New, Old, and Vote for us !

Hi Zoneheads, all well ?

Greetings from rainy windy London town, and we're back with news of how you can vote for us in a rather splendid little Poll (it'll take just seconds of your time, really), and news of both New and Vintage Shows, in AZ land.

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Firstly, to the voting thing - a Poll is currently being run by one of the stations who take AZ Shows - RTI - and they want to know who your favourites are.

Therefore, if you please - do nip along to http://www.rti.fm and you'll see it on the right of their front page, near the top.

A list of names, and all you do is tick the box. Please do !

Ahem, I think you know who we'd like you to vote for.

Much appreciated, if you do ! Thank you !

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On to this weekend, and Rich Phoenix takes centre stage on Saturday night, via RTI and Sky 0195, at 9pm UK time.

Meanwhile, Sunday at 8pm sees (hears ?) the return of the Scotsman, our very own Mr Reece, to the airwaves, after all that flu-ish sinus cold virus nonsense.

And - what a special 'one-off' the Show is.

It's the recent 'Q and A' - but all questions are answered within the Show itself, which sit alongside quite a few musical 'guilty secrets' too.

I've heard a little of it already - and it is fascinating, a real one-off.

Expect the unexpected !

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I did promise another look into the AZ archives recently, in search of some more 'Vintage' programming, to air on our Pod.

Job done !

This weekend, 3 Album Zone Shows from 2004 will appear, from Simon G, James Barclay, and Johnny Reece, respectively.

Simon was chosen, because there are a few strong rumours floating around, that he may make his return to the AZ airwaves, very soon. Watch this space ! And enjoy the vintage shows.

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Have a great weekend, everyone,

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Steve Lloyd PR The Album Zone

Programmes, Playlists, Viruses, and Easter !

Just a quick update, Zoneheads !
Firstly though, a Happy Easter to you all.
Wherever you are, and whatever you do, have a good one.

This weekend, we're happy to have Zoe back, and you can catch her latest opus via www.rti.fm on Saturday, at 9pm, Uk time, and simultaneously on Sky 0195.
If you miss it (hey, how dare you !) then you can catch up with it on our Pod.

Sunday, and it's Johnny Reece, same frequencies, at 8pm this time, although once again, this will be a repeat, due to Johnny's continuing illness.
Get well soon, Scotsman !
I have chosen a Vintage Reecey show to air, from November 2001.

Finally, it really is time I published the fascinating playlist of our Scotsmans 'Namedroppers' special Programme, from 16th March. Every song, in the lyrics, 'namedrops' other artists. Playlist below, with the namedrops in brackets.
This show is also now on our Pod.

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Johnny Reece, 16th March 2008 : Namedroppers Playlist :

Undertones - My Perfect Cousin (Human League)
R.E.M. - Wake Up Bomb (T.Rex)
Veruca Salt - With David Bowie (David Bowie)
David Bowie - Drive-In Saturday (Mick Jagger)
Morris Quinlan Experience - Way Back (The Smiths)
Sparks - Something For The Girl With Everything (Frank Sinatra)
Teenage Fanclub - The Concept (Status Quo)
Sheryl Crow - We Do What We Can (Stan Kenton)
France Gall - Ella Elle L'a (Ella Fitzgerald)
Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express (Iggy Pop, David Bowie)
Heinz - Just Like Eddie (Eddie Cochran)
Weezer - Buddy Holly (Buddy Holly)
The Waterboys - The Return Of Jimi Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix)
Mike Scott - Beatles Reunion Blues (The Beatles, The Cure, Rolling Stones)
Leonard Cohen - Tower Of Song (Hank Williams)
The Bible - Honey Be Good (The Temptations)
Bryan Ferry - Cruel (Johnnie Ray)
Was Not Was - I Feel Better Than James Brown (James Brown)
T.Rex - Ballrooms Of Mars (John Lennon, Bob Dylan)
Peter Sarstedt - Where Do You Go To My Lovely (Rolling Stones, Sacha Distel, Marlene Dietrich, Zizi Jeanmaire)
Chris Spedding - Guitar Jamboree (Albert King, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Jack Bruce, Pete Townshend, Keith Richards, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Paul Kossoff, Leslie West, Dave Gilmour)

(Message from Rich Phoenix, tribute to Norman Smith)
Norman 'Hurricane' Smith - Oh Babe, What Would You Say

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We will reconvene next week, all fit and well we hope, with April 2008 Schedules for you...

Steve

Namedroppers !

Hi Zoneheads, and welcome to the weekend.
A quick hello this time, just to tell you of this weekends AZ Programmes vying for the attention of your ears, wherever on the planet you may be.
Saturday night 9pm, and Andy Miles is here, via rti.fm, and Sky 0195.
Expect to hear the likes of Nazareth, Simone White, Disturbed, Placebo, and many more.
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Sunday night, and Johnny Reece returns, at 8pm (UK time). It's a bit of a special themed affair, called 'namedroppers'. The whole show features songs which namedrop other artists, in the lyrics. Don't miss it !
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I'll be back midweek, with Schedule updates, meanwhile, have a great weekend !
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Thanks, as ever, for your support.
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Steve Lloyd PR The Album Zone
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Official Blog : http://thealbumzone.blogspot.com
Official MySpace : http://www,myspace.com/albumzone
email : studio@albumzone.co.uk

Norman 'Hurricane' Smith

Music lost a great innovator this week.
For those who have heard early Beatles, Pink Floyd, the psychedelic sound of The Pretty Things... what have they all in common ?
They were all touched by the hand of Norman Smith.
Later, he left Abbey Road Studios behind, and turned hitmaker for himself, with 'Oh Babe What Would You Say', 'Don't Let It Die', and 'Who Was It'.
The Hurricane died this week, aged 85. We'll miss him.

For more on Norman Smith and his lifes work, do please tune in to the forthcoming Rich Phoenix Show, to be aired shortly. Rich and Norman were friends, going back years.

Thanks for the great musical memories, Norman.

Gil's Q and A... and on the Pod...

Hi Zone people, a quick midweek update for you.
Below, the next instalment of our 'Q and A' series, this time with the words of wisdom from the tallest man ever to visit AZ Towers, Gil Legine.
The Gilster's latest show is now on our Pod too, check it out !
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We'll be back closer to the weekend, with news of Richard Bismarck's show, for Saturday evening. However, due to illness, there will be no new Johnny Reece show this week, therefore we will play a repeat from last year. I'm thinking of playing 'Vol 1' of the Doo-Wop Special our resident Scotsman did, which was very popular, not to mention, very different !
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Ok, all that the Gilster said, is below...
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GIL LEGINE : The Q and A...


If you were in charge of making the environment better what would you do?

Oh, don't get me started!! Isn't this is a bit of a serious one to start with?! Mmmm, well I could write a book on this subject but I'll try & keep it short, though of course being the tallest DJ for yards around it won't be easy!
OK, well for starters I'd have GW Bush 'taken care of' & his Dad for that matter, for both causing untold damage to the environment with their senseless oil wars. That's what it was all about folks & don't be fooled by any other reason. GW cares nothing about the environment from his stalling on joining the Kyoto Agreement and USA is by far the biggest producer of co2. I'd have had Blair 'bumped' as well only he did the decent thing. In fact all world leaders need to be heartily thrashed as none of them really care enough about the planet, Putin & his stupid titanium flag under the rapidly melting icecap - IDIOT! We should also hold to rights all of the politicians in every country over the last 50 years or so, all of whom knew about what was going on with co2 build up but chose to ignore it. Something could have been done back then but I'm afraid I think it's all too late now. I have a good friend who works for a company here in Denmark trying to find alternative power sources. He has studied all this stuff very closely and is of the opinion the Atlantic Gulf Stream will probably stop in the next 25/30 years. This will lead to the average temperatures in Northern Europe dropping by an average of 8 degrees. The average temperature in Denmark is 8 degrees, need I say more?!!

But apart from all that, what I'd do is ban all air transport completely, planes are responsible for carnage to the atmosphere, what's wrong with ships? Also not so long ago here, The Danes had 'car free Sundays' where no-one could drive. I'd expand that to car free weekends. No one family should have more than one car either. Train fares should all come down to encourage folk to use them. It should be made mandatory that everyone cycles & walks at least once to work every week. Plus continue to research and use alternative power sources including James Barclays immense potential wind farm capability!!

Oh dear, that was a book! Sorry about that. I hope the rest are a bit easier.

In your career with the Album Zone and the thousands of songs that you've played have you ever played anything that changed a listeners life?

Ah that's more like it!
Not that I'm aware of. I'd like to think that it has happened though. Introducing good new/old music to people is a real buzz for me.

Have you ever considered quitting AZ ? And why ?

Well keep it quiet but actually I have. Why? I'm not telling you, it's pointless because I'm still here.

Anything you've done that you have really regretted ? Care to tell ?

Oh yes and oh no!

It doesn't pay. Why do you do it ?

Because I just love to sit & play music. I'll confess I only really make programmes for myself, stuff I like and hopefully know something about. But if I can turn someone on to anything new or unknown to them and they get the same pleasure I get from it, then it's worth a million quid!

What's the best thing about doing AZ ?

The previous answer really. It's a very privileged position to be in I think, to play anything you like with almost no restrictions and at the same time give something to those along for the ride.

And the worst ?

That we don't do it live anymore, that was so much fun back in the MNO days. Also I miss all the jaunts we used to have to France & Holland, one day we'll do it again, maybe, perhaps, hopefully!


Favourite city or town - and why ?

Well Copenhagen is a great city to live in for many reasons and the longer I'm here the better it gets, but I'll say London. Why? It still feels like home to me whenever I'm there and it rocks!

Do you miss doing 'Live' Shows ?

For AZ yes. But generally no as I'm lucky enough to make two live shows a month for K.U.R. (the University radio station) here in Copenhagen. So that keeps me match fit.

Do you have a favourite record of all time - or are there just too many ?

Not as such! There are probably at least 30 that I could list here but it depends on what mood you're in. Is the sun shining, is it driving music, is it chilling music, is it day, is it night, is it a new album, is it an old album, blah-dy blah!

Where have you never travelled - but really want to visit ?

Lately I'm hankering towards visiting one of the Poles or Greenland. I know hardly an idealic destination but, as I expressed perhaps overly in the first question, they are the last true wildernesses on the planet and they are not going to be here much longer, so it needs to be done. Of course I would not fly there! Perhaps swim or something. Apart from that The Himalayas or South America.

Ever thought of doing 'all talk' programmes ?

Not really. It's all about the music for me though as you know, I do tend to twat on a bit sometimes!

Do you ever listen to any of the other AZ Presenters shows ?
If so, which ones and why ?

Oh dear!
Sorry guys but I don't. It's purely a time and location thing you understand, nothing personal.

Got pets ? What ?

Two cats. A tabby female called Misser and a black male called Herbie. They came from the RSPCA and the same litter.

What's the funniest / saddest / strangest
thing to happen while doing (live ??) shows on the radio ?

Two funny ones. The first was I'm guessing about 11 years ago on a live RSL in Kent. Mr. Bismarck, Mr. Barclay and myself were fortunate enough to catch Mr. Reece asleep on the studio sofa and broadcast him snoring his arse off to a delighted audience not to mention our own uncontrolled mirth. The second was around 10 years ago live on the 'The Laaydee'. I was just in the middle of my closing link when the next DJ up, one Dermot Vaughan came in to get ready and dropped a massive pile of CDs he was carrying destroying my link and half the studio as well. I believe I sharply said, 'good morning Dermot', it was probably about 4am.
The saddest were the last shows we did from MNO as I enjoyed them so much. Also knowing perhaps we wouldn't do anything live again for ages afterwards.
The strangest was again on The Ross when some supporters joined us one day and I was doing a show with several of them standing behind me in that tiny studio, literally breathing down my neck!

What was really embarrassing ?

The last time I let go at a dinner party. Or did you mean on the radio??


Who's the sexiest girl / boy singer for you ?

Right now in the mainstream there's no-one. They all look and sound so much the bleedin' same and are so young that they simply don't interest me sexually. Plus there's nothing subtle or suggested anymore, it's all in yer face blandness. I'd of fallen asleep before we got to the bottom of the stairs!!
In the past I've been stimulated by Andrea Corr, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Melissa Auf der Maur, oh and Sheryl Crow before she got all trick cyclist on us!

Sexiest record ?

I don't listen to music to get an erection! No really it's not a thing I listen to music for. In fact if music is playing I need to listen to it. It's too distracting to think of anything else.

Please tell us something about your biography, we don't know much about you... where are you from, where are you now ? And where are you going ?

I'm from England, I'm now in Denmark, I'm probably going to hell in a hand cart !!
Actually I'm going to bed soon as it's getting very bloody late.

AZ has been going 10 years. Will you still be doing it in 10 years time ?

Well I plan to be here if you still want me and I am able to press play without me dentures falling out or getting electrocuted from misplaced spewtum!

Would you like a job with a national radio station ?

Never! I can't imagine how dull that must be, all those restrictions etc. Also I don't want a lobotomy! G'mornin', G'mornin, G'moroning etc

Favourite Album ?

See earlier question.

Does a lot of advance planning go into your programmes, or do you just sit down and get on with it ?

You mean you can't hear!!
Not a great deal in my case. I plan the music in so far as I write a list of stuff I'd like to play - not in any order though, that happens by pure instinct and good taste (oh yeah?) The rest occurs as the plot slowly unfolds. I may scribble down the odd note about an essential fact or refer to a magazine or something, but that's about it.

Anything else you'd like to add ?

Not without a lawyer present. Happy listening and I'd like to thank my Mother...

Weekend Playlists !

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The Johnny Reece Show

2nd March 2008

Wings - Getting Closer
Elvis Costello and The Attractions - You Belong To Me
Patrick Fitzgerald Group - Animal Mentality
Mercury Rev - Secret For A Song
The Raveonettes - You Want The Candy
Johnny Zero and The London Angels - Nobody Else But You
Ria Bartok - Ecoute Mon Coeur
Barry De Foyle - Emergence
Gary Numan - A Prayer For The Unborn
The Skyliners - Since I Don't Have You
Tom Waits - Broken Bicycles
Fischer-Z - The Perfect Day
Bryan Ferry - All Night Operator
Lisahall - Julianne
Alan Parsons Project - Don't Answer Me
Barry Adamson - Theresa Green
Sheryl Crow - God Bless This Mess
String Driven Thing - It's A Game
Rialto - Anything Could Happen
Louis Eliot - She Is Moving On
Fabienne Delsol - Catch Me A Rat
Sparks - Thank God It's Not Christmas
Death Cab For Cutie - Tiny Vessels
Jane Birkin (feat. Brian Molko) - Smile
Goldfrapp - Cologne Cerrone Houdini
Herb Alpert - This Guy's In Love With You

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Barry De Foyle Show

1st March 2008

Mick Ronson - Don't Look Down

Japan - Visions of China

Jean-Louis Aubert - Si Seulement

CCS - Boom Boom

Strawbs - Stormy Down

Gentle Giant - Free Hand

Yes - I Would Have Waited Forever

Renaissance - The Vultures Fly High

Greenslade - What Are You Doing To Me ?

Sugar - Helpless

Sleeper - Inbetweener

Hatfield & The North - La Barbe Est La Barbe (BBC Session)

Random Hold - Cause And Effect

The Divine Comedy - Mother Dear

Ryuichi Sakamoto - A Pile Of Time

Quarteto Novo - Sintese

Can - Ethnological Forgery Series No. 99 (CAN-CAN)

Scott Bradley - Touche, Pussy Cat

Jean-Phillippe Rameau - La Triomphante

Edgar Froese - Stuntman

Peter Knight - Picnic

Phil Manzanera - Big Day

Henry Cow - Beautiful As the Moon – Terrible As An Army With Banners

Horslips - Fantasia (My Lagan Love)

Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Clever Trevor

Northern Ireland, Scotland... and France ?

Hi all,
a rather gallic feel to the weekend here at AZ Towers.
I breezed in here this morning (quite literally, do you know how windy London is today ?) to jot down the odd blog or two on this weekends events.
Programme-wise, Northern Ireland and Scotland are where the roots lie, as firstly Barry De Foyle will be in your ears (hey, he likes that) tonight, Saturday, at 9pm, via rti.fm.
Oh, and Sky 0195 too, if you let him.
What delights will he have for you ? Well, to give the odd clue, let's namedrop Mick Ronson, Sugar, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Can, and Ian Dury, to name just a few.
Be there !
And if you miss it (hey, no excuse really) you can catch up with it on our Pod, and the link for that is below.
In fact, catch ANY Album Zone programme on our Pod, 24/7.
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Into Sunday, and it's a Scots takeover, as Johnny Reece will be there, in his usual Sunday evening slot. Once again, www.rti.fm, and Sky 0195.
Oh, and it's 8pm this time, if you please.
Expect aural delights (he insisted I write that) from Patrick Fitzgerald, Ria Bartok, Barry Adamson, String Driven Thing, Goldfrapp, The Raveonettes, and more.
This particular soiree will appear on our Pod, at approx 10pm on Sunday evening.
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Hang on, where does the 'France' portion come into this, as mentioned above ?
Ah, it's a little AZ night out tonight, to the newly sparkling and renovated Roundhouse in Camden Town, to see the rather marvellous Jane Birkin, in Concert.
Something tells me there will be much chat about this, in future shows.
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Oh, and let's not forget our good friends in the Netherlands, the ever efficient Radio Seagull, who air Album Zone Programmes, 6 times per week.
Monday through Wednesday (6pm each time), and these are repeated Friday through Sunday (2 am each time) - the night time shows are also aired through Tenerife 105 FM.
The main outlet for these, as ever, is www.radioseagull.com.
Next week, respectively, you'll hear Richard Bismarck, then Andy Miles, then Johnny Reece.
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Wishing you all a great weekend, and thanks, as ever, for your support.
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Steve Lloyd PR The Album Zone
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Official Blog (with pics and full history !) : http://thealbumzone.blogspot.com
Official MySpace : http://www.myspace.com/albumzone
email : studio@albumzone.co.uk
24/7 Album Zone Pod : http://www.4shared.com/dir/391612/be81ca22/sharing.html