Last month, in this piece, I wrote about MiniDisc technology. In recent weeks I have been playing back some of my old MiniDisc recordings, stretching back over more than two decades. They’re similar to the kind of things we recorded back in the 1980s: mix-tapes and radio shows. There are chart run-downs, American-themed shows presented… Continue reading Word of the week: mint
Back in April I posted three pieces, each of which listed a week’s worth of questions from Pop Master, the mid-morning quiz hosted by Ken Bruce on weekdays on BBC Radio 2. The most recent of the pieces, for week ending 17 April 2020, is here, and contains links to its predecessors. Before April I… Continue reading A surfeit of Pop Master
For the third weekend in a row, here are the questions and answers from the BBC Radio 2 mid-morning quiz Pop Master for the week just ended. There are 10 rounds of 10 questions, for the five days up to Friday 17 April 2020. On the radio, each Bonus Question features a brief clip from… Continue reading Pop Master questions, week ending 17 April 2020
This piece from last weekend listed the questions from BBC Radio 2 mid-morning quiz Pop Master for the week ending Friday 3 April. Here are the questions and answers, 10 rounds of 10 questions, for the week just ended (Friday 10 April 2020). On the radio, each Bonus Question features a brief clip from a… Continue reading Pop Master questions, week ending 10 April 2020
Last month, in this piece, I wrote again about the BBC Radio 2 mid-morning quiz Pop Master. That piece included links to previous Blog posts about the quiz and a couple of recent questions. Here, for the first time, I offer a full week’s worth of questions and answers, 10 rounds of 10 questions, for… Continue reading Pop Master questions, week ending 3 April 2020
Last weekend, on his BBC Radio 2 show “Pick of the Pops”, Paul Gambaccini played the UK chart from 1968, 52 years ago. “The Legend of Xanadu” by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich was at #1, having just replaced “Cinderella Rockafella” by Esther and Abi Ofarim. “Lady Madonna” by The Beatles was the… Continue reading This week in 1968: a chart full of girls’ names
During the life of this Blog I have referred many times to Pop Master, the mid-morning quiz on Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show, broadcast on weekdays. I have mentioned, more than once, that it is the most listened-to slot on UK radio, apart from breakfast shows. For nearly three years (since April 2017) I… Continue reading Pop Master analysed, again, and the death of a quizzer
Ever since I was a child, people have been commenting on how young certain groups of people are, or how young they look. It started with observations about policemen, and possibly a single comedian on TV asking, “Have you noticed how young policemen look these days?” It became a cliché: policemen look younger than they… Continue reading Observations on specific groups of people, and how young they look
Following on from this piece from April 2019, here is a round-up of the “3-in-10” questions from this year’s editions of Pop Master. As I’m sure you know, Pop Master is the mid-morning quiz on the Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2, and the final challenge for the winning contestant is this: in 10… Continue reading Pop Master: the “3-in-10” questions, 2020
Three times in recent weeks BBC Radio 2 (my radio station of choice) has played “Mama used to say”, a 1982 release by Junior. It reached #7 in the UK charts and #30 in the Billboard Hot 100. Every time I hear the record, including these three recent plays, I recall the same scene. It… Continue reading “Mama used to say”, a musical memory
The Compartments 