I had a message via MSN this evening as I was starting to try and put this entry together, basically giving me a bollocking (that is a stern ticking off, for anyone not from these shores) centering around the lack of recent entries. This was further reinforced in a phone call shortly afterwards where I was at pains to point out that there is a great difficulty in publishing something that has not yet been written.

While my ear was being well and truly bent, I had an e-mail with an MP3 file attached. Nothing new there, but this had two words in the file-name that made me sit up: “Ray Moore”.

Anyone under 30 will be asking themselves “who the fu…?” Well, let me tell you…

Ray was born in Liverpool during the war and from an early age, had wanted to work for the BBC. He moved around in TV for a time in the 60’s doing CA work at Granada, ATV and the BBC and was heard on things like Come Dancing (what Strictly was before it became “Strict”) and Eurovision. But it is for his early morning show on Radio 2 (and radios 1&2 before R1 went 24-hour) that he is best known and very fondly remembered.

Sadly, Ray died from cancer of the throat on 11th January 1989 at the oh so young age of 47.

Ray was a bit of a hero of mine when I was growing up, I’d listen to him as I got up and ready for my paper-round and had a small transistor radio with one of those white/cream ear-pieces that you don’t see any more so I could stay listening when out and about.

As we know, there will have to be a lot of wandering up and down the dial, or scanning of transponders, if that is the correct modern equivalent, to find someone in this day and age worthy of being mentioned in the same breath. Warmth, personality, that special kind of intimacy that ONLY radio can bring are all things which he made to appear effortless.

I can think of a few modern day broadcasters or presenters that are close, but close in as much as the moon is closer to the earth than to Pluto!

Listening to the 1’15”:00 file brought memories flooding back of my childhood in the east end of London – being able to watch the sun coming up over the city from a high rise where someone on the top floor wanted his or her copy of whatever paper I was delivering – marvelling at the Nat West Tower which was just finishing construction as it stuck up like the sharp end of a drawing pin from the London streets. I have to admit, the tribute from Colin Berry was almost my undoing.

I’ll finish this bit with a quote from Ray’s autobiography, where he was talking about the early morning show and how it was developed:

“My theory, if I ever had one, was that this show, broadcast at such a crazy time, could only be successful if it were based on one assumption: that nobody in his or her right mind would choose to be up at such an awful hour. If we both had to be awake so early, I thought, let’s agree one thing: that it’s you and me against the world. I was determined to be cheerful but in a grumpy sort of way, with none of the enforced jollity so beloved of Radio 4.”

[reflective pause]

I gained a few followers on Twitter recently and amongst them was @TanjaMaritsa. I always look at new followers to make sure that they are not anything untoward and to try and work out why they’ve chosen to follow me – I’m glad that people do, but I’m always curious to know “why”.

I was a bit surprised to learn that Tanja is a singer/songwriter who has two albums under her belt already. A quick visit to her website told me that I should be following her.

If you pay the site a visit (and I STRONGLY advise that you do) you can hear some examples of her work. It’s a kind of jazzy, folky, bluesy sound, very mellow and relaxing, not at all over-produced. Tanja is currently working on album number 3 so is not touring, but she’s promised to let me know when she will be back out and about.

I’ve also put a toe in the murky waters of “facebook”. It seems to be over complicated to someone who prefers things to be simple and straightforward and I’m not really sure how long I’ll last. I’ll give it until the end of June and then decide whether to stay with it or to admit defeat.

I can’t understand why it thinks that I’d want to befriend someone I don’t know, just because we have a “mutual friend”. I find the whole thing far too intrusive really.

To me, I think we are either Twitter people or Facebook people, a bit like Magpie or Blue Peter when I was young – you watched one or the other, not both! If those under 30’s are still here, please look “Magpie” up, I’m not about to recount its tedious format and lame ideas here. Guess who was firmly a “Blue Peter” fan?

Yes, I know there are plenty of people that exist on both “social networks”, but I can’t for the life of me think why. Still, takes all sorts to make the world go around.

I held off from publishing this on Sunday (or the early hours of Monday as it was when I stopped) because today (Monday) saw the release of the 2012/13 football fixtures at 9:00am. By 9:05am I’d had 2 emails and a shed-load of text messages about the various dates my team play the teams of various friends.

We open the season away to the current EPL champions, Manchester City. Two weeks later we are at home to their neighbours, the not so affectionately titled ManUre. The two games I was most interested to know the dates of are the fixtures against QPR – see previous entries as to why. We go to them on the 17th November and they get a trip to the South Coast on 2nd March 2013. Both of these dates are now diarised and the friendly banter has just begun.