R2OK!

Helen May · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19333 Location: Cheshire

After hearing Stuart on Drivetime tonight was Googling his new book and came across this if anyone is interested.

http://www.chesterfestivals.co.uk/site/literature-festival/literature-festival-whats-on/audience-with-27-28-june-2011-p129611

H
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88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!

I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005

Red Baron · Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 119

We saw him a while ago in Newcastle, H. It was a good night. He gave a good chat on his book and was then very open & honest about R2 - and the threat to 6music which was ongoing then.

aviddiva

He was on at the Morley Literature Festival last year too!
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ruddlescat · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester

I've just booked in for this event tonight- wasn't sure whether I'd be free when Helen first posted

It is only a few miles down the road so I'm looking forward to an interesting evening and I'll post a summary of what he has to say probably tomorrow
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Helen May · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19333 Location: Cheshire

I forgot all about this and now can't make it. Enjoy it!

H
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88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!

I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005

Lord Evan Elpuss · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3415 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land

I'd love it if he came down my way to do a show. Does anyone know of a website where you can see where he's due to appear and when?
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Lord Evan Elpuss, Your ideal job is a Lumberjack.

Ian Robinson · Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 2:01 pm Post subject:

Listed here, but there's only one event after Chester and that's the Latitude Festival

http://www.stuartmaconie.com/index.php/category/events/

Lord Evan Elpuss · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3415 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land

ruddlescat · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester

Went along to Chester Town Hall last evening as planned so here's my review of the event as promised

Stuart came to the podium at exactly 7.40pm to much applause following a five minute introduction by the host who was connected with the festival organisation

The show was divided into two parts with an interval and in the first part which lasted exactly 45 minutes SM took us through a potted summary of his new book which chronicles one significant event of each decade in the 20th Century- not necessarily the major ones you would expect but those which SM considered significant in British social history

He started off with the death of Queen Victoria in the early 1900's - a fairly boring subject you might think but he had the audience in fits of laughter when he mentioned that Victoria was the first ever British woman to bear that name,something I never knew,and he pointed out that it was equally as revolutionary in those days as it was to call yourself Lady Gaga today

His 1920's chapter concentrates on the General Strike and SM recounted that he had been on strike in every single job he had including when he was working for NME and at that time he got a request to go to America to interview a well known band of the day and lost the chance because the magazine simply would not wear it while he was still on strike - not a good career move at the time

I particularly enjoyed his comments on the 70's in which he contrasted the Silver Jubilee Event with the explosion of punk in the same year and as he put it whilst half the population was putting out trestle tables and bunting and baking sponge cakes the other half were dressing in bin bags and wearing safety pins and singing a completely different version of 'God Save The Queen'
The event he took from the 1980's was fairly predictably Live Aid which he described as being in his eyes the start of the whole celebrity culture

The interval lasted 20 minutes during which he spent the whole time satisfying a massive queue of autograph hunters so tactically I decided to wait until the end of the show to get my copy of 'Cider With Roadies' signed

The second part lasted only half an hour during which he answered questions from the audience with no advance notice and he did a great job although most of the questions were fairly boring and not exactly taxing on his great intellect
However there was a sting in the tail when the very last questioner,a middle aged woman, stood up and asked him why he had deserted his loyal listeners on Radio 2 to which he replied that in his view the station was reverting to how it was 20 years ago when it was more a light entertainment station than a music station with all the recent celebrity recruits being explained by this fact

He said he was not saying whether that was good or bad but it was just a fact
When the questioner said that she did not have a digital radio to listen to 6 Music SM said she should go out and get one right away because very soon she was going to need it when the existing analogue signal is switched off and he did concede that he thought the moving of shows to 6 Music probably was a lot to do with a plan to make us all buy digital radios

The show ended at exactly 9.10pm and surprisingly almost all the audience which numbered around 200 got up and left the building immediately so I was lucky enough to be able to spend quite a fair time chatting with SM on a whole host of subjects ranging from publishing to his early years in Wigan and from Rugby League to the early days of the Manic Street Preachers and he autographed my book
He seemed to me a thoroughly decent and kind man and believe me it's not often I say that about journalists

My only two very minor criticisms would be that for an event where the audience was paying perhaps he spent a little too much time promoting the book and also I thought the amount of time allocated could have been a bit greater - it wasn't really a problem for me because I live a few miles down the road but had I travelled any great distance I think I might have been expecting a longer event

Overall though a very interesting evening and I would commend any of his books to you for anyone who has not read them
If you want a history of his musical life then you should read 'Cider With Roadies' which is really like an autobiography of his life from the age of 3 right up to the time when he left NME around 1993 but I think his latest offering would be well worth reading also
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Are you ready for a Ruddles?

Lord Evan Elpuss · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3415 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land

Have read Cider With Roadies and currently on Pies & Prejudice. Hope he does come down my way so I can get them autographed!!
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Lord Evan Elpuss, Your ideal job is a Lumberjack.

Helen May · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19333 Location: Cheshire

Sounds like it was a good evening Ruddles!

He came to our local Waterstones, probably when Pies & Prejudice came out, but I was away and I've often regretted not being able to see him. I've always thought he was a 'good sort' and to me he sounds cheery whenever he is on.

I'm sure moving Radcliffe and Maconie to 6 is a ploy to increase the sales of DAB radios and think that was the real reason that 6 Music survived the chop in the first place!

H
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88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!

I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005

nod · Joined: 24 Dec 2006 Posts: 3558

a quick search on google....

http://www.theatrebythelake.co.uk/whatson.asp?category=Lectures