Why does Radio 3 have a chart show with requests? It exposes the amount of music which is ‘recently released’ or ‘a new recording’. It panders to the self-opinionated – though surprisingly few clergy take part; perhaps the generation brought up on the moral theology of Mary Wesley are Classic FM listeners.
And any teenager will tell you – if you’re worth their attention – that the charts are a commercial scam, followed only by the sad and unimaginative (i.e., the population at large). Why bring this to Radio 3?
The offended will say this is snobbery. It isn’t. It is a protest against commercialism and puffing and all the other dubious tricks people use to push their wares in the marketplace. Radio 3 didn’t need to do this. Its presenters used to know
what they were talking about.
Today you can hear the difference when Petroc Trelawney or Katie Derham makes an introduction. They have mastered their brief but the music just isn’t part of them.
Music is best presented by people who know what they are talking about. Just think what a shambles the ‘Last Night of the Proms’ has become with its celebrity presenters. Rumour has it the bigwigs in Radio 3 don’t like the ‘Last Night’.
But if Alan Titchmarsh was their revenge it was gratuitous to go further and take it out on loyal listeners at 8 o’clock in the morning.
Carlos Little ND