This is my last week on the Late Lounge. Have I enjoyed it? Yes, hugely.
Here’s the funny thing: The thing I’ve enjoyed most is the feeling that gathered round the glowing valves of any given evening is a community of people listening into the Late Lounge. Hearing your stories and some of you brilliant jokes (albeit sometimes unbroadcastable!) has made it very worthwhile. Knowing that people like hearing things they haven’t heard in a while or are enjoying new things is always very satisfying.
So thank you to you folk for making the show an interactive delight…for me if not for the listeners! There have been some great people who helped me through. Honourable mentions to Shona, Muslim, Anne, Mark and Richard. Big thanks to Tony Currie for his late night bonhomie and a huge thank you to Barbara Wallace and Sushil Dade for all their producing skills. I do want to give a particular mention to the woman who really created the Live Lounge. Roslyn McCuish I salute you, my dear. Go off and have yourself a lovely holiday.
After I return from my holiday I am going to enjoy getting my late evenings back. The one great thing you can say about the Scottish summer is that it may not be the warmest but the evenings do go on a little longer. When/if the weather does turn a little warmer we will celebrate it by hanging around in our garden or someone else’s until nearly midnight when the sky will sometimes still look like it has some light left in it. Wonderful. On these nights I’ll set off round the park and give my dog the late night walk she has been denied for these six weeks. I’ll do some reading which has also disappeared from my day and I’ll switch on the digital radio I got for my Christmas and listen to some great singer songwriters on Iain Anderson. You never know, I met get to hear some of my favourite records and some that I’ve long forgotten.
I know one or two of you have asked if I’d carry on blogging when the Late Lounge ends. I’m afraid I won’t. I’m off on holiday for one thing and for another I have completely run out of things to blog about! However I’ll do a deal: if I ever lounge around at BBC Scotland again I’ll open up the blog and we can all do it again. I have so many things to complete before I get away on my holidays that this is my last entry. I hope you have a great summer. I’ll be doing a weekly show called Ricky’s American Tunes in the early autumn and be back on the road in November. I hope I can meet some of you then. Thanks for taking part. All the very best
Ricky x
Hey Ricky.
It’s been a pleasure to hear you on the airwaves these past few weeks. The music has been sublime especially that sweet soul music you enjoy so much.
I was lucky enough to be on holiday for Wimbledon fortnight. Tennis by day and Late Lounge by night with a glass of Shiraz helped make it the best chill-out holiday I can remember. Thanks for the occasional mention you gave me – always appreciated. We’re having a wee holiday again here at the end of the week for the Twelfth so I can Lounge around and stay up late some more.
Love and best wishes to Lorraine and see you on the road in November for sure.
Take care,
George.
well thankyou ricky brilliant 6weeks.
loved the blog.
i will continue my persuit of james tayler in the hope that i can photograph you and perhaps get to talk about the book idea i gave to james.
if you want you can always e-mail direct.
i’ve been trying so hard to get to meet you at wavenden milton keynes.
i wish you all the best with your endevours
and will join the new show in the autume.
all the best al.
al gillies.
studio645
al@alecgillies.wanadoo.co.uk
Ricky,
It’s been a pleasure for me too to hear you across the airwaves, so thanks in turn from me. You’ve made me yearn to be back in Scotland, and I have fond memories of late summer nights spent camping up on the west coast in particular. So between that, the great music and your consistently entertaining banter, they’ve been six weeks of evening listening to savour.
It’s been particularly fun for me to be a part of this blog too, and it’s a shame it ends here… although I understand you have plenty of other things to do! And knowing your dog will no longer be deprived of late evening walks will make up for your absence from the airwaves. As will the keepsake of the digital radio winging its way to me — so thanks for that too!
I’ll do my best to enjoy the rest of the summer, look forward to hearing you back on the airwaves in the autumn and hopefully will catch you when you’re on the road at some point too. All good things to look forward to.
Thanks again, enjoy the well-earned holiday and hope to see you here when you’re back in the Lounge in the future…
Enjoy your holiday, Ricky, and may you also enjoy many idyllic summer evenings when you return.
It would be nice if Radio Scotland would set up a message board on its website for devotees of your show and Ian’s show. That way, listeners would be able to keep the online community going. You, Iain, Much Ado, the Professor, et al. could post on the board when time permitted, but the board would exist mainly for the programme’s (notice how my astonishingly nimble mind adapts to the British spelling) legions of fans worldwide. How about presenting this proposal to the powers that be at Radio Scotland? Perhaps you could slip it to them between their nightly rounds of exquisite caviar, rarest of truffles and nonpareil cognac.
P.S. Also, I have to resound that note of apprecation for the music. As well as finding some new artists and costing me a small fortune on iTunes, some of my favourite covers of yours from live shows are getting an airing tonight. Just be warned — you’re only adding to the wistful mood…
(I’m loving it really, though. I do wistful well.)
Thanks again,
Adam
Oops! Has Iain been gone so long that I’ve forgotten how to spell his name? Fortunately the fog cleared before the second mention.
Hi Ricky,
Thanks so much for finding the time to do this blog. Though I haven’t been able to stay up late enough to listen to the Lounge (young baby – need to grab sleep at every opportunity!), I have looked forward to the blog entries and reading it has become a welcome and enjoyable part of the daily routine.
Enjoy your holiday and we’ll see you at The Stables and the Corn Exchange.
oh well mid week and the great ricky ross fill in, is nearing it’s end.
well done ricky, great tunes great atmosphere,
every think radio is meant to be.
it is almost like the warth of the old valves when those magic old tunes fill the air.
i am busy in the evenings editing and getting prints prepared so i love to tune in.
being so far down south it’s either sky or the pc.
but great radio nether the less.
i have just got out of a 9year stint of being a dad and mum. all that goes with it. so now it is my turn to live my dreams well atleast while the kids are at school.
i do some photo shoots in the day or night when i get a sitter.
then after the tea’s and the baths and the stories and the ironing i sit and do the editing and print,s.
cor who’d be a dad eh. or a mum to say the least.
no it’s great really i love it being both dad and mum. paperatisi i am not. who wants all that.
me i am a christian so i have moral values.
there is no need to hound someone if you ask you will get, eventually.
well back to the grindstone.
so ricky have a nice holiday my respect to you and what you do. keep it real and please please play a tune for me. i will trust to leave the choice to your great taste. oh and mention millie-jo, joshua and tyler if you like.
god bless you and yours.
p.s. get a move on with a new album eh.
OK somebody has to get maudlin, of course, me.
First, thank you a thousand times for the great music and this blog. Fun and insightful, seriously.
Second, as I said to the Lord of the Nightshift, when you really love something, are knowlegeable and willing to throw yourself into it, it shows when you try to bring that gift to other people.
Don’t just mean as entertainment, though certainly music does that and you are excellent, but also trying to inform and bring the magic to others.
The Angel of Music has blessed you my son.
Peace and may the force stay with you.
P.S. Hey Bloggers, Peace to all of you, too.
Monday 4th June 2007
At 22.30 hrs this evening the goodship Dignity slipped it’s moorings of the pacific quay Glasgow.
with the Captain Ricky Ross at the helm.
we sailed up the Clyde over the airwaves and transcended the globe.
what a voyage it was set to be. we docked at many ports along the way
we visited the U.S.A, san Francisco, Honolulu,motown, and that tropical paradise Luton.
the onboard entertainment was fantastic.
it was rich and varied with class act’s from around the world.
captain ross and his crew kept us happy and wanting more, over that six week voyage.
those stories around the captains table the letters and the jokes
not to mention the visits from
David George Nancy and Al.
so many rich and wonderful things to see and hear it was so good for the soul.
248,400 seconds of sheer bliss
but to night we must come back
we will return down the airwaves down the Clyde and wey anchor
we will rest a while and ponder on that wonderful journey.
well thankyou captain ross and all the crew
god bless Dignity
and all who sail on her.
Al
Nice one Al – it’s been emotional…
And Dignity’s on the show tonight..!
See y’all next time…
George.
It’s been such fun, and late nights in Pacific Quay are not going to be the same! I shall miss my pal.
Thanks for a great summer, Ricky.
Haste ye back.
It has been a real Kick In the Head! Thanks, Babe.
Got a stack of burned CDs of the show. They will be enjoyed over and over.
This has been a complete and total joy.
Done good, Dude! Even Granddog digs the music.
Via con Dios, Meijo!
In border Spanish….that means “Go with God, sweetheart.
Peace, Ya’all
Only discovered the show on Tuesday night!! Enjoyed every one though, and the blog. Fantastic playlists. Looking forward to American Tunes.
My Column for Saturday 7/14/07 and they let it run…….
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
By Nancy Cantor
July 14, 2007
Getting me out of my air conditioned cave in Scottsdale, Arizona, in the summertime, is not easy to do, particularly in the middle of the day. This summer no exception.
But………………I won’t be coming down with cabin fever this summer. Nope! Had an epiphany!
Cruising the net…… I found BBC Scotland. Wow! Saved my mind (yeah, I know there is question whether I had one to begin with).
Sorry, radio Arizona, but they have won my heart and mind. Such great programming, great music and get a delivery of the news that we just don’t find here.
On occasion Alice Cooper has provided the same type of programming, but usually I am doing a wind up for work and can’t listen closely. And honest, Alice, Ricky Ross has a tendency to throw in information and insight, with a laugh and personal aside, that are grabbers, and in such a way that you think you’re sitting across the table talking to family or leaning on the fence talking to a neighbor.
Ricky has the talent, skill, knowledge and experience and enjoys sharing the magic of music.
Yep, kids, I do dig Rock, R&B, Folk, Pop, Reggae, Jazz and Classical……eclectic I am and long may it be so.
I have long had an affinity for Scotland, even had a fellowship in my long misbegotten youth to study at the University of Edinburgh, thanks to a family friend, who probably wanted me to get out of town. (My activist roots were showing even in high school.)
I found BBC Scotland, while researching news stories on the elections in the UK. At the end of a newscast there was this really terrific theme song, and I emailed theme to find out the name of it. I burned a CD of it and my youngest son programmed my fancy schmancy computer to play that as my wake-up every morning.
Well, the news guys, at BBC Scotland forwarded the email I sent trying to get me the name of the music, ‘because it was not their theme.
That is how I found Tony Currie and “Nightshift,” it is his theme. If you ever get a chance, listen to this piece of music, by George Martin, “Serenade to a Double Scotch.” Better yet try to stream BBC Scotland and if you can’t find it, call me.
Tony’s program is everything I think radio should be. Having helped my husband with his program for 11 years, the ability to mix the music with special programs takes skill and experience and love of the game and a desire to share it all the magic.
So, while I am at the keyboard pounding our columns, these guys and I have chatted about the deluge of rain in Scotland and the intense heat of Scottsdale. The many aspects of our Fourth of July (they did tributes to our 4th), and the ins and outs and who’s and what’s of music.
I could do my columns and chat, too. Didn’t think I could multi-task, did ya? I have probably been ADD for all of my life, so it was a no brainer, no pun intended.
Don’t want to see Ricky go, but he does have a life, a family and a career, as very a successful Rock star. Check out his web site, http://www.deaconblue.com
Take the time to listen……very much worth it.
Radio is still an important part of communications, and to my way of thinking, a key element in linking people.
My editor is letting this column through untouched by his blue pencil (power station fire has knocked some of our newsroom off line, not me); because he has enjoyed rocking along with the rest of us (he can’t dance a lick).
Check out my friends at http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/programmes/nightshift/
Cut and paste the above and then explore. There is so much there, Bryan Burnett in the early morning here in Scottsdale, and Vic Galloway who does his music things (and it sounds like he dances much like my editor), but he also does a program called “Mouthing Off.” I love this program and we could use something like this here, because it allows teenagers to weigh in on current events and topics in focus in the community. Brilliant program and Vic has a way with kids that’s respectful and fun all at the same time. Go Vic.
The Lord of the Nightshift makes sure that some programs that run during the day get a second hearing overnight and combines it with the best music selections and commentary. Tony Currie will continue on and I intend to do so, too. Ian will just have to get used to me and my crew.
I have taken BBC Scotland to New Orleans and hooked the bull-horn up to speakers on a computer so we could rock while re-building a house, and they have shared in my joyous experience of getting pictures of the various snakes who have come knocking looking for shade and water.
That is how I have spent summer vacation and it has been the best in many, many moons. I am thinking that Glasgow, Scotland would make a great Sister City, and thank you Mayor Manross, I will lead the delegation.
Peace.
………………and I still hate spell checker…..I do know how to spel reelie.
……about me and snakessssssss, I have a very sick office crew…….they will now have ammunition. Of course they will be reminded that it was not theirs originally.
Isaw you all for the first time at the humber festival and you blue me away. FANTASTIC and i’m gonna do it again. and i got all your records and cds.i was the guy shouting i loved lorraine but i love you all, keep on going don’t stop proff