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I sat in for Adam and Joe on Saturday on 6 Music, a long held ambition as a fan of their show, except I wasn't supposed to be them, I was there to hold the musical fort on another 6 Music "themed" day, Independents Day, in which we focused on music from independent labels. The one concession we made to Adam and Joe was to create our own indie Song War song, my first ever attempt as using GarageBand for something other than as a big tape recorder for podcasts: we looped one drum track and one guitar track, wrote some daft lyrics and sang the song, I Quite Like Indie, live. It is quite silly, but if you wish, you can hear it at the 46 minute mark on iPlayer, all this week.
Adam and Joe have embarked upon a long, well-earned summer break, and will be covered from next week by their natural dep, Danny Wallace, who will keep the spirit of the show alive. I was amazed by how many Tweets and messages I got that basically said, You're alright, but you're no Adam and Joe. Ouch! That hurt! Especially when I made it clear that I was not attempting to be. One gentleman called me "another John Peel wannabe," which is an odd insult, in that wanting to be John Peel strikes me as a worthy ambition. That said, I don't want to be him. I have no interest in listening to loads and loads of new bands in the hope of finding a good one. The lot of the "dep" is always to fill in without threatening the authority of the person you're filling in for. I'm pretty sure Adam and Joe are safe in their jobs, unless they plan to jettison all the features and funny stuff and just play records on independent labels in the future. (It's amazing how possessive fans can be.)
Anyway, it was fun to do. I seem to be well and truly back on the 6 Music subs bench. Long may that continue. And one day, maybe I can be John Peel.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 11:25 AM
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30 Comments:
Why would anyone ever text in their distaste for a broadcast show?
That's what blogs are for!
I heard a bit of it over breakfast and enjoyed what I heard. Long may you be the go to man at 6music, sir.
Those people are obviously dickheads. The good thing about dickheads is that they show us non-dickheads how non-dickheady we are.
Will your show be available as a podcast, or are they for A&J only?
I suspect the person who accused you of being a John Peel wannabe was the same sad person who was sending similar texts to Marc Riley last week, managing to rile (ho ho) him on air.
I thought your show was great. What do people expect - Adam & Joe impersonators?
This in the week in which "Who Is Virgilio Anderson?" replaced Buxton's "You've got a call coming in" ringtone on my phone.
No podcast. No really suitable. Just links.
it's true that you are not Adam and Joe, but they would be rubbish at being you!
I love A & J but a lot of what makes their show great is that they have built up a load of in-jokes and features that work, and have discarded stuff that doesn't work over a long period of time. Such is the luxury of having a show every week rather than every now and then.
I say 'remove Collings from the subs bench and let's have A & J on Saturday mornings and C & H on Sunday mornings!' Then we'd be approaching a perfect radio world...
I once gave you a luke warm welcome on the BBC2 message boards for 'not being Mark Radcliffe' when you stood in for him on his old 10.30 slot. You had the good grace to politely explain that you were just trying to do a good job and consequently I felt incredibly mean.
I suspect that I a) didn't think you'd be reading the MBs and b) forgot that you were a human being with feelings. The latter in particular was a bloody stupid assumption.
In the end you were much my preferred stand in for Radders.
All of which amounts to nothing but I feel better for saying it.
"...one day, maybe I can be John Peel"
Nope. And that is a good thing. John Peel was John Peel, it's all he ever could be* and that's why we loved him.
You will always be Andrew Collins and the people who like you, like you for being Andrew Collins. And more importantly, I think we also like the fact that 6Music are giving you work. I would be delighted if they'd give you a Sunday slot, how about Herring coming in to do a Newspaper review, that sort of thing, you could talk about kissing ducks and The News of the World's coverage of paedophiles in parks. I think it might just work.
By the way, the Indie show sounded just as good again this afternoon on i-Player whilst I sat in the garden in the scorching heat. Lovely.
My verification word is unconi, the opposite to Maconie I suppose.
*I suppose he could have reverted back to Ravenscroft.
What a fantastic little song war. You are unique Mr C and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
You were a very good sub and I hope to hear you more often on 6 Music.
I kinda get the feeling that there'll be an opening on 6Music in the Saturday morning slot and you'd be ideal to fill it . . . not that I think Adam and Joe are getting too big for britches (what with writing movies and so on) . . . just that I get the impression the BBC want to "promote" them to Radio 2 (and we all know how successful that was with Russel Brand).
The David Fairclough of deps!
I missed the show unfortunately - due to family stuff that kept me out of the house on Saturday.
However I joined in with the 'independence' theme and brought my debut CD EP into a real independent record shop in Dublin. I've always wanted to do that: turn up with a box of CDs and get a shop to sell them.
I guess I'll be going back in 2 months to take them home again :-)
I'd also go for C&H on a Sunday morning - I think the BBC restraint clause does them good.
The dirty sods.
Joyfeed - I have the Joe telephone ringtone. It is the most annoying ringtone in the world and I'm not sure why I use it.
I heard quite a bit of the show as I pottered around doing Saturday morning things, and I thought it was just fine. The 'Independents' theme worked nicely, and you sounded like you were having a good time. I registered one small regret that you hadn't played any Pixies, and then you played some, so all was well.
I hadn't expected you to be Adam and Joe, or anything significantly like them. How odd that some people should.
It's not so much that the A&J hardcore wanted me to be Adam and Joe, more than they wanted Adam and Joe to be on the radio, and not somebody else. (You have to admire their devotion, but it's quite offputting to read Tweets actually expressing regret that you are on the radio! Even if some of them did attempt to do it in a kind way!)
I listened on iPlayer, which doesn't strike me as very indie. It should have been on a c90 or something
It was a pleasant suprise to hear your dulcit tones on 6 Music on Saturday morning.
Maybe they could give you the drivetime slot whatcha think?
Rich
I'm just pleased to have you back on the radio.
Julie Brown (ex new zealand emailer now in York)
I’m sorry you had to endure such unpleasant messages while depping for A&J. I work for another national radio station that encourages listeners to “interact”with the programmes. If it’s any comfort even the regular presenters there get some deeply offensive messages sent to them. One or two of the thicker-skinned hosts take a delight in reading these out, belittling the sender. If I were Adam or Joe I don’t think I’d want people capable of sending hurtful messages to their dep as fans.
I like A&J but everyone needs a holiday and it was great to hear you back on 6 Music again in their place.
AC! loved it.
mr gee
The Andrew Collins Stage at Glastonbury - it could work!
I had a sketch at the read through for a radio show a while back and it wasn't used with the feedback 'it was a bit Monty Python'?! Surely that's brilliant? I thought!
I'm too lazy to want to be the next Michael Palin and too short to want to be the next John Cleese.
I thought the show was great for what it's worth.
6 Music and iPlayer keep me sane throughout a day.
The John Peel email to Marc Riley was along the lines of: "you're trying to be John Peel but you're nothing like him." I wondered if it was MES. And since you had one too, I wonder if he sent one to Tom Ravenscroft on Friday evening.
Listening to it on iPlayer right now. Great taste, Andrew, seriously. I don't usually listen to A&J's whole show - just the podcast for their jolly banter - but I'm totally into this indie label fest. Hope to hear more of this some time.
Ha. Somebody just went to the trouble of leaving a comment saying they dislike the way I write because I use too many commas. What, a, nit, picking, knob.
(If you haven't got something nice to say, don't say anything.)
I tried to listen to Adam and Joe a few times, after i enjoyed their TV series in the 90's but i just havent been able to "get into them".
Am i the minority here?
*spooky word verification = adamal*
Just listened to your song - very good; reminds me a lot of The Television Personalities
- Mr Goodtaste
I'd say you're in the minority almost anywhere, Rambu! I've never met someone who doesn't think A&J are bloody brilliant. They manage to be incredibly and spontaneously funny whilst being totally charming and inoffensive. Not that there's anything wrong with being offensive. It just explains their mass appeal. A&J are the only podcasters I listen to along with C&H.
Stephen!
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