RADIOS & NICK

The green radio belonged to Nick’s parents, the other belonged to his grandparents. The dials are still set as they were in the early sixties, his parents’ to Radio Luxembourg and his grandparents’ to BBC Radio 2. Nick and his brother Bob would sit their parents’ radio on the landing between their two bedrooms, falling asleep to the gentle voice of Stuart Henry. When visiting his grandparents Nick and Bob listened to Jimmy Young over the crunch of their cornflakes. Their grandad sat opposite, hidden behind the Daily Mirror. Nick can still read perfectly upside down. In ’71 they were regularly serenaded by Olivia Newton-John covering ‘If Not for You One Day’. His grandad did his own rendition from memory on his mandolin. Over twenty years later Nick’s friend John designed the sleeve for the The Wedding Present’s ‘Watusi’, named after a 1960’s dance. It was perfectly apt then, that Nick’s grandad’s radio be chosen to illustrate the album cover.

04 Sep 2011