It was too big! Way, way too big. I'm talking about 'film soundtracks'. How an earth did I think it was possible to do it justice in one night. We should have done it over a week with sub-themes of action movies, cartoons, British films and perhaps even a night dedicated to Tarantino soundtracks. I might pitch it to the boss. If you've got any film related theme ideas then drop me an email and let me know.
If you are a film buff then make sure you tune into Janice Forsyth's excellent movie café which every week offers reviews, discussions and interviews with some of the biggest names in the industry.
Wednesday's theme is 'songs about the working day'. They can be songs about individual occupations or perhaps more interestingly songs about hard graft and the working, the working, just the working life...
Blue Velvet or Betty Blue? Trainspotting or Toy Story? The Sound of Music or Saturday Night Fever? Tuesday's theme on Get It On is going to be movie soundtracks. Prince's movie Purple Rain came out on this day in 1984 so I thought that would be a good excuse to re-run what is always a popular theme.
I'm looking forward to seeing what we get. Talking of which - how good was the music on Monday's show. Thanks bloggers, Facebookers and all who contributed during the show. It was also pretty clear that 'the best Scottish voices' is a theme we will need to get round to soon.
Wow! '50's Friday went down a storm and brought in some brilliant comments on the text. Everything from 'better than anything on TV' to 'what's your producer on tonight?'. It was certainly a brilliant atmosphere in the studio as all your suggestions came in. Joyful, exciting, romantic and just brilliant fun songs have made this one of my favourite shows. Thank-you.
Monday night, it's an 'auto-tune free show' as we celebrate the best and the purest voices in pop music. There's been lots of stories in the press over the past week about The X Factor's use of technology to 'enhance' the sound of some contestants. As an antidote to that we'll feature the singers who don't need any help to sound good.
*The photo is Miss B's Dad and his skiffle band that I referred to on air tonight. They
were called The Hot Dogs.That's him with the washboard...
Wow - two themes in a week that are a guaranteed Morrissey-free zone. First of all we had 'rock moms' and now '50s night. What has come over me?
I like the idea of selecting a theme live on air and it worked well tonight when Jim and Liz texted in from Oban to suggest 1950s night for Friday. Immediately, there was a big response from folk who all agreed that '50s night was a must.
Obviously there will be classic rock n roll but hopefully some great country music and the big pop standards as well. Miss Babs is meant to be producing but I'm thinking of replacing her with her mother who might be closer in age to Perry Como than Paolo Nutini! (That'll be me in trouble with both of them now!)
Thursday's theme could well be tricky,
And we know how the bloggers can sometimes be picky
We try very hard to not play a bad track
In the eyes of Henri, Scotch Git and Madmac
It's a theme that's been asked for several times
And it's 'songwriters greatest ever rhymes'
Is it Bacharach David's 'he'll never phone ya'
Which they managed to get to rhyme with pneumonia?
Or is it Eddie Cochrane's congressman's quote
That will end up getting your vote?
What kind of ideas will this theme spawn
Think of a rhyme and - Get It On....
Wednesday's programme is an all women special which focuses on 'rock moms' but will hopefully turn into a celebration of all our mothers.
This was a theme that was suggested for our A-Z using the tongue in cheek title of 'yummy mummies'. It's a bit of a contentious phrase and as you'll not everyone buys into the concept.
I struggled a bit as to what defines one but according to the 'Yummy Mummy Club' website, "yummy is a state of mind". We'll not ask you to elaborate further; all we're asking for is that nominated artists have got kids.
It will make an interesting show and a nice change to have an all women playlist. (A Morrissey free night will no doubt be an added bonus for some of you!)
Who are the women who have balanced bringing up a family with a career in the music biz? Get in touch with their best songs...
Tonight's show featured some good music - everything from funky frettin' to backwards bass solos. And at long last the bloggers got some Cream on the show. Henri made a very good case for Jack Bruce although I am surprised he didn't also request Jack's nephew Nico Bruce who played bass for The Proclaimers. Er, maybe I'm not too surprised though!!!
We had some interesting comments about 'borrowed' bass lines but Sandy McLean on our Facebook page pointed out that a bassline cannot normally be copyrighted. That didn't stop us though and during the show everyone from Spencer Davis to Michael Jackson was accused of plagiarism! All allegedly of course.
Songs featuring the word 'yeah' is Tuesday's theme. According to it's an American corruption of yes and was first used in 1905. Since then it's been a favourite word of songwriters and performers so there should be no shortage of suggestions for tonight's theme. Let's have yours...
We're back to normal on this week's Get It On and I hope we've lined up some themes that you'll enjoy. Full details of the week's themes can be found on this video on the main ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Scotland blog. I think I like the idea of having a theme on Friday nights as well - it was certainly a good response. In fact it was huge response. I think we'll be sticking with themes on a Friday night.
However you may have noticed that the boss ( Miss B) has been on holiday for the past few weeks so we'll see what she has to say on her return!
It's time to start thinking about next week and we kick off the best bass lines of time. Another One Bites The Dust, Ace of Spades, and Love Will Tear Us Apart all spring to mind for me and of course anything by Chic would fit the theme. Leave your suggestions on the blog and crank up da bass....
Friday night's Get It On will now be themed like the rest of the week but the twist is that we will pick the theme during the previous night's show. So, if you have a theme that you are bursting to do then listen in on a Thursday and let me know what it is.
I asked for a theme to reflect the weekend and you took me at my word. Mini Messiah in Whitecross suggested songs with Friday, Saturday or Sunday in the title. From Daniel Boone's tribute to the Sabbath, The Bay City Roller's big night out or the Cure's romantic sounding start to the weekend, get your suggestions in please....
"Zits"...It didn't sound like the most promising theme for the last letter in our themes A-Z but ' the songs you remember when you had them' turned out to be one of the best in the entire series. The music was fantastic, the anecdotes and memories had me smiling all night long and as always with themes like this the shared experiences brought together Get It On listeners from around Scotland.
I wish I had more time to get round to some of the stories but you can read them on the blog or on our Facebook page. If you are on Facebook just search for Get It On With Bryan Burnett.
Tonight we are going to go back to one of the best themes suggested for our A-Z that we didn't have time to do. It's excellent endings, so lets have your suggestions of the songs that finish well.
Tommorow's theme will be decided on air tonight and I'll post details on the blog after the show. Next week we return to 'normal' service, but it's struck me how much more fun it is reading through the blog comments when I only post one theme thread at a time. Would you prefer to do it that way or would you like to have all the themes written up in one post?
And now the end is near....we have come to the final letter in our A-Z. I have really enjoyed the spontaneous nature of these themes so what we've decided to do is to start introducing a theme for Friday nights.
I want to keep it flexible so I'll be inviting suggestions on Thursday's show and we'll pick it that night. Hopefully Friday's will still have that slightly more lighthearted and 'let your hair down' feel to it than the rest of the week. Let's see what our bloggers come up with.
For Z I found it hard to resist 'Zits - the songs you remember from your teenage years!' So while you were coping with the trauma of having spots, what was the music you were listening to? Get in touch and Get It On...
Two themes to go before we reach the end of of our theme alphabet and as always you came up trumps with your Y suggestions. I liked 'you and yours', Paolo's suggestion of Youtube songs and I even had a soft spot for yodelling, although I suspect my enthusiasm for this theme is not shared by the rest of the production team. PJM's suggestion of 'y-fronts and other underwear' was loved by all but I don't know if Boxerbeat and The Thong Song would be enough to get us through the night.
So, in the end we've gone for 'years' which was suggested by Patrick McCafferty on the email.ÌýWe'll go through the decades in song covering everything from 1963 to 2525.ÌýÌý
X was always going to be the hardest theme to do in our A-Z of themes, particularly as being a teatime show then a night of 'x-rated' tunes was never going to happen. Some people cleverly took X to represent 10 or even X to stand for a kiss.
The theme we've gone for is artists with X in their name which was suggested by Julie in Edinburgh. ( And also by Norrie on the blog.)ÌýI like this theme but did wonder if there were enough artists to sustain it. However when I looked at Julie's list I saw what a great night of music this could be...everything from T-Rex to Annie Lennox, from Alex Harvey to Siouxsie Sioux . It's going to be a good, so get your suggestions in on the blog over the weekend.
Ìý
How about a night of 'whining'? As a programme concept it's quite a hard one to sell but I have a feeling there would be no shortage of things to play: "Songs like Nobody's Child', which is my dad's drink-fuelled heart-render of choice" explained Robin from Rouken Glen who suggested it for 'W' night.
Other notable suggestions included walking, wives and weans, whistling and even pop stars with 'wobbly bits'! The most popular theme was weather which was suggested by a ton of folk including Patrick, Tommy Boy in Lanark, James, Stephen in Shetland, Chris in Argyll and Cath in East Lothian.
Finally, I thought I'd share this great text that came in last night... "Just enjoying the show whilst gardening then realised the sound had dimmed somewhat.. After searching I found my wee garden radio in my huge garden bin. Had to crawl in to get it. That's how much i am enjoying tonight's show. Tracy, Glasgow." I'm sure I've made people throw their radio across the room before but I don't think I've someone accidentally bury it in the bin before!
Another good theme tonight which allowed me to play songs about bus drivers, soldiers, air hostesses, posties and all your other uniformed suggestions. Sadly no time to linger and reflect as our A-Z of themes moves on. You gave us plenty of V suggestions including vanity, volume, vices, vegetarians and even Victorian Values!
We really liked 'voyages' which was suggested by Joy from Greenock. She's come up with tracks like City of New Orleans and Me and Bobby McGee, but there's loads to choose from. Let's have your songs about journeys for the show that's really going places!
"I LoveÌýA Man In Uniform" proclaimed The Gang of Four in a rather excellent single, so they will be happy with tonight's theme which is going to be songs about and songs by people in uniform. As always there was a good range of suggestions that included things like unclear lyrics, unsigned bands and unrequited love. However we really liked uniforms which was suggested by Susan in Stirling and Graham Leadbitter and could include everything from Soldier Blue to In The Navy.
BTW, thanks to Vic Galloway for looking after the show in the past few weeks. It was nice to be back tonight although I am sure you are all aware of how it feels to be back at work when you've had a lovely relaxing break. I was finding it hard to summon up the enthusiasm during the afternoon but as soon as I got into studio and the texts started coming in then I was reminded why this show is the most fun to work on. It's good to be back...
I have had an amazing time over the last two weeks presenting 'Get It On' - it really has been a pleasure, and it seems you guys have enjoyed it too. You've reacted in your droves to all the themes, and your musical suggestions bring the show to life every night. I think Outer Space and Riffs were the busiest from my stint, but all the shows have been a blast. Thanks for having me! Bryan is back from his jollies on Monday and has the letter 'T' for you all to get involved in. We had pages of suggestions for the theme... Transport, Top of the Pops, TV Theme Tunes, Tea & Tobacco and even... ahem... Totty! But after many off-mic conversations, we decided on Technology, which was Elaine in Edinburgh's choice. Anyway, welcome BB back with open arms and get your techy requests in to him as soon as possible, for a busy start to the week. I hope you all enjoyed ''Freedom Friday' and thanks again for having me.
Firstly, thank you for all your birthday wished tonight. Much appreciated. As an old boy, I really do cherish your good wishes. It was also a pleasure to race through some great 'Riffs' for our letter R. Some unexpected requests in amongst the batch, and as ever far too many to fit into only 2 hours. It certainly was an extremely busy show.
So, we move to S and we've decided to take up Gaie Brown's theme of 'Sports'. Initially I was utterly uninspired by the idea, then started to think about running, swimming, flying, cycling songs; as well as anything that features shots, pots, baskets, goals or posts in the title. There must be literally thousands to choose from. I look forward to your abundant, tasteful and no doubt amusing suggestions and nominations for Thursday night's show. It'll be my last letter of the alphabet before Bryan returns to the hotseat next week. Speak to you soon.
It's quite a challenge asking questions for 2 hours straight but we not only managed it, but had a lot of fun doing so on tonight's Get It On. Again, it was varied and ever-so-slightly bizarre but beautiful. The troublesome Q out of the way, what theme do we have for the letter R? I whole-heartedly agree with Julie from Edinburgh on 'Rowdy or Raucous Songs', but seem to be outnumbered in the office. Senga seems similarly dissatisfied and wanted 'Revenge, Retribution or Retaliation'. Gaie Brown's themes were far nicer with 'Recommendations, Record Shops and Rarities' all appealing to yours truly. Ian in Peterhead's 'Reggae' nomination would have been superb too, but I've done a Reggae 'Get it on' before. 'Road Songs' from Archie's Dad, and 'Rhythm & Blues' from Big Matt almost made the grade, but we will make Duncan in Kingussie a happy man by selecting... 'Riffs'! Yes indeed, that's the theme so get your favourites in to us asap. It could be horns, keyboards, basslines and of course guitars hooks, but it has to be a mighty riff! Hope you enjoy the challenge... I look forward to hearing your choices.
After an interesting, diverse and occasionally educational 'previous bands' theme for the letter P, we hit quite a hard one with Q! Thanks for all your suggestions on air and online, as it's got us here thinking about what would make an inspiring programme, but still give everyone a chance to be involved. Much to the chagrin of any musos out there, we decided against Quarter Notes or Quarter Tones. Quads (or Quartets) was suggested by the ever reliant Jim Frae Erskine and Susan in Stirling, with Debbie O'Neill getting all Quarelsome and Janice from Ellon simply deciding on The Quo! Joe in Linlithgow had a good one with Quality/Quantity (too much/too little, the best of... etc) and lots of you nominating Quiffs, Quitting or Quiet songs.
However, after much deliberation and office arm-wrestling, we ended up agreeing with Fiona on the M8, DC in Cellardyke and many others... 'Questions in song titles' is our theme. Get those suggestions to us via all the usual methods and I look forward to the musical merriment that ensues on the show!
