Greater London Radio FM 94.9
35c Marylebone High Street
London W1A 4LG
0171 224 2424
I started at GLR in the summer of 1994, initially doing three hours on a Saturday night 10pm to 1am, then additionally broadcasting Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings 8 til midnight.
The programmes were fantastically enjoyable to do. I was building them entirely on my own (a heavy work schedule but a labour of love) and was able to play entirely what I liked.
The station has a reputation for playing new music and I found my taste sharpening up while I was there. Gary Crowley was playing cutting edge Indie, Charlie Gillett was playing World Music, Mark Lamaar had his rockabilly record collection...all the DJ's had a lot of choice. So I was listening to a lot of new stuff that I wouldn't be hearing anywhere else. The influence was feeding into my show.
We had a live session/interview almost every night. The list included Richard Thompson, John Hiatt, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Jackson Browne, Midnight Oil, Lou Reed, Christy Moore, Lynn Miles, Dar Williams, Eric Bibb, Martin Carthy, James Reyne, Jimmy Barnes, Bert Jansch, Norma Waterson, Christine Collister, Never The Bride, Toto, Little Feat, Stephen Bruton, Chris Smither, Ernest Ranglin, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Frampton, Super 8, Blue Nile, King L, Boo Hewerdine, Marcus Miller, Ian McNabb, Hamsters, Otis Grand, Rankin Family, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Fairport Convention, Levellers, Hellecasters, Paul Rodgers, Dave Matthews, Robben Ford, Phish, Little Axe, Jack Bruce, Terry Gonda, Jann Arden, Andy Summers, Steve Howe, Blue Nile, Baka Beyond, David Gray and many many more.
I can't tell you what a thrill it is to sit in the studio while your favourite artists perform their songs live. Absolutely brilliant feeling. As the progamme developed and became gradually more busy, it became clear I needed additional help, particularly on the phones to take listener calls. GLR, like many of the BBC local stations, relys on volunteer production help. It would take the entire web site to tell the story of how everyone came to work on the show, but within six months of starting an entire programme team had come together.
Motorcycle Alan, the first to arrive, drove up to London from Portsmouth to collect a competition prize, then made the journey every subsequent Tuesday night to work on the show. Backstage Patrick booked all the session guests and was the programmes eyes and ears at gigs. Clued-in Kirsti was our resident genius. Huw, the man with the tie, would come in after a day at the bank, fitting in programmes between his theatre rehearsals. Windmill Bob is an aspiring DJ, Vinyl Mick is a chef, Bryony is a student, Stock Car Graham is a writer, Rod does sterling community work in Islington, web site Mike has a Music Directory web-site , Boston John is now in the States. Between them, (see photo gallery) they created a unique atmosphere in the studio. We were all having a really fantastic time. All there for the same reason...that we just love the music, love radio and the whole experience of it all.
