Crunch & Roll

S03 E03 - Elliott Webb

John describes Elliott as Mr BRMB, and for most people that's probably how they see him too. But there's so much more to his story.
During the course of this episode you might come to regard him as Mr Sacked for Gross Misconduct; Mr Gave Moyles a Pep Talk; or Mr Told His Boss To Fuck Off.
Oh, and find out all about his part in radio's most controversial promotion.
Get ready to get caught up in Elliott's web. Sorry.
Contains strong language.
 
Hear Elliott doing his thing on BBC Hereford and Worcester, weekdays from 10: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00drqfg
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/elliottjwebb
Insta: https://www.instagram.com
 

S03 E02 - Alex Lester

As nicknames go, The Dark Lord is right up there.
But it could have been so different for our guest if a former boss had got his way and convinced him to go with Red.
Alex Lester is truly deserving of the description 'legend'. Three decades at Radio 2 for goodness sake!
He's got some stories from those times, mainly involving Sir Terry, as well as delving into the beginning of his career and the disastrous launch of a station he was involved with.
But the tale of his fan mail nearly made us soil ourselves. Be warned!
There's very strong language and adult content in this episode.
 
Listen to Alex Lester on Greatest Hits Radio: https://planetradio.co.uk/greatest-hits/station/on-air/alex-lester/
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexthedarklord?lang=en
 

S03 E01 - Andy Bush

We're back with an absolute beaut of a guest: It's Andy Bush (or Andrew Buschenfeld if he's in trouble).
We caught up with him just after his show one evening, shortly before he tucked into a supermarket chicken jalfrezi. Don't let anyone tell you radio isn't glamorous.
He chatted to John about how he had always dreamed of being on the radio as a child; his delight after the Global had taken over GWR; and how he bloody LOVES radio conferences. *
Oh, John also goes 'there' and asks the question we all wanted to know...
Expect strong language, adult content and a sad story about a turkey.
 
* For the avoidance of doubt, the opposite of all these things is true.
 
Listen to Hometime with Bush & Richie on Absolute here: https://planetradio.co.uk/absolute-radio/shows/hometime-with-bush-richie/
Buy his amazing book 'Celebs at Home' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celebs-At-Home-Andy-Bush/dp/1783528192
And his numerous, excellent podcasts, including The A-Z of the 90s, Beethoven: The Basics and Scarred for Life are available wherever you get your podcasts.

S02 E12 - Pat Sharp

Yeah mate. Got Pat Sharp on the pod. No biggy.
We'll keep it brief as he doesn't really need much of an introduction.
Find out the real story of the fabled Parky red card incident; what it was like to share a Top of the Pops dressing room with the whole Radio 1 line-up; and the tale of an awkward gig that he wasn't so keen to do.
 
Pat's website: https://patsharp.co.uk/
And Insta: https://www.instagram.com/mrpatsharp/
 

S02 E11 - Neil Bentley

We didn't plan to have loads of former Capital FM legends on this series of Crunch & Roll - in fact we don't plan anything - but we're very pleased it turned out that way.
Neil Bentley's happiest times were not at the big 95.8 though, they were at a another often featured station that, like him, were big on dance and R&B.
Neil's not spoken about his career since leaving the industry over a decade ago, so prepare to learn. And prepare to pick your jaw off the floor after some of the tales that would be best described 'SO radio'.
There's the story of the brutal rejection letter from Radio 1 that might not have been all it seemed; he tells us how one of the world's biggest DJs offered to carry his records into an Egyptian-themed nightclub in Barnsley for him; and his embarrassing interaction with the Queen of Pop.
Contains strong language and adult content.
 
Neil's on Twitter, see: https://twitter.com/DJneilbentley
And Inst: https://www.instagram.com/neilbentley/
This is Neil's digital and creative company: https://www.webvid.com/about/
And you can indulge yourself in some classic Bentley here: https://aircheckdownloads.com/audio-search?term=neil+bentley&sort_bef_combine=relevance_DESC
 

S02 E10 - Chris Brooks

We're always interested to hear how our guests get the radio 'bug', but it's fair to say if you gave us a million guesses as to Chris Brooks' story, we wouldn't have got it. WOW.
This episode is the inspiring story of Chris' single-minded determination to achieve his dream of saying "ninety-five point eight" on the radio. Along with obvious talent and resolve, there was some pretty amazing bits of luck on the way too, along with a heart-warming chat with *checks notes* Parky(?!)
Also hear how he first blagged his way on air, much to his bosses displeasure; a scary story from a stag-do in Vegas; and how he had a member of a boy-band review video games on his show.
And listen right to the end for a bonus George Michael story.
Contains strong language and adult content.
 
As well as being the big cheese at Radio Essex, he also presents The Big Drive Home: https://www.radioessex.com/bigdrivehome/
He also presents The UK Hot 40 Countdown on loads of stations around the world: https://www.theukhot40.com/
AND, somehow finds the time to present the excellent A-Z of Men Podcast: https://podfollow.com/1589076478/view
Chris is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisBrooksDJ
And on the 'Gram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisbrooksdj/
 

S02 E09 - David Dixon

Nobody calls him David... unless he's in trouble. So from here on in, we'll use the moniker he's more commonly known by - Dixie.
Dixie is one of the rare breed who are still plying their trade on the radio, after a long and successful career. He must be good!
If you've not heard him on the radio before, then we reckon this episode might make you want to seek him out on Heart Yorkshire, where he co-presents the local Drive show with Emma Lenney. His stories are BRILLIANT.
Find out about the (luke)warm welcome he got when starting work experience at his local station; the madness of trying to broadcast to Brighton in a studio that maybe wasn't quite up to the task; and how he had his eye on a personalised number-plate for when he inevitably got his a gig on Kiss. Although, we don't ever remember hearing him on Kiss...
Contains strong language and adult content.
 
Listen to Dixie & Emma on Heart Yorkshire, weekdays 4-7 - https://www.heart.co.uk/yorkshire/ 
Dixie is on Instagram, like all the cool kids: https://www.instagram.com/dixieonline/

S02 E08 - Kam Kelly

The great thing about podcasting is we can see exactly where in the world people are listening.
Crunch & Roll obviously has a strong following in the UK, but we also have listeners in such far-flung places as South Africa, Indonesia and French Guiana.
But we also know there's a small but perfectly formed cohort of listeners about as far away from 'home' as it's possible to be: the Falkland Islands. And one of that number happens to be this episodes guest, Kam Kelly.
But how did he get there? (Don't say aeroplane.) Well, he went in hard, starting his career at Radio 1 and ended up on the station he had always dreamed of being on as a kid. You'll have to listen to find out the rest.
He chats about the biggest star in the world upset his co-host; bringing presenters four-packs of cider while they're on air; and why you should never say the word 'camel' to him.
There's strong language in this episode.
 
Listen to Kam on BFBS: https://radio.bfbs.com/presenters/kam-kelly
If you've listened and wondered about the camel thing... Sorry Kam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1DQMhWAh-0
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kamkelly

S02 E07 - Daryl Denham

For some people having two chart hit records would constitute a great achievement.
Others would be over the moon having written several successful musicals.
And plenty would rest on their laurels after giving stand-up comedy a bash.
Not Daryl Denham though.
No, no, no. Not content with taking the charts, theatres and back-rooms of pubs by storm, he also had an incredible career in radio. Well, it would be weird if he didn't, what with this being a radio podcast and all...
In this episode Foxy chats to Daryl about how he's not a radio geek (I KNOW, RIGHT?); the strange and unwieldly item he bought on his last day at Hallam; and how his adults-only, late night show didn't go down well in Newcastle.
Contains some strong language.
 
Daryl's Twitter: twitter.com/DarylDenham
 

S02 E06 - Martin Kelner

Listeners to Five Live's Fighting Talk will know each episode ends with the two highest scorers defending a controversial or unpopular opinion in order to win the episode.
So, in that vain: Martin Kelner knows nothing about radio and deserved to be paid less than a horse.
Of course he knows nothing about radio. He's only spent the best part of half a century in the industry. Radio 2? Radio Who more like! So what if he introduced Caroline Aherne and Jake Yapp to us? Victoria Wood was absolutely right to walk out on his interview with her. And Edouard Lapaglie has carried him for years!
Actually, that might be a Defend the Indefensible too far.
Martin is, as Foxy puts it, radio royalty. So we insist you be upstanding while listening to this episode.
There's strong language and we must warn you that this episode includes the funniest story ever told on this podcast, so spare undergarments may be required.
 
See Martin's Tweets here: https://twitter.com/martinkelner
Hear Extra Time with Martin Kelner on TalkSport, Friday and Saturday nights from 1am.
Martin's books 'Sit Down and Cheer - A history of sport on TV' and 'When Will I Be Famous - Travels through the dark side of show business' are available to buy now. And his new book, 'Screen Break', will be available in mid-2023 so keep an eye out for that.