It Doesn't Blow

Chris Taylor and Andrew Hansen from The Chaser have a new project with Triple J called The Blow Parade.

It's a spoof radio program where each week "Captain Blow" (Andrew Hansen) looks at a year in pop-music. There are interviews, gossip, hilarious songs and some seriously dodgy characters.

I've just had a chance to listen to the first two episodes and was laughing out loud all through it. I really like the medium of radio for comedy - particularly scripted, creative comedy like this, it really gives you a chance to make of it what you will. - It helps that The Blow Parade is so tightly edited and well made too.

You can subscribe to the podcast here. The website has a bio, ringtones and a lovely ad for "Putney Currys" - the major sponsors of the show and supposedly a delicious topping for ice-cream. The best bit of the site though is by far the Quiz - do it.

Jolly good show chaps!

Changes for 2010

It's the end of the year and both radio and tv stations are making changes. As we know, Rove will not be returning next year, or ever, on channel 10. Surprisingly Australian Idol will be coming back in 2010 despite bad ratings this year (though the finale last night was a ratings winner), along with the 7pm Project which will be aired twice a day over summer - with a repeat after the late news.

Channel 7 have a call-out for contestants for another series of Beauty and the Geek. The Einstein Factor and Sunday Arts are finishing up on the ABC. Media Watch will be back next year with Jonathan Holmes at the helm and Review with Myles Barlow has been funded for a second series.

On radio, the big news today is that Robbie, Marieke and the Doctor are finishing up this year as Triple J breakfast hosts. They will be replaced by the weekend hosts Tom and Alex. Tim Ross and Kate Ritchie are leaving their Nova 969 breakfast show - ending the long performance relationship between Merrick and Rosso. More locally, the Triple R breakfast show will be losing Sam Pang who is currently hosting the music quiz show ADBC on SBS.  

Kyle Unfit? ... Shocking!

In an announcement today from Austereo publicity manager, Kate Whitby, the Kyle and Jackie O show has been suspended indefinitely;

"... following a great deal of consideration and having consulted Jackie O and all stakeholders, Austereo has formed the view that it is in the interest of all parties, for the Kyle and Jackie O show to go into recess until we have completed an across-the-networks review of the principals and protocols of our interaction with our audience. This review commenced last Wednesday, July 29."

It seems Kyle is 'unable to perform his duties'. - That's a laugh, considering his 'duties' up to this point seem to have been to behave like a self-obsessed wanker, I'd say he's currently excelling at his duties.

There has also been talk of channel 10 possibly dropping him from Australian Idol, the thing is, he would simply be replaced with someone else exactly like him. Just like if the Kyle and Jackie O show was never to be reinstated - I doubt its replacement would be anything of any higher quality than the crap we hear on any commercial station.

The best result we can hope for from this event is that the Broadcasting Codes of Practice are reassessed.

Lukewarm 100

The Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time ended today with the top song being Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Whilst many of the songs in the list are brilliant, they are all very commercial - and would all be heard on Triple M or Fox - many on high rotation. I wasn't expecting much better to be honest, considering Triple J has moved far far away from the alternative, smash-the-system, down-with-mainstream ideals it had when the youth station was conceived.

Glaring omissions:
Sonic Youth, The Who, The Velvet Underground, The Triffids, The Go-Betweens, Iggy Pop, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Church, The Jam, The Cruel Sea and James (who's 1993 album Laid is in my opinion one of the greatest of all time).

Laughable inclusions:
System Of A Down - Chop Suey! and Tool - Forty Six & 2. The call was for the best songs EVER not songs you like to wank over.

Muse - Knights Of Cydonia might be a technically exceptional song but top 20 of ALL TIME? Methinks not. Same goes for Hilltop Hoods.

Overkill factor:
Jeff Buckley. Yes, he was amazing, yes, it was a shame he died ... but four songs, two of them in the top 10 is just mental. Same goes for Radiohead.

I'm pretty sure it's not because I'm getting older that the list amazes me - clearly there are people over 30 voting or Metallica, Guns'n'Roses and Led Zeppelin wouldn't have got a look in.

The list is basically disappointing. WAY too much cock-rock. It's hopefully a lesson to Triple J that their audience has shifted well and truly away from what was originally intended and that they may need to re-assess the music they're putting out there.

There has been talk over the last few years that Triple J in its current form is no longer relevant ... I would suggest that the results of this countdown might prove that to be true. If a commercial station were to do a Top 100 of All Time I think it would be almost identical.

Foggy Future for Pete and Myf

The latest Neilson radio stats have shown Melbourne's Triple M losing major ground. It dropped a whole point to 3.2 percent and the audience share is its worst ever.

Unfortunately Triple M breakfast hosts Pete Helliar and Myf Warhurst look set to get the shove after getting constant bad results - though some would say they've lasted a lot longer than expected. Triple M certainly wanted them to be successful, carrying out a mulit-million dollar advertising campaign that saw the pairs faces on almost every billboard and bus-stop in Melbourne.

It's really unfortunate for Myf who was becoming well-known on a national level through Triple J and Spicks and Specks before taking on the role as Melbourne breakfast host. If the morning duo are boned, hopefully she gets a gig where she can share her love of music rather than play pre-selected crap on a commercial station.

Head honcho at Triple M, Ben Amarfio hasn't alleviated fears with the statement; "We can't sit back and watch (the ratings) continue to fall".

Needless to say, Hamish and Andy on Fox are reigning Kings of Drive in all states, and 3AW has done very well with its talk-back king-pins improving their share on the last survey.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

The Triple J Hottest 100 countdown has embedded itself into Australian culture - so much so that the cooking of meat outdoors on the 26th of January is no longer called an "Australia Day BBQ" but is more commonly referred to as a "Hottest 100 Party".

When the J's started the countdown back in 1989 it was the hottest 100 songs of all time. When this became a bit repetitive (God bless Joy Division) it was decided that the songs could only be chosen from the year before. Thus the countdown as we know it was born.

But here in 2009 we have a return to that holiest of holies - the hottest 100 of ALL TIME.

Here is the link to vote now. The big reveal will be next month - this is from the website:

"The countdown will start on Tuesday 7th July and we'll slowly reveal the list across the week and countdown the entire 100 across Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July with a big finale."

Voting closes on the 28th of June. Unfortunately, as in recent years, the top 100 will probably be full of teenage jerk-off bands like My Chemical Romance but I still have hope that at least a few of the truly brilliant songs will get in there.

For the record - my vote:
New Order - Ceremony (not my all-time fave New Order song which is "Here to Stay" but I figured Ceremony at least has a chance of top 20)
Joy Division - She's Lost Control
Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning
Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
Paul Kelly - How To Make Gravy (The Aussie element - could have been The Go-Betweens "Streets of Your Town")
The Cure - Love Song
Bowie - Rebel Rebel
The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out