Desmond Carrington vs Russell Davies

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Both are encylopaedically knowledgeable about old-time pop. But which do we prefer?

― the pinefox, Tuesday, 11 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I quite like Davies' perverse and unusual way of criticizing records immediately before and after playing them. But I think Carrington gets my vote for his old-man voice, the bland backing tracks over which he periodically announces that he's Saying It With Music, and his ability to link songs together via elaborate interpretations.

― the pinefox, Tuesday, 11 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

A more interesting thread would have been Desmond Carrington vs John Peel. Both with endless record collections, both broadcast from home, both fundamentally carpet slippers. JP in 10 years' time = DC?

I prefer DC 'cos he's cosy and L liked him. RD is kind of a ghost dep for Benny Green but he did a brilliant job on the Kenneth Williams Diaries.

Speaking of an idea for a thread . . .

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 11 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mr Carlin: I totally agree - and nearly DID do Carrington vs Peel - before deciding that RD might deserve a mention instead. SO let's say you're right, and call it Carrington vs Peel too, if anyone wants to have a pop.

― the pinefox, Tuesday, 11 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I've posted some unpopular threads in my time, but this one takes the mint Club biscuit.

― the pinefox, Tuesday, 11 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I quite both Carrington and Davies, but DC has been in the background of my life for long enough that he has to win. Never choose to listen to his show today, but I could never come out against him.

I still prefer Peel to either, though.

― Robin Carmody, Tuesday, 11 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

They are both wonderful broadcasters. Sunday is the only day when I can recognise Radio 2 as the station I once loved.

My favourite Sunday Radio 2 programme, however, is "Melodies For You" with Richard Baker, wonderfully redolent of the days when the BBC employed proper authoritative newsreaders.

The one Sunday presenter I never liked was Benny Green, whose accent always grated on me.

Regards,

Anthony Sanderson.

― Anthony Sanderson, Tuesday, 11 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I heard Baker the other night. I think Carrington beats him. Really, it's that 3-hr slot (1-4) when R2 burns bright. The stuff that follows is a big downhill slope. Weekday Daytime R2 isn't that good, either; though I think Steve Wright is better here than he was on R1.

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 12 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I always preferred Kenneth Kendall, and still do on Challenge TV.

Sunday Radio 2 after 4pm = aimed at people about Sanderson's age, surely?

Wright on R2 better than on R1 = obviously, because he is no longer interrupted by shouts of "EASY LIFE!" or camp hairdressers. However I think I heard the return of Mr Food, or something similar, today. And he's never been worse than he is on TOTP2.

― Robin Carmody, Wednesday, 12 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Davies played an incredibly moving record on his show yesterday - Alma Cogan's version of Noel Coward's "If Love Were All" (the one about "being born only with the talent to amuse"). It was exceptionally poignant, given Cogan's generally sunny nature (and usually irritating Doris Day-ish yelp) and the fact that it was recorded towards the end of her life, knowing that her cancer was final. The most moving factor about it was that AC didn't have the greatest voice, technically, and the song was pitched way off key and out of her octave range. But she breathed emotion into it and sounded the exact air of vulnerability which Coward was too cowardly ever to express in public. From a 4CD box set, which I suspect is far more Alma Cogan than anyone ever needs, but I must check it out as there's some Joe Meek stuff on there (apparently).

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Davies has been sampling that AC box set *every week* for a while now.

Vintage afternoon. Davies playing Coward's '... Mrs Worthington' and that singer he called 'half man, half-hamster'. Carrington inviting us as 'friends' to join him on the wireless before Christmas, and going into silly blimpish passages about 1) 'If the Turner Prize is Art, then I'm Garfunkel', and 2) 'There still is good music out there if you seek hard enough... our kind of music didn't *quite* end in 1960'. (His example was Ronan Keating, for goodness' sake.) He closed by saying he was going to stretch out by the fire, except that the cats were in front of it - 'But they make the house into a home, so who's complaining?'.

― the pinefox, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I heard that. Hmm . . . into Ronan Keating, has three pet cats, never mentions the existence of a wife and/or family, deeply into show tunes. Desmond! My word!

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I thought the same thing, when he mentioned the cats but not the wife.

Mr Carlin and the pinefox = urgent and key new branch of Carrington fan-club.

― the pinefox, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's certainly preferable to Riding The Afternoon, but I think you two can count me out of it.

Rumour going round that Radio 2 is about to hire Chris Evans to do a Saturday-afternoon show: if true, he will certainly be its most tiresome and fucking useless DJ ever.

― Robin Carmody, Monday, 17 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Chris Evans: "Oh yes, I'm basically a Conservative at heart and always will be" (to Simon Sebag Montefiore in the Sunday Times, circa '98).

Mr Pinefox: did you notice DC's approving nods to Tubular Bells and Dark Side of the Moon as "supreme pop records" in 1973? That's positively avant-garde for him.

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yes, I did. Worrying.

As is Robin C's rumour. Evans is the last thing I want when I switch on R2. He'll drive me to some other station. (But where's left to go?)

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two years pass...

(Jayz, it's three years since I posted to this thread)

Urgent: DC's penultimate programme today!

Radio 2, 88.8 FM, 1-3.

― the pinefox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 10:56 (twenty-one years ago)

IT'S 'ALL CHANGE!' FOR ME ON RADIO 2
After 23 years “All Time Greats” comes to a close at Sunday lunchtimes. Nearly half my working life, and it’s been the most enormous privilege to have occupied that slot for so long – even though the contracts were only for 3 months for much of the time! Of course I’m sad at its going, not least because I know how much it has meant to a loyal audience.
To ‘move on’ is a trendy phrase, but at some point we all have to. Radio programmes cannot stand still, certainly not those of the calibre and diversity of which Radio 2 is justly proud, and I shall now move on to a new slot on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m to present “The Music Goes Round”. It will still be the eclectic mix of records ranging from the 20’s to the 90’s, but a new time means the emphasis will be slightly different, with what I’ll call ‘popular classics’ keeping faith with the present audience.
The current team of Dave Aylott as producer, Rosemary Philip as P.A. and myself as presenter are looking forward immensely to the changeover, because it means I can continue to broadcast live from my home in Scotland – an event which has been unique to Radio 2 ever since the sudden death of Princess Diana brought an urgent phone call early on a Sunday morning in August 1997, and we had no choice but to ‘go live’ at three hours’ notice.
In saying goodbye to Sunday’s “All Time Greats” I offer my sincere thanks to all those BBC producers who helped to make the series so successful since it began in 1981, together with the Controllers of Radio 2 who supported the show over the years. But we all must ‘move on’, and I shall look forward to doing just that with “The Music Goes Round”.

I’m looking forward to calling in ‘at your place’!

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:20 (twenty-one years ago)

BIOGRAPHY

Desmond Carrington
Desmond Carrington has been an actor since he was 16. He celebrated his 76th birthday in May 2002 and now lives on a farm in Scotland. He loves music, cats, but above all, broadcasting live to the world from home every week.
His first professional stage appearance was in 1942 at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, in James Hilton's Goodbye, Mr. Chips. He then toured Britain with several plays and at 17 joined a repertory company performing twice nightly - air raids permitting!
He was conscripted into the Royal West Kent regiment in 1943, drafted out to India and commissioned as an officer. When the war ended in 1945 he was posted to Radio SEAC, a British Forces Broadcasting station serving the whole of the Far East from Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He has been broadcasting regularly ever since.
Upon his return to Britain Desmond resumed his acting career. As an independent radio producer he also made many programmes for the BBC and Radio Luxembourg and in 1951 spent a year as an actor with the BBC Drama Repertory Company. He also worked in films, theatre and in the comparatively new medium of television.
In 1959 Desmond was engaged to play the young Dr Chris Anderson in the medical soap opera Emergency Ward 10, which was televised live twice-weekly in Britain. His initial contract was for three weeks: he left after six years and some 350 episodes, his name and face known throughout the U.K. Other television and radio appearances followed, including 4 years presenting the Daz Swap TV campaign, guesting on TV quiz shows and pop music programmes, contributing to BBC radio series such as Moviegoround and regularly presenting Album Time and the record request show Housewives' Choice. He has also presented many live broadcasts of concerts from venues throughout Britain.
Desmond has continued to work in the theatre, his favourite role being King Edward VIII in Royce Ryton's Crown Matrimonial. He received critical acclaim for his performances in Alan Bennett's The Far Country and Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw.
He has won International Awards for his radio scripts and production and was voted British Radio Personality of the Year in 1991. He has co-presented the annual Mountbatten Festival of Music concerts featuring the Massed Bands of the Royal Marines at the Albert Hall in London for the past 11 years and has also piloted three CD albums by the Marines' band of the former Royal Yacht Britannia.

When the BBC Radio 2 series All Time Greats began in 1981, Desmond was chosen as its presenter. 21 years later, he continues to research and script all the record introductions as he broadcasts live from his Scottish home.

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I didn't even know about the change till Steady Mike told me!

I think there is no mistaking the regret, even resentment, at the move.

I worry about the 'popular classics' idea, and he seems uncertain what he's going to play - he just said: 'I think the format will be fairly similar to this programme'.

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I am glad the Chris Evans rumour never came to pass. Desmond Carrington, by the way, if this is still a "taking sides" thread.

― ailsa (ailsa), Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Please give reasons for your answer.

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't believe the repetitive character of the lead guitar on 'Candle In The Wind'.

There is a Sandy Denny record that I have avoided playing just because I don't want to hear 'Candle In The Wind'.

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:32 (twenty-one years ago)

But it was good the way he started with early Berlin, followed by 'Unforgettable', then Dusty Springfield.

His picture keeps coming up, on the 'web cam'!

He just said that Elton's remake of the song was 'not, I personally think, as effective' as the original!

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Because I like the idea of someone playing records from their house. He's like a kindly old uncle. No, he's like a kindly old great-uncle to John Peel's kindly old uncle.

― ailsa (ailsa), Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:37 (twenty-one years ago)

But do you dislike Davies?

Has Davies made any comment on the Carrington switch?

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Idea for film: The Carrington Switch

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey - what will he play last, on his last show?

Robin C's guess would be worth reading.

― the bellefox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:44 (twenty-one years ago)

i couldn't possibly comment because i haven't listened in years.

i was rather amused when flicking through the stations the other Sunday evening, however, to hear Sheridan Morley talking about how Julian Slade had contacted him re. "Salad Days". this on a programme until recently hosted by Richard Baker (who is still on later the same evening) ... Monty Python fans will be able to join the dots here.

"Lemon curry?"

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:50 (twenty-one years ago)

He just said that on his final programme, he will play as many of his personal favourites as possible.

Elmer Bernstein died last week, aged 82.

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 11:57 (twenty-one years ago)

'Don't Cry For Me, Argentina' - wow. That line 'dressed up to the nines / at sixes and sevens with you'. The whole lyric feels impressive and unusual, somehow.

I wonder who is singing this.

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 12:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Hot diggety!

1) It was Elaine Page, and,

2) 'And, it is *Elaine Paige*, who will be broadcasting on Sunday lunchtimes, from the beginning of September... I'm sure you'll all give her a very warm welcome'.

― the popfox, Sunday, 22 August 2004 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Stupid BBC - no one plays a better mix of music than DC, expect the problem is the 30 somethings who now occupy middle management.

― ianb, Sunday, 22 August 2004 12:47 (twenty-one years ago)

The new R2 weekend schedules.

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 23 August 2004 08:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Pick of the Pops is presumably being "rested."

Depressing, of course, and reinforcing the fact that Radio 2 only seem interested in having "celebrity" presenters rather than presenters who actually know their audiences and how to do their job.

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 23 August 2004 08:13 (twenty-one years ago)

And apparently Mark Lamarr is the only person in the world who knows anything about non-playlisted music.

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 23 August 2004 08:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Elmer Bernstein died last week, aged 82.

And he played the theme to the Magnificent Seven as I was in the car on Sunday afternoon, all I heard of his show. It was great.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 23 August 2004 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

Desmond Carrington played "Dry Your Eyes" on his show the other night.

"Mike Skinner - a young twentysomething with a song whose message can reach people of all ages...with open ears."

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 7 October 2004 09:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Phew - it's a good thing I only open my ears once a week, for about 10 minutes, to let some air circulate.

― the bellefox, Thursday, 7 October 2004 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Anyway, good to know that DC still has an audience; I've not been able to catch him since the first two programmes of The Music Goes Round.

― the bellefox, Thursday, 7 October 2004 13:02 (twenty-one years ago)

seven months pass...

Tonight he played Bruce Springsteen's 'Dancing in the Dark', then Fred Astaire's.

― the bossfox, Tuesday, 10 May 2005 18:01 (twenty years ago)

Indeed. "A cheeky little rock take" as Carrington courteously described it.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 05:27 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

Desmond is playing a song by Terry Wogan.

"Me and the elephant - we'll never forget you".

An attempt at cowboy style almost.

DC says "I know his TOGs will appreciate it".

― the pinefox, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 18:41 (seventeen years ago)

'A real elephant in the room that I am happy to have found hiding in the grooves of his LP' - DC.

It's on a record called TERRY WOGAN'S GREATEST HITS, VOLUME TWO!! and there was no vol one, DC thinks.

Lyric:

I remember the day we had nothing to do

So we went down to the city zoo

Just to kill an hour or two

Out in the good sunshine

We had so much fun

We were glad that we came

Feed all the animals

And gave each a name

Didn't even mind when it started to rain

We had a real good time

Now that its over and your far away

I miss you more with each passin day

And all my friends sympathize and say

You'll for get in time

Yes you will

Give yourself a little time

But it's already been over a year

Just in case you interested