Absolute Classic Rock – The Top Ten British Songs of All Time

12Apr

In March 2010, Absolute Classic Rock re-launched as the Home of The Great British Guarantee. Honouring over 40 years of incredible British music, the legacy of this golden era is there for all to see and is reflected on the hour, every hour with 5 great British songs.

To coincide with the launch, we asked you to vote for your favourite British Classic Rock songs of all time. Counted down on Leona’s Absolute Classic Rock Party over the weekend, the results can be seen below, and as you’d expect there were some big hitters in there.

1. Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
2. The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again
3. Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
4. Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta love
5. Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water
6. The Who – Baba O’ Reilly
7. Led Zeppelin – Rock n ‘ Roll
8. Free – All Right Now
9. The Beatles – Revolution
10. The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter

Categories: Music 1

Posted by carrie on April 12, 2010

Absolute Radio on the Apple iPad

08Apr

Absolute Radio is now available on the brand new Apple iPad and we’re lucky enough to have one here at Golden Square to prove it!

You can listen to any of our radio stations in the Absolute Radio network by downloading the app from the itunes app store. Touch the screen and you can enjoy the great music Absolute Radio plays from the likes of Kings of Leon, Snow Patrol and Muse.

The ipad has a great size screen and is incredibly quick so not only will you be able to access everything at lightning speed, but all of our websites including Absolute Radio, Absolute 80s, Absolute Classic Rock and dabbl look fantastic with tons of music news, photos, competitions and much more at your fingertips.

Browsing the iTunes store for podcasts on the iPad is nice and easy, and allows you to subscribe, download and listen to all of our podcasts from the likes of Frank Skinner and Dave Gorman. The iPad is light and portable so you can take Absolute Radio and our sister stations with you, wherever you go.

Take a look at our apps, podcasts and websites in action on the video below.

Categories: Absolute Classic Rock Absolute Radio dabbl labs Music podcasts Technology 0

Posted by paul on April 8, 2010

Sony Radio Academy Award Nominations by Clive Dickens

08Apr

Last night saw the announcement of the nominations for the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2010 and an amazing achievement for Absolute Radio, scoring more in one year than any commercial station in the 28 year history of the awards.

In total, Absolute Radio and Absolute Classic Rock received nods in over a quarter of the categories and pulled in more than 7% of the 170+ nominations available, against 300 eligible stations and some 1,300 entries. That we are nominated for TWO Station of the Year awards is an amazing achievement for what was only our first full year of broadcasting.

Our congratulations go to Radio 4, with the highest number of nods they are the only station to score more than Absolute Radio last night.

Congratulations also go to The Nick Ferrari Breakfast Show on LBC, the top programme of the night, up for record 5 awards and just beating the 4 nominations for The Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show with British Gas.

Christian goes head to head with another of our Faces For Radio, as we’re delighted to see Frank Skinner receive a nomination in his first ever year on-air. The show is one of two from producers, Avalon, who also receive a nod in the Best Internet Programme for Richard Herring: As It Occurs To Me.

Geoff Lloyd is up for two this year, Absolute Blur and The Elbow Story, both co-produced by TBI Media and examples of passionate and in-depth music content not often heard on commercial radio. TBI have so far received nominations for all three documentaries they have produced for Absolute Radio, their Creative Director, Phil Critchlow was last night also nominated for Dermot O’Leary on Radio 2.

In the prestigious National Station of the Year it’s Absolute Radio, BBC Radio 5live and Talk Sport, all of which have exclusive live Premier League commentary rights from this summer. Whilst in the Digital Station of the Year category, the newly re-launched Absolute Classic Rock joins our friends at Planet Rock and the BBC’s 5live Sports Extra – looks like classic rock as a digital genre is popular!

As well as sharing success with independent producers such as TBI and Avalon, it is also wonderful to see our teamwork with brands including Guitar Hero and Mazuma Mobile and agencies such as Starcom recognised as One Last Dream receives a nomination in the Branded Content category and Who’s Calling Christian? is recognised for Best Competition. The latter category also saw a well-deserved nod for Jo Russell’s Sunday Sinners.

No stranger to awards, the BAFTA winning Matt Berry’s work with Leona Graham and our excellent Production team was nominated in the fiercely fought Station Imaging category, facing 6 Music, Jack fm, Kiss and the Gold Network.

And as well as Frank Skinner, Christian O’Connell and Geoff Lloyd, it is wonderful to see a new face, Max Dickins (no relation), nominated for the Rising Star award.

Below is a full list of our nominations and a testament to the skill, commitment and enthusiasm of everyone at One Golden Square, from the producers to the Commercial team and the partners we work with.

Roll on May 10th

Congratulations

Clive

Categories: Absolute Classic Rock Absolute Radio Brands Media Music People 3

Posted by adam on April 8, 2010

The Rise of Mumford and Sons

07Apr

A year ago Mumford and Sons were an emerging indie band whose name would conjure up images of a firm of local chartered accountants or a posh butcher’s shop in the centre of town. Hardly a name that would define the cool face of the music industry, they have definitely proved that you should never judge a book by it’s cover.

Twelve months on and the debut album “Sigh No More” has gone platinum (over 350,000 albums now sold – a feat some of the more established acts can only dream about), the band are on a world tour, returning for Reading, Leeds and Bestival over the summer, and Ray Davies has asked them to appear on his new album. Not a bad year overall.

Massive in the UK and Australia, not to mention a healthy fan base developing stateside following an appearance on David Letterman’s Late Show, you’ll see the Google trend graph displaying how Mumford And Sons stock continues to rise. Definitely the best new act of 2010, there would be a strong case for them being at least nominated for this year’s Mercury Prize. Watch this space…

Categories: Music 0

Posted by carrie on April 7, 2010

Playlist: 6th April

06Apr

The playlist is out now.

AC/DC – Back In Black – Taken from the Iron Man 2 Soundtrack (19/4)
“Back In Black” is taken from the album of the same name – The seventh and arguably the best of all of AC/DC’s albums, it is one of the most successful of all time (second only to Thriller) having now sold 49 million copies worldwide. First released in 1980 it appears on our playlist as it features on the soundtrack to Iron Man 2 – an album which is a “Best of ACDC” compilation.

AC/DC – Highway To Hell – Taken from the Iron Man 2 Soundtrack (19/4)
Also featuring on the Iron Man 2 soundtrack “Highway To Hell” is taken from the band’s 1979, 6th studio album of the same name. It is the last album to feature the vocals of Bon Scott who died after a night out partying in London in February 1979. For the full listing of Iron Man 2 (AC/DC Greatest Hits) soundtrack follow this link.

The Courteeners – Take Over The World (26/4)
Those indie Mancunians the Courteeners follow up “You Overdid It Doll” with “Take Over the World.” Currently on a European tour, they return to the UK for a summer which sees them play both the Isle of Wight Festival and The V Festival. They also play Benicassim in Spain in July. Expect to hear this song a lot more after England win the world cup in style…

Lostprophets – For He’s A Jolly Good Felon (12/4)
Welsh wonders Lostprophets release “For He’s A Jolly Good Felon” the third single from the album The Betrayed. The band headline the Camden Crawl this year at London’s Roundhouse at the start of May. Currently on a World Tour, their next UK date is in Bournemouth on the 28th of April.

Marina And The Diamonds – I Am Not A Robot (26/4)
Marina and her Diamonds follow up Hollywood with “I Am Not A Robot.” Finishing off her European tour as we speak, she returns to the UK in early May for a run of gigs that see her play the Great Escape in Brighton, London’s Bloomsbury Ballroom and many others – all warm up shows for her June appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Categories: Music playlist 0

Posted by carrie on April 6, 2010