It’s like being a fly on the wall (or maybe an earwig) at one of those fantasy dinner parties where a group of people who intrigue, infuriate or fascinate us are brought together just so we can see how they will get along. 6 Music, as a Christmas treat for listeners, has put Bradley Wiggins and Paul Weller behind the same mike and given them a record player (definitely not a CD; these two are seriously vinyl) and two hours of airtime to fill.
What’s the favourite lyric you’ve ever written? Bradley asks Paul. Quick as a flash, Paul replies, ‘Two lovers kissing amongst the scream of midnight.’ Not quite Wordsworth, but that ‘scream of midnight’ does resonate.
Can you name one song that means more to you than any other? Paul asks Brad. ‘“Live Forever” by Oasis,’ affirms Bradley. ‘As a 14-year-old it gave me confidence. The idea of getting out of the city and achieving something with your life.’
When Wiggins gives up his bike (not for four or five years, he promises), he could always take up radio. He’s got a great voice, with perfect pitch and always right on the beat. He and Weller don’t say much between tracks. Just enough. Words matter to them; not only music and sideburns. The best way to listen to their programme on 6 (at lunchtime on Boxing Day) will be with the door firmly shut against the family and the volume up as high as it will go.
Elsewhere on radio this is most definitely an Austerity Christmas, light on specials, big on keeping to the budget. Back in 1923, Lord Reith promised ‘Northern listeners’ they ‘may be lucky enough to skate to wireless music — if the ice holds’.
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