SFC Radio

LISTEN HERE Good evening. Or good morning or good afternoon, depending on when you’re listening or where, or because you’ve fallen asleep on the settee with the previous podcast still rattling around your subconscious. You’re now listening to “John’s Ghost”, the show based on my record collection set on random play. 🎵 Grinderswitch – “Pickin' The Blues” ( from 'Macon Tracks' ) Tonight’s programme wanders about a bit, again — country heartbreak, post-punk anxiety, chart pop, Jamaican basslines, and at least one song that sounds like it was recorded inside a saucepan. So, business as usual... 🎵 Selena Gomez & The Scene – “Love You Like A Song” ( No.58 in 2011 ) There we are — Selena Gomez. Pop music now so polished you can practically see your reflection in it. Mind you, people said the same about The Monkees, and they were marvellous. 🎵 The Moody Blues – “Top Rank Suite” (Live in Seattle 1979) The Moody Blues there, proving prog survives perfectly well in...

  LISTEN HERE Evening all. You’re listening to “John’s Ghost”, the show based on my record collection set on random play. On a Thursday night when the cats are asleep, the kettle’s on, and the studio smells faintly of yesterday’s coffee and someone else’s panic, it has the same attitude vibe, and imagines what a 70s late night, radio DJ would sound like if he was still spinning discs on UK Radio in this Century. We’ll start, as we always should, with an impression, a prayer and a protest rolled into one. � XTC – “Dear God” (Virgin VS960) Andy Partridge there, shaking a small fist at the heavens. Funny thing — when that came out, some shops refused to stock it. Others bought two. Always thought that said something rather profound about the retail sector. � George Michael – “I Want Your Sex [Monogamy Mix - Rhythm 2 - Brass In Love]” That was George Michael, doing what he did best: making the radio blush and the censors reach for a stiff drink. You could almost hear the e...

  LISTEN HERE:           The SFC presents CLASSIC COMEBACK (formely 'The President's Back') - a look at all the new releases, reissues and remasters by artists from the last century released this month - March 2023. A very mixed bag of music for those with a wide taste in genres. Featured release this month is the Anniversary Collection of Pink Floyd's classic masterpiece. 50 years ago, Pink Floyd released their iconic album 'Dark Side of the Moon', and it's still influencing music today. Celebrate the anniversary with the newly released 50th-anniversary collection, featuring rare recordings, demos, and live performances. If you're a fan of Pink Floyd or just appreciate great music, this is a must-have for your collection. Track Listing: 01 Frank Sinatra - Bad Bad Leroy Brown (from Collected) 02 Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Did You Ever (from Nancy And Lee Again) 03 Pink Floyd - Money (from Dark Side Of The Moon 50th An...

  LISTEN HERE     The SFC really started way back In 1978. A couple of friends and I produced our own chart compiled from our favourite tracks that were around at the time. Tracks 1 to 20 are these tracks in reverse order (followed by our individual favourite tracks that didn't make the chart). The chart lasted for over two years, and every week we recorded our own show on cassette using ELP's 'Fanfare for the Common Man' to announce the rundown. Eventually we got bored and stopped, but in that period there were some great songs that didn't get too high in the main charts but did well in our own 'DECENT' chart. This gives a flavour of what those charts were like!       1 - Voyage - From East To West 2 - Elvis Presley - Don't Be Cruel 3 - Jackson Browne - Stay 4 - Andrew Gold - How Can This Be Love 5 - Joe Walsh - Life's Been Good 6 - Marshall Hain - Dancing in the City 7 - James Galway - Annie's Song 8 - Lindisfarne - Run For Home...

  LISTEN HERE   I was always told never to make a compilation of music that was based around a specific word! I have seen the truth in that! Compilations and shows of this nature rarely have any coherance, and lyric-wise, what you think the song is about, can turn out to be something totally different. However, on this occasion, I'm prepared to make an exception! To thank all my 1000 followers on Mixcloud, here's a show that has 30 songs on the theme of '1000'! It's not a show for the feint-hearted, and if you have very narrow musical tastes, this will not be the show for you. But I'm guessing that most of you  1000 followers have a wide musical taste, otherwise you wouldn't be following my mixes in the first place! So here's some tracks, just for you, covering nearly 100 years of music, and having no limits as to what it covers. From jazz to punk, from Bing Crosby to The Stereophonics, open your ears, and enjoy this brief journey around the musical...

Here's the fourth and final part of my "50 At 50" podcast mix Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Pandora's Box I've loved OMD since they first appeared on a compilation album on the Some Bizarre label with 'Electricity'. In the 90s, I had a small obsession with 20s obscure silent film actress, Louise Brooks, and then in 1991 OMD came out with a song about her and one of her best films 'Pandora's Box'. Ms Brooks had a fascinating life, and was incredibly attractive in her younger years. Her life story makes an incredible read and I can highly recommend viewing this film and any of her other celluloid appearances. The The - This Is The Day Matt Johnson is a fantastic song writer and is incredibly underrated. The album 'Soul Mining' which was released in 1983 is a perfect pop album, and everybody should have a copy. And that's all I have to say on the matter! Ron Grainer - Dr Who I can't remember a time when I di...

Here's the third part of my "50 At 50" podcast mix Marilyn Monroe - River Of No Return Vastly underrated as a singer, Marilyn Monroe had a unique gentleness to her voice that was often overlooked compared to the magnetism of her on-screen presence. I first came across this track (no pun intended) on an import album when I was working at HMV . The sleeve had a picture if Marilyn in the nude from her early modelling days, and was completely unrepresentative of the recordings on the LP, but that's how they sold records then! This track was lifted from the film of the same name that I now have in my complete collection of MM DVDs. Ned Miller - From A Jack To A King I had always quite liked this track, and was quite amazed to find it on the jukebox in the pub that I held my stag party in. At lunchtime, when I began drinking I thought it would be hilarious to play it continually, over and over again. By the time we moved onto the next pub, around 7 o'clock, yo...

Here's the second part of my "50 At 50" podcast mix Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Fanfare For The Common Man Based on the classical piece by Copland, this ELP hit really 'rocked it up'. In late 1977, my anal tendencies were beginning to manifest themselves , and it was with great pleasure each week that I managed to convince my mates to join me in creating our very own Top 20 singles each fortnight, thus resulting in an amalgamation of our favourite tracks. To further express our geek-like qualities we then began recording the list on our tinny cassette recorders in the style of the BBC radio Top 20 chart show that was presented by Tom Brown at 6pm every Sunday evening. Like Mr Brown we also had background music playing whilst we announced proudly (basically, to ourselves) each weeks chart. This was the music we used. Every fortnight for over a year, we would go through this ritual, even when my friends started to lose interest, I still kept this process g...

It's now been 50 years since 'The Pres' first made noise. To celebrate, here's the first part of my "50 At 50" mix. John Miles - Music This song says it all. First released in 1976 and taken from the album 'Rebel'. It showcases all of Miles' talents, playing piano, guitar and keyboards on the track as well as composing the song. It's a fine example of how a good pop song should be written and I always find it incredibly interesting to listen to, with it's lush orchestration and simplicity of lyrics. Altered Images - Happy Birthday Probably the best 'birthday song' ever (with the possible exception of The Sugarcubes 'Birthday') this showcases the lovely Clare Grogan's giggly girl vocals and appeared on their first, identically titled album in 1981. it has a particular memory for me as I was working at HMV at the time, and a fellow co-worker loved this album and played it every time it was his turn 'on ...