“That has got to be the worst pirate I have ever seen”

No that isn’t a rebuke for a dodgy download.

The famous quote from Pirates of the Caribbean, is one which guest of the week, Tom Hollander, knows only too well having played Lord Cutler Beckett in the famous franchise.

At Cambridge Tom studied English. It is also where he took the title role in a memorable production of Cyrano de Bergerac that brought together an interesting assortment of talent. Sam Mendes, a childhood friend from Oxford, was the director, their pal Tom Piper was designer, and Nick Clegg played Carbon de Castel-Jaloux.

So more the thesp, director and politician than the lion, the witch and the wardrobe!

Moviegoers will have seen Tom as a penniless aristo in Gosford Park, as hapless minister Simon Foster in The Loop, and as creepy-sounding choreographer/child catcher in the fairytale movie Hanna.

From December to March of this year you can catch him in Richard Eyre’s production of Flea in her Ear at the Old Vic.

However it is Tom’s latest TV performance in Rev that is winning him all sorts of new fans.

Lily Allen tweeted her love of Rev, which sees Tom playing the embattled leader of a tiny, rackety congregation in grimy East London:

“Tom Hollander is my favourite British actor, very very funny”

This coming from someone with an often acidic cyber-tongue is high praise indeed!

So Tom packs quite an a-list punch, but at just 5ft5in let’s hope he doesn’t get into a real fight!

A1 VOX INSIGHTS TO THE WORLD OF VOICE OVER

So after an extensive session, recording a myriad of foreign voices, we asked resident A1 VOX engineer Chris – “how do you go about organising such sessions?”

Our intrepid audio goon had this to say on the matter:

“Rule 1 of foreign voice over – we don’t talk about fore…oops, sorry, wrong list. What I mean to say is that the translations will be picked apart by every language artist that comes in.

Never assume you will be able to start a session without a voice artist pointing out the inadequacies of the translation they have been given, and how to improve it – which of course is very helpful, apart from when you’ve been asked not to deviate from the given script; as it has been approved by clients.

Always record two versions – one that is exactly as written, unless the artist say’s that it’s complete gobbledygook, and one translated as the voice artist wishes. Send both to the client and diplomatically ask if they think the new translation is an improvement.

Rule 2 of foreign voice over – LABEL EVERYTHING!!!! If you don’t know your Turkish from your Kurdish, your Thai from your Taiwanese; then you will be kicking yourself if you don’t have everything clearly labelled!

Rule 3 of foreign voice over – if you have time, play everything recorded back to the artist, and make sure they are confident that they haven’t fluffed or mispronounced anything.

Rule 4 of foreign voice over – If you feel that something sounded hesitant, it probably was. The voice artist might assure you it was ok, but when they do it again, you will notice that it didn't sound hesitant the second time around.

No matter what the language, the human ear can pick up on unfamiliarity and beat pauses that were not meant to be included.

Trust your judgement, even when someone tells you it’s ok.

Rule 5 of foreign voice over – copious cups of tea are essential to recording any language, but especially ones you don’t understand very well!”

Thanks Chris - that is a top trump lesson. There can be no more excuses for anyone out there battling with a foreign voice over session. This blog should become your bible.

SOHO NEWS

I haven’t done any celeb spotting on the streets for a while now so I thought I would share my double whammy Valentine’s Day experience with you all.

There I was minding my own business and on my way to a free cut and colour when I stumbled across a rather large group of grown men prancing about on Old Compton Street with Proton packs on their back!!??.

This can only mean one thing, I thought, - the council have finally had enough of the ruddy pigeons and decided to exterminate the whole blooming lot. Heartless measure to take on Valentines Day!

However on closer inspection I noticed the group were huddled around Gerry’s Wine and Spirits.

Dutch courage before the V Day massacre?????

NO – in fact the furore was all for the benefit of Mr Dan Aykroyd – aka Mr Ghostbuster.

It seems that Dan was camped out in the Soho drink emporium to promote Crystal Head Vodka – the most recent and innovative vodka brand to hit the spirits market and created by none other than Mr Aykroyd himself.

It was quite a sight to behold as the nerdy collective of Ghostbuster fans all queued to get a signed bottle of vodka when all they really wanted was Ray Parker Jrs. hit Ghostbusters playing out whilst they neutralised vapours, entities and other low life spectral deviants, thus preventing chaos on the streets of Soho,…..and ultimately saving the day…Gulp!

So I moved quickly on to my hairdressing appointment where woman of the moment, England's answer to Rihanna, and girlfriend to Rob Kardashian, - Rita Ora was also getting her locks chopped. Or should I say extended as Rita had been in the salon for 7 hours having her extensions removed and replaced!!!!!

Brother Kardashian stayed with her throughout the whole process even when she suggested he go back to their hotel suite – it must have been Valentines love……or maybe the free beer they kept giving him, but he stuck with her throughout the whole ordeal!

If you would like to be a free hair model, and do a bit of celeb spotting at the same time, then give Percy and Reed a call. A-List hair without opening up the purse strings – Sir, Yes, Sir!

So end’eth another Blog. Who knows what A1 VOX insights we will be delving into next week but be sure to tune in and find out oh loyal followers of Soho’s friendliest studio.

We are still in the grips of the big freeze but have a lot of vocal warmth left in our hearts. Long live the British spirit……..and radiators!

It seems that our guests were feeling the need for getting their tonsils toasty, as they merrily chatted away to us before their sessions.

I suppose it is a great way of getting the old pipes going, and it sure beats those wierdy vocal exercises and la la la’ing that we often hear as people ascend the stairs.(What our neighbours think I have no idea!)

Our first merry customer of the week was Corrie star Steven Arnold.

Steven will be fondly remembered for his role as squeaky-voiced butcher Ashley Peacock in the Weatherfield drama. Son to Fred Elliott on the show this was one sausage maker that had his fill of humorous and meaty storylines including the murder of first wife Maxine.

Last year it was with a heavy heart that Steven had to say goodbye to a character he had played for over fifteen years. In true soap land style he went out with a crash, bang and WALLOP as Ashley was one of the few Corrie unfortunates to find himself killed off by that fateful tram.

TV Genius at its best.

But whilst Steven is a veteran of the small screen I feel very privileged and honoured to be able to say that myself and the team at A1 VOX guided him through his first ever voice over gig!!!!

Added to this monumental occasion Steven also informed me he had given up the dreaded weed that very day, so it was with some trepidation that I offered him a cup of tea for fear of a nicotine induced melt down!

However, Steven laughed and said a cuppa would be most welcome. I hope I managed to put Steven at ease by talking him through the process of the voice over session ahead, and prepping him for entering that strange little booth for the first time.

I guess working on the Street, in such a pressure cooker environment, gives you an invaluable set of skills. I listened in to Steven’s session and he sounded like a consummate professional.

On leaving he had a big grin on his face - a sign of relief, and pride, that he ‘had it in the can’. Praise where praise is due and with his vocal cherry well and truly popped I let him know that he had done an outstanding job.

There had been talk of Steven quitting acting to reportedly become a roofer. I asked him with a coy smile how he felt about that now – it seems ‘don’t give up your day job’ may become his mantra as he continues working in the arts - all be it behind a mic for now.

Good luck Steven we hope to hear more of you in the future.

Who here remembers Mel and Sue’s Light Lunch on Channel 4?

It was hosted by Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, who shot to TV stardom having written for French and Saunders.

I have to say that Mel is one of the few comedians that seems to either imitate her art or simply is as outgoing and bubbly as her on screen persona.

She came bounding into A1 like an over excited puppy and her enthusiasm was infectious.

On reading up on Mel it seems that this is the real deal as even on her own website she is very much tongue in cheek about her good self:

“Mel has spent most of her adult life as a child. Her only long-term relationship to date was a regrettable liaison with television personality Cap’n Birdseye.

Their five year marriage ended in the divorce courts after Mel discovered her husband had faked his navy credentials and was not a Cap’n at all – just a struggling actor with a penchant for standing too close to small boys with a frozen cod-stick in his hand”

I'm saying nothing!

Here she is taking a bite of the forbidden A1 fruit that Chris offered up to her, like the snake tempting Eve.

Not that I am likening Chris to a snake - he is anything but! He is just very generous and likes to keep his guests delicately tuned with his pick of Tesco’s finest.

Mel and Sue recently joined horns once more on The Great British Bake Off - Brit baking with a good dollop of Mel and Sue – lovely jubbly.

Mel continues to venture into the vocal and radio domain, and you can catch her presenting The Four O’Clock Show on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

A1 VOX News

Continuing with the baking theme it seems you really can have your cake and eat it!!!!!!!!!

Earlier this week Charles drew my attention to an article he had spied in The Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9069276/Chocolate-cake-breakfast-could-help-you-lose-weight.html

YES – according to new research having dessert – along with the traditional fry up – is a calorie defying burn buster.

Article ‘can this be true’ states that eating choccies as part of a breakfast that includes proteins and carbs stems the craving for sweet something’s later.

So put down that lumpy porridge, spit in the face of muesli, and get yourselves down Kath’s Caf' for a greasy platter and a wedge of something naughty to follow – Oh be still my calorie laden heart.

Join us next week when Chris will be instructing on the best way to cope with multiple, foreign voiced, Sound to Picture sessions (try saying that after a few shandy's!), and we get to grips with the baddie from Pirates of the Carribean star, Tom Hollander.

Till then - Eat Cake!

Shivering timbers! Things have taken a definite turn to the cold side.

Being ever so British I have been discussing weather fronts all week with a multitude of clients and producers both in Britain and the rest of the world.

On comparing wintry office views with one of our regular radio producers, Eric over at Riviera Radio in Monaco, France, I was sent across a couple of photos as evidence of his opulent winter wonderland.

This is the view from Eric’s office:

Not too shabby.

And this was the view from one of his radio listener’s houses just a stone’s throw away from Eric’s lush 9-5 pad:

I say….what a vista!!!!

Regardless of weather fronts A1 VOX doesn’t just huddle away in the safety confines of the studio.

Chris and Charles regularly trek further afield than London in order to record a regular client.

We are not at liberty to discuss client particulars, but the customer in question frequently changes the recording rendezvous at the last minute due to the nature of their business. We have even journeyed to the coast in a quest to keep smiles on faces.

You see it is our job to make sure we can change our plans, both at the studio and the recording destination to keep everybody happy. Communication is key people, as is swift thinking and a great knowledge of the British transport system and roads!

Unlike my train service provider, A1 VOX go to great lengths to keep clients happy. Both parties reap the benefits, and this makes for a great working relationship. So if anyone out there should need the services of a roaming audio engineer just give A1 a call.

We didn’t have to go very far to record the first guest of the week as Julian Barratt joined us here at A1 VOX HQ.

I often find it interesting meeting comedians to see if they are hilarious in real life or just oddballs with a dark and twisted past.

I guess that coming in for a voice over job doesn’t exactly display every nuance of your character but Julian came across as quiet, very self-deprecating and a totally nice chap.

Julian is an English comedian, musician, music producer, and actor. He is best known for playing “jazz maverick” Howard Moon in cult comedy The Mighty Boosh, which he co-wrote with comedy partner Noel Fielding.

“Noel and I are working apart now, which is quite hard, having made something together. It’s like we’re having affairs but have mutual custody of the kid”

Apart from The Mighty Boosh Julian has had parts in Nathan Barley, Asylum alongside Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and appeared as The Padre in spoof horror series Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace.

Julian recently completed his directing debut in Curtains. Set in a Norfolk seaside town it is a dark comedy about a Punch and Judy man. That’s the way to do it – sorry.

Julian is now venturing more and more into the world of voice over having put his vocal pout to More Than Insurance, a Directgov advert and narrated the 2011 documentary Seven Dwarves. The mighty voice for little people eh Julian.

So when he is not cavorting around with Noel, what makes this comedian tick?

“Badly spread butter on toast can send me incandescent with rage”

Noted Julian - So if you are having a sleep over in the Barratt household probably best to leave Julian to make the brekkie!

…..Or ask our second guest of the week to make it for you, as next up the stairs was none other than Julian’s partner, and mother to his twin boys – Julia Davis.

Julia is an English comedy writer and performer, but is best known for writing and starring in the BBC Three comedy Nighty Night.

In fact Julia spent three years writing what became one of the darkest comedies seen on television to date. It seems she used her role as sociopathic beauty parlour owner Jill Tyrell to challenge the very notion of what comedy is and can be.

“Jill let me say and do things I would never get away with in real life”

So how did it all start?

Julia used to belong to a comedy troupe which included future Gavin and Stacey co-stars Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones. Her big break came as a regular cast member of Big Train, and her career was given a further boost in 1998 after she sent a tape to Steve Coogan who invited her to write and tour with him.

Julia has starred in many comedy TV shows including I’m Alan Partridge, Big Train, Brass Eye, Jam, Human Remains, and Gavin and Stacey. She has also had roles in films Love Actually, Sex lives of the Potato Men (yes really!) and Confetti.

Julia’s comedy often comes from a dark place and it kind of makes sense that her and Julian gravitated to one another.

So how does Julia feel now that she too has branched out into the voice over industry?:

“You know, my attitude towards work has changed. I used to think that you’d be selling out if you did something like a voice over. Now I don’t think like that. You have got to be realistic”

We are happy that you acknowledge voice over work as credible in its own right Julia…..I guess it will do until you get your next comedy idea riddled with brutality, murder, and sexual deviance eh!

So that concludes our whizz around A1 VOX happenings.

Now go get under a blanket, stay inside, and crank up the cosy factor to an 11/10.

Word on the street is that if a job is worth doing it’s best to go straight to A1 VOX.

Word of mouth is a strong tool indeed. In fact we were recently approached by a new company who had been nudged our way by an A1 VOX client. Thank you very much.

In a bid to uphold this recommendation we flung ourselves at their mercy and we're only too happy to listen to their app idea.

Technology changes quicker than Angelina Jolie popping out her next sprog, and us folk at VOX Towers love to keep abreast of current trends by getting involved with projects that are a little bit different from the norm. On hearing said concept we leapt at the chance to get on board, and decided we were the ones to help bring it all to life.

The brief we were given was to supply a female artist that could speak a number of stock phrases, in six different accents. Nothing new there for old hats such as ourselves. The unique part of the gig was that they wanted to video the artists mouth as she was voicing.

They had a specific target market to which this app was aimed - namely your bloke on the street who reads Nuts and Zoo and downs lager as if it is going out of fashion. Wahey!

With this in mind, and the client needing a hot woman, (well who doesn’t),…….it fell to Miss Eleanor Howell to deliver the goods, I mean voice.

The day came before we could say 'Apple Mac' and Studio A quickly transformed from audio hub to temporary film set. There was much angling of lights and clearing of decks to make room for the camera but before long the stage was set.

Chris had a table top mic stand with a directional mic ( a c1000 AKG) angled towards Ellie as close as possible (but just out of camera shot). This ensured that A1 VOX got the best quality recording available, rather than leaving the clients to rely on the internal camera mic, which would have sounded 'roomy' due to it's distance from Ellie.

With quotes such as ‘It’s not Christmas, or your birthday, so don’t even ask’ said in numerous fashions, Ellie brought the house down.

She even applied different colour lipsticks for each region to give the whole shebang an authentic touch. Bravo Miss Howell.

So 'Luscious Lips Ellie' will be gracing smart-phones in the very near future, with the addition of some nicely recorded audio of course - how's about that then!

(As for Ellie’s other half…well he is happy to stick with the real thing giving him grief, even if she isn’t wearing fluro lipstick!).

Excitement reached fever pitch last week as Monty Python’ite extraordinaire Terry Jones came into the studio.

Chris was stoked that he would be working alongside one of his idols and with this in mind we thought a picture of Chris, with Terry, was the order of the day.

To some people he is a god but to coin a Life of Brian phrase…'He’s not the Messiah. He’s a very naughty boy!'

Terry will forever be synonymous with Monty Python but he is also a renowned medieval historian, controversially, a champion of church conservation, (even though Life of Brian is considered blasphemous and three out four movies that he directed were banned in Ireland: The Meaning of Life, Monty Python’s Life of Brian and Personal Services), oh….and at the age of 69 he is father of a two year old. I say!

He has written countless books and last year he directed a short opera that he also wrote a libretto for called The Doctor’s Tale.

We have met some seriously talented artists here at A1 VOX but Terry sure takes some beating!

‘He promised me all the gold I could eat’

It seems that Terry (unlike Brian's mum), got it all, as everything he touches turns to the shiny stuff - Lucky, talented so and so.

Terry was at our studio for a couple of hours as part of a PR agencies media day.

Another A1 VOX specialty is the ability to co-ordinate a schedule of interviews with different radio stations across the country.

Chris was at the helm to make sure that we connected successfully, swapping from one codec to another, and enabling the session to run without error.

As some of the stations were airing the interviews live, and not all were pre records, this was pretty hairy stuff.

Chris, ever the professional, took it all in his stride and put in an A1 performance.

Terry did his part too of course by sitting cheerfully in the booth and delivering each interview as if it were the first of the day.

Afterwards he was more than happy to hang around with a big smile on his face and a word for everyone. Legend!

A1 VOX NEWS

Many of you who are familiar with A1 VOX will know that one of our resident in house voices has a bit of a strange hobby…no it is not Trevor Nichols playing the lute with his thighs…step forward Lucy Scott.

Lucy likes to swim.. but not lengths of the local, (that would be far too normal). She likes to swim in sub zero waters - the loon!

Last weekend was the 2012 Winter Swimming Championships in Jurmala, Latvia.

The event is held every two years and involves 25metre, 50metre sprints, relay swims and endurance swims in water approximately zero degrees. The air is no better at around minus 20!!!! Makes England seem positively Caribbean.

The meet was set up by the Finnish sixteen years ago and they have been campaigning to turn it into a winter Olympic recognised sport.

Here is Lucy about to swim the 50 metres in a rather fetching glittery red number. You can take the girl off the stage but………..

Lucy was rewarded for freezing off all extremities by getting silver in the 50metres and gold in the 25metres – Well stoke up the fire and call me Wendy!

Well Done Lucy!.

The next event is in 2014, Lapland – the Arctic Circle. So if you fancy a madcap weekend, with people who like to submerge themselves into a vat of ice, (and grin about it afterwards), get in contact with Lucy who will show you that ‘The Only Way is Bloody Cold.’

Join us next week when Julian Barratt of Mighty Boosh fame makes an appearance, and we find out what makes this funny man incandescent with rage!

Grab hold of your mics and nail down your headphones……WE ARE BACK!

So I went off to become a Mrs (please see the couple of photos below as evidence of this) , and took the trip of a lifetime around Asia.

Sarah and Dom outside Leez Priory right after 'I Do'.

Sarah ecstatic that the big day has finally arrived and she can down champagne with much abandon!

All this was happening whilst you lot were at home cautiously twiddling your thumbs and chewing fingernails, awaiting news of the latest A1 VOX happenings.

Well wait no more fine followers!

You will be glad to hear that whilst I was away the A1 VOX ship was calmly sailed by Mr Tom Heath.

Under the watchful eye of Captain Nove, and First Mate Chris O’Conner, Tom steered us nicely into November and December – (Captain Francesco Schettino please take note of how it’s done!).

So we are still technically sound and very much afloat.

Well Done Tom and a big thank you from all at A1 for your hard graft and periless voyages into the depths of the vocal sea.

Here at A1 we aren’t just your run of the mill studio. In point of fact we pretty much turn our hand to anything with much gusto.

It was due to this A1 VOX joie de vivre that we were able to throw a lifeline to one of our Danish clients.

They had been recording Denmark’s Next Top Model (a spin off from the Tyra Banks’ franchise in good ole U S of A), and needed to get some recordings taken as a matter of fashionista urgency from their Danish presenter, Caroline Fleming.

There were however a few hurdles to cross in order to gain said revered lines - the biggest being Caroline’s schedule.

She was due to fly out on holiday the day of the recording, which meant that she was frantically finalising packing and unable to make it into the studio. This left her Danish Top Model counterparts pulling at their hair and making all sorts of guttural noises.

There was only one thing for it…If Muhammad can’t come to the mountain, …….then A1 VOX shall go instead!

So we sent our top man in the field Mr Chris O’Conner off to record Baroness Caroline Fleming in her very own home.

This was not going to be a mean feat as Caroline is a bit of a big deal and we had no idea what to expect.

Caroline pocketed a cool £400 million after splitting from multi-millionaire banker husband Rory Fleming – cousin to none other than James Bond creator Ian!

Seriously well connected people that aren’t short of a bob or two.

In fact Caroline is ‘so money’ that she became known as a reality star in her homeland when she filmed the rennovations to her family pile – Valdemars Castle.

You heard right people…..she owns her own castle. Stone the crows!

Since her divorce she has found happiness with Fellow Dane and Arsenal premier league ace, Nicklas Bendtner. So it is a case of Arsenal 1 Palace 1 for the gorgeous, stinking rich pair.

So Chris made his way to an undisclosed, extremely exclusive, neighbourhood.

It seems that this area is so ‘well to do’ that the mere presence of an unknown face causes the police to question anyone who doesn’t walk around with a chihuahua in their handbag and go by the first name of Darrrrrling.

Chris made it to Caroline’s modest abode where he had to wait in the hallway with the conceierge until she was ready to receive him.

Once in, the recording took a total of 5 minutes to complete. Chris said that Caroline was very professional, giving him two reads of the script before sending him out with a signed picture of herself.

Job Done!

Our Danish clients were delighted and said that Caroline must have been impressed with Chris and his lack of intrusion to her day, and her home, as she was very amenable towards him and told the client that all had gone very well….apparantly not everyone rings in such high praise.

So if you have a job….. and no one else can help…..maybe you should hire…The A1 Vox Team!!!!!!!!!


Back at A1 VOX Central this rugged Northern type by the name Ralph Ineson came in to offer up his rich Yorkshire accent.

Ralph is best known for playing the character of Chris Finch (aka Finchy) in The Office.

‘What’s the difference between a fox and a dog?.......About 8 pints of lager!!!!!!!!!!!!’

Classic Finch.

The travelling Sales Rep and David (Ricky Gervais’ character) were debauched partners in crime. His appearances in the office consisted of unprintable language and innuendo. He was, however, unfathomably successful with women.

‘So I get there, she’s aged 19, Ferrari chassis, fantastic set of shelves and legs up to her arse. Muchos tequilas later I’m in a cab with her’.

Ralph took a turn in Hollywood blockbusters First Knight and Jonny Depp’s From Hell. Most recently you may have seen him in Spooks and playing Amycus Carrow in the Harry Potter films.

'Eh By Gum' he were a lovely lad and a pleasure to have at the Towers.

Well that is all for this week folks.

It is an absolute pleasure to be back in the breach. I for one am looking forward to sharing 2012 behind the mic of Soho’s friendliest studio with everyone out there in the vocal stratosphere.

Till next time when Chris meets one of his all time idols and Ellie Howell features in our next ‘A1 VOX can do Anything – and More!’ special session report.

Hello one and all and welcome to this weeks blog.

I have devised a slight twist on the normal format by calling this weeks Blog - Fact and Trivia, which does exactly as stated and gives facts and then trivia about each of our guests. So get reading people and find out what has been keeping A1 VOX ticking this week.

First up we would like to draw your attention to the New Bentley Continental GTC advert.

http://www.bentleymotors.com/models/new_continental_gtc/#

And why in the name of A1 VOX have I done this?

Dynamic style, and breathtaking performance - that’s why….. and no I am not talking about the iconic piece of machinery, but the man behind the wheel on the ad - our lovely guest voice artist Mr Al Convy.

He is the Brad Pitt of the voice over world and we are lucky as the main man visits us on a regular basis. Take a look at the ad and see for yourselves. Nice Brogues Al!

Al tells us that it was a tough day at the office - driving a Bentley around, filming in exotic locations, with a pretty hot looking female as his companion….all this and he got paid for the priviledge!!!! I have said it before and I will say it again – I am in the wrong job people.

So if you are looking for the enchantment of open-top motoring, there’s no better place to experience it than it the wheel of a Bentley….unfortunately Al does not come with the car so probably best to watch the advert ladies.

Ex Radio 1 DJ Dixie Peach joined us last week and what a jolly fellow he was.

Dixie played American style rock and funk and first hit the airwaves on Saturday nights in 1984. Great year – I bought my first ever vinyl single in 1984 - ‘Hey you the Rock Steady Crew’, an awesome track, but I digress.

On Dixie’s 2 ½ hour Midnight Runner show he featured artistes such as Bryan Adams, Nils Lofgren and Rick Springfield.

Dixie was also involved in the worlds most famous off shore radio station, which is still on air today – Radio Caroline.

Yes Dixie once rocked out on the water during what some class as Radio Caroline’s golden era.

This comment is from one avid listener of that time who comes all the way from California!!!!

"Chapter 10 of the series, treating the return of Radio Caroline in 1983, brought back some very happy memories. I vividly remember the days leading up to the first broadcast from the Ross, the test tones, the — usually incorrect! — media reports and the shock of hearing just how powerful the signal was. I'd never heard anything like it before. Nice to think about Dixie Peach, too. Have you ever met the guy? (yes I have actually!), I could never figure out if he was "high on life" or high on some of that famous Falls Head Herb — usually found in the Overdrive studio, so John Bennett tells me (vicous rumour!). Wonder where he is now? The late 1970's model of Radio Caroline is still my favourite, despite the fact they were on and off the air more than a partisan station in WW2."

Well I can tell you where Dixie was last week….. up at VOX Towers is where - reminiscing about his jock days. A lovely chap, with a warm smile and fond memories of Radio through the 70’s and 80’s – I could almost see myself in my green ra ra skirt, hair in a side pony and a bat wing jumper, roller skating at Roller City to Salt n Pepper as he spoke. Ah them be the good old days.

Our Dixie Peach trivia is that his real name is Bernie Michael, so no his parents weren’t just lovers of fried chicken and ripe juicy peaches….it just sounded cool.

Next up to join in the fun was Daniela Denby-Ashe.

Daniela appeared in sitcom My Family as daughter Janey for eleven years. Daniela says:

“I was really surprised by the success of the show. I don’t think anyone expected that”

Daniela got her big break in 1995 when she landed the role of Sarah Hills in Eastenders. She has since been in the BBC drama adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, Torchwood and also the role of Saffy’s daughter in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous.

A little fact-bite about Daniela is that she speaks English, French and Polish. How tres Rozumny!!!

('Very Clever' for those of you out there that may not as well versed in these particular languages).

Lastly, but by no means least, the actor Bill Paterson joined us to record the voice over for a TV Commercial promoting the once derelict village of Polphail.

Polphail lies in Portavadie, Scotland, and was built to accommodate workers at a planned oil platform construction yard. The yard was never completed, and the village was never occupied.

One story from the time describes Portavadie as home to the world’s largest man-made hole, said to have been dug at a cost of £14 million or £4 million, for oil rig construction orders which never materialised. The figure given may be a typo, or simply result from different accounting practices used to produce alternative reports. Whatever the actual figure, it appears to have been a very expensive hole!

Bill’s brother lives in the area and so when he was approached to put his voice to the new development, (which has since been created to transform the eyesore into something exclusive and worthwhile), he jumped at the chance. It is good to see that this high profile actor is still in touch with his roots and willing to take on smaller projects that are close to his heart. What a guy.

Bill spent much of the 1970’s in John McGrath’s theatre company 7:84, touring the United Kingdom.

Bill’s career then took him into the world of the small box which included a turn in the 1978 BAFTA award winning drama Licking Hitler. He did not entirely neglect theatre however and in 1982 he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance as Schweyk in Schweik in the Second World War, at the National Theatre.

In the 1980’s Bill took the move to the big screen, including The Killing Fields, Comfort and Joy and A Private Function.

In later years he appeared in Truly, Madly, Deeply, Chaplin, Sir Ian McKellen’s Richard III, Bright Young Things, Miss Potter, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People and Creation.

Much of his later work has been for the BBC and since 2009, he has appeared as George Castle, the head of the CPS in Law & Order: UK.

A little trivia about Bill is that he broke the law whilst filming classic movie Comfort and Joy. The actor had to drive around Glasgow for the comedy about a DJ who finds himself in the middle of an ice-cream turf war.

He has now revealed he did not have a driving licence. Naughty Bill.

“I had done lessons and I could drive. I wasn’t a danger to others around me – which is just as well because I had Chris Menges, one of the best and most treasured cameramen around strapped to the bonnet of the car”

YIKES!

Our second piece of Bill Trivia also centres around Comfort and Joy:

“Of course there’s no shortage of people saying that it’s their favourite film – in fact Quentin Tarantino is a fan and has named it as one of the ‘coolest movies of all time’.

The director, Bill Forsyth, even jokingly wonders if Mr Bunny the ice-cream man (played by Alex Norton), influenced the Oscar-winning director’s naming of characters in Reservoir Dogs, who included Mr Pink and Mr Brown. Tres Interesujacy!

(Interesting)

So there you have it.

Fact – that is the end of this weeks Blog

Trivia – This is the 64^th blog that A1 VOX has published and we still love sharing our very unique little world with you all - so until next week, Keep it Audio-Tastic people.

Club Tropicana drinks are free………..fun and sunshine there’s enough for everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh what a treat the last week has been. All the girls in Essex were going fake tan crazzzy and the boys of Old Compton Street were having a ‘body off’!

A1 NEWS

Charles was ‘the voice of the balls’ on Friday night and took the live performance, (as always), in his professional stride. Never have balls been in better hands!

Charles also commandeered the drive time slot on BBC Radio Oxford this week. You can catch him back on his ‘home from home’ this Monday and Tuesday early mornings, on BBC Radio 2.

Some of the A1 VOX team are off to watch Cool Hand Luke for the press night on Monday so I will be able to report back to you on how our Andy’s show is shaping up . Too excited for words!

So with Stephen Critchlow (39 Steps), and Andy Loudon (Cool Hand Luke), monopolising the West End for the boys I thought I would share the goss on Joan Walkers ‘treading of the London boards’ for the gals.

Joan can be seen in Sir John Vanbrugh’s The Provoked Wife, presented by Perfect Mayhem, at The Greenwich Playhouse from 12^th October – 6^th November.

Trapped in a bad marriage, Lady Brute contemplates her fate, her reputation and her options. Should she leave her abusive husband Sir John Brute, or take a lover. Joining this tragicomic rollercoaseter of a Restoration play are Lady Brute’s niece Belinda and the young love interests Heartfree and Constant firing off witty retorts between the florid conversational dialogue.

Serving up an extra slice of chaos, the cast of characters is topped off by the deluded Lady Fancyfull, played by the wonderfully fantastic, Joan Walker, and her pert French maid Mademoiselle.

Sir John Vanbrugh had a colourful career – the army, navy, political activism, theatre management, playwriting, architecture, a committed Whig and even imprisoned ostensibly for espionage! See, it just goes to show that you don’t always come out of uni or school and knowing exactly what it is you want to do - mix it up, that’s what I say.

As a playwright of his particular era, Sir John offended many people with the sexual explicitness of his plays and their then outrageous notions of women’s rights.

Perfect Mayhem is therefore warning people in advance, and apologising (though not very sincerely), for the content of the play and for jarring any conservative sensibilities. So basically leave any prudeness at the door and unleash your inner beast to embrace this frolicking, riotous romp which is sure to dazzle with much aplomb!!!!!!!

Trust Joan to pick another boring, conservative role eh!

Tickets can be purchased by calling 020 8858 9256 or by going to boxoffice@galleonthetheatre.co.uk

A1 VOX Guests

This week we had a very exciting guest to visit us at A1 VOX. Jodie Whittaker may not be a name or face that you would instantly recognise but you bet your bottom dollar that you have seen her both on TV and the big screen.

In her own words Jodie says ‘I love my chameleon face’ and it is this that helps her shun the celebrity lifestyle. Professionally, she is one hot and upcoming English actress.

Her big break came in 2006 when she made her movie debut as a tracksuited ugly-duckling-turned-swan in the film Venus. Jodie was just a 23-year-old-newbie when she was picked by Roger Michell, director of Notting Hill, to play a tenaged misfit opposite a veteran Peter O’Toole.

Fast forward a few years and Jodie appeared in the BBC1’s star-studded bonnet-saga Cranford, as well as alongside her pal Gemma Arteton in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and starred in the two St Trinian’s films, as Rupert Everett’s blingtastic secretary Beverly.

‘Rupert was a right laugh, but then no-one is going to be in a bad mood on St Trinian’s are they?’ she says.

She was also drafted in at three hours notice to play the lead role of Nina in several performances of Chekhov’s The Seagull at London’s Royal Court after Carey Mulligan contracted appendicitis.

The list of work continues from Marchlands, to Abi Morgan’s, Royal Wedding, and Jimmy McGovern’s The Accused, and even in the recent aliens-verses-hoodies sci-fi comedy Attack the Block.

Jodie is often such a serious mournful screen presence, that on meeting her it is genuinely surprising that she is chatty, bright, funny and extremely down to earth, however, she says that this was not always the case at school:

‘I was the attention seeking child in class who needed everyone to look at meeee…..’ she laughs. But then perhaps her characters way of saying “Don’t look at me” is really a clever way of saying “Actually look at me”.

She managed to ditch the doom and gloom by playing Anne Hathaway’s best friend in current box office smash One Day. Well I say….they are some sharp shooting creditentials right there!

She can next be seen playing Dougray Scott’s abused lover in A Thousand Kisses Deep and then in Ashes, a film about a road trip, featuring a bloke with early onset Alzheimer’s. All that and playing an idealistic Nazi opposite Viggo Mortensen could have led me to cry out ‘we’re not worthy!’ but she was so darn nice that I felt I could open the door to the Green Room where in between voicing takes she would wander out and mix with all the A1 VOX crew. What a lege!

So from a movie star to a movie filmmaker.

Mr Kevin Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. He has rescued many silent films and their history.

His interest in World War II prompted the creation of an alternative-history film, It Happened Here, in which the Nazis have conquered Britain, Brownlow began to collaborate with Andrew Mollo on the film which was completed in 1964 with the last-minute aid of Tony Richardson.

After this cinematic feat Brownlow began another project, Winstanley, about Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers commune following the English Civil War.

On 13^th November last year Kevin Brownlow received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement alongside Francis Ford Coppola. In his letter of nomination none other than Martin Scorsese declared that:

“Mr Brownlow is a giant among film historians and preservationists, known and justifiably respected throughoutthe world for his multiple achievements: as the author of The Parades Gone By, a definitive history of the silent era, and ..a biography of David Lean…and as the director with Andrew Mollo of two absolutely unique fiction films, Winstanley (1975) and It Happened Here (1964)…On a broader level, you might say that Mr Brownlow is film history”

This pretty much sums up the extraordinary record of a remarkable Englishman.

We at A1 VOX found him utterly charming and I think it is fair to say we have had a pretty epic week!

Till next week then my budding Voxers when I will be a year older (cringe), yet hopefully wiser, (every cloud!), and Daniela Denby Ash of My Family fame will be in to see us. Now go forth and catch the last rays of summer!