Friday Catch Up ( Again ) and a bit of Nostalgia. ( and how I got my name! )

Hello Dear readers ,old and young, established and new, please say hello in my little comment box at the bottom of this post. I am so easily pleased when I find your little gems in there.

I know this is now going to be posted on a Sunday - but I started it on Friday, hence I'm keeping the post title. But pesky real life keeps getting in the way.


This post goes a little way to explain how I came about my Internet Moniker of Rachelradiostar.

Miss Rachelradiostar
 

There is a man who wakes me up most mornings. This man is not my HG.  ( Hunter Gatherer )

This man is in our bedroom though and at 6.05 every week day the clock radio clicks on and Graham Liver starts my day!


We listen to BBC Radio Lancashire and  in my humble of humblest opinions it's the best  breakfast radio programme ever. I used to listen to Chris Moyles, but preferred it when he wasn't actually on it! Comedy Dave was far funnier. The clock radio crackles like mad on Radio 2, so BBC Radio Lancashire it was.
Have a listen!I think this is a link to the listen again bit.  BBC RADIO LANCASHIRE BREAKFAST SHOW

Cheers Google images! I can always count on you!

We have listened to this show for a few years. Tony Livesey was the presenter then, and along with Alison Butterworth, who  seemed to laugh  non stop! She was the best bit of the show really! A great double act. We were treated to a really lively, funny topical show. I love the Northern accents. Then he left and we were 'given' Mr Liver.

Straight away, listeners took to him I think. He seems to involve them more than Mr Livesey did. Or maybe that's because I never used to text in. Or maybe it's because he is from my hometown.

Mr Livesey was from  Burnley/Chorley/East Lancs way I think, so naturally he talked about that part of Lancashire more. Also, despite never watching it, or being interested in it I was fast becoming an expert of Football! ( A tradition that is carried on with The Graham Liver show! )  It was heavily focussed on sport as I remember.

But, things change, so now when the radio presenter is regaling us with his funny tales of his younger days I know exactly where he is talking about! There is a hardcore gang of his 'Clocking In Club' . Early risers R us! The day 'Jean in Morecambe' and 'Jean in Burnley' don't clock in, I will worry and will probably have to ring someone to go round and see if they are OK!  In fact the are the only pair of Jeans I seem to fit into!!' Biker Nigel' is another character - who I've 'met' on the Twitter! 'Aunty Pat' gets in touch daily as do I! I text in if I have something to add, which is most days and almost every time he reads it out! On a few occasions, the radio station will ring me back but I never answer! I am too shy and squeaky of voice! I do love the way he chats to the  older ladies who ring in!  ( Gulp - I am now one of these older ladies...)  ( See below!) He gives local politicians a good grilling on matters important and he will always try to present both sides to a story. The football is still a feature

One day last week - he actually announced on air that they were ringing me so would I answer! Well, Graham, if you are reading - this morning ( Friday )  I DID ring in...... but  totally chickened out after 7 rings and texted instead! But thanks for reading it out! It makes me smile. ( In a totally NON sinister stalkerish way!! ) and now I'm retroblogging!

My tinternetname 'rachelradiostar' came about when I used to listen, years ago to John Gilmore aka  DJ Gilly, also a BBC Lancashire presenter now , who back then used to work for Bay Radio - our independant City Radio station and he used to run a competition whereby you had to provide the word left out of a piece of speech by a famous person.

Local businesses would add to a daily prize pot and you had to be a certain caller to get through. The Breakfast Bleep was on everyday, and one competition had been running for weeks, and the prize fund was HUGE. One day I got through, but guessed wrongly. When I got to work, my colleagues were asking was that you on the radio? etc. Well I got through  over the next few weeks and had about 5 more guesses -  all wrong. By now even parents were calling out across the playground that they'd heard me!  Staff were saying they heard me on their way to work! I usually would say completely the wrong thing on Air and I was always a nervous wreck.

Especially on the day that I rang in and actually WON! The clip was of Ant n Dec and the bleeped word was 'LAND'. They were talking about TV Land. I did lots of girly squealing etc. I had won a total of £1500 in prizes. IN PRIZES not cold hard cash. Some of the prizes were a little less desirable than the others.

The butcher's voucher was tasty, the £150 voucher for the posh tile shop was spent wisely.  The weekend away at a posh hotel looked divine  ( although we never went! ) and the 4x4 driving experience was given away as a present. The Panini Stickers which came by the box full made me laugh out loud, because they were ALL the same stickers! Approx 250 packets worth!  I still have the box of insoles on the top of my wardrobe. Not sure why I've kept them. They don't fit anyone! And loads more crap generously donated items of interest.

I also won a Fire Eater for the day. Yes you heard that. A real life Fire Eater! He came with his very strange assistant, who was never going to be described as glamorous. There is a sub story here......maybe for another time!

I had just joined the PTA at school so I donated him to the Summer Fair. With the help of  DJ Gilly, who came and opened the fair for us, and gave us lots of publicity, we held the most successful summer fair ever raising about £6000 towards the new Computer Suite. £6000 in 4 hours! What an achievement! The Fire Eater was fantastic and my children stood on him on his bed of nails! I do have photos somewhere but it was so long ago now I have no idea where they are! ( O MY WORD just googled him on the off chance that there were some photos on the tinternet and found out he was 'done' for benefit fraud a few years ago!!!! )

Anyway when I got to work - my colleagues who used to start earlier than myself had hung a huge banner from the windows that said 'CONGRATULATIONS MISS Radiostar'
As it was about 8.45am there were a lot of parents waiting in the playground and more than 7 of them asked me was I expecting a baby!!!! How embarrassing! 



This morning Graham Liver was talking about being off ill when he was a child and watching all the day time programmes back in the 70s/ early 80s. I text into say my absolute favourite was 'A Handful of Songs' with Maria and Keith.  He could not remember it! It was my favourite for a long while.The song that would have me giddy beyond belief was Mouse in a Windmill and I found it on YOU TUBE!!! Hooray!!! So here it is for your pleasure!

I saw a mouse! Where? There on the stairs!

Here is the original programme...

Other  childhood TV favourites were Pipkins, Homfrey House, Rainbow and when I was older: Magpie.  To use a phrase I saw on Twitter once, Magpie was like Blue Peter, but with 20 Embassy Regal King Size tucked up it's shirt sleeve, nestled against a tattooed bicep! ( The bicep bit is all mine! )  I wasn't a Blue Peter girl at all - except I loved John Noakes and Shep and cried along with the nation at the devastating news when he died. Shep that is, I'm pretty sure John Noakes is still alive. { Good grief I am now going to have to find out if he is....}





John Noakes ( still with us ) & Shep ( sadly not )


 

NB: It's absolutely fine to mention cigarettes - it was the 70s/80s. Children were ALLOWED to see them and buy them from the shop for their mums and dads! Not many of these small children were smoking.

Other daytime programmes  which Graham listed that a sickly child could watch included Crown Court, Pebble Milll at One, Sons and Daughters, A country practice, Shortland Street,  The Sullivans, I used to adore ITV news with Peter Scissors. My mother always made sure we watched the Children's Schools programmes on BBC2. 'The Way We Used To Live' History programme was excellent. If a tad gritty and gruesome. Think Horrible Histories but without the comedy and songs.
Sometimes I watched it twice in a row - but the second time it was in Welsh.
I used to rejoice at Words and Pictures. I was in Junior 3 for crying out loud, but I am not ashamed I used to draw my letters along in the air with the magic pencil! Even as a child I had my rose tinted glasses firmly ON!  The rose tints didn't alter the fact that all the programmes were in BLACK & WHITE!

I shall quit rambling on now - I think you will have had quite enough but will leave you with my memories of Saturday TV in the 70s/80s. Mornings were TISWAS and NO 73. ( Still wasn't a BBC girl back then )  and the wrestling on World of Sport ( eeeaseh eeeaseh! )when I was a bit older.  Best of all was watching Play Away with Brian Cant ( Posh people reading this, please be careful ) and Floella Benjamin, possible the most exotic creature I'd ever seen. It was on BBC2 and it was better than Playschool. THEN at tea time after the boring football results came Bugs Bunny. A. Bugs Bunny cartoon. Imagine the sheer JOY when after it finished, it didn't say 'That's all Folks!' we got ANOTHER one!!!  That kept our spirits up until the Generation Game! TWO cartoons!!

Children these days have access to 24 hours of children's shows. The poor things! Maybe this is why they do not appreciate things!!

Right, a quick read through and then I'll hit publish! Please add any of your favourite childhood TV memories. I bet I've forgotten loads! If you are featured in this blog - say hello!!