I still hark back to the good old days of analogue music

Wave 105 radio presenter
Rick recalls playing vinyl on the radioRick recalls playing vinyl on the radio
Rick recalls playing vinyl on the radio

But don’t think for one minute that it’s the kids who’ve been out getting a Technics SL1210 turntable, amplifier and speakers.

No, it’s the middle-aged, probably bearded, vinyl enthusiasts who’ve been doing the buying.

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Sainsbury’s and Tesco have now started to sell vinyl for the first time, such is the demand. But as summer arrives, no doubt that section will be selling cheap barbecues and charcoal instead!

It’s starting to catch on though. The next generation are looking at what they’ve got to show for their investment in music.

The answer? Nothing. Why? It’s all on their ‘digital devices’. No cover artwork, nothing to touch and no impressive shelving, heaving with your collection.

It’s the same for the radio station studio. Today, all us radio presenters have to play with is one screen and a mouse. We may also have a touch screen, like cashiers do at supermarkets.

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I hark back to those ‘good old days’ of analogue. I miss the physicality of being a radio presenter.

Cueing up records and lining up those carts – that’s radio terminology by the way.

By the time I started on the radio in 1993, vinyl was being phased out. Mostly we played CDs and computer layout systems were very much in their infancy.

The original studio at Power FM was shaped like a horseshoe with two robust turntables either side.

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To the right of the mixing desk was a bank of eight ‘cart’ machines. These were basically eight-track cassette players.

Each jingle, sweeper or commercial was on a separate cartridge, or ‘cart’ as we called them. You can imagine the piles of ‘carts’ we had when playing out a commercial break with eight different adverts in it, three times an hour!

Vinyl has a softer, warmer sound than digital and the slight crackle through the needle makes it come alive.

My studio is very tidy today, but back in 1993 I would disappear under piles of records, CDs and carts. Imagine the amount of calories burnt per show...

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I’D LOVE EXTRA SECONDS IN BED - EVEN IF I HAD WRONG TROUSERS

My stint on the Wave 105 breakfast show is over and I’ve gone back to having my children as an alarm clock.

But I have to mention those amazing runners and cyclists that I would see at the crack of dawn every morning.

Yes, even at 5am I’d see someone jogging along Lee-on-the-Solent seafront with a beanie hat on.

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And imagine having to cycle to work every day, even in mid-winter in the dark.

Truly phenomenal and I applaud you.

Sadly, I don’t possess such impressive focus and determination.

I’d be more than happy to use one of Wallace & Gromit’s inventions for some precious extra seconds in bed – even if it did mean that I’d end up going to work wearing the wrong trousers!

JUDGE’S TIME WOULD BE BETTER SPENT DOING SOMETHING ELSE

I’m still not entirely sure if we can now mention the celebrity who has taken out an injunction.

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It’s all got very confusing. Last I heard, we could report on it, but were told not to as there would probably be an appeal by the person involved.

How pathetic.

Media outside this country have already reported the name and the details, so surely a judge’s time would be better spent doing something other than trying to protect the identity of the person at the centre of this high-profile case.

To my mind, the issue is simple. If you court publicity in any way, then you should expect press attention when you’re caught doing something naughty.

Why? Because it’s in the public interest.

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