A response to Pete Townshend’s inaugural BBC 6 Music John Peel lecture.

The listener’s approach to John Peel’s radio show was probably similar to the mind set of someone considering purchasing an album by ‘The Who’.

On one hand you can appreciate each artist’s professional brilliance and on the other you’re anticipating some tracks will be hard on the ear.

With this in mind it makes sense to have a living legend like Who guitarist Pete Townshend give the inaugural BBC 6 Music John Peel lecture. Nowadays most launches need a big name to force the story under the media spotlight and Mr Townshend has all the credentials.

With this opportunity to speak his mind and let loose his ‘inner artist’ on an unsuspecting audience it is great to see the famous guitarist has come out in support of musicians living “below celebrity”.

Townshend: iTunes should be like local radio

His main thrust is that the rise in online services has led to a steep decline in the nurturing that record companies traditionaly performed – areas such as: editorial guidance, financial support, creative nurture, manufacturing, publishing and marketing.

This, he says, has left the artist floundering as only the distribution and payment of royalties is in the hands of the Internet shop or software and the musician has to manage the rest.

One of Townshend’s solutions is for services like iTunes to expand and support new artists in the other areas mentioned above. Another idea is that iTunes should become more like a local radio station and help promote new music.

His ideas have prompted me to let loose my ‘inner presenter’ and shine a light on something that is already happening on Spotify with Playdio.com, with whom I have a show. They upload my links, as if they were music tracks, and then slot them between a playlist of songs. Playdio is in its early days, and yet to be promoted within the Spotify programme, but has the potential to be a great way of guiding people to new songs and artists.

Another service I’ve had the pleasure of working with is Amazing Radio, who only play unsigned music uploaded to AmazingTunes.com. Available nationally on DAB it has become an ideal refuge for those seeking new music. And it only takes a couple of days before a whole station of unfamiliar music steadily becomes a comfortable listen – an imprtant fact radio that music programmers should take note of.

But local radio stations doesn’t support local artists as much as Mr Townshend imagines. And they should: as on-air is one of the best places a band can generate support from its community, building the necessary following that will take them to higher places.

BBC Introducing is the best example of radio helping artists take one or two steps up the ladder: first there is nothing better for a musician than hearing how your recording sounds over the air and second receiving some much needed interview experience is essential. But it is only within these BBC Introducing shows that new music flourishes.

It is quite rare for unsigned and independent acts to be added to the much coveted daytime play-lists because their music is seen as being ‘unofficial’.

Its a conundrum that gets even odder when you compare it to the rest of a radio station’s output – imagine asking the news editor to drop local stories, he’d kick you out of the station; if you asked the mid-morning show producer not to take local callers he’d suggest a different career.

But suggest the music programmer adds local acts during the day and they’ll conclude you’ve taken leave of your senses and tell you more 80’s music is what the public want.

Local news and local callers are the life blood of any good station but musically the attitude is very lazy. There is an unrational fear that listeners will turn off if they hear something they don’t recognise. So when it comes to unsigned and independent artists this fear is magnified.

Add to that the lost ability to pick a good new song without relying on BBC Radio 2 or 1 to play it first and you begin to undersatnd why most musicians listen to talk radio and BBC 6 Muisc.

The one big question local and national radio should ask is: “why does radio only play music released by record companies?”

This symbiotic relationship is on its last legs. The music industry failed to grasp the significance of digital sales and distribution, leaving it to hang off the coattails of Amazon, iTunes, Spotify and its own back catalogue while fighting the music pirates with a rubber sword.

During that time the quality of ‘home’ recordings have increased ten-fold and most listeners would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between local and signed: record companies are no longer the key holders to the best studio techniques.

If you want new music to flourish, and the spirit of John Peel to endure, then radio stations need to find someone who has the ears to pick their region’s good independently produced music and trust them to add it to the daytime playlist. Let it stand head-to-head against the best of the past and not only give the listener some new favourites but acts they can actually go and see live in an nearby venue.

There is no harm in hearing our favourite songs from our youth but for how much longer will that be the main fodder of daytime programming? And weren’t those singles unfamiliar at one time? Pete Townshend says he thought The Proclaimers and Undertones were dangerous when he first heard them. How much of a shock is that?

As Pete rightly points out there are 100s of quality songs available, waiting to be discovered by a wider audience. So the next time you hear a presenter gushing about how great the 80’s were think about this: If the film ‘Back to the Future’ was re-made today, the quaint, old-fashioned year Marty McFly would return to would be 1981.

The difference between John Peel and UK radio in its current state, is that he didn’t mind if the listener switched off – in fact he seemed to challenge you at every track. Granted he was on a public service station so he didn’t have to reply on advertising for revenue, but he was talked about, much appreciated and remains fondly remembered: there is room in every station’s schedule for a Peeler. If not, the industry is just paying lip-service to his memory.

It is time to be brave and embrace the new musicians. Peely picked some duffers but also plenty of winners, in some cases whole genres of new music.

Former Who guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend has given the inaugural BBC 6 Music John Peel lecture at the Radio Festival in Salford.

This week in Guava Bar (formerly Hamptons) saw the launch of the debut 5 track EP by Southampton four-piece The Lost Boys.

Laced with their tongue-in-check humour ‘Not ‘arf! It’s The Lost Boys’ serves up a classic indie cocktail that should warm the cockles of most Britpop hearts.

We’ll be playing their track ‘Flowers’ in my next Playdio show on Spotify as it is the moment when The Lost Boys gets serious about their music and deliver a song you immediately want to spin again.

That tune should put them in good stead when they support Dodgy next Friday at The Brook, who themselves have written a couple of classic songs that will live forever in the pop songbook.

Another act doing well is Eastleigh’s ‘Broken Links’ who are playing The Railway, Winchester this Saturday.

They’ve just returned from gigging in Italy and according to front man Mark Lawrence it was: “amazing, hopefully we’ll be heading back there soon”.

Every band I know should be playing in Europe – they are crying out for more British music!

Following that Broken Links shot a new video for ‘We’re All Paranoid’ in Bristol which you’ll find on their latest EP ‘Prototypes::Cause+Effect’ – 24 minutes of very well crafted electro indie rock.

Tonight you can catch ‘Long Shore Drift’ who are hosting a Super Colossal Sounding Alternative Rock Night at Guava Bar while launching their EP.

Featuring ‘Blue Screen of Death’ and the eclectic duo ‘Science of Eight Limbs’ whose drummer Mykkl recently toured with Birdpen in Europe: “Allons-y everybody!”

First published in the Daily Echo on 17th June 2011

‘South by Southampton’ is the title for my latest Playdio show on Spotify.

It feature 18 acts from the south coast along with the opinions of many observers of the region’s music scene.

One of my guests was Joe Parker, MD for the Sotones record label, who recommended the song ‘Newton’ by Anja McCloskey.

Anja is multi-instrumentalist, with the accordion as her first instrument, and she plays with the ten-piece performance orchestra The Irrepressibles and folk-rockers Haunted Stereo.

You might not know that Anja’s roots are in Germany and America, the country she moved to at the age of 17.

“I moved from a small German town to the country in deepest Missouri,” Anja explained. “It was miles away from the pre-internet radio music I was exposed to – which was mainly Madonna!”

She continued by telling me how this culture shock turned into something positive: “ It truly unrooted me and challenged my perception of life. And most of all, I met some of my closest friends to date.”

Perceptions will be reversed on Valentines Day when Anja begins her first US tour.

From Minnesota to Kansas, through Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan she’ll discover what kind of impression her twist on Americana has on local ears.

With Anja will be guitarists Andy Harris (Haunted Stereo) and David Miatt (Thomas Tantrum), as well as violinist Mikey Kenney (Ottersgear).

Although friends and family will support her it will be a tough test but one we’re sure she’ll pass with aplomb.

While Elton John is telling the BBC “Songwriters today are pretty awful” it’s reassuring to hear that one Dorset composer is being hailed as “a very unique special talent.”

The praise comes from Clive Gregson, an Englishman making a living with music in Nashville – the home of song writing.

He’s recently produced Lou Brown’s second album ‘Calm the Rising Waters’ and, while adding some Tennessee sparkle to her latest collection of songs, Clive has brought forward a brand new British talent

The compliments for this Dorset star keep flowing: “really, excellent song writer, great singer, really good guitar player, she’s got the whole thing. She writes songs that mean something and has something to say.”

Clive was speaking after the very successful launch of Lou’s album at Mr Kyps in Poole, Dorset.

He also focused on another quality of Lou’s usually found lacking in the music industry: “The thing I like the best is she’s a lovely person,” and added, “I’ve never seen an audience not respond to Lou. People just like her. She comes on stage and they all think “Blimey what is she going to do?” and then she sings and plays and they love her. And that’s worth it’s weight in gold.

Lou Brown at Mr Kyps

Lou took to the stage six weeks after a very serious operation and was determined to join Clive and her band for a night of celebration in front of family, friends, fans and former work colleagues in social services.

Her time spent helping and advising people has given Lou a valuable insight into the way people tick, and when you add this to her enviable ability to pick serious moments from people’s lives and transform them into beautiful and poignant songs, you can see why Neil King, the editor of online country magazine Fatea, is so full of prise:

“One of things I love about Lou is the way that she relates her songs to the people that she knows, and the places that she’s been and there a very personal element to it. She’s worked in social services, she’s come across some really fantastic stories from there and she’s managed to turn them into five minute documentaries.”

This observational skill manifests itself in songs like “David’s Not Sleeping” in which a young man ends up in prison even though he’s been given enough guidance to turn from that path.

In other people’s hands the message would be delivered with cold hands but Lou’s warmth and maternal insights lead you to wish David had just listened.

Yet Lou was close to losing her own life and leaving the album as her epitaph. “I had Crones for a long time and I got progressively sicker and sicker with out really noticing how ill I’d become.”

Her partner and manger, Dom Kippin, persuaded Lou to seek help and surgery was quickly prescribed.

“It was a very frightening thing to go through but actually, now I’m at the other side of it, and I’m recovering, it is strangely a bit of a blessing… every moment I have now is so much better than before because I think ‘Wow! I’m here, it’s amazing!’”

Lou thinks Clive is one of the best songwriters and musicians “ever” and is also very grateful for the opportunity to work with him and, for the first time, work at a much higher level.

“Clive was so professional and so organised and when he came in to record the album. He led us all brilliantly with out being a dictator.”

One track Clive spotted as a brilliant way of opening the album was ‘11:23′. “When I heard the original recording of that, it was one of the ones that I thought was very unique, special. I think it’s very moving.”

He felt is was different enough to get some radio exposure and the reason for placing it first: “because most people never get past track one anyway. Most radio people don’t get past 30 seconds of track one.”

In fact the decline of radio’s importance in people’s lives is a natural concern for musicians like Clive Gregson.

“Not wishing to bite the hand that feeds, the reality is that radio, as much recorded music is, is somewhat meaningless these days, because you can get your music from almost any source on demand, how you want it, and you don’t have to put up with Steve Wright in the Afternoon (BBC Radio 1) being annoying.

And the other reality is, on the whole, apart from certain shows on Radio 2 in this country, it doesn’t sell any records, so it just fills time, as much music dissemination does these days. And that’s the same in the States.”

After the launch Lou Brown and the 'Makeshift Family Band' featuring Clive Gregson (far left)

This bleak out look doesn’t bode well for new songwriters like Lou Brown. Even when you have such talented assistance and glowing praise, what hope is there when radio won’t dip in unless you have a record deal.

However in the digital download age the music business is in decline; desperately trying to find a new model. It’s influence has waned, the companies can no longer afford to nurture new talent and, as with radio, relies heavily on the past to make money in the present.

In many ways the partnership between radio and record companies is like a marriage that has hit the rocks but the two parties still feel obliged to continue because splitting up can not be contemplated.

Radio’s possible solution is to find people confident in their abilities to source new music, while record companies need to find a new way of supporting new artists, outside the traditional record deal.

And Elton John should be sent a copy of Lou’s album as reassurance that there is some talent out there but maybe a question would be included in the sleeve notes: “How can you help talented new songwriters?” because from Clive Gregson’s point of view:

“As far as being successful in music business now you don’t have to be any good, you just have to be popular. And you can be popular for all kinds of reasons that are not necessarily musical.”

Playdio.com

This article features quotes from the Playdio show “Xan Phillips presents… Lou Brown” only available on Spotify