Johnnie Walker’s Musical Milestones - Bradford Alhambra 12th May 2011
‘He’s in…
Johnnie Walker…
He’s on…’
Johnnie Walker’s radio jingle since 1968
Johnnie Walker has an awful lot to answer for! I blame him, partly, for the way I have turned out. Him, and others, they are the responsible parties. Names will be named…
I wrote, in my review of Mott the Hoople’s final Hammersmith gig in 2009, that my musical tastes had been shaped by certain events and people. One of those people was the man we were all here to see tonight, Johnnie Walker.
He got me into a lot of trouble, back in the day. Although it was strictly against school rules to leave the grounds at lunch time, if you went out of the back gate, it was possible. Every Tuesday for a good couple of years, I would do just that. I’d get home, go to my room, turn on the Johnnie Walker show on my transistor radio, and wait to find out what was that week’s Number One on the Pop Chart. Then, I would dash back to school and get told off for a) leaving in the first place, and b) being late back! You have to be of a certain age to understand how important the Pop Chart was in the early ‘70s.
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Now, it seems, that I have been hearing this man’s voice practically all of my life; or, at least, as long as I can remember. Auntie Beeb’s baddest boy started as a radio DJ back in the mid 1960s, having decided that a career in car sales was not for him, firstly on pirate station Radio England then, on Radio Caroline, where he worked until the boat was towed away by the authorities. After the Marine Offences Act became law, in 1967, pirate stations went off the air and the DJs that had worked for them became pariahs. Technically, they were criminals. Auntie relented once Walker had been suitably punished and offered him a spot on the new Radio 1. In the last 50ish years, he has come and gone, come back again, gone again, had scandals, troubles, even cancer, yet still he broadcasts on Radio 2 every Sunday.
I suppose all DJs have a passion for music. On some stations they get to play what they want, on others, they play what they are told, or they walk. Johnnie never really liked to be told what to do and he obviously enjoys walking. At the BBC, playlists were devised by a panel of five people, none of whom had their finger on the pulse; indeed, I’m not even sure that some of them even had a pulse!  JW back in the day... How I came to be here is also a bit weird. My eldest daughter is a journalist and, a few weeks ago, she did a telephone interview with Johnnie. Consequently, for this show in Bradford, she was the local Entertainments journo sent to review it. Of course, she took her dear old dad along too J
As we walked in to the theatre my first reaction was where the hell would we sit? The place was packed (even-latercomers had to haul chairs from the bar and sit at the sides). Still, I spotted two spaces on the far right of the front row and we slotted in. The set-up was straightforward: a projector and a small console for an iPod. Unwittingly, we would be sat right in front of Johnnie. I have to say that I was quite girlishly excited about the evening. Lauren had said that he was a delight to interview and I really wanted to know that this bloke I’d been listening to most of my life was not a complete arse. |
On Give The People What They Want, The Kinks recorded a song entitled Around the Dial. I don’t know who Ray Davies wrote that about but, to me, it always made me think of Johnnie Walker. I took out the odd chorus, to save space, but the lyrics could have been written about the man I was here to see tonight.
Around the Dial – The Kinks
Radios of the world are tuning in tonight, Are you on the dial, are you tuned in right? One of our D.J.'s is missing… I've been around the dial so many times, But you're not there. Somebody tells me that you've been taken off the air. Well, you were my favorite D.J., Since I can't remember when. You always played the best records, You never followed any trend. F.M., A.M. where are you? You gotta be out there somewhere on the dial. On the dial. Where did you go Mr. D.J.? Did they take you off the air? Was it something that you said to the corporation guys upstairs? It wasn't the pressure, You never sounded down. It couldn't be the ratings, You had the best in town. Somehow I'm gonna find ya, track you down. Gonna keep on searchin', Around and around and 'round and 'round... (They're searchin') Around the dial, (They're listenin') Around the dial, (Poor station) The best in town, (Poor D.J.) Who never let us down. While the critics kept on knocking you, You just kept on rocking around the dial. Around the dial. I've been searchin' for you on my radio. This time your station really must have gone underground Somebody said you had a minor nervous breakdown. Was it something that you heard, Or something that you saw, That made you lose your mind, Did you lose control. Did you step out of line? If you're there, give us a sign. I can't believe that you've been taken off the air. Think I'll sell my radio now that you're not there. You never gave in to fashion, You never followed any trends, All the record bums tried to hack you up, But you were honest to the end. Gonna keep my radio on, 'Till I know just what went wrong. The answers out there somewhere on the dial. On the dial. |
Johnnie Walker, back in the day...
Quite unexpectedly, the PA came to life:
‘He’s in…
Johnnie Walker…
He’s on…’
And I could hear the voice… but I couldn’t see him… A rather debonair, frock-coated figure appeared at the rear of the venue and proceeded to walk down the steps to the front. This was, undoubtedly, a friendly audience. Everyone here wanted to see the man they knew from the radio and we showed our appreciation from the off.
I do not intend to detail what he talks about, as you may want to see the show, or read his autobiography. Let’s just say that over the next two hours he talked about his childhood, how he became a DJ, Pirate radio, Auntie Beeb, KSAN, his return(s) to the BBC, cocaine and The News of the World, cancer, his life now and the future. Safe to say, there were some fantastic stories, wonderful nostalgic reminiscences and, some very candid, frank, honest admissions about his past transgressions. It was all very heartfelt and disarmingly direct.
Essentially, Johnnie talked, played some music that was significant to him, showed us some photos, and interacted with the audience in a very informal, friendly manner. If it hadn’t been for the venue, this could have been a night at the local curry house with some mates. You know that question, Who would you invite to a dinner party? Well, this is one person I would definitely want there.
‘He’s in…
Johnnie Walker…
He’s on…’
And I could hear the voice… but I couldn’t see him… A rather debonair, frock-coated figure appeared at the rear of the venue and proceeded to walk down the steps to the front. This was, undoubtedly, a friendly audience. Everyone here wanted to see the man they knew from the radio and we showed our appreciation from the off.
I do not intend to detail what he talks about, as you may want to see the show, or read his autobiography. Let’s just say that over the next two hours he talked about his childhood, how he became a DJ, Pirate radio, Auntie Beeb, KSAN, his return(s) to the BBC, cocaine and The News of the World, cancer, his life now and the future. Safe to say, there were some fantastic stories, wonderful nostalgic reminiscences and, some very candid, frank, honest admissions about his past transgressions. It was all very heartfelt and disarmingly direct.
Essentially, Johnnie talked, played some music that was significant to him, showed us some photos, and interacted with the audience in a very informal, friendly manner. If it hadn’t been for the venue, this could have been a night at the local curry house with some mates. You know that question, Who would you invite to a dinner party? Well, this is one person I would definitely want there.
Me taking a picture of Lauren taking a picture of me...
The first hour passed like lightning and, before I knew it, it was intermission time. In the foyer there was a table with a box on it. There were some little cards and pens and we were invited to pose questions for Johnnie to answer during the second part of the show. After the intermission, these were collected. I had puzzled over what to ask for weeks and I couldn’t think of a damn thing! The only things I could think of were likely to be answered during his talk, I was sure. Before the show, Lauren and I had been talking and she had mentioned some exercise they give to children at school. Finally, with minutes to spare, I had my question: If you could give you’re your 16 year old self one piece of advice, what would it be?
The second half of the show began with Johnnie reading some audience questions out and answering them, illustrating them with stories and photos. I knew the minute he looked at one particular card and read it, he’d picked mine out. He read the question out loud and asked who had written it. Ever the shrinking violet, I stuck my hand up and waved it around – totally unnecessary as I was only about six feet from him. He looked across to me, asked my name, and said he would have to think about it. He told another story and then came back to me. He had considered it and decided that, if he had to give his younger self some advice, it would be to NOT to walk out of so many well-paid jobs, on principle. I agreed that that was good advice. He then added, that his younger self probably wouldn’t listen. Once again, I had to agree.
The evening progressed and, all too soon, it was over. He had been talking for a total of two hours; it was The Johnnie Walker Show – Live! I could have listened to him for, well, all night. In spite of how well he looks, and all he has been through (both self-inflicted and otherwise) you forget that he is in his mid-60s, such is his enthusiasm and passion for what he does. My daughter was the youngest person in the audience by a good thirty years (just as she was when I started taking her to gigs, when she was eleven) but just like rock music itself, it has become apparent that there is no age limit with this kind of thing. Just because you are in you 50s, 60s, or older, music is timeless, as are the legends that have brought it to us.
The second half of the show began with Johnnie reading some audience questions out and answering them, illustrating them with stories and photos. I knew the minute he looked at one particular card and read it, he’d picked mine out. He read the question out loud and asked who had written it. Ever the shrinking violet, I stuck my hand up and waved it around – totally unnecessary as I was only about six feet from him. He looked across to me, asked my name, and said he would have to think about it. He told another story and then came back to me. He had considered it and decided that, if he had to give his younger self some advice, it would be to NOT to walk out of so many well-paid jobs, on principle. I agreed that that was good advice. He then added, that his younger self probably wouldn’t listen. Once again, I had to agree.
The evening progressed and, all too soon, it was over. He had been talking for a total of two hours; it was The Johnnie Walker Show – Live! I could have listened to him for, well, all night. In spite of how well he looks, and all he has been through (both self-inflicted and otherwise) you forget that he is in his mid-60s, such is his enthusiasm and passion for what he does. My daughter was the youngest person in the audience by a good thirty years (just as she was when I started taking her to gigs, when she was eleven) but just like rock music itself, it has become apparent that there is no age limit with this kind of thing. Just because you are in you 50s, 60s, or older, music is timeless, as are the legends that have brought it to us.
Me, outside the Bradford Alhambra
Photograph by Lauren Potts
Although they didn’t make the music, the DJs that came out of the pirate stations were just as important to the average listener as the music itself and, in some instances, more so. If people like Johnnie hadn’t gone out of their way to play things that the bosses didn’t want them to, I would not be the person I grew up to be.
For me, there were certain Djs that hit a chord that I liked. It was listening to Johnnie, Tommy Vance, Tony Prince, Emperor Rosko, the very-dearly missed Stuart Henry, the amazingly wonderful ‘Fluff’ Freeman, John Peel, ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris, as well as people like Brian Anderson (Radio Tees), Richard Nankivell (BFBS), and Martin Kelner (Jazz FM). All of these DJs had different styles, but they all have one thing in common; they all did more than was necessary to deliver a great show. They introduced me to music, humour, books, writing, and instilled in me the passion and enthusiasm that, I hope, I display to others, and hopefully, will pass the torch of inspiration on to the next generation.
Am I happy with how my life has turned out? Yes, and No. I would have liked it to be more simple, less stressful, more secure, true. Then again, I would not be the person I am and, in spite of my many mistakes over the years, past and present failings, and current issues, I have two wonderful girls, some amazing memories and hope that I will have more adventures in the future. I still blame Johnnie Walker though…
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll!
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
13th May 2011
For me, there were certain Djs that hit a chord that I liked. It was listening to Johnnie, Tommy Vance, Tony Prince, Emperor Rosko, the very-dearly missed Stuart Henry, the amazingly wonderful ‘Fluff’ Freeman, John Peel, ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris, as well as people like Brian Anderson (Radio Tees), Richard Nankivell (BFBS), and Martin Kelner (Jazz FM). All of these DJs had different styles, but they all have one thing in common; they all did more than was necessary to deliver a great show. They introduced me to music, humour, books, writing, and instilled in me the passion and enthusiasm that, I hope, I display to others, and hopefully, will pass the torch of inspiration on to the next generation.
Am I happy with how my life has turned out? Yes, and No. I would have liked it to be more simple, less stressful, more secure, true. Then again, I would not be the person I am and, in spite of my many mistakes over the years, past and present failings, and current issues, I have two wonderful girls, some amazing memories and hope that I will have more adventures in the future. I still blame Johnnie Walker though…
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll!
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
13th May 2011