2016 has been a remarkable year.
As I write this Blog, over 80 well known and loved celebrities have died in 2016, including many music artists. I always find the death of a well-known celebrity upsetting, I don't know why It makes me feel like it does, often these are people I have never met and don't know personally, but somehow because I've grown up listening to them, watching them and enjoying what they do, it feels like they've been a part of my life, and it makes me sad. This year especially has been horrible, with so many high profile names leaving us, including, amongst many others....
“Where words fail, music speaks" - Hans Christian Andersen
Music has been a large part of my life, I've been on the radio since I was 16 years old (at the time I was the youngest presenter ever on British radio with my own show). I started my record collection at the age of 9 and I am still adding to that collection to this day, I love music, all types. I didn't want to become a radio presenter to become famous or rich, my sole reason for wanting to be on the radio was to play music to as many people as I could. As any music radio presenter will tell you, there is a very special feeling you get playing great music on the radio, either finding a wonderful new song to play to your audience for the very first time, or playing a classic song that everyone loves.
Music has always been a passion, a great melody or a great voice can still make me cry, and often does. I sometimes find music can be better than photographs for instant recollection of special moments in your life, school years, first girlfriend or boyfriend, meeting your life partner, Marriage, birth of your children, holidays. Listening to a song can instantly transport you back to a special moment in your life, that's the power of music from all the amazing artists who write and perform it everyday.
A new radio format borne out of death...
When David Bowie died on January 10th this year (2016) closely followed by Glenn Frey from the Eagles (January 18th) and Maurice White from Earth, Wind & Fire (February 4th) It gave me an idea. The idea was to create a unique radio station that only plays and celebrates the music of artists who are Dead. As with any simple idea, at first I thought somebody else must have already done it, my knowledge of UK radio is pretty good, so I knew nobody in the UK had done it. However, I was sure somebody must have already done it in America (biggest radio market in the world) but no, nobody had done it anywhere in the world, so this idea of mine, the concept/format would be totally unique and a radio first.
Next, what should I call it?
I dislike anything that is bland and so much radio now is mind numbingly bland, including so many lazy spin offs of existing radio brands, no creativity, no variety for listeners, just dull radio. I love the name Radio Dead, it's interesting, it's different, it creates conversation, it's unique.
Radio Dead is now up and running as an on-line/app based radio station.
What is now interesting and macabre, is listeners are now actually contacting me and predicting who they think will be next to make an appearance on the Radio Dead playlist. Slightly morbid, yet truly fascinating. In a year like this year, when so many famous celebrities have died, I'm sure many people have had similar conversations at work or at home, who will be next? It doesn't make you a bad person or insensitive, it's just life, it's the type of stuff people talk about.
So who will be next?
Radio Dead is absolutely creating debate in offices, pubs and households across the UK, it appears to be catching the attention of the public. Artists are also contacting me direct to check if they're on the playlist. The latest to get in touch on Twitter is Dennis Locorriere, lead singer from the band Dr. Hook (When you're in love with a beautiful woman/A Little bit more/Sexy eyes).
Here is the tweet that Dennis sent me......
What I'm finding absolutely fascinating is when an artist dies, Radio Dead is fast becoming the very first radio station listeners think of, this was the case when Prince died and more recently when Pete Burns died, I suddenly had 100's of messages on my phone from people telling me these artists had died and that I now had additions to the Radio Dead Playlist, that is pretty powerful stuff. Radio Dead is the only radio station in the world that only plays artists who are.....Dead, and I don't just feature solo artists and lead singers, it also celebrates and remembers guitarists/drummers/keyboard players and backing singers from famous bands.
In a world where we now listen to the radio in so many different ways, the Internet now gives listeners access to Radio Dead everywhere in the world via live streaming www.stevepenk.co.uk and the Radio Dead app.
Apparently we're all living longer these days, but so many wonderful celebrities have died in 2016 including Gene Wilder, Robert Vaughn, Kenny Baker (man behind R2-D2) Muhammad Ali, Victoria Wood, Sir Terry Wogan, Alan Rickman and Caroline Aherne, to name only a few. I'm hoping one man can make it beyond December 9th this year, because it's a very special birthday for an iconic Hollywood star.
December 9th 2016 will be the 100th birthday of Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas. Come on Kirk, you can do it.
Listen anywhere. Download the Radio Dead App here:
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Kids on the air broadcasting to kids is never a great idea, mainly because they have very little to offer that's interesting or entertaining. Radio presenting is like any other job, you listen, you learn, you master your craft and only then when you are the very best at what you do, should you be considered suitable and able to broadcast on this radio station. |
Capital FM (London) should be the very best of the very best, and throughout most of its history it has been just that, but it's lost it's sparkle, it's lost that unique point of difference that used to make Programme Directors from radio stations all over the world fly into London, just to listen to Capital FM. Such was the reputation of this magnificent radio station, PD's (mainly from the US) would fly into London (pre Internet streaming) record the output, make notes and take those notes back to their own radio markets around the world, now that is pretty impressive.
The Chris Tarrant breakfast show dominated London breakfast listening for many years, it was appointment to listen radio. Legend has it, at its peak, listeners used to ring the radio station to ask when Chris was taking his own summer holiday so they could book the same time off, so they wouldn't miss any of the show and would be back in town, in time for CT's return from his holiday, now that is as powerful as breakfast radio can get. We are talking a juggernaut of a radio show, hosted by a man at the very top of his game, the way it should be on Capital FM (London) Compelling, laugh out loud content, water cooler moments, a great talkability breakfast show, the way the very best breakfast shows should be. The Chris Tarrant breakfast show on Capital FM London to this day remains one of the greatest breakfast shows in the history of Commercial Radio in the UK. |
The current Capital FM breakfast show (2016) in my opinion, is the worst in the history of the radio station. Some may say I'm being brutal, I just think I'm being honest, it doesn't make me right, it equally doesn't make me wrong, I'm just concerned and it's just my opinion. It's hosted by 3 people who look good, but have little or no idea how to generate and deliver compelling, strong, funny breakfast content day after day, month after month, year after year.
Who cares what they look like and how well they dress, this is radio. You don't learn your craft on one of the worlds biggest radio commercial breakfast shows, and it's this alone where I feel Capital has lost focus. Whenever I tune in, It sounds like one of those really boring teenage conversations that you occasionally over hear on the bus, on the train, out shopping, and then you suddenly realise that this is actually going out on the air on one of the worlds most respected and admired Radio stations. I've heard my own teenage kids and their friends, on the school run, describe the current Capital FM breakfast show as 'boring' and when the audience you're aiming it at are using words like boring, something is very wrong.
Compare the current Capital FM breakfast show (London) with the current Z100 breakfast show (New York). Both markets are very similar, both radio stations chasing similar audiences and playing very similar music. The Z100 breakfast show in New York, now syndicated across America, is a master class of breakfast entertainment radio with its ring master and main host Elvis Duran.
Listen if you can (on line) for a full week, it will take that amount of time to get to know the characters and feel part of the family, I guarantee the breakfast team will drag you in and you will be totally hooked, exactly the way breakfast radio should be, exactly what Capital FM (London) should be doing, exactly what they used to do. The players may have changed, times may have changed, but the the way you deliver great radio day in day out, hasn't changed.
Radio breakfast shows don't become successful by chance, it takes talent, focus, huge commitment and extremely hard work.
Capital FM should be absolutely dominating London radio listening and it's not. I hear that Ashley Tabor has taken personal charge of Capital FM (London). Ashley is Global Radio's founder and executive president, but has no qualifications for running and programming Capital FM. Of course nobody is going to tell him that.
Ashley is a nice man, when I was at Capital he worked in the record library, I always found him very pleasant, but he's not the right man to make Capital FM the powerhouse in London again that it used to be. I described Ashley on Twitter once as a playboy (which he didn't like) but if my dad bought me a Formula one racing car I wouldn't suddenly think I knew everything about Formula One and start driving the car. Ashley has a lot to learn and should never have taken control of Capital FM.
It's not an easy job programming Capital FM (London) and quite frankly I can't think of a single programmer currently in the UK who has the ability, steely determination, focus and reputation to deliver the quality product Capital FM should be delivering.
All I do know is Capital FM (London) used to be one of the best Commercial music radio stations in the world, sadly this is no longer the case, it simply sounds ordinary, it's like any other local radio station.
Capital (London) never use to sound ordinary.
Capital (London) never use to sound ordinary.
- Global may have deep pockets, but you have to know how to spend it, the key to any radio station sounding great is hiring the very best talent, not reality TV fodder who haven't got a clue how to make great radio.
- Simply hiring people because they've been on the telly is the worst kind of lazy, uninspired Radio programming you can get.
- You can make the best TV ads in the world and have wonderful summer and Christmas events but what really matters the most is what comes out of that studio 52 weeks of the year.
I decided to write this opinion piece after listening again to a breakfast show that wouldn't sound out of place on hospital radio. I know Global Radio management will hate this opinion piece but quite frankly I couldn't give a monkeys. I know they will think there's nothing wrong and that their breakfast show is perfect (head in sand) although I suspect Richard Park isn't that impressed with the way it currently sounds. Deep down Richard will know it's not right and simply not good enough. Richard is a perfectionist, how could he be happy, it's poor.
Every major City in the world has a great Commercial radio station at its heart, but if the current sound of Capital FM (London) is the very best this country can offer right now, I feel embarrassed.
Every major City in the world has a great Commercial radio station at its heart, but if the current sound of Capital FM (London) is the very best this country can offer right now, I feel embarrassed.
I suggest they get out of London more often, travel around the country and start listening to some of the good talent out there and get them on Capital FM.
Make Capital FM (London) great again and stop putting kids on the air who've got nothing to say.
Steve Penk
Radio Man!
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