1. Born Again In Birmingham – The Nightingales

Happy New Year. It’s time to cast off the old and bring in the new. When I first started The Wireless in 2002, my primary research interest was radio. I thought about radio and I blogged about radio.

Hence the name.

As time went on, the purpose of the blog became more personal, then more professional — then more of a mixture of both. And then it began to meander. It became confused and unfocused.

Yeah — it was more or less of interest to those who knew me, but because of my need for clarity, I now have since started a professional blog called New Music Strategies, where I talk about music business online, as well as a separate personal blog, leaving this one to talk about my interests, which largely revolve around music and radio.

In fact, while I’ve always been both a music and a radio enthusiast in more or less equal measure, these days my research is more in the area of music than it is about radio. But there is a way to include both of those into this blog… and here is what I propose to do about it.

Music radio is, at its best, about introducing music to people. A voice that says ‘check this out — I think you’ll really like it’ — and then letting you hear the song and pointing you in the direction of an economic relationship with the artist and its label.

And that’s what I want to do here.

I’m also a fan of the compilation tape. For years I’ve been making tapes (and more recently CDs) for people that I like, in order to introduce them to things that I enjoy. Pretty much to the same end, but with a wider contextual agenda. it’s not just random songs, it’s a collection of tunes that make sense together, despite their apparently disparate nature.

So that’s what this is to become.

The Wireless is now an mp3 blog. Here is where I’ll fulfill the role of music radio option (and there are SO MANY available to you here on the internet) — and the role of compilation tape sent to you by a friend.

From today, Monday the 1st of January 2007, I will be posting a new song for you to download every weekday, more or less. Each month, the tracks build into a compilation CD – 20 tracks on each, give or take. 12 compilation albums a year, each referring you to a bunch of different records I think you’ll enjoy.

For the sake of bandwidth, I’m only going to leave each track up for a week. As this Monday’s track becomes available, last Monday’s is deleted from the server. You have a week to download each song to add to your month’s compilation.

So — here it is: the new Wireless. I hope you like some of the music I play for you here. All I can guarantee is that I like it — and that will, with any luck, ensure that I keep up the regularity.

And it starts like this. Go back up to the top of this post, and click on the name of the song to hear it — or right click and ‘Save As’ to download it. Clicking on the album artwork takes you to somewhere you can buy the record — which (as always here) I thoroughly recommend.

The song seemed appropriate. The Nightingales were a favourite of the late John Peel, and have returned for their first album in 20 years. Singer Rob Lloyd is a people’s poet for the Guinness-drinking set, and a new addition to his repertoire entitled ‘What? No Blog?’ is partly my fault.

The real key to this song, though, is the drumming. Daren Garratt’s playing on this song is absolutely inspired. The man’s a genius — and it’s a bloody good record.

This is track one on The Wireless January 2007 compilation. And it’s the only Wireless you’ll hear it on. Which is a great shame.

I started this in Auckland. It’s Born Again in Birmingham.

Happy New Year.