Colin Cook
Rowan Bridge
in Stoke-on-Trent around 1986. He had a program called CC in the PM which
was on Mon-Thurs that was just brilliant. I remember his JICRAR (as it was
then) were about three times the average for the slot. I know he then got
pinched by Piccadilly Radio (as it was then) but his show wasn't realy as
good there. Then he kind of disappeared from the face of the radio world.
I've got a feeling he set up a karaoke shop in Stoke-on-Trent for a while,
bu anyone have any idea what he's up to now?
L.M.Preece
: This guy used to do one of the most creative shows on the radio for Signal
As far as I know, running his karaoke shop still in Longport across the road
from Bernie - his brother - who runs the disco side of things.
Leigh....
--
+ + + + + Leigh Preece + + Keele University, Staffordshire, UK + + + + +
+ + Email - Internet: le...@media.keele.ac.uk + +
Paul Smith
from Stoke, although it was never as good on 102.6 as on the old 104.3. There
was also a guy called Chris Lowe on the same station who played some excellent
music as well. Never heard of him again either. It is a reminder that there
was a lot of good radio around in the days before 'a better music mix' etc.
Where has it all gone wrong?
L.M.Preece
: Yep, I remember him.
: There
: was also a guy called Chris Lowe on the same station who played some excellent
: music as well. Never heard of him again either.
Last known was running a music shop in Hanley about 5 years ago but that
closed. Believe he's still in the radio/PR industry somewhere. He was a good
presenter too wasnt he. Also - don't forget that Signal also employed Chris
Moyles (so called saviour of R.1 !) but sacked him too.
: It is a reminder that there
: was a lot of good radio around in the days before 'a better music mix' etc.
: Where has it all gone wrong?
Where indeed !?
Rowan Bridge
Paul Smith <paul...@netvigator.com> wrote in message
news:37B92615...@netvigator.com...
> Yep, I remember him. I used to listen to Signal in West Lancs, a good long
way
> from Stoke, although it was never as good on 102.6 as on the old 104.3.
> was also a guy called Chris Lowe on the same station who played some
excellent
there
> was a lot of good radio around in the days before 'a better music mix'
etc.
> Where has it all gone wrong?
I was talking to Stuart Frere (I hope that;s how you spell his name) the
other day, one of the newsreaders at Signal who's been there a good few
years. He was telling me about when Chris Moyles used to do the evening show
there. He would get these B-list bands sent to him by the record companies
desperate to promote their product. Chris would pre-record these interviews
in the afternoon and really take the piss. Not overtly, but send them up in
the line of questioning. If they had half a brain they would realise what he
was doing, but most of the time they just didn't realise he was making them
look foolish. Stuart was saying how the newsroom would listen in and laugh
as these stupid recording artists were just sent up like nobody's business.
Far too dangerous for Signal. They got rid of him and, errr he ended up at
Radio One. Nice move.
I sometimes wonder if this is all rose tinted spectacles (it probably is to
a certain extent) but the Singal of old was great. It had late night shows
like ID104 with Lee Finan and Gerry Dee that were a great listen. These
phone in hours at 1am but where you got quite intelligent conversation. And
they were prepared to run shows like Mutha Knows Best with Paul Anthony, the
heavy metal show, not my cup of tea, but at least it showed a diversity in
programming.
These were the days when Signal actually had a decent size newsroom, where
ILR news was worth listening to because it wasn't read over a music bed,
lasted longer than 90 secs and had some of the best voices and sharpest
writing style in the business. The voices are by and large still there in
ILR news and some have great writing style (Picadilly's newsroom's won a few
sonys in recent years for it's reaction to news stories) but a lot of it's
now gone. In fact many of the people have migrated to the beeb.
Rant over.
b...@mcmail.com
>
> Paul Smith <paul...@netvigator.com> wrote in message
> news:37B92615...@netvigator.com...
> > Yep, I remember him. I used to listen to Signal in West Lancs, a good long
> way
> > from Stoke, although it was never as good on 102.6 as on the old 104.3.
I have been told that Colin is now working under his real name,
Crispian St Horne and is now doing traffic on Sark AM. I think he is
brilliant and am glad he picked up this hotly contested gig.
Andy Peebles used to roadie for him.
Barry Green
Chris Stevens
>I sometimes wonder if this is all rose tinted spectacles (it probably is to
>a certain extent) but the Singal of old was great. It had late night shows
>like ID104 with Lee Finan and Gerry Dee that were a great listen. These
>phone in hours at 1am but where you got quite intelligent conversation. And
>they were prepared to run shows like Mutha Knows Best with Paul Anthony, the
>heavy metal show, not my cup of tea, but at least it showed a diversity in
>programming.
Who remembers XLFM with Gerry Dee and Ian Johns?
And the best show *ever* on that station in my opinion... Paul
Carrington, The Funster.
Chris
Ian J. Forest
the following...
>And the best show *ever* on that station in my opinion... Paul
>Carrington, The Funster.
Carrington was also on Key 103...good presenter.
--
----------------------------------------------------------
| P I N G E R S | http://www.dis2000.freeserve.co.uk |
----------------------------------------------------------
Rowan Bridge
Chris Stevens <ch...@nospam.devaweb.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bHJoCfAm...@devaweb.demon.co.uk...
>
> Who remembers XLFM with Gerry Dee and Ian Johns?
>
fantastic set of jingles. My mate used to share a house with Ian Johns (or
rather, he lodged in her house in Hanley) while he was up here. I'm sure she
told me he started off working for Radio Top Shop. He lived in London during
the week and used to come up to Stoke for the weekend shifts.
> And the best show *ever* on that station in my opinion... Paul
> Carrington, The Funster.
The thing that I found rather disturbing about his show was that he had an
overtly racist character in his show. Mr Tight Gittenberg (a milkman I
think) was a rather too obvious Jewish sterotype, complete with sterotypical
accent and attitudes. Not really the sort of thing I want to hear on the
radio. Could you imagine if he had had a character called Mr Paki who worked
for a taxi firm and charged over the odds on all his fares? It would never
have been allowed on air in a city like Stoke with it's large asian
population, especially as Signal's based in the asion quarter of the city.
But I think they probaly got away with the Gittenberg character cos there;s
not a large jewish population in Stoke.
By the way, does anyone have any of those old XLFM jingles as wav/mp3 files?
And is Gerry Dee working at City in Liverpool these days?
Mike Lownds
and he moved to Signal in Stoke.
What a large collection of carts he had around him, and with only 5 cart
machines to play them on as well!
--
Cheers - Mike Lownds
www.lownds.freeserve.co.uk
Chris Stevens <ch...@nospam.devaweb.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bHJoCfAm...@devaweb.demon.co.uk...
L.M.Preece
: Rowan Bridge <rowan_...@yahoo.com> writes
: Who remembers XLFM with Gerry Dee and Ian Johns?
Me ! I used to help out on XLFM doing the phones and coffee etc.
: And the best show *ever* on that station in my opinion... Paul
: Carrington, The Funster.
He was the tops ! Big Yarrr !
Leigh...
L.M.Preece
: Chris Stevens <ch...@nospam.devaweb.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
: news:bHJoCfAm...@devaweb.demon.co.uk...
: >
: > Who remembers XLFM with Gerry Dee and Ian Johns?
: >
: My mate used to share a house with Ian Johns (or
: rather, he lodged in her house in Hanley) while he was up here. I'm sure she
: told me he started off working for Radio Top Shop. He lived in London during
: the week and used to come up to Stoke for the weekend shifts.
Yeah - and quite often arrived with just minutes to spare - thankfully the
music would usually be ready though the listeners selection of 'four' tracks
(cant remember what that was called!) would be dug out during the show.
(Or dare I admit made up if the letters werent up to much!)
: > And the best show *ever* on that station in my opinion... Paul
: > Carrington, The Funster.
: The thing that I found rather disturbing about his show was that he had an
: overtly racist character in his show. Mr Tight Gittenberg (a milkman I
: think) was a rather too obvious Jewish sterotype, complete with sterotypical
: accent and attitudes. Not really the sort of thing I want to hear on the
: radio. Could you imagine if he had had a character called Mr Paki who worked
: for a taxi firm and charged over the odds on all his fares?
No - he left that to Mel Scholes who got away with it for ages !
: But I think they probaly got away with the Gittenberg character cos there;s
: not a large jewish population in Stoke.
Well under 100.
: By the way, does anyone have any of those old XLFM jingles as wav/mp3 files?
: And is Gerry Dee working at City in Liverpool these days?
Yeah - on their AM service - Magic 1548 ?
Leigh....
L.M.Preece
: He started on KFM in Stockport in the late 80's. Signal then bought it out
: and he moved to Signal in Stoke.
: What a large collection of carts he had around him, and with only 5 cart
: machines to play them on as well!
I used to work in the evenings when Carrington's late night show was on -
god did he crack you up with his callers. Especially liked the "Witchfinder
General" stuff, even though it was a bit surreal.
Leigh...
(IF you want another old Signal Classic presenter - how about James
Stannage, who also was at Picadilly ? Where is he now?)
Rowan Bridge
L.M.Preece <md...@keele.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:7pgfqr$c9g$4...@cfs2.kis.keele.ac.uk...
> (IF you want another old Signal Classic presenter - how about James
> Stannage, who also was at Picadilly ? Where is he now?)
>
crap) late night phone in show from 10-1. But it's pretty dire I'm afraid.
I'm trying to remember what the original weekday lineup was at Signal when
it launched. It went something like....
Breakfast - John Evington
Mid Morning - Mel Scholes
Lunchtime - ????
Afternoons - ????
Evenings - Colin Cook ?
Late Night - ID104 with Lee Finan during the week/Gerry Dee at the weekends
Can anyone fill in the gaps?
L.M.Preece
: I'm trying to remember what the original weekday lineup was at Signal when
: it launched. It went something like....
Mike Lowndes might correct me on this but: (I did have this info somewhere,
tucked away in a drawer with me anorak!)
: Breakfast - John Evington
Yep - for ages and ages and ages....
: Mid Morning - Mel Scholes
Try good old Digby Taylor - seriously good presenter.
: Lunchtime - ????
Mel Scholes
: Afternoons - ????
Doug Wood for many a year before he went to weekends only, now doing the
same show (exactly!) but on Signal 2/GOld/AM...
Lee Finan took over the show around 1986/87 until he got sacked, then loads
of presenter had a go.
: Evenings - Colin Cook ?
Depends when cuz the station had various programmes at 7pm in the early days
like Paul Anthony's Rock Show. Cookie came on between 8 and 10pm....
: Late Night - ID104 with Lee Finan during the week/Gerry Dee at the weekends
Again, various shows done over the years, but ID104 seemed to kick in at
10pm to 1am for years. Phone 416444 for your requests !!!
: Can anyone fill in the gaps?
I've had a good go - remembering the days when they were worth listening to.
Leigh....
Mike Lownds
website (plug, plug)
L.M.Preece <md...@keele.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:7pgfqr$c9g$4...@cfs2.kis.keele.ac.uk...
> Mike Lownds <mi...@xxxx.lownds.freeserve.co.uk> said :
> : He started on KFM in Stockport in the late 80's. Signal then bought it
out
> : and he moved to Signal in Stoke.
>
> : What a large collection of carts he had around him, and with only 5 cart
> : machines to play them on as well!
>
> I used to work in the evenings when Carrington's late night show was on -
> god did he crack you up with his callers. Especially liked the
"Witchfinder
> General" stuff, even though it was a bit surreal.
>
> Leigh...
>
> (IF you want another old Signal Classic presenter - how about James
> Stannage, who also was at Picadilly ? Where is he now?)
>
Mike Lownds
Digby - 9-12
Mel Scholes - Lunch
Ray Terret - 3-6
Misc taped talk (had to watch needletime you know) 6-7
7-9 Richard Howells
9 pm TONE
That was 1983. In 1984 when hours extended it was then:
7-10: Colin Cooke
10-1am Lee Finan/Gerry Dee
<anorak/>
--
Cheers - Mike Lownds
www.lownds.freeserve.co.uk
L.M.Preece <md...@keele.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:7ph3gj$fcc$1...@cfs2.kis.keele.ac.uk...
Rowan Bridge
Mike Lownds <mi...@xxxx.lownds.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7phpo9$j5l$3...@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
> John Evington - Brekkie
> Digby - 9-12
> Mel Scholes - Lunch
> Ray Terret - 3-6
> Misc taped talk (had to watch needletime you know) 6-7
> 7-9 Richard Howells
> 9 pm TONE
>
> That was 1983. In 1984 when hours extended it was then:
> 7-10: Colin Cooke
> 10-1am Lee Finan/Gerry Dee
>
affair when Digby punched one of the execs at Signal (John Evington?) over
something and had to leave the station as a result? He went off to work for
BFBS in Germany for quite a while before making a return to SOT.
Mike Lownds
this group you know!
Rowan Bridge <rowan_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:6d2v3.1558$4g1....@nnrp3.clara.net...
MATT
around.As well as cookie,what about James Stanage(the original late night
phone host?),the theatre of the mind,Jules Bellerby's indie show...
Its interesting that nowadays we have lots more stations but somehow less
choice.
All stations aim there evening shows at a young audience but not one of them
comes close to colin cook.
Do you remember that no-one used there real name but pseudonyms which could
be registered with an official pseudonym registration form?
What ever happened to 'the really itchy armpit',or'chocy biccy'.I was 'bob
geldofs hairdresser'
MATT.
Mike Lownds
used to play his music while he was recording them!
MATT <MA...@sparerom20.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7pohuq$8vb$1...@news5.svr.pol.co.uk...
Rowan Bridge
<MA...@sparerom20.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>Its interesting that nowadays we have lots more stations
but somehow less
>choice.
>
Sad but true. You travel around the country and hear
virtually the same jingle package wherever you go, with
about the only difference being the bit before 'FM' 'Viking
FM, Metro FM, MFM etc etc) Is there an FM pop station in
the country that is not playing either 'a better music
mix', 'today's best music' or 'a better music variety'
(that's the one that always get's me. There's no bloody
variety, or at least very little among the main ILR FM
stations)
>All stations aim there evening shows at a young audience
but not one of them
>comes close to colin cook.
Here here. As I remember it the guy's listening figures
were about three times the average for that slot when he
did CC in the PM. Come back Colin, give up the karaoke
business and get back into being a DJ! :-)
I know John Evington, the PD at Signal reads this NG (and
is no doubt following this thread!) but somehow I doubt
he's about to bring back Mr Cook. :-(
>Do you remember that no-one used there real name but
pseudonyms which could
>be registered with an official pseudonym registration form?
Yeah, I've still got mine at home. I even framed the thing
when I got it! (Look, I was 14 OK) It was a charity lark
that was dreampt up by a couple of Cookie's regular
listeners, The Shelton Scholar who came up with the idea
and the Trendy Trenthamer who did the design, if my memory
serves me correctly. God only knows who they were in real
life or what they're doing now. Anyone know? I was always
dead jealous of them cos they would sometimes pop up in the
studio and I always wanted to sit in on the show :-(
All the money raised went to Signal's money mountain appeal
(remember that?) and they auctioned off the number one spot
in the CC in the PM Pseudonym Register to the highest
bidder. I think it went for about 50 quid. I can remember
thinking at the time it seemed like a blody large ammount
of money.
Anyone else remember this?
>What ever happened to 'the really itchy armpit',or'chocy
biccy'.
Yeah. My favourites were Freddy Mercury's Dentist and Fredy
Mercury's Dentists Drill. And there was some bloke who
decided (god knows why) to call himself The Purple
Mushroom. What the hell is *he* doing these days?
I was 'Bugs Bunny's Stuntman', though I try and keep that
fact well hidden from my collegues now that I've gone
respectable and work for the BBC! (Fortunately most of my
collegues don't read this NG) I can remember my girlfriend
being told this by my mother (thanks mum) and she thought
it was the funniest thing she had ever heard of. Kept her
in stitches for days.
And remember that record that Cookie was obsessed with by
some group called something like Howard Hughes and the
Western Approaches? It was called something like West of
the Paycos?
>
And he had some female sidekick called Lee-Jane who used to
do a gig guide on the show. I'm pretty sure she went off to
work at Radio Liecester before marrying a bloke from Radio
Stoke and emigrating to the states for a while.
Anyone else care to add any other fond memories of CC in
the PM?
Cheers,
Rowan
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
MATT
What about his competions?
Dial a dangler ('Oh I would like a signal radio dangler')
'Its insane! Its colin cooks alpha game'
Space invaders
and didn't he have a computer game of the show at one time?
MATT.
MATT
Leigh Preece
Rowan Bridge <rowan_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2750ac20...@usw-ex0107-050.remarq.com...
> In article <7pohuq$8vb$1...@news5.svr.pol.co.uk>, "MATT"
> <MA...@sparerom20.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >Its interesting that nowadays we have lots more stations
> but somehow less
> >choice.
Dont start Mr Lownds and I on that old crock (we know each other if you
havent noticed!) - we'll be on for ages saying "oh how things have chnaged"
and "how we preffered the olden days when radio was real radio and not some
automated DJ and computer" or is that automated computer with a DJ ?
> (that's the one that always get's me. There's no bloody
> variety, or at least very little among the main ILR FM
> stations)
Only some of the really small scale stations are managing this - one down on
the S.E coast (Clacton area) is managing this but slowly slipping into the
"Greatest Hits, Tommorows memories...etc" mould. Pirate FM in Cornwall is
the only example of a "HotHit Radio" station that I've heard that manages to
stay original. As for the one that shook them all up (supposedly) Atlantic
252 - what a joke!
> I know John Evington, the PD at Signal reads this NG (and
> is no doubt following this thread!) but somehow I doubt
> he's about to bring back Mr Cook.
Hi John ! Never replied to my emails from ages ago.
Leigh....mate of Mike.
Mike Lownds
news:7q9fjb$ieb$1...@news6.svr.pol.co.uk...
> Dont start Mr Lownds and I on that old crock (we know each other if
you
> havent noticed!) - we'll be on for ages saying "oh how things have
chnaged"
> and "how we preffered the olden days when radio was real radio
And how you could buy REAL Hovis <g>
> Leigh....mate of Mike.
Steady on, you'll be getting me 'kill-filed' like you <eg>
jasonp...@gmail.com
paulsm...@gmail.com
> Wow, I bet this thread is dead, came across it as I was searchingfor a couple of 80s songs 'see that glow' and '5 minutes'.. I went on the Colin cook show and sent Many letters.. I remember a main contributor was a pea something from Macclesfield or Prestbury... This was an awesome station that played some great stuff