Comments on: Goodbye Virgin… Hello Absolute by Russ Williams

By: Alexander

Alexander — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:42:17 +0000

That is one fantastic blog! :)

By: Virgin takker for seg | RadioAssistant.com

Virgin takker for seg | RadioAssistant.com — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:19:06 +0000

[...] Ekstern lenke :

By: Darren Crook

Darren Crook — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:46:53 +0000

the mighty foxy should be back and Abbot too

By: Mark Fox

Mark Fox — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:56:24 +0000

I’d like to have been there a bit longer but I still find myself feeling very proud that I was there at all;-)

Great Station! Great people! ( mostly!) and great free nights out with lucky Dinners ……

I’m thankfull for the mamm….memories and wish Absolute the very best ( Especially the very talented Allan lake)

As I always say!

Upyourflaps!

By: Ellie Hill

Ellie Hill — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:05:49 +0000

I have been reminiscing since last Friday after listiening to Russ talk to Jono. That brought back memories! I first became aware of Virgin Radio after hearing Paul Ross on the Big Red Mug show many years ago. I became a Virgin radio convert with the breakfast show with Russ and Jono – what a pair – and have listened to the comings and goings since then. The current dj list seems to be the best so far. I love the breakfast show, the 80’s hour is the best and Neil’s show is perfect afternoon listening. I am loving the new radio station! From what I’ve heard so far it is going to be better than Virgin, if that is possible……keep it up I’ll still be listening.

By: Paul Wisdom

Paul Wisdom — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:10:14 +0000

I first met the Golden Square guys in 1994 auditioning for Virgin Megastores Radio at 18 years old. Seeing beer on tap, passing Tommy Vance on the stairs, I was already loving the place. I was greeted by Nick Abbot’s producer, Clint, and instructed not to look through the glass cos he didn’t like it, to be fair it was the last thing on my mind. Nick dropped in afterwards, said he had been ear wigging my practice session next door and made some positive comments. I was lucky enough to work with some of the team further down the line, the work and play hard ethic has remained with me ever since ;-)

By: martin

martin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:40:35 +0000

My association with the station was a fairly brief one – a few days’ work experience at the Virgin Radio Glasgow RSL (a trial station for an ill-fated application for the new Glasgow local licence). It was great fun, but I think the main memory was an incident on the morning after the close of broadcast party involving myself, Mitch Johnson, and one of SMG’s display cases. A story best told in the pub.

Best of luck with Absolute.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:49:32 +0000

Great read. I have kind of grown up with Virgin Radio. I started listening to the station in the autumn of 1995 at the height of Britpop, when I was 17 years old. I hadn’t really listened to music radio much until then, but I liked what I heard as it has been my radio station of choice pretty much ever since.

I have to say that Virgin has helped me to play a large part in shaping my music tastes over the years. What I liked about the station back then, and what I have noticed about the station in recent times as it prepares to become Absolute, is that it allows you to discover some great music that if you are my age, you probably would never get the chance to hear on any other radio station. To give you an example, First Picture Of You by Lotus Eaters is one of my favourite songs, but I can’t recall having ever heard that song played anywhere else. It was good to hear it was played again on the station earlier today.

Over the years, I have made so many music discoveries via Virgin which have latterly made their way into my CD collection, or onto my iPod playlists. Back in 1995, my music tastes were the likes of Oasis and Alanis Morissette, whose albums of the time I bought off the strength of hearing their songs on Virgin. But it also enabled me to discover many ‘classic’ tracks from previous eras of bands I still enjoy hearing now, Beatles, Bowie, Kinks, U2, Blondie, Simple Minds, Crowded House, for example.

My favourite song of all was also heard for the first time one evening when listening to the Drivetime show after coming home from college. It was a song I instantly loved and some 13 years later, ‘The Whole Of The Moon’ by the Waterboys remains my favourite track and it is always nice to hear it get an airplay every now and again during my working day in amongst the best of the new stuff.

DJs have come and gone over the years, but I have a few memories. My favourite DJ of all was Nick Abbot, with his late night show and then when he came back, his afternoon show. The Drivetime DJs were usually the people I switched on when I got in from college or uni, but I particularly recall Nicky Horne and Robin Banks in the early days, particularly Nicky Horne’s banter with the DJ who was on immediately before him, think it was Graham Dene. And then there were the late evening DJs I’d be listening to while doing my reading for the next day’s lectures, namely Mark Forrest, the sexy tones of Janey Lee Grace and Clive Warren. Towards the end of my time at uni, Clive even read out an e-mail I sent in wishing my fellow students all the best for their exams.

These days, I tend to listen to the radio most during the day when I am at work. And I am pleased that the station seems to have regained much of the feel that it had 6 or 7 years ago. I still enjoy Russ’s show and I like Neil Francis’s laid back attitude on his show and Ben Jones’s Most Wanted when I get to catch it in the evening. I hope they will all remain a core part of the team under the umbrella of Absolute.

Evolution is important and I am sure that if the last few days of music have been anything to go by, the first chapter of Absolute Radio’s existence will be a successful and enjoyable one. Try not to be all things for all seasons and just stick to the formula that works, namely playing great tunes from the past for a new generation to discover while keeping things ticking over by playing the best of the new music.

Thanks for the memories and the music, Virgin and the DJ team, I have discovered some great music via the station over the years, as well as the odd duff track too. I wish you all the best as Absolute Radio and keep up the good work.

By: Gray

Gray — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:42:21 +0000

Russ….Great blog,some of that must have been done with a lump in the throat. I have been listening for approx 7yrs now from about 8.30 – 6.00. Did wonder when Pete and Geoff disbanded(great to hear Pete again today)if this NEW guy could hack it but the OC has made the breakfast show his own,although not without Brian’s help(DAB coming my way Brian ?). Also was great to hear Martin Collins too,went on holiday last year,came back after a couple of weeks and he was Gone,did manage to get in touch and he told me that even he didn’t really know why ???
Anyway Russ,Just keep doin’ what you’re doin’ This NEW venture already rocks,listening tonight to the V 2 A countdown is pretty awesome and SO looking forward to the book.
ABSOLUTE, Exactly what it says on the tin
Regards
Gray

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:22:08 +0000

Russ – great to see you talking fondly about your time with Jono – It was, in my opinion, the best breakfast show on Radio and (sorry OC) hasn’t been surpassed since.

I still recall that Friday when they announced that the Ginger Whinger was coming back to Virgin, I was furious and rang the station up to give them a piece of my mind. Some poor PA in advertising got my call on her answerphone.

Hope that you and Jono are back on speaking terms. Would love to see the old team re-united one day.

Thank you very much indeed