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 64th 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.
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