Playlist: “Planet Pop” on K-Town FM – Thu 26 Jul 2012

Here’s the playlist for today’s edition of Planet Pop, which went out on K-Town FM between 2 and 4 pm. I’m delighted to say that the next two editions will be at the same time on Thursday 16 August and Thursday 23 August.

For those who don’t know, Planet Pop is a multi-decade show based around a specific theme each week. On each edition of the show we take a track from the previous episode of the show, play it again and build a brand new theme around it. Previous themes have included Planets, Eurovision, Literature, Long Songs, 80s Electronica, Countries, Transport, Hand Claps, Days of the Weeks and, last time, the Weather.

The show doesn’t have as many regular features as Where The Action Is but I do play a Jocknroll triumverate, no matter the theme, as well as three tracks throughout the show on a related theme to the main theme. Here’s is today’s playlist for those who missed it:

The Tornados – Costa Monger (Decca 1963)
Mark Wirtz – (Here’s Our Dear Old) Weatherman (Parlophone 1968) (Brought forward from last show)
WC Fields Memorial Electric String Band – Hippy Elevator Operator (Hanna-Barbera 1966)
Babylon Zoo – Spaceman (EMI 1996)
Man or Astroman – Taxidermist Surf (Estrus 1993)
The Mindbenders – Uncle Joe The Ice Cream Man (Fontana 1968)
The Chiffons – Sailor Boy (Stateside 1964)
Camera Obscura – French Navy (4AD 2009)
Ministry of Sound – White Collar Worker (Decca 1966) WORKING 1
Tom Jones – Dr. Love (Decca 1966)
Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse (Island 1982)
The New Pornographers – Sing Me Spanish Techno (Mint/Matador 2005)
The Orchids – Women, Priests and Addicts (Sarah 1991)
Dusty Springfield – Son of a Preacher Man (Atlantic 1968)
Cilla Black – Work is a Four Letter Word (Parlophone 1968) WORKING 2
Twinkle – Radio Station Lady (Unreleased 1974)
Indeep – Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (Sound of New York 1983)
Barbara Ruskin – Pawnbroker Pawnbroker (President 1968)
Bis – Dead Wrestlers (Wiiija 2000) JOCKNROLL
The Skids – Working For The Yankee Dollar (Virgin 1979) JOCKNROLL
Superstar – The Teacher (Camp Fabulous 1998) JOCKNROLL
The Models – Bend Me Shape Me (MGM 1966)
The Wedding Present – Go Go Dancer (RCA 1992)
Men at Work – Who Can It Be Now? (Epic 1981) WORKING 3
The Small Faces – Tin Soldier (Imemdiate 1967)
David Bowie – The Little Bombardier (Decca 1967)
Nancy Sinatra – Last of the Secret Agents (Reprise 1966)
Diana Ross and the Supremes – The Composer (Motown 1969)
The Smiths – The Headmaster Ritual (Rough Trade 1985)
Simon Dupree and the Big Sound – Teacher Teacher (Parlophone 1967)
Coldplay – The Scientist (Parlophone 2002)
Ten Feet – Factory Worker (RCA 1966)
The Housemartins – Me and the Farmer (Go Discs 1987)

So the theme of today’s show was OCCUPATIONS.

The next edition of Planet Pop will be on Thursday 16 August 2012 so do tune in to find out what the new theme will be. Remember, it relates to a track I played in today’s show.

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Playlist: “Planet Pop” on K-Town FM – Thu 12 July 2012

When I used to present Where The Action Is I would put the playlists up on the Jocknroll blog, as well as on the “Where The Action Is” Facebook page. I also present, on an irregular basis, a show called Planet Pop. During term-time  – I’m currently a radio student – I broadcast the show from Adam Smith College’s own radio station, which goes out to the world via K-Town FM. This summer I’ve agreed to broadcast three episodes of Planet Pop live from the K-Town studios in Kinglassie while Where The Action Is, currently broadcasting vix Mixcloud,  takes a much needed summer vacation.

While Where The Action Is tends to focus on the less well-known tracks from the late 50s through to the early 70s, Planet Pop is a multi-decade show based around a specific theme each week. On each edition of the show we take a track from the previous episode of the show, play it again and build a brand new theme around it. Previous themes have included Planets, Eurovision, Literature, Long Songs, 80s Electronica, Countries, Transport, Hand Claps and, last week, Days of the Weeks.

The show doesn’t have as many regualr features as Where The Action Is but I do play a Jocknroll triumverate, no matter the theme, as well as three tracks throughout the show on a related theme to the main theme. Here’s is the playlist for today’s show, which went out between 2 and 4 pm:

The Frantics – Fog Cutter (Dolton 1959)
Stamford Bridge – Happiness and Rainy Days (Monument 1970) (Brought forward from last show)
Sergeant – Sunshine (Shy Recordings 2008)
London Phogg – The Times To Come (A&M 1969)
BMX Bandits – Foggy (Rev-ola 2007)
Jonny – Circling The Sun (Alsatian/Turnstile 2011)
Billie Davis – Billy Sunshine (Decca 1969)
Lesley Gore – Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows (Mercury 1965)
10,000 Maniacs – Like The Weather (Elektra 1987) WEATHER 1
Rainbow – I Surrender (Polydor 1981)
My Bloody Valentine – Paint a Rainbow (Lazy 1987)
Close Lobsters – I’m Going To Heaven To See If It Rains (Fire 1986)
The Factotums – Cloudy (Pye 1967)
The Rolling Stones – Get Off Of My Cloud (Decca 1965)
Mark Wirtz – (He’s Our Dear Old) Weatherman (Parlophone 1968) WEATHER 2
John Leyton -Thunder and Lightning (HMV 1961)
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers – Born To Lose (Track 1977)
Silver Sun – Golden Skin (Polydor 1997)
Camera Obscura – Honey In The Sun (4AD 2009) JOCKNROLL
The Wake – English Rain (Sarah 1991) JOCKNROLL
Marmalade – Bad Weather (CBS 1971) JOCKNROLL
I Am Kloot – Morning Rain (We Love You 2001) TWO OF A KIND
I Am Kloot – Sunlight Hits The Snow (We Love You 2001) TWO OF A KIND
The Weather Prophets – Almost Prayed (Creation 1986) WEATHER 3
Big Country – The Storm (Mercury 1983)
Stormy Petrel – Hello Hello Hello (CBS 1971)
Andy Williams – Windy (Columbia 1968)
Clodagh Rodgers – Wind of Change (RCA 1971)
Fountains of Wayne – Traffic and Weather (S-Curve 2007)
The Popguns – Lightning (Midnight Music 1991)
Violent Femmes – Blister in the Sun (Slash 1983)
The Love Affair – Rainbow Valley (CBS 1968)
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas – Love is Like a Heat Wave (Gordy 1983)
The Tornados – Globetrotter (Decca 1963)

I was ably assisted on today’s show by my daughter, who also did a couple of links for me.

The next edition of Planet Pop will be on Thursday 26 July 2012. So do tune in to find out what the new theme will be. Remember, it relates to a track I played in today’s show.

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Radio Days: Where The Action Is/Planet Pop/HNC Radio

There have now been 12 weekly episodes of Where The Action Is posted at its new home at Mixcloud. While I still enjoy putting these radio shows together and the positive feedback it generates I’m finding that the work involved in putting the shows together is taking up vital family time and there comes a time when you have to look at what’s important. On that basis, I’m taking a break from the show over the summer and when the show returns in August it’ll be a more compact one-hour show. Sadly some of the old features will be lost – Death Disco, one of the Connect 3s, Two of a Kind – but when needs must the devil drives.

There will be a couple of two-hour specials coming up. Around about 26 July I’m going to do an Olympic-themed show, which will be two hours, and at a date to be decided I’m going to a show of songs featuring hand claps. This will also be a two-hour special. I recently did a multi-decade version of the show on Adam Smith College Radio, in association with K-Town FM, and it was well received. That version was done under my Planet Pop title but this time it’ll be a 60s only version for Where The Action Is.

While Where The Action Is is taking a break I’m doing three live versions of my other show, Planet Pop, on K-Town FM, which is a community station based in Kinglassie. Like previous editions of Planet Pop it will be a themed show. What happens is that I take one song from the previous week’s themed show, play it again and build a brand new theme around it. For example, the very first edition of Planet Pop, which was broadcast on the launch day of Adam Smith College Radio back on 30 January, had a theme of Planets. During that show I played “Hello From Mars” by F.L.Y., the Latvian Eurovision entry from 2003. I took that song from the Planets show and played it in the next show and did a show of Eurovision tracks. Then I played Alexander Rybak’s “Fairytale” and used that for a Literature-themed show. The full list of themes used so far is Planets, Eurovision, Literature, Long songs (over 6 minutes), 80s Electronica, Countries, Transport and the most recent one, songs containing hand claps. I’ve already planned the next three so tune in to find out what they are.

I’ll be on K-Town FM on Thursday 5 July, 12 July and 26 July between 2 and 4 pm. Sadly there’s no Listen Again facility.

Finally, while Mixcloud, with its unlimited storage, hosts the longer Where The Action Is shows I’ve put some of my shorter works from my HNC Radio course up on Soundcloud, which offers limited space.

There are currently six pieces of work up on Soundcloud:

1. Local Heroes – My Creative Project from Semester 1. This was a 25-minute feature on different levels of fame within Dunfermline and features interviews with Michaela Tabb (international snooker and pool referee), Big Country guitarist Bruce Watson and Gillian Lee-Ireland, who won £11,000 on Deal or No Deal. Looking back I may have edited it a bit differently or indeed replaced one of the interviews with an interview I did with Dunfermline Athletic FC footballer John Potter but it was good enough to be shortlisted for the Creative Loop Radio Awards so I’m not going to be too critical on myself.

2. Doll By Doll – A Good Yarn- My Feature from Semester 2. We had to make a radio feature of up to 15 minutes in length and I decided to utilise what was around me so I interviewed my wife on knitting, specifically a number of dolls she’s made over the past 12 months! I also interviewed a number of ladies from the knitting group she attends but time constraints meant I went with a shortened feature. I intend to make a longer version of this piece including those extras interviews. A Director’s Cut, if you will! I can’t imagine there are many features out there that feature Horrible Histories, Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe and the singing of Bill Oddie.

3. 76 with a Bullet – The Rebirth of the Record Shop – My Graded Unit from Semester 2. Of all the work I did in the HNC year this is the piece of work I’m most proud of. It went through a number of changes in the process of making but ultimately I’m very happy with how it ended up. A big thanks to those who gave their time to be interviewed in the studio, on the phone or in person – Ally Gourlay, Ron Doo Ron (The Spooks), John Cavanagh, Graham Jones (Last Shop Standing), Duglas T Stewart (BMX Bandits) and Kevin Buckle (Avalanche Records). For the record, I got an A for it.

4. Advert for www.edinburgh247.com (20 seconds) – One of those pieces of work I was just happy to get a ‘pass’ on. Adverts aren’t my strong point and I decided on a very simple idea. Thanks for Darren Moore at Edinburgh 247 for agreeing to be my client.

5. Advert for www.edinburgh247.com (40 seconds) – The vox pops for both adverts were provided by fellow students and I got some children from my daughter’s Kids’ Club to help out at the end. Unfortunately their best take was done as I still preparing the Zoom to record! Still, their enthusiasm and contribution was greatly appreciated.

6. Planet Pop – John Carter special – This show was put together especially for the Creative Loop awards. While it was put forward by the College it didn’t make the final three. It showcases the work of singer-songwriter-producer John Carter who probably isn’t as well-known as he should be. As well as songs he wrote, performed and produced the show features a number of famous jingles he wrote and sang for products such as Rowntrees Tots, Vauxhall Chevette, British Caledonian and Birds Dream Topping.

Onwards and upwards to the HND year beginning in August.

“The Cat”
=^..^=

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