourite for the journey home.

I am familiar with Greg James….when I used to wake up regularly at silly o’clock I used to listen to the end of his very early Radio One show before I got up…..and recently when I was off work I caught his afternoon show with the conclusion that he is a perfectly likeable chap.

It could be said that one of the first signs of getting old is that ‘shouty’ radio DJ’s become intensely annoying. Another sign is becoming rather irritated by radio DJ’s who start to believe their own bullsh*t……and this is why I have never quite got on with Chris Moyles and his bunch of ‘hangers on’ in the mornings. (anyone who calls themselves as ‘Comedy Dave’ must be, by default, rather tragic) The news that Greg James is to be moved to the Drivetime slot surely means that Moyles & Co need to sharpen up their CV’s in the coming months – the writing is on the wall – as it is something of a tradition for the DJ hosting the Drivetime show to be eventually moved to the highly prestigious Breakfast Show. (It should go without saying – if I was Scott Mills I would also be logging onto my PC and clicking into the word document titled ‘CV!!’ )

So what do we know of Greg James? He is 26 years old, attended the University of East Anglia and he likes Coldplay http://youtu.be/lPUyJt_5zk4 so he can’t be a bad chap. He also seems to like being without clothes  – evidenced here – http://youtu.be/LdK7vgQtASA – and here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fqnvk – but good for him..why not, eh? I just hope that when he moves to Drivetime he avoids being too shouty and doesn’t have too many of the childish antics Mr Scott Mills has on his show.

But….all of the above talent should keep half an eye on Matt Edmondson….because from where I am sitting he is one talent to watch. Whether on tv or radio – Matt Edmondson is a funny guy – and I can see him as the next Chris Evans.