DOING THE BUSINESS

Big George's Guide To Commercial Success: Get Your Songs Played On Local Radio

Published in SOS March 2000
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Music Business

This month, Big George goes Radio Ga Ga, and invites you to join in the fun.

Last month I told you how I ruined my chances of ever working in the advertising industry again, by just speaking my mind — and boy, have I had some flak from a couple of leading ad executives over what I said in that column. Still, it's good to know they read the best music magazine on the planet, isn't it? Here's another story which just goes to show what a strange and wonderfully random world we live in.

Early in the 1990s I was so annoyed at my local FM radio station for playing wall-to-wall bland MOR pap, having no specialist music shows, and not giving airtime to local musicians, that I decided to do something about it. I'd been a thorn in their side for quite a while, telling them that even superstar acts were once local musicians, but they only seemed interested in whoever had the biggest promotional budget, and in the business of earning advertising revenue (that old chestnut again). I was at a loss as to what to do next, until a friend of mine told me he had access to the local transmitter and could pull their feed out and insert another one quite easily.

So one bright and breezy morning, with my mate's help, I jammed the station's breakfast-show signal for seven minutes. I'd like to say that I did a live pirate broadcast, but I can't. What I did broadcast was actually a tape, on which I pretended to be jamming the signal live and demanded more exposure for the best local bands around, as well as more specialist shows. It caught them totally unaware, freaking out the breakfast DJ, who didn't know anything was amiss for the first five minutes. It made all the weekly music press, as well as a couple of the tabloid newspapers.

It felt great hearing it, but a bit worrying. As the station knew it was me, there might have been a knock at the door from Inspector Knacker of the Yard at any moment, and Big George could have been hauled off to prison to meet Mr Big (who's in with the warders) in the showers. But, much to my delight, rather than taking legal action against me, the station boss (who is now one of the most powerful men in the British radio industry) offered me my own weekly show, 100 percent free from the constraints of a playlist.

Radio Head     Big George currently presents a show for BBC Three Counties Radio (but before you inundate him with demos, be warned: his show is speech-based). He regularly contributes to all of the BBC's national networks, and is 'the band' on the Radio 1FM Roadshow with Chris Moyles. If you have any information which might be of help in his campaign to liberate the commercial airwaves, email him on big.george@soundonsound.com or write to him here at SOS. His web site is at www.biggeorge.cjb.net.

In truth it would have cost them a lot of money to take me to court, and would have been a hard case to prove. Usually a pirate of the airwaves (a badge I wear with pride) must either be caught in the act of jamming the signal or have a transmitter which is located by the authorities. I didn't have a transmitter of my own: my mate simply unplugged the station's feed and plugged in my pre-recorded DAT.

My show was a success — in fact, after a month it was syndicated across five other stations, and it continued for two and a half years. It received rave reviews in publications such as The Guardian, and I was asked to appear on BBC2's Newsnight on the strength of it. Then one day the station was taken over by a large corporation that owns nearly a third of the local FM stations in this country. Their policy is that the overall head of programming picks all the music for all their stations — well over two dozen of them. There are no specialist shows, and no DJ opinions. Instead DJs are given pre-written scripts and jokes (sic) to read, whilst playing exactly the same tracks as all the other stations run by the corporation.

There was no way I could stay under a regime like this, so I decided to tender my resignation, on air. For my last show, which went out the day before the hand-over was complete, I exclusively featured one of the network's core artists: Phil Collins. But instead of playing the housewife's favourite, cuddly Phil Collins, I played progressive jazz-funk Phil Collins — wall-to-wall tracks by his band Brand X, which is even more unlistenable than his wine-bar favourites.

That was my last show on commercial radio, though at the time I was also the Saturday evening DJ on BBC GLR — yes, playing for the opposition. But I'm just a freak for music. If a station invites me to play what I like, I see it as a duty to fill the airwaves with wonderful music and talk honestly about the shocking state of the music industry (as well you know).

Now it's your turn to make a difference. A revolution is only justified when it succeeds, so let's start one that will. I want every one of you who makes music to send your best tracks to your local commercial FM station. Next, call up and ask what they think of your track? Are they going to play it? When? If not, why not? If you're not satisfied with their response, write to the Radio Authority (Programming and Advertising Department, The Radio Authority, Holbrook House, 14 Great Queens Street, London WC2B 4DG) and ask them what they think of the station's commitment to local artists. Don't let apathy (and I'm talking about your apathy) kill our music industry. Let's do something about it!