A radio station for builders? I tuned in - and this is what it is like

The Herald Scotland

22-05-2025

The upside is I've discovered radio stations I've never heard of before. Taking my daughter to work this morning I landed on Fix Radio, 'The Builder's Station'.
Yes, that is a thing. It's a radio station for tradespeople, launched back in 2017. I tuned into The Bald Builders Breakfast, presented by Brad and Sam, which offered up the familiar Zoo format morning format which has been part of the radio landscape since the 1970s in the United States and the 1980s in the UK (thanks to the late Steve Wright). The difference here is that Brad and Sam, when they weren't discussing the strangest thing to wrap up a T-shirt in to send through the post (a melon, bizarrely), were talking about getting stuck into the plastering.
Brad and Sam are brothers in law and they are actual builders, so they're speaking from a place of knowledge. Which must mark them out amongst their fellow radio broadcasters, you'd imagine. (And any passing radio reviewers for that matter.)
The music played is all old school; mostly 1980s and 1990s with the odd noughties banger thrown in. It was a little curious hearing Franz Ferdinand's libidinous, polymorphous single Do You Want To blaring out in the middle of all this, but maybe building sites are more liberal places than when I spent my summers on them in the late 1970s.
In truth, a radio station for the building trade - complete with appropriate advertising - seems a bit of a no-brainer. A radio is as essential a bit of kit onsite as a cement mixer and a spirit level. My last summer working with my dad - on a roof in County Londonderry back in 1980 - was soundtracked by Radio 1: Dexys, Grace Jones, Simon Bates's Golden Hour and Paul Burnett.
(You never hear much about Paul Burnett these days, do you? I've just looked him up. Now in his eighties, he's still with us, hurrah, and even turns up occasionally on Boom Radio.)
Funnily enough, I've been thinking back to my days as a labourer of late. Charlie Orr, my dad's workmate and friend, passed away the other week. He was a good man, kind to the fundamentally useless, dreamy teenage boy I was back then. He tolerated me playing Radio 1 all the time for a start. I'm ashamed to say I never asked him what music he liked.
To be honest, I wasn't really expecting Charlie to turn up in this column, but he deserves to be remembered and so here we are.
Anyway, it's not all banter and Boo Radley tunes on Fix Radio. Clive Holland - formerly of BBC One, GMTV and Channel 4 - presents a discussion show every weekday lunchtime. On Monday the topic was the impact of migration on the building trade. The impact of legal migration, Holland was at pains to point out.
Mostly, the discussion amounted to Holland reading out messages from his listeners. The messages were actually rather more nuanced than you might have expected, with much talk of skill shortages post-Brexit. Further proof that we shouldn't stereotype anyone. That said, the Prime Minister probably shouldn't tune in if he's wanting an ego boost.
From immigration to Eurovision. I was out on Saturday night so only joined Radio 2's coverage of the contest after all the performances had been completed. Rylan and Scott Mills were on duty. I tuned it just as they were talking over the Swiss performers who were filling the interval slot like a pair of over-caffeinated schoolboys. Ugh.
Admittedly, I've never really warmed to Mills as a broadcaster (my failing, not his), but he was definitely invested in the proceedings. And it was clear (and quite amusing) that both men were 'fuming' when the UK entry Remember Monday received 'nul points' in the public vote.
'That's ridiculous …Ridiculous … I can't …' Rylan gasped, lost for words for once.
'That's made me quite upset,' Mills raged.
He was all the more so when 258 points were then awarded to Estonia.
How long before Reform calls for a referendum on leaving Eurovision?
Listen Out For: Radio 2 in Concert, Thursday, May 29, 7pm
If your tastes are more Britpop than Europop, you might enjoy this. A world exclusive session from Sheffield's finest, Pulp, recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre. They've got a new album coming out, you might have heard. So have Suede, come to think of it. And it won't be long before those Oasis gigs. It's 1995 all over again.