This is Kim Tobin and last Friday she popped along to Phoenix to play her beautiful version of Westlife’s “My love” live on air. It was an experience that myself, Mike Jones and Bob Simpson will never forget. Awe-inspiring, moving, heartfelt, and now you have the opportunity to share with us that magical performance once more as it has been recorded and added to the Phoenix archives. Just click on the link above.

A young couple whose daughter has died under tragic circumstances, journey to Venice to try and save their troubled marriage. While there, supernatural forces appear to take over.

Tom Cornish plays the role of the husband, John Baxter. He found some time to chat to me on the phone, and you can hear the interview again below:

Don’t Look Now runs at the Queen’s Theatre from 23 October to 14 November. For more information visit www.queens-theatre.co.uk/show/765/dont-look-now.

We tell you first about this week’s headline stories in the “Brentwood Gazette”.

I was visited today by film director Ben Lettieri who chatted to us about his movie, “The Liberator” which recently won three Silver Medals at a Los Angeles film festival.

Listen again here:

Roland Kannor from the Brentwood Brewing Company came in to talk about the forthcoming Open Conker Championship – with a squirrel!

You can find out more about the event here: https://www.brentwoodbrewing.co.uk/event/open-conker-championship/

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Every Tuesday we are visited by one of the journalists from the “Brentwood Gazette”. The paper is published on a Wednesday so we are given a sneak preview. This week it was the turn of Joe. Here’s our little chat.

This is my first blog. as it has taken me six months to get the hang of the software. Yay!! My guest on Tuesday was the eloquent and vividly-dressed Alan Woods, the editor of the “Brentwood Gazette”. Here’s a picture of him with my two surprise guests, Popol and Cakehole from Circus Wonderland. You can visit the circus this week and next week at Sun Corner, Billericay. On the front cover of this week’s “Gazette” is a pic. of the HUUUUGE sink-hole that has appeared at the junction of Ongar Road and Doddinghurst Road. Here is the audio recording with Alan, Popol and Cakehole.

If you want to know more about Circus Wonderland, just click this link: http://www.circuswonderland.com/

Editor, Alan Woods, chatting about the new edition of the “Gazette”. Love the suit, Alan!!

Click below to listen to the interview again:

Douglas Rintoul has been appointed as the new Artistic Director at the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch.

Douglas was born in Essex and now lives in East London. His most recent directorial credit is a critically-acclaimed production of The Deep Blue Sea, which is currently running at The Watermill Theatre in Newbury, Berkshire.

Keith Rogers spoke to Douglas about what the role means and his plans for the future.

He also then had a chat with the Theatre’s Head of Marketing, Karen Chilvers, about the events coming up at the Theatre.

Douglas will take up his appointment in the autumn of 2015, although he is already beginning to oversee activities at the Queens.

This Blues Alldayer is taking place on Saturday 27th June from 2pm until 10.30pm. It’s a fundraiser to keep Blues At The Farm going for another year, and all of the bands are donating their time free of charge.

There will be over 8 hours of blues all under one roof from Bad Influence Duo (Val and Richard), SpikedriverS, Tim Aves & Wolfpack, The Fat Penguins, Joel Fisk And The Breakdown, Guy Tortora, Roy Mette and more special guests yet to be confirmed.

Roy Hands came in to chat about the event and you can hear his interview below:

Tickets cost just £15 and are available from Del and Colin at BATF or online (with booking fee) at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/bluesatthefarm

Click here to listen to the interview again:

Katie Milton visited Phoenix FM to chat to Keith Rogers about Music Hall, a show packed full of song, dance, magic and laughter.

This fun-filled afternoon features vocally vivacious Katie along with comedy songstress Kay Carman, charismatic singer John Rawnsley, comedy actor Peter John, mighty magician John Danbury – with musical director Laurence Payne and chairman Johnny Dennis.

You can step back in time on Sunday 28th June at the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch. There’s a few tickets left (available here) so get in quick!

As part of our serious of interviews supporting Mental Health Awareness Week, we had two visits from people talking about the importance of Mindfulness.

The second of these was from Renate Mullins from Step Into Yoga, who came in to chat on Keith Rogers’ Drive show.

You can hear the interview again here:

You can find out more about the Brentwood Buddhist Community here.

As part of our serious of interviews supporting Mental Health Awareness Week, we had two visits from people talking about the importance of Mindfulness.

The first was from Jane Ward from the Brentwood Buddhist Community, who came in to chat on Keith Rogers’ Drive show.

You can hear the interview again here:

You can find out more about the Brentwood Buddhist Community here.

Click here to listen to the whole interview:

We were very lucky to be joined by record-breaking country duo The Shires on Drive this afternoon.

Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes were on a whistlestop tour of radio stations and visited Brentwood to talk about their debut album Brave, which reached no 10 in the UK album charts back in March – and in doing so made them the first UK country act to ever achieve such a feat.

The duo clearly have a great deal of potential as they’re also the first UK act to be signed to a major Nashville label.

Keith had a chat with Ben and Crissie about their musical journey to date and we were also treated to two numbers which you can see again below:

You can catch The Shires live later this year when they embark on a major tour of the UK – keep an eye on their website for all the latest news.

Luke Adams, host of the regular Biscotti Brentwood networking meeting, came in to chat to Keith Rogers about choosing a marketing strategy.

You can hear the interview again here:

The Biscotti Brentwood group meets on the first Tuesday of every month from 9.15am to 11.45pm. For more details visit http://www.businessbiscotti.co.uk/essex/brentwood.html.

Click below to listen to the interview again:

My guests in the studio on Drive were (current) Phoenix FM Presenter Bob Simpson and producer of the Mental Health Matters podcast Scott W.

The podcast is currently in its third instalment so it was great to catch up with them and find out about how Bob got together with Scott, the idea behind the podcast and the about the stigma that still surrounds talking about mental health.

For more information and to download the Mental Health Matters podcast head to click here or you can join the Facebook group here.

Joining me on Drive today was Simon Murfitt from the Brentwood Gazette to give us a preview of some of what’s in tomorrow’s edition

Simon Murfitt

You can listen to our chat here –

Click below to listen to the interview again:

Jeremy Martin from the Ingatestone Musical & Operetta Group came down to the studio to chat to Keith about their forthcoming production of “Hello Dolly”.

For more information on the group and to book tickets, head over to imog.org.uk.

Click below to listen to the whole interview and session again:

The Drive show welcomed 17-year-old singer/songwriter Eva Tobin into the studio for the first time today.

Eva recently performed at our Phoenix Fridays gig at Old Brentwoods and came down to chat to Keith about her music and songwriting. Eva also played a few songs and you can see some of them below:

You can find out more about Eva by following her on Facebook or Twitter.

To day we spoke to Peter Stremes about the great work they are doing at St Francis Hospice.

Checkout the St Francis Hospice website HERE

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we had our regular chat with Joe from the Brentwood Gazette about whats coming up in tomorrows edition.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today I spoke to Jordan the voucher man, without a doubt this guy is a genius, the money he saves is huge.

Checkout his website here: www.couponshop.co.uk

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

If you like taking the children out for the day, the lady I spoke to today will be able to save you hundreds of pounds.

To print the vouchers click here www.visitessex.com/livelocal

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we had our weekly gossip with the boys from the Brentwood Gazette about whats in tomorrows edition.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we spoke to the leader of Brentwood Council Cllr Barry Aspinell.

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Click below to listen to the interview again:

We had a visit from the entire Essex Space Agency – that would be Matt Kingsnorth and Phil St Pier!

Matt (on the right in the picture above), who’s from Warley, and Phil joined Keith Rogers on Drive to explain how they are due to launch a helium balloon and send it up to the edge of space.

We’ll be keeping an eye on their progress – in the meantime you can find out the latest news at their Facebook and Tumblr pages.

It was great to sit in for Mikey today on Drive especially as I had such a brilliant guest to talk to.

Kevin Morris has been the drummer for Dr Feelgood for more than 30 years.

Kevin Morris in Action

We talked about touring, food, his early days working with the likes of Sam and Dave and Edwin Starr and briefly about his recent project, Shamen Spirits – We Are Infants.

You can listen to our chat here –

You can catch Dr Feelgood at The Palace Theatre Westcliff on 23rd March or if you can wait until November they’ll be back home on Canvey Island at The Oysterfleet on the 13th and 14th.

Full details here – http://www.drfeelgood.org/

Today I welcomed back into the studio Lizzie Gibson from St Peters Player talking about their new production.

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today I had the pleasure of talking to Sam, Scott and Robin from Fitness In Mind.

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we spoke to Joe from the Brentwood gazette about whats in tomorrows edition

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we had our wekly chat with Alan from the Brentwood Gazette about whats coming up in tomorrows edition.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we had our weekly chat with Simon from the Brentwood Gazette about whats coming up in tomorrows issue.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today I had the pleasure of talking to Sal Bashir A great Elvis Presley Tribute Artiste.

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

More news about Hopefield Animal Sanctuary, and hopefully some good news for their many supporters worried about possible redevelopment of their land.

This morning the leader of Brentwood Borough Council, Cllr Barry Aspinell, spoke to Phoenix FM about the council’s desire to purchase the land from Tesco that houses the sanctuary. Since then, the Chair of the Council’s Community Committee, Cllr Karen Chilvers, has confirmed that a meeting is to be held before the end of the month which will give the sanctuary more protection.

Karen came in to talk exclusively to Mike Porter about Hopefield’s request to nominate their land as a community asset. If agreed, the landowner must tell the Council if they intend to sell it. If a group wants to buy the asset they can trigger a 6 month period to give them a chance to raise the money, but the landowner can still sell at the going market rate. This would therefore prevent a quick sale of Hopefield’s land.

The Council have called an urgent meeting on Tuesday 27 January at 6.45pm at the Town Hall to consider this application. The meeting is only expected to last 15 minutes but the public is invited to attend if they wish – and Cllr Chilvers would love to see as many people from Hopefield as possible to support the application.

You can hear Karen talking about this again here:

Click here for more information about Community Assets.

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we had our weekly chat with the Brentwood Gazette about what is coming up in tomorrows edition.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

We were visited by Lucy Benjamin who came in to chat about her part in the upcoming play “Deadly Murder”, taking place at the Queens Theatre in Hornchurch.

Audiences will know Lucy from her five years in EastEnders, where she played Lisa Fowler, for which she was nominated Most Popular Actress at the National Television Awards. More recently, she has appeared in TV’s The Detectorists, Missing, Holby City and Kingdom, the feature film Not Alone and on stage, the national tour of Hairspray. She also won The X Factor: Battle of the Stars and took part in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

Lucy will take the leading role of Camille Dargus in David Foley’s scintillating thriller Deadly Murder. She appears alongside cut to the chase… repertory company member Sam Pay (playing Ted), who audiences will know from Godspell, The Great Gatsby and Sleeping Beauty; as well as new member Tom Oliver Cornish (playing Billy), who has appeared in the West End as well as on TV’s The Hollow Crown, Da Vinci’s Demons as well as EastEnders.

Deadly Murder is directed by the hugely talented Simon Jessop, who directed the Queen’s production The Great Gatsby last summer and co-directed Deathtrap the previous autumn, both of which received huge critical acclaim. Mr Jessop is currently entertaining full houses as the pantomime Dame, Nurse Nellie.

About Deadly Murder: Camille Dargus has worked her way up from humble beginnings to a glittering Manhattan lifestyle. She has brains, beauty and a successful career as a jewellery designer for the leading lights of New York. She also has a penchant for attractive young men. One night at a society gala, she meets Billy, a handsome waiter, and brings him back to her loft apartment. There’s more to Billy than meets the eye, however, and Camille summons her security guard Ted to get him out. But suddenly, she finds herself held hostage by a man who seems frighteningly familiar with the past she has struggled to forget.

Over the course of one explosive night, Camille must use all her wits and cunning to save her life – and to prevent the dark secrets of her past from destroying everything.

Full of twists and turns, bluffs and double bluffs, this brilliantly intricate thriller will be one step ahead of you all the way!

Deadly Murder runs at the Queen’s Theatre, Billet Lane, Hornchurch, from 30 January – 21 February. Tickets cost £16.50 – £26.50. Call the Box Office on 01708 443333 or book online at http://www.queens-theatre.co.uk/book-now.

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we spoke to Simon frm the Brentwood Gazette.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today it was that time again when we have our weekly chat with the Brentwood Gazette about whats coming up in tomorrows edition.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

It was a delight and an utter thrill for all of us to welcome the legendary JONA LEWIE to the Phoenix FM studios!

Christmas time always brings Jona’s music to mind – it wouldn’t be the festive season without hearing Stop The Cavalry many many times. And naturally we wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t herd him into our little kitchen for a few photos, in homage to his other big hit from 1980, You’ll Always Find Me In the Kitchen At Parties.

However, not many people know that Jona’s biggest UK hit was actually under the guise of a previous band, Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs, who released “Seaside Shuffle” on the UK label in 1972. The song reached no 2 in the singles charts, narrowly beaten to the top by Alice Cooper’s School’s Out. Since Jona had brought his accordion down rather than a keyboard, this was the one that he played live in the studio for us. You can see this and his chat with Mikey Porter in the video below:

Jona said afterwards that it was the first time he’d played his accordion live on air which we quite frankly find astonishing and may need to fact-check!

There’s a new album out in 2015 and we’re hoping to get him back in to talk about that and play a few more songs, so stay tuned!

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

We spoke to Carole Herman, Head Teacher of Shenfield High School, who spoke about the school’s recent Ofsted report which rated the school as Good.

You can see the interview again below:

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

We had our weekly chat with the Brentwood Gazette today about whats coming up in tomorrows edition.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

It was a delight to welcome 16-year-old singer/songwriter Mancie Baker in to Phoenix FM for the first time.

Mancie has been writing songs for some time and already has several dozen songs under her belt. She visited the Drive show and treated us to two tunes which you can hear again by clicking below:

You can hear more of Mancie by visiting her Soundcloud account here – or by keeping tuned to Phoenix FM, as we’ll sure to be playing more of her in the future!

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Todays we had our weekly chat with Joe from the Brentwood Gazette about whats coming up in tomorrows paper.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today I had a fascinating conversation with Angela & Steve from Harmony Healers.

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we spoke to Nick Sillitoe about an event the Rotary Club of Billericay Mayflower are putting on.

Find out more at www.BillericayChristmasMarket.com

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we spoke to a group of young ladies that will be helping turn on the Brentwood Christmas lights.

Checkout the schools website HERE

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today I had a fascinating talk with a guy called Joe Harvey, If this subject doesn’t give you sweaty palms like me, then you’re not alive!!

You can watch the trailer on the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/britrockchelmsfordfc.

We had Councillor Russell Quirk in for a chat today about the results of the public consultation about the William Hunter Way development.

Today Alan from the Brentwood Gazette popped in for a chat.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today I welcomed back into the studio Lisa Mathews from the Ingatestone & Fryerning Dramatic Club to talk about their next play “Great expectations”

For tickets call 01277 356262

Today I had the pleasure of talking to Piers from the Brentwood Gazette.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we had Councillor Louise McKinlay, leader of the opposition Conservative group on Brentwood Borough Council, in the studio for her opinion about how things are being run in the council.

Click below to listen again:

We had our weekly chat with the Brentwood Gazette today, this time with Simon.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today I spoke to Tony Gale from West Ham about his appearance in the Queens Theatre in Hornchurch on November 20.

Check out the Queens Theatre website for ticket details

I spoke to Fred Broom over the phone today about “Lend Me A Tenor” from the Queens Threatre.

Checkout “Lend Me A Tenor” HERE

Today I spoke to two lovely ladies from The Beeches in Brentwood about the care home and the facilities they have to offer.

Click below to listen to the interview again:

Check out the Beeches’ website HERE

Today we had out weekly chat with the Brentwood Gazette this time with Josh.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to Tom Stanbury from the Queens Theatre about the Moscow Ballet.

Checkout their website HERE

Today I spoke to Andy Christiani from Shenfield High School’s Get Your Grown Ups Growing event

Checkout the event HERE

Today we had our weekly chat with Joe from the Brentwood Gazette about whats on the front page this week.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today I spoke toPeter Jefferson from The Friends of Wallace Kennels.

Contact numbers for the above story: 1277-821737, 01277-821032

www.wallacekennels.com

Today we spoke to Piers from the Brentwood Gazette. What has the Gazette got in store for us this week?

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we had another chat with Becky, Raymond and Wayne about how the Fitness In Mind project is going.

If you would like to take part the telephone number is 01277 215151

Mike is also a Professional Voiceover checkout his work HERE

Today we had our weekly chat with Alan from the Brentwood Gazette about the Town Center Clusters.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to Councillor Russell Quirk about the proposed plans for William Hunter Way.

Have your say here

We spoke to Kenny Thomas today about his gigs in Brentwood and Billericay.

Check out kennys website HERE

Today we spoke to Matthew White, the Surface Director from Crossrail, about the new train link coming to Shenfield and Brentwood and its impact on the local area.

Click below to listen to the interview again:

Today we had a chat with Alan from the Brentwood Gazette about the Postcode Lottery.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we had our weekly chat with Joe from the Brentwood Gazette about whats coming up in tomorrows edition

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Click below to listen to the interview again:

We welcomed indie pop trio DELORA into the studio today.

Lucy, Rose and Lauren came in to talk about how they got together and their new EP, Superglue, which is out at the end of this month.

They also played two songs live for us which you see and hear again below:

You can find out more about them by visiting their official website or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

Today we spoke to the guys from the Brentwood Gazette about whats in tomorrows edition.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to Patrick O’Sullivan from the Queens Theatre about their summer schedule.

Check out their website HERE

Today we had our weekly chat with Alan from the Brentwood Gazette about ducks, 3000 of them to be precise.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we had our weekly chat with Joe from the Brentwood Gazette, this time about The Crossrail.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to Alan Mason from St Francis Hospice about the Classic Car & Bike Fest.

For more details Email: fundraising@sfh.org.uk or call: 01708 771431.

More details HERE

Today we had our weekly chat with Piers from the Brentwood Gazette about whats in tomorrows edition.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we had a very interesting conversation with Ian Mullins from thesocialgolfer.com

Check out his website HERE

Today we had our weekly chat with Alan from the Brentwood Gazette.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

We had Pete Searles back in the studio today to ask him how he 4 mile swim for charity went.

Donate to this amazing cause HERE

Today I spoke to an amazing man that is doing something huge for charity.

Donate to this amazing cause HERE

Today we spoke to Lizzie from the St Peters Players about War Memoirs.

For bookings call 01277-223712

Today I spoke to Arnie & Yasmin from Milias Hairdressers in Brentwood about hair products.

If you need expert advice on any hair related problem contact Milias HERE

Today we spoke to Joe from the Brentwood Gazette about juggernauts overtaking on the A12.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to Nick Sillitoe from the Rotary Club of Billericay about a great event he is organising to raise money for charity.

Check out the website for more details HERE

Today we had our regular chat with Yasmin and Arnie from Milias & De-Milias in Brentwood

If you need expert advice on any hair related problem contact Milias HERE

We had out weekly chat with Alan from the Brentwood Gazette today teasing us with what’s coming out in tomorrows copy.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today I spoke to Roger Harste about a fun little event he is organising in Ingatestone

Chack out the website for more details and to buy tickets www.summereveningjazz.co.uk

Today we had our weekly chat with the bos from the Brentwood Gazette

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to The Tricks about their new album.

Check out their website www.thetricks.co.uk

Today I was very surprised, I spoke to Lisa Matthews about the Brentwood Shakespeare Companies new production of A Midsummer Nights Dream. I thought it would be a typical Shakespeare play but I didn’t know about the twist.

Today we had our weekly chat with Rachel & Joe from the Brentwood Gazette this time about squirrels.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to John Yarro about his very touching book called “Inspirational Irene, From the Heart”

If you would like to help John in raising as much money for this great cause you can email him on jlycarman@hotmail.com or call on 01277-659081 or 07860-472552.

www.helenrollason.org.uk

This afternoon we spoke to Ollie & Luke from States of Emotion about their new single release.

Today we spoke to Jess Brown from the huge music festival Brownstock.

Check out the website for ticket details www.brownstock.co.uk

As its Tuesday we had our weekly chat with Alan from the Brentwood Gazette about what’s in tomorrows news paper.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to David Aland from Essex & Suffolk Water about their free water saving kit.

Today we had the weekly visit from Alan from the Brentwood Gazette telling us what’s in tomorrows paper.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to Louise McKinlay, the leader of Brentwood Borough Council, about what will happen after the election.

You can check out Louise’s webpage here.

Today we had our weekly chat with Matt about whats happening in the Brentwood Gazette tomorrow.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today I talked with Sam Zealey, a sculptor from Brentwood, and it was the most interesting conversation I’ve ever had!

Check out Sam’s website here or the Brentwood Arts Festival website here.

Today we spoke to Caroline Peters from Bird Luckin Chartered Accountants because they have sponsored the Brentwood firewalk and roped Caroline into walking.

Check out their website here

Today I had my weekly chat with Nev & Alan from the Brentwood Gazette about this weeks front page…….Street Lights in Brentwood.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Nev & Alan frm the Brentwood Gazette popped in to give us a quick preview of tomorrows front page.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

It was a real privilege to be deputising for Mikey Porter on today’s show, but fear not the man himself returns tomorrow from 3pm.

Well mercifully the question above does not refer to the arms race BUT the mud and obstacle race taking place on Sunday the 11th May at the Secret Nuclear Bunker.

On today’s show I got to chat with two local councillors – Jan Pound and Vicky Davies – who are deeply involved in these so-called nuclear races . Whilst unable for health reasons to enter the event itself both Councillors are sponsoring people able to enter and Cllr Vicky Davies is also looking after the first aid. A number of Councillors from all parties have bravely agreed to take part and Jan and Vicky also brought two young guys from FITNESS IN MIND  –  Sam Booker and Jason West who have entered the 6km event which involves over 50 man-made and natural obstacles including tyre pits, wall ramps, lakes, ditches, bomb holes and, of course, mud aplenty! Listen again to my conversation with them all here: – 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Rather them than me!

See you again soon,

Scott

Today I had singer/songwriter Sophie DeBattista in the studio for a chat about her career, and what a career she’s had at the ripe old age of 19!

Click below to listen to the whole interview and session again:

You can also see videos of the three songs Sophie played by clicking below:

For more information you can visit Sophie’s Facebook page.

Today was our regular chat with Alan from the Brentwood Gazette about Wednesdays front page.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

We had a studio full of guests today when we spoke to Ray, Sam & Danny about Fitness In Mind and they told us what Ronnie O’Sullivan, Steve Davis and Bobby Davro all have in common.

For more information visit www.brentwood-centre.co.uk/fitnessinmind or call Nicky Smith at the Brentwood Centre on 01277 215151 or email nicky.smith@brentwoodleisure.co.uk.

To give a charitable donation to the project please text ‘BLTX14 £3’ to 70070 (regulated by JustGiving.com) or change £3 to any amount you wish to donate.

Today we spoke to Laurie Edmonds the Co-ordinator of the Brentwood festival about some of the acts booked to appear at this years event.

www.brentwood festival.co.uk

Today the boys from the Brentwood Gazette came in to talk about a new Supermarket opening in Brentwood.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today Lisa Bone from Visit Essex came into the studio to talk about a great voucher booklet that gives you money off of days out.

On today’s show we had a chat with Joe Mullender about his fight on saturday night in York Hall in Bethnall Green

If you want to wish Joe good luck CLICK HERE to go to his Facebook page

On todays show Nev the Editor from the Brentwood Gazette came in to discuss the brand new restaurant opening up in Brentwood and the crime figures in Brentwood since the street lights were turned out after midnight.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

We had Cllr Keith Parker in for a chat about the Brentwood Community Fund

Nev, Alan & Chris from the Brentwood Gazette popped in for our usual Tuesday chat. This week its about TOWIE, have you had enough?

Check out the story on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Today we spoke to a clairvoyant on the show, Tracy Fance from Five Elements in Brentwood, about the difference between mediums.

Paul Alexander from Billericay IT Solutions came back into the studio to talk about broadband connections.

If you have an IT problem you can email Paul at paul.alexander@billericayit.co.uk or visit www.billericayit.co.uk or call him on 01268 906636

What other introduction could you possibly need? It was a pleasure to welcome the wonderful Vicki Michelle to the Phoenix FM studio for the first time.

Vicki chatted about her many acting roles, both past and present. If you missed the interview you can hear it again here:

Simon Drane, the head of Havering College’s business school came down with Skidmarques’ Keith Playell to talk about apprenticeships and how the college works with business.

You can hear the interview again below:

And you’ve still got time to attend the College’s Learning Curve networking event – details can be found here.

Click here to listen to the interview again:

Olly and Chris from the Flag Factory Festival came into the studio to tell us about the festival, taking place at the White Horse over the weekend of September 12 and 13. The event will not only showcase some of the best local talent but will also be raising money for two very worthwhile causes, the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity and Meningitis Now.

For more information keep an eye on the official Facebook page.

Matt & Rachel from the Brentwood Gazette popped in to the studio to give us a sneaky peek at some of the stories being printed in this weeks paper. We discussed Bodger & Badger the Traveller in Navestock that is refusing to move a plane crash and an update to the street light saga.

Check out the stories on the Brentwood Gazette website by clicking here

Paul Marazzi, formerly of the Brit-award-winning A1, called the show for a chat about why the lyrics of his new song meant so much to him.

Today Paul Alexander from Billericay IT Solutions popped in to talk to us and we discussed the 5 most common faults with a PC

If you have an IT problem you can email Paul at paul.alexander@billericayit.co.uk or visit www.billericayit.co.uk or call him on 01268 906636

Matt-Matt and Rachel from the Brentwood Gazette popped in for their usual weekly chat

This week we talked about the Crime Watch appeal, dog mess in Copperfield Gardens and a new Towie star is opening a shop in Brentwood High Street

To read about some of the stories mentioned check out the Brentwood Gazette Website

Today I had a chat with Nick Alston the new P.C.C for Essex

Alan from the Brentwood Gazette popped in for a chat about “Al-Fresco dining in Brentwood High Street”  The “Street Lights” saga and the “Half Marathon”

Click here to goto the Brentwood Gazette website

Mike Porter has spent over 34 years working in the entertainment field, 17 of which have been in media.

Mike has appeared in various television documentaries for such prestigious UK channels including the BBC and ITV and has also narrated a variety of documentaries, the most recent being for Channel 4 in the UK.

He is probably best known for his rich voice which has been heard on a number of different radio stations over the last 17 years. His personality driven breakfast shows have made him a household name among listeners in the county of Essex while working for some of the largest radio companies in the country. Mike has performed on stage in theatre and has compered in front of crowds of up to 50,000 people. He spent some time in Europe working for Planet Hollywood during which time he entertained crowds at concerts for Robbie Williams and Oasis.

A sample of Mikes voice over work can be heard here

Mike has more recently been involved in the electronic press kit for some UK feature films shooting behind the scenes footage and interviewing the cast and crew. Alongside working in the public eye, Mike also works behind the scenes in audio production and video editing.

On todays show Nev & Alan from the Brentwood Gazette talked to Mike about “The Attempted Dog Theft” in Brentwood, “Councillor Case Work” and “The Brentwood High Street Paving Problem”

Click here to goto the Brentwood Gazette website

We had our usual chat with Alan from the Brentwood Gazette about some of this weeks big stories.

Click here to goto the Brentwood Gazette website

We’re constantly reminding ourselves how lucky we are to have our own award-winning brewery in Brentwood, and 2014 plans to be a big year for the Brentwood Brewing Company. Roland Kannor, founder of the Brentwood Brewing Company, came in to sample some beer on air with me (that ALWAYS works well on the radio, even if you’re not from a brewery) and to chat about the new Love Beer Love Brentwood campaign.

Click below to listen to the interview again:

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… and keep an ear out on Phoenix FM in 2014 too as we’ll be giving away lots of free beer!

Click here to listen to the interview and session again:

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Joe and Jono from Blitz Kids took time off from their busy touring schedule to visit us for a chat and a few songs.

The guys talked about their new album and news of a massive tour coming up, and also played a couple of songs for us, which you can see again below:

You can find out what the band are up to by visiting their official website at www.blitzkidsofficial.com

Every afternoon we play a track on the radio that maybe you have never heard on the radio before. Or maybe a track that was always on the radio once but you never/very rarely hear it get played anymore. Have a look at the list of tracks we have already played and if you have your own suggestion then let me know and it could be the next #afternoondelight

The Streets – Dry Your Eyes
Bjork – Venus As A Boy
Nina Simone – Sinnerman (Felix Da Housecat Mix)
2Pac – Changes
Guns N’ Roses – November Rain
Phil Collins – Take Me Home
REO Speedwagon – Can’t Fight This Feeling
Inner City – Big Fun
Milli Vanilli – I’m Gonna Miss You
Limp Bizkit – Rollin’
Bon Jovi – Runaway
Phil Oakley – Together In Electric Dreams
Calvin Harris – I’m Not Alone
Eamon – Don’t Want You Back
Youssou N’ Dour ft Neneh Cherry – 7 Seconds
Andrew WK – Party Hard
LFO – Summertime Girls
Fatman Scoop – Be Faithful
Big Brovaz – Nu Flow
Good Charlotte – Lifestyles Of The Rich & The Famous
The Outhere Brothers – Boom Boom Boom
Apache Indian – Boom Shak A Lak
Green Jelly – Three Little Pigs
Linkin Park – In The End
Alicia’s Attic – I Am, I Feel

We started a new feature for a Friday – ‘The Friday Find.

It works quite simple. I sit down on a Friday morning, search various music blogs and sites to try to find some good music I have never heard before. It didn’t take long before I came across Breton and their track ‘Envy’ and it’s here where I stopped and thought, “These guys are really, really good.”

Not only that we managed to squeeze five minutes out of Roman Rappak – guitars and vocals for Breton and one of its founding members, to find out more about our new musical discovery.

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Timeless Motown legends Four Tops and The Temptations will be back in the UK in 2014 to relive the R&B and soul classics that delivered Detroit to music history. Special guests joining the bill for these memorable shows will be The Platters and Freda Payne.

Singer and actress Freda Payne hit her musical peak in 1970 with Band of Gold, reaching a million copies sold and later re-recorded with Belinda Carlisle in 1986. A complete artist and a versatile vocalist, Freda’s career spans over 4 decades covering soul, R&B and jazz as well as movie and theatre roles. Freda has just finished recording a new jazz album to be released in 2014.

I caught up with Freda this afternoon and we spoke about the tour, her upcoming album and also working with Sir Cliff Richard.

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This week saw the first ‘Live from Studio 2’ take place on the show. The concept is simple – get a band in and record a session in our new Studio 2.

The Mike Lenson Band are based around Essex and have only been playing together since August. Great guys who recorded a brilliant session which included a couple of originals and a big cover.

You can catch them at The Essex Arms next Thursday (5th December) and make sure give them a like on Facebook. Just search for them whilst you have a listen to the three tracks below.

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Introduction
 

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‘Roll With The Tide’
 

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‘Criticize’ (Alexander O’Neal Cover)
 

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‘Bring Back The Sunshine’

(photo courtesy of beccatoft.com)

So in case you haven’t heard, Phoenix FM are the host for this year’s Christmas light switch on in Brentwood High Street on 30th November. So in the lead up to the event, across the daytime shows we are having the various acts who will be performing on the day to come in to have a chat, play some songs and maybe throw in a couple of Live sessions.

So this week The Popettes, who are a modern vocal group with a vintage twist came in for a chat and also performed a track live for us.

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@thepoppettes
 

photo courtesy of David Brant (vybrantimages.co.uk)

So in case you haven’t heard, Phoenix FM are the host for this years Christmas light switch on in Brentwood High Street on 30th November. So in the lead up to the event, across the daytime show’s, we are having the various acts, who will be performing on the day to come in to have a chat, play some songs and maybe throw in a couple of Live sessions.

Yesterday R&B artist Rajiv (winner of our Phoenix FM Battle Stage Competition) made his return to Phoenix FM

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Click here to listen again to the interview:

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We were very pleased to welcome THE SPIN all the way from Stockholm, who are currently in the UK on a promotional tour.

Erik, Fredrik, Mattias and Christoffer came down and not only had a chat about the band’s history and current happenings, but also played three songs live which you can see below:

The band are playing a number of Essex and London gigs in the next few days including The Swan in Maldon (5 Mar), The Bull in Colchester (6 Mar), Nambucca in Islington (7 Mar), The Norton in Cold Norton (8 Mar) and The Horny Toad in Maylandsea (9 Mar).

To find out more you can check out their official website or follow their Facebook or Twitter

It was great to welcome London rockers Black Orchid Empire to Brentwood for their first Phoenix FM session on Drive last Wednesday.

The band played a great acoustic set of three songs – Here’s To You, Walking Disaster and This City – live and you can see and hear them again if you missed them first time round:

(Thanks to Tony for the emergency mike loan and Alex M for the great work on the video)

You can find out more about the band by visiting their official website, Facebook or Twitter pages.

Nik Szymanek is an Essex-based amateur astronomer and prolific astrophotographer, well known for his deep sky images and contributions to education and public outreach.

Nik came in to the breakfast show today to have a chat about what he does and how he does it. Click below to listen again to the interview:

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Nik recommends the following websites for people wanting to learn more:

Heavens Above – accurate information about satellites in your location

The World At Night – stunning nightscape photos

Astronomy Picture Of The Day – from the NASA website

If you want to see some of the amazing photos Nik has taken then head on over to his website at www.ccdland.net/a>.

Click here to listen again to the interview:

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Prime Hospital Consultants are a group of twelve local consultants providing medical treatment and advice on a range of health issues, including cardiology, weight loss, gynaecology and cosmetic surgery. The consultants operate at local hospitals including Spire Hartswood Hospital in Eagle Way, Brentwood.

Mr Rajiv Varma, a consultant gynaecologist, visited Phoenix FM to talk about his work and women’s medical issues in general.

You can find our more about them by visiting their website at www.primehospitalconsultants.com.

Click here to listen again to the interview:

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Prime Hospital Consultants are a group of twelve local consultants providing medical treatment and advice on a range of health issues, including cardiology, weight loss, gynaecology and cosmetic surgery. The consultants operate at local hospitals including Spire Hartswood Hospital in Eagle Way, Brentwood.

John Targett, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, visited Phoenix FM to talk about the group and what they offer.

You can find our more about them by visiting their website at www.primehospitalconsultants.com.

He were delighted to welcome Derbyshire baroque-folktronica trio HAIKU SALUT into the studio today. They were en route to their sold out gig at the Lexington in London with Darren Hayman and Shrag.

As well as playing three songs from their new album, Louise, Sophie and Gemma talked to us about how the band works and how they got together.

You can hear the interview here:

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And see the session again here:

Tricolore is out on 11 March and you can buy it from here. You can find out more about the band by visiting their official site, Facebook or Twitter.

On todays show we had to say goodbye.

We said goodbye to Christmas for another year, by playing the final festive track of 2012.

We also said goodbye to the Friday song. A feature that has not made the cut for 2013. In the box you go.

We also had to decide what my favorite single of 2012 was. I had 4 options. I think I picked the best.

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Had a blast sitting in for Bryan this afternoon, Scrooge-like I decided to limit any Christmas records to just one an hour, but relented in the final hour when I played two! These were accompanied by some of the worst Christmas cracker type jokes imaginable, here’s just a few that didn’t make it to air –
Q: If athletes get athletes foot, what do astronauts get?
A: Missletoe!

Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
A: Frostbite.

Q: Why was Santa’s little helper depressed?
A: Because he had low elf esteem.
Hope I had some listeners left!
I then had the situation where I played a couple of tracks that turned out to be The Two Twin Terrible Tongue Twisters. First it was The Shins – Simple Song, followed by Owl City – Shooting Star. I ended up practising with She Sells Sea Shells by the Seashore. Well you have to be very careful with that Owl City track!
And yes I abandoned my 11 week old pup to do the show. I stressed about him all afternoon but when I got home he was curled up on his bed fast asleep. Good Boy! Extra treats tonight.

Well much to my surprise I was once again privileged to find myself  sitting in for BRYAN POWIS on the prestigious DRIVE show today.

It seems that he and his family have been suffering from food poisoning. Don’t know where they picked that up from but my immediate suspicion is a dodgy banger at a firework party. Serves them right for eating fireworks!

Anyway whenever I sit in on this slot I routinely present the THREE O’CLOCK THRILL of 3 absolute stonking songs back-to-back. Today was no exception and the songs played were: – HIP TO BE SQUARE by HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS, GET OUTTA MY DREAMS (and into my car) by BILLY OCEAN and finally ROAD RUNNER from JUNIOR WALKER & THE ALLSTARS.

We also ran through the 10 things you didn’t know this time last week which were: –

It takes 6 hours to reset Big Ben from BST to GMT, Watching a horror film burns up more calories than any other movie, IKEA has sold over 11 billion meatballs in the UK, Heston Blumenthal uses tampons as palate cleaners (after eating Ikea meatballs, perhaps!), the soil on Mars is similar to that found in Hawaii (but presumably without the surf!), New Scotland Yard is actually New, New Scotland Yard, Cornwall is home to the world’s largest witchcraft museum, “Sergeant” was spelt with a “J” in the RAF, Norwegians spend the most on dog food (any Norwegian friends been visiting the Powis household recently?) and finally Clarks are the shoe of choice for musicians in Jamaica.

Bryan will be back on parade tomorrow meantime I’ll see you at my regular time of 2pm tomorrow afternoon.

All the best,

Scott

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So Hazel O’Connor is touring. Also book and DVD. Busy.

Having just celebrated thirty years since Dodi Fayed’s iconic movie Breaking Glass launched her into the spotlight, award-winning singer songwriter Hazel O’Connor will be setting out on the road this autumn and touring the UK performing all her Greatest Hits together for the first time ever in a highly anticipated live show to coincide with the release of the digitally re-mastered special edition DVD of Breaking Glass.
Melding Hazel’s superb vocals with soaring sax, guitar, piano, bass and drums, this is the full band sound featuring Clare Hirst on sax (Bellestars, Communards, Bowie) and Sarah Fisher on keyboards (Eurythmics). Her ageless songs include Eighth Day, Will You, Big Brother, Monsters in Disguise, Calls The Tune, If Only, Give Me An Inch , Blackman, Hanging Around and That’s Life, all of which seem even more relevant today.

Hazel O’Connor started her professional life as a dancer working in such diverse countries as Japan and the Lebanon. In 1980, she was catapulted to stardom as Kate in the film Breaking Glass for which she also wrote and performed the iconic soundtrack. She won the Variety Club of Great Britain’s 1980 Film Actress Of The Year Award and, in 1981, was nominated for BAFTA Best Newcomer and Breaking Glass was nominated for Best Film Soundtrack – earning Hazel her place in the history books as the first woman to write and perform all the songs for a film.

In addition to the release of Breaking Glass on DVD, this unique tour also coincides with the publication of Hazel’s long-awaited autobiography Breaking Glass Barefoot which will be available exclusively from Hazel’s official website or throughout the tour. The paperback version will be available early in 2013.

Yes, it’s me back looking after another DRIVE show for BRYAN POWIS this afternoon.

As usual when I’m here we kick off proceedings with THE THREE O’CLOCK THRILL. Today’s songs set to get the blood pumping, the arms punching the air and the feet dancing like a whirling Dervish, were IKE & TINA TURNER’s 1966 classic, “RIVER DEEP MOUNTAIN HIGH” (actually just Tina – Ike had thrown a strop and wasn’t on the recording!), “CALIFORNIA GURLS” by Katy Perry (featuring Snoop Dog) from just a couple of years ago and the final offering this afternoon was “SNOWFLAKE BOOGIE” from Edwin Starr & Jools Holland.

I was then joined by local photographer, Peter Elgar. Now Peter was due to have joined me on my PACKED LUNCH show last Saturday, but he didn’t make it so we got him in today. Peter has had a very interesting career. He photographed the first sample of moondust brought back by Neil Armstrong, has taken celebrity shots of Royalty and many stars from the world of entertainment, including our very own Steve Davis. On top of that he’s been kidnapped and held hostage in his own car whilst it was being used in the robbery of a jewellers in Barking.

You can take another listen to my chat with Peter right here: – 

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Well that’s it for me on DRIVE for this week. Mike Jones will be in charge tomorrow and Bob Simpson looking after you on Thursday and Friday.

I’ll see you soon, meantime have a good week.

All the best,

Scott