"Everyone loves songs about Outer Space, and of course you rose to the challenge admirably with hundreds of texts, emails, calls, blog & facebook hits. It was the busiest show of the week by far - what a reaction! Bowie had to feature in there somewhere, but I was surprised at the range of interplanetary sounds we managed to spin through the show. Your musical knowledge and taste, astounds and amazes me as always.
Next week we continue the alphabet up to P for Monday. By the way, I hope you're enjoying the photos on this blog... hours of thought and concentration go into these! Anyway, Capt Ramius went for Plants, Scotch Git suggested the all encompassing Pacific, Gaie Brown had a go with Punks, Teds, Hippies, Goths etc (I'd have gone for this one...) to represent youth culture movements, while Jim frae Erskine tried his luck with Palindromes, Procrastination, Professions and Puberty. Some ace ideas in amongst those. However, when it came to the crunch and the clock's final countdown, producer Mandi and I decided on... Previous Bands. So there you have it! It could be Jackson 5 (Michael Jackson), Genesis (Phil Collins), Generation X (Billy Idol), Euythmics (Annie Lennox) or The Supremes (Diana Ross) and so on... Get those songs from 'Previous' bands in to us asap, but in the meantime enjoy 'Freedom Friday'!
Well, last night's New York theme was excellent fun with a huge range of music across genres. It just shows what can be done with 'Get it on' and why the programme is so popular... not only do YOU choose the music, but you don't know what's coming next! The letter 'O' is now up for grabs. We contemplated Neil Martin's suggestion of the Orient, as well as Orchestration from Glen Miller and Capt Ramius; Scotch Git chanced his arm with Organised Crime; while Jim Frae Erskine didn't get anywhere with Optimism... Occupations, Opening lines and One-hit-wonders were all in the running, but it was 'Outer Space' that triumphed! Thanks to Archie's Dad, Billy in Alloa, Joe in Leith, James in Hyndland, Simon in Fife and Lynne on the Isle of Skye for getting in touch with this nomination. I think the show will be out of this world, with a stellar cast of inter-galactic, mega-stars and I, for one, am over the moon... OK, that's enough! Enjoy the theme and get those choices in to me as soon as possible.
As we move into the 2nd half of the alphabet (phew... that was quick!) and two tremendously fun shows for L and M, we approach the trickier letter of N! I've no idea why, but themes for N haven't been quite as forthcoming, to my mind anyway... But they have been interesting and varied. Scotch Git suggested 'Now or Never', whereas Glen Miller plumped for 'Never Again', alongside Frances (aged 11) from Glasgow who selected 'Negative'. However we were a little Non-Plussed with those! I'd be quite happy to play you 2 hours of Norrie Maclean's suggestion, 'New Wave' and I have a sneaking suspicion we'd get lots of songs about Paulo Pablo's 'News'. But 'Nymphomaniacs and Narcotics' were right out, I'm afraid - thanks to Oakley Dave though. However, at 7.45pm (actually nearer 7.50 as it was a tough decision) on Tuesday 27th July, Kirsten and I hedged our bets on... 'New York'! Get those New York suggestions, stories, songs and artists in for our Wednesday night 'Big Apple' extravanganza!
As my first show back in the 'Get it on' hot-seat, I was given the all-encompassing 'Lust and Loathing' for L. What a brilliant theme... as ever we were inundated with your choices and very good they were too! Thank you Thank you... We move on of course, and arrive at M. Capt Ramius suggested Manchester; Paulo Pablo went for Mafia; Julie from Edinburgh has plumped for Myths and Legends; Jim Frae Erskine selected Musical Instruments in there; whereas Gaie Brown chose the most Scottish of traits... Moaning! All good, and worthy of future themes on the show. We have however waved our magic wands and decided on... magic! So, we want your suggestions for songs or band names with a link to voodoo, witchcraft, scorcery and tricks. Are you a Black Magic Woman or a Voodoo Chile? Get them in and we'll get them on...
John from Jordanhill suggested Landscape, Gary in Ardrossan came up with Last Dances and Roger in Uddingston wanted Long Songs. There were plenty of suggestions for L night in our A-Z, but Miss Babs was drawn to 'Loathing and Lust'! Joe suggested the theme and it can include songs about either. However, if you can come up with a song that covers both then top marks for you.
I'm taking a couple of weeks off ( to recover from the shame of my 80s day outfit) and Vic Galloway will be looking after the show. Get in touch with him in the usual ways...
80s day is underway on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Scotland. Tom's on air right now and sounding great. Lots of good stories about Live Aid including some from Radio scotland listeners who were there on the day, and of course music from the stars of the day. Oh and Nik Kershaw as a guest - how 80s-tastic is that??
This is your last chance to have a go at our 80s trivia quiz, complied by our very own king of trivia, Richard. There are no prizes, it's just for fun but you do get to show off to all your mates with your knowledge of pop from the decade. It's a toughie though.
Answers will be available on the main Radio Scotland blog from 6pm tonight. Good luck...
- Status Quo kicked off Live Aid but who was the second act on the bill?
- What was the first number 1 single of the 80s?
- Name track one on the first ever Now That's What I Call Music album?
- What was the first number one single to be produced by Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes?
- What's the best selling 80's soundtrack in the UK?
- Which 80's pop star's music videos featured cameo appearances from Neil Kinnock, Paul McCartney and Adrian Edmondson?
- Who duetted with Tina Turner at Live Aid?
- Who is Helen Folasade Adu better known as?
- What links Fine Young Cannibals, Tears For Fears and the cast of Grange Hill?
- Who was the first Scottish act to have a number 1 single in the 1980's?
- Which album was the first in history to be manufactured onto compact disc?
- Name the first Stock Aitken & Waterman production to reach number 1?
- Tony Visconti was scheduled to produce David Bowie's album Let's Dance. Whose second release did he end up producing instead?
- Name the UK's best selling album of the 1980's
- Who originally dueted with Michael Jackson on the track State Of Shock, but was later replacd by Mick Jagger?
- What was the only million-selling single of the 1980s not to make number 1?
- Which famous sporting legend sang backing vocals on Tina Turner's We Don't Need Another Hero as part of the Kings House School choir?
- The intro of which 80's number 1 was inspired by the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice?
- Name the 80's pop star who had Julia Fordham and an Eastender's actress as part of her backing band.
- What was the last number 1 of the 80s?
The great thing about our A-Z of themes is that we have got lots of brilliant new theme ideas. I'm hanging on to every suggestion that comes in and will try and feature as much as I can of the ones that didn't make it first time around. You seemed to like 'jangly guitars' for J so thanks to all who contributed. For K we are going to go with Andy's suggestions of the artists who share their names with Kings and Queens so that's artists like George Harrison or Elizabeth Fraser from the Cocteau Twins. Let's have your suggestions of pop royalty then...
'Jazz, Judas and Jackanory' would be a fabulous title for an autobiography, but it's just three of the great themes you have suggested for J in our A-Z of themes. Like a lot of our bloggers I also liked Joe's suggestion of a GIO Jigsaw where you have to work out how three songs fit together. Might need a bit more planning to make it work on air though. I'll leave it in Miss Babs' in-tray.
It was a tough choice tonight but in the end we have decided to go with 'jangly guitars'. That could include everyone from Orange Juice to The Byrds. Â
Following on from tonight's 'mealy pudding' banter on the text, Damon texted in to ask if anyone remembered the legendary red pudding.ÌýI did but haven't had one in about 25 years. Unlike yer mealy pudding I have to say I don't miss them. Joe in Leith says you can still get them in his neck of the woods. If you are interested in what a red pudding actually  is then take a look at.Ìý
"Two hours of indecent artists and their risqué lyrics!" Admit it, you really can't hear me pitching that theme idea to the boss can you? However it was just one of loads of brill theme ideas that came in for our A-Z of Get It On themes.
The other "i-deas" included intoxication, ivory tinklers, islands and insults - that'll be 'hey fatty boom boom' then!Â
However I could not resist Mabel Syrup's very clever 3 i theme: Instantly Identifiable Intros - songs you recognise right from the 1st note or riff.ÌýLet's have yours then...Ìý
As tempted as we were by hairy people, I worried that two hours of beardy bands might not have kept everyone entertained. Your H suggestions have been flooding in and thanks very much to everyone who has contributed. I really liked Jim's suggestion of 'hard to hear lyrics' and that's an idea will will return to very soon. Hippies, horses and hounds, and harmonicas songs were all in the running but we have decided to go for 'happy days and holidays' and the songs that remind you of them. See you Monday for what should be a cheery show.
Flying, fashion, fathers and film themes - there were lots of good theme ideas for 'F' but as Wednesday is Bastille Day then 'France' as a theme just seemed to good to resist, particularly as it was suggested by an actual French person living in Kincardine. Davie on Facebook and Roland on the email also backed up the suggestion.
Regular listeners to the show will have heard my struggles with pronunciation of anything vaguely continental so will know what a nightmare this show will be for me.
Still, there's tons of things to go for. We will accept French artists, French songs and as we will also be including songs about anywhere in France then Bonnie Tyler is a deal breaker for me!
How do you fancy a night of egos, everlasting love or Elvis covers? Those were just three of the options you presented me with for our E theme. I also liked eerie songs, Cindy's suggestion of exotic tracks and the 'artists fae Edinburgh' theme. Â
We do think long and hard about the themes in a normal week so it's been a bit odd to try and choose one in the last five minutes of the show. I just hope we get it right tonight. It's been hard trying to decide which one to go for, but in the end we thought that 'good enough to eat' suggested by Patrick McCafferty and our own Jim from Erskine was a cracker.
The theme could include those songs and artists that have you licking your lips such as Bread, Sugar Sugar and Meatloaf. You decide what's on the menu by getting in touch during tonight's show.
I love the range of theme suggestions that we've got lined up for Monday. Can you imagine being the producer who has to decide between death or disco as a theme. Mind you death by disco sounds like a good way to go. We could also have had digital downloads, dogs, drums and Gaie's suggestion of the artists who dare to be different.
Thanks to all the bloggers who have really got behind this A-Z of themes. 3 down, 23 to go and without further ado, Monday's D theme is going to be: Distraction! Hannah Nixon suggested it and according to her it's "Songs that its impossible to do anything else while they are playing!"
So who are the artists that demand your total concentration? Get in touch and let me know for Monday's show....
There's been a fantastic response to our A-Z of themes and your C suggestions took in everything from comics to confusion to Canadians or perhaps a show of confused Canadian comics!
For tonight we have gone for 'cheapies', the singles and albums you picked up at a very low price. Did you get yourself a Brucie bargain or did you find a treasured bit of vinyl in a charity shop for 50p?
Get in touch and tell me all about your best purchases....
Adultery or alcohol?, Annual events or Aberdonians? Actors or allegations? You can see how hard it's been trying to pick a theme to kick off our A-Z of themes. In the end we went for Kenny in Alexandria's clever suggestion of 'after eight'. That means we're looking for tracks about the night or the wee small hours of the morning. Leave your suggestions on the blog below and let's start thinking of a B for Tuesday!
For the next few weeks we're going to try something completely different when it comes to choosing our themes. Over 26 shows we're going to do the Get It On Alphabet of Themes. 26 themes, each one representing a different letter of the alphabet, and all of them chosen by you.
Just to make it that bit more exciting we're not going to pick the next night's theme until the last ten minutes of the previous show. I realise that this is going to inconvenience some of you who like to think about your suggestions a few days in advance but at least you'll have more opportunities to get your themes on and you can start thinking about them as soon as you like.
We'll start off with a alphabet themed show on Monday and then on Tuesday it's themes beginning with 'A'...
Monday
From ABC to the Q-Tips, tonight's show will be an A-Z of great pop music. It's bands and songs featuring letters of the alphabet. Plan B the singer and Plan B the Dexy's song could both feature as could Suzi Q or Jamie T. Air on a G string anyone?
Tuesday
Tonight we kick off our themes A-Z with a theme beginning with an A. Get your ideas in and tune in on Monday to find out which one we are going to go for...
Wednesday
It's a B theme so it could be bands who have split up, big sounds from small artists, or even brass bands?
Thursday
C - classic singles, classical crossover, cars...you tell me what you fancy doing as a theme.
