WEEL at’s the first o the revampit series o oor Take The Floor programme on BBC Radio Scotland deen an dustit tho I maun say fyles it hidna its sorras tae seek as pucklies o faithfu listeners werna sair suitit at the combinin Setterday nicht wi Sunday’s Reel Blend.
Ma producer, Jennifer an masel hid tae tak it stracht on the chin bit needs must fin the deevil drives an fit wi aa the cut-backs an ae thing or anither, it wis left tae the heid bummers tae deal wi.
Es last feow wikks his been hell-for-leather as we gaed full staim aheid wi the new Simmer series, recordin twa a wikk tae gie’s a bit braak, Jennifer hopefully sizzlin in the continental sun wi her faimily an me, hame drachit as ivver, content tae bide nearer haun.
Noo we were lattin aff the leesh a thochtie tae come up wi the new pre-recordit series an we baith took till’t wi a will, acceptin the new challenge bit again at’s for you tae decide.
We speir’t at the listeners tae pick their favourite band sessions ower the past ten eer for us tae wyle oot an pickit some o the maist popular o my stravaigs ower the same period on the Roads o Summer fae the Reel Blend archives.
It got emotional kyn fyles fin we wid listen throwe, bit I dinna wint tae spyle aathing be gein ower muckle awa. There, last wikkeyn hid me doon memory lane wi Jim Reid, sae sadly missed at the festivals an folk scene in general. Jim passed awa jist aboot es time last eer bit fa wid o thocht on’t a five eer syne fin he took me tae Dundee, ravin on aboot the famous ‘pehs’ an foo he cam tae get involv’t wi the boys o the Foundry Bar in Arbroath. Look oot in the comin wikks on ma time spent wi Kenneth McKellar back in 1989. That again brocht a lump tae the throat thinkin on’s daith jist a feow month seen at the age o 82.
Oh, it’s nae a series o doul an the nicht ye hae a great broadcast a twa eer seen fae Colin Dewar an his Band, an farrer back, the lovely pianist Peggy O’Keefe hid me stravaigin in Glesca.
Bit ye ken anither maist saitisfeein thing for me as presenter is foo you, the listeners aye respon tae some o oor upcomes, like recently, fin somebody wintit tae ken fit happen’t till the Eric Stewart Trio that ees’t tae broadcast in the saxties - jist afore my time ahin the mike.
Weel I wis tae fin oot that there wisna an Eric Stewart ata bit Eric Broon on accordion an George Stewart on Drums. Nae only that bit details o their programmes on radio were reveal’t bi a Neil Gillies o Glesca fae his skweel jotter which he said ‘he put tae better use’.
Again, fin band leader John Ellis wis on the programme, he cwidna myn foo mony broadcasts he hid deen. Farquhar Matheson o Kirkintilloch, anither lad that his notit sic maitters ower the eers, cam up wi the staggerin total o 164, second only tae Jimmy Shand on 191.
Anither mannie jist as eident wi his detail on broadcastin bands wis the late Bill Milner o the Brig o Don fa likit naething better than a news wi Esma on’s road tae the Post Office for’s pension, takkin that Setterday’s band throwe haun. Losh he keepit a tidy index o bands on the wireless.
We wish tae thank ye aa for yer support ower aa the eers an feenish wi this story fae a listener in Perth. I winna name names bit I’m assurt it’s true cis the mannie ees’t tae write in a lot till’s. Es lady tellt’s o attendin his funeral nae that lang syne an durin the eulogy it wis menchin’t fin he wis in hospital, the faimily veesitit on the Setterday evenin an efter bidin a wee fylie saa he wis gettin a thochtie agitatit.
‘Aricht, Dad, I think we micht be better leavin an come back early the morn’.
‘At’s fine. Robbie Shepherd’s on in five minutes’.
Fit can I say!
See ye neist wikkeyn.