Pop Buzz UK

Jeremy Beadle, the man best known for being a notorious television prankster, has sadly died of pneumonia in hospital at the age of 59. Beadle had previously battled cancer of the kidney, and then leukaemia, both of which he fought and beat, but died in hospital after contracting pneumonia and being admitted to hospital earlier this week.

The TV funnyman leaves behind wife Sue, daughters Cassie and Bonnie, and stepchildren Leo and Claire.

Beadle was born in Hackney, east London in 1948. He had an unsettled childhood, having to spend multiple times in hospital being treated for a rare genetic disorder called Poland syndrome. This condition stunted growth in his right hand, a disability for which he was mocked in later life.

He started a writing career after a number of different jobs came to nothing, and a career on radio and television beckoned. When he was young, he provided material for stars such as Terry Wogan, Noel Edmonds and Kenny Everett.

He became a well known celebrity in his own right after becoming a presenter on Game for a Laugh, where alongside Matthew Kelly, Henry Kelly and Sarah Kennedy, he would set members of the public up in small pranks.

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I was absolutely gutted when Iain Lee quit his brilliant show on LBC Radio, and changed my schedule due to him no longer being on air 6 days a week.

This all happened at the end of November, and no-one really knew when he would be back on radio.

Luckily, it didn’t take long for Virgin Radio to snap him up, although he only secured one show a week, that of the 10pm - 1am slot on Sunday nights.

I can fully understand why Virgin chose that slot for him, and only gave him one show a week, because it’s a music station, whereas Iain specialises in talk radio. The good thing is he’s gone from local radio to national radio, which is a definite step up.

Iain started on the 6th January, and has now done two shows on the station, both of which I have listened to. So far, I’m quite impressed, although it’s obvious Iain is going to take a bit of time to settle in, and get a feel for both the station, and time slot.

Agent Chris, Iain’s producer and sidekick on LBC has unfortunately gone, and it’s now Dave or Dayyyyve in the assistant’s chair. I actually quite like him, but it’s obvious he’s not used to speech based radio. The chemistry between the two is gradually getting better, and as long as it continues to improve, I think it could work.

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Iain Lee has been one of my favourite radio presenters for the past 2 years, ever since my brother told me I should check out his show on LBC Radio. So I was gutted to find out yesterday that he had quit LBC, and won’t be on the radio for at least a few months.

When I started listening to Mr Lee, he had an afternoon show on the station, and had a lot of freedom to experiment with the talk format, which he continually did very successfully. Most of the show would consist of a free form approach with the odd topic thrown in here and there. Although this sometimes lead to a lack of callers or the odd off show, most of the time it lead to very funny callers and classic shows which I could listen to time and again.

There was also the beauty of Triple M, a half hour segment on the weekday show, and a full show on a Sunday night, which saw Iain take calls straight to air. Even with the 7 second delay, some gems could be heard, and it was often the best part of the show.

At the end of last year, Iain was moved to an evening slot of 7pm until 10pm, for reasons which I still can’t understand, but which were explained at the time as to reach the niche audience better. Unfortunately, most of us (although not me) are doing other things between those times: watching crappy soaps like Eastenders and Coronation Street; eating dinner; putting their kids to bed, and so some callers disappeared never to ring again.

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Carrying on the attempt at educating anyone who thinks British music ended with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, here is another selection of great music from the UK. It’s all handpicked by me, and whether you think it’s great, OK, or downright unlistenable, just let me know by using ye olde comment box down there!

Carrie is going to hate this feature now, because for the second week in a row, I can’t fulfill her wish for a classic British band. If anyone else knows an alternative embedding service from Radio.Blog.Club make sure you let me know ok!

What we do have is another five songs from yesteryear to help get you on the way to the weekend…
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There’s some great new singles out this week in the UK, so I thought I’d highlight some of the best. Here are my four picks for this week courtesy of YouTube.

We start with Snow Patrol and ‘Open Your Eyes’. From the album ‘Eyes Open’, this is a great slice of pop very much in keeping with their tried and trusted sound. The video is great too, with actual footage from the classic cult film C’était un rendez-vous by director Claude Lelouch.

Next is Corinne Bailey Rae’s new single called ‘I’d like to’. It’s a beautiful song which really shows off her voice to it’s full potential. The video is a live version from a Radio 1 Live Lounge session she performed last year. (more…)

No I’m not taking the mickey with that title, this is the true story of an album that has been produced called ‘A Very Merry Muslim Christmas Album’. It’s been made by a group of Muslim listeners to Talk radio host Nick Ferrari’s show on London radio station LBC. It’s in response to previous years Christmas seasons where Muslims in the UK have been left out of the holiday and also political correctness has gone too far and non-Christians have been blamed for the banning of various things to do with Christmas. (more…)