Radio City #1 – Huey Morgan

Next Post – Radio City #2 – Brian Matthew

First in a weekly series looking at radio shows and DJs. This week focusses on Fun Loving Criminal and DJ Huey Morgan.

Huey

The Dutch phrase for “Good Morning” is “Goedemorgen” but in the South of the country – the bit where it runs imperceptibly into Belgium – this is pronounced with a throaty “g” almost an “h” – like the sound at the end of the word “Loch” only a little bit more “g”ish – and also with the “d” swallowed beyond recognition.

I have this vision of a future in which an ageing Huey Morgan ends his days hosting a breakfast show in the Brabant region of the Netherlands. It could be called “Goedemorgen with Huey Morgan” or just “The Goede Morgen show”

See, this is why I don’t work in radio.

First coming to public attention as the frontman with Fun Loving Criminals in the 90s (and indeed currently on tour with them), Huey’s BBC 6 music show is on Saturdays at 10am, which is good because you can switch over from Radio 2 as soon as Sounds Of The Sixties finishes (and you really should. Graham Norton is a genius chat show host but doesn’t really suit radio)

Nobody ever goes on about The Huey Show, but for me its one of the best shows on the radio. Saturday is the only day you can hear a reasonable smattering of black music – in fact, a lot of the white music played is quite black, if you know what I mean.

You’ll hear 70s punk, US art-rock, reggae, 90s grunge and indie next to old skool hip-hop and garage, as well as carefully-selected current records. John Grant, The Coral, This Is The Kit and Bloc Party all featuring ont he latest show, as did Clear Soul Forces and the New York Dolls:

His presenting style is laid-back New York cool. There are no long interviews with musicians, no quizzes or phone-ins, only the Crate Challenge (which is really a way to get some love for some classic old records!) and the Soul Train, “stopping off at a different year in Soul Music history”, and you’re ever more than a couple of minutes away from a record.

His other show on Radio Two (in what will forever be “The Mark Lamarr Memorial Slot” to me in memory of God’s Jukebox, the best show on the radio ever) is primarily an oldies show but with a particular slant towards funk, soul, doo-wop, R and B and pre-stadium American rock – plus regular forays into older jazz and blues.

Within the space of half an hour of his most recent show (which you can still listen to here for another few weeks at least) he played Art Garfunkel, the Detroit Spinners, Dave & Ansel Collins, Harry Nilsson, John Cougar Mellencamp and some 1970s Nigerian high life from James Etamobe And His All Weather Band (incidentally one of THE great band names ever)

I have no idea what Mark Lamarr thinks of the show but I like to think, wherever he is, he’d approve.

Latest Huey Show on 6 music

Latest Huey Morgan Radio Two show

Next Post – Radio City #2 – Brian Matthew

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