Drovers Barn, Whitney-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR3 6EU, GB
In my opinion (IMO)
What they and why?
For reasons I need not detain you with here - frankly because I’m not yet entirely sure myself so let’s just go with the flow - those nice whiz-kids, technophiles and marketing people at Black Country Radio (BCR) all tell me the way forward is via the podcast, which is quite amazing when one considers the term didn’t even exist just a few years back.
Somewhat fortuitously, but I confess entirely coincidentally, I had been a little ahead of the curve for some while in collating a modest body of podcasts for this site. When my chums at BCR kindly invited me to contribute towards the setting up of their own podcast facilities I was in a position to supply TFTB; hence in addition to being here they now also appear at www.blackcountryradio.co.uk/onair/podcasts/ for which I am most grateful.
TFTB are temporarily on hold following the publication of the first 25 episodes in book form (see Books). In the meantime, as TFTB was going through the publication stage, I compiled unrelated op-ed contributions to BCR aimed at provoking thought and generating discussion.
Thus was born In my opinion (IMO), a personalized ‘take’ on a mélange of subjects. Random and sporadic, subjective and potentially controversial but - I like to think - ultimately balanced, they are entirely my own view and I emphasize that their airing on BCR does not suggest or imply that they represent the opinion of the station. Or anyone else, for that matter.
Each episode is independently produced by GF and is typically around 12 minutes duration. You might or might not agree with what is said, but I guarantee it will give food for thought. And that can’t be a bad thing.
And here's the fattest of the lot ...
... actually he's not fat - just a huge cat. Solid muscle. At just under a whopping 9kg. I know folks down the gym who can't bench-press that. This is Will-I-Um, or more properly William The Monster. A verifiably genuine slob of the feline variety. Probably born in a backstreet fish and chip shop or something equally in keeping.
NOW, ON WITH THE SHOW ...
Rockin' the world
FRIDAY NIGHT ROCKS and other 'one-offs'
Ok, perhaps not quite setting the music world alight but yes, that is Yours Truly back in the days of the dinosaurs (actually circa 1973) as an aspiring bass guitarist supplementing his meagre student grant.
Ah well, once a rocker always a rocker I suppose, so imagine my delight when Black Country Radio commissioned a series of rock shows. Aired on Friday nights throughout 2019 they remained on the station's Listen Again facility for a few days before being despatched mercilessly into the ether. But fret ye not, for they are saved for the nation here.
Written and produced by GF on behalf of BCR they take the form of a 'rock-umentary', the titles of which are self explanatory and each at one hour long. (Tracks 1 - 3)
Also included are other 'one -offs' and Christmas specials, again one hour long (or, more precisely, 58 minutes to allow for opening and closing jingles) that were slipped around the schedules at various times. The content may not be immediately apparent from the cryptic titles - although 'One Hit Wonders' is a bit of a giveaway - so brief details are as per 'view track' but the game is revealed within the first few seconds of audio anyway so it's probably easier just to click and listen.
(Graham adds: 'For the record, the instrument is a Gibson EB3, probably '60s vintage, that I acquired by swapping a Hoffner Violin bass, as played by Paul McCartney and now worth megabucks. It needed work. The rear 'humbucker' pick-up was replaced with one from a Fender that I rewired in my student flat. The resulting sound was a fusion of mellow blues Gibson with strident Fender; very impressive. In 1976, having avoided hitting the Big Time, I flogged it plus my amplifier and speaker for thirty five quid. The things we do, eh? Sic transit in Gloria mundi.')
Short story
DROONLIVET
Droonlivet, a tale of waterways, whisky and the Devil's brew first appeared in print in 2001 as a six-part mini-series in the sadly since-defunct Canal & Riverboat magazine, for which the author was at that time Review & Special Features Editor.
It was written in tribute to an elderly friend, Frank, who sadly died. before the derelict canal that he and Graham both loved and worked on together could be fully restored; it still isn't but that's another story. Though Frank was elderly his loss was nonetheless keenly felt.
Droonlivet has been retrieved from the archives and is voiced here for the first time as a broadcast by Graham. The hip-flask illustration is one of several from the original written piece drawn by his colleague Derek Pearson, also formerly of Canal & Riverboat magazine. The introduction and closing credits are courtesy of Mary Spence MBE.
And for something completely different
Satire and silliness; Tales From Before The Barn ...
Bearing little relation to Tales From The Barn (see TFTB) other than harking back to my musings from a different age - and many years prior to our arrival at The Barn - I am rather delighted that More Ripping Yarns, as they were then known, are included here by popular request. This merits an explanation ...
Around the early part of the new millennium I was Review & Special Features correspondent for the sadly now-defunct Canal & Riverboat magazine. My freelance status allowed me to contribute wherever but I was particularly fond of C&R which, in addition to kindly publishing my work, also gave me my first cover image. It's actually the one shown alongside, captured early one morning at Gas Street Basin in Birmingham, when reflections on the glass-fronted Hyatt Regency created the illusion of the whole building being transparent. Yep, I am ever grateful for the platform C&R afforded me but back to the plot ...
After laying out his features, the Editor often had a page left over at the end. Familiar with my mordant wit he commissioned me to write a series of idiosyncratic waterways-themed 'fillers'. In a fit of inspiration he entitled the section Arts, Research & Science, which, being at the back, he mischievously abbreviated to ARSend. Though this was a family magazine we never received one complaint about its cheekiness and the Publisher himself - a rather serious and upstanding man - never even commented. So, we got away with it for several editions, during which time I was given a free hand to let my imagination run riot. Happy - and daft - times and naughty but nice, in the true spirit of harmless British double-entendre.
Now fast-forward to the formation of the British Glass Foundation (see Links) and my role as creator and Editor of its email bulletin GlassCuts.
In each edition I am obliged - yawn - to include a Disclaimer containing the usual caveats. One day, whilst pondering what all this stuff-and-nonsense was about - I mean, just what precisely does a philanthropic non-profit glass charity need to disclaim itself against? - I decided to put it to the test and wrote some ludicrous nonsense or other that made sense only to anyone who was ever so slightly insane. I seem to recall it was something rude about the Pope with a smutty punchline in Latin, but that's neither here nor there. The result? No-one, but no-one, took a shred of notice. Except, that is, for one or two aficionados who recognised pure silliness when they saw it.
These non-Disclaimers became more adventurous commensurate with them becoming increasingly lunatic. Don't just take my word for it; check for yourself; GlassCuts are all archived at https://www.britishglassfoundation.org.uk/proposals/glass-cuts/
Years down the line, and with editions of GlassCuts now numbering well into three figures and circulation somewhere in the high thousands, the privileged ranks of the Disclaimer's Spotter's Club - small as their number may be they are a dedicated lot - still number only in the handfuls. It has become a cult and I have created a monster. And it's great fun!
Lo, thanks an evident crossover between my current readership and that of yesteryear, I have been asked to dig deep into the vaults.
Et voila ... More Ripping Yarns, exactly as submitted in text form to C&R magazine between around 2002-05 but now, thanks to the miracles of technology, presented here in glorious full-colour audio format and in Their Master's Voice. And, I am delighted to say, also on Black Country Radio where they have been renamed as More Flights of Fancy. http://www.blackcountryradio.co.uk/onair/podcasts/more-flights-of-fancy/
Careful with them, now. Gosh, I can see my reputation vanishing in front of my very eyes ...