Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Love you too, man

24 Responses

  • HORansome,

    Given it's a Friday and the custom is to link, chat and the like, I'm going to blow my own horn and recommend people go to Twitter and search/follow the #twecon hashtag. I'm running a little social media experiment; a Twitter-based conference where the papers must be six tweets or less. We've already had some good papers and there are more to be delivered before the end of the day.

    Tāmaki Makaurau • Since Sep 2008 • 441 posts Report Reply

  • Simon C,

    Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
    dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!

    Auckland • Since Aug 2008 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Matt Crawford,

    Too slow for tickets to the Wellington gig… cest la vie :)


    This week I finally got my mitts on Grayson Gilmour’s No Constellation – it came out in May but there seemed to be a big holdup getting the vinyl pressed.

    Buy it on disk and they’re kind enough to also give out a lossless download.

    Wellington • Since Dec 2006 • 58 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi,

    None of this is to deny that Mikey has sometimes driven me nuts as a listener...

    I had the misfortune of stumbling upon his "chats" with Simon Praast a few months ago. I'm reasonably sure my ears still haven't forgiven me.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    Oh, I do love him. Which is a bit strange, considering that I don't listen to BFM. There's only so much obscure and loud and yoof music I can listen to, before my ears shoot off my head in flames. I wish him very, very well in his future endeavours. Stay curly and cheeky, Mike. I like them that way.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    Yeah, ciao bella Mikey (it's the hair). It's been real. Have enjoyed his most recent stint on drive, and as you say, Vince is a discovery.

    Missing the BDO next year, so here's some Bobbie Gillespie with French group Turzi, Baltimore.

    Lovelock remix on Soundcloud ain't half bad either.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I had the misfortune of stumbling upon his "chats" with Simon Praast a few months ago. I'm reasonably sure my ears still haven't forgiven me.

    They tended to induce me to shout at the radio, then turn it off for the sake of my family.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Russell Brown,

    They tended to induce me to shout at the radio, then turn it off for the sake of my family.

    But as a mayoral campaign strategy, it was instant satire, after you regained consciousness from hitting your head on something hard.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Anonymous Author,

    Mikey is kaleidoscopic. The seemingly arbitrary havoc of music and talk tumbles and whirls across the airwaves then reassembles as a quite uplifting whole.
    The fractured, imperfect moments only add to the beauty of the pattern.
    I tend to come away from listening to his shows feeling better; much as I do after my daily dose of kaleidoscope viewing time.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2010 • 64 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Harvey,

    Maybe Mikey will be the new TV One Breakfast host?

    Melbourne • Since Dec 2010 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Maybe Mikey will be the new Close Up host?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Russell Brown,

    tended to induce me to shout at the radio

    oh how I'll miss him

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Karen White,

    induce me to shout at the radio

    particularly when he constantly talked over songs, took calls to air over songs. However it sure is an end of an era.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 79 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Doesn't Hauraki have a free slot now? Where that Staples chappie was going to do whatever it is these shock-jock types do when they're not getting righteously smacked down?

    Wouldn't be surprised to see Mikey pop up again there.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    C'mon, I'm sure the man has enough musical taste to not tolerate the Hauraki playlist of the more tedious MOR from the 50's, 60's and 70's.

    (Or can one do radio announcing without listening to the music, or whilst listening to entirely different music? Can't see why not, technically).

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    the Hauraki playlist of the more tedious MOR from the 50's, 60's and 70's.

    They no longer play any '50s to speak of, and play not much '60s gear either.

    Current format seems to be largely a mix of '70s/'80s "classic rock" and the very worst of '90s/'00s post-grunge kind of thing, and even then, only ever those that charted.

    Definitely a vast amount of room for improvement, even within that format.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Jacqui Dunn,

    The end of an era. I was constantly late for work because I just had to listen to the last few minutes before running in to the radio station I worked for.....turned on to bFM through someone who worked for yet another radio station, and have been a listener since then. Car radio permanently tuned to it, except for hard, fast and heavy things which made my ears bleed (quickly switched to Concert).

    I was around twenty minutes late one morning when Havoc had a small girl in the studio. He "interviewed" her, and no kidding, it was one of the best sequences I have ever had the fortune to hear. Looooonnnnnggg silences as he waited for her to finish colouring in whatever picture she was also working on. Absolutely no condescension. It was totally priceless.

    Usually loved his music to boot. AND, although it was probably highly improper due to rights, his penchant for playing Bill Bryson reading his own writing opened the door for me with that writer. Wonderful, innovative, funny - I'll miss him so much.

    Deepest, darkest Avondale… • Since Jul 2010 • 585 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    They no longer play any '50s to speak of, and play not much '60s gear either.

    I think Hauraki still plays a Hendrix song most days and that's pretty much it for the '60s stuff as far as I can tell.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    I wish 'classic' stations weren't so depressing and repetitive. There's such a goldmine of incredible things they *could* be playing. They somehow manage to cut down their playlist to about 50 older songs, and they make everything sound rinky-dinky and nostalgic when it could be weird or awesome. Meh.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Word, Danielle. That's what I meant by "[d]efinitely a vast amount of room for improvement". You've got to wonder what the point is in having a playlist that's probably less exiting than the average listener's CD collection.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Danielle,

    Meh.

    Maybe I needed to listen to the whole thing, but this was my general feeling on Friday evening. Something something something 'not with a bang but a whimper'.

    Perhaps there will by more. More FM? Heaven forfend!

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to 3410,

    They no longer play any '50s to speak of, and play not much '60s gear either.

    I believe Solid Gold FM has picked up the mantle - of sorts.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F, in reply to Danielle,

    I wish ‘classic’ stations weren’t so depressing and repetitive. There’s such a goldmine of incredible things they *could* be playing.

    Now, I may possibly be alone in this - but if we could somehow stir together the best bits (there’s usually plenty of them) of RNZ’s Wayne’s Music and Saturday Night Requests shows, and run it all 24 hours on actual stereo FM… well.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    I ended up listening to Hauraki a reasonable amount in the evenings recently when I'm playing with my daughter and can't be arsed firing up the stereo. Less swearing than Bfm, the music wasn't as teeth-grindingly annoying as the yoof-oriented commercial stations, and the DJ's were slightly less annoying, too.

    But I stopped when I realised that their playlist would more or less have a secondary function as a sort of speaking clock.

    When you. Hear. The opening bars. Of. 'Shine on you crazy diamond', the time will be. 6.40pm. Precisely.

    When you. Hear. The opening bars. Of. Any recent Chilli Peppers (but none of the older stuff). The time. Will be. 7.05pm. Preceisely.

    When you. Hear. The opening bars. Of. 'Hotel California'. The time. Will be. Any of. 8.42am. Or 10.12am. Or 12.02pm. Or (repeat ad nauseam, just like Hotel California).

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

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