Podcast
Transcription
Keira Lawrence is joined by radio broadcaster and book author Simon Mayo on her podcast. They discuss Simon's career, his current role at Greatest Hits Radio, and the differences between commercial and BBC radio. They also talk about their dream interviewees, with Simon mentioning Stephen King, the Pope, and Tom Cruise as his top choices. Keira mentions Kylie Minogue, Bono, and Madonna as her dream interviews. They also touch on Simon's books and how he got into writing. The views you are about to hear are the personal views of Keira Lawrence and her guests. They are not necessarily views that are shared by the organisations to which Keira is associated. You're listening to Keira's Pink Sparkle Pod. Keira's Pink Sparkle Pod. So, hi everybody. Welcome to the next episode of Keira's Pink Sparkle Pod. And I'm delighted to be joined by the radio broadcaster and book author, Simon Mayo. So, welcome to my podcast, Simon. Well, thank you very much for having me. It's very nice to be invited. So, I believe you started with BBC Radio. And then would you like to tell me what you're doing now, please? Okay, well, I can compress 40 years into one answer. So, I started, I mean, the first paid work that I did was for BBC Radio Nottingham. And I joined them in 1982. Before then, I had done radio at university, at Warwick University. And I'd done hospital radio, you know, so I'd put the yards in. And, yeah, so Radio Nottingham was 1982. I was there for four years. Then joined Radio 1 in 86. Was there till 2001. Then went to 5 Live. Then I went to Radio 2. And at the moment, I'm enjoying doing Drive Time again, back on Greatest Hits Radio, 4 till 7. And I didn't think I'd have a chance to go back and do Drive Time again after the chaos at Radio 2. But, fortunately, Greatest Hits said, hey, we'd like you to do Drive Time. And I thought, hey, I'd like to do that. I know how to do that. So, that's what I'm doing. Been doing that a couple of years now. Amazing. I believe you are now at Greatest Hits Radio with the legend that is Ken Bruce. Is that right? Yeah, Ken came six months ago. And I'd known about it for quite a while. Knew that it was in the offing. And we were all very excited. Because Ken had the biggest radio audience in the UK, which probably means it was the biggest radio audience in Europe. So, if you could make any signing, it was a bit like signing Lionel Messi, you know, for your team. Everyone sat up and took notice. And I think it was a very clear statement that Greatest Hits is a big radio station, that we have ambitions to be even bigger. Because if you sign Ken Bruce, then that's extraordinary. So, Ken is very happy and we're very happy. So, yeah, it's a very happy radio station. Amazing. So, is there a difference between Greatest Hits Radio and BBC Radio? Is there a slight difference in how both work or are they both independent? Is there any difference between the two? Well, Greatest Hits is a commercial radio station. So, the money is provided by the advertising that we have. So, we have three ad breaks in an hour, unless you're a subscriber to Greatest Hits Radio Premium, in which case you get an ad free. So, the main differences are, you know, the BBC is funded by the licence fee. So, Radio 2 get their slice of the licence fee. So, they have to answer to that. So, they have to be responsible and public service broadcasting. Whereas Greatest Hits Radio is an out-and-out commercial station. We play music from the 70s, 80s and 90s. That's our core. Although we do drift out every now and again. There's quite a lot of 60s that we play. And the other day I played Snow Patrol, you know. So, whereas Radio 2, they'll play some of that, but they'll play new music. And we don't tend to do that. Although we did play the new Rolling Stones single the other day. I did play the new ABBA single when that came out, you know. So, there are differences. And the other main difference is that our audience is going up and theirs isn't. So, I would say that. So, if you could get to interview anyone in the world, like your heroes, who would you pick? If I could interview anyone? Yeah. Well, see, I always used to say, in fact, I interviewed Bruce Springsteen a few years ago. And in the introduction to the interview, I said, if people want to know who I'd like to interview the most, I always say, you know, I've interviewed presidents and prime ministers and pop stars and rock stars and film stars. So, the person I would most like to interview, and Bruce thought it was going to be him, what I said was Her Majesty the Queen. So, the person I most wanted to interview was the Queen. Anyway, I did that just to make Bruce Springsteen laugh, really. And fortunately, he did. And he has a very good laugh. So, I think the interview I'd like to do would be to do an interview with someone who doesn't do interviews. Because that's the way you would create some ripples. So, I'm not quite sure. Well, OK. So, I would say, first of all, I'd like to interview Stephen King from my books podcast. OK. Because Stephen hardly ever does interviews. He did a great interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury recently, but I would quite like to do that interview. I'd also like to interview the Pope, because the Pope doesn't do interviews. But I think that would certainly create headlines, wouldn't it? Yeah, that would be amazing. If you could do that. So, I think somewhere... Also, Tom Cruise. I've never interviewed Tom Cruise. Basically, in this country, he seems to be only interviewed by Craig Norton. So, I think I will choose three. I'll choose the Pope, Stephen King and Tom Cruise. That's amazing. That's a really good line-up. That's a good satchel. That would be a good satchel. Yeah. Yeah, that's a really good one. I think my three would be my musical hero, Kylie Minogue, because I've loved her since I was a little girl. Since I was a little girl, so I choose Kylie. I guess I would have to say Bono, I guess. But even though I know Bono, I probably would have to say Bono. So, I'd have to say Kylie Bono. Now, I did ask Bob Geldof at Bono's book event if he'd come on my podcast. He did turn me down, but he would be, like, number three. Okay. Yeah. Or the other person I would really love to have, and I know Joe Wiley has interviewed her, but maybe Madonna. Now, I know she's in town, and I was like, hmm, wow, she's in London. Maybe I could put a quick pitch in to maybe get her, but I know she's probably really busy. Yeah, I interviewed Madonna a couple of times, and the first time, I mean, to be honest, both times have been really tricky, I would say. The first one, she didn't play ball. The second one was slightly better. But, yeah, I mean, she's certainly a huge star. Kylie would be a better interview, I think, than Madonna. But, yeah, hey, if you can get these people, then that's fine. But some people are more happy to play ball than others. Kylie would be more fun, I think, than Mad. Yeah. I'm thinking, because I've just opened my 2025 podcast interview textbook in Diary, I'm thinking 2025 Kylie. Because, obviously, she's just brought out her new album, and I don't know if there's a tour planned, but maybe if she's doing a tour, that would be a really good time to do it. So, I'm going to say Kylie, Bono, Bob Deldoff or Madonna. Those are my top three. Well, that sounds pretty good. If you manage to get any of those, that would be fantastic. Yeah, I can't wait. Hopefully, they will happen. Brilliant. So, on to your books. So, not only are you a radio broadcaster, you have also written some amazing books. So, I've done my homework, and I went on Audible, and I listened to a little bit of each of your books. So, I know you've written a book series called Tick Tock, or you've written a book called Tick Tock. I listened to a little bit of a book called Knife Edge. Yeah. And I listened to a little bit of Itch as well. Yes, there are three Itch books. The first one was Itch, the second one was Itch Rocks, and the third one was Itch Craft. Yeah, that's it, yeah. There's also a YA book called Blame. Okay. Then I wrote some historical fiction with a book called Mad Blood Stirring. Then it was Knife Edge. And Tick Tock was the most recent book. And I'm currently writing another one. Who knows when that's going to see the light of day. So, yeah, I've done a few. Much to my surprise, I've been writing books, yes. Yeah. And what made you want to go from doing radio to writing? Like, was there something in your head that went, oh, I'd like to do this now? Like, what was the reason behind that? Yeah. Well, I'd never intended to be a writer at all. And I'd interviewed loads of authors and taken a keen interest in a number of authors. And then a number of things happened all at the same time. Okay. My youngest child came back from school only interested in science. It was the only thing that he was interested in. Okay. He wasn't interested in music, wasn't interested in sports. He was only interested in science. And I struggled to find a book that he'd be interested in. That's the first thing. Second thing, this is all happening at the same time. The second thing was the iPad. The first iPad came out. Okay. And on the first iPad, one of the apps that you could get, because Stephen Fry was making a big fuss and dance about this. Okay. It was an interactive periodic table. So it cost 14 quid and you downloaded it. And it was all about the elements, 118 elements. Yeah, 118. And it was astonishing. And in the text of that app about the interactive periodic table, it talked about people who collect the different elements. So this is, you know, from the top, hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, and there's gold and silver and so on. And if you collect the periodic table, you are called an element hunter. And when I got to that phrase, I thought, well, that's, wow, fantastic. Wouldn't every kid want to be an element hunter? That sounds like, that sounds so thrilling. And so I thought, well, why don't I try to write a short story for my son? He was 10 at the time. I don't know why I thought that, because I'd never written a short story, never mind a long story. So I had just left Five Live and joined Radio 2, which is like a part-time job, really, putting on music. It's just a part-time job. So I had some spare time. So all those things happened at the same time. But it was the realization that an element hunter collected the periodic table that made me think I could write this story. And so I did. And I wrote it, and I just wrote it for my son and spent a year, you know, doing it. And then when I finished, I printed it off on my home printer. I didn't have an agent, didn't have a publisher or anything. And I just gave it to him to read. And he enjoyed it. So then after he'd enjoyed it, I thought, well, maybe there's something else I can do. So I found an agent, and the agent found a publisher, and off we go. And I had no idea that I wanted to write books. But once you start it, it's quite difficult to stop. Hence, I'm still going. Great. That's really amazing. Like, I don't think, really, I'm into thriller. I'm not, kind of, that's not my bag. But I did my research on your books, and I listened to a little bit of everyone. And they were really, like, dramatic. And, like, I was like, oh, those are really exciting. So, yeah, brilliant. I'm looking forward to hearing about your next book when it comes out. Well, the next book is going to be sort of a, so Knife Edge was the book before last, and it features a journalist called Femi Madden and her daughter. And it's going to be a continuation of her and what she's up to. So it's going to be a continuation of that story, which is, you know, which is quite exciting. And I'm enjoying the process, but I'm right in the middle. And the toughest bit of the book is the middle bit. The first bit, you can jump in with enthusiasm. The last bit, you've kind of done everything, and you're downhill, and the end is in sight. But the middle bit is where all the heavy work is done. So I'm in that bit at the moment. So, you know, so it's hard work, but it's fun. And I believe you're taking, I think I've read right, that you're possibly doing something around theatre around one of your books. I saw something like your, was it you were taking it to theatre? Or, yeah. No, what happened was, in the summer, Itch, the first Itch book, became an opera. And it was staged by Opera Holland Park in the west end of London. Which was astonishing. So to see a piece of your writing turned into an opera, and contemporary English opera, was not something I was ever expecting. But it was, I went to every performance. Great. And I enjoyed it enormously. So that was the theatre bit. Amazing. That's really fantastic. I've been toying with the idea of writing my own book. And I've just actually started working with a publishing company who write children's books. They're called Sweet Cherry Publishing. They're based in Leicester. And I'm going to be doing some work with them. I can't quite announce what I'm doing yet. I've got a meeting in January. So it's a little while off. But I would love, on the back of that work, to then say, actually, would you guys be happy to help me write a book? And what I would love is, in my head, I have this lovely idea of writing a children's story book around learning disability because I live with a learning disability. And for me, growing up, I'm now in my mid-40s. But growing up for me as a little child with a learning disability, when I was diagnosed, I had no role models for me out there. I had no one to look up to who had a learning disability out there. And so I would love to create a storybook on a character that has a learning disability. And they go off on this adventure. And then they realize, actually, they're not so different to everybody else. And that's the kind of brain idea I have at the moment. So I'd love to make it reality. So I'm hoping at some point, I will become a book author at some point. That's a future goal. Well, you go for it. And it is very exciting. It's quite unlike anything that I've done before because the nature of radio is it's very instant. You do a program, you finish it, you work out the next one. You do another program, and then they're disposable. But the nature of writing and publishing means that it's there forever. So when someone actually hands you a physical copy and they say, there you are, that's what you've written, it's a book, put it on the shelf, and it's there forever. And I like the physicality of that. It can be quite a lonely process, you know, because if you've got an idea, it's just down to you. You're the person that's trying to make it work. You can't ask someone else. It has to be your work, you know. Hopefully that happens for you. So if you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would you say? I would, you know, that's very interesting because by definition that means something that I think now that I didn't think. Well, okay, I guess the basic advice that I think is worth passing on at all times and in all places to all people is to work hard and be kind. Because I think most of life boils down to that. And I think my younger self might have gone, yeah, okay, fine, it sounds a bit boring. Is it as simple as that? And obviously it's not as simple as that, but it's not a bad place to start. And so that is what I would, I might even have it turned into a poster. Work hard, be kind. And, you know, it's a good starting point, I would say. With the way the world is right now, I think we all need to be a bit kinder. So I definitely agree with that. I think, you know, our world right now is a sad place. It's a scary place. So I would definitely agree, be kind. Hard work, work hard. I totally agree with that. And I know how hard you work in your career. And I try and work hard in mine. So, yeah, I totally agree with that. So I think, brilliant, yes. I think if I was to go back and talk to my younger self, I would say, don't be embarrassed about having a disability. It's okay. I'd probably say, don't be scared to put yourself out there. Because I think years ago, I would have been very scared about putting my disability out there. But now I love putting it out there. So, yeah, those are two things I'd say to my younger self. Yes. And stay interested, stay curious. Yeah. Keep on asking questions. We've all met people who have given up asking questions. They think they know how the world works. And that's it. And you can't budge them. And when you meet people like that, they're very boring. So, yeah, I'd add on top of that, stay curious and stay interested. Do you have any ambitions for the future? And can you pick one? Well, I think from a radio point of view, I'm doing what I want to do. You know, my ambition, I mean, I never thought I'd get back on drive time. So I'm thrilled to be back on drive time. My ambition, as far as radio is concerned, is to keep that going. And to keep the audience interested, to keep the show as good as it can possibly be, and to work hard to make drive time as successful as possible. And that's quite ambitious. You know, that's going to be quite a lot of work. Because I'm old, you know, so I have less energy. Anyway, so that's one. And I guess I would like to get better as a writer. You know, I've been doing the radio for 40 years. I've only been writing for 10 years. So I'd like to get better, you know, and I'd like to write a number one bestseller. You might as well be ambitious, mightn't you? So let's go for it. Let's go for a number one bestseller. And then everyone says, hey, that's a great book. So that would be nice. So, you know, you've got to keep on having ambitions. I don't want to sort of start taking it easy. That would be boring. So be kind. Keep interested. Stay ambitious. Brilliant. Brilliant. And so if anybody wanted to listen to Precious Tips Radio, where would they find it? Well, it varies as to where you are in the country. It's on FM in most of the country. It's on DAB. As you know, digital radio is all arranged alphabetically. So you just scroll the dial until you find Greatest Tips Radio. Or if you've got a smart speaker, you can just say play Greatest Tips Radio and it will find it. Also via the app and also online. So there's a whole bunch of ways that you can find it. We make quite a noise. It's hard to avoid us. Great. Thank you. Thank you very much for asking me on. Thank you. I feel very privileged to be on your show. Thank you. Thank you. And hope to see you on the YouTube road sometime again. See you in Vegas. See you in Vegas if we get voted. All right. Bye. Bye-bye. Bye. It was all put together by James Pilsen. It's about Friday evening. And you can hear our show every single Friday from 3 till 5. Only on Sunnyhills Community Radio. So check us out. Tell your friends. We'll see you soon.
