Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song

Subject: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 23 Nov 12 - 11:37 AM

http://soundcloud.com/denise_whittle/support-for-mike-harding-song

Hope you like it. Feel free to amend words or tune. I'd be grateful if someone put it on the Froots and BBC message boards. Not sure how to myself. Its not registered with PRS so it costs nowt to broadcast. Costs nowt to download. If you need a cd copy, contact me at
[e-mail]
and i burn you one off by return free of charge.

Best wishes
Plant it where you can on the net!

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Nov 12 - 11:47 AM

Some of us can't listen in work.

Any chance of the lyrics?

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 23 Nov 12 - 12:09 PM

I only jotted them down about dinner time - Bargain Hunt was just finishing. This the first time I typed them

Mike Harding

Radio 2 Radio2
Just what is the idea with you?
We're apopleptic, ready to choke!
All of us, on the Planet Folk
Cos there's a DJ, that we like
second name name: Harding, first: name Mike

Chorus

don't you do it! Take it back
Don't give Mike Harding the sack
Certainly not! Oh no no!
Don't give Mike the old heave ho! (repeat)

I admit he's rather wide
And he's on the smallish side
But he knows all the correct knobs to twiddle
And all those songs going rum tum tiddle
These right-on people are far too numerous
Lets have someone who is humorous

repeat chorus ad nauseam.

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,matt milton
Date: 23 Nov 12 - 01:39 PM

Cracking!
Those are the best lyrics I've heard all year!

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Blandiver
Date: 24 Nov 12 - 06:24 AM

How about a song to WELCOME Mark Radcliffe, BAW? Do the unfolky thing - bring in the new instead of forever singing about how good the old one was...

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Nov 12 - 07:36 AM

Nah, complaining is much more fun.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Harry
Date: 24 Nov 12 - 07:43 AM

For goodness sakes...Mike Harding's going...live with it! I'm looking forward to Mark taking over the programme which has needed a boot up the arse for a long time. This constant bleating isn't serving any purpose apart from portraying Mike Harding as some poor, pathetic endangered species!

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 24 Nov 12 - 10:02 AM

Exactly Dave! I enjoyed writing that....

Carry on writing about the first world being very sad and other challenging viewpoints, and I'll do my thing.

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,roderick warner
Date: 24 Nov 12 - 04:49 PM

Now Marc Radcliffe is coming in, I might actually listen to the show. Old Mike - worthy but dull.

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: Continuity Jones
Date: 24 Nov 12 - 05:27 PM

I'm not looking forward to Marx "I'm wacky, me" Radcliffe taking over at all. His Radio 6 show is a constant turn off. He ran out of personality years ago and has attempted to replace it by putting ants in his pants. You know who he reminds me of? Dave Lee Travis - no reference to DLT's recent fame - but his forced laughter and cringey craziness.

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 24 Nov 12 - 05:38 PM

Good song though eh? I really liked that one - I think it should become a folk classic, like Blowing in the Wind.

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 24 Nov 12 - 08:38 PM

I will say this about Harding and its my last word.

I don't think I owe him anything - he has been fairly resistant to the charms of Big Al Whittle, No Fixed Abode and Jack Hudson - my closest mates on the folk scene.

But I have to say this in his defence and I think it needs saying.

If you weren't there in 1960's - you didn't see how the guitar rose to its position of pre-eminence and popularity.

Take something like Streets of london - Ralph has assimilated bits of ramnling Jack Eliot (and thru him the rev Gary Davis); then theres that roll into the E that he took from Broonzy, and bit clever nonsense that swirls round the Eminor (sounds a bit like Joan Baez's railroad Bill).

Listen also to Harding's Blues send up on There was this Bloke album. And you're listening to blues harp playing of a quite a high order, and then there are these bass slides - which tells you- here is a guy who has listened to Lightning Hopkins, and he's been enthralled enough to want to learn how to do it himself - at a time when there no DVD tutors.

You're not going to get that kind of depth of insight into the wood and the wire from any Radio2 footsoldier. he will know who wrote the songs - Simon or Garfunkel....

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Harry
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 03:47 AM

That's a defence?

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 04:41 AM

I was never a fan of Mike's radio presentation style, he talks in superlatives and every single thing is the ' best ever in my opinion, ' but go back to his folk club days and you find a great singer, instrumentalist, songwriter and comedian, he was treated shabbily by the BBC and probably Smooth feckin Operations too.

The bottom line is they wanted someone who the masses were familiar with, not just the folk fans.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 07:00 AM

Mike doesn't need me to defend him. Anyway that presumes he's done something wrong. He hasn't.

All I'm saying is that I'd back his musical insights probably higher than someone like say John Peel. Mike has got down and dirty and played the gigs - I'm sorry but you are granted insights that way that will elude spectators,

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Harry
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 08:56 AM

Mark plays with Family Mahone....this is getting silly now!

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Big Al whittle
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 09:02 AM

Only Now....have you bothered listening to the song?

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 12:03 PM

'How about a song to WELCOME Mark Radcliffe, BAW?'(Tune The New Deserter)

As I was a listening to Radcliffe on the airways
A rejoicing party came boldly along
They sang. we've got rid of Harding
Put Mike on his bike
When he jumps on the saddle - he'll find that its gone!

Subject: RE: Reinstate Mike Harding! campaign song
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 Nov 12 - 05:28 PM

it reminds me of the joke how many folk singers needed to chsnge a light bulb, or the frogs who complained about the king who was a log, and when they got a new king it was a stork who gobbled them up.
Mike Harding tried to please everybody,as your supposed to on radio 2 and ended up getting the chop