Day: 1 September 2024

Weeknotes #84:

A week filled with summer moments and enjoyable experiences.

Week commencing Monday, 26 August 2024

A parade of people dressed in bright colours as human peacocks at Ryde Illuminated Carnival 2024
Ryde Illuminated Carnival 2024

Quantified Self

  • This week: Stand 7/7; Exercise 7/7 and Move 7/7. (100%). Morning walks: 1/3 (days in the office don’t count). Office days 1/3. Plant diversity: 42. Total steps: 70,180

Life

  • Hello, September. Let’s have a little more summer, please.
  • Last week I omitted the scooter rally from my weeknotes. It was impressive and a reminder of why modern engines are much better for air quality.
  • Bank holiday Monday by the beach was lovely. I observed that low tide was very low.
  • Former Met Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu: “So I like to call it bullying being the disease and the isms being the symptoms. And I noticed that whenever I’m in an audience, you know, women, black, brown, women, the disabled, the neurodiverse, LGBTQ+, anyone who’s in the audience who’s of difference will just be nodding furiously because our outcomes are all the same. Our journey is quite different, but our outcomes are the same.”
  • Wall-to-wall Paralympics coverage is a recent phenomenon, unheard of in many places until recently. Thank goodness we have Channel 4. I’m as addicted to this medal table as I was to the Olympics.
  • Tuesday, to the theatre for Why Am I So Single, the new musical from the creators of Six. In its current form, it’s too long. I bet this will be addressed before the official opening night.
  • Thursday, Holland Garden is a lovely, tranquil place for people to spend an afternoon.
  • Friday, picked up the train tickets for the weekend and realised I’d missed one railcard off the booking, so had overpaid. I get annoyed at myself for things like that.
  • Saturday, Ryde Illuminated Carnival was as wonderful as its Shanklin sibling. The classic buses from the museum a nice addition.
  • Related, of course, we ordered the Secreto Ibérico and Berenjenas Fritas, as they were our favourites from last time.
  • The café queue at Quarr Abbey moves slowly. But the place is another tranquil spot and perhaps the queue shouldn’t move all that quickly.

Media

  • Bank holiday Monday, Steve Wight in his own words. A lovely tribute to a radio pioneer.
  • Wednesday, Paralympics opening ceremony: enjoyable, even if it didn’t feel as energy-packed as I would hope an opening ceremony would.
  • Thursday and Friday, Test Match Special: unexpectedly good company that I tuned into because Mum and Dad were at Lord’s for the first day. I gather England had quite a good day. Joe Root was the standout, scoring 143 runs. At least one reference to cake.
  • I finished Tracker, the Disney Plus series I mentioned last week. Wondering if the new season will be shown here.

The UK’s (first) Country Station

Why isn’t country music bigger in the UK? Chris Country is automated in a way that gives the station a personality that shines through.

I just wrote a thing on Facebook (and copied here) about the launch of Atlantic 252 on 1 September 1989. People of a certain age remember it fondly because, at the time, there was nothing quite like it. Each year, somebody posts a memory somewhere online. I first did in 2004.

Nobody, however, seems to commemorate the launch of Country 1035 on 1 September 1994. I tweeted a link to my copy of the launch audio earlier. You’ll notice it doesn’t really launch with a big bang.

I may have a copy of the opening words but I don’t remember a great deal about the radio station. I do recall John Scragg was the breakfast show presenter at one time and Capital Gold’s Randall Lee Rose was on air in the early days.

I never quite understood why there wasn’t a big country music station in the UK. The format has a large following; most of the early local stations carried a country music programme at some point. I recall Steve Penk was the presenter of Country Cousins on Piccadilly in the early 1980s. Until recently, nobody has been able to make a big country music franchise work.

Chris Country

Chris Country, “the UK’s country station”, might be the format that changes that. I find myself increasingly listening to it, which, given my general dislike of automated stations, is quite interesting. I think mainstream country music today has a clear rock/pop crossover which might be part of the appeal, but the stories of heartbreak and hard drinking don’t seem to be any different from the music of years ago. Perhaps I just love a good story told through song.

Chris Stevens, who runs Chris Country, produces audio imaging as a day job. Perhaps that’s why the branding and sound of Chris Country is so good. There are no live presenters, a couple of recorded shows at weekends and everything else is automated. But it is automated in a way that gives the station a personality that shines through. I can’t really explain it, but I wish they teach it to other predominantly automated radio stations: Hearst 80s, are you listening? If you don’t think you like country music, give Christ Country a try (on DAB in some areas and across your mobile everywhere).

Oh, and while I am on the subject of country music, find out “why country music makes you cry, and rock and roll doesn’t” in this brilliant episode of Revisionist History. Even if you don’t like country music, and if you don’t want to try listening to the tunes, you should give this podcast a listen

Elsewhere: Everybody Remembers Long Wave Radio Atlantic 252

Atlantic 252 was a pop music station, launched in 1989 with a big impact across the UK. The station, a collaboration between RTÉ and RTL, offered a unique all-day pop format, breaking free from the limitations of needle time rules and shaping the radio landscape of the 1990s.

In the spirit that this blog is home to content posted elsewhere, I wrote this earlier on Facebook.

UK Radio geeks always remember 1 September
Atlantic 252 logo
Atlantic 252

I don’t remember the pirate radio ships of the 60s; my introduction to the world of the wireless came from the back of an AA Member’s Handbook where all Britain’s local radio stations were listed. In 1979 that list was probably fewer than two pages. The majority of UK radio listening was to national networks, and the BBC had a monopoly on those. The English service of Radio Luxembourg suffered on AM at night. It was only ever “the great 208” when I was on holiday in France, being the only English-language radio station I could find.

Local radio was made up of a handful of BBC stations in a fairly random collection of towns and the fledgling Independent Radio Network. Where I lived, BBC Radio Blackburn (from 1981, Radio Lancashire) was our nearest BBC local and Piccadilly from Manchester and Radio City from Liverpool vied for their place as the North West’s biggest station. When I was nine years old, Piccadilly won because the Pete Baker breakfast show had the best jingles.

Today, with wall-to-wall pop hits on TV and radio channels (as well as all the world’s music available in a single app or on-demand videos from YouTube), it’s unimaginable that until 1988 needle time rules prevented broadcasters from playing more than a few hours of recorded music. All radio was filled with speech and specialist programmes, or royalty-free soundalike covers.

In 1984, somebody took a ship with a transmitter on it out into international waters in the North Sea and launched a 1980s version of the pirates, Laser 558. By then I was living in Shrewsbury, and the signal was just about strong enough. Outside of the music rules – and really, outside of most of the broadcast law – it played non-stop pop hits for most of the day. Sadly, it didn’t last long.

In 1989, the Irish state broadcaster, RTÉ, teamed up with the owners of Radio Luxembourg, RTL, to create a pop music station with a powerful AM transmitter that reportedly could reach over 40 million people.

On 1st September 1989, from somewhere in Ireland, Atlantic 252 launched an all-day pop format which was unique: there was nothing quite like it on the air. You know the station had an impact because, on this day each year, somebody, somewhere, writes a note about it to commemorate the day. I first did it in 2004, but I see no reason not to do it again.

I guess the station’s peak was the early 1990s. By the mid-90s, radio across the UK could play more and more music, and FM was everywhere. It didn’t stop people launching AM stations. On this day (1st September) in 1994, Country 1035 launched on AM in London and lasted a few years (also, in later years, with input from RTL). It doesn’t seem to have had quite such an impact because you don’t find too many people commemorating that launch each year.

Curns’ Ad Links for 1 September 2010

Curns’ ad links is a collection of links about the digital advertising industry; generally focussed on the display advertising market with an emphasis on the technology to deliver great advertising experiences.

Technology Overkill?

Do I really need this box of tricks?

I’ve been reading Lifehacker for a while now. I really like the Getting Things Done (GTD) articles. Keith Robinson’s Getting to Done: How GTD made my Treo obsolete really made me thing about how I use my Treo! Mind you, I am still using the little gadget even if I do feel that I am carrying too much stuff around with me. Having all those client phone numbers when in the pub can’t be a good thing.

Long Wave Is The Home Of Hit Music

Atlantic 252 Long wave was born on 1st September 1989. Today is the 15th anniversary (I think) of the launch of the now defunct Atlantic 252. I only mention this because it strikes me that the radio landscape in the UK has changed dramatically since it launched.

Atlantic 252 Large
Atlantic 252

Happy September to you.

Today is the 15th anniversary (I think) of the launch of the now defunct Atlantic 252. I only mention this because it strikes me that the radio landscape in the UK has changed dramatically since it launched. I am no expert but, if I recall, there was something about DJ’s having to stand-up when presenting (which made it sound very American). Gary King was the first voice (Mine is the first voice you will ever hear…on Atlantic 252) but I remember it for Charlie Wolfe and Dusty Rhodes (whose web site I can no longer find) and was Rusty Nails a presenter or did I make that up? It was pop music on very heavy rotation, small amounts of talk and this hiss and crackle of long wave. In 1989 it was exciting and different and, the fact it was really are Irish radio station, gave the feel of a pirate broadcaster. Long wave really was the home of hit music (even if only for a little while).

And for Atlantic 252 fans, a couple of quick links:

Long wave radio Atlantic 252: Born 1st September 1989. Ceased transmission 20th December 2001.

Updates

2014: The fan links on this page were updated as many of the old sites had disappeared and the launch audio embedded.

The Joy of September

September is great because it signals Autumn and that’s my favorite season.

Without stating the obvious, and as a direct follow on to yesterday’s insightful comment, today is September. September is great because it signals Autumn and that’s my favorite season. I am not good in heat and sun and tend to dislike the dampness of winter. Autumn is cool and crisp without being damp and soggy.

Autumn has the wonderful rustic, golden colours that work so well with a cloudless blue sky. The light will be perfect for the next two months. September, however, was always the month back to school after the long summer holiday. September is also my birthday which makes me the centre of attention for at least one day – and I hate that. I liked my birthday being in September when I was a child because it got overlooked at the start of a new term. If your birthday was in May, people started planning for it. In September, people conveniently missed it because they were talking about their holidays in the sunshine. So, I guess, September must be my favorite month – which means I was born in the right month. Twisted logic but, somehow, just right.