Not impressed by new Classic FM schedule
29 February 2008Following the news that GCap Media are to scrap their theJazz and Planet Rock digital radio stations, it seemed that Classic FM, as an analogue station, would emerge unscathed. Unfortunately, the closures have had a knock-on effect that has changed Classic FM for the worst.
In the week, I’m only really able to listen to the station in the evening. Changes at this time of day include the scrapping of the 6:30pm Classic Newsnight programme. While this was not the best news programme imaginable, it was the only news bulletin I could catch after work, having usually missed most of Radio 4’s news. Instead, Smooth Classics at Seven has been extended by an hour, becoming Smooth Classics at Six. Smooth Classics, presented by John Brunning, was always one of my favourite programmes. Unfortunately, they have now pushed John out in favour of Margherita Taylor, who apparently used to present a programme called Easy Jazz at Six on theJazz. I’m afraid I am so far unable to get used to Ms Taylor’s voice. I don’t know if she’s supposed to be a celebrity because she’s been on TV; I’m not interested in celebrities. I liked John Brunning’s smooth voice presenting this programme. Margherita Taylor appears to have a “trendy” voice with an end-of-sentence intonation I don’t appreciate.
In turn, John Brunning has displaced Nick Bailey as the presenter of the Evening Concert programme, which has been renamed The Full Works. For around five years, Nick has presented the programme live, enabling him to read out listeners’ e-mailed comments as he received them (including several of mine over the years!) This gave the programme a much more personal touch, and meant it was better company for anyone listening alone. Early indications are that The Full Works is no longer presented live. Nick Bailey has now been pushed into the overnight slot, starting from 2am, displacing Mark Griffiths who has now left the station. I’m quite certain Nick isn’t happy about losing the Concert and having to present overnight.
One aspect of the new schedule that has proved most controversial is the introduction of two hours of jazz each night, starting at midnight. The programme is presented by Helen Mayhew, who is also a refugee from theJazz. Lisa Duncombe, the young violinist who was given a job after complaining that the station didn’t promote young artists enough, has also been given the axe. Classic FM used to promote itself as the country’s only 100% classical station, as opposed to rival BBC Radio 3, which has always played jazz. That distinction has now been lost. I should probably go to bed at midnight anyway, but I have to say that, despite my reservations, the jazz programme is the change I mind the least. The music is still quite relaxing, and at that time of night the music is only background to reading or whatever, rather than being for serious listening.
The station has responded to complaints about the introduction of jazz by claiming:
Radio stations periodically change their programming line-ups and our research shows that there is a very strong cross-over between listeners to classical music and jazz.
That is implying that they introduced the new schedule as a result of careful audience research. I would contend that they have done no such thing. The new schedule was introduced in a hurry after GCap decided to pull out of DAB. The evidence for this is clear. In the past, new schedules on Classic FM have been the subject of much fanfare and promotion for weeks beforehand. Now they are calling this the biggest change in 15 years, yet there was no mention of the new schedule until just before it started this week. In the just-released April issue of the Classic FM magazine, they have just managed to get the new schedule in there. But there is a detailed listing of the music that will be played on the Evening Concert in March, with an accompanying article by Nick Bailey who it says, “presents the Classic FM Evening Concert every weekday night from 9pm”. That shows these changes to the schedule weren’t carefully planned as the result of audience research. They were rushed through for commercial and contractual reasons as a result of theJazz closing, after much of the magazine had already been produced.
The jingle that accompanies the new programmes can only be described as naff. I don’t believe it was created by David Arnold, the composer of the famous Classic FM jingle, and of the many arrangements that are heard on the station. It was no doubt recorded in a hurry, again because the schedule change wasn’t planned very far in advance. And what on Earth is the slogan “We raise you up” supposed to mean?!
It seems GCap needed to find a job for Margherita Taylor as a matter or urgency. Perhaps she had some sort of contract that would have been expensive for GCap to terminate – more expensive than sacking Mark Griffiths anyway. Perhaps the contract also specified that Ms Taylor’s programme should be at a time when decent numbers of people are listening, not in the middle of the night. So to make way for her, they have shunted along two long-standing presenters on the station who had presented their respective programmes for many years extremely successfully. The same may be said for Helen Mayhew replacing Lisa Duncombe, although there the motivation is probably also an attempt to appease jazz fans: they can still listen to jazz, as long as they don’t mind staying up until 2am!
I am quite unimpressed with the changes to Classic FM’s schedule. Because of what are ultimately business decisions by the owners, they have spoilt my favourite station quite a bit. Now I can’t listen to the news, I can’t hear “Mr Smooth” present his classics, and I can’t enjoy listening to the concert with Nick Bailey. I hope some of these changes can be reversed when theJazz’s former presenters’ contracts expire. I know that other listeners are unhappy, particularly with the jazz programme. Yet they are unlikely to abandon the station as there aren’t many alternatives. Unless, that is, GCap’s own internet broadcasting strategy turns out to be the way forward, in which case people may well discover that there are many good classical music stations around the world (from countries without draconian copyright laws) and so they can consider abandoning the station that puts business before its listeners.
Why are GCap trying to destroy Classic FM? Margherita Taylor is a horrible radio voice and 3 hours every night……………..
And Nathalie Wheen´s saturday and sunday afternoon shows are gone!!!!She IS the Best…..and now its 22.00….
The way Classic FM hade their programs prior to this week was a winning consept (Sony award winnging station) so WHY on earth destroy it? Its beyond me.
After a few weeks away, I was shocked to see/hear the changes at Classic FM. Frankly, Lisa was not a loss, but Griffiths? And moving Nat and Nick?
This really started when they moved Crick out of the breakfast show, years ago. I used to tell all my broadcasting friends to listen to Jamie, just to hear a proper morning ‘air’ personality that wasn’t daft! He is a wasted talent at mid-day.
If anyone sees Griffiths, send him birthday greetings from his fans in the States!
Classic FM was rather good when it started, with presenters like John Julius Norwich and Michael Mappin, but it’s been going downhill for years and is now mainly a product placement channel for Classic FM CDs and the like. My advice would be to try Radio 3.
All very valid points, especially yours, Jonathan. There is something that distinctly stinks about the haste with which these changes were made- yet they are all the stranger because, for the moment at least theJazz remains on the air on DAB. Rumour has it that the station will close at the end of March if a buyer is not found- but it’s rather more than rumour that Global Radio are keen to get their hands on the whole GCap empire including Classic FM. Indeed, British Stock Exchange rules mean that by the end of this month, they must “put up or shut up”.
I hope that Global do win their prize, and perhaps see sense with their radio assets in a way that Fru Hazlett’s dreadfully preciptious moves has not done. theJazz may not have been the commercial success that GCap was aiming for, but why compound one failure by taking a course which seems bound to alienate a substantial number of Classic FM listeners while gaining scarcely any new ones.
The biggest loss for me in the changes is Mark Griffiths, who had the perfect voice and style, I believe, for the slot he covered. Nick Bailey is admittedly a fine broadcaster of many decades standing- he started his career on the pirate ships, of course, but he’s just not right for the “graveyard slot” and indeed it shows. I feel really sorry for my namesake Mark- I didn’t even have the opportunity to wish him goodbye before his programme vanished, and sadly his website hasn’t been updated so I don’t know what he’s up to now.
Contrary to Andrew Rogers’ comments, I think that Classic FM still had a winning formula- the fact that the format has been either licensed to or copied by many stations worldwide speaks volumes. But as other correspondents here say, the station has now lost its uniqueness with the incursion of Jazz (though I always felt that the “Chiller Cabinet” and similar weekend fare were marginal to the original ethos anyway). And indeed, the new slogan and jingle are dire.
Fru Hazlitt seems to have an obsession against DAB, but doesn’t she realise that if she doesn’t return a decent, friendly, classical service to FM with the voices people know and love, that will generate nothing but bum notes too. If anybody at Classic FM reads these comments, please think again and reverse these changes. After all, Henry Kelly was brought back after a sudden departure, so dare we hope Mark Griffiths and others can return too?
Like Marc I have been away and came back to find Nick Bailey’s voice at 4 o’clock in the morning. Mark Griffiths gone and now tonight Lisa Duncombe said farewell. I liked Lisa, her voice was alive and she will be missed, by me anyway if that counts for anything. I would like to have listened to Mark Forrest for longer than his 6 pm sign-off as he, Jamie, and Jane have good shows. Simon Bates is switched off before he utters a sound as I think him to be insulting and condescending to his colleagues. He recently referred to elephants when introducing Nicola Bonn for a traffic report.
The new schedule has a lot to be desired and I accept that changes have to be made to keep listeners from drifting but retrograde steps have been made. How can you introduce jazz on a classical programme? It is on as I write this and it is a plink-plonk of piano with a piercing trumpet that is now getting up my nose. How I wish I did not suffer occasional bouts of insomnia.
ClassicFM is definitely changing for the worse and I agree entirely with Eddie the Expat. What really gets me is that Margerita seems totally incapable of reading out the names of any composer or artist unless they are called John Smith’s Band! If we do have to endure her until her contract expires could someone please get her a voice coach!
Iagree with all the Classical Fans (I’m a Jazz Fan) you cannot mix the two, now two types of listener are upset
and the Jazz listeners have to become insomniacs to hear their brand of music on a DAB radio set or have their computer based in the lounge or dining room permanently and running 24/7. This does not go down well with HER-IN-DOORS particularly when entertaining friends or family. My wife listens regularly to The Jazz when doing the chores at home,but has lost the pleasure and cannot be expected to carry a laptop on her hip. Is’nt there someone out there who can rescue the situation and make Classical and Jazz listeners happy. I have looked at My Classical FM site and was not impressed, particularly as I was unable to get either Jazz or Classical Live music over the Web
Saddened Jazz Fan !!!!!!!
Margherita Taylor has the most grating voice so I have to switch her off!
Mark Griffiths is an awful loss. Two hours of jazz at midnight is not conducive to my insomnia. Bring back Mark please. As for audience research, I’m on the mailing list but no-one asked for my opinion!!!!!!!!!!
As for that awful”we raise you up”………………… I will be going back to Radio 3 after having been a loyal listener to Classic FM since day one.
I agree completely with Peter King and feel sorry for all The Jazz supporters and classical music lovers too. I love the Jazz and listened to it a lot on Sky in the lounge & on my digital radio. I too do not want to turn on my computer in order to listen to music I like. I am annoyed with The Jazz for advertising a similar Jazz station on Classic Fm, as actually, it doesn’t exist. I still don’t understand why the Jazz had to close (I know tons of people who listened to it) and why poor classic fm had to take the changes too.
I don’t like the new CFM schedule either. I think John and Nick should never have been shunted, and I do miss the news too. Margherita Taylor’s voice really annoys me. She played something last week, that wasn’t even a relaxing melody. Let’s hope CFM see the light and put things right. I find it very difficult listening to CFM now since all the changes.
Most of the comments above chime with mine. I am a relatively late convert to classical music and Classic FM in particular, and I did not believe that the format (as it was) could get very much better, except perhaps for the loss of a few presenters like Myleene Klass or Lisa Duncombe or Katie Derham, who add nothing to the station. But even with them, I was happy with the schedules. Now that we have the intrusion of jazz (sorry, all you jazz lovers, but I just loathe the stuff) I feel the station’s raison d’etre has been violated. I was appalled at the abrupt exit of Mark Griffiths, who has one of the best voices on radio, and John Brunning is no substitute for Nick Bailey. I don’t listen to Natalie Wheen because I’m not fond of her choice of music, but I am outraged on her behalf and that of her regular listeners that she should be shunted to late night.
But I am even more indignant at the palpable untruths that are surrounding these alterations, as it is patently obvious that the changes were rushed through and that no market research was done. Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas: neither would Classic FM fans vote for jazz on their station, or their long-standing and in many cases favourite broadcasters be pushed out of the popular spots and into areas where they can conveniently no longer be listened to.
And yes, the jingle is unmemorable. The other one could occasionally get on one’s nerves, but it was noticeable and so it did its job. And ‘We raise you up’……? What? Think again, Classic FM, if you want to remain a popular station or indeed grow even bigger.
I totally agree with what everyone else is saying here. I too have been a CFM listener for 15 years and this latest schedule is not good. Aled Jones was a huge loss and I have not listened to Saturday/Sunday mornings since Myleene Klass took over. Nice person I’m sure; radio presenter no way. That aside the rest of the schedule was pretty good overall. Everyone is going to have presenters they like and dislike, we all know that’s a fact of radio. But this, what have they done. It’s just awful. I too am considering Radio 3. I cannot abide the stupid “ding dong ding” jingle, it is driving me nuts. I have mailed the station to ask why the changes and could they possibly consider removing the new jingle – strangely enough …. I’ve heard nothing back! Hey ho.
I read with interest the comments on insomnia. I, too, sufer from poor sleeping habit only now, I toss and turn in silence as I too, hate loathe and detest jazz – indeed, sometimes, 2 a.m. is actually welcomed as at that time I can get back to ‘my’ kind of music.
And what have they done with Henry Kelly this time? I disagree with Simon Bates’ comments that Sunday morning are now improved!
I believe Henry Kelly will return with a new show after the special programmes for the Classical Brits have finished.
Please, Give me back my “old” Classic FM – Mr Smooth, John Brunning, at 7 (the perfect voice after a long and streesful day, M Taylor has a awful,grating voice) Nathalie Wheen on weekend afternoons, she who has given me many new music idees and Mark Griffith, my only company on many sleepless nights.
Acording to GCaps own website, CFM has gone from 6.3 million listeners in September 2007 down to 5.7 today………that´s 600 000 listeners that have abandon CFM in a verry short time, so mrs Hazlett, take a hint and listen to what CFMs listener and your own statistics tells you!
I’ve really tried to like the changes, but it’s no good, I can’t talk myself into it. On the positive side it’s good to have 3 hours of smooth classics, but PLEASE not with Margherita. As for losing Mark Griffiths, if anything they should have moved him into a daytime slot where more people could hear him. I want presenters who introduce the music as though they know what they are talking about but who speak in a natural, un-sugary and uncondescending tone; i.e. Nick Bailey, John Brunning, Mark Forrest, Mark Griffiths, Anne-Marie Minhall, Henry Kelly; not those who sound as though they’re doing us a favour by talking to us (Margharita, David Mellor, even Jane Jones).
I’ve been a faithful listener since the trial broadcasts, but tune in far less frequently now. I emailed the station and did have a reply, along the lines of ‘thank you for your message, we value your input’. Hah! I don’t think so.
I am sorely missing Mark Griffiths. He was a pleasure to listen to.
It is just not the same now so I will go back to listening to Radio 3.
Only now can I bring myself to write calmly, after enduring the garbage that Classic FM is now inflicting upon us following the radical programming changes several weeks ago.
I live in a different time zone from the UK, so my days were definitely brightened by the professional delivery and lovely musical choices of John Brunning, Nick Bailey and, most especially, Mark Griffiths. No longer, I fear. Who on earth is this dreadful female, “Margherita Taylor”? Do I understand from previous comments that she is a TV personality? What has that got to do with classical music? Then there is the two-hour jazz presentation — again, what does that have to do with classical music? And finally, there is the execrable Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen … he, alone, is reason enough for a ClassicFM boycott!
Friends, fear not — if you are a web listener I can heartily recommend kdfc.com in San Francisco and king.org in Seattle. Both stations remain true to their programming commitment (unlike ClassicFM) and have pleasant and professional presenters (yes, they have American accents but, despite that, I promise you they are very easy to listen to).
So, classical music lovers, remember the maxim, “Vote with your feet” (in this case your “ears”)? Classic FM depends upon revenue from advertising, so together let’s ditch ClassicFM and turn our attention to other more deserving classical music stations.
I wouldn’t want to ditch Classic FM – up to now it’s been a great station, and parts of it still are. We need to persuade the current people in charge that they’ve got it wrong, and hope that the drop in listening figures will convince them that they need to go back to the successful formula. I’m sure that several of the long-standing presenters must feel the same as we do.
I’ve heard KDFC when visiting my son and his family in California, and I agree that it’s excellent; but I prefer to listen on the radio (not online) so that doesn’t work for me in the UK. Radio 3 is not the answer, either.
@Jill: You could try a dedicated internet radio set, which will receive the signal from your wireless router. The quality can be much higher than DAB. They start at under £50 now.
Incidentally, I don’t agree about David Mellor, who is one of the few presenters who actually knows what he’s talking about!
Thanks for the hint, Jonathan. I’ll give it a try.
I agree that David Mellor knows what he is talking about; my reference to him was because I don’t like his condescending tone (or his very poor intonation).
Beautifully summed up Jonathan, the most irritating change for me is the jazz at midnight when the radio is on sleep-timer. What’s most depressing is the hurried nature of the changes, makes you wonder what gods (or demons) they’re appeasing. Either way I agree that what started as a positive refreshing change to classical music broadcasting is being progressively compromised.
I’d also wonderd about the internet radio idea but then wouldn’t I also be party to the demise of DAB?
I have several points to make about this situation:
1. GCap Media is obviously an incapable body to deal with the transmission of radio stations, especially Classic FM. A big media magnate does not really fit their image!
2. The online player is awful! Not only does it constantly display picture based ads, but the bit rate is slow and the lack of presenters makes it almost completely unlifelike and inhuman. I cannot get it to work on my Windows Vista computer, and it is no substitute for either theJazz or CFM.
3. When it was announced that tJz was to close, I listened to it every night until it did close to try and boost the ratings. Unfortunately this didn’t work. The only remnant of this station I have now is a CD!
I would just like to say that I agree with many of the commenst so far. I, like many listeners, am disgusted at the shunting of Nick Bailey and the ’sacking’ of Mark Griffiths. I was recently on holiday, and even people whom I met on my trip to Greece were talking about the changes; and the ‘waste’ it was to have Nick Bailey on the overnight slot. I think in general people miss Nick. And let’s not forget Mark who had the pefect voice and personality for overnight radio. Although John Brunning is not my favourite presenter, I don’t think he should have been pushed into Nick’s wonderful concert programme just to make way for Margherita Taylor. I think the problem here is that it would have been cheaper to get rid of Mark than to pay-off Taylor and the result has backfired, because not only have CFM lost a great voice and compromised outstanding presenters, they will now inevitably loose listeners!
Oh – I’ve just been told about this excellent website of Jonathan’s and I’m amazed to see that I’ve been mentioned on it several times – and in quite a positive way too. Thank you. For those who have been wondering what has become of me – and I see there are one or two – I must first apologise for my sudden departure from Classic FM. It was as much of a shock to me as it seems to have been to many Classic FM listeners. There’s a lot to tell about what happened. As I’ve indicated on my website home page – and you can find my site at http://www.markgriffiths.name – I will soon be back with a new classical music show, featuring the same kind of music, quiz, your emails (I hope) and other bits and pieces – along similar lines to my show at Classic FM. I also have some other really exciting news about a new radio show I’ll be presenting from South East Asia, starting in June 2008. It’s going to be broadcast on AM and FM around the world (including the UK and USA), as well as from about 10 different satellites and on the Internet. You might like to sign up for my newsletter to find out more about what happened at Classic FM in February, and about what the immediate future holds for me. I run the website, so you won’t be inundated with rubbish if you sign up for the newsletter. I hope to hear from you with a bit of feedback about my new shows, details of which I’ll be announcing in my next newsletter. Thanks again for your kind comments – it would be great to hear from you through the contact form at my website. Let’s all keep smiling. If you do the opposite it gets you nowhere even faster! Let’s keep in touch. Mark
Dear Mark
We miss your wonderful voice every night, as we have listened for nearly ten years. Classic FM have ruined our listening hours of ten until six in the morning. For the insommniacs this is devastating, as not only did we have wonderful music, enjoyed some super quizzies, which keep the brain alert, and presented by the one and only Mark Griffiths, outstanding velvet voice.
We no longer tune in to Classic Fm, But listen to Radio 4 and SAILING BY, and the long radio weather forcasts for DGGER BANK etc. How can this programme be called CLASSIC sorry you have lost us and all our night friends. Hazel Jacques
I follow the comings and goings at Classic FM with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. I was very sorry to hear of Mark’s departure, but not totally surprised at the apparant change of direction at the station. Those presenters with a passion for the music (and I admit Classical music does provoke more passionate reactions than many other kinds) seem to be getting thinner on the ground. Let’s face it, the ultimate aim of a commercial radio station is making money and for that they need listeners. The fear at Classic FM, going right back to the earliest days, is that the audience would plateau. The first Programme Controller, Michael Bukht, was not afraid of this, stating that plateaus made good steady launching pads for higher and greater things. His strategy was to load the rocket (sorry, the metaphor is wearing a trifle thin) with things Classical and imaginative. The introduction of Jazz to CFM is a sad, cynical bid for new listeners. The immediate decision to vote with their feet made by many listeners is of no consequence to those who make the decisions. Letters or emails will make no difference. The only thing to do is ride out the storm and wait for a change in the weather. I agree with Mark that it’s better to smile than frown. But it is only with the benefit of distance that I can raise a grin at the remembrance of one producer who told me that he would make a programme about bricks if he thought it would bring in the listeners.
I agree with all comments that I have read. My mother and I listen frequently to Classic FM.
Since the sudden programme changes I have missed listening to Lisa Duncombe’s ‘Late night’ programme. I don’t like the Jazz prog at all. So I switch off at midnight or tune to Smooth Radio for a different style of music altogether, if Classic Fm had Classic music on after midnight I would stay. Classic and Jazz do not mix on the same station. I am not a jazz lover anyway.
Also, I use to enjoy Nick Bailey with his evening concert, but now that has gone. So, the programme changes I am not impressed with at all.
But I suppose knowing what I know about UK commercial radio, which I have followed since it’s introduction to our shores in 1970 and the way it all ticks. All run by accountants and computers, it is hardly suprising that these changes have happened, I have seen other good stations deteriate in the same fashion. The truth is the people who are in charge, have not a clue on how to run a radio station.
The Jazz on DAB was doomed from the start really, as the audio quality on DAB is not nearly as good as on FM. Again it’s due to money. They limit the bandwidth to get more stations on the DAB network to make more money. Even Classic FM sounds better on FM compared to it’s DAB channel. Even my mother of 80 years notices that.
But with all that, I hope that Classic FM takes note of people’s comments and makes ammends.
Hey Michael – it would be good to meet for a chat and catch-up before I disappear off to SE Asia in two weeks. Give me a call or send an email through the Contact page of my website – http://www.markgriffiths.name/contact.html – if you have a moment! I have an email address for you, but I think it’s an old one… Mark G.
Classic FM has been going elsewhere for years. The ousting of Nicholas Tresillian was about the low point and that babbler, Nick B taking over. Nick Tresillian “wanted the opportunity to look after his pigs” Nick B didn’t, and still doesn’t know one end of a piece of music from another and I do NOT miss him, but Natalie Wheene taking over at the weekend – never my favourite when on Radio 3 – is a considerable improvement. She might ven be better during the week, but ‘The Full Works’? Ugh!!!
Margherita Taylor and her voice; unctious in the extreme, but when a radio station is run by such merchants, what more, I suppose, does one really expect? An interesting comment about her origins with Jazz FM Explains a lot.
I also thought that Michael Mappin was a superb presenter and he knew what he was taking about, but with Michael Bukt being invalided out all those years ago, like so much, the Saturday Night quiz with Quentin ??, the axing of JJN and others, the hooligans took over and these changes are all part. It seemed that anything bordering on the intelligent was out of the window.
Let’s also face it Radio 3 has dropped some awful clangers. (Sir) Nicholas Kenyon as controller and John Tusa, the better candidate, being edged out to be asked to read the 1pm TV news!!
Don’t listen and play CDs ; it will soon be read in the audience figures. Courage, mon ami!
I don’t agree with your comment on Nick Bailey. He did his best, and it was the only time the programme was live, which meant it was possible to e-mail him to discuss the music, and he always replied! Also, Quentin Howard, who presented that quiz, is actually an executive who’s been partly responsible for the state DAB is in by insisting that the bitrate should be low to squeeze stations in at the expense of sound quality:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/articles/President-of-WorldDMB-was-dishonest-about-DAB+-on-BBC-TV.php
Classic fm is going off and has been for a while. Why the introduction of all these ‘celebrities’? (Alex James, Laurence Llewellyn Bowen (ugh!)), etc.
Jane Jones is irritating, with her ’sugary’ voice, and as for Simon Bates ….!
Mylene Klaas is OK but does sound as if she is reading from a script. As for ‘We raise you up’ -AAARGH! I’m afraid I have to switch off every time I hear it or anticipate it, (and then often forget to switch on again!).
Switching to Radio 3 is not the answer, as the reason Radio 3 listeners swicthd to Classic fm was because they liked ‘proper music’ with good tunes, rather than a lot of the jangling discordant stuff Radio 3 is determined to inflict on us.
It is great to hear from Mark Griffiths and how his future is now being mapped out. I enjoyed listening to him and I wish him all the best
What has happened to Lisa Duncombe? How is she now coping? Come on Lisa, drop us a line so that your fans can keep in touch. I am a night worker and really enloyed listening to her dulcit tones. Alas night listening will never be the same again!
If the executives from ClassicFM are accessing this site maybe they are now realising the errors of their ways and are looking at ways to appease their audience….
Thanks Terry – I just saw your comment. I’m in touch with Lisa and am arranging to meet up with her next week before I fly to China for a job at China radio International – something completely different and a change of direction for me. I’ll tell Lisa about this page so she can put a comment on here if she wants to. I’m also working on a classical music project for radio and hope to have it up and running soon. I hope you’ll sign up for the occasional email newsletter by clicking on the button at my website homepage at http://www.markgriffiths.name so you’ll be among the first to know exactly what’s happening both with me and some of the other presenters no longer at Classic FM. You can also contact me directly if you want to, through my website contact page. It would be great to hear from you. You may already know that GCap (the company that owned Classic FM at the time of the changes) has now been taken over by Global Radio, and I for one would definitely go back if the new owners approached me and suggested it, so you never know… normal service may well be resumed at some point in the future…
What do Classical and Jazz have in common? – They’re different forms of quality music. I find it quite strange how some people can be so narrow-minded. For the record, the Midnight Jazz program is fantastic!
So Gordon, would you also introduce heavy metal or contemporary R&B on the station? There’s plenty of quality music there too. But when people switch on a classical station they expect to hear classical music, and that’s exactly how Classic FM advertised itself for a long time. Where do you draw the line? You can have a station that plays every type of music under the sun, but then it has no distinct identity. As I said, I personally don’t mind the jazz programme, but I still don’t think it should have been introduced, and the worst thing is the way Classic FM have lied to people over why it was.
I agree with Jonathan. I don’t like jazz anyway, but I accept that some people do and I respect their opinions. However, its arrival on Classic FM is unfortunate to say the least. If there are not enough listeners to keep a dedicated jazz station going (as it appears there are not) then maybe jazz lovers should bite the bullet and realise that they are in a minority and therefore find their music on stations offering a mixed bundle. Jazz should not be allowed to dilute the identity of Classic FM – I mean, what will be next? A renaming of the station to Classic-and-Jazz FM?
These days I no longer listen to Classic FM as often as I used to. In fact, the only programme I regularly tune in to is Nick Bailey’s in the early hours – and that is because I grew used to radio listening at this time due to Mark Griffiths’s show. I like Nick, and in days past have enjoyed his Evening Concert, so I was pleased that it was he who filled the huge gap left by Mark’s departure.
Once a week I listen to about 30 minutes of Margherita Taylor (which is quite enough, thank you) and wish that she didn’t continually use strained adjectives to describe the music (everything is ‘wonder-ful’ or ‘beauti-ful’), which may be something she does to hide the fact that she does not know a great deal of background information on that music.
And I find irritating in the extreme the new habit of running two pieces of music together, separated only by an advert for another of the station’s programmes, with no intervention by the presenter. This seems to happen at least twice an hour. Maybe it happens even more often than this – as I said, I don’t listen as frequently, or as long, as I did.
Bring back the classic Classic FM!
Jan, so very well put.
Nancy
Lisa Duncomve to return to Classic FM?
http://madamearcati.blogspot.com/2008/06/lisa-duncombe-dj-babe-to-return-to.html
I still think that the Jazz show is right and is in keeping with the general Classic FM atmosphere. Radio 3 has managed to broadcast Jazz and Classical for years although it seems to cover a much wider musical field.
For those of you who are simply saying “I don’t like Jazz”, then all I can say is that the “We raise you up” jingle is all you deserve.
Yes, Margherita ‘I Robot’ Taylor is bad, very bad. That downwards inflection at the end of every sentence is annoying in the extreme. Actually, perhaps Classic FM should replace her with the in-train announcement system the Underground use – it might be an improvement.
I agree with the earlier comment about Jamie Crick being wasted in the lunchtime slot – a true pro, who comes across as a very nice guy. I suggest he replaces that irritating smarta**e Forrest character (who, infuriatingly seems to be on every time I tune in) with his wretched ‘faux northern’ pronunciation:
‘mAsterclAss’, ‘After’, ‘pAst’…. ughh.. so phoney it makes you want to throw up!
Simon Bates though is a superb broadcaster and I will not hear of him being criticised in any way! As for Jane Jones… well yes, sugary is the word alright. Gushing insincerity by the truckload… get ‘er off!
Thank you for agreeing so generously with my previous post, Nancy.
Gordon: well, of course jazz lovers like the jazz show on Classic FM. But the point being made is in the name. ‘Classic’ FM. Not Jazz FM, or Classic-and-Jazz FM. If the radio station in question wishes to remain a serious classical music station and true to its name, then it needs to ditch the jazz. Radio 3 can broadcast all the jazz and other music it likes: it is not named ‘Classic Radio 3’, ‘Classical Music Radio’, ‘Radio 3 for Classics’ or any combination thereof, and thus does not openly proclaim its tendencies. There is no comparison.
The other day during my once-a-week short foray into Smooth Classics at Six, Ms Taylor was having problems. The whole thing was going haywire, with Ms Taylor blithely announcing the details of a track that had not been played, was not going to be played, and featuring nowhere in the programme. I can only assume someone had messed up the music so that her (presumably recorded) presentation no longer fitted what was intended to be played. Did anyone else catch this? Maybe it’s a regular occurrence these days.
Actually, I like Jane Jones’s choice of music, though (and it seems like everyone else on this forum) I wish she would moderate her style! But anyone who likes both Mozart and Rachmaninov cannot be far from good in my eyes……
I have to admit that listening to the station as it is now does nothing for me. I find the format irritating and, now that I can no longer listen to it for an hour or so after midnight, it has almost ceased to have any useful purpose for me at all. If it weren’t for Nick Bailey’s show, as far as I am concerned, it would be history.
I heard Smooth Classics go wrong the other day. The presenter’s part has always been pre-recorded, so the same thing used to happen when it was John Brunning. That’s one thing I miss about Nick Bailey’s Evening Concert – it was the only time that programme has been live.
I know that most people like a good moan, me included. However, I thought that some might be interested to hear about my change in “listening” habits. In the past when CFM have changed schedules in a way that I didn’t like I’ve come round and got used to things. This time it isn’t so. My radio is tuned to CFM for maybe 1-2 hours per day, other than that it is switched to R3 or R4 or off altogether. The changes and some of the new ‘presenters’ have really switched me off and I just don’t want to listen. That’s really sad for me as I’ve been a fan for such a long time. I know the playlist is very limited but so what. Most of the music they play is lovely. I just can’t stomach some of the gushing OTT and ignorant presenters. But do you know what has turned me off more than any other single thing ….. yep, the ghastly jingle “ding dong ding we raise you up” I can’t stand it! It alone has forced me away from a station I used to love!
Hey ho!
Nancy, the irony is that the one programme that still uses a variation of the old jingle is the jazz programme! I liked the old jingle, composed by David Arnold, and it was very clever the way he made so many different variations of it. I realise that the new jingle is actually the first three notes of the old one, so live in hope that they’ll eventually go back to using the whole thing.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one to dislike the new Classic FM schedules. The station is going downhill, and find myself listening to Radio 3 more and more
I particularly dislike Alex James (why does he say everything is cute?) and I also dislike Margherita Taylor’s (and Jane Jones) voice.
Myleene Klass is ok. But the sooner that blasted jazz show is kicked into touch the better.
What you say is so right, Nancy. Most people are naturally resistant to change, and I am no different, but eventually I usually come around to accept change where it is inevitable. And although it seemed very unlikely in February, I thought that given some months, I might at last come to terms with the new schedule. But no. I simply can’t. Like you, I have changed my listening habits radically. Every radio in my house (and I have quite a few!) were always tuned to Classic FM so that when I switched on I didn’t have to fiddle with the dial or presets. It was only rarely I listened to other stations. But now – well, literally the only show I listen to is Nick Bailey’s for an hour or so in the morning before I go to work. I used to listen to some of Mark Forrest’s show when he had Drivetime, but now at the time I drive home from work (and turn on the radio) he is doing that ‘Kid’s Call’ thing. I am all in favour of children listening to classical music, and indeed some of the brief interviews are good, but let’s be honest, nine times out of ten the music chosen is a film score – Harry Potter and the like. It has become so predictable that it is tiresome. So I don’t listen to Mark Forrest any more. And I am afraid that my 30-minute period of Margherita Taylot has been discontinued. I just cannot bear her. Last week I tuned in to Radio 3 instead, and they had a very pleasant woman presenter who gave us some splendid Mozart and Beethoven chamber music. All the movements, too; I had forgotten how very satisfying it is to have more than just one movement played on the radio. I do find that I am playing my own collection of CDs much more now, and the radio stays off. Ironically, many if not most of the CDs were bought because I had first heard the music on Classic FM.
How sad it all is.
Jan.
A bit late in the day but I agree with every criticism made on the schedule changes, down to Taylor’s dreadful voice. The link comments, such as “We raise you up”, are spoken by people who have no idea of intonation when speaking,flat, boring and dropping the tone at the end of the sentence.
I am also a trad jazz fan but on the one occasion that I listened at midnight, it clearly wasn’t my scene.
I,too, have gone back to listening to my own CDs, which has done wonders for my blood pressure.
Yes, Jan, it is all very sad.
Now it seems as if Nicola Bonn has gone from weekend overnights, replaced by Matthew Stiff.
I think it’s a shame the way Classic FM is using ‘names’ from TV (Myleene Klass, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, Alex James, Matthew Stiff), all of them apparently voice-tracked. It means we’re losing people who have an affinity for radio, real communicators. In fact, I think it’s a scandal that a national station has so much pre-recorded stuff, esp at weekends.
Bob Dinan
I came across this website whilst Googling Nathalie Wheen in an attempt to find out what else she is up to. I agree wholeheartedly with the gripes and grievances already listed (changes in programming, irritating voices, people who obviously have no knowledge of music or artists or how to pronounce them, jazz when I’m trying to go to sleep and – above all – the loss of Mark Griffiths). As a refugee from Radio 3 when Classic first started, I’ve drifted back – and still find Radio 3 as irritating as ever on occasions – and if Classic ‘improves’ I probably won’t know as I hardly listen to it now. I heard Nathalie’s excellent and very funny one-’man’ show last year when she said how happy everyone was at Classic – I wonder what she would say now?
It’s such a relief to find this thread and know that I am not alone. For reasons too sad to mention I actually _need_ the radio, but the horrific Margherita (la belle dame sans merci, if one ignores the ‘belle’ bit) has forced me to Radio 3, where I have acquired a profound knowledge of what a string quartet sounds like when it’s boiled alive.
Is listening to some vile dirge preferable to hearing Madame Robotica’s unceasing alternation of “..here on Classic FM..” with “..on smooth classics at six..”? Of course it is. If the alternative was death by wolves I could understand why folk might seek out Ms Taylor’s company, but no other circumstance makes any kind of sense.
Where has Nicola Bonn been, does anyone know? As Bob noted, she disappeared off the schedules some weeks back, prompting speculation (as least from me privately) that she had gone for good. And this morning, when my radio crackled on as it normally does early morning for Nick’s show, there was Nicola Bonn. Nick said on air last week that he was sitting in for Jane Jones on the breakfast programme this week, so I had been curious to see who would substitute for him. I half-expected it would be that rather wooden presenter Matthew Stiff (Stiff by name….), but had a lovely surprise when I heard Nicola’s dulcet tones.
So where has she been? At the Olympics, perhaps?
Jan.
Travelling home from a long weekend away there was nothing much to listen to on R4 at the time so I hesitantly switched to CFM. I say hesitantly because it was gone 6.00 pm which meant that Margherita Taylor was broadcasting.
I really don’t like her style as mentioned before, it’s just too gushing and seemingly insincere (IMO). I was quite surprised though, her style appears to have changed and she is speaking more naturally without the over-cooked intonations etc. I would still prefer John Brunning of course but I was quite taken aback; maybe some of the feedback is filtering through?
Interested to hear what others think?
Jan – I too missed Nicola so am glad to hear she is back in some form. I’m always glad when anyone sits in for Jane Jones as I find her too OTT (but not as much as MT). I was very happy when Jamie Crick took over the lunch time slot from JJ.
Nancy
I too am glad to see (or is it hear?) the return of Nicola Bonn. I live alone and the Classic FM presenters are like my family sometimes. I hate when someone goes missing without explanation. I do find this criticism of Margherita Taylor a bit harsh. John Brunning was a very hard act to follow and Margherita plays the same lovely music as John. She always replies to e-mails as well. As an insomniac I find the friendly style of and musical choice of Nick Bailey does the job perfectly. Like me he`s also a cricket nut and a Baroqueaholic.
I agreewith the comments about jazz – I dislike jazz, find it harsh and discordant. Sometimes I find myself just waiting for 2am!
Nancy, following your remark about Ms Taylor, I spent some time summoning up the enthusiasm to make an effort to listen to her again. And I *have* listened to her, on at least three separate occasions, including one where I managed 30 minutes all in one go (!). I am afraid I haven’t changed my opinion of her. Maybe she had a few off-days when I listened, but back were the slightly condescending tones, the recourse to ‘wonder-ful’ and ‘bee-yoo-ti-ful’ when describing a track. Yes, I’m sure it is wonderful for her, and beautiful, but DON’T keep telling us (as if we didn’t know!).
Nicola Bonn fell into the same trap this morning. I listened to her for about an hour during which she described one track as ‘won-der-ful’ and another as ‘gorg-eous’. I cannot tell you how irritated I get! Now with the departed, much-lamented Mark Griffiths we had a much more adult attitude. Of course he sometimes praised the music and mentioned that he liked it, but an encomium was given in a different way; what sticks in my mind is the way he described a piece once: after we had heard it on air he said, ‘It’s always a privilege and a pleasure to play that.’ Enough said.
However, at least Nicola doesn’t mumble like some of the presenters. Lisa Duncombe was a good one for that, and so is Anne-Marie Minhall – and come to that, she is ubiquitous these days, isn’t she? It seems that every time I switch on there is Anne-Marie, standing in for someone. And is Jane Jones off for three weeks? Nick Bailey is still standing in and yes, Sylvia, I too hate it when presenters go off and disappear into nothingness with never a word.
My late night listening is sorted for this week, however; it won’t please those of you who don’t care for Mozart, but I’ve checked the Radio Times and the overnight show on Radio 3 features the demi-god Wolfgang every single night for the best part of an hour. Hmmm, Mozart on Radio 3 or Jazz on Classic FM? Isn’t that what these days youngsters call a ‘no-brainer’?
Jan.
I have just found this site and am glad at last to be able to communicate with others experiencing similar disillusionment with Classic FM. I have tried to tell CFM but as others have pointed out, they simply don’t listen. The station has been going downhill for far too long, with the best – and most knowledgeable – presenters being removed or shunted to graveyard slots, and replaced by celebrities with few qualifications either for radio broadcasting or presenting classical music, or both. And all this is stitched together with endless self plugging. Obviously they have to run advertisements in order to stay on air, but why plug the station to people who are already listening to it?
In the absence of any evident desire by Classic FM’s bosses to listen to people who are apparently abandoning the station in their droves – me included – wouldn’t a better idea be to lobby the bosses at Radio 3 to recognise that they have a 5 million + audience there for the taking? Just do the following: (1) employ Mark Griffiths, Michael Mappin, Natalie Wheen, Nick Bailey, John Brunning, Anne-Marie Minhall ( a lot better I think than people give her credit for ) and Jamie Crick (2) liven up their programmes by being a little less “heavy” although a little less commercial than Classic FM and (3) advertise the changes in the national press and on BBC television. Then it will be Bye Bye Classic FM and Hello to all our old favourites and a 24 hour a day fabulous classical music station with no advertisements – and no We Raise You Up (how condescending!)
Or am I living in a dream world?
I was looking for Lisa Duncombe and came across this site.
I certainly miss Late Night Lisa as she was cheerful, enthusiastic and clearly knew what she was talking about. Now on CFM we have celebrity presenters who appear to read the sleeve notes that come with the CD’s. They probably don’t know one classical artiste from another and probably have never been to a classical concert. Sandra (April 28) is right about kdfc.com and king.org. They are well worth listening to as are many other classical internet radio stations. Ian Smith (July 25) is right about the midnight jazz programme. Although some of the music is pleasant it is mostly New York cocktail lounge music – i.e. background music to which nobody really listens. And as for the “cool” “smooth” “chillout” jingles — AAAAAAAHHH!!.
The real jazz classics are not being played and I sometimes wonder if the programmers really know what is jazz.
It’s all down to money and the bean counters rule. They are also the same people trying to stop the development of DAB radio in this country. Click on the link at the comment of Jonathan (May 31), and you will see the tricks the radio moguls are up to. They need to hold back any advance on DAB radio so that they can squeeze as many as possible poor audio quality stations onto the available bandwidth.
I totally agree with all these comments (and the original blog post) on the whole. 3 hours of Margherita Taylor is a bit too much, and her voice puts me off my work!! I do, however, like Jane Jones, unlike many who have left comments.
I wish ClassicFM would turn its clock back to the years around about 2004 or so, when all the presenters were in the right places. This would be one of the most welcome u-turns in history.
I also wish that listeners could vote off adverts which they don’t like and have them replaced with decent ones. Some of the ‘creature discomforts’ ads were quite dire.
Why or why did the people who run ClassicFM trying to fix something that wasn’t broke?
As Jan (16th June) put it, Bring back the classic ClassicFM!! It’s in your best interests to listen to the listeners!!
Did anyone else hear “Midnight Classics” last night in place of Classic FM Jazz? They’d advertised it during the day. It was still presented by Tim Lihoreau. At the end, he said the program would be back tomorrow. I wonder if it’ll be every day, and if it’s permanent. The website still says Classic FM Jazz! Perhaps they didn’t have very good audiences for jazz; well, we could have told them that before it started!
What a shame midnight classics is being introduced. I for one listen to both classical and jazz, as well as many other forms of music.
Robert: you must be in the minority as Classic FM’s decision will undoubtedly have been made on audience figures. I feel sorry for Tim Lihoreau and Helen Mayhew (“one of the UK’s best known jazz broadcasters”, according to the website) as they are simply the latest presenters to be messed about by GCap.
I’m with Robert about dropping the jazz at midnight. Ironically it was the only programme that I bothered to listen to now on CFM, and I speak as a classical music fan. So it’s back to ‘Vivaldi’s 4 Seaons’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ theme, Eine Kleine Nach Music and anything by Karl Jenkins, played every few minutes instead. Well I won’t bother to listen at all now.
The decision to drop jazz clearly has nothing to do with ratings, as few people listen in the early hours anyway.
Very disappointed to have lost Classic FM Jazz with no warning. Though I’m primarily a jazz enthusiast, this nightly programme got me listening to classics either side of it and at other times, as CFM was among my stored stations. Not any longer, though….
I heard Midnight Classics last night for the first time, and was a little surprised at the sudden departure of the jazz programme, though I had never been a fan of it. There may be a place for Jazz on Classic FM, but midnight was not the right time for it. Midnight Classics is no substitute for Mark Griffiths- where is he now?- but at least it’s a more restful and relaxing misture for the small hours when some of us light sleepers are dozing.
I think however the real reason the programme has been dropped is to do with Jazz FM being re-launched next Monday, 6th October. I suspect it’s got something to do with various contractual complications related to the former incarnations of JazzFM and theJazz.
Maybe at least this change is a sign of hope that GCap will still come to their senses, though I fear there’s no way they will bring Mark Griffiths back. As it is, I hope such a good presenter has found gainful employment elsewhere- he deserves to.
Steve (above) makes a very good point. For me it works the opposite way and I have found that jazz is not the frightening thing I used to think it to be. But now I have been inspired to listen to it the slot has sadly gone. That late night couple of hours is surely more the natural domain of the jazz boys (is it still OK to call them “cats”?) than classical afficionados, so why not let them have their slot and encourage a little cross-pollenation of music types?
Really miss Natalie Wheen on weekend afternoons. I don’t have time to listen in the evenings. December weekends with Natalie playing some seasonal music interspersed with a great classical mix really helped build the atmosphere leading up to Christmas. Always felt she had a glass of mulled wine in the studio with her!
I for one am delighted that they have removed the jazz slot. Now if they would complete the u-turn and get rid of Margherita and move everyone back to their rightful places.
Wow! Classic FM has surprised us all again! Gone is Jazz! Three cheers and a knighthood for whoever persuaded them to do that! Sorry about all the exclamation marks but I am truly, really delighted and a glut of exclamation marks appears to be in order.
I disagree with Lionel over his suggestion that perhaps the two hours after midnight is ‘the natural domain’ of jazz lovers; I don’t think people can be pigeon-holed so easily, and their listening habits predicted. Personally speaking, I listen to more classical music at night than at any other time. I work full-time and rarely get a chance during the day, and the weekends are always dominated by family stuff, so those precious dark hours are bliss for me when I can turn on the radio and hear classical music.
However, all is not lost for you jazzers. Tune in to Jazz FM and have your music all the time. It is in your best interest to make the most of the relaunch, and you can do yourselves a favour – and us too – by making Jazz FM a runaway success.
I’m with Josh in hoping that Ms Taylor will be ushered to the door and I do think that the movement of programmes at the weekend was unforgivable. I used to listen to David Mellor’s new CD show (he has strange staccato delivery, but I appreciated his very honest opinions) but now I can’t, and I do know that Natalie Wheen’s new time-slot has been deplored by many of her listeners.
Mark Griffiths now broadcasts on China Radio International. I don’t know about the details of his contract, but I rather suspect that if it were at all possible he would be back at Classic FM like a shot. Although I love Nick Bailey, I would prefer to see Mark back at his ‘normal’ time, and Nick given back the Evening Concert. The title ‘Full Works’ is pretty tacky, and John Brunning – though clear and concise – is rather too impersonal for my taste. Nick’s warmth (an attribute of Mark also) added immeasurably to the show.
Having said all that, we have had a step in the right direction with the reinstatement of classical music after midnight, so let us classical music lovers rejoice…..
Jan.
Jan
So very well put. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that things continue to improve.
Nancy
I too agree totally with Jan’s comments.
For the first time I can remember, I did feel sorry for Classic FM’s producers when there was a mini wave of support for the jazz programme on this website (or rather, dismay at its disappearance). It proves you can’t please all the people all the time. Although I respect the views of these correspondents, I must say that the removal of the jazz was more a problem for the jazz lovers to sort out rather than the classical music fans having to put up with jazz on a station that was supposed to have been set up to play classical music (in fact CFM used to plug themselves as the only 24 hour a day classical music station). Anyway the jazz lovers, as Jan points out, will now be much happier as they have their own station back (wonder what their listeners would say if they stuck a classical music programme in there!)
Nevertheless there’s still much to be done before Classic FM gets anywhere near the standard they attained some years ago. And I agree that Mark Griffiths coming back would be one step in the right direction.
Phil
Peter, I cannot agree that CFM is all Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Four Seasons, Pirates of the Caribbean and Karl Jenkins (all of which I like anyway). I have heard stuff on CFM which I would never even know about. For example they`ve been playing quite a lot lately of Czech composer Dusek`s piano music – it`s sublime. I`ve also heard Von Bronsart, and just now I heard on Smooth Classcs at Six – Haydn`s Symphony 49, Ist movement – divine. They play a lot of Schubert`s chamber music – I`d never heard of Death and the Maiden until recently. The Albinoni oboe concerto`s are getting quite an airing – they`re delightful!
I know nothing about Dusek. What I do know is that there are some excellent famous composers, eg, Sibelius, where they just tend to play the same piece over and over, – Karelia Suite 3rd movement. Whatever happened to his 2nd Symphony? When did that ever get an airing on CFM. It made the top 150 Hall of Fame, or his Swan of Tuelona? When did Mozart’s Requiem last get played, Bach’s Toccata & Fugue D minor, etc? There are countless other examples. Playing lots of film score music repetitively instead, much of it very mediocre, at the expense of the classical works, is no substitute for the real thing. Personally I’d much rather listen to jazz anytime.
Referring to Peter’s email, my own favourite piece is Tchaikovsky’s magnificent Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and there are many others who put that in their top 3, as evidenced by its appearance year after year in their Hall of Fame (which I accept is nonsensical e.g. Pirates of the Caribbean being higher up than Mozart etc) However, the R&J Fantasy almost never gets played because it’s about 20 minutes long and can’t be split into movements, and they can’t get it into their scheduling very easily.
I now automatically recoil when I hear those ads advertising the benefits of advertising on radio, with that idiot interviewing perfectly sane heads of businesses and putting a pun into every question. Ughhh. Does anyone at all find those funny?
Phil
Bach`s Toccata and Fugue is due to be played next Tuesday (14) on the Full works concert. I agree with you about The Swan of Tuonela, but I`ve certainly heard part of Sibeius`s Symphony no 2 recently, and Nick Bailey played the lovely Ballade from the Karelia suite recently. But I`ve never once heard the towering Tapiola played on CFM! I also agree with you there is far too much film music played – I don`t consider this classical. You should not dismiss Dusek just bcause you`ve not heard of him – he`s well worth a listen. As for the ads I hate them all, but unfortunately as with all commercial radio stations, they are a neccessary evil!
How odd. Peter wonders when Mozart’s Requiem was last played on Classic FM, and yet it seems to me that whenever Mozart has any kind of substantial presence on an evening concert (or the newly-named ‘Full Works’) they always play the Requiem. Indeed, it is down to be played next week when during the so-called ‘Great Composers’ month they are dedicating a show to Mozart. I find it astonishing that it gets played so much, bearing in mind that some of it isn’t his anyway.
They do play Sibelius’s symphonies also; a movement from one of them was aired earlier this week. I daresay that when he gets his slot on the ‘Full Works’ this month he will have one or two symphonies played. But I think it is right that CFM concentrates on the more popular works: these pieces of music are popular for a good reason, i.e. they are the ‘masterpieces’ and are more likely than others to attract new listeners. Once a listener is hooked, then he or she will probably explore further on their own. I did.
I agree with Sylvia that CFM does play a lot of music by people relatively unknown. For example, back in the early days when I first started listening all I knew about were the big names, and that was all I wanted to hear. But I am eternally grateful that CFM introduced me to Hummel, whom I now love, to the work of John Field and John Garth, and to the lesser-known pieces by composers like Bizet (I found out that he did write something other than Carmen) and they even persuaded me to like Shostakovich and Borodin!
Admittedly I think they play far too many film scores, and it is rare indeed – as Philip points out – to get a piece of music of any length (outside the ‘Full Works’). Many of my favourites are too long for frequent playing, e.g. the first movement of Beethoven’s fifth piano concerto, the first of his violin concerto, the Choral Fantasy, the first of Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto no 1. Mozart gets played so often not only because he consistently gets voted the listeners’ favourite, but because the segments of his work tend to be shorter. (And what gems they are!)
As for the adverts – well! Perhaps they would not irritate so much if there was more of a variety of them. And I do wish they wouldn’t plug ‘Smooth Classics at Six’ so much or indeed use their self-adverts to sandwich together two pieces of music. Not all of us have access to a DAB radio all the time: it is nice to be told the identity of what has just been played if you turn the radio on halfway through. Having to wait for that information while yet more music is played is unacceptable. (Especially if the next piece is something you don’t like!)
But the classics are back at midnight, and I’m still smiling.
Jan.
With regard to Jan Smith’s comment about the return of Jazz FM, unfortunately this isn’t available on DAB in the South West of England, only via the Internet which my modem doesn’t support and even if it did I’d have to go and sit in the office to listen!
Shame that Shostokovich, Borodin, Sibelius and Co. couldn’t be given a breather of a couple of hours to keep homeless jazz fans happy and perhaps get people like Steve above having CFM stored on their radios.
I’m sorry to hear that Lionel can’t get Jazz FM in the south. Until that station widens its broadcasting area then perhaps Lionel can find something on Radio 3? Jazz does not belong on Classic FM, as CFM has obviously found out. The point Philip made is valid: how would jazz lovers feel if a radio station that has devoted itself solely to jazz for 15 years suddenly gave over more than 8 percent of its broadcasting time to classical music (or any other genre) without the consultation of its listeners? I doubt that jazz lovers would be too thrilled. The two hours after midnight is just the time when I can listen to CFM; if someone asked me which time I could do without then I would say the middle of the day. But unfortunately there would be other classical music lovers who would howl with protest. This type of hybrid broadcasting just will not work with a music station ostensibly dedicated to a music genre and who is desperate to retain its slice of that genre’s radio listening audience.
BTW:
I have been listening to Mark Forrest recently when I drive home from work. Is it just that I have missed it at 16:10-16:20, or has the so-called ‘Kid’s Call’ been dropped? And where, oh where, has Nicola Bonn gone?
Jan.
Guys (and Girls) – surely this jazz issue isn’t all black and white? Why can’t Classic FM be PRIMARILY a classix station but with a nod to other music? Radio 2 is MAINLY easy listening but does let the noisy pop artists have a share of the pot, which I’m happy to live with. May be a few letters to Classic FM might make them think again? Besides which if your listening to Classic FM on DAB is it still ‘FM’ (frequency modulation)? Shouldnt it be Classic DE (digitally encoded)?
Never forget “Bird Lives!” Jazz fans will know what I mean. Everyone else, look it up.
With best wishes whatever your musical likes,
Ken
Oooh, now I do think Ken’s posting will get some response!!
The point about Radio 2 is that it doesn’t profess to be anything that it isn’t; it’s not called Easy Listening FM or similar, so you expect what it plays as part of the overall content. But Classic FM (and even if it does drop the FM it’s still Classic) suggests to us that it’s a classical music station (and as I pointed out in an earlier submission that’s what they used to boast about) and as such it is not a jazz station. But it’s each to his or her own – when the jazz was on, the classical fans were largely unhappy, but now the jazz has gone it’s the jazz fans who are unhappy.
As I fall into the former category, I am biased, but I can’t help feeling that the disappearance of the jazz – or the inability to receive transmissions from jazz stations – is a problem the jazz fans need to resolve for themselves. It’s not the classical music fans’ problem. We’re still battling with our own issues, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars, not to mention that dreadful Ludovico Einaudi. Sorry Einaudi fans, I will lay low in case of return fire, but at least it might open a new topic!!
Regards to all.
Yes, Philip. Way, way back I remember feeling concerned when I heard Classic FM plugging its so-called ‘sister’ station TheJazz which was about to be launched (was it January 2007?). Even then I was worried that somehow jazz would impact on the classical music station. How furious I was, therefore, when TheJazz nosedived and not only were CFM listeners subjected to two hours of jazz, but we also had the likes of Ms Taylor foisted onto us, and CFM stalwarts such as Mark Griffiths – who had been working for the station for something like 14 years – just removed from the broadcasting schedule. It was insensitive, ill-conceived, and it totally misjudged the likely reaction of CFM listeners.
I accept that jazz has many fans, of course it has. So does hip-hop, blues, rock and any number of other genres. Does this mean they all have to be given representation on Classic FM? Why single jazz out to be particularly deserving?
The fact remains that many classical music lovers just want to listen to classical music. I feel sorry for jazz lovers who don’t have their own dedicated jazz radio station but, as Philip points out, that’s their problem and should not in any way result in a reduction in the amount of classical music that CFM listeners can have available to them. After all, it’s classical music lovers who built CFM up to have whatever success they have had, and they are the ones whose wishes should be considered first. Otherwise – and CFM have probably seen this begin to happen – they will drift away in droves. And in the end there won’t be a Classic FM at all – for classical music lovers or jazz lovers alike.
Philip – surely you’re not insinuating that Einaudi is boring? (Ooops! Did I really write that?)
Jan.
PS. On Nick Bailey’s programme this morning (must have been about 4.45 am) I heard that he is going off again to the West Indies for a few weeks on a cruise. And guess who is to replace him temporarily? The lovely Nicola Bonn….
The thing that the clueless bosses of CFM- or rather their paymasters at GCap and now Global- failed to recognise is that it’s not the music mix alone that made Classic FM a success. It was the scheduling, and the presenters. Muck around with one element, and you upset a few. Tackle both, and you’ve got a recipe for trouble which seems to have been borne out by the latest RAJAR figures which show a drop in Classic FM’s audience.
I’m sure whatever hour the station had decided to have a two hour show devoted to jazz, it would not have been popular with listeners, but midnight was the worst slot of all- and also the most pointless. BBC Radio 3 often has/had a jazz programme on in that slot, while BBC Radio 2 now carries its jazz output later on a Monday night than formerly, particularly since the death of dear old Humph. And isn’t Jazz Record Requests still running on Radio 3?
Classic FM has confounded the gainsayers with a format since 1992 which has proved an extra-ordinary success, so much so that it has been franchised or copied by many stations overseas, e.g in Holland. It works because it presents classical music in an accessible way- and surely the fact that the station has released many albums on its own label proves that there is a ready market for this. So why not just tinker with the bricks and mortar of the schedule, but remove the ‘pointing- i.e. disappoint- as well so that the whole fabric of the station is damaged?
The same formula will not work for jazz, it would seem, or at least not if the previous performance of “commercial” jazz stations is anything to go by. Jazz by its very nature has a certain quality elitism about it- not really a mainstream musical product, even if many jazz artists are very well known indeed. Yet I would be the last to deny those that enjoy it their own radio station, if it will work.
It’s a pity that jazzFM, unlike Classic FM, is not this time on a frequency available to all throughout the country- but maybe it could be, soon. Or even on national DAB, now that Channel 4 has pulled out of its radio plans but a national multiplex remains unoccupied. But any jazz station will need to make money under commercial owners- it’s not a charity. Could it be that the real reason midnight jazz was dropped was simply that it was not bringing in sufficient listeners?
Far more people, particularly in these stressful times, I’m sure, want to listen to comforting, soothing, maybe even romantic, classical music in the small hours, not demanding, involving, loud jazz which is perhaps better seen than heard. You can’t “doze” to it in the same way.
And that was Mark Griffiths’ great skill. He was by no means a soporific broadcaster- anything but. In a 24/7 culture and with CFM listened to by people all over the world via the web, maybe a “night time” voice was considered less important by CFM bosses than of old, but I’m afraid no matter how hard he tries, Nick Bailey will never match him. He’s like a badly-cut jigsaw piece slotted into the overnight hours, whereas Mark was the aural equivalent of Ovaltine and helped me through many a restless night, particularly following bereavements.
I’m pleased for Mark that he’s found gainful employment with China Radio International. Probably being something of an adventurer and traveller, moving to Beijing was less of a wrench for him than it was for the listeners that CFM bosses ignored in such a cavalier fashion. In this of all years, maybe it was a shrewd career move of Mark to take to China Drive rather than the Classic Sleepover, but he is still much missed. And sounding very different indeed on CRI, by the way- I wouldn’t have recognised him had I not been told that’s where he’s gone.
Yet dare we hope he may yet return, as Henry Kelly and Paul Gambaccini have to CFM after rather unceremonious exits? We can but hope
Einaudi boring, Jan? Did I say that? Oh well, now you come to mention it….
I wonder how many of those who hate jazz but love CFM’s classical muzak output realise how many famous classical musicians have been involved or have a second career in jazz. There are many examples. André Previn, former principal conductor of the LSO and LA Philharmonic is a well known jazz pianist. Boris Berezovsky, one of the greatest classical pianists around also has a jazz trio. Nigel Kennedy plays more jazz than classical violin these days. Leonard Bernstein wrote music for both genres, and there are a host of similar famous examples. The vast majority of jazz musicians appreciate classical music and indeed were classically trained. The point is it’s all music and both types of genre are an art form which require considerable skill.
CFM is not a classical music station. It’s become a light music station, which is not the same thing nor is it how it started out out. It’s played music by Paul McCartney, Mike Oldfield and Radiohead let alone a lot of film music, much of it tedious (to me), for quite a few years without complaint. And since it does that, then why not include some jazz?
Peter
Peter
Whilst sympathising with where you’re coming from and actually agreeing with you that some of the music CFM play is questionable – it is in essence a station that airs music of a classical theme. I don’t especially like the music of Paul McCartney or Mike Oldfield but they are composing music of a classical type. Jazz is a completely different genre. I don’t agree with you that it’s become a light music station, it may well play light classical music but that’s different IMO. I’m actually not quite sure what you mean by “light music”. I had an idea of how many classical musicians are involved also in jazz but you have enlightened me further. However, I’m not sure how this has anything to do with what is played on CFM.
All the best.
Nancy
Nancy is right. Whatever other music classical musicians may play has nothing to do with whether or not classical music should somehow be combined with jazz (or anything else for that matter). I know of Previn’s heavy involvement with jazz, and that’s his choice; but it does not and should not affect how classical music itself is presented. It’s no secret that Kennedy enjoys jazz, but that does not influence my opinion of how he plays classical music.
A lot of people like several different genres of music. I do myself, but would not dream of imposing my ‘other’ favourites onto fellow classical music lovers. If I want to listen to music other than classical, I will tune in to the relevant music station or play a CD. Simple as that. I would not campaign for a dedicated music station to change its image to suit me.
I cannot see how Classic FM can be described as a ‘light music station’. Playing full length symphonies, sacred music, opera? Not my idea of a ‘light music station’! Has this stuff been played regularly on Radio 2 (a ‘light music station’)?
In fact I happen not to like McCartney’s later music, though I believe many regard it as ‘classical’; a label that Gerschwin and Bernstein have been given, though I feel that neither are truly ‘classical’ music composers. However, in the interests of completeness I suppose they can be included to represent one extreme of what is a very large spectrum of music within a single genre. Under this title so can film music be played. If nothing else it does demonstrate how much more inferior this type of music is to (what I regard as) ‘real’ classical music!
But as I mentioned in a previous posting, why should jazz lovers expect special treatment for their pet love? If CFM is a so-called ‘light music station’, then why not include other music genres? Where do you draw the line? If you would dilute CFM to the level of a true ‘light music station’ then it will disappear. It is the classical music lovers who have made the station what it is (or was, before the intrusion of jazz). What part of that is difficult to understand? So why on earth would anyone suppose that they will relish or even condone the destruction of what they once had, and remain loyal? And if the classical music listeners no longer listen, does anyone really think that the support of jazz lovers will be enough?
On another topic, I wish someone would realise that Myleene Klass has had enough exposure. You cannot turn the TV or radio on, or pick up a paper or magazine without listening to/seeing her. It’s time she left CFM.
Maybe I’m having a grumpy morning ……
Jan.
Well, I turned the radio earlier this evening not having listened to ClassicFM for a few weeks as I’ve been away and was delighted to hear classical music continuing at midnight rather than Classic FM Jazz.
I do agree with many of the comments on this page. Classic FM did us all a great disservice. I’ve been listening to Classic FM since it first started and its recent incarnation has been the worst. Not only do we have presenters like Margherita Taylor who has a voice made for silent movies, but we also have other presenters who seem utterly uneducated about classical music and unable to pronounce the names of composers or titles of music correctly.
The transfer to recorded rather than live broadcasting does nothing but distance the listener as there is no possibility of interaction.
Let’s hope that the replacement of Classic FM Jazz with Midnight Classics is the start of better things.
Sarah
It’s interesting that although some are firmly entrenched in the “jazz on Classic FM over my dead body” mould, others aren’t. By way of an observation, a couple of nights ago I switched on and CFM was playing the Warsaw Concerto – not a piece with which I’m familiar apart from the Ted Heath band’s version from the 1950s. I wonder how many other classical pieces have been “borrowed” by jazz or big bands and whether there would be the basis of an interesting programme for followers of both styles? I understand that Glenn Miller’s “Anvil Chorus” was based on a classical piece (but there my knowledge ends), likewise Les Brown’s “Bizet Has His Day”, the popular song “Moon Love” played by all and sundry in the 1940s and no doubt numerous others.
Best wishes to followers of both musical genres,
Steve
Good morning. I’ve come across this correspondence after performing a Google search to find out what became of the jazz slot, which was my only listening time on CFM. I don’t want to debate the rights and wrongs of whether jazz should have a place on the station, but what concerns me is that the programme disappeared with (as far as I knew) no warning. This seemed to show a total lack of regard for listeners by the station’s controller(s) and if I were a listener to CFM’s regular classical output I should be constantly worried that my favourite programme/presenter might be unceremoniously despatched in a similar way. Perhaps I’m only reiterating some of the previous comments where correspondents bemoan the departure of particular presenters or programmes, though not being a regular listener I cannot comment on how this was done.
Several weeks before the closure of theJazz, messages were regularly played to tell listeners where to go to follow their music – indeed this continued long after theJazz had ceased broadcasting programmes.
With best wishes,
Graeme
@Steve: there was a series, “When Classical meets Jazz” around the time theJazz launched. It seemed to concentrate on the classical side, however, which was a pity as I’d like to have heard jazz pieces based on classical music. The Warsaw Concerto is film music which itself only dates from 1941 and is played quite frequently on Classic FM – probably too often for some people!
@Graeme: you are quite right, there was no warning that the jazz programme was going to be scrapped. They now advertise “Midnight Classics” by making a big deal that it’s 100% classical, but there’s no reference to the fact that it replaced a jazz programme. I don’t particularly like “Midnight Classics” as it’s a weak, pre-recorded format. I also feel sorry for the jazz presenters who are just the latest to be messed around.
Hi Graeme
The midnight Jazz programme was a recent addition to CFM. I can understand your dismay but similarly this dismay was felt by regular listeners when the jazz was introduced in the place of classical music along with a host of other changes which were rushed through with very little notice. I guess what I’m trying to say is that regular listeners have been disappointed just as much as new listeners who came on board just for the jazz. The management need to act to re-establish peoples’ faith in their ability to oversee what used to be an excellent station. I think maybe they are starting to do that but who knows
Graeme
Welcome to the realities of Classic FM. Programmes – and presenters – get dispatched without warning to the listeners, and sometimes without warning to the presenters themselves! Ask Henry Kelly, who left his morning slot one Friday some years ago and apparantly discovered over the weekend that he’d find his chair uncomfortable to sit in on Monday morning as there’d be a fellow called Simon Bates already in it.
You can of course ask CFM why things happen. If you email Myleene Klass for instance you may find her email on the website doesn’t work. So you can call the station and they’ll give you another email address for her. That won’t work either. So you can write to her – and she won’t reply. I only wanted to tell her – as she’s a fan of Jacqueline du Pre’s Elgar recording – that there’s another couple of versions she may not be aware of, but after a while you wonder why you bothered!
This is the magical world of our favourite (more or less only) classical radio station.
Regards. Phil.
Jonathan,
I think it’s coming back. Was Warsaw Concerto from a film called “Dangerous Moonlight”? I imagine that a quick web search will answer that for me. It’s a nice piece regardless of its provenance and whether played by Ted Heath or someone more orchestral. I recall my father telling me that in his youth (which would have been 1941-ish) it would sometimes be referred to as the “Walsall Concerto” in an attempt to raise a quick smile.
Steve
As I mentioned in my contribution of September 8th, the jazz formerly played after midnight recently on Classicfm was not really jazz and that is why jazz radio stations fail. Until the numpties who run radio stations understand that, then so called jazz stations will continue to fail. Jazzfm will fail again because they continue to broadcast an awful lot of music which is to my mind NOT jazz. Previous contributors have mentioned Andre Previn and Nigel Kennedy playing jazz. Previn was a fine jazz musician and Kennedy is a fine violinist who can’t play jazz. Why is that? It is because Kennedy does not understand “swing”. And if you have to ask, then you will not understand what it means. I love both real classical music and real jazz music. Bi for now.
I am certainly not wishing to be controversial and fully accept the right of all contributors to have their say, but one thing occurs to me after reading Sanders’ message which follows a week of inactivity on the site. Jazz has now gone from Classic FM, and has been gone for quite a few weeks. Given that this is a site about Classic FM, is the subject of jazz now therefore largely redundant?
I ask that because it seems to me the classical music fans have a lot of issues of their own still to be resolved. As a classical music station Classic FM is still falling short of expectations. The jazz thing has been a diversion but is now apparantly a thing of the past.
Best wishes to all. Phil
I sincerely hope that Phil is right and that jazz on CFM *is* a thing of the past. But I’m not sure. They had an aberration once, and it could happen again. That’s the trouble: they have managed to raise doubts in their listeners’ minds that in fact they don’t think things through and certainly don’t take into account the wishes of their audience. They have made no attempt to reverse any of the disastrous decisions concerning their rearrangement of the schedules. At the very least, they should run a vote – referendum, if you like – along the lines of the numerous other online and postal votes they do, asking their listeners what they think of the new-style CFM. A reasonable time would be the end of this year, when we have all had a chance to get used to the new shows and presenters, and can give an informed opinion. If the majority come out in favour of the current set-up then fine, the rest of us will have to grin and bear it. But I would rather CFM actually lives up to how it likes to think of itself, i.e. ‘listening’ to people, and make an effort to find out how its machinations have affected their audience.
Moving on to something I find distinctly irritating, Jane Jones is driving me nuts. I wish I had a pound for every time she says ‘good morning’ on her breakfast show. Yes, I know listeners are probably joining her all the time as they get up and switch on the radio, but there are also some (poor things!) who are listening much or all of the way through. The occasional ‘good morning’ every 15 minutes or so would be enough, surely? She doesn’t need to say it EVERY time she speaks. Better still, Jane, don’t speak at all!
I apologize in advance to anyone who actually likes Ms Jones. I am sure she is a lovely person, indeed, I feel convinced of it; but I find her a terrible radio presenter!
Now that I am listening to the radio after midnight again and have actually heard Helen Mayhew, is it just me or is she quite good?
Jan.
I agree about Helen Mayhew. I think she keeps it in mind that she is there to support the music and not the other way round, and it is a nice show. I have this terrible premonition that I’m actually starting to like CFM again. I know I risk being banned from contributing to this site but I personally have no problem with Simon Bates ( interesting that he is supposed to be so unpopular yet the criticism on this site is rarely directed at him ).
So why do I personally think there are still matters to be resolved for the classical music fans?
I too don’t like Jane as a presenter. I think she sounds insincere and first thing in the morning is when you really don’t want a presenter who irritates. Nobody can sincerely have a giggle in their voice that much. I know she probably comes in at some unearthly hour out of the dark and pouring rain and she has to rise above whatever mood she might be in, but a little less jollity would still do the job.
I also agree with earlier comments that the better presenters have been shunted to lesser slots. Perhaps we could dispense with the two “celebs” on Sunday morning – neither of whom to my knowledge is either a trained radio presenter or any authority on classical music – and bring the Nick Bailey’s of this world out of their exiled slots just to present a no frills show on a calm Sunday morning.
The film music bit is a problem, as CFM are clearly trying to cultivate younger listeners, and all you need to do is listen to School Run to realise that’s what the young listeners are requesting.
However, the removal of the jazz has been a positive step. Perhaps if CFM won’t do a referendum as Jan suggests they might at least read back through past submissions to this site. It would educate them!
Phil, I’m glad you agree with me on Helen Mayhew. And – I wasn’t aware that Simon Bates is unpopular, is that really so? He is popular with me, at any rate. I don’t get to hear him much these days, though. When he had the morning slot from 7 am I used to enjoy listening to him as I drove to work but then they pushed the start of his programme back an hour and hey! I got Ms Jones instead. Not much of an exchange from my point of view.
I would listen to Nick Bailey at any time, but if I were to be very selfish, I would want him to stay doing the overnight presentation (unless CFM got Mark Griffiths back) because I could not bear to have to listen to some of the other presenters. I would cheerfully wave goodbye to Myleene Klass, Jane Jones, Katie Derham (mumbler extraordinaire), Anne-Marie Minhall, those chaps Lawrence and Alex on Sunday morning, and – controversial, this – Jamie Crick. His breathless, non-stop chatter gets wearying after a while. I did admire him when he laboured through 12 hours of requests on their charity show, as irritatingly chirpy at the end as at the beginning, but then on one of his shows he went and spoilt it all (for me!) by saying something derogatory about Mozart. Now, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I think radio presenters ought to be quite careful about what they say on air. It is extremely unprofessional, not to say unwise, to alienate (however unintentionally) part of your regular audience. I don’t actually think he is very knowledgeable about the music anyway.
Some of the film music is quite good, and I like listening to it, but they do play far too much of it. I would have thought that the one programme a week (presented by Simon Bates) would have been enough exposure for it.
And please, please, I wish someone somewhere would protect me from the efforts of Philip Glass, Arvo Part, Michael Nyman and Ludovico Einaudi!
Jan.
I have only just seen these postings but couldnt agree more and just had to contribute. Bring back the old classicfm schedule!
Nataly wheen on weekend afternoons was amazing, and i definitely agree that john brunning is a far better presenter for smooth classics at 7 than taylor. nick bailey was my afternoon wallow during relaxing classics at 2. It seems to me the schedule has been ’streamlined’ to save costs and i think it is a disgrace!
Glad that you have joined us all, Metz! But what I want to know is, what has happened to Nick Bailey? We have been treated to (at least) two weeks of Nicola Bonn during the nights, and this morning she stated that she would be back on Sunday. Is Nick on a long holiday? Come back, Nick!
Jan.
Nick said he was going on another cruise. According to his profile, he’s a regular host on P&O musical cruises, so it must be that:
http://www.classicfm.co.uk/on-air/presenters/nick-bailey/
Thanks for the information, Nick. I was away at a course for my work the week Nick must have announced that he was going on a cruise: I came back to find Nicola Bonn overnight instead (not too pleased) and have been waiting a fortnight for Nick to come back. Looks like it’s going to be another week of Nicola with her bee-yoo-tiful music.
In the meantime, I wonder if there is any chance Ms Taylor’s contract will be allowed to expire? I had the misfortune to listen to her programme briefly on Saturday night and was reduced to turning the radio down every time the music stopped so that I didn’t have to listen to her. Yet did someone say the ratings for her programme were up? Does she have a large family?
Jan.
Never mind Ms Taylor (bad, very bad I agree) but for most of the day Classic FM seems to only have one DJ: that smug, goody two shoes so-and-so Mark Forrest – why don’t they just have done with it and call the station MarkForrestFM? Can’t bear the way he pronounces ‘mAsterclAss’ and ‘pAst’ – so phoney… for heaven’s sake get him off!!
Just to add one more comment on Margherita Taylor. She must have the world’s most irritating voice, OK for M&S food ads but terrible for a classical music station. Why is every sentence ended by a little excited gurgle? I just don’t believe that she is doing anything but reading a script. I just turn the radio off when she comes on.
It seems we all have a lot to say about the most annoying CFM presenters – and I do my own fair share of commenting unkindly on them! – but what about the best ones? Who has the most relaxed manner, or is the most informative, or just the most pleasant to listen to? Of the past presenters, sadly no longer broadcasting with them, Mark Griffiths gets my vote; but of the others I think I am coming to appreciate John Brunning more these days than I ever did (I always used to think him rather clinical and lacking in warmth) and of course Nick Bailey is always very welcome. Talking of Nick Bailey, where’s he gone to now? He has only just had time off for his walk along the Andes (or wherever it was he went with CFM listeners), his cruise and Christmas: and now, this morning, he was being replaced by Ms Bonn again! My mornings are never quite the same when he isn’t on the radio. Ms Bonn is nice enough, but her excessive use of adjectives such as ‘bee-yoo-tiful’ can grate sometimes.
Oh dear. I am back to complaining again.
Jan.
Miss Taylor has an extremely soothing voice if you please Sir, and is not a celebrity but an accomplished radio presenter from Capital Radio, and has been for many years. Please don’t put all of us in your smug little ‘box’ together. Classic fm is trying to appeal to the masses by not appearing ‘up itself’ like radio 3, but you seem to view miss Taylor from down your nose in a very Radio 3 manner. Don’t put down what you don’t understand sir. Research what your about to tear apart before you do it. Please and thank you!
@Maurice O’Riordan: What rubbish. I’m sure most of the commenters here listen to Classic FM specifically becasue they don’t like Radio 3. John Brunning and Mark Griffiths are quite un-Radio 3-like in their manner of presenting. What we don’t like is the way GCap (as was) messed about with Classic FM as a result of their decision to close theJazz. Margherita Taylor and others were brought over becasue of their contracts with GCap – this has been confirmed by people with inside knowledge.
As for putting whoever “you” are in a “smug little ‘box’”, nowhere have I or anyone else claimed to be doing anything other than expressing our own opinions. As far as I’m concerned, you are entitled to your view, even though you show such discourtesy to those with differing opinions. Having said that, I would note that yours is the first comment here (or in any other forum I’ve seen) to be pushing a different view in the two years since the changes took place.
Hear, hear to Jonathan’s reply to Mr O’Riordan. I have no doubt that Miss Taylor has some fans, but many of those posting on this forum would not count themselves among them. I dislike her vocal delivery to the extent that I rarely listen to her, and will hum loudly over her voice in between the music. And she suffers greatly from not wishing (or perhaps not being able) to broadcast live. On Saturday there was yet another mix-up on the recording so that listeners were given the incorrect information on the piece of music just played. I have noticed this happen several times, and I only listen to her on average for 20 minutes once a week! As she has a three-hour show every day, I shudder to think how many times this actually occurs. I am surprised and disappointed that she and Classic FM allow it to continue. I am firmly of the opinion that if someone cannot broadcast live at least most of the time on a station like CFM, then perhaps they are in the wrong job.
Mr O’Riordan, I echo Jonathan’s comment that you are entitled to your view: but then, by the same token, so are we. Your view is no more valid than you think ours is.
Jan.
OK – can we start being civil to each other again please? Let me change the subject…
Myleene Klass is driving me mad. I was lucky enough to be able to retire early and fill some of my time doing a soft music show on Sunday evenings for a local radio station. I learned lots of things – such as how naive I had been to assume all presenters were live in the studios. Now I know why John Brunning managed to do his Smooth Classics at 7 show all the year round whilst not doing the news programme that used to be on before it on certain weeks because he was evidently on holiday !
Anyway, i discovered that many national radio programmes are what they call “voice tracked” – those of you who already know this please don’t call me names, I just simply never thought of this before I got into radio. For those who don’t know, the presenter gets a list of the music he’s going to be playing, then he records “links” between the tracks, or between the tracks and the news, etc. I am quite certain MK does this and that she doesn’t conveniently get up at some crazy hour to be in the studios Saturday and Sunday at 7 am. Nothing wrong with that. However, you can almost predict what she’s going to say. E.g. (music ends)… “The second movement of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by xxxxx. Coming next, a piano piece by a man who loved his umbrellas…”(music follows). If you haven’t heard it, just listen for a couple of hours – I’ll bet you hear that format at least 4 or 5 times. Yuk. There is no warmth in her voice, no drooling over the music (some of which, in fairness, is quite beautiful). But the show is listenable to despite her presenting, not because of it. Why, oh why, do they pay her obviously a fair amount of money ( because she is a so-called celebrity) when people like Mark are exiled to China?
I will not even start on the other celebs – fortunately I don’t listen in when they’re on, but I do like to tune in on weekend mornings the same as every other morning early on. I’ve grown used to Jane now – at least she makes an attempt to sound warm and enthuses – maybe too much, some would say- but the cold fish style of Miss Klass means I have to keep putting my head under the pillow between tracks!!
Best wishes to all. I’m glad this thread is being used again – I could never quite get used to that other site they shunted us off to!
Cheers. Phil
Actually, most of us never stopped being civil to others, Phil.
Jan.
So the Hall of Fame is upon us again. I find it quite fun, actually, but not to be taken seriously. Does everyone vote for ‘The Lark Ascending’ but me?
What I wish, however, is that the CFM presenters would not pretend that they don’t know any of the results, or who has come top. They record the whole thing beforehand, so they must know. Last year I caught Nick Bailey on air half-suggesting he knew and then correcting himself, ‘of course I don’t know’.
Of course you do, Nick Bailey!
Jan.
Hi Everyone
I have de-camped to Radio 3 apart from the odd program on Classic FM. After being a listener since its inception I just cannot get on with the schedule they brought in a couple of years back; some of the presenters drive me nuts and their day time play list seems to be narrower than ever. In the past I have adjusted to changes in the schedule even if I haven’t really liked them but that last re-shuffle was too much for me. Some of the presenters they’ve brought in are just dire. LLB on a Sunday, please the man is a first class twit. I’m sure he’s a lovely guy but I don’t want to listen to his inane waffle.
I received a clock radio for Christmas and I cannot bear waking up to Jane Jones. She is so ingratiating and I find her intonations just unbearable. So Radio 3 is now my main channel and I’m loving it. Today at 11 am we had the whole of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5 and it was wonderful. I can’t remember hearing the first movement on Classic FM. The woman who presents the Breakfast show on Radio 3 (Sara Mohr-Pietsch) is really pleasant to listen to and I enjoy her program.
I never listen to Margherita Taylor mainly because I can’t abide her style but also because I want something more upbeat at 6.00 pm including a decent news bulletin not “smooth” classics. My evening starts much later than 6.00 pm! So if I don’t like what’s on R3 then it turn to R4.
I will listen to the Hall of Fame over Easter as I agree with Jan, it’s fun and pleasant listening. I love The Lark Ascending (to a point) but cannot fathom how it sits at the top of the chart.
Just thought I’d share my thoughts with other classical music fans.
Hi Nancy,
Great to hear from you again! You know, I have been thinking seriously about defecting to Radio 3. I listen to it sometimes, but it does allow an intrusion of jazz which upsets my system! I do agree, however, that’s it’s lovely to hear the music in its entirety. You’re right, CFM hardly ever plays movements longer than 10 minutes, though I recall on a Saturday morning once I caught Mark Forrest actually playing the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto. I was so astonished I emailed to congratulate him!
Funny you should mention about the narrowing of the playlist – I had begun to wonder that, too, but then recently it seems to have widened again. Only a couple of days ago I heard a movement from a little-known Mozart piano sonata, neither 11 nor 16, the famous ones that regularly get trotted out, so perhaps they are beginning to expand the playlist again.
However, if you listen to Nick Bailey overnight you are certain to hear at least one movement from Rach 2 at some point during the course of a week, and occasionally you will get to hear the whole piano concerto split over 3 days in the same week! He must like it a lot. He often plays my favourite version, (Vladimir Ashkenazy), but not always and it’s good to hear the different interpretations.
I can’t listen to Ms Taylor. I just can’t. I do listen to Ms Jones for the 20 minutes it takes me to drive to work because she always seems to play a piece of Baroque music (which I love) and Mozart (whom I also love) during my slice of listening so for the sake of that I can put up with her for that short period. But I am also going to give this Sara Mohr-Pietsch a chance, too, if you recommend her.
The Hall of Fame will be a nice diversion this weekend, and if it drives the likes of Llewelyn-Bowen off the airwaves temporarily then it has to be a Good Thing. I can’t bear Alex James either.
Please don’t let us have ‘Lark’ at the top again. It’s an ok piece of music, I suppose, quite clever even, but it’s not better than all the other 299 pieces that make it into the chart, and more besides which don’t. Well, it would be nice to have a new number one regardless.
We shall know on Monday evening….
Jan.
I have just read the new edition of the Radio Times and see that the schedule of presenters on Classic FM has changed yet again as from next week. Brighter Breakfast now has Mark Forrest, whilst Jane Jones is moving to present The Full Works from 8-10 pm, whereupon Ms Taylor of the dulcet tones takes over for four hours, yes, FOUR HOURS until 2 am. Jamie Crick’s programme in the afternoon is extended until 5 pm, when John Brunning takes over until 8 pm.
No! No! Not FOUR HOURS! I usually listen to Classic FM nightly from midnight, but this will now have to be stopped forthwith.
Jan.
Thanks for the tip-off, Jan. Strangely, they haven’t been advertising a change in schedule, and I can’t find any mention of it at all on their website. In fact, clicking on next Monday shows the same as this week. What are they playing at? The Radio Times website goes as far as the following Saturday, and that seems to be much the same as at present.
I’m a bit sorry to lose Smooth Classics from the 7pm slot, but at least we’ll have John Brunning back. Full Works until 10pm is fine by me, though. Then I can switch to Radio 4 for The World Tonight without missing the concert!
Hi Jonathan,
Having not heard any advance news either, I was astonished to see the new schedules in the Radio Times. But then this morning as I was listening to Nick Bailey’s show at about 4.50 am, Nick happened to mention that the times of his show would be changing from next week, in that he would be broadcasting from 2 am instead of from 1 am as now. So I guess the RT must be right.
So why are they changing?
Whereas I welcome Ms Taylor’s removal from the 6-9 slot, I do think that inflicting an extra hour a day of her onto us is rather unfair. And what about the weekend? Will she still do the 6-9 slot then? I suppose I will have to wait until the RT for 3-9 July is published and distributed to find out. It would be nice if CFM would tell us though.
Jan.
Jan, take a look at radiotimes.com which now has schedules up until 7 July. No sign of Ms Taylor at the weekend as far as I can see. On Satruday there’s Howard Goodall’s weekend concert from 7pm, Myleene Klass from 10pm then Jane Jones doing the nightshift. On Sunday, David Mellor has moved to 8pm, followed by Myleene, then Nick from midnight as at present.
WHERE is Mark Griffiths?
With the exception of Natalie Wheen and Margherita Taylor all the female presenters on Classicfm have ’sweety-sweet, little girl’ voices and sound about 12. They all speak too quickly and drop their voices at the ends of sentences; and can somebody tell them that there is a’T’ in the middle of Scotland?
Why has nobody commented on the strange, jerky style of David Mellor’s speech? I find it most off-putting.
Of all the changes, the one I find most upsetting is the loss of Simon Bates’ film programme. He knows more about films old and new and the film industry generally than anyone else in broadcasting. PLEASE, please bring it back in its two hour format which could include listeners’ queries such as whatever happened to or who starred in or what was the remake of ……. called? It was a wonderful programme.
Definitely miffed Barbara
I just loved Barbara’s email for one reason. I am so delighted to find there is at least one other person in this world who is irritated by today’s pronunciation of Scotland. I know it is irrational and there are far more things worth getting annoyed about than that, but every single time it irks. My Mother taught me to get that little soft “t” sound by putting the tip of my tongue behind the upper front teeth, but obviously Jane Jones’s Mum to name but one didn’t tell her that!!
Well now, there is a saying about being careful what you wish for because you might get it. I, like others, didn’t like Jane’s ingratiating tones for a long time, but I have to admit that in general I now find her voice quite soothing first thing in the morning. At least it is warm, whether falsely or otherwise. Now listen out for Mark Forrest’s little clipped and organized voice when you wake up. Ugh, no thanks, at the risk of being controversial I’d rather listen to the now-grown-up Chris Evans and I’ll save the classical music till later. Mind you, it could be worse; if listeners found Jane a bit too warm, they could always contrast with the pre-recorded ice of Myleene Klass. They broadcast the wrong bit of her recording last Sunday, did anyone else notice? She said she’d be back tomorrow morning! Obviously someone put Saturday’s clip in on Sunday. Come Monday morning I was lying in a cold sweat till I was relieved to find Jane show up for work as usual!
Best wishes to all. Phil
I have my irrational moments too. Generally I like Natalie Wheen’s style of delivery (though not necessarily her choice of music) but I hate the way she refers to Mozart as ‘Mozza’, which makes him sound like some kind of sportsman (viz. ‘Becks’). How would Ms Wheen like to be called ‘Wheenie’?
Now there’s a thought.
I gave Chris Evans a try but oh! he’s too fast and frantic for me, so back to Jane Jones again. Thankfully my journey to work is only short so she can only get in a few of her most irritating vocal habits, like ‘toe-tapping’ and the very long ‘e’ in ‘ease’. And the multiple instances of ‘good morning’. This morning she managed two in the space of about 30 seconds. Only she can annoy me by wishing me good morning.
David Mellor? Perhaps I am in a minority of one, but actually I like him. He speaks as if he isn’t sure which word is coming next but what he says often makes a lot of sense, and I give it some weight, especially his ‘New CD’ show. But this show from 3 July is slipping an hour to 6 pm so other household stuff I have to do will probably mean I will miss it. And I never get around to ‘listening again’.
So, does anyone think that the moving of Margherita Taylor to the later slot means that she is on the way out? If she’s no longer presenting ‘Smooth Classics’ every single night, her total hours of broadcasting have been reduced by one per week (not much, but it’s a start), even though we will have to put up with her for four hours at a stretch during weekday nights.
Well, we can hope!
Jan.
The new Classic FM programming is now on CFM’s website. Am I missing something, or is Natalie Wheen no longer mentioned on the schedule?
Jan.
Oh no. Jane Jones is on the full works concert. It finishes too early, and it is followed by Marguarita Taylor. This is a schedule from hell.
I went through a roller coaster of emotion when this was announced. Firtly Jane Jones no longer on at breakfast. Hurrah! But then she’s taking over my favourite programme. Nooo.
Anyone have any other thoughts on the schedule after the first two days? I haven’t heard Jane Jones for a long time, not since the days of Lunchtime Requests and the Classic Concerto. I seem to remember I quite liked her style of presenting back then, but perhaps my tastes change. She’s going to take some getting used to anyway. It seems she’s presenting the Full Words live, though, which could be a plus if there’s some audience interaction as in Nick’s days.
Incidentally, since Jan’s message last week, visitors from GCap have viewed my site frequently. In the absence of an official Classic FM forum, it’s always worth writing your opinions here as you never know who’s reading!
To: GCap
In case you haven’t grasped the message already, axe Margherita Taylor!
That is all.
And Jane Jones too. Please.
I have mixed feelings about Jane Jones. On the one hand, apart from Ms Taylor, she takes the shortest route to irritating me ; on the other, she plays music that (mostly) I would choose, and her comments about the music generally coincide with mine. I can understand why she may appeal to people, and if she would only excise some of her more annoying habits, I could cheerfully listen to her for an hour or two, which is something I could never do with Ms Taylor. My midnight appointment with CFM has ceased – Ms Taylor’s intonation of voice is just too exasperating.
And to reply to Jonathan, I think that overall the change of scheduling is to be welcomed (with the above exceptions). I would much, much rather that Nick Bailey retained his extra hour overnight – but then that has everything to do with Margherita Taylor, and if – say – John Brunning were still in that slot then I would not be that worried.
The only small complaint I have is this: the Breakfast show. Now, I like Mark Forrest and used to listen to him on Drivetime and then the Afternoon show. So at first I was pleased that he wasn’t moving to an area of the day when I wouldn’t be able to listen. I drive to work between about 7-7.20 am, and during that period Jane Jones usually managed to get a couple of Baroque and Classical era pieces of music in and as my favourite music was written c.1700-1820, I was well pleased. But over the last few days Mark has been playing late Romantic and (what I call) modern stuff – Grieg, Brahms, Sibelius this morning, Copland and Shostakovich yesterday, Butterworth and Berlioz another time. There’s nothing wrong with this music, of course, and I do like to listen to it sometimes, but I miss my ‘fix’ of Baroque/Classical just before going into work.
I think I’m nit-picking here though. It’s not a huge problem by any means. I am only too grateful that Margherita has been shifted out of the 6-9 slot and especially from the weekends.
But has anyone heard what has happened to Natalie Wheen? Why are these disappearances never explained? And when, oh when, are they going to bring back Mark Griffiths?
Jan.
This new schedule is a disaster for me. I very much enjoyed Smooth Classics at Six (although I only listened from around 7.30 onwards). It provided a pleasant background to my evening activities, mainly dealing with emails and working on the computer or reading. There wasn’t too much talking which I always find a distraction and the music played was of the kind I enjoy listening to in the background. Now, John Brunning’s programme is virtually over before I can settle down to listen. I find the Full Works to be very hit and miss as far as my taste goes – and Jane Jones talks too much! Smooth Classics offered a good variety of music but with the Full Works, if it is dedicated to a type of music or a composer I’m not keen on, that is two hours listening lost as far as I’m concerned. I miss Smooth Classics but don’t want to be listening to the radio from 10pm – 2 am.
At least I can go back to listening first thing in the morning now Jane Jones has been moved from that time slot. Her musical tastes and mine don’t coincide so her move to the 8pm – 10pm slot has doubly ruined my evening’s listening.
The upside of the new schedule is the departure of Natalie Wheen.I personally found her posh risque auntie act very annoying and some of her musical choices dull but i agree with Jan,why no explanation when a presenter is leaving?I can’t think of another radio station where this happens.I wish they would get Lisa Duncombe back,she had a refreshing youthful enthusiasm which i think Classic FM needs (although with her looks,she was wasted on radio!).Having listened to the station from the start,i have to say that it seems to have lost its way in recent times,suffering from a ‘if it isn’t broke,we’ll still fix it’mentality.However,the following example proved to me why it’s still a very good thing to have it on air.In exasperation at having Bruchs violin concerto being played for the umpteenth time,i turned over to Radio 3 only to be greeted by some rubbish by John Cage that involved hitting a piano with a stuffed sock or something.Bruch sounded a lot better after that!
I agree with most of the comments about Margherita Taylor,she would be better suited to voicing self help tapes (you are a strong,wonderful human being…).Why they employ her,i’ve no idea unless some sort of nepotism is at work.I have to confess having a soft spot for Nicola Bonn,i think she is far more worthy of a regular spot than the treacly Ms Taylor.
And,yes,bring back the excellent Mark Griffiths.
What have happened to Natalie Wheen? She is no longer among the presenters, her programs are no longer in the schedule. She WAS the best, I listened to all her programs, it did not matter that it was in the middle of the night…..and no explanation on the website. Anyone how knows?
I like the summer-schedule better than the old one:
1) Nick B in the early hours -OH YEAH!- but I miss him though on the evening concert.
2) Mark Forrester was better at “Drivetime” and “the Afternoon-Show” but GCap could have done MUCH worse.
3) Simon Bates – yeah!
4) Jamie Crick – a good radio-voice with more “talk-time”.
5) John Brunning – THANK YOU GCap for bringing him back to us and on the right time too.
6) The evening concert – why?. I have a MP3 to listen to.
7) M.Taylor -I have refused to listen to her and now she starts when I have already gone to bed!
I stopped listening to most of the weekend-programs in 2008s (did not like the presenters and NO improvement today) but I do listen to John B on Saturday morning and David Mellor Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening.
I have been listening to C FM sins 1994 and I have always had a high regard for the station but sins the changes in 2008, the station has lost its identity of a sort:
- More talk – sometime its babble!
- Shorter pieces of symphonies etc.
- A narrow range of music with very little variation of time-periods, composers, pieces etc..
Its a pity that presenters like Natalie Wheen, Henry Kelly, Lesley Garrett, Mark Griffiths, Lisa Duncombe no longer are present at C.FM.
I really like C.FM´s concept before 2008 – I was a “Classic FM -around the clock-listener” but today its Radio Swiss Classic, BBC Radio 3 and other other stations on the net. ( http://classicalwebcast.com)
I’m so glad to find fellow haters of Margherita Taylor — aka (in our house) as Little Miss Day-Glo. I think it’s the false smile in her voice that is the most irritating thing about her.
I may still have to suffer, but at least I’m not alone!