Putting the 'happy' back into content
There’s something about a great solo on a record that elevates it above the normal.
One of my all-time favourites is Jools Holland’s ivory-tinkling on The The’s Uncertain Smile.
This particular version doesn’t probably show it off in its greatest light, but it still shows how flipping great Jools is, as an extemporaneous pianist.
Enjoy!
So the Bible is now available to download direct to your mobile phone, with the launch of some enterprising new service.
Aside from the fact that it must be morally wrong to make money out of God (which is why televangelists are sooo bad), I’m not sure I understand the point of this.
I see a lot of people travelling on public transport flicking through their own personal copy of the Good Book, silently offering up a prayer and gaining inspiration from the words of Ezekiel, or whoever.
And that’s my point. Most people have their own pocket-sized copy already. They can flick through it till they get to their favourite passage and know that it’s already there. Why pay money to download it to a phone that they’re likely to upgrade in 12 months time?
I may not believe in God, but even I know that a Bible is for life and not just for a Christmas present.
Virgin Radio’s breakfast DJ Christian O’Connell is currently in the midst of his annual competition called ‘Who’s Calling Christian?’
The simple premise is getting members of the public to encourage celebrities to call in to the show and be entertaining. The winning celeb (voted for by the public) gets £20k for their charity, while the persuasive punter gets £20k for himself.
It’s a clever premise and one that O’Connell pioneered himself, but not on Virgin Radio. In fact, he started it some years ago, when he was on XFM and it was far more imaginatively titled ‘Bounty Hunter’.
In the days when it was on a ‘local’ radio station, the callers were usually very funny, spontaneous and simply willing to do it for a laugh.
The problem is, now it’s on a national radio station and is a successful format, it seems to be being abused by the celebs who ring up, desperate to get a plug in about their latest project.
In its early XFM days, one caller almost won when she got Dame Judi Dench to call up, having spotted her in the Returns department of Ikea in Croydon. Simple as that. Dame Judi was lovely to chat to and didn’t try to shoehorn her latest (probably Oscar-nominated) film into the conversation.
Now you just get the impression that agents invent friends or members of the public who then cajole the celebrity into calling up, all the while knowing that Mr O’Connell will almost inevitably ask the old chestnut: “So, what are you up to at the moment?”
Shame on you, Christian. I always thought you’d sold out when left XFM and now it’s pretty obvious you have!