X-FACTOR 2006

michduncg · Post by **michduncg** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 1:01 am

Hmm - I remember Timmy Mallet (an annoying kids TV presenter who had 5 minutes of pop stardom). Respect to you Paul for being able to listen to, and appreciate, such a wide range of music! I just hear the words garage, hip hop, rap etc and I turn off! Have not listened to Radio 1 since Simon Mayo left in about 1990! - I think I was a born Radio 2 listener! Especially since Sir terry returned, and Steve Wright took over the afternoon slot. Not sure I'd agree that it needs an R & B presence! R2s target audience is so broad, and R&B has dedicated coverage from stations such as Kiss. R1 is the more urban station, whereas as R2 is for the whole population, especially those not covered by the elitist R3 and the spoken words of R4!

paul jh · Post by **paul jh** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 1:18 am

I'm not suggesting a programme of the hiphop music that's played on Kiss and similar stations. I'm suggesting a dedicated R & B programme on Radio 2 that would feature the best of today's true soul artists (e.g., Lemar, John Legend) and yesterday's soul artists (Stevie Wonder, Ann Peebles, Sam Cooke, Jackie Moore, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, Lisa Stansfield). Radio 2 is already playing those artists occasionally. I would like a weekly programme that would feature some of the less played songs by these artists. Many of the Popmaster contestants state that soul music is one of their favourite genres. I know that Ken Bruce also loves soul music.

I still like to listen to Jo Whiley on Radio 1, but with each day the music is becoming less appealing. And most of my favourite artists are already on Radio 2. But there are still some gems that are only played on Radio 1.

jon · Post by **jon** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:43 am

I'm cut from the same cloth as Mike here; I too dislike rap, R'n B etc. But it's great that so much wide-ranging music is dicussed on this site. I'm not sure I like the reference to Radio 3 as being "elitist" though! There are two programmes on Radio 3 which I listen to, when I can, regularly, and then I dip in from time to time for other things. One of these programmes is called "Private Passions", which is bit like "Desert Island Discs", in which the guests discuss their favourite music and play excerpts from them (unlike "Desert Island Discs", though, it is solely about the music and not other things like books); the participants are usually quite high brow people like the Director of the Courtauld Institute, but from time to time more well known celebrities take part, and recently these have included Maureen Lipman, Steven Fry and...Toyah Wilcox! Most of the music played is classical but there isn't a rule that it has to be such, and occasionally wider ranging stuff is aired, quite a lot of it jazz but sometimes pop and rock music.

The other Radio 3 programme I like is called "Voices", about vocal music and particularly the song repertoire, and this also includes a wide range of music, again mostly classical but veering into musicals and middle of the road stuff. I think on one edition they even played "Golden Brown" by the Stranglers! Unfortunately this programme has been moved from its original slot of 10:00 pm Mondays to 4:00 pm Tuesdays so I don't get to hear it as much as I have to be at work.

It may interest you to know that both Timmy Mallet and Simon Mayo both went to the same university as me - as did Sting from the Police! Sadly I'm nowhere near as famous -or accomplished - as them.

michduncg · Post by **michduncg** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 2:42 pm

Was about to question the talents of Timmy and Simon in comparison to sting, but in fact they have to work a lot harder than Sting who has a very natural talent, and also had his looks on his side! My brother works in broadcasting, and trained as a DJ so I do have an inkling of the amount of work that both Simon and Timmy would have to put in to get as far as they did in TV & radio presenting! Simon is still on the BBC, not usre what Timmy is up to. Interstingly though Sting didn't finish his degree at Univesity of Warwick. Wow - isn't wikipedia great!

jon · Post by **jon** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:02 pm

Mike

you're correct that Sting didn't finish his course - in fact, he barely started. I believe he did about the first ten weeks of an English degree and then gave it up for better things; it obviously didn't do him any harm, and he now earns a damn sight more than me! There was a report on the TV news the other day that he's currently recording an album of songs by John Dowland, the Elizabethan composer, as someone told him his voice was suited to them. Can't say I have any of his albums but I do like his version of George Gershwin's song "Nice Work If You Can get it", which he recorded a few years ago for an album of Gershwin songs, along with a number of other pop/rock singers such as Cher and Meatloaf. Germaine Greer famously taught at Warwick too, in the 60s and then again in the 90s, but not when I was there.

ROBERT M. · Post by **ROBERT M.** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Mike, I was only joking to Marian about the Hi Brenda, I was not being pedantic that time

But I am being pedantic now to Paul, who seems to know the useage rules, so why put a hyphen in week-end, when "weekend" is all ONE word Paul

michduncg · Post by **michduncg** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:41 pm

hehehe - I know you were Robert - hence my many smiling/laughing emoticons!

Ah - the weekend - remember how the French Government Department that looks after their language took offence at how the French having Le Weekend!

Makes you wonder who sat down in the 1st place and decided what gender nouns should have - for instance - who decided that a German Street (Strasse) is female hence Die Strasse? And German Pubs 'Die Kniepe' is also female. But a Beer Garden - Der Beergarten is male! Who decided such things! No wonder we Brits are terrible at foreign languages!

mariana44 · Post by **mariana44** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:00 pm

Hi Robert--yes I know you were joking--I am used to you by now.

French and German used to drive me mad at school-there never seemed any reason why a certain noun should be feminine or masculine--or in German neuter as well. And as for Latin

It is so much easier to pick up the languages , accents etc, by living in the country---George spoke fluent German and Italian after the war, but when he came back home, he did not use it---so lost most of it.

Marian

paul jh · Post by **paul jh** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:16 pm

Week-end is used occasionally in the US. I may have learned it from my father who was taught to include a hyphen in to-day and to-morrow. The word was marked wrong in his school if he omitted the hyphen. I'll stop using the hyphen in weekend on this message board, but it may sometimes may drift in!

Jon -- Thanks for mentioning the two Radio 3 programmes: Private Passions and Voices. They sound interesting, and I hope Radio 3 has a listen again feature. I'm sure I can learn some new music. I will definitely check them out.

michduncg · Post by **michduncg** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:37 pm

The American version of English has a fascinating history, as Bill Brysons books testify! We Brits often take the mickey out of US citizens for spelling things wrong, but I think I'm write in saying that the American Government made the conscious decision somewhere along the way to make the spelling more logical. It was so that the millions of migrants pouring into the country would have some standard rules for spelling - like a word ending with an 'r' sound will have the 'r' at the end, rather than adopt the French practice of having an 're' ending on words such as metre, centre etc.

As for German, many of the words may be very close to English, but the grammar is weird - as you say Marian, the neuter, as well cases etc. I'm trying to leanr it at the moment as I have always found it a fascinating language.

mariana44 · Post by **mariana44** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:26 pm

Hi all-any of those who watch "Countdown" regularly will know that if any word or phrase is used often enough , it will make it into the OED[for Paul--that means Oxford English Dictionary}, and in the last week or so we found out that email is all one word now---no hyphen---but I have to say that it does not look right as one word.

Marian

ROBERT M. · Post by **ROBERT M.** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:23 am

"but I think I'm write"

- But Mike, I think you're wrong

Mark Fox · Post by **Mark Fox** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:03 am

:DWatch out for a 'special guest'on the 'X'FACTOR show on Saturday 28th October!

Lena & Harry Smith · Post by **Lena & Harry Smith** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:22 am

With one or two vital tips we hope Mark, but best of all a demonstration.

Mark Fox · Post by **Mark Fox** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:04 pm

Lena & Harry Smith wrote:With one or two vital tips we hope Mark, but best of all a demonstration.

I think a song or two-you've guessed but it's supposed to be 'TOP SECRET'!