February 2016 – RIP Sir Terry Wogan

There couldn’t be a bigger, more important story for a Radio Presenter than the death of the legend Sir Terry Wogan. I often wondered what would get me back to Blogging, and this is it. The words seemed to be burning to get out and I feel so sad. The funny thing is that to me Terry always seemed the same age, so I never actually perceived him as getting older.   I loved him on TV (especially the Eurovision show), but in truth, for me his mastery was on the Radio 2 Breakfast show. I presented radio over a decade with a series of Breakfast Shows during the nineties and noughties (Hereward FM, Classic Gold with Tony Blackburn and Laura Pittson), BBC Radio Oxford, and Heart. We often had a “listen around “, before and during the time we went on air. We commented on what the other Breakfast Presenters were talking about, and discussed if that was a good subject or not (and yes sometimes even “lifted” the ideas!!!….(but of course with our own twist!) . We then flipped to Terry’s show, and of course we were dumbfounded. You could never copy that theme, because you NEVER knew where it was going! It was so natural, so unrehearsed and yet so perfect.  What a legend. I have often said that he was the most rebellious presenter around…..he didn’t care if he was cool or “down with the kids”, but he was cool, and the “kids” loved him. I had the good fortune to meet him both through work events and socially. He was the same in both situations: charming, warm, witty and kind, a true gentleman.   He was a devoted family man and a wonderful entertainer. No wonder we all loved him. Thanks for the memories Sir Terry Wogan.    

Spring Baby…

So here we are with the Easter weekend behind us, easter eggs eaten, being a spring baby, there’s nothing I like more than Easter! Spring brings with it the Bug for Spring Cleaning and for me that has been in the form of sorting out my photographs on my new computer……isn’t it incredible how many we take these days? When you think only ten years ago each group of photos meant more film to buy!! Now we click away with impunity. In the next few blogs I’ve decided to share some of those photos with you, so here goes… My Easter Photo is of the lovely Matt Baker, he of The One Show and Country File fame. It was this time 2 years ago that he and the producers at the BBC came to me with a fabulous challenge. Matt was presenting the last TV show taken before the closing of the Shepherd’s Bush TV Studios (March 2013) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21828033. He had an idea he wanted to re enact Roy Castle’s infamous Tap Routine around the BBC TV Centre Fountain in 1977 as seen here https://youtu.be/RDEM7XJWiJg. My mission was to copy the tap routine and teach it to Matt. Of course I accepted this mission and loved every second of teaching Matt Baker to tap dance. Having never donned a pair of tap shoes before, he blossomed into a very proficient Time Stepper and Hoofer. Of course we had already seen him on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, and the bigger fans will know that in his youth he was a National Gymnast (you will hear him doing TV commentary with Gaby Roslin if you are a gymnastics fan), but still that wasn’t a guarantee that he’d be a natural tapper, however, a couple of intense weeks of early morning tapping to 42nd Street, and I unveiled a truly talented tap dancer and made a great friend. Another bit of networking gold in Lauraland!