[Aled]

I think Aled said that he "was excited to have him on because he'd been on Will & Grace", rather than that he only knew him from that show. Correct me if I'm wrong though Aled.

You're right. I know he was a part of Monty Python (never seen it) and Fawly Towers (seen clips) but I WAS most excited that he was in Will & Grace. I wasn't alone.

[Yudster]

Monty Python was groundbreaking comedy and paved the way for almost everyone who is good these days. Fawlty Towers however - you wouldn't like it Al. Its one of those things that I can acknowledge is brilliant, but I just can't bear to watch, its too cringe-making.

[DevilsDuck]

Fawlty Towers is a bit like Yuds. Looks really outdated, but still brilliant

[a-moron]

I would've went with just holding together and smells of damp.

[Yudster]

Oooh, harsh. Accurate, but harsh.

[Wykey]

Has there ever been a management edict about how much exposure commercial public phone vote type shows get - positively OR negatively?

I can imagine them being pressured to equalise the strictly exposure with x-factor exposure for example, to prevent moaning from ITV.

[Wykey]

The Golden Hour decision is right. There are people like me who don't know, and don't like music from before their teenage years and we want them to have a 'awww!' moment when we play a song.

So effectively, you're saying there's been a country-wide cultural and musical disconnection - I mean I don't know ANYONE that only knows music from their teenage years and later, I'd go as far as to say I don't know anyone that knows anyone that has such a small frame of reference in terms of music either.

So at some stage in the few years there are between you and I, there's been an absolute and irreversible cultural apocalypse.

I realise I may seem hectoring, but I find that disturbing to the extent that something really should be done about it. It can't be healthy to have a mind that can only exist in such a minute sphere of contemplation.

[chrysostom]

You're assuming that you and Aled have had a similar cultural and social history on a personal level.

I'd say Aled is more representative and in touch with the needs of the target audience than you, hence why he said 'people like me' - I don't think it was anything to do with age.

Also, I dislike the golden hour in general. Tedious fills the role that the GH plays on a daily basis, and gives you that moment of nostalgia as opposed to a whole uninterrupted hour.

[Wykey]

I'm not assuming anything other than we're average people who are pretty much the same age - I don't think either of us have had a particularly extra-ordinary upbringing, they're different no doubt, but if anything I'd suggest that by dint of his media background, Aled's would be less representative of 'the norm'.

I think the age part is relevant though - Aled's a year younger than me (assuming Wikipedia to be correct), yet what I read from what he's saying is that the average person of target audience has no knowledge of music before they were teenagers. Given that I know of no-one with that limited general and past knowledge, there must have been something that caused this.

I realise I might be reading what he's said wrong, but to me, the logical extension of that would be that they have no cultural knowledge of anything at all before they were teenagers.

I'm not arguing for a change in the GH here (though I have before) - I just don't understand what's happened.

edits in the post: I thought I was much older than Aled, but it seems I'm a year and 6 months (according to wikipedia)

[Bas]

I'm not assuming anything other than we're average people who are pretty much the same age - I don't think either of us have had a particularly extra-ordinary upbringing, they're different no doubt, but if anything I'd suggest that by dint of his media background, Aled's would be less representative of 'the norm'.

I think the age part is relevant though - Aled's a year younger than me (assuming Wikipedia to be correct), yet what I read from what he's saying is that the average person of target audience has no knowledge of music before they were teenagers. Given that I know of no-one with that limited general and past knowledge, there must have been something that caused this.

I realise I might be reading what he's said wrong, but to me, the logical extension of that would be that they have no cultural knowledge of anything at all before they were teenagers.

I'm not arguing for a change in the GH here (though I have before) - I just don't understand what's happened.

edits in the post: I thought I was much older than Aled, but it seems I'm a year and 6 months (according to wikipedia)

There used to be a saying that you always seem 7 years too young for your favourite music. Thats certainly the case with me when kids my age were getting into punk when it started ( though it only seemed to be the posh kids around here that were into it) i was listening to Hendrix , Cream, Hawkwind & the like.
And certainly as i got slightly older i was discovering 60s soul & (proper) Rhythm & Blues from the 40s & 50s.

[Wykey]

I can understand that - albeit when I was younger, I was closer to the 'normal' stuff played on radio 1.

It seems there's been a seismic shift in the last few years though.

[Yudster]

Don't forget also the cataclysmic change that popular music as a whole underwent in the early sixties (well late 50s to early 60s). Before that there was no "youth culture", there wasn't any music or anything else really that was aimed specifically at teenagers and young adults - therefore when I was growing up in the seventies, "grown ups" used to moan all the time about anything which was aimed at kids, whether it was pop music, television or whatever.

Since then the edges have blurred. I am as enthusiastic about new music now as I ever was when I was when I was 17, and conversely music from the last 4 decades is so easily accessible I genuinely believe that young people are both familiar with a lot of it, and hugely appreciative of it. And if they aren't, well bloody educate them!!

[Wykey]

I find myself wanting to agree, and thinking it'd be rude to leave you cast adrift, but hoping not to leave an atmosphere of ganging up.

[abertom]

To save Aled time No there isn't a Christmas day show. You obv havent read the schedule yet and as has been mentioned before the podcast can't be material that's not broadcast

[Yudster]

Aled - huge congratulations on the award nomination for The Surgery. Well deserved, you and all who work on it, and R1 for having it at all. Good stuff.

[Aled]

Aled - huge congratulations on the award nomination for The Surgery. Well deserved, you and all who work on it, and R1 for having it at all. Good stuff.

Thanks Yudster

It occurred to me tonight how unique it is to work on a show with a team that's so exclusively focused on the needs of our audience. The impromptu prog meeting that kicked off after the awards highlights how focused the team are - I'd love it if even a small percentage of what we discussed came to fruition.

[Aled]

To save Aled time No there isn't a Christmas day show. You obv havent read the schedule yet and as has been mentioned before the podcast can't be material that's not broadcast

There is a 12 hour Best of the Marathon Show with bonus never before heard material from those that took part and also a special 3 hour Surgery on New Year's Day

[bmstinton93]

How can there be never before heard material?

[Aled]

How can there be never before heard material?

We interview some of those involved and asked how it was for them, what went into the event and what they noticed that maybe they hadn't have said on air.

[SAV1OUR]

Hi Aled,

Just wondering about parodies, are you still saving some up for a 2nd album?

[bmstinton93]

How can there be never before heard material?

We interview some of those involved and asked how it was for them, what went into the event and what they noticed that maybe they hadn't have said on air.

Damn, now I actually have to listen...

[Wykey]

Aled - huge congratulations on the award nomination for The Surgery. Well deserved, you and all who work on it, and R1 for having it at all. Good stuff.

Thanks Yudster

It occurred to me tonight how unique it is to work on a show with a team that's so exclusively focused on the needs of our audience. The impromptu prog meeting that kicked off after the awards highlights how focused the team are - I'd love it if even a small percentage of what we discussed came to fruition.

I'd like to second Yudster's comment, especially in view of the weekend and your opening Monday - if the Surgery can help one person make a phone call, then it's worth it's weight in gold.

Also, I'd like to recommend Stan Collymore's twitter feed at the moment - he's a footballer who in the 90s was derided for having depression, and publicly 'shamed' by one manager saying "What's he got to be upset about, he's on 20grand a week".

Well he's currently detailing precisely what he's going through now, and he's going through a bout of depression.

http://twitter.com/#!/StanCollymore

[SAV1OUR]

Yes I was reading that too, the other notable sporting figure to suffer would be Frank Bruno, I remember when he was going through hell.

[bwfcol]

Is there the usual New Years Day CMS special?

[Aled]

Is there the usual New Years Day CMS special?

No, this is instead of that