Words Dept.: category

It’s difficult to work out who’s the cheesier – Radio Norwich’s finest Alan Partridge or Oldham station 96.2 The Revolution’s Steve Penk. The former presenter of ITV’s TV’s Naughtiest Blunders (before he was replaced by, er, a voiceover) Penk has just bought the Revolution, overturning its indie playlist overnight in favour of James Blunt and [...]

I’m thoroughly enjoying Journey to the East, Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn’s animated title sequence for the BBC’s Olympics coverage. Much better than some of the dross that’s actually taking place in Beijing – I mean, really, who wants to watch the Czech Republic win gold in shooting, let alone watch it in high definition, [...]

Following the successful launch of the exciting and dynamic television channel Dave, whose rapidly rising audience share is wholly reliant on endless Top Gear repeats, the bosses of UKTV are at it again. Having signed the incredibly talented Richard and Judy (Alan Partridge and Lynn) to the network, they have decided the change the name [...]

Now I wasn’t there and so I probably have no right to comment on the subject. But isn’t the purpose of a blog to prattle amateurishly about subjects one has no right to prattle amateurishly about? Well, exactly. To this end, I feel I must take issue with renowned man of letters Gordon Smart and [...]

Coldplay have started dressing like extras from Les Miserables. I saw them on Jonathan Ross last night; they were wearing vaguely military garb and seemed to have bits of flag tied around their arms. At least one of them was wearing a stupid hat. I suppose it ties in with the artwork for their new [...]

Since Simon Cowell rolls his eyes and tuts like a bored suburban housewife following virtually every act that appears on Britain’s Got Talent (which his company, Syco, co-produces), why doesn’t he just piss off and do something else for a living? Just a thought. Similarly, am I the only person who finds it faintly disturbing [...]

So many press releases are ruined by inane quotes. So here’s Morrissey, talking about his forthcoming gig at this summer’s O2 Wireless Festival in Hyde Park, showing how it should be done. I like to imagine the press officer making up something suitable, sending it off to Moz for approval, and finding out later that [...]

What is, or was, the point of Xfm Manchester? After launching with much fanfare just two years ago, GCap Media has announced that it is going to sell off its Xfm radio licence in Manchester. The reason is a cost cutting drive by GCap in order to fend off a takeover, exacerbated by rising costs [...]

I’ve just bought a CD with one of those annoying stickers on the front obscuring the carefully-designed artwork to tell you how great it is. If it was a little more discreet I wouldn’t complain but this one isn’t just large, its bloody huge. It looks like it’s been positioned in order to attract passing [...]

Finally, Morrissey has opened his gob about the NME interview on the Guardian blog (where else?) It’s delightfully long-winded but immensely pleasurable to read. Predictably, he denies wholeheartedly the trumped-up charge of racism and launches into a spectacularly single-minded tirade against the “new NME” and, most mercilessly, its writer, Tim Jonze. I do not mean [...]