June 2006

9 June 2006

I'll be on the Jonathan Ross Show tomorrow morning (Saturday 10 June) talking about Whole Wide World 4 England and playing a song. I won't say what song - it can be a surprise. It might not be a great surprise but I'll just have to do the best I can. It won't be WWW4England - I think it's better if they just play the record. If it was a hit I could have WWW 4 E as a personalised number plate except that I hate personalised number plates. Some of them are so desperate that I find with every car I follow I'm trying to work out if there's any cryptic message going on, like H 1JNG (get it?) - that kind of thing.

While I'm here I should say that Fierce Panda night at the Bull & Gate was a bit of an odd affair. Nobody showed up, just the other bands and whoever came to see them. I don't think they liked me much. I hope it won't be like that at the next one which is at the Dublin Castle on the night England play Sweden. They're screening the game and afterwards it'll be live pop music.

10 June 2006

I think that went all right (Jonathan Ross Show this morning). Andre, David and I all arrived at the same time.from different directions. And amazingly for anything I'm involved in, we were all early. I did almost miss the train earlier on because I seem to be incapable of having three different clocks all showing the same time. Or perhaps it's the clocks that are incapable. The alarm went off an hour before it should have done this morning because I forgot to change the time back after a quick visit to France this week. So I went back to sleep for a while. And then I couldn't find a guitar case.

But it all went off fine apart from a mix up over the Dublin Castle date which I'm afraid I've cancelled. I've got a date the following week at the Halfmoon in Putney which I think is a much more realistic proposition for me and I don't want to jeopardise it. Plus Amy Rigby's coming over and she'll be playing at the Halfmoon too - and that makes it twice as worthwhile. Jonathan was a bit disappointed about the Dublin Castle because it's not too far from where he lives but I offered to pick him up on the way through to Putney. As long as he sat in the back. But he said he'd have to sit in the front so I'm not sure. Anyway, you can hear the whole interview plus three acoustic guitars / three vocals version of Tell Me I'm The Only One by going to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/ross/ and clicking on listen again next to a very dubious picture of Paul Weller.

17 June 2006

Janice Long Show, BBC Radio 2

Tomorrow night, Sunday, or Monday morning, depending on how pedantic you are, or even where in the world you are, and how pedantic I happen to be feeling, and now I've lost the thread... I'll be on the Janice Long Show on BBC Radio 2. If you're in the UK you can listen to that on 88-91FM. If you aren't, you can't.

But yes you can - I should think you go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/long/ - it might work but I never trust these things myself. I'll be playing the odd song or two live and having a chat.

I'm looking forward to it because I've never met Janice Long, but I listen to her programme when I'm driving home from gigs so I feel I know her. Now I sound like one of those sad people who sends birthday cards to characters in Coronation Street. I'd better leave it at that before I make a complete twat of myself.

I've got some recording to do here with Graham Beck. See you tomorrow night on the radio. Or should I have said hear - you can't see people on the radio, that's the whole point. I think I'll do it wearing a purple kaftan.

And I almost forgot to say that I'll be reading short extracts from A Dysfunctional Success on XFM every morning this coming week. If you want to hear that you'll have to wake up by half past seven in the morning. I won't of course because it was pre-recorded so I'll just be sleeping through it as befits a person who hasn't got a proper job.