Sunday 3 June 2012

Steve Ajao talks and plays on Radio To Go



A conversation with live music from Steve Ajao and Ade Wakelin

This is the second in a series. The concept is childishly simple; making it work right, and sound right, is another matter.  I sit down in the studio with a small group of musicians; they play, we talk. In this session, two much loved Birmingham veterans, Steve Ajao and Ade Wakelin, who regularly play together and accompany each other in their respective bands, came together to play, sing... and talk. 

I've watched Steve play for an embarrassingly long time. A live night with Steve, in whatever line-up he chooses, is always good, rip-roaring fun, played from the heart and the gut. He has great stories, and some forthright opinions to go with his huge gravelly voice, and there's a hair-raising account of the time he was spent spinning down his local High street like a rag doll after being slammed into by a speeding car on a pedestrian crossing. It put him, unconscious and severely damaged, in hospital for a while. He broke a lot of bones, but none, thankfully, in his hands or head. That story, and his protracted recovery, aided and and abetted by Ade, makes for uncomfortable but compelling listening.      

We put this together last summer at Music Up in Coventry, as part of a project brokered by UB40's Brian Travers. So this is part one:


and this is part two:


As always, all the shows I do on Radio to Go are available on request, free of charge, to any station that might like to use them. The only stipulation is that the show must be played in its entirety. I build them to run for about a commercial hour, or between 50 and 55 minutes. So if you're a station - terrestrial, internet, local or far away - and you'd like this show, email me through the blog.

Also in the In The Studio series:Steve Gibbons
360 at the Elephant House

Links
YouTube Videos featuring Steve

Albums
Steve Ajao - Pure Evil
Ade Wakelin - Going Down That Road

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