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"Sorry about the mess. It's my first day"So here's the blow by blow account of what happened ... I know technically a day is usually 24 hours, but Phoenix's first day started on Friday 23 March 2007 at 7pm and ended at midnight on Saturday 24 March 2007 - well what's a few hours between friends? Friday - 7pm The launch - station founder Paul Golder takes to the air for the first hour. Having set various computers up at 6pm and getting the streaming to work about 6.58pm, he suddenly realises he only has a minute or two to decide on the first song. He decides to go for Supersonic by Oasis, the first song he ever played on the radio - Mayflower FM back in 1995 (chosen mainly because Mayflower's station manager hated Oasis so much). With the words "welcome to Phoenix FM, Brentwood and Billericay's new full time local radio station", Phoenix FM rose from the ashes of part-time obscurity and was born again. There were about 40 people outside the studio door, but none of them heard this. They were all chatting and drinking wine. I think someone turned the radio down as well. 7.20pm Having had 20 minutes solid of photographs Paul decides that the station can run on auto pilot and walks off to get a drink outside. We're not really sure who's in charge of the studio for the next 40 minutes. sometime before 8pm Oliver Rowe does the decent thing and takes over for the next two hours. He also takes charge of the first interview on the full time Phoenix, with Brentwood's Mayor, Cllr Mrs Jean McGinley. The second interview guest was Peter Thomas from Churches Together In Brentwood. 8.15pm Having finished his marathon, Oliver hands over to Phoenix Days presenter Gemma Smith. 10pm Station Manager Steve Mead takes over until midnight. Then for eight hours, it's the bosses' favourite presenter, Destination Dawn - the only DJ that does what he (she?) 's told and doesn't argue back (although they do crash a bit). Saturday - 8am Steve Mead is back in the hotseat and welcomes the first band to play live in the new studio - local boys Belisha. It's an inspired choice as the six-piece play a short but blistering acoustic set, with two songs - Who's A Clever Boy? and Pain. 10am Oliver Rowe take over for another two hour stint and he's joined in the studio by Clive Mulcahy, a bluesman who played a session on Phoenix FM's first 28 day broadcast back in January 1997. I'm not sure exactly what was happening in the studio, but the assembled audience seemed to have a great time. 11.40am Steve Davis wanders into studio. We think he's come down to work out where to park his fleet of Hummers carrying all the vinyl he needs for his Monday 10pm - 12am slot. The Nugget is put straight on air and talks about the "Canterbury scene" he'll be featuring Monday nights on Phoenix. Oliver presumes it's something to do with Chaucer. 12pm Oliver's still in the chair. Where's the next presenter? In the meantime, another session from local musicians Joshua and Sam from Blind Vision. 1.07pm Well it's certainly a momentous day for Phoenix FM. We're not even 24 hours old and Darren Bull has already set a record that may NEVER be broken - he's 1 hour and 7 minutes late for his show. Not to be deterred, the station's resident soulboy cracks on with an interview with local band Sentivo. 2pm Alex Fletcher sits in the hotseat for a while, and then Paul Golder returns to introduce an acoustic set from an old friend of the station, MJ Hibbett, who took the time to come in and play three songs en route to an evening gig in Cambridge. Mark had a good audience in for his three songs - Job done, Paul then escorts him off the premises and Gemma takes over again. Another local band Tokyo Dragons come in to play an acoustic set. They're followed immediately by what can only be described as a Spinal Tap moment - St Thomas's Choir have turned up and are sitting in the studio watching intently before their own session. Click here to listen to the interview with Tokyo Dragons Click here to listen to the interview with St Thomas's Choir 4pm Dave Bishop comes down to welcome local soul singer Dahlia. He's followed in the presenter's chair by Richard Nott who introduces another fantastic acoustic set from our very own cult hero Chris T-T. Chris plays a couple of old songs and a new one too, and then has a chat with Richard in the studio. 6pm Chris takes over in the studio for his own two hour stint which includes live music from members of the Phoenix Youth Orchestra, our final session of the day. 8pm Things are calming down now and Dave Bishop gets into the studio for two hours of random soulful sounds. Gemma Smith heads off to the Bitter End in Romford with Phoenix regulars Nick Field and Steve Mead for the Phoenix FM launch gig, headlined by the Tokyo Dragons. 10pm Stalwart indieist Eddie Curry turns up to play all his old Britpop and obscure alternative CDs. The studio is now duly littered with Red Bull cans and the first day can be brought to a fitting end! THANKS To Dave from Creative for the loan of the mikes and equipment and also to Pants (Stu) who gave up his time to help with the sound engineering. One year on ... how we celebrated 12 months into the future! |
10/05 Blur 17/05 Pink Floyd 24/05 blink-182 31/05 The Beatles 07/06 Oasis 14/06 Embrace 21/06 Meat Loaf 28/06 Beck 05/07 Linkin Park 12/07 Super Furry Animals All times UK. |