I’ve not written about 6 Music in a wee while. The initial flurry of publicity that met the BBC’s short-sighted proposal to axe it, has long since passed, but that’s not to say that issue has gone away.
Far from it, actually.
After some spectacular vomiting I spent pretty much all day in bed yesterday listening to 6 – Shaun, Lauren, Nemone and Lamacq. Great stuff and the variety and quality of music made me feel much better.
It also feels appropriate to come back to the story on the same day that some kindred spirits are protesting outside Broadcasting House.
I can’t see that today’s affirmative action will be on the same level as the poll tax riots, but it ought to send a strong message to Mark Thompson and his cronies that 6 Music fans haven’t forgotten about their outrageous plans.
Adam Buxton will be there, and hopefully a few other ‘celebrity’ fans will join him. There’ll be live bands too, and even though I’m sure Thompson won’t be in his office, the protest – equally, a celebration of great music – will send a strong message to the BBC board.
I just hope they get the numbers. Sadly, limited funds preclude me from being there, but I’ve signed the petition (now 60,000 plus), emailed the BBC directly AND taken the time to complete the official consultation on the issue.
And I’ll be aiding the drive to get Half Man Half Biscuit to Number One.
That’s right… if you haven’t already heard, getting that band’s Joy Division Oven Gloves to Number One in the UK charts is the latest wheeze dreamt up by 6 Music listeners to demonstrate the strength of feeling against the planned closure of our favourite station.
Now I can’t profess to be the world’s greatest Half Man Half Biscuit fan, but the concept of the idea – get an obscure British band who you’d be unlikely to hear on any other station – is a sound one. Want to hear more? Then go to: http://www.joydivisionovengloves.co.uk.
The campaign starts officially on April 6 and the hope is that it will have the same impact as when a similar demographic pushed Rage Against the Machine to the top spot at Christmas.
That glorious moment in music history had it cynics – the idea of a Simon Cowell song being kept off the top was pleasing, but the (same) major label status of Rage sat uneasily for some.
It didn’t bother me.
The only concerns I have over this campaign is that a) it fails (HMHB have always been low profile and not getting them to the higher echelons of the charts could be counter productive) and b) that forcing Radio 1 to play a 6 Music song will homogenise the stations and justify the BBC’s decision.
Clearly, my second concern is of a facetious nature – but it would be a cruel irony, wouldn’t it?
