The Summers of Our Youth

Stephen O'Brien ponders on his own formative friendships as he watches the members of a-ha deal with their own in their new film, True North.

A new album from legendary Norwegian pop band a-ha is always an event in my book – but even more so when that new album is accompanied by a film.

 

So it was that my girlfriend and I went to Showcase Cinemas in Liverpool on Thursday 15 September 2022 to watch a-ha: True North.

Named after the band’s forthcoming album, True North showcases a-ha performing 10 of the album’s 10 tracks live, backed by additional musicians and the Arctic Philharmonic. These performances are interspersed with scenes from the lives of the people who live in the Arctic, forming a narrative across the film’s 72 minute running time.

 

We are also treated to some stunning footage of the beautiful Arctic – mountains, ocean and land – which makes the majestic swoop and heft of the music resonate on a deeper level.

 

In between the tracks, we are treated to short segments where the three members of a-ha – Morten Market, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy – separately talk about their approaches to the new songs and also on how a-ha operates as a unit; let’s not forget, Morten, Magne and Paul have what could be charitably described as a very complicated friendship.

 

These segments – and what they suggested about the nature of friendship – really resonated with me that night as I arrived at Showcase Cinemas after many, many years of absence, and I was immediately reminded of two important friendships of my own, both played out at this cinema over 30 years before.

 

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I hung out a lot with two particular friends, John & Jim. We were – and still are – really pop culture buffs; music, TV and film. So when Showcase Cinemas opened in Liverpool in 1988, it was a big deal for us. It was the first American-style multi-screen complex in the city. The building was huge and the car park was massive. The screens were big, and the popcorn was even bigger.

 

Over a 3 year period, John, Jim & I would go to “the Showcase" most Thursday nights. We saw some great films – Back to the Future II & III, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Die Hard – and some not so great – Moon 44, anyone?

 

In many ways, the film didn’t matter. It was always a privilege to spend time with John & Jim. They were both bright, funny and interesting. John was a force of nature, his unerring self-confidence equally matched by his compassion, and his charisma was unmatched. He also remains the funniest person I have ever known, and I am lucky enough to know a lot of funny people. Jim was easy-going but bursting with ideas and creativity, with a knack of disarming people with his effortless charm. He was also a people magnet, and everyone wanted to be his friend within 30 seconds of meeting him.

 

There is a saying that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. I was blessed, in my teenage years, to have John & Jim as 2 of those 5. Their intelligence, their wit and their kindness has had a long-lasting influence on me. To be even 1% of who they are is a real privilege.

 

As is often the case with friendships in our formative years, I don’t really see John or Jim these days. You know how it is – life gets in the way and takes each of us in different directions – but being reminded of those friendships at that cinema on that night brings me back to the three members of a-ha and the bond that still holds them together.

 

Morten, Magne & Paul formed their friendship – and their musical partnership – in their formative years. Following their first wave of success, the relationship between the three has become strained – to the point where they periodically split and say a-ha is over forever. Yet they still find a way back.

 

The optimist in me thinks – and hopes – it’s not just the money that brings them back together. And I also like to think it’s also not just about the creative lure of a-ha either. They may often reach the point where they can’t bear to be in the same room at the same time, but that friendship – or at least the memory imprint of their early friendship – still endures. Let’s face it, the only people who know what it’s like to have been in this world-famous band and can understand all that comes with it are Morten, Magne and Paul. Whether that friendship has been superseded by mutual understanding, who knows? But there must be something there, some emotional glue, that holds them together. And I think that comes across in this film and its music.

 

a-ha have never been a band to display their friendship (unless you count the video to Touchy!). They have always cut an aloof, slightly-distant-from-each-other image. Some of this could be representative of the natural temperament of the Scandinavians, rather than simply a long-held dislike of each other.

 

That said, given their previous 2015 album Cast In Steel was largely written and recorded separately by three separate factions, it is a joy to see the three of them together performing this new material (as opposed to touring the back catalogue). This looks like a rejuvenated a-ha; that might not last much beyond the 72 minutes of this film, but I’ll take it!

 

Magne has written and produced 6 of the 12 tracks, with Paul writing and producing the other 6. It does seem like the three have made a real attempt to come together as a three-piece, and the material (as well as the film) seems much more cohesive as a result.

 

Much of the album takes us down slower, more contemplative roads, with the impressive I’m In starting proceedings. The listener has to patiently wait for some more upbeat tracks, but when these – Bluest of Blue & Make Me Understand – kick in towards the end of the film, they are a welcome treat. Elsewhere, songs like Between the Halo and the Horn & True North are achingly beautiful, both melodically and lyrically. Much of a-ha’s material has the ability to bring various emotions to the surface, and this is amplified by the wonderful backing of the Arctic Philharmonic; I sat in that cinema, with its huge screen and surround sound, and I truly felt the music, rather than just hearing it. My girlfriend, who likes a-ha but is not a huge fan like me, loved the film and the music – and she singled out the orchestral arrangements as making the music all the more beautiful and moving.

So I left the screen a very happy man. Not just because of the wonderful music and visuals I had just experienced, but also because it was good to be reminded of the power of friendship and the impact those friendships can have on the rest of your life. It’s funny to note that I had just watched three friends who sometimes can’t bear each other yet are still in each other’s lives, yet I hardly see two fondly-remembered friends who I never fell out with. 

And as I walked out of the cinema, I thought back to the three young friends who would have been walking in 30-odd years earlier to watch the first of many films in that shiny new cinema. And part of me envied them. What great times they have ahead. What great friends they were.

Serious Afternoonin’

Stephen O’Brien tries to come to terms with the end of the greatest radio show of all time, Radio 2’s Steve Wright in the Afternoon

On a Friday afternoon in March 2022, my girlfriend and I were driving along the Llyn Peninsula in Wales, on the way to a well-deserved weekend away. As is customary when we go on holiday in the UK, we were being kept company by Steve Wright in the Afternoon aka The Big Show on the car audio system.

I’ve listened to Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 2 since it started on that station in 1999. He’s kept me company driving home from work; he’s kept me sane whilst I grappled with almost-insurmountable coursework for my Computing degree; he’s kept me focused when doing deep work in my day job, and has cheered me up when I’ve been stuck on motorways in the summer.

 

And on this particular trip in Wales, it occurred to me that I’d better make the most of it as there will be a day when Steve stops doing the show. Let’s face it, I thought, Steve loves radio, but he is 67 and he’s spent 5 days a week for 24 years in that studio.

 

Well… I didn’t think it was going to come to an end that quick.

 

Just a few months later, Steve announced on-air on 1 July 2022 that he was leaving the afternoon slot on Radio 2 at the request of station management. Unlike some of his former Radio 1 colleagues in that station’s presenter cull in the 1990s, Steve appeared to take the news with great grace and acceptance. Unlike many of his ardent listeners who, like myself, were absolutely gutted.

 

It’s now September 2022 as I write this, and we are in the final weeks of Steve Wright in the Afternoon. (On Radio 2, at least…). So it’s only right and timely that I pay tribute to my favourite radio show whilst it’s still on air.

 

The original version of Steve Wright in the Afternoon was a huge hit on Radio 1 in the 1980s and into the 1990s. Steve took the US zoo format and recreated it with a British sensibility, with a real emphasis on humour (more so than in the Radio 2 version). Steve resigned from Radio 1 in 1995 having seen a number of his fellow established DJs being shown the door, but Robert Sellers’ excellent The Remarkable Tale of Radio 1 reveals that Radio 1 management had no intention of removing Steve and were devastated by his decision to go.

 

After a brief spell in commercial radio, Steve arrived at Radio 2 in 1996, initially in a Saturday morning slot and also on Sunday with his still-running Love Songs show, before being asked to resurrect Steve Wright in the Afternoon in 1999.

 

Steve is a wise old soul and knows radio inside out; he knew that he couldn’t do the same show he had done on the more-youth-skewed Radio 1, so he took a different approach. Sure, there were catchy and sometimes crazy jingles flying about here, there and everywhere, and the occasional funny character, but Steve came up with a warmer, friendlier – yet still energetic – show.

 

This is a key point. The show – even after 24 years – still fizzes with energy. If Ken Bruce’s mid-morning show is like a comfy old pair of slippers (and I mean that in a good way), then Steve’s show is like a pair of new Adidias trainers; fast, sleek and constantly updating slightly but you know what you’re getting.

 

The Big Show sounds like nothing else on UK radio; from Steve’s now classic opening theme (created, like all of his custom jingles, by the genius Anthony James of AJ Music Productions), it zips along with jingles, soundbites, and Factoids, but at its heart is a guy who loves what he does and knows how lucky he is to do it.

 

Legendary radio & TV presenter Tommy Boyd said, in an episode of David Lloyd’s brilliant Radio Moments podcast, that Steve has “the most fantastic iron resolve to do such a fantastic show as he does every day and then repeat it the following day… in many ways he’s the best broadcaster we’ve got at the moment”. That’s Steve’s real skill; he has done that show day-in day-out for nearly a quarter of a century, and yet he still makes every episode sound as fresh as the first.

 

The fact is that, whether you love him or hate him, Steve Wright is unbelievably good at what he does. He can do the fun stuff, but he can also do the serious stuff (as he has demonstrated on his recent shows following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). He is always well-prepared in interviews, and can respond quickly to whatever is thrown at him whilst keeping completely cool. Often dissenters complain about his annual salary, but it’s worth pointing out that Steve doesn’t just go in for his show; colleagues say that he is there first thing in the morning, and sticks around after his show finishes at 5pm to start prepping the next day’s show. He takes his work seriously, and that comes across on air.

 

A word too for his regular and most durable co-hosts, Tim Smith and Janey Lee-Grace (pictured below). In an industry where “sidekicks” can be overpowering, Tim and Janey are reassuringly calm yet enthusiastic. They both come across as genuinely decent people, and they complement Steve really well. The show is often at its best when all three are on at the same time; there is a real sense of camaraderie and fun, which reinforces the feeling listening to the show is like being part of a family. Since lockdown, Tim and Janey aren’t in the studio as much as previously, and their contributions seem a little reduced these days, which is a shame. (A quick mention too for Bobbie Pryor, who mainly does the traffic and travel but also acts as a great co-presenter alongside Tim and Janey).

Of course, Serious Jockin’ has been the big item of the show in recent years. The Jockin’ is all good fun and a great way to set people up for the weekend, but I must admit I miss the days when Steve resurrected the old Radio 1 Roundtable record review for his Friday shows in the early 2000s. Let’s not forget also the Webcam of the Day feature with Miles Mendoza, the Old Woman, and of course, the brilliant Ask Elvis with Mitch Benn as The King answering stupid questions with hilarious answers. Of course, Steve still has a good dose of humour in the show, courtesy of Lewis McLeod’s excellent impersonations of Jeremy Vine, Paul McCartney and Alan Bennett.

 

Steve has tons of jingles, and I can’t be alone in thinking that he has the best suite of jingles in British radio. My favourite - which is below - is the “top of the hour” jingle which starts with a dramatic rising violin-led soundbed (over which Steve tells us what is coming up) then pauses with a sung “Steve Wright in the Afternoon”, followed by a rising orchestral swell and culminating in a needlessly dramatic cry of “GREAT BRIT-AIIIIIIIIN”. Love it.

Below is a great video from AJ Music Productions’ YouTube channel of how the Steve Wright in the Afternoon theme is put together; the effort that has gone into a 40 second theme for a radio show is fascinating. Three violin players, two viola players, one French Horn player, two guitarists, one bass player, one cellist, one trumpeter, one trombonist, one keyboardist and one drummer. It’s a whirling, thrilling and pounding piece of music, and it always gets me in the feels whenever I hear it.

In the old days, Steve used to close the show with the coda to Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell; a really evocative use of that music. In more recent years, this was replaced by an original AJ Music Productions composition called Starfield (you can listen to it below); it has a very similar vibe to what came before it, but quite a moving piece of music.

And on that note, I have no doubt that the final play of Starfield on the final show will be quite emotional. 24 years, guys. 24 years I’ve listened to this show and it’s been a constant friend to me through all that time.

 

So what happens once the show ends? You know, Steve is approaching 70 and has undoubtedly earned the right to take it a bit easier. The official line is that Steve will continue with Sunday Love Songs and other special projects for the BBC, but as former Radio 1 boss Trevor Dann said recently on the terrific Word In Your Ear podcast, Steve’s “got so much energy… this is what he does so I think he might still be around doing stuff”. Social media is awash with suggestions of going to Greatest Hits Radio or Boom, but you know, I would not be surprised if Steve ends up taking The Big Show to Virgin Radio. They have deep pockets, they have the resources to do a show like Steve’s and they would probably give him the freedom that perhaps Greatest Hits Radio wouldn’t. It is also worth noting that Chris Evans is a huge fan (and friend) of Steve Wright and has previously commented that Steve should move to the station. In recent weeks, Chris has made a few cryptic comments about Steve and Virgin Radio; most recently, he played the Steve Wright in the Afternoon theme (to compare it to the opening bars of All These Nights by Tom Grennan) and made a comment about leaving the theme on the Virgin Radio system. Now Chris Evans may just be being mischievous… but just imagine if The Big Show got yet another lease of life. Imagine!

 

It’s sad to see The Big Show come to an end on Radio 2, but now I know how the previous generation of Radio 2 listeners felt when younger listeners like me turned up to listen to a bunch of new presenters and a baffling new playlist!

 

Whatever Steve does next, I wish him well. Thank you Steve and the team for your company all these years, it’s been an absolute pleasure.