[watko]

Well not long to go now until Sir Iain of Lee hits the airwaves again.

National Radio awaits.

Just thought I'd post this thread that will hopefully become the place for all Virgin related Iain Lee stuff in the coming weeks.

Today I was in conversation with the great man himself for an EXCLUSIVE podcast interview which you can find at
http://watkinsian.libsyn.com

Thought It maybe interesting for all Iain fans to listen to with it being free plus this in no way self publicity (i promise DS) .

WARNING it is a bit risque in places and is uncensored!

Kind Regards

W

PS Happy New Year and roll on January 6th 10pm - 1am Virgin Radio
pradeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep !

[ElMarko]

Cool, another interview, cheers watko.

Personally, I can't wait. I know the show dynamic is going to be a little different with a new-ish format and new staff (I guess?) but we'll give it a fair go and see how it is.

[ElMarko]

5 Records an hour? Jesus. He's done well to negotiate that.

[radamfi]

Nice one, watko! You guys and Iain were on top form during that interview!

Just in case anyone hasn't heard the trail, here it is:

www.radamfi.co.uk/Iain_Lee_Virgin_trail_24_Dec_07.mp3

Here's some geeky, but maybe useful, information on how to get Virgin.

Virgin is on DAB (Digital One), Freeview (channel 727), Sky (0107), Virgin Media (915) (and other cable services) and Tiscali TV (ex-Homechoice) (620)

It is on FM in London and the South East on 105.8

It is on AM in most of the country on 1215, but you may get better reception on these other frequencies:
1197 (Bournemouth, Oxford, Gloucester, Medway, Cambridge, Torbay, Merseyside, Nottingham, Brighton)
1233 (Sheffield, Reading, Essex, Northampton, Swindon)
1242 (Dundee, Teeside, Staffordshire, Lincolnshire)
1260 (Guildford and East Kent)

There are also quite a few excellent quality internet streams available. See

http://www.radiofeeds.co.uk/query.asp?feedme=virgin

[mastercontroluk]

when does he start??

[ElMarko]

Originally Posted by mastercontroluk

when does he start??

6th January.

['Mr Fat]

very good interview...though it sounds like Iain is more passionate about his hatred of 'Matt Bollocks' than his new show on Virgin...

[Ridgieman]

Looking forward to listening to Iain on Virgin Radio. What do others think are his chances of getting a weekday slot in the future and what would be the best shift for him if it was to happen in the future?

[radamfi]

Originally Posted by Ridgieman

Looking forward to listening to Iain on Virgin Radio. What do others think are his chances of getting a weekday slot in the future and what would be the best shift for him if it was to happen in the future?

I guess the most obvious weekday shift would be the 10pm to 1am slot, but Geoff currently does that and it seems to be a popular show. I can't see Virgin having a phone-in at any other time of day.

[Andy Mac]

Nick Abbott was doing 7 till 10pm at Virgin, far as I can recall, and very successfully at that - before his infamous departure for being too uncensorious (is that a word ?). It was a good run, wish he was still up for the same straight-to-air these days, though not at LBC any more I guess. Bah! Globule!

Apologies, I was slightly OT; but I'd definitely be up for Iain doing 5 days a week on Virgin, music notwithstanding, and I think 7 till 10 would give more 'average' listeners (and their kids) a look in, as opposed to just us fanatics who are mostly going to listen whatever the hour ?

[radamfi]

Originally Posted by Andy Mac

Nick Abbott was doing 7 till 10pm at Virgin, far as I can recall, and very successfully at that - before his infamous departure for being too uncensorious (is that a word ?). It was a good run, wish he was still up for the same straight-to-air these days, though not at LBC any more I guess. Bah! Globule!

Apologies, I was slightly OT; but I'd definitely be up for Iain doing 5 days a week on Virgin, music notwithstanding, and I think 7 till 10 would give more 'average' listeners (and their kids) a look in, as opposed to just us fanatics who are mostly going to listen whatever the hour ?

Nick A made a name for himself doing the now legendary phone-in when Virgin started in 1993 and that started at 2200. There were probably more than 5 records an hour then, and there was news too. However, after a year, he got demoted to the 1900 to 2200 slot when Virgin lost their bottle. He was reduced to merely taking record requests. He didn't get to do a proper phone-in again until he joined Talk Radio.

As Iain know only too well, 1900 to 2200 is a radio graveyard slot as it is the main TV watching time. That is why 2200 to 0100 is more desirable.

[Andy Mac]

Originally Posted by radamfi

Nick A made a name for himself doing the now legendary phone-in when Virgin started in 1993 and that started at 2200. There were probably more than 5 records an hour then, and there was news too. However, after a year, he got demoted to the 1900 to 2200 slot when Virgin lost their bottle. He was reduced to merely taking record requests. He didn't get to do a proper phone-in again until he joined Talk Radio.

As Iain know only too well, 1900 to 2200 is a radio graveyard slot as it is the main TV watching time. That is why 2200 to 0100 is more desirable.

Oops! Well, I will of course bow to your Guru knowledge, Radamfi - I would have sworn the original Elizabeth from Cheddar et al calls were in the 7 till 10 slot, but happy to be corrected - I'm well aware that my few remaining brain cells are fast disappearing!

I do have a reasonably clear memory of Nick being taken off air after a particular call, and wasn't aware that he had been reinstated (I'd probably stopped listening to Virgin). Was that the point at which he was 'demoted' to 7 till 10 and records only ?

[radamfi]

Originally Posted by Andy Mac

Oops! Well, I will of course bow to your Guru knowledge, Radamfi - I would have sworn the original Elizabeth from Cheddar et al calls were in the 7 till 10 slot, but happy to be corrected - I'm well aware that my few remaining brain cells are fast disappearing!

I do have a reasonably clear memory of Nick being taken off air after a particular call, and wasn't aware that he had been reinstated (I'd probably stopped listening to Virgin). Was that the point at which he was 'demoted' to 7 till 10 and records only ?

Elizabeth from Cheddar's calls WERE in the 7-9 slot (7-10 Fridays), but that was on Talk Radio. The prime slot (after 9 o'clock) was reserved for James Whale.

On Virgin, Nick went through a period of phoning up other late night talk shows on stations across the country. One night he decided to call up Robbie Vincent on LBC. He seriously slags off Robbie, LBC and its audience. It resulted in a £1000 fine and a suspension for Nick.

This call can be downloaded from

http://archive.nickabbot.info/misc/n...e-9394-pt2.mp3

(for the LBC bit fast-forward to 28 minutes into the file)

and the following is a transcript I found from the alt.radio.uk.talk-radio newsgroup.

This is what Nick Abbot was like when he was 33:

Nick : "Allright, well let's see... if we can't get Robbie Vincent on the show. Wouldn't that be fabulous? The *king* of British talk. (Dials number, sighs, phone rings) And you just get straight through, right? He has absolutely nobody whatsoever callling his show. Wonder what the topic is tonight, do you think it's arthritis? Arthritis week coming up, ladies and gentleman. National eczema week coming up as well. This is gonna be *great*!

LBC, the soon to be extinct London talk station, the FM side speaks to people 70 and over and the AM side speaks to really old people. (Laughs) So boring you could virtually die listening to it, if you have problems sleeping then tune it right in! (Phone continues to ring) I think the board operators gone to sleep himself, how long does the phone have to ring on that station before they pick it up? What do we need, some accompanying music? Here's something... oop.."

Operator : "Hello?"

Nick : "Hello, is this LBC?"

Operator : "Hmm. Can I help you?"

Nick : "Yeah, is this the Robbie Vincent show?"

Operator : "Uh.. well you're obviously not listening to us, because it's not being presented by Robbie Vincent at the moment.."

Nick : "Oh great! Who's on?"

(Radio in background : "Hmm. can I help you", silence)

Nick : "Hello? (silence) Hello?"

Operator : "Yes?"

Nick : "Who's on?"

Operator : "Well, if you're not even bothering to listen to the program you're phoning, and seeing as how we're listening to *yours* at the moment to see that you're phoning us, I think that's a bit feeble really. Goodnight. <Hangs up>"

Nick : "FEEBLE? OH WOW, SHE wasn't a very nice lady, WAS SHE? What a _bitch_! You see, they're very upset in that building because their licence is gonna run out really quickly and they're all scrambling around desperately trying to find a job. Well you'd be upset too, right?

Their new phrase - 'LBC-ing you!' (Laughs) So somebody has obviously rung them up and alerted them to the fact that we were gonna call, and were they up for it? Not in the least. What a bunch of yellow-bellied bastards they are at LBC! And she was listening to this show, their output was so dull she was listening to _this_ show!"

(Silence)

Nick : "I bet, just from the tone of her voice, I bet she hadn't had sex in her whole life. Geez, she was wound up like an alarm clock, GOD! So maybe we should get a radio and see who's on that program, could they be even more boring than Robbie Vincent? Is that possible? OK, well they obviously didn't like me very much, so screw them!"

Pervy Paul Ross sat in for Nick for part of Nick's suspension:

http://www.adamfi.co.uk/Nick_Abbot_Suspension.mp3

However, his demotion was planned and he did a farewell show, where Chris Moyles famously burst into the studio towards the end of the show.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

Originally Posted by radamfi

Nick A made a name for himself doing the now legendary phone-in when Virgin started in 1993 and that started at 2200. There were probably more than 5 records an hour then, and there was news too. However, after a year, he got demoted to the 1900 to 2200 slot when Virgin lost their bottle. He was reduced to merely taking record requests. He didn't get to do a proper phone-in again until he joined Talk Radio.

His original slot was 10-2, but he did also do a phone in between 7 and 10 too on Virgin too.

After he was suspended, he returned with a phone in between 7-10 but I don't think it lasted long - I remember hearing him taking a call just before 10pm one night which was very un-nick, something worthy like a mountaineer or yachtsman and that turned out to be the last call. Although IIRC he returned to that slot with a phone-in when they started doing diffrent programming for London in the evenings - Nick on AM and 'Live in London' or something on FM

There was a point when he was doing the afternoon show on Virgin (maybe London only?) and the Talk evening slot at the same time, a lot like he does Planet Rock and LBC now. You're right though that the Elizabeth from Chedder calls were Talk evenings

[ElMarko]

Originally Posted by radamfi

However, his demotion was planned and he did a farewell show, where Chris Moyles famously burst into the studio towards the end of the show.

WTF? Really? Any audio of that?

[wicksta]

Thanks for that interview Watko, excellent stuff.

[the_pumpkin_mun]

Great interview Watko. What with Iain's show starting and Zara getting a regular show on TalkSPORT things are looking up

[radamfi]

Originally Posted by ElMarko

WTF? Really? Any audio of that?

http://rabbitsonthemoon.com/nickabbo...y%20(192k).mp3

[dpb]

Originally Posted by Toxteth O'Grady

His original slot was 10-2, but he did also do a phone in between 7 and 10 too on Virgin too.

After he was suspended, he returned with a phone in between 7-10 but I don't think it lasted long - I remember hearing him taking a call just before 10pm one night which was very un-nick, something worthy like a mountaineer or yachtsman and that turned out to be the last call. Although IIRC he returned to that slot with a phone-in when they started doing diffrent programming for London in the evenings - Nick on AM and 'Live in London' or something on FM<snip>

He did indeed return to the evening slot for a couple of months in 1997 doing phones on AM (with Paul Coyte on FM) although he later moved to early breakfast and when Chris Evans arrived Nick moved to afternoons on FM.

[ElMarko]

Originally Posted by radamfi

http://rabbitsonthemoon.com/nickabbo...y%20(192k).mp3

Cheers, how far into it? I don't have 3 hours

Edit: Found it. God Chris sounds young.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

Originally Posted by dpb

He did indeed return to the evening slot for a couple of months in 1997 doing phones on AM (with Paul Coyte on FM) although he later moved to early breakfast and when Chris Evans arrived Nick moved to afternoons on FM.

Forgot about him being Chris Evans warm up man. He had virtually every weekday slot at Virgin except for mornings, he even filled in for Chris on breakfast once or twice IIRC

[watko]

2008 and just a few days to go! Worth the wait? We will see.
Sun 10pm Virgin (onvariousplatforms) Be There , Be There ......BE THERE!
W

[radamfi]

On the LBC Yahoo Group, Mike Mendoza said he would be having Iain on his show in the next week 'for a bit of banter and fun'.

[mfr]

Originally Posted by Andy Mac

Apologies, I was slightly OT; but I'd definitely be up for Iain doing 5 days a week on Virgin, music notwithstanding, and I think 7 till 10 would give more 'average' listeners (and their kids) a look in, as opposed to just us fanatics who are mostly going to listen whatever the hour ?

Give him breakfast. It can only be better than the pointless rambling that's on Virgin in the mornings at the moment.

[winterlandboy]

Originally Posted by watko

Well not long to go now until Sir Iain of Lee hits the airwaves again.

National Radio awaits.

Just thought I'd post this thread that will hopefully become the place for all Virgin related Iain Lee stuff in the coming weeks.

Today I was in conversation with the great man himself for an EXCLUSIVE podcast interview which you can find at
http://watkinsian.libsyn.com

Thought It maybe interesting for all Iain fans to listen to with it being free plus this in no way self publicity (i promise DS) .

WARNING it is a bit risque in places and is uncensored!

Kind Regards

W

PS Happy New Year and roll on January 6th 10pm - 1am Virgin Radio
pradeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep !

Thanks for starting an Iain Lee -Virgin Radio thread.Rightfully he can now be totally disassociated with the now pathetic and terminally boring LBC.