So don't become some background noise

[venta]

I've had the radio on a lot in the car recently. Car radios are always doomed, in my opinion - I hate an off-station radio more than I hate an off radio-station , and driving in and out of signal ranges means a life time of tuning and re-tuning. At the moment I've settled on my old school-days standby of Virgin 1215, currently tuned to three different presets - one that works in Oxford, one in Reading, and one for in between. Suggestions for resilient stations welcome.

Ideally, I'd like Radio6 - they seem to play good music, don't have adverts and, most importantly, don't witter too much. But sadly, I don't run to a digital in-car radio. Virgin seems to have become much more wittery since I was last a regular listener (a radio station ? Changing slightly over ten years ? Who'd have thought it!) - and most annoyingly, they don't seem to be very good at telling you what the songs you're listening to are in a reliable manner.

I've been muttering about the new U2 single (which didn't sound much like U2) only to discover on googling just now that I've got the wrong end of the stick, and the track I was hearing is actually Maroon 5. No wonder it didn't sound like U2. I stick to my original diagnosis of it sounding like the Chilli Peppers trying to sound like the Housemartins. Further googling answered the "what is that awful song they keep playing?" question, and simultaneously answered the "what do Hoobastank sound like?" question (bloody whiny, it seems). But it'd be nice if I'd managed to absorb what the tracks were from a DJ telling me.

Virgin's also taken up the dreadful habit of replaying, through the day, snatches of dialogue from earlier shows. On the way to work this morning, I heard one of the breakfast show presenters commenting on Michael Jackson's outfit as he arrived for his trial. I didn't care unduly, but was prepared to let him have his fun taking the piss out of Jackson's sartorial choice if he wanted. But I've heard the same description several more times today, advertising the breakfast show. Is this really necessary ? I tend to choose one decent station, and stick with it - playing me reasonable and varied music would do a lot more to convince me to listen to their breakfast show than reruns of this morning's witticisms.

Actually, now I come to think of it, I stopped listening to Virgin because I couldn't stand Chris Evans on a morning - he used to manage about one or two songs per half hour of merry banter. So maybe my accusations of it becoming more wittery are unjustified. A definite plus point, though, is that none of the presenters appears to be Chris Evans. Am I the only person who wishes breakfast show presenters would just stop it ? If I wanted people to talk to me in the morning, I'd have something other than music radio on.

And why is it that people who write radio adverts have still not worked out how not to be irritating? I listen to commercial radio, I expect adverts. Most have so far more or less washed over me, though somewhere in the recesses of my brain I've acquired the information that I should call AAP before surrendering an endowment policy, and should call a particular number if I've had an accident and someone else is to blame. However, when I am dictator advert-writers who want to have "funny" ads will be bound to air them no more than a few times a day. In the three or so hours I've spent in the car today, I have heard a particular 30 second advert for a cheap first-class deal on Virgin trains around six times. It was merely irritating the first time, now it actually spurs me to switch the radio off. Kudos, though, to 118 118, who have adverts of a similar length, but a far larger repetoire - so although I've probably heard around six of their ads today, I've only heard any individual one once or twice.

Yes, yes, I know, any publicity is good. I've remembered the Virgin trains message, despite annoyance. But I've also had a slightly less pleasant day than I would have had without the advert. Has anyone ever boycotted a product because the advert was annoying ? I think we should do. Possibly with explanatory notes to the offending companies, telling them to stop cracking the same weak jokes over and over again.

I drove back from rapper this evening slightly later than usual. My route home overlaps with the last ten miles or so of my commute home from work, but somehow it never seems the same. The journey home from rapper is darker, quieter - more peaceful and contemplative, somehow. I usually enjoy it, often pottering along the lanes (until I hit the main road) at a measly 30-40 if there's no one behind me. As I left the village where we practise, I kicked the radio into life and a very distinctive guitar trickled out of the speakers to greet me. I smiled at the song; one of those broad, slow smiles that reach your shoulders and leave you feeling happier.

It was Sultans of Swing. Dire Straits ? I asks you. I mean, it's not even summer, when a momentary fondness for Dire Straits can be forgiven. Don't tell anyone, will you ?

[*] I don't know what track it is - I've just bought the new Lemon Jelly single on 7", and the sleeve/centre bits are way too artily designed to have anything so mundane as track names on them. They're very pretty, but not very informative. The stickery thing on the outer cellophane suggests I'm listening to either Battle Baby Scratch or The Shouty Track, but despite the latter descriptive name it's not immediately obvious which is which (to me, anyway).

What do you call the round papery bits in the middle of a record, anyway ? Centreplates ? Roundels ?

Comments

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Peel was right, the guitar on Sultans of Swing is awesome. It manages to be both impressively fiddley, and very catchy. Mark Knopfler could have been a guitar hero if he'd dressed like Eddie van Halen, but he went directly to "Eric Clapton aged 50 on Radio 2" without passing go.