If you follow me on Twitter - or have spoken to me about the wireless in the last year - you’ll probably know my new favourite radio show is Allan Beswick’s Late Night Phone-In, every Saturday & Sunday night from 10-1 on BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio Lancashire and BBC Radio Merseyside.
If you lived in the North East in the early 80s, you may remember him from a short-lived stint as the presenter of Night Owls following James Whale’s departure and preceding Tony Crosby (and, of course, the legendary Alan Robson).
But Beswick is best known in Lancashire - and neighbouring counties - for his shows on Red Rose Radio, most notably 'The Allan Beswick Late Night Show' following his Sony award-winning afternoon show on the station.
He’s been with the BBC for more than 30 years, having presented just about every shift on Radio Manchester.
He returned to late-night radio in the North West in 2015, simulcast on Manchester and Lancashire every Sunday-Thursday 10-1. Only in June did he move to weekends after 6 years.
I’d always known of Allan and his legendary status, but it was only last year that I discovered just how entertaining his programme is after Iain Lee and Katherine Boyle - another two of the greats - began playing clips on their Twitch show (now Patreon).
Callers, often real characters, can discuss anything they like. It couldn’t be more random. I guess it’s one of those things you just can’t really explain, but if you listen you’ll see what I mean!
Anyway... what happened here? Well, I’m not so sure. I suspected - and am reliably informed - no music is pre-scheduled in his hours.
There are a handful of tracks across the three hours so he gets a short break from talking (no news in his weekend show and, obviously, no ads), but they’re rarely more modern than 1970.
To my surprise, I heard him introduce Justin Timberlake’s 2002 hit (featuring Clipse) 'Like I Love You' - and it was played in full.
I’ll be honest, as a big JT fan, I’ve never warmed to this particular track. It seems Beswick, who was clearly hearing it for the first time, felt even more strongly about it:
Bloody hellfire... what in the name of God was that?! Justin Timberlake... his music should be just in the lake... dear God, that was an abomination. If you loved it, you need to do something about your musical taste - it was utter crap!
It was then that I spat my tea out with laughter! "But why?", you may ask. A presenter being negative about the product, not sharing a passion for the music - the mere thought should make any PD shiver, shouldn’t it?
Oh, it does. If I’m listening to a radio station because I like the targeted music policy and other content, I’d expect the presenter to be equally, if not even more, positive about their offering.
We’ve all had to play songs we don’t personally like (or keep playing songs even if we’re sick of hearing them) because we’re serving an audience, not ourselves.
For a music-led station/show positioning itself and trying to cut through in an increasingly competitive market, this has to be the case.
But nobody - absolutely nobody - listens to Allan Beswick’s show for music. It’s about him and his callers. Similarly, I wouldn’t listen to Liza Tarbuck’s eclectic playlist if it wasn’t for her personality.
Any songs played are purely to give Beswick a short break from talking (often a very short break as they’re usually 60s/70s tracks).
And given his character and the nature of the show, I’d almost expect this from Beswick.
He’s known for being straight-talking and opinionated (within BBC guidelines of course). As Will says on Twitter:
A large majority of Allan’s listeners would have laughed at that.
He also knows his audience skews older. You can tell from the callers.
Now I’m not suggesting you lose your taste in all new(er) music once you reach a certain age. You only have to look at the success of AC formats globally.
It can be refreshing to hear suitable new music alongside the classics you grew up with.
But anyone can understand the confusion in this case. JT & Clipse was jarring - and Allan acknowledged that disparity between the track and what his audience would expect.
Why was it chosen? The mystery remains unsolved, but I suspect Carlos is onto something here...
Begs the question - why was it played? Evidently someone 'producing' the show is trying to appeal to a younger audience than the presenter cares to attract. Why do I hear so many BBC local presenters sounding so dismissive of the music. I thought it was "all the music you love"?
