It was twenty six years ago today

At 05:27 on February 8 1990 the Number One Son came kicking and screaming into the world. He made me, and continues to make me, a very happy man. By the time I’d held him for the first time, rung friends and family from the hospital payphone, had a strong cup of coffee and made my way back to the car, it was just getting light. I unlocked the door, fired up the engine and put the car radio on. It was Lido Shuffle by Boz Scaggs that came blaring out the speakers as I made the short journey home to get some kip – I’d been awake for nearly two days.

Now, whenever I hear this song I’m transported back to Nottingham City Hospital and the moment I realised I was a dad. Happy Birthday James.

A Capital idea

So, Trent FM, together with Leicester Sound and Ram FM, have been consumed by the mighty Capital FM; in pretty much the same way as every high street up and down the land looks the same, now it'll sound the same too. Industry experts, true to form, say it's a good thing. One even said 'I think, on balance, it’ll produce a sensible quasi-national brand that’ll benefit the radio industry as a whole. And that’s the important thing.' Eh?

Stop the world, I want to get off.

Don't get me wrong, Radio Trent ceased to have any local relevance many moons ago. It probably went awol when it lost its 301 meters frequency on the medium wave. And, as any fool will tell you, I'm not the demographic they're aiming at anyway. But, with syndicated presenters and news from London, local commercial radio is up there with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool - they may play at the stadium in the town, but with squads comprising mainly Johnny Foreigners, they have little or no real link to the community.

But, it wasn't always thus: