The Favourite Five feature on the My 80s radio show, in which my special guests choose their five favourite songs from the Eighties, is proving popular with listeners. All My 80s shows are uploaded to Mixcloud, but just to make things a little bit easier when searching for a particular show, I’ve listed the shows by guest below. Happy listening!
I can’t believe it’s almost that time of the week again when I take to the airwaves to bring you two hours of music and memories from the Eighties. Tomorrow night will see My 80s show number 6 broadcast on Radio Cabin, and another guest choosing his Favourite Five 80’s tracks. The feature was originally intended to appear on the occasional show, but the response from both guests and listeners has been so great that I currently have a Favourite Five lined up for every week until September. So, not only will I be bringing you some interesting chats with some of the decade’s best known artists, but they have also chosen some seriously good tunage!
This Thursday, it is the turn of former Frankie Goes To Hollywood guitarist Brian ‘Nasher’ Nash to treat us to his musical magic five. Listen tomorrow night 9-11pm to hear Nasher’s choices, what he has to say about them and much, much more.
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All past My 80s shows are uploaded to Mixcloud. Guests on previous shows include Soft Cell’s David Ball (Show 5), Musical Youth’s Dennis Seaton (Show 4) and Modern Romance’s Andy Kyriacou (Show 2).
Imagine a world where the works and words of Picasso are brought to life through music, performance, dance and poetry, against a backdrop of art representing some of the most recognisable faces in British history. That is exactly what happened last Friday evening at London’s National Portrait Gallery. In a scene reminiscent of the film Night At The Museum, where the past is brought to life in full technicolour and stereo, historical heritage played host to the Picasso-inspired Everything You Can Imagine Is Real. Curated and produced by Martyn Ware for Illustrious, the late shift event drew in an vast and diverse crowd, as eclectic as those performing.
Whilst I did manage to catch some of the other 28 acts from the packed programme, such as brilliantly astute poet Luke Wright, I was there for Peter Coyle’s performance at the end of the evening. Those of you who read last week’s blog will know that Peter’s next single, to be released on 3rd February, uses one of my poems as its lyrics. I have been privileged to hear both the first recording and the final master of that track, so I know how beautiful and pure Peter’s voice sounds even when it has been untampered. I couldn’t wait to hear him perform live the songs he had written to incorporate Picasso’s poetry. I wasn’t alone.
An impressive bunch of 80’s artists had gathered for the former Lotus Eaters’ contribution to the evening, including Brian Nash (Frankie Goes To Hollywood), David Ball (Soft Cell) and Nick Van Eede (Cutting Crew). A short time into Peter’s performance, I saw him glance over and smile at the person who had just stood come and next to me, Holly Johnson.
I don’t know if I can do justice in describing not only what I heard but saw, as an exquisitely delightful interpretation of the work of one of Spain’s greatest exports was delivered by one of Liverpool’s finest. Sublime. Immersive. Emotive. All of the above, yet so much more.
At some point in the future, I believe footage from Peter’s performance will be available via his website. In the meantime, here is a recording I took of him during soundcheck earlier in the day. Enjoy…
the evening. Those of you who read last week’s blog will know that Peter’s 
My Eighties 