Song of the Day # 3,466 Pachyman

 

I'm mostly working from home at the moment but yesterday I needed to go onto the office. I had an interesting conversation while I was there. Par for the course, it was not about work.

I have a sparring partner sitting at the desk opposite me. I've known him ever since I got here, fifteen years back. I'll call him Dave, because he didn't ask to be written about on here. We bitch and clash about pretty much everything.. But generally in the bantering fashion that blokes do. He's a nice guy. A Sunderland fan unfortunately. Unfortunately mostly for him these days. I support Newcastle. He swears by The Damned. I worship Television. Generally I'm right and he's wrong. Life's like that. Sorry Dave.

We both listen to BBC 6 Music. It's the radio station for people like us. Battling our way through late middle age like we're struggling down the High Street in the face of an ongoing storm. But 6 Music is no longer completely our station it seems. There's a war raging right now for its very soul.  Daytime Weekday 6 Music is not worth listening to anymore according to Dave. This is not a huge issue for me as I never ever really listened to it. Just in the evenings and at weekends. But now the skirmishes are spreading.

The long standing evening DJs Marc Riley and Gideon Coe who had established and excellent evening shows, have recently been obliged to combine forces and now host together, weakening both their hands. John Peel's son, who bears little resemblance on the radio to his father has been shifted in to appeal to youth apparently. According to Dave, daytime playlists now seem mostly inclined to get listeners out of their seats and onto the dancefloor. The typical 6 Music listeners, who the station owes the basis of its success to, are too concerned about the state of their knees and hips to want to spend too much time on the dancefloor anymore. Ever again frankly.

To my point, and Song of the Day. Finally. I'm becoming more and more like Ronnie Corbett these days. This Sunday I listened to 6 Music continuously for four hours on end. For the first time for many months. Gideon, probably my favourite, was sitting in for the equally excellent Cerys Matthews in the morning and played his inevitable splendid innings, eventually carrying his bat over his shoulder, undefeated, back to the pavilion at close of play, for him at one in the afternoon.

I carried on listening. To Huw Stephens, a DJ I'm unfamiliar with, but who kept the good stuff coming. Including this. Pachyman was born Puerto Rican. He sounds Jamaican. This is the kind of dancefloor filler that even Dave and I might struggle to our feet for and attempt to shake a leg to. Probably much to the amusement of the ladies in the venue. This is excellent stuff. The soul of 6 Music is not yet dead clearly. But it may be fighting a rearguard action. Watch this space.