Sunday 6 March 2011

Welcome back A1 followers. "And what news from our favourite sunny studio this week", I hear you cry.

Well..... we have had a very busy week. At some points all phone lines were ringing off the hook and the answer machine had to kick in, much to the surprise of some of our regular callers who are used to the one ring and pick up system.

Some calls we get are those highly irritating sales pitches for completely irrelevant services. However, the most interesting calls we get are those that think they are calling for a job at a fast food restaurant or attempting to book a cruise ship holiday.

The numbers to both places must be one digit different to A1 which causes all sorts of problems for the hapless job seeker and pensioner cruisers!

Charles and I often have a giggle about these calls as some of them are like a dog with a bone and are adamant that it is us that are in the wrong and not them.

One of my particular favourites was when a well spoken, elderly lady called trying to book a cruise down the Nile. I explained that whilst I had been there myself, and had a lovely time, I couldn't help her with her booking as I was a Sound Studio Manager and knew nothing of the early bird saver scheme! Finally, after conceding that I wasn’t part of the travel bureau, the lady said:

“Well do you have the number for the travel agent then?”





The absolute gem comes from a conversation Charles had with yet another elderly dear, this time a gentleman, trying to book a holiday to some other far flung destination.

To this day Charles bases his ‘Dithery Old Man’ voice on this very episode.

After much stumbling of words, greying of hair and general confusion, the gentleman in question finally cottoned on that he had called the wrong number. However, rather than apologising and hanging up the man paused dramatically and then said.....................................





“Well you shouldn't have answered if it’s not for you!”




For once this left Our Nove totally speechless. I mean what do you say to that folks?









And so to our first guest of the week – Miss Keavy Lynch.

She once beguiled us with tons of denim and innocent pop ditties such as C’est La Vie and Rollercoaster as one fourth of 90’s girl band B*witched. The group were the first international girl band to score 4 consecutive Number 1 singles with their releases in the UK. One of her fellow band members was twin sister Edele. The ladies also have a famous bro in the form of Shane Lynch from Boyzone. Blimey singing round the piano at Christmas time must be something that picture postcards are made of!

Both girls have now grown-up physically, come of age musically and are stomping back onto the music scene dressed in leather bodices and fishnets in the guise of new band Barbarellas.

Barbarellas made their debut public appearance in September 2010 at the prestigious Miss Ireland award ceremony where they performed 3 of their new songs. Although the venue was swarming with Ireland’s greatest beauties, all eyes were on the Barbarellas who, quite literally, brought the audience to a standing ovation of cheers and shrieks as they performed tracks from their forthcoming debut album, Night Mode.

As Barbarellas, the Lynch sisters have finally returned and stand ready to inject fresh excitement into the pop world. 2011…get ready for the almighty Barbarellas!

Having finished her session at A1, myself and Charles grabbed Keavy for a quick picture and a chat. Keavy had her hair up whilst voicing but all she had to do was untie it, shake it about a couple of times, and voila, she was picture perfect with tumbling tresses that could have been teased by Vidal Sassoon himself!

Charles asked her if she had her fair share of fruit cakes following her and it seems that Keavy does indeed have quite a following. One fan was even outraged that Keavy’s family knew something of her whereabouts before their fan base did. It resulted in a discussion about how some intense fans of celebrity actually think they own the star – I guess it can all get pretty scary, though being a humble Essex girl with a mere Disco Dancing Championship title to my name (that’s right folks – 1989!), I wouldn’t have the foggiest how it actually feels to have people wanting to know your every move.

Charles then regaled us with the tale of his 90 year old fan that turned up at the radio station very late at night with a face full of red lipstick cunningly applied on a bus driving at warp speed. Poor old dear only wanted to make sure that she had enough left to smear over Charles as well. ‘Kiss me Quick’ never rung so true eh Charles!

So we left Keavy to continue her busy day.....her next stop...off to buy some wigs! Oh I love hearing about how these celeb types spend their days.

Second up the stairs to VOX Towers was sexy Manchurian Dean Lennox Kelly.

Dean is best known for his role playing bed-hopping barman Kev Ball in hit Chanel 4 show Shameless. Much of the series saw him romping naked with sexy blonde Veronica. Oh how I miss those days – "Cheeky Dean".

Dean revealed that it's taken him years to shake off the Shameless character of lovable Kev despite starring in some major TV dramas.

He said: "I loved that show and it changed my life but it was worrying that for quite a while after I left I'd still see Kev peering back at me whenever I looked in the mirror. He just wouldn't leave me alone."

The difficulty has been shared by viewers who still frequently refer to him as "that bloke from Shameless" despite recent roles in dramas like classic Cranford, crime caper The Invisibles and last autumn's ITV drama Collision about the harrowing effect of a major road crash.

Dean said: "It's difficult because when you're in something as good as Shameless not a lot of people want you to try different roles. They still want you to be that guy in that show. But as an actor you want to move on."

So having a laugh and asking Dean if he fancies a pint at The Jockey and a quickie in the bogs, probably wouldn’t go down too well then!

A few of the A1 boys have also been flaunting their wares this week......calm down we haven’t had a case of 'All Vox and No Jocks' but they have been practicing their trade away from A1.

First up Mr Mark Straker took a three day leave of absence so that he could go and film for Law and Order. Here he is in all his finery.

Mark plays nasty defence barrister Morgan Braithe. He looks like he could sentence you with one raise of an eyebrow!!!! Down boy, down!

Second up is Mr Stephen Critchlow who has upped sticks and taken himself off to Salisbury. He is in a play called The Game of Love and Chance at the Salisbury Playhouse until April 23rd.

In it he plays Randy the Cow Poke, a brooding enigmatic drifter who arrives at a small trading outpost in the mid west and all the women fall in love with him.

Not really. He plays the dad!

So if you happen to be catching a breath of fresh air somewhere in the vicinity check it out.

LONDON NEWS:

"Commuters give thumbs down to phone proposal"

A WHOPPING three quarters of Londoners have given the thumbs down to plans to have a mobile network on the underground.

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei want to install the system in time for the London Olympics in 2012. Yet in a new poll of 1,094 Londoners by comparison site GoodMobilePhones.co.uk only 24 per cent want the scheme to go ahead.

Of the 76 per cent opposed to the underground cellular network, a third said they were worried about the threat from muggers or thieves for those passengers brandishing mobiles on the tube. 16 per cent feared their mobile phone bills would increase.

Further criticism has come from security experts who suggest terrorists could use the network to set off explosive devices remotely using their mobile phones.

It's not known what percentage of Londoners simply dread the sound of their fellow commuters droning on endlessly about business deals, boyfriends and football!!!!.

I don't know.... this age of technology is marvellous in its own way but downright annoying and confusing in another - C'est La Vie. I myself like nothing better than a letter penned quietly and taken to its destination by carrier pigeon. Now who can I call about a once in a lifetime trip to Katmandu?.............

Till next week gang - Keep it quietly vocal and on the right number.



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