Matt Wilkinson's Blog

La la la la... not listening

I love my job. I get to sit in a studio for a few hours every evening broadcasting to the best city in the world and playing a whole heap of stunning songs. I’ve always wanted to do it, ever since I was about 13 years old. I remember getting a “ghetto blaster” - a name I insisted on as I thought it was still cool to say it (even though we’re talking about the 90s now) - and discovering I could play two cassette tapes at the same time… Bingo!! I could ‘mix’ songs back to back for the entertainment of hundreds of party goers. I decided from that moment I would be a… Mobile Disc-Jockey!!

No lie… I wanted to play at kids parties for £20 a pop. All that was standing in my way was some disco lights and some bookings (never mind the fact that I was gonna be using a £99 miniature stereo that even at full blast wouldn’t be enough to wake the neighbours). I remember vividly making a trip to a disco lights shop in Chiswick with my mum (still aged 13… me not my mum) and finding out that a single fuzz light (those are the ones that go on top of police cars) would set me back about fifty quid.  

At this point in my life I was getting £1.10 pocket money a week. So the fact that I could in no way afford anything remotely bright that flashed was a set back. My dream was all but quashed. I decided as a result to still be a DJ but on the radio and not children’s parties.

Two things: Firstly, the above is completely true and accurate. Second, this is an extremely long winded way of getting to the point of this blog entry (it will probably surprise you that there is a point to all of this…).

So as I sit every evening in my swivel chair playing you songs I am happy to be where I am… until I end up missing my favourite TV show!

I LOVE the Apprentice. It’s great, gripping television. The witty remarks from Alan Sugar are only half the story. Trying to guess which sorry individual will be fired is all part of the fun. SO, when you can’t see the TV show the night it’s on you want to watch it again online. I didn’t get round to doing that last night (my mistake) and as a result have spent the last 9 waking hours avoiding any hint as to whom got turfed out. I did the whole “la la la thing” whilst trying to turn the radio down as Trab’s mentioned it this morning on Heart. I’ve just been sticking fingers in my ears as the office gossip machine started churning about last night’s episode.

I was safe.

I then opened today’s ‘London Paper’, on a random page and… DISASTER, I saw the headline ‘Sir Alan should have fired the bully’ with a picture of the lady that got the sack. NOOOO!!!!!! Blast.

So lesson learnt. Either watch the episode online immediately after coming off air, or at a push quit my job - become a Mobile DJ and insist on not working Wednesday nights. I knew what I was doing when I was 13…

M x

Posted by Matt Wilkinson on April 03, 2008 at 18:03PM

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