ON THE WIRE-- 25th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Amazingly, in September this year, BBC Radio Lancashires specialist music program "On The Wire" will be 25 years old. Even before the start of this series, there was an embryonic program called Spin Off but when it became On the Wire and moved to Sunday afternoons, it really took of and became an institution.

To some it was no doubt just that weird program that made a racket on a quiet Sunday Afternoon, but to the programs many fans and officianados it was a way of life. Although not a powerful radio signal in the scheme of things. this did not stop people parking camper-vans on tops of mountains in Wales because this was the only way to get the show in those parts. Strange maybe but don't forget, there was and still is nothing quite like On the Wire. Tapes of classic shows eagerly changed hands and the late great John Peel regularly used to listen to tapes of Steve Barkers shows in his car travelling between his home in Norfolk and the BBC in London.

Although Steve Barkers shows and those of John Peel were different in many ways there were undoubtedly overlaps. Both shows explored the fringe and peered behind the facade of modern and classic music of practially all genres and the music, often challenging, was presented in an informal yet very informative way. In both cases, talking over the tunes was a Capital Crime and the music was always allowed the last word.

Sadly Uncle John is no longer with us, but Steve Barker and On the Wire still carry the torch for both new and experimental music. Blues, Jazz, Folk, Rock, Indie, Dub, Drum and Bass still find a safe refuge on Steves Saturday night shows and once a month Andy ‘Madhatter’ Holmes and Pete Haigh present their Funkology show. Over the years Studio guests have included people such as Adrian Sherwood, Keith LeBlanc, Jah Wobble, Natacha Atlas, And lets not forget Steve's Rock Steady Crew, featuring Michael "Fenny" Fenton spinning indie tunes and local bands and the ever vigilant Jim Ingham platting the wires and stirring the tech in the background.

Many local bands and musicians have graced the airwaves from Radio Lancashire on record, tape and even in the flesh but so have some remarkable stars of the alternative and the underground. I for one will never forget the spectacle of Lee Scratch Perry doing a three hour show with Steve whilst the Legendary DJ and promoter Roger Eagle pulled Scratch tunes out of his bottomless bag of vinyl, many, so rare that even Lee could not remember them. Happy Days indeed.

Not surprisingly, On The Wire could not let such an important milestone as this go by without some degree of celebration. Consequently, Steve Barker and the team will be hosting a special all live show, probably extended beyond the normal two hours (if a producer can stay up that late in these appalling Post Jonathan Ross times) featuring special guests and probably not so special guests such as moi.

Either side of this will probably be all blues or all dub specials just like Mama used to bake. I have also had a chat with Terry in Chicago and Michael Rose in Minneapolis about doing another "Tunes Across the Big Pond" event. This could involve them sending pre-recorded pieces over to us which we could paste into our shows and an edition of On the Wire sent over to them to be re-broadcast over there. Steve says he is hoping to secure a variety of DJ mixes to be played throughout the month. It worked fine last time so lets see what happens this time.

Thats the story so far but its early days yet and nothing is confirmed. So stay tuned for more info as things are finalised. Remember, The Revolution will not be Broadcast (but you might be able to download it)

PERFORMING SHITES SOCIETY

The Performing Rights Society, in the UK, the body supposedly responsible for collecting and distributing fees for musicians, is now trying to make itself as hated as the RIAA in the USA. They are now putting pressure on small businesses, garages, shops etc and trying to extract money for any music played on the premises where more than four people share the space. One would have hoped that they would have had a little more common sense.

Firstly, this is a time of recession and demanding yet more money from small businesses who are already experiencing big problems with cash flow is both ill considered and ill timed. As one garage proprieter said on radio, "It't yet another tax!" Secondly, this is also a time when lots of young people are downloading music from the net some, illegally. and this measure will only drive more of them away from the traditional routes. Clearly the PRS are only semi conscious and have forgotten that if people en masse cannot hear the music, then why would they ever want to buy it.

The idiots at the PRS dont seem to realise that music and musicians, depend on the public hearing hearing their creations, whether this be on radio or on a CD or tape in a shop or a garage or wherever. in order to develop a liking for it. This is especially so if the music is ethnic and well off the mainstream as it does not often get played anywhere else.

The PRS are already getting money from the Radio stations for playing the music which they should also be supplying free and though they are quick off the mark at demanding the dosh, they can take many months to actually distribute it to the waiting artists as several of them have told me. Its not just recorded music thats being threatened by these plonkers, even those punteres who attend live gigs and which are now the mainstay of income for even the biggest bands have to hear the tunes somewhere otherwise, why would they want to go? This load of bollocks comes from the same source as the whinging about how cassettes would destroy the music industry and VHS recorders would be the end of Hollywood. See also, CDs, DVDs, MP3s etc etc. Suffice it to say that the only thing that really will destroy the music and movie businesses is outragious prices for CDs and DVDs and crappy formulaic tunes and masturbatory soap operas.

These people are nothing less than greedy philistines, (apologies to practising philistines. ) and I hope that they rot in musical hell for eternity for their hypocrisy along with their brethren, the Bankers destined to listen forever to the most dreadful imaginable musak provided by third rate tribute bands.

CANNABIS AND THE GOVERNMENT YO YOs

I was dealing with my mail last week with one ear on BBC Radio Four's Women's Hour and was well annoyed when some bod or other arrived on the prog and starts waffling about cannabis. Sadly it was mostly the same old tosh. I used cannabis for over 20 years and of course, inhaled it enthusiastically. It never made me ill unless I was stupid enough to drink copious amounts of alcohol first, and I only recall a couple of people who it really seemed to disagree with.

I gave it up overnight without a problem or even intention, when I realised I was hopelessly addicted to tobacco and gave that up for health reasons. I had tried to stop smoking for years without success but finally succeeded via the cold turkey method. After a fortnight of taking long walks, sucking on mints, munching comfort foods and occupying myself with various distractions, i realised i had finally succeeded. I also realised I had not smoked any cannabis for a fortnight although this was not my intention.

I have never believed that organic natural cannabis was particularly dangerous or addictive and many years of experience have only served to convince me that i am right. I do however believe it should be eaten rather than smoked (smoke of all kinds is not good for the lungs unless you are keen on developing cardio vascular problems) and I also believe it should not be used by people under 18 who generally dont seem to be able to use it wisely. I really do not recommend the use of "skunk" which is usually just genetically manipulated crap often full of unknown chemicals, and as I always avoid GM crops, I see no good reason to make an exception here.

Skunk weed is of course very high in THC which does get you very high, but there's more to getting high than THC. Normally, Cannabis also contains other cannabinols which do seem to stabilize and regulate the high so users dont normally go doolally, or develop a grumbling psychosis and acute symptoms of paranoia. This latter, is usually controllable with organic cannabis and a bit of paranoia is quickly recognised as an indication that the dope is of reasonably good quality.

Having said this, i still think that getting off your face all day and every day, starting with a death bong for breakfast and finishing off the day with a fat spliff for bedtime is not a good idea. If you have important or urgent or dangerous work to do, smoking dope is best left till after you finish. When health and Government bodies started to take a serious interest in the issues associated with cannabis use, I did what I could to help. I worked with my MP who was a supporter of Cannabis for pharmaceutical purposes and also gave info to the Police Foundation and to the House of Lords Select Committe on Cannabis in the hope that any new legislation would be sensible and based in facts rather than the usual ill-informed meddling. I viewed the downgrading of the drug to Class C as a move in the right direction and as this removed some of the naughtiness and glamour, use amongst young people seemed to fall.

There were always however, many who hated and resented this and who seized upon any opportunity to reverse this change. Skunk weed was just the weapon they needed. Quite a few young people used it but could not handle the effects and fetched up at the local psychiatric ward thinking they were talking to god. Young people often do this with whatever they can get their hands on, whether it be alcohol or solvents but the authorities should wise up to the fact that no matter what the drug, there is an important difference between use and abuse.

Seizing on poor evidence the Government next decided to reverse its declassification despite evidence and advice to the contrary from is own advisors. This has ???????? torestored the illegal glamour and seems likely to actually promote cannabis use rather than reduce it. This is what happens when you have a stupid government which is convinced it knows best and proceeds to make repressive laws in a high handed manner. This lack of knowledge combined with the urgent need to be seen to be doing something is rather well illustrated by the fact that people are criminalised for taking a recreational drug such as cannabis or extasy but then forced to take fluoride in their drinking water under the mistaken belief that it will reduce tooth decay. As usual its a case of do as we say, not as we do.

In this tedius and repressive nanny state it is little wonder that many young people become bored and disillusioned and drift into doing nothing at all except smoking dope. The sixties generation were often attacked for getting wasted but the fact remains that many of us did in fact "get our shit together" If we had not done so, i dont think that there would be the trend to alternative medicine or organic farming or even the active environmental movement that there is today.

I firmly believe that cannabis does not make you anything you are not already. So if you are artistic, creative and active, it can enhance it, but equally if you are an unmotivated and lazy sod who just like to tosh about with like minded friends, then cannabis will help you perfect your laziness and self indulgence. Alas even larger numbers are doing the same with alcohol but I would certainly rather put my fate in the hands of a cannabis smoker than a drink sodden MP or Peer who seems to have only a very slight grasp on life and reality. We are ruled by people who should serve but who enter politics with the intention of ruling because they have low self esteem and like to feel important by talking about things which they know little or nothing of and then passing ill-judged legislation to compel everyone to do things they dont want to do and generally conform to a grey template cobbled together by a political halfwit and seat polisher who hasnt had an original idea since he or she left school.

Everything we eat and drink will have an effect on us depending on our personal level of sensitivity and the addictiveness or ability to form habits in our personalities. We should all stop living in this ad world fantasy and behaving like Homer Simpson, lay on the couch all day, eating crap food and watching crap TV. There is more to life than this and we should get off our collelctive arses and not blame cannabis, a natural euphoric and mild sedative for our own stupidity or laziness. If you, your son or your daughter smoke a lot of dope and turn into a lazy unmotivated layabout or basket case, its usually because that is what you or they were before they took it.

Cannabis often strips away the thin veneer of acting often referred to as personality and reveals the true being within. The only reason that many drugs including alcohol have any political power is because people make a lot of so called legitimate money out of them. Hemp is an extremely useful if not essential plant which could save us all from environmental disaster if we used it properly but do we use it sensibly? of course not. Its an easy soft target with no strong lobby in parliament or business to promote it, so no change.

If i was to put fluoride in your drinking water I would be condemned as a terrorist, but a government can do whatever it wants without proper consultation with those it effects and then proscribe anything that the public discovers on its own, whether this be cannabis or dancing all night. What breathtaking hypocrisy. I could go on about psychosis, crime and much else but when people are so stupid as to believe anything that politicians say, why should I bother? My only advice is both tried and tested and and dates back well before New Labour and its dire focus groups and the ravages of Health and Safety tyranny. ...... Do What Thou Wilt and Harm No One, For This Is The Whole of The Law