The King Monkey / Ian Brown story, as told live to True Strories Told Live on Wed 15th Feb at the Charterhouse pub in London

King Monkey story

"From O2 to Fingle Glen - A Tribute to Tributes: or You Can't Wing It Being A Ringo"

a documentary produced by Mathew Priest featuring The Bootleg Beatles, Ian Broudie, The Australian Pink Floyd, Miles Hunt, Jon Robb, Bjorn Again and many more

From O2 to Fingle Glen - A Tribute to Tributes.....

Sir Cecil Beaton was genuinely a 20th Century man, a Renaissance man regarded by many as a visionary and someone born before their time. He’s best known for taking photographs of the Royal Family as well as famous Hollywood stars, but he also won Oscars for stage and costume design for films such as My Fair Lady and Gigi. He gained headlines for his homosexuality and quite bizarrely, his chronic love affair with the actress Greta Garbo.
That was his public profile but what was the man like behind the persona? What did he do when he relaxed and took off his famous Fedora hat? From 1947 until his death in 1980 he lived at Reddish House in the tiny, beautiful village of Broad Chalke on the Wiltshire/Dorset border. Various people who knew him well who still live in the village, talk about their memories of Sir Cecil. 
This is a gentle yet revealing insight into a fascinating figure who, although he had a reputation for an acerbic wit, always treated those close to him with the upmost respect. 
It’s interesting to hear the juxtaposition of this very public, jet-setting, flamboyant bohemian who, some would say, craved attention with this very polite, upstanding member of an idyllic, country community.


Sir Cecil Beaton at Home

 Most celebrities now have an MP3 player, with all or most of their record collection stored on it. Most songs have a story or reason to be on there, even the embarrassing tune tucked away in the corner that they have forgotten about. The shuffle button becomes the arbitrary auditor; choosing a random song from the invited guest’s collection. Will they get off lightly or will the shuffle button reveal a ghastly skeleton! Demanding the question - why is that there? Explain yourself!
Desert Island Discs has proved that someone’s musical taste can reveal so much about that person, but a criticism sometimes levelled at the format, is that it is a ‘soft’ interview as the guest has had the chance to choose the songs beforehand and can therefore appear to be more refined than perhaps they really are. Of course we can all wax lyrical about our choice of ‘I Am The Walrus’ by The Beatles but explaining why Angelo by ‘Brotherhood of Man’ is on our MP3 player might reveal a lot more than eight carefully chosen classics. 


The Shuffle with Ian Broudie

Most celebrities now have an MP3 player, with all or most of their record collection stored on it. Most songs have a story or reason to be on there, even the embarrassing tune tucked away in the corner that they have forgotten about. The shuffle button becomes the arbitrary auditor; choosing a random song from the invited guest’s collection. Will they get off lightly or will the shuffle button reveal a ghastly skeleton! Demanding the question - why is that there? Explain yourself!
Desert Island Discs has proved that someone’s musical taste can reveal so much about that person, but a criticism sometimes leveled at the format, is that it is a ‘soft’ interview as the guest has had the chance to choose the songs beforehand and can therefore appear to be more refined than perhaps they really are. Of course we can all wax lyrical about our choice of ‘I Am The Walrus’ by The Beatles but explaining why Angelo by ‘Brotherhood of Man’ is on our MP3 player might reveal a lot more than eight carefully chosen classics. 

Who’s brave enough to face The Shuffle?


The Shuffle with Miles Hunt

Magic is everywhere. You just have to know how to look for it - or -listen for it. An everyday school run turns into a fantastic, musical journey for a boy and his father. 
An audio equivalent of a Pixar movie. Oscar is tired and fed up with school - and it’s raining. Then he notices that the indicators are in time with the windscreen wipers and as soon as he realises this, then other things start to happen and the magic begins. For the next few minutes Oscar and his father are transported into an enchanted world of sound and serendipity. 


Do You Believe In Magic

A short introduction to what I sound like on air.

Mathew Priest - radio demo

Jon Brookes is the drummer with UK band The Charlatans. He collapsed on stage on tour in America with a brain tumour. He is at home recovering, which is where I spoke to him