One of the things that puzzles me whenever I talk to friends about having moved to Birmingham is that they always wish for my benefit that I don’t adopt, affect or otherwise acquire the Brummie accent.

A recent poll chose Brummie as the British regional accent least pleasing to the ear. It’s a hotly contested issue, as you might imagine it would be – but I don’t really get it.

Most born-and-bred West Midlanders that I’ve encountered have a really pleasing, lilting cadence – it’s unhurried and it’s a warm and friendly sound.

A greeting is not the clipped ‘hello’ of London, but an enquiry – right up front – about your general well being: ‘y’orright?’

The ‘ng’ sound is the accent’s best feature. “Bringing” has two distinct syllables: ‘bring’ and ‘ging’. It’s a deliberate yet relaxed way of speaking – unpretentious and yet entirely urban.

Interestingly, most New Zealanders, attempting the Midlands accent, automatically turn into Paul McCartney circa 1968 – a sort of cartoon Liverpudlian – and that’s not even close.

But I have to say that the likelihood of me losing my New Zealand accent is pretty slim. My Glaswegian father’s been in New Zealand since the middle of the 20th century – and you can still pick his place of birth right down to the district. He was 13 when he arrived.

That said, there are some aspects of the Brummie accent that I would welcome as an addition to the way that I speak.

The more I hear myself through the ears of my colleagues, students and friends, the more nasal I seem – and the more I hear the similarity to the Australian accent. I’d never understood that British people confuse the two, but I’m starting to get it (I always point out the difference between ‘fush and chups’ and ‘feesh and cheeps’).

Often it seems that regional accents are all but barred from British Radio. Even the local Birmingham hosts on Galaxy FM seem to affect an RP (so-called ‘Received Pronunciation’) voice, and the presenters on the local West Midlands BBC television news programme provide a ‘well-spoken’ (Londonised) variant on the Brummie accent.

I’d love to hear the accent on Radio 4. Hell, I’d love to hear a Black Country accent or Scouse normalised on BBC Radio. It’s not that I have a problem with the sound of RP. It is a delightful-sounding normalcy… but it should not prevail to the exclusion of all else.

Well, perhaps ‘exclusion’ is not the right word. Edinburgh is the preferred accent for documentary narration, and the odd Welsh accent appears on the radio here and there for the appearance of inclusivity. But Geordie, Brum and other regional accents are almost never heard in a serious role.

And just once, I’d like to hear a North London/West Indian accent read the news.

I’ve spent large parts of the past couple of weeks listening to and marking recorded student radio dramas, commercials and on-air shows – and not once has it occurred to me that a change of accent would improve what I heard.

The Brummie accent – at its best – is full of a mix of warmth, humour and a connection to place.

And yet it’s also an accent in which “f**k off!” can take on an extra urgency.

I really like it.

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86. The Bats – Couchmaster Flying Nun 1995

87. Grace Jones – Island Life Island 1985

88. Earth Wind and Fire – Last Days and Time Columbia 1972

89. Earth Wind and Fire – Head to the Sky Columbia 1973

90. Augustus Pablo – East of the River Nile Pablo 1977