Hi there music lovers!

Well, I hope you were there on Monday to witness the Ukulele Orchestra of Britain give another superb concert - I do urge you to catch them as long as you have an open mind!

Down to a ukulele-free NOTP, I was going to feature Goldfrapp's new album as my record of the week, but to be honest I'm not too convinced by it. Maybe next week - who knows?

Three in a row featured another not-very-rock'n'roll name - this time it's Kevin's turn. So Kevin Ayres ('Song for Insane Times'), Kevin Rowland and Dexy's with 'Plan B' and Kevin Godley with his mate Lol and the brilliant 'Freeze Frame' from a rather battered vinyl copy. Any ideas for non-rock'n'roll names please let me know. Any suggestions of Glyn will be disqualified, obviously...

Back to production in Kitsch'n'Sink. Joe Meek, a stalwart of this slot, produced  John Leyton's 'Johnny Remember Me' in fine style incorporating a tiled bathroom in a role even Phil Spector could only dream of.

Thin pickings at the Charity Shop this week, but I was able to find a Jam compilation which is no bad thing. I chose 'The Modern World', and I really must speak to Mr Weller about his language.

The Long Song was the under-rated Besnard Lakes and 'And You Lied To Me'. Great stuff.

Occupying the NOTP back seat were Efterklang, Roxy Music, Editors, Gorillaz, Suggs, Leo Sayer, The Propellorheads featuring Dame Shirley Bassey, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, This Mortal Coil, Marina and the Diamonds, Jim Noir, Elliott Smith, Television, Dubstar, John Otway, Ten Thousand Maniacs, The Mobiles and Prefab Sprout.

And that's it for another fun-filled week. Have a great one and see you 10 sharp next Wednesday.

Oh yes - happy Eostre!

Glyn

Hi there,

Straight down to business, then

'Plastic Beach' by Gorillas with assorted special guests is the album of the week - I've been enjoying it very much. The guests include Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Gruff Rhys and Bobby Womack and it's never less than interesting. The hard part was to pick three tracks as they're all good. So I picked four.

Three in a Row featured robots - 'I Love You Miss Robot' by The Buggles, 'I Robot' by the Alan Parsons Project and 'I am not a Robot' by Marina and the Diamonds. And no Kraftwerk in sight.

Kitsch'n'Sink usually  has an example of well-produced or over-produced records. This week we have a song that survived despite the production! It's 'Go Now' by the Moody Blues which manages to distort almost from the word go (in fact from the word 'We've') then gets worse till the final premature steep fade. Goodness knows why it's so badly recorded, but there only seems to be one take of it around, and in an odd way that's a good thing. Far better to have a rough and ready recording of a good performance than an endlessly cleaned-up production of a mediocre one.

Talking of prog, The Long Song's title  could have come from one of the Moody's seventies albums - however this was only last year's album by Muse. From 'The Resistance' we had Exogenesis: Symphony parts one to three (Overture, Cross-Pollination and Redemption). And if that isn't prog enough for you then I'll eat my CD.

Charity Shop Corner gave us Toploader's album 'Onka's Big Moka' (no, really) - you know the one that gave us 'Dancing in the Moonlight' before some idiot started saying 'Here We Go' before each line. I chose 'Let The People Know'.

Also along for the ride were tunes by The Jam, Hot Chip, Viv Albertine, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Amy McDonald, Counting Crows, Crosby Stills and Nash, Beck, Laura Viers, T Rex, Athlete, Randy Newman, Belle and Sebastian and the late great Miss Sandy Denny.

And there we are! Another week's NOTP over - don't forget you can mail me with any comments or suggestions.

Have a good week!

Glyn

Hi there!

So what's going on in NOTP land this week?

Well, three in a row returns to names - un-rock'n'roll names, that is. So how about Norman? So we had Messrs. Greenbaum (Spirit in the Sky), Cook, aka FatBoySlim and 'Praise You' and The late Norm 'Hurricane' Smith and 'Don't Let It Die'.

Amy mc Donald has finally released her new album 'A Curious Thing' and I am enjoying it, though it hasn't grabbed my like 'This is the Life' did. Some good tracks, though, which I shared with you as my Album of the Week.

Bob Dylan gave us the Long Song with 'Hurricane' - in fact the second time that particular wind has been featured in the slot (ask Neil Young). Anyone think of other long songs about hurricanes?

Back to a sort of normality with Kitsch'n'sink this week. From the album 'NYC Man' it's Lou reed and 'Waiting for the Man'.

Charity Shop Corner had another sampler freebie from a magazine - no harm there as it gave us Gorillaz ahead of me featuring 'Plastic Beach' as my Record of the Week next week.

The full supporting cast included Marina and the Diamonds, The Magic Numbers, Timebox, The Postmarks, David Bowie, Sparklehorse (featuring the sadly late Mark Linkous), The Monochrome Set, The Only Ones, Glasvegas, Dolores O'Riordan, U2, Frida Hyvonen, Goldfrapp and Elbow.

Don't forget you can mail me with any suggestions, requests - that sort of thing - at glyn.james@tudnofm.co.uk

Have a good week!

Glyn

Howdy pardners!

Well, that's the introduction over with, so let's see what NOTP had in store this fine cold week.

First of all we had an album of the week - 'The Family Jewels' by Marina and the Diamonds. Not sure if her sister's called Allegro - I hope not. Anyway, this is an album I've been looking forward to and it's  good fun. Imagine someone midway between Regina Spektor and Lene Lovich with a nod to Lady GaGa and you're getting there. Three tracks which I hope give you the flavour.

Three in a Row featured the founder members of a short-lived 1977 Liverpool band called The Crucial Three. They were Julian Cope (bass) Ian McCulloch (vocals) and Pete Wylie (guitar). Not that any recordings are available, but they all went on to great things. Echo and the Bunnymen was McCulloch's future (I played 'The Killing Moon'), Pete Wylie went on to various stages of Wah ('The Story of the Blues') and Cope, the modern antiquarian, formed The Teardrop Explodes ('Reward', of course).

Against my better judgement, I decided to play a request in the Kitsch'n'Sink slot. this time it was for the Cork-based punk outfit Sultans Of Ping, and the immortal 'Where's me Jumper?'. Actually it was rather good in its own sweet way.

The Long Song was by Elvis Costello, aka Napoleon Dynamite, and from the esperanto album 'Blood and Chocolate' we had the heart-wrenching 'I Want You'. Scary stuff.

That leaves Charity Shop Corner, and this week we went back to the Sixties with a not-half-bad compilation. I chose 'Catch the Wind' by the self-styled British Dylan, Donovan.

Also waiting for an alibi were Blur, Amy McDonald (whose album 'A Curious Thing' we'll be featuring next week), Editors, Brian Eno, Calansho, Electronic, Nirvana (no, not that one), Split Enz, Alphaville, Paloma Faith, Bob Dylan, Godley and Creme (featuring the immortal Peter Cook), The Flying Burrito Brothers, Joni Mitchell, Rilo Kiley, REM and Katherine Williams.

Thanks for listening!

Glyn

Hello fellow-travellers!

Well, the sun came out for a little while this week, so NOTP justifiably ignored it. 

Three in a Row got all cosy on the sofa with velvet - linked by Blue (Bobby Vinton), via Bowie's Goldmine and the Underground's 'There She Goes'  and, rather startlingly,  'Some Velvet Morning' by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood.

 A rather young-looking Peter Gabriel adorned the cover of Charity Shop Corner's cover this week - a 'best of' of sorts, from 1990.  I chose 'Family Snapshot' which came from the 'fingernails' album, as I call it. Powerful stuff.

Due to an absent CD, I couldn't play the Long Song that I intended last week. However, due to the miracle of vinyl, here it is this week - recorded at Abbey Road we had Pink Floyd's 'Money' leading into 'The Great Gig in the Sky' with vocals by Clare Torrey, from The Dark Side of the Moon.

Another request this week for Kitsch'n'Sink was a little more restrained than last week's - Hazel O'Connor's 'Will  You' from the album 'Breaking Glass'.

Waiting at the bus stop for one of three buses were World Party, Abba, Get Well Soon, The Saturdays, The Love Affair, Echo and the Bunnymen, Mylo, Ben's Brother, JJ Cale, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Squeeze, Fyfe Dangerfield, Yo La Tengo, Emmy The Great, Jem, Elvis Costello abd finally The Colourfield.

Don't forget you can email me on glyn.james@tudnofm.co.uk with your suggestions.

Have a great week.

Glyn

Ahoy me Hearties!

Another week gone already and we have another NOTP. Not much news this week (excluding the marital affairs of a singer we wouldn't feature) so we'll get on with the show.

Three in a Row was a bit different this week as we hear that Abbey Road Studios may be sold off. So I trust you'll forgive me for featuring a track each from four decades recorded there? The Sixties had to be represented by those pesky Beatles and the ground-breaking 'A Day In The Life' Yes, I know that wasn't from the Abbey Road album, but does show what can be done with creative engineering and production. The Seventies had 'Broadway Hotel' by Al Stewart from 'Year of the Cat' (1976). The Eighties was a bit thin till I noticed that just scraping in under the bar was 'Nude' by Camel. Very dated (and scratched!) but, hey, we haven't featured Camel before. Bringing up the Nineties was Radiohead's 'The Bends' and 'Fake Plastic Trees'. 

Long Song tonight was Robbie Williams from a few years back - 'Me and my Monkey'. I know it's not cool to like Mr Williams, but who said we are cool here?

Charity Shop Corner featured the singular voice of Miss Ella Fitzgerald which is always a good thing. 'That Old Black Magic' did the trick.

After a split reaction when I played 'We Want War' as my Long song a few weeks ago, I decided - possibly against my better judgement - to feature 'Hidden' by These New Puritans as my album of the week. A bit hard going, you'll agree, but we do need to redress the balance here at NOTP!

A request came thudding in for Kitsch'n'Sink and who was I to argue? I must admit this had been blotted out of my memory, but a bit of digging gave us  'Jeremy is Innocent' by - and here's some confusion - either Ivor Biggun (ho ho) or Rex Barker and the Ricochets. Take your pick - they're still the same record. Oddly enough, I doubt we'll be featuring it again. Don't forget you can nominate a record too. But do think carefully first....

Also clinging to the wreckage were Brian Eno, The Besnard Lakes, Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood, Be Bop Deluxe, Fred Astaire, Underworld, The Postmarks, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Muse, Alphaville, Norman 'Hurricane' Smith, Brian Eno, Bob Dylan, Chorale and Joan Armatrading.

Have a good week - see you soon!

Glyn 

Good evening!

Well, the exciting news this week is we have a new studio - and I'm allowed to use it for NOTP. Unfortunately the CD players are programmed only to play Leona Lewis, JLS and Susan Boyle and they either refuse to play anything else or stop mid-track. So NOTP this week is a rather unpredictable and ramshackle affair - no change there, except this time I have an excuse. Still, we have a carpet which is jolly nice and a comfy chair. 

So what did this new-found luxury bring us music-wise? Well, since you ask, Three In a Row had a welcome return to non-rock'n'roll  names - this time Edwin. So Mr Hawkins and his singers gave us 'Oh Happy Day'. Mr Starr  sang 'Contact' and Mr. Collins (yes, I know his name is spelt with a 'y' but he's just showing off) gave us the wonderful 'With a Girl Like You'.

Charity Shop Corner gave us a little-known album by The "Ebenezer" Shamen called Strange Day Dreams.  Odd, but strangely good in parts.

No strangers to NOTP Stereolab provided the Long Song - from the album 'Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements' (really) we had 'Jenny Ondioline' - or at least most of it.

Kitsch'n''Sink this time had Sparks from the album 'Hello Young Lovers'  and 'As I Sit Down to Play The Organ at the Notre Dame Cathedral'. Yes, you young things,  wacky long titles are in this week!

Occupying the back seat of the bus were The Postmarks, Kasabian,  Razorlight, the late Johnny Dankworth, Bowie, The Divine Comedy, Supertramp, The Mighty Wah, Get Well Soon, Hot Chip, Dizzee Rascal, Laura Viers, Local Natives, Crosby Stills and Nash, and finally They Might Be Giants.

You'll be delighted to know that my old email's working again - glyn.james@tudnofm.co.uk so keep those suggestions a'coming in.

See you next week!

Glyn

Greetings!

Another cold Wednesday so what better way to spend an evening than huddled round the cosy glow of a wireless with a loved one, a glass of wine listening to Not On The Playlist? All right then, but as Mr Loaf says, two out of three ain't bad.

 So what lurked inside Tudno's hallowed walls for your entertainment this week? Well, Three in a Row featured some cards from the pack - Just JACK with 'Stars in their Eyes', The Good, the Bad and the QUEEN with Herculean and KING Creosote with the lovely 'Admiral'. 

Kitsch'n'Sink today gave us Spiritualized (sic) which are always handy for a big production and the amazing 'Do It All Over Again'. Hope that rattled your speakers!

The Long Song featured Kate Bush from her most recent album  and the  ever  so slightly bonkers 'Nocturn' and 'Aerial' as they lead into one another. Very Long Song, then.

Album of the Week was Massive Attack's latest long-player 'Heligoland'. A little different to what we're used to, but I'll be giving it a good listen - I suspect it'll grow on me.

I've been haunting the charity shop again - this time for an album, not a trendy jumper - and came out with (don't laugh - it could have been so much worse) The Hits of a-ha.  'Hunting High and 'was the song. Worth £1.99, I say.

In between the nonsense were tunes from Elvis Costello, Ben's Brother, Efterklang, OK Go, Hot Chip, 10cc, Air, KT Tunstall, Dolores O'Riordan, Lene Lovich, Emmy The Great and Janis Ian.

Oh - my email seems to be working again, so if you're so inclined glyn.james@tudnofm.co.uk will find me - I'd be delighted to hear from you.

Take care - see you next week.

 Glyn

Hello boys and girls!

Still here then? Look here, who's been buying Alvin and the Chipmunks? Has someone's granny got it wrong and bought it instead of Chipmunk (only a slightly less serious offence, if truth be told) or am I missing something and it will be added to the canon of classic albums of the decade?

Talking of canons we come, naturellich, to Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D. It's quite a straightforward sequebce of notes, but it's still a surprise to see how many songs it's influenced. I picked three - 'Go West' by the Pet Shop Boys, if only to give it some kitsch value, 'No Woman No Cry' by Bob Marley and 'All Together Now' by The Farm. I suppose we could have had a more obscure link, but I'm not sure I'd want one.

Talking of kitsch, we had Kitsch'n'Sink which this week featured one of my favourite seventies bands (yawn) - Klaatu and the Politzanian National Anthem. Now THAT'S what I call Kitsch'n'Sink!

Well, it had to happen. The Long Song had ignored it for almost two years so here it is - 'Stairway to Heaven' - by you-know-who - no, not Rolf! Still enjoyable after all these years.

As though not enough was going on we had the welcome return of the Album of the Week - this time the quaintly named 'In this Light and On This Evening' by Editors, a band I've been enjoying very much of late. Three tracks from that, then.

Now quantity if not quality ruled in the Charity Shop this week - a TRIPLE album All right, it was on the respected Readers' Digest label, but look - THREE! Hits (and misses) of 1962. If nothing else it was nice to see what was going on in the year before the Beatles. And I make no apology for playing 'Lesson One' by the mysteriously overlooked Russ Conway. And only two minutes long!

Also helping sink the lifeboat were Squeeze,  Muse, Magazine, King Creosote, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Genesis, 10cc, Television, David Bowie, The View, Donna Summer, Massive Attack and Simon and Garfunkel.

Hello everyone!

Another Wednesday night and with it, as sure as hangover follows good night out , comes Not on the Playlist.

We had an ancient featured album which was 'A Salty Dog' by Procul Harum'. One of those albums it's hard to pick just three tracks  from which is always a good sign.

The Long Song was by the Canadian group The Besnard Lakes and 'You've Got to Want to be a Star'. I hope to be featuring their new album in the coming weeks.

Kitsch'n'Sink featured the Alan Parsons Project's 'Don't Answer Me' with vocals by Eric Woolfson. Now Mr Parsons is the boss of Abbey Road. Probably gets to cross the famous zebra crossing every day, curse him!

Three in a Row featured another not-very-rock'n'roll name - this time Albert. Hammond pere et fils (99 miles from LA and The Strokes' 12-51) plus Paul McCartney and Wings' 'We're So Sorry Uncle Albert'.

Besides a rather natty jumper and a jigsaw, the charity shop's corner gave us 'Who Killed The Zutons?'. I'm not sure, but the track I featured was 'Confusion'. Appropriate, I suppose.

Now what else was going on? The Guillemots, for a start, plus Radiohead, David Byrne featuring Santagold, Efterklang, Brian Eno, Deaf School, Editors,  These New Puritans,  Dusty Springfield, It's Immaterial and Judie Tzuke.

Keep on keeping on!

Glyn