How much do those old tape machines weigh? You know, those hefty things as big as a washing machine with huge tape spools like in the Tardis. Joan needed to know for the courier service as she was borrowing a tape machine from my old friend, Hirsty, up in Yorkshire. I told her it was about as heavy as a person. “What sort of person?” she asked, whilst rifling through one of Clive’s five diaries. I suggested it was about as heavy as talented deputy programme manager, Tony Moorey. “How much do you weigh, Tony?”, cried Joan across the office. “Why?” he countered; cocking his cans to one side, having only heard the end of the exchange.
It arrived safely today though, thanks to some helpful, burly Yorkshire lads – rather than via the courier service who’d never heard of a Studer A80. Amazing that the appeal of the medium of radio has continued unbridled, whilst audio storage methods have been through so many generations of carts, minidisks, DATs, floppy disks and, yes, tape. Good old tape. Chinograph pencils, razor blades and bloody fingers. Particularly if you stuck your hand on the spool trying to slow it down to change it during the ads.
All this just to unlock the secrets of the archives here at Golden Square. Piles and piles of stuff. Great sessions, interviews and some truly great moments of radio. Nowhere I have ever worked has ever taken care of this stuff, and it’s usually only thanks to anoraks (see paragraph one) that any record of this great industry survives. Now, we’re bucking the trend; listening to everything and cataloguing it. Willie Morgan, pencil behind his ear and clipboard in hand, is charged with making sure that nothing is overlooked as he assembles excel spreadsheets which read like a ‘Who’s Who’ of British music and great radio.
As we forge ahead, we’re taking huge care to preserve what’s great about the past. There are some things on-air now that we wouldn’t dream of touching for as long as they’re valued. We’ve even made a list of what we’re calling ‘The Pillars’. These are those elements which commonsense, and sometimes a hint of sensible insight, suggest are working and we need to take with us on our journey. Christian’s show for example leaps from strength to strength and we know its pinnacle has yet to come. Geoff’s take on life is a treasure too – and really special radio. Similarly, our penchant for the ’80s has proved hugely popular as has ‘haven’t heard it for ages’. You’ll see hints below that those elements of musical surprise are poised not only to stay but to grow. Our Zoo sessions have become a brand in themselves and we want to make more of those – it’s not every UK radio station that does what we do with live music. And – the spirit of the place: when anyone walks into a great radio station, they feel it in their heart. Golden Square is one of those special buildings housing a group of talented folk who genuinely get on – and we mess with that at our peril.
The list goes on. But, there is a list. And we’re going to stick in on Clare’s Post-It notes on people’s foreheads all over Golden Square in the months to come to make sure that just as we discover brave new stuff, we also keep what has brought success and built reputation. In the next few weeks, we’re going to be reminding listeners what we reckon the pillars are, just to check we’ve got them right.
What do you value most about what we do here?
