Fuddland

I don’t listen ever to the radio for music; I much prefer to put my own specific choices on, or trust WMP’s automatic playlist generators to keep track of my MP3 collection. However, after reading about Radio 1’s landmark 10 Hour Take-over—firstly over at City of Sound and then in more detail at hackdiary [how cool is it to be able to read first-hand accounts from the people who built the system?]—I’ve been tuned in since ten o’clock [actually, not really “tuned in” as I’m listening via their broadband stream, now that it works properly], and it’s very entertaining—much better than shows dedicated to specific genres.

The idea is simple: from ten o’clock this morning until eight o’clock tonight, all playlists are scrapped and the entire output is dictated by the public texting- or emailing-in their requests, which are processed and managed by some nifty bespoke software. It’s made for some genuinely eclectic mixes—for example, here’s what was played in the last hour or so:

1. Coldplay - Shiver
2. Janet Jackson - That’s The Way Love Goes
3. Dolly Parton - 9 to 5
4. Felix - Don’t You Want Me
5. Joy Divison - Love Will Tear Us Apart
6. Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup
7. Suede - Trash
8. House of Pain - Jump Around
9. Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life
10. Paul McCartney - We All Stand Together (The Frog Chorus)
11. Hole - Celebrity Skin
12. Dennis Waterman - I Could Be So Good (Theme from Minder)
13. Men at Work - Down Under
14. Elbow - Newborn

I’m definitely impressed at the technology running everything—nothing seems to have fallen over so far—but it’s the choices made by the Great British Public™ which have made this idea really successful: I keep listening because I want to see what’s coming up next—it really could be anything. [Gah, they’re playing “Do the Bartman” now—perhaps it’s not such a great idea after all!]

#1

Daisy | 2004 / 04 / 13 – 21:44

Dammit, if I’d not been so busy today I’d have read your post and been able to tune in. Hope they repeat the idea.

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