A Wight Shame
I was sorry to hear that Alex Dyke is set to leave Isle of Wight Radio in January after 15 years with the station. His bright, enthusiastic and sometimes jagged style of broadcasting may not be to everyone’s taste - a bit like Marmite - but there’s no doubt that his presence on the local airwaves has made him as much a part of island life as The Needles.
Big Al’s Mid-Morning Boogie was of the shows that stood out in the station’s schedule when I first started spending time on the island, not just because of his robust personality but also because his daily phone-in segment provided an entertaining and often heated exchange of views on everything from ferry fares to the war on terror. Sadly, the phone-in was recently lopped back to an hour a week and the Solent ether seems all the emptier for it.
However, come January I think I’ll miss his Saturday show ‘Bubblegum & Cheese’ most of all. Billed as three hours of feel good music, it’s well-crafted radio that pretty much delivers what it promises on the jar and seems to work very nicely without a hint of Selector’s handiwork anywhere in earshot. Buzzing about the island on a Saturday morning, you’ll hear B&C playing out cheerfully in cars, shops and cafés. Look a bit closer and you’ll also spot folk smiling to themselves and humming along to an incongruous selection of tunes that may not score well with the focus group fraternity but nevertheless, seem to conjure up fond memories of times gone by.
The story goes that in order to fulfil the terms of his contract, Big Al was given an extra show each week with an open brief as to what went in it. In a grudging attempt to create something so awful that he’d have the show taken away and get his Saturday mornings back, Dyke filled the airtime with oldies that were either long-forgotten or largely overlooked by today’s school of Pot Noodle programming. But in a reverse twist of fate, the station found it had an unlikely hit on his hands - so much so, that IW Radio’s parent group TLRC went on to network the show across its two dozen stations. Dyke’s undoubted skill has been to capture the flavour of a generation and dish up a hearty helping of tuneful stodge in response. Rather like Findus Crispy Pancakes, B&C may not contain the prescribed five-a-day but who cares? As a treat once a week, it’s tasty, filling and fun.
The Rubettes, Bucks Fizz and The Osmonds appeared on this week’s playlist and alongside that great lumbering bassline of Crazy Horses, came the theme from Champion The Wonder Horse and a bizarre vocal version of the Hawaii Five 0 tune. All good foot-tapping stuff and none of it so bad that you ever find yourself scrabbling for the predictable refuge of Prozac FM just along the dial. Better still, this particular stretch of memory lane is a two-way street because listeners often send Big Al MP3’s of rarities ripped from their own collections to share on air. The result is a great romp from start to finish that feels just like those teenage parties where you’d tip up with a pile of your favourite 45’s under one arm and a Kestrel four-pack under the other. In my book, it all adds up to good old-fashioned radio entertainment. And in a world of endless musical wallpaper, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Ultimately, I guess B&C’s unique musical appeal is a bit like the way you look at your nearest and dearest after a big family get together - you wouldn’t want them moving in with you, but catching up to say hello once in a while is enjoyable enough, and reminds you of who you are and how you got here.
So long, Al and thanks for the memories - I hope that IW Radio’s loss will soon be somebody else’s gain.
Tags: Isle of Wight, Music, Radio