Post by sleepwalker24 on Oct 30, 2012 8:25:01 GMT -5
So I mentioned on the Best Thing...thread that I was lucky enough to get a last minute ticket (thanks to a lovely bloke called Chris) to see Ray's radio broadcast for BBC Radio 4, at the studio in Maida Vale, London. Nobody's quite sure when it'll be broadcast yet though...
I was really scared about going to London by myself but I'm happy to say that I made it ok
Pete's dad gave me a lift to York station and I got a train from there to King's Cross, London - the train made no stops and only took 2 hours! From there I managed to get a taxi to the venue, which was only a few miles away from the station.
It was great to arrive and see lots of friendly and familiar faces - James, Klaire, Jayne, Olga, Holly, Dawn...to name a few! And Chris who gave me the spare ticket turned out to be a really friendly and cheeky London lad
I got there early which was a good job as I found out today that not everyone who turned up got in. It was on a first-come-first-served basis, and having a ticket didn't guarantee you entry. I do feel quite sorry for the genuine fans that didn't get in, must've been very disappointing for them
The broadcast was due to start at 2.30pm but things ran late and it started around 3.15pm-ish (trust Ray to keep us all waiting!) I think the audience consisted of about 100 people so it was pretty intimate which made you feel very lucky to be a part of things.
John Wilson (the interviewer) introduced Ray and we applauded, but in typical Ray fashion he didn't appear
A few minutes later he was introduced again and out he came.
It was interesting to see how the broadcast was made...there seemed to be a few techincal issues at first, and certain parts of the broadcast had to be repeated several times.
It really was interesting to listen to Ray being interviewed about the Lola V Powerman and Muswell Hillbillies album, a very enjoyable interview and Ray was quite open about a lot of things. He talked about how/why he had come to write certain songs/achieve certain sounds on songs, issues with producers/record companys and the music industry in general, being banned from America, working with the other band members, amongst many other things.
Of course he was funny and witty as usual and had the audience roaring with laughter many times! (not sure if they'll edit this out or leave it in!)
I was surprised and happy to hear Here Come The People In Grey and Got To Be Free. It was obvious that ..People In Grey hadn't been rehearsed and was a totally spontaneous addition, but Ray got onto the subject of that song and asked Bill to play a bit and he sang. When asked by John if he or the Kinks had ever played it live he said no. He claimed that the last time he sung it was when it was recorded for the Muswell Hillbillies album!
As well as Bill, Ray was also joined by James Walbourne who has accompanied Ray for a few Muswell Hillbillies songs on his recent UK tour - James is a fellow Muswell Hill lad!
We also heard a bit of Lola, full version of This Time Tommorow, A Long Way From Home and Muswell Hillbilly - John Wilson encouraged the audience to help Ray out with Muswell Hillbilly.
I have to say that at times I felt a little bad for Ray though. Whenever the audience was prompted to appluad loudly Ray would put his hands over his ears like the noise was causing him some discomfort
He also seemed a bit worried about his voice. He apologised about the fact that he probbaly wouldn't be able to hit the high notes well, and said it was because of all the singing he's done recently for the UK tour - perfectly understandable. He did struggle a little with his singing if I'm honest, but he still sounded like our Ray and his song performances were enjoyable and much appreciated by the audience.
I did get the feeling that he was looking foward to going home though, he seemed a little tired, bless him.
One thing that really made me smile was when he took his knitted jumper type thing off - he was wearing a Ray Davies t-shirt
(one that I happen to have.) And of course he had those trainers on! ;D
After the first part of the show Ray requested a break so he could try and sort his voice out a bit. A few of us needed the loo so we left the studio briefly. I saw Ray in the corridor and wanted to talk to him, but I just couldn't bring myself to bother him. I sensed that he wasn't quite at his best so decided that I'd just leave him be.
After the short break it was on to the audience questions, some of which were very interesting - as were Ray's answers. Questions about if any films had influenced certain song titles/lyrics, what song he felt most represented him...a nice bloke I spoke to a bit asked Ray about his songwriting course - this guy had attended the course and said that Ray had helped and influenced him very much. So much so that he'd actually put an album out, containing 3 songs that Ray helped him with
The lady sat next to me had approached one of Ray's people in the short break, asking if Ray could sign a record for her. After the show this guy came over to her and said that he'd take the record to Ray. I decided that I might as well ask if Ray would sign my copy of X-Ray at the same time. The guy said he thought taking the book back too might be pushing it a bit. So I said the first thing that popped into my head ''Oh, please ask him. Tell him it's for the girl who has his old car and he should know who you mean.'' He looked surprised and said ''You have his car?'' I said ''Yes, she's an old Merc.'' That seemed to do the trick as he agreed to take the book.
I was hoping to wait in the studio to get it back but the BBC people basically ushered us all out straight away. They might have well have said ''We don't need you anymore, you've served your purpose so please leave!''
I waited outside and the guy came out and handed me my book back, saying Ray had signed it. I looked inside and was happy to see that he'd written my name too
Normally I'd have hung around hoping to talk to Ray, but I just had this feeling that he wouldn't be in the mood for photos, chatting etc. I reckon he just wanted to go home.
Lovely to go to the pub with everyone afterwards though, got some nice photos and had fun chatting with other fans.
The lovely Jayne looked after me and as well as calling my taxi she said she get in the taxi with me, and wait with me to make sure I got on my train ok
So there we go...a very fun and exciting day, and I feel rather proud of myself for travelling to the Big City by myself.
I was really scared about going to London by myself but I'm happy to say that I made it ok
Pete's dad gave me a lift to York station and I got a train from there to King's Cross, London - the train made no stops and only took 2 hours! From there I managed to get a taxi to the venue, which was only a few miles away from the station.
It was great to arrive and see lots of friendly and familiar faces - James, Klaire, Jayne, Olga, Holly, Dawn...to name a few! And Chris who gave me the spare ticket turned out to be a really friendly and cheeky London lad
I got there early which was a good job as I found out today that not everyone who turned up got in. It was on a first-come-first-served basis, and having a ticket didn't guarantee you entry. I do feel quite sorry for the genuine fans that didn't get in, must've been very disappointing for them
The broadcast was due to start at 2.30pm but things ran late and it started around 3.15pm-ish (trust Ray to keep us all waiting!) I think the audience consisted of about 100 people so it was pretty intimate which made you feel very lucky to be a part of things.
John Wilson (the interviewer) introduced Ray and we applauded, but in typical Ray fashion he didn't appear
A few minutes later he was introduced again and out he came.It was interesting to see how the broadcast was made...there seemed to be a few techincal issues at first, and certain parts of the broadcast had to be repeated several times.
It really was interesting to listen to Ray being interviewed about the Lola V Powerman and Muswell Hillbillies album, a very enjoyable interview and Ray was quite open about a lot of things. He talked about how/why he had come to write certain songs/achieve certain sounds on songs, issues with producers/record companys and the music industry in general, being banned from America, working with the other band members, amongst many other things.
Of course he was funny and witty as usual and had the audience roaring with laughter many times! (not sure if they'll edit this out or leave it in!)
I was surprised and happy to hear Here Come The People In Grey and Got To Be Free. It was obvious that ..People In Grey hadn't been rehearsed and was a totally spontaneous addition, but Ray got onto the subject of that song and asked Bill to play a bit and he sang. When asked by John if he or the Kinks had ever played it live he said no. He claimed that the last time he sung it was when it was recorded for the Muswell Hillbillies album!
As well as Bill, Ray was also joined by James Walbourne who has accompanied Ray for a few Muswell Hillbillies songs on his recent UK tour - James is a fellow Muswell Hill lad!
We also heard a bit of Lola, full version of This Time Tommorow, A Long Way From Home and Muswell Hillbilly - John Wilson encouraged the audience to help Ray out with Muswell Hillbilly.
I have to say that at times I felt a little bad for Ray though. Whenever the audience was prompted to appluad loudly Ray would put his hands over his ears like the noise was causing him some discomfort
He also seemed a bit worried about his voice. He apologised about the fact that he probbaly wouldn't be able to hit the high notes well, and said it was because of all the singing he's done recently for the UK tour - perfectly understandable. He did struggle a little with his singing if I'm honest, but he still sounded like our Ray and his song performances were enjoyable and much appreciated by the audience.I did get the feeling that he was looking foward to going home though, he seemed a little tired, bless him.
One thing that really made me smile was when he took his knitted jumper type thing off - he was wearing a Ray Davies t-shirt
(one that I happen to have.) And of course he had those trainers on! ;DAfter the first part of the show Ray requested a break so he could try and sort his voice out a bit. A few of us needed the loo so we left the studio briefly. I saw Ray in the corridor and wanted to talk to him, but I just couldn't bring myself to bother him. I sensed that he wasn't quite at his best so decided that I'd just leave him be.
After the short break it was on to the audience questions, some of which were very interesting - as were Ray's answers. Questions about if any films had influenced certain song titles/lyrics, what song he felt most represented him...a nice bloke I spoke to a bit asked Ray about his songwriting course - this guy had attended the course and said that Ray had helped and influenced him very much. So much so that he'd actually put an album out, containing 3 songs that Ray helped him with
The lady sat next to me had approached one of Ray's people in the short break, asking if Ray could sign a record for her. After the show this guy came over to her and said that he'd take the record to Ray. I decided that I might as well ask if Ray would sign my copy of X-Ray at the same time. The guy said he thought taking the book back too might be pushing it a bit. So I said the first thing that popped into my head ''Oh, please ask him. Tell him it's for the girl who has his old car and he should know who you mean.'' He looked surprised and said ''You have his car?'' I said ''Yes, she's an old Merc.'' That seemed to do the trick as he agreed to take the book.
I was hoping to wait in the studio to get it back but the BBC people basically ushered us all out straight away. They might have well have said ''We don't need you anymore, you've served your purpose so please leave!''
I waited outside and the guy came out and handed me my book back, saying Ray had signed it. I looked inside and was happy to see that he'd written my name too
Normally I'd have hung around hoping to talk to Ray, but I just had this feeling that he wouldn't be in the mood for photos, chatting etc. I reckon he just wanted to go home.
Lovely to go to the pub with everyone afterwards though, got some nice photos and had fun chatting with other fans.
The lovely Jayne looked after me and as well as calling my taxi she said she get in the taxi with me, and wait with me to make sure I got on my train ok
So there we go...a very fun and exciting day, and I feel rather proud of myself for travelling to the Big City by myself.
