Ross, Brand, Sex And Naked Crime
Today, amidst all the ballyhoo about quitting the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, I was sent a couple of interesting electronic messages. One came from a Mister Steve Letford (a comedy writer whose genius is yet to be recognised by the world beyond Facebook) who suggested that 'Wossy' might soon be contacting me looking for a job and that I ought to resist the temptation to sign him up.
This, I should stress, was not one of Steve's better gags but it did get me thinking about the nature of talent. You see, as unfashionable as it is to say it, I actually think Jonathan Ross is a very funny radio broadcaster. I also thought Russell Brand was good on the wireless too, but perhaps in smaller doses. In essence, both Ross and Brand are entertaining story-tellers, it's just that the stories they tell are not to everyone's taste.
My second interesting e-mail today came from my colleague Karen Miller. From time to time, Karen sends me some statistics about the popularity (or otherwise) of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Scotland's various online content. Over Christmas, for example, Desperate Fishwives was one of our big hits on the website and our podcasts atttracted a lot more listeners than usual.
"On a slightly related note," she added, "your blog entry Sex, Drugs, Fame And Money, from 2007 is in the top 15 every week".
Well of course I immediately clicked on that link to see what wonderful insights I had been sharing with you way back then and discovered I had been describing my encounter with Russell Brand at the Radio Festival in Cambridge. I suggested to Karen that this was indicative of the power of celebrity, but she corrected me.
"No, it's a sign of what words people search on. Graham Stewart's blog on Naked Crime also features every week."
So what does this tell us? That fame is a passing thing, but that sex, drugs, money and naked crime will outlast us all?
Or that bloggers with no integrity will put popular keywords and topical references into the title of their entries just to pick up passing trade?
Shameful.
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