The Hit Factory Live Bounces onto Radio...

At Bounce we create music, sound and content.

We’ve got some fantastic projects that are currently in production and some really exciting partnerships to tell you about very soon. But I’m pleased to tell you about the latest project right now.

Bounce will producing a 2-hour highlights programme from the forthcoming ‘Hit Factory Live’ concert, exclusively for the UK’s Smooth Radio and Real Radio network.

The Hit Factory Live is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacular taking place in London’s Hyde Park on 11th July 2012. For the first time ever, the classic artists from the PWL Hit Factory will perform together on one bill, including amongst many other Rick Astley, Bananarama, Dead or Alive, Pepsi & Shirlie, Sinitta, Sonia, and a very special duet from a certain Kylie and Jason!

Stock Aitken Waterman scored an unrivalled run of global hits in the 80s and 90s and are now acknowledged as one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time. 2012 also marks the 25th anniversary of PWL Records, the legendary label originally set up as home for many Hit Factory artists.

As Pete Waterman gave me my first ever job in radio 25 years ago at Radio City in Liverpool, it seems only fitting that Bounce produces the Hit Factory Live radio programme.

The Hit Factory Live will be broadcast on Real Radio on Sunday 15^th July at 7pm, and on Smooth Radio at the end of August.

Enjoy!


UPDATE:
On Tuesday 10 July 2012 Live Nation and The Royal Parks announced that they had been forced to cancel The Hit Factory Live concert. In a statement, they said...

"Following the severe and unprecedented weather conditions across the country the site was declared unfit this morning to host the concert. The decision was made following full consultation with all of the relevant authorities and the safety advisory group. The safety of our customers, performers and production crew is of utmost importance and the decision was made unanimously. The potential risk to staff and music fans was too great for the event to go ahead."


So - no radio programme I'm afraid for the time being. But watch this space...

Radiodays Europe 2012; "How was it for you...?"

It’s exactly a week since I was stepping on to a plane and waving farewell to Barcelona - Radiodays Europe done for another year. So, what did we learn? What were the good bits? How has radio in Europe moved on in the last 12 months?

My sense was of an industry that is slightly more at ease with itself than last year. There seems an acceptance that different countries are at different points on the curve of evolution, and ‘a one size fits all’ approach is no longer relevant or even necessary.

There also seems to be a greater acceptance that a digital future is vital for the medium if it is to remain the cornerstone of peoples’ lives. There were fewer ‘nay-sayers ‘ or luddites around this year. Or perhaps they were just keeping quiet!

As always with any conference, there’s hopefully something for everybody, whether it’s technical innovation, new sales initiatives or creative programming. Personally, I enjoyed listening to Julian Treasure talk about the importance of sound, a topic close to my heart... and I found it fascinating to listen to the ‘in-car entertainment geeks’ map out the future of how radio might be incorporated into the dashboard of the future. No mention of a flux capacitor once though! Quite disappointing.

Sometimes radio conferences can be far too full of ‘PowerPoint’ and data, and graphs, and we lose sight a bit that we’re meant to be in the entertainment business. So I was really pleased to be able to pull together a session that had no graphs and no data... but just some fun pictures, a few music and radio clips... and a great guest.

Those who attended will no doubt tell you that for around 40 minutes, Pete Waterman chatted about something else close to my heart... pop music. And if you want to chat about that topic, I can’t think of anyone else I ‘d rather chat about it with. Some great stories about how some of the biggest pop hits of the 80s and 90s came together, and some straight talking about radio and the music industry... all delivered with a sense of fun and enthusiasm that’s really infectious. I had some great comments from those who attended (thank you!), and if you couldn’t make it along for whatever reason... watch this space... there may be some news on that in due course!

Playing a few old clips of Pete on Radio City in the 1980s reminded me of something that sometimes gets lost in the obsession with research and fixation on data... and that’s passion.

Passion for playing great music... passion for telling listeners a story... passion for life – being passionate on the radio in a genuine and honest way will always win over a ‘painting by numbers’ approach.

You can hear the passionate broadcasters a mile off. They stand out. They offer something unique... and in a constantly homogenising  radioscape, where music is ubiquitous, my feeling is that passion will drive the audiences of the future.


PS - If you want to hear one of the clips that I dug out from my archive and played in the session, here it is...

listen to ‘Pete Waterman on Radio City - 1988’ on Audioboo