WELCOME TO THE MAD WASP BLOG 2024

DAVE BARBAROSSA - NEW BAND - THIRD HOUSE - FIRST GIG!

We are pleased to announce that Dave Barbarossa Musician and Author, formerly of Adam & The Ants, Bow Wow Wow, Republica, Scant Regard, Cauldronated (and many more fantastic bands) has a new band Third House - an alliance between Dave and Umair "Spider" Chaudhry of Silent Weapon, Aching Rock and Rhythm in a Chaotic Universe.

They will be playing their first gig on Saturday October 12th at Rooz 35 Corsham Street, London N1 6DR about a minute from Old Street Tube. Pirates of the Underground: A Night of Neu Wave Punk Mayhem!" kicking off at 8pm in good company with The Duel and Punch Drunk Pirates who are also on the bill - Third House will be on about 9pm. It's £11.55 to get in. Get your tickets here.

Dress dark, dance hard, and lose yourself in the mayhem. Come dressed as a pirate if you wish! And if you want to check out their sound before the gig - the Third House debut EP "Inside Outside" will be released on 1st November. Click on this link to listen and pre-order your copy here.

Ever thought about learning to play the drums? Then learn from the beat master himself - Dave is now offering one to one drumming tuition. We will add a link to our side bar for you to contact Dave directly. Programs will be tailored to suit students individual needs, from beginners onwards. Instruction provided in areas of technique and general musicianship and lessons are geared toward building true performance skills. Short and long-term programs can be developed to suit the individual.

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – October 2024

JOHN DREDGE IS BACK!

We are pleased to announce that John Dredge is making a welcome return to Mad Wasp Radio!

Catch John starting this Sunday at 5pm UK Time and then bi weekly thereafter. John does an amazing quirky comedy show with great music - Nothing To Do With Anything - so get tuned in and enjoy :D

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – September 2024

CHOOSE THE CHOONS Bank Holiday Bangers

ChooseTheChoons hosted by DJ Andy Craik has been broadcasting here on Mad Wasp Radio for over 12 months now and this Bank Holiday Monday it reaches its 70th edition.

To celebrate we are welcoming the return of “Simon “Scanny” Scanlon to takeover for the evening with another edition of his “banger” events. Described by Andy as “the original raver”, Scanny is a sweet man with faultless taste and unending enthusiasm for music he heard in the clubs, music that made him dance; his definition of a “Banger”.

Since May this year Andy has been stepping aside each bank holiday to give Scanny the stage for the night and its already produced some memorable and popular nights of radio.This time Scanny’s mission is to focus on the best to boogie to from his most beloved decade, the 1980s.

So join Scanny (and Andy in a reduced role) this Bank Holiday Monday from 9pm and you’re going to be treated to 2 hours of selections from the 80’s put together with care so you will immediately getting down to the beat and hardly have time to sit down again until its all over.

As for the future, Andy & Scanny tease that they have more Banger nights planned for November AND December this year.

So remember…Keeeep Dancing!!!

ChooseTheChoons: 9pm every Monday + 11am every Saturday Exclusively on Mad Wasp Radio

Here's some more info about ChooseTheChoons... A show that will take you by surprise every week. Themes of the week, Chart years chosen by listeners, Special guest takeovers - Anything goes on the show that says… ANDY chooses the choons, YOU choose the choons, We ALL choose the choons.

Recurring editions include:

CHOOSE THE CHART - One listener chooses any date and year from the current month, Andy then plays the full top 20 plus bonus entries in that week’s chart.

SCANNY’S BANGERS - Friend of the show Simon “Scanny” Scanlon will takeover hosting duties at occasional intervals to bring you 2 hours of choons that are sure to make you move.

SPECIAL GUESTS - as well as Scanny, the show has welcomed a number of guests to choose and chat music. Previous guests include Mike Fenton Stevens, Limahl, Daz Sampson, Ida Kudo, Jericho as well as Mad Wasp DJs such as Mark Taylor & Lita List - More of these special guests to come in the future.

THEMES - Listener request episodes around a set theme or year of the week. Previous themes include Reggae night, Songs under 3 minutes, Tracks that peaked at no41, food & drink, boys names, girls names, football songs as well as tracks picked from specific years and decades.

RANDOM CHOICE EDITION - Recurring Listeners request show. Anyone can choose anything at all, no restrictions re decade, length, genre or chart performance - Always a highlight in the show’s schedule.

MAGAZINE MIXTAPES - Remember those tapes and CDs given away by the music press? Well these editions are a chance to explore the best of them.

AND MORE - The show stubbornly refuses to be fenced in to one style of show meaning anything could happen from week to week. Theme ideas always welcome from listeners.

SCHEDULE - Choose The Choons airs on Mondays at 9pm and is repeated on Saturdays at 11am

ON DEMAND - After one week of broadcast, all episodes of Choose The Choons are available to listen to whenever you please via Andy Craik Mixcloud

SOCIAL MEDIA - During Monday’s broadcast the host and listeners follow the hashtag #ChooseTheChoons on X / Twitter. Be sure to follow @andycraik to stay up to date re the show

REQUESTS & ENQUIRIES: Send Email to choosethechoons@gmail.com Or DM via @andycraik on X/Twitter

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – August 2024

SAVE THE VICTORIA CENTRE WELLINGBOROUGH SINGLE BY FITINS!

Mad Wasp Radio is proud to support the latest charity single by a specially created band Fitins in a bid to help raise funds for the Victoria Centre which is based in Wellingborough. The Centre is stuggling financially and needs your help and are appealing for donations.

They are a valued part of the Wellingborough community who help a multitude of people including the homeless. The Victoria Centre provides a meeting place for the multi-cultural and faith communities of Wellingborough. Activities include: Martial arts sessions, Dance fitness classes, Friendship clubs, Winter warm spaces, Craft Groups, Preschool, After School Club, Holiday Clubs, English language classes and much more! They also have groups for dementia sufferers and they help people who are isolated and suffering with their mental health.

Last year they were struggling financially and facing closure which is how Fitins came about to do something to help. All royalties go directly to the Victoria Centre. If you wish to purchase the track to help raise funds you will find it on most major platforms. The song is called Stand Up And Be Counted

How to Donate

On-line payments can be made into the Unity Trust Bank:

Account Name: Victoria centre
Sort Code: 60-83-01
Account Number: 20433453

Go Fund Me Page for Victoria Centre

Victoria Centre website

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – August 2024

Coming Soon to Mad Wasp Radio! The Pop Injustice League!

For too long, the criminal activities of The British Record Buying Public have gone unchecked. But now, The Pop Injustice League has been formed to right some of the wrongs, and Mad Wasp Vigilantes Alan Read & Mark Taylor have joined forces with a burning desire for justice!

In this special series of 4 fortnightly shows, Alan & Mark will travel across 4 decades, the 60s, 70s, 80s & 90s, highlighting singles criminally ignored by The British Record Buying Public. Not one of the records you will hear made it into the UK Top 20 and some even missed the Top 40 altogether and by the end of each show you WILL be asking yourself: What Is Wrong With The British Record Buying Public???

You can also send Alan & Mark YOUR pop injustices on Twitter/X @TPILMWR or email thepopinjusticeleague@gmail.com and they will be considered for a special 5th show, an all-request edition at the end of the series!

The Pop Injustice League broadcasts fortnightly, beginning from Sunday June 16th at 5pm on Mad Wasp Radio! Join in during the show on Twitter using #tpil and vote for the Ultimate Injustice for each decade!

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – June 2024

A SAD DAY AT MAD WASP TOWERS

It is with a very heavy heart that we bring you news that one of our beloved Mad Wasp Radio Family Lita List - after a fabulous run of 5 years - will now stop bringing you her wonderful 60s shows.

This Sunday will be the last Fab To Far Out. We know how much you have all loved her shows that have included Another Funking Bank Holiday jointly with Alan Read and also The Groove Line and Retro Soul Appreciation Society

We want to thank Lita for all of her great shows, her loyalty and dedication to Mad Wasp Radio, and who knows, after she has had a well earned rest ... maybe ... just maybe ... we might be able to persuade her to do the occasional Special for you all.

Tissues at the ready on Sunday and much love to Lita from all of us.

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – May 2024

OUR DJs ARE A TALENTED BUNCH!

When they are not DJing, some of our DJs are busy making music themselves!

John Morrison of the hugely popular show Showcase Scotland is busy making music with his band The Hybrid Vine and others. Here is his latest offering Fast Forward. Written by John Morrison Instrumentation by Claire Louise McBride and also mixed mastered & produced by Claire-Louise McBride.



Here are the lyrics:

So tell me who in all the world pressed fast forward?
Time flies faster than the speed of sound
Who in all the world pressed fast forward dragging all of us to the underground?

As Sandy sang where does the time go?
And the question never goes away
The years go by each one gets faster
to slow it down's an impossibility

The age of man, the age of love,
The age of time, not big enough.
So make the most of every second on this earth
Make the most of every second on this earth

So tell me who in all the world pressed fast forward?
Time flies faster than the speed of sound
Who in all the world pressed fast forward dragging all of us to the underground?

The seconds become minutes and the minutes become hours and the hours become days and the days go by so fast
The days become weeks and weeks turn into months that become years and the years go by so fast
So make the most of every second coz time goes by so fast
And we all know we have time but no one knows what time we have ....

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – May 2024

OUR DJs ARE A TALENTED BUNCH!

When they are not DJing, some of our DJs are busy making music themselves!

John Armstrong of the hugely popular show Tuning Up is busy making music with his band The Speed of Sound with the label Big Stir Records. Here is their latest single West Wind.



“West Wind” is a gale-force gust of garage-rock grit showing off every bit of the band's signature sound, and a level of energy that's no less than astonishing for a group entering its 35th year as a performing entity. The new single debuts on all digital outlets worldwide and you can order it here!

“West Wind” - which is also the lead track on the band's forthcoming album, soon to be announced by Big Stir Records – hits the ground running and doesn't slow down for all its breezy 2-minute, 35-second duration. Recklessly fast and invigorating rock and roll, borrowing a Bo Diddley beat cunningly melded with a Wagnerian horn section, the irrepressible rushing wild power unleashed by “West Wind” crushes anything in its path, so hold on tight and ride out the trip with it. The aforementioned horns (trumpet and fugelhorn by Bob Dinn) augment the primal noise kicked up by the band as their two vocalists, singer-guitarist-songwriter John Armstrong and Anne-Marie Crowley, trade weather warnings over the driving rhythms of drummer John Broadhurst, bassist Kevin Roache and the keyboards of HENRY Armstrong.

“Lyrically this is a protest song; a metaphor for the dominance of the all-pervading major label ‘music industry’ onslaught, snowplowing independent artists out of the way,” offers John Armstrong. That's no surprise: astute and barbed social commentary and advocacy for independent art have always been at the core of the band's lyrical outlook, and if anything the new material to be unleashed this year take those themes to a new and ever-sharper level. “West Wind” in particular plays out like Dylan and Baez by way of The Clash, and it's impossible not to take notice.

It's all done with The Speed of Sound’s boundless drive and life-afrming buoyant energetic zing. Longtime followers will recognize the approach, but still marvel at the vigor of the performance, and that's part of what the band has tapped into for the cornucopia of material to see release in 2024. “West Wind”, for all its meteorological might, is just the earliest forecast of the maelstrom to come, and as someone once said, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows: it hails from Manchester, and THE SPEED OF SOUND is set to soar on it.

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – April 2024

HAPPY ANNOUNCEMENT!

We are thrilled to welcome back two of our DJs who have had to have some time away.

Our amazing Mike Pougounas returns to Mad Wasp Radio after a very courageous battle with cancer bringing back his Blackout Radio Show which airs Thursday at 11pm repeated the following Tuesday at 10am UK time.

And we are pleased to announce the return also of the equally amazing Roy Brown with his show Roy's Groove Machine! You can catch Roy every other week on Saturday at 8pm, repeated Wednesday at midnight UK time.

These two terrific shows bring you the very best in new music alongside the seldom heard gems that these DJs Love.

Welcome back from all of us at Mad Wasp Radio - we know our listeners are going to be so happy that they are back!

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – April 2024

VINDICATION SWIM RELEASED IN UK CINEMAS FROM FRIDAY 8TH MARCH FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY & MOTHER'S DAY

We are delighted that long time friend of Mad Wasp Radio Elliott Hasler, the Writer and Director of the film Vindication Swim an award-winning biopic about the extraordinary life of Mercedes Gleitze, a pioneer in the world of open-water swimming, who in 1927 became the first British woman to swim the English Channel. As a working-class, unmarried typist, Gleitze self-funded all of her swims and it took her eight attempts to conquer the English Channel.

However, following her success, a rival emerged, claiming the same feat, which forced Gleitze into a battle to retain her record and legacy.

After the English Channel, Gleitze went on to achieve many more incredible swims around the world, including the Straits of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles and the dangerous distance between Robben Island and Cape Town.

In celebration of International Women's Day,Vindication Swim serves as a poignant reminder of the indomitable spirit of a woman who dared to dream beyond the confines of her era. The film's release on the 8th of March hopes to bring the legacy of this remarkable woman back into the spotlight.

Elliott Hasler’s quote:

It was our aim to really submerge the audience into the waters of the English Channel and in that way hope to pay homage to the spirit of this incredible woman. So everything you see on screen is real, all shot without the use of tanks, green screens or body doubles. I want audiences to feel as if they are swimming right alongside Mercedes on her incredible journey and share in her love affair with the water.

Not long to wait now for the UK release of Vindication Swim, 100 cinemas + around the UK with more coming online this week. An incredible film not to be missed, please spread the word.Get to see this great movie if you can :D Cinema Lists

A great gift for Mother's Day plus select cinemas holding giveaways for the launch weekend. Tickets are selling fast, so grab yours now using the links below to avoid disappointment!

There are exclusive Q&A screenings at select cinemas which will feature a post-screening Q&A with writer/director Elliott Hasler alongside lead actors Kirsten Callaghan (debut) and John Locke (Darkest Hour, Poor Things, The Favourite). Many screenings expected to be sold out this week.

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – March 2024

HAPPY EASTER!

Wishing all our listeners a very Happy Easter!

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – March 2024

NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK!

We are very excited to announce this week that our youngest DJ Laura Jensen is back to bring you this month's edition of Eclectic Corner! She has raided Martin Jensen's record collection to curate this months stunning show. MWR listeners will be eagerly awaiting her return!

You can catch the show on Wednesday 13th March 7pm UK Time and you are in for a real treat with Laura's expert choices!

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – March 2024

NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK!

Just a sample of some of the fabulous shows you can catch on Mad Wasp Radio this week! The Funkin Bumpkins bring you The World's Worst Records Special! with some absolute hysterical howlers! (Not for the faint hearted!) Catch Jed & Ped aka Neil & Norman Graveney for the first run 11pm UK Time Tuesday 5th May and if that is too late for you catch them at Drive Time 5pm on Wednesday 6th March.

If Electronica is your bag then you are in for a treat on Wednesday 6th March begining at 6pm UK Time with Brand new Electronica Sounds presented by Kev Grosvenor with the best under the radar electronica from home producers, unsigned artists and indie labels. Proud supporter of the emom (electronic music open mic) grassroots music movement. And then closely followed by a Diamond Lights Expresswith a Synthpop Special featuring all your classic synthpop favourites at 8pm UK Time.

More wonderful shows winging your way on the Mad Wasp Airwaves!

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – March 2024

Brai - PREGA X ME

“Prega X me” is an EP made up of 5 songs where a different guitarist appears in each of them. Carte blanche for 5 musicians with different sounds who play on the notes of Brai and a pinch of healthy madness make the chaos sweet melody.

The explicit and not only metaphorical texts are easily misunderstanding and characterized by disconnected thoughts but damnedly connected to each other by a common thread (subsequently depicted on the cover with photographic collages made by a Tokyo artist in an erotic-melancholic key).

Sharp mostly, rhyming singers with strong and irreverent tones want to get straight to those who listen to them by giving them a messy haircut to the sound of distorted guitars. The collage (as a choice of concept) is the perfect visual translation of what the artist defines as "Inner Confusion".

Our thanks go to Plindo Music - one of our many suppliers of new up and coming talent Plindo.com

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – February 2024

New Shows to look out for in 2024

Two more great new shows on Mad Wasp Radio! Poptastic Sounds with Nicky G and The Best in Irish Indie brought to you by pMad.

Join your host Nicky G as he takes a deep dive into the world of melodic, hook-filled Rock and Pop from the 1960’s right up to today. Both familiar and obscure Power Pop, Soft Pop, Brit Pop, Garage Rock, Sunshine Pop, Mod and even some Psychedelia from around the world are presented on each show. Nothing is out of bounds on “Poptastic Sounds!”, where the focus is always on the music!

The Best of Irish Indie hosted by pMad brings you the newest, latest and the classic indie music all the way from Ireland to Mad Wasp Radio listeners all the way around the world. Indie music to me is not about genre anymore, it is about not being heard enough!! Allegedly not mainstream enough, Indie music is even better! And Irish Indie is right up there!

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – January 2024

Alan Blackwood 1932–2023

Mad Wasp were very saddened to learn of the passing of Alan Blackwood shortly before Christmas.

Alan was the author of numerous books and features on music, including a biography of the famous British conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham and was also the lead writer on the international best-selling book/CD series In Classical Mood.

In more recent times, he turned his skills to writing fiction and presenting the Mad Wasp Radio show, Alan Blackwood’s Accidentals. He will be much missed by all of us.

Dee and David – Mad Wasp Radio – January 2024