The Radio Days

Radio has changed greatly over the years, a lot of it in my opinion, NOT for the better.

We have seen the decimation of real 'local' radio, which has been a great loss for the many people who relied on it. It has been replaced instead, with centralised radio networks, offering just occasional news snippets from their so-called 'local' station. This needs to change.

A friend of mine, an established and very talented radio presenter, recently applied for a presenting role with a well-known network and was told that they no longer seek 'personality style presenters' but instead, require 'script readers' between musical segments!

I started my radio career back in the late 1970's on what was then called BBC Radio Medway, with a 50s and 60s rock'n'roll show called Friday Night is Boogie Night, produced by Dan Damon, who if you like 'discovered me'. It was even listed in the Radio Times.

I went on to become a #BBC freelancer, a TV and radio talk show presenter and even launched and ran two online radio networks, long before they became "a thing". Glastonbury Radio became pretty successful and had a Winnebago in the VIP area at Glastonbury Festival, with a host of celebrities popping in for interviews! We had Russell Grant there with us one year, who was even summoned backstage to do a Tarot reading for Bruce Springsteen who had heard he was on site with us!

These days however, at 67 years old, I am deemed too old for radio by the young whipper-snappers of today, even though my voice talents are still there and quite superior to many I hear on the various stations these days. I have however, just stopped applying for radio vacancies because I don't even get acknowledged or even the decency of a response on most occasions.

I am however, a fan of #BoomRadio which in my opinion, is radio done the way it should be, with real radio personalities and music we all know the words too, many years after it was first released. Do you remember the days when music had a memorable, catchy 'hook' that you would sing in the shower or whistle down the street?

I believe that there is money to be made for a forward-thinking entrepreneur with the money in place, to set up a series of REAL local radio stations again, catering for local communities, doing old-style radio #roadshows, getting out amongst the public and supporting local events. I doubt however, than anyone has the foresight or balls, to actually do it, sadly.

I still have my studio, which although equipped for live radio broadcasts, is actually used these days for making music for films, TV, advertising and even radio jingles! Oh and by the way, I do affordable #voiceovers too!

Perhaps if you agree with me, you might like to share this post!

Ross Hemsworth