My Ear Candy #11 James McConville

Springtime, don't you just love it? Days are brighter, evenings longer, people chirpier, the torment of a bleak winter behind us, Spring provides a gateway into the Summer, bliss. Not, however, if you're a bleedin' Friday night community radio presenter. You try retaining your listening figures on a balmy Springtime evening when all folk want to do is walk on the beach or grab an ice cream at Aunty Betty's. Let's face it, my listening figures are paltry at the best of times, harsh winters at least give me hope with people locked in their homes like prisoners, they're more likely to switch on the radio. Persuading listeners to tune in though when glorious sunshine beckons is quite another matter, so I receive the onset of Spring with mixed emotions.

Still, those loyal enough to tune in this week were treated to the customary eclectic indie rock sprinkled with random classics (when I say classics I mean classics, not Simply The Best by Tina Turner or guff of that ilk, I'm talking Life's What You Make It by Talk Talk and Intergalactic by The Beastie Boys kind of stuff.) On this week's show I duly pleasured my listeners' ears between 7-8pm then welcomed my guest James McConville for the second hour as he played six tracks which are significant to him. I used to call this the 'Desert Island Disc' slot until someone pointed out the BBC had stolen my idea (fifty years prior) and it might be an idea to drop the label unless I knew a very good solicitor.

It would be fair to say the majority of James' choices would be unlikely to feature in my own top six, or indeed six thousand, however none of his selections offended me, except perhaps the System Of A Down racket which veered through five different genres in the space of four minutes. We chatted about James' life and his wife (more of her later) and enjoyed a very pleasant hour together. What did I discover about James in this period? Well firstly, our shared revulsion of football clubs wearing blue. My claret and blue tendencies insist that I won't rest until Birmingham City are demoted from league football until they reside in the abyss known as the Conference, similarly James had as much time for Rangers as he did of a dose of the squits. We learned too of the passion he has for his chosen vocation within the accountancy sector where he's happily employed by Johnston Carmichael in Aberdeen. 

James's Celtic support results from his Glasgow roots but he moved to the north east when his parents relocated and he met Claire/Clare (apologies, should have clarified the spelling) who he subsequently married. For how much longer they'll be married is a moot point given he dedicated the Queen track 'Fat Bottomed Girls' to her, which should see him down at the divorce courts within forty eight hours.

This blooper apart, I'd like to thank James for being a tremendous guest. If you brush up on one or two selections I'll happily invite you on again my friend, you'll be glad of the company given you'll be a single man.

James' Selections

1. Spirit in the Sky - Dr & The Medics
2. A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash
3. Black or White - Michael Jackson
4. Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen
5. Radio/Video - System of a Down
6.The Red Rose Café - The Fureys