Radio Review: 6th October

One of the great pleasures of a long journey for me is being able to gad about between local radio stations. When the signal fades, just scan the dial for another one. The presenters are of variable quality, but that’s part of the fun.

The pleasure comes with a huge potential downside, though. What if you become gripped by a feature, be it an nterview, running subject or a competition, and you lose the station before the matter has reached a satisfactory resolution?

So it was last week, with a competition on the afternoon show on BBC Wiltshire (weekdays 4pm-6pm), hosted by Jonathan Fido, sitting in for Graham Rogers. The first clue was for a singer born in Salford in 1945. Going through my mental Rolodex of Mancunian vocalists, I rejected Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits as slightly too young, and decided that Davy Jones of the Monkees fit the profile.

Ten minutes and a few miles later, a second clue came. She was still touring and had played Wiltshire in the past year. That ruled out Jones, being a man and medically unable to tour since 2012. By which I mean he’s dead. That led me to think that the answer was the great Elkie Brooks.

However, before the third clue and the eventual answer came, I was well into Gloucestershire and had lost the signal. The question now is whether I trudge back to the iPlayer to see if I was right. It was mildly annoying at the time, but I’m not obsessed.

A quick note on singers: Clare Teal’s interview with the multitalented Louise Clare Marshall on her Radio 2 show (Sundays, 9pm-11pm) is well worth finding on iPlayer. Marshall is a name to note and, as well as being a brilliant musician, is also very funny indeed when interviewed.