Crunch & Roll

S03 E13 - Dirk Anthony

Dirk Anthony is one of the most famous, or for some, infamous, radio bosses there's ever been. He pretty much ran the show at GWR and then Gcap, after the merger with Capital.
When you weald so much power for so long it's difficult for some to see beyond the 'big, scary boss' tag, and forget there's s real person with their own story, dealing with their own pressures.
So, not having had too many dealings Dirk in the past, Foxy was a bit nervous about grilling "the Guvnor"... but it's probably fair to say Dirk was more nervous!
We started right at the beginning, taking in his slightly fortuitous entry into the industry after initially taking on a trade. He lifts the lid on the GWR / Capital merger, and muses on a job he could / should have taken on. And he addresses the "bloody Aussies" feeling some people had, with great humility and understanding. Oh, he also tells us his real name - listen right to the end for that.
And whatever you thought you knew about Dirk, prepare to find out the real story.
 
Dirk is now a partner of the consultancy company Blank White Page (https://blankwhitepage.co.uk/) and has made the incredibly kind offer to help any Crunch & Roll listener who's struggling with life after radio to understand who their skills and experience can be invaluable in the outside world. Contact him at dirk.anthony@blankwhitepage.co.uk.

S03 E12 - Scott Makin

Foxy has referenced many of his radio heroes before - Moyles, Mark & Lard, Robin Banks - but the biggest poster on teenage Foxy's bedroom wall was that of Scott Makin.
It was his husky, Teesside tones and his lovely leather jacket that did it for him. But listen to the end to find out how our awe-fill presenter embarrassed himself in front of his icon the first time they met.
If you've lived in Yorkshire or the North East of England in the last 30ish years there's a good chance you've heard Scott doing his thing. He is undeniably 'King of Mids' but there's the most perfect story of how he ended up presenting Breakfast at Century, and how I did his best to sabotage this gem of a job offer.
You'll also hear about the time he met a former inmate listener in a bar, and a Full Monty performance featuring former guest Joel Ross (and what he'd do for £30 in the late 90s).
Warning: Contains gratuitous, misty-eyed mentions of Viking FM.
 
Hear Scott on BBC Radio Tees and BBC Radio Newcastle, weekday afternoons from 2: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04kbx4b
Get your ears around a bit of classic Scott on Aircheck Downloads: https://www.aircheckdownloads.com/uk-airchecks/hallam-fm-sheffield/2010s/scott-makin-apr-9th-2013-655
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScottMakinRadio
 

S03 E11 - Simon Ross

A greased eel. The fur of a chinchilla. A babies bum.
When it comes to smoothness, this lot just aren't cutting the mustard, because Rossie's voice is smoother than an otter in socks, sliding down a lubed-up iceberg.
But you don't have a CV like his by simply having a great voice. His claim that he's the only person Parky never called up on the XD to give the hairdryer treatment to is probably testament to that.
He's had stints working at Radio City, Radio Aire and imperial phase Capital, but now hosts one of the biggest shows around, breakfast on Greatest Hits Radio.
And with such an accomplished CV it makes sense that he's a brilliant story teller with brilliant stories to tell.
Like the time he pinched a celebs booze stash at Party in the Park; how he almost didn't do his first show at Capital thanks to nerves; and an unfortunate (but hilarious) selfie incident.
And did we mention his voice..?
 
Catch Rossie on Great Hits Radio Breakfast: https://planetradio.co.uk/greatest-hits/west-midlands/
There's TONS of classic Rossie on Aircheck Downloads: https://www.aircheckdownloads.com/audio-search?term=simon+ross&sort_bef_combine=relevance_DESC
And here he is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rossie7dj
 

S03 E10 - Dick Stone

When considering a 'radio name', you could literally choose ANYTHING. But we find out early on in this episode that Dick chose, well, Dick. To be fair, it did lead to the best named breakfast show radio have ever seen! But as he helpfully suggests, "Don't Google 'Dick Stone'".
Dick is a programming stalwart, running Ram, Trent, the Hit Music Network, Capital East Mids and the Smooth network. Most people reading this will probably have worked for him for goodness sake!
But we also find out about his days before he was the boss, when he had to mimic another presenter to get his first professional gig.
We also find out that he once took some presenters hostage in his office. Kind of.
 
If you're enjoying Crunch & Roll, please give us a nice review on your podcast app.
And subscribe / follow us, so you get every new episode as soon as they drop.
We're also on Ko-Fi if you'd like to buy us a coffee (or radio station mugs off Ebay) - Just click here: https://ko-fi.com/crunchandroll
 
Read Dick's insightful and sage radio blog here: https://dick-stone.com/blog/
And follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DickStone
 

S03 E09 - Nigel ’Fresh’ Freshman

The guest on this episode could be called a 'one station man'.... that is if he hadn't moved somewhere else almost exactly ten years ago!
Nigel Freshman*, or Fresh to his listeners, was undeniably 'Mr Beacon' until his love affair with the station turned sour and he moved to Smooth West Midlands where he still plies his trade.
So he's pretty much a legend in the West Midlands and can’t walk down Bilston high street without getting mobbed!
It's another episode full of tremendous stories and brutal honesty. Well, life would be boring if we all thought the same things...
He tells us about a recent medical diagnosis, the crazy times with a former co-presenter, how his fancy car put him in a new bosses bad books, his part in what is now the most cited case in media law... and his thoughts on his final couple of years at Beacon, in which Foxy admits to never being so awkward...
 
You can hear Fresh on the Smooth Radio West Midlands Breakfast Show, weekdays 6-10: https://www.smoothradio.com/westmids/
And Aircheck Downloads have a couple of clips from back in the Beacon days: https://www.aircheckdownloads.com/audio-search?term=fresh&sort_bef_combine=relevance_DESC
And follow Fresh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nigelfreshman
 
If you're enjoying Crunch & Roll, please give us a nice review on your podcast app.
And subscribe / follow us, so you get every new episode as soon as they drop.
We're also on Ko-Fi if you'd like to buy us a coffee (although I can't guarantee it won't be something stronger) - Just click here: https://ko-fi.com/crunchandroll
 
*Listen after the credits to find out the real story of his name.
 

S03 E08 - Tim Lichfield

Hold on to your headphones, Tiger Tim's roaring onto Crunch & Roll, and he's grrrrrrrrrreat! (Sorry).
Early on in his chat with Foxy he tells us that it is "no holes barred"...
He's happy to to go through the many highs and some notable lows of his career, spanning Capital and BRMB to TFM and Minster, and plenty more besides.
We've cover how he was once told he couldn't say his own name right by one manager, the magic of warming up for Chris Tarrant every morning, and turning down a big gig for the sake of his health and sanity.
There's strong language and adult content in this episode. And if you are affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, you're not alone and there's help and support at www.drinkaware.co.uk.
 
If you're a regular listener to the podcast, firstly thank you - we love you. But if you'd like to support the podcast / contribute to the 969media Christmas party, we'd be eternally grateful if you would click here: https://ko-fi.com/crunchandroll
 
Check out Tim's magic here: https://timlichfield.com/
Listen to Tim on YorkMix Radio from 3pm weekdays: https://yorkmix.com/radio/

S03 E07 - Darren Daley

This episodes finds you just before Christmas 2023. Tis the season of good will to all men... except one former boss who features in this episode! But be assured the rest of Foxy's chat with Darren Daley is a real Christmas cracker.
He's been in the game since Cliff Richard was number 1 in the charts with Saviours' Day, so has plenty of stories to tell.
Luckily for us he's kept all his correspondence from radio stations from the last 35+ years, and reads out some of the more noteworthy examples. Fair to say he wasn't on former Radio 1 controller Johnny Beerling's Christmas card list.
There's chat about how Radio City legend Phil Eason gave him his first break one memorable Boxing Day.
And the tale of a naked Australian producer ruining the news on a unfortunately serious news day.
There's strong language and adult content in this episode.
 
If you're a regular listener to the podcast, firstly thank you - we love you. But if you'd like to support the podcast / contribute to the 969media Christmas party, we'd be eternally grateful if you would click here: https://ko-fi.com/crunchandroll
 

S03 E06 - Paul Carrington

Foxy calls him The Professor. You might know him as The Funster. But his passport says Paul Carrington.
Paul has to be one of the most well known presenters in the north of England and is guaranteed to have worked on a station near you, if you live north of Sutton-cum-Duckmanton. Piccadilly, Signal, Viking, Buzz, Minster, Pulse - We'll let Paul tell you the rest.
There's stories about working for Timmy Mallett (along with Professor Brain Cox, Chris Evans and Nick Robinson); how he helped the biggest pop group of the 80s escape a hoard of screaming fans (involves an old Ford Escort); and how he's embarrassed about being The Funster.
It's a long one (so we'll keep this bit short), but absolutely worth sticking with to the end. Enjoy!

S03 E05 - Jo Russell

When we started this podcast, we wrote down a list of people we'd love to have on, and sitting close to the top (between the hairy cornflake and Alan Tichmarsh) was today's guest, Jo Russell.
We've been pestering her to come on for ages but wasn't having any of it, until John upped the appearance fee to two bottles of Blossom Hill, then she was in!
We worked with her for several years at BRMB and didn't know 10% of the stuff she talked about in this episode, so unless you're her mum, you probably don't have a clue either.
There's the story of leading a double life in her early career - insurance sales person by day, radio presenter by night. There's the story about people pretending to be her in Nottingham at the height of her fame while on Trent. And how she once had a very pleasant sacking by one of radio's great managers.
There's strong language in this episode (much to Jo's surprise!).
 
Hear Jo & Sparky on Gem breakfast: https://planetradio.co.uk/gem-106/presenters/gem-breakfast-show-jo-sparky/

S03 E04 - Paul Harper

We've got a few 'firsts' going on in this episode.
The first first is that Paul is the first (OK, stop saying first) Scottish guest on the podcast. We'll be honest, we're not that clued-up about radio north of the border, so it was interesting to hear about the differences between it and radio 'down south'. Who needs contracts?!
Second first is that he's 'done' Australia, and in style. No messing about - straight on 2Day FM. No big deal, just hanging out with Kyle and Jackie O in Sydney.
And the final first is he's our first guest who's on the radio in Canada. And he's kindly offered to put up any Crunch & Roll listeners in his home if you want to visit Toronno (apparently you don't say the 'T'). Thanks Paul!
You're going to find out about the debauchery of Scotland's most rock and roll radio station; how he ended up being Japanese; and the consequences of giving callers funny names on PhoneBox.
There's strong language in this episode, just how you like it.
 
Paul's on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/impaulharper
And listen to his breakfast show on Today Radio in Toronto, here: https://935todayradio.com/paul-harper/
Here's some classic Harper: https://www.aircheckdownloads.com/audio-search?term=paul+harper&sort_bef_combine=relevance_DESC
THAT Tay FM imaging voice! Sponsored time-check? And how hot was BEAT 106?