About 40 minutes into the hour I was listening to on the UK’s non-commercial Top 40 BBC Radio 1, the midday team played a recurring Tuesday game called “Mess with Melvin,” a variant on “two lies and the truth.” Both stories involved acts playing Radio 1’s forthcoming Big Weekend festival. One involved Raye and Olly Alexander, the former lead singer of Years and Years. The other was about the headliner, Coldplay.
The fake story was that Alexander discovered Raye after hearing her demo tape at a house party; it sounded entirely credible until co-host Rickie mentioned that he then found her sleeping under a pile of coats. The true story was that “Yellow” took its name from a nearby copy of the Yellow Pages. But hearing Coldplay casually mentioned as the headliner of a Top 40 radio-station show that also featured Sabrina Carpenter, Teddy Swims, and Vampire Weekend is what got my attention.
For the last three hours, I’ve been listening to the BBC’s Top 40 Radio 1, full-service AC Radio 2, and its Triple-A, Radio 6 Music. On 6 Music, American indie artist Julia Halter was being interviewed about the live in-studio session she was going to play the following hour. Radio 6 Music also played a track by the DJ/producer Nia Archives. When I listened to Radio 1, Rickie, Melvin & Charlie were excitedly front-selling a different track by her.
On Radio 2, which has famously contemporized in recent years, fill-in middayer Gary David was spotlighting a new single from the Libertines. There was also the ongoing Tracks of My Years bit in which TV fitness personality Joe Wicks was talking about key songs in his life. “Gone” by Jack Johnson reminded him of a trip to Australia when he had finally bonded with his dad as an adult. “When You Were Young” was because of a bike trip with his brother when they inadvertently wandered into a Killers set at a Spanish music festival.
You hear a lot about music and artists listening to the BBC. The only thing comparable in terms of new (and old) music advocacy in America is Triple-A radio. Key to the BBC’s always-expanding series of music channels is Director of Music Lorna Clarke, who will be the keynoter at the second Radiodays North America, to be held in Toronto June 2-4.
Ross on Radio is on the road to RDNA 2024 with an ongoing series of spotlights on key panels and key topics to be covered there. We took a Fresh Listen to those three key stations. (There are now brand-extension channels such as Radio 1 Dance. There are more planned, which has created controversy among existing commercial broadcasters.)
For more about RDNA, see the current full schedule of panels here. Read my interview with veteran programmer Ross Davies, who is now overseeing RDNA, here.
Here’s Radio 1 at 11 a.m., April 9:
- Dua Lipa, “Training Season”
- Kendrick Lamar, “Humble”
- DJ Snake & Lil Jon, “Turn Down for What” — each team member had pitched a song choice, this was the winner
- Rachel Chinouriri, “Never Need Me” — female Modern AC; in general, there was a particularly noticeable indie pop/rock feel on this listen
- Frank Ocean, “Pink + White”
- Michael Marcagi, “Scared to Start”
- Nia Archives, “Unfinished Business”
- Tame Impala, “Is It True”
- The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”
- Madison Beer, “Make You Mine”
- Declan McKenna, “Beautiful Faces” — sounded a lot like “Sour Girl” by Stone Temple Pilots
- Maggie Rogers, “Don’t Forget Me”
- Central Cee, “I Will”
- Sub Focus, “Off the Ground”
- Young Filly, “Grey”
Here’s Radio 2 during the same hour:
- Boomtown Rats, “I Don’t Like Mondays” — “I should have played this yesterday,” said David
- Cat Burns, “Alone”
- Madonna, “Secret”
- Libertines, “Be Young”
- Bruno Mars, “Just the Way You Are” — This was followed by a preview of Jeremy Vines’ more topical midday show. Today’s show included a scandal involving an evangelist as well as garages that are so small that some drivers have to climb out through the trunk. That led to a story about the late BBC DJ Steve Wright, who once had to do just that.
- Griff, “Miss Me Too”
- Jack Johnson, “Gone”
- Killers, “When You Were Young”
- Old Dominion w/Blake Shelton, “Ain’t Got a Worry” — Radio 2 has been known for championing Country in recent years, often songs that aren’t U.S. radio singles
- Chaka Khan, “I’m Every Woman”
Finally, here’s 6 Music at the same hour with Mary Anne Hobbs:
- Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man, “Turn the Model”
- Mitski, “Heaven” — Hobbs announced her as headliner at the forthcoming All Points East festival, where 6 Music will have its own stage
- Richard Hawley, “Two for His Heels”
- Nirvana, “Aneurism” — Hobbs crossplugged both a Kurt Cobain tribute, with interviews from Steve Albini and others, along with a Courtney Love “Bad Gals” playlist
- Nia Archives, “Bad Gyalz”
- Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley & Nas, “As We Enter”
- Joe Armon-Jones, “Nubya’s Side of Town”
- MJ Cole, “Crazy Love”
- Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx, “I’ll Take Care of You” — known to many more as the track behind Drake & Rihanna’s “Take Care”
- John Grant, “It’s a Bitch”
- Supremes, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”
- Hagan, “Waves”
- Real Estate, “Airdrop”
I think you’re referring to Gary Daviess, the weekday relief presenter and weekend presenter of Sounds of the 80s on Radio 2.