A weekly pleasure is listening to Cerys Matthews’ eclectic Sunday morning show on BBC Radio 6 Music while I potter round the kitchen. A regular feature is the ‘Sunday Roast’ slot just after 12.00 pm, featuring three tracks chosen by a listener. The idea is that they are analogous to the three parts of a Sunday dinner: starter, main and dessert – not necessarily related to food but enjoyable songs the person submitting can say something about. On 23 February I wrote in to the programme:
‘Having
read that on 1 March 1966, Gene Clark of The Byrds announced he was leaving the
group, due to his fear of flying, I thought 3 tracks related by having
fly/flying in the title might be appropriate.
Thus:
‘Starter:
Flying Home, Harry James
Main
course: Love to Love You (And Tonight
Pigs Will Fly), Caravan
Dessert:
Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss,
Rufus Crisp.’
‘Sadly
Gong's Flying Teapot is slightly too
long.’
Flying Teapot is nearly 12
minutes, and perhaps a little esoteric for the Sunday Roast (tending possibly
to indigestion in some listeners) though it has its charms. Caravan is a group for whom I have a
particular fondness as they have Canterbury roots, where I studied in the late 1970s;
the 1971 album In the Land of Grey and
Pink on which Love to Love You
appears was a favourite, though I only saw them perform later in London. I was prompted to write because of the irony
of a member of The Byrds, co-author of Eight
Miles High to boot, being afraid to fly.
Anyway,
there I was in the kitchen today dicing carrots or something when Cerys announced
she was going to play the tracks I had sent in (adding ‘what a great name’)! I was surprised as I hadn’t been able to
listen to the last two shows; I was away on both weekends and had assumed that
if they were played I had missed them. I
suspect there is a lot of competition for this slot and really didn’t expect to
be picked. This was in fact my third
attempt. In September 2014 I submitted
the following trio, again thematic:
‘Starter:
Rambling Man, The Carter Family
Main:
I Got Rambling on My Mind, Otis Spann
Dessert:
Rambling Sailor, Bellowhead’,
commenting:
‘they may make you forget about lunch and start checking your passport!’
And
in March 2015 I chose a rather peculiar set that stood little chance of being
selected:
‘Starter:
High on a Hilltop, Nick Lowe
OR
if that is thought to be a bit too gentle, an alternative choice:
Totensamba, Santana V. (on
Ho! Roady Music from Vietnam, 2000)
Main:
The Ghosts of Cable Street, The Men They Couldn't Hang
Dessert:
The Ballad of Robert Moore & Betty
Coltrane, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.’
So
it was third time lucky, and I was chuffed to bits. Cerys gave some information about the performers
and played the songs. It was lovely to hear
her say at the end that I had spoiled the listeners with my choices.
At
the time of writing the show is available here,
the Sunday Roast segment beginning at 2:10:32.
