has only got two saving graces during the hours I occasionally tune in. Mr Walker still manages to introduce a whiff of anarchy and taste, and Mr Maconie is also good value. It's ironic that I usually hear these two when they are sitting in for an absentee.

As for the "champeen" tosspot Wright, I can't stand the man, never could, never will.

When I was a teen my mother used to have Wogan on while we breakfasted. However in those days BBC was subject to needletime restrictions hence all that rubbish from session bands like Ray McVay and The Button Down Brass (mere mention sets my teeth on edge) and the records played were selected by the producer. Wogan was there to keep things moving along and had no input into the music selection. Today the producer still selects most of the music but Wogan et al do have some choice in the music.
The upside of needletime restrictions is the vast archive the BBC now holds of Peel sessions plus bands that did sessions for Bob Harris, Kid Jensen, Stuart Henry, Pete Drummond and a whole lot more.

I had the dubious pleasure of taking lunch with a Radio 2 producer the other day and after berating him for their dreadful playlist policy he told me that I have to remember that most Radio 2 listeners (ie a very large percentage of the British public) have pretty dreadful taste in music. He even claimed to have research to back it up.
And do you know what? I reckon he's (W)right.

Irrational indeed man!

Exhibit #2

my irrational hatred of "indie" bands with guys who have that stupid curly hair-do, like The Kooks, Kaiser Chiefs, Zutons, Fratellis etc etc.

Angst-ridden "dramatic" wailing also rubs me up the wrong way, Coldplay, Elbow, Radiohead, Keane, Muse - that sort of thing - like a cat's claws down a blackboard...ouch!

Clip 1 (don't know who the singer is) - one of those annoying "folky" voices and an acoustic guitar

Clip 2 - quite apart from the fact that it's the appalling Billy Bragg, listening to people wittering about "a hard life in Olde England" is not my idea of fun

I didn't want to turn the whole posting into a rant about folk, but it's just the whole rather humourless, intense and desire for "authenticity" that it seems to have and that it appears to look down on other forms of music, plus the beards and floaty dresses (not on the same people, which would be interesting.) Most importantly though is that I tend to find the music extremely boring.

And Kitson, agree with you about floppy curly haired singers - add to that floppy curly haired men in particular (Alan Davies, Simon Amstell etc)

in 'alt' country. What the hell does it mean? Either it is country.
Or it Goddam ain't.

...on the 'landfill indie' brigade seems like shooting fish in a barrel in the current climate, but to hell with it. I had to put up with hearing how great these bands were in the sixth form lounge and also reading the NME that people would bring into school at that time. I didn't agree then, and like them even less now they are all over the place. It's satisfying to see my hatred for this lot's music is now widely shared, though!

'Alt.country' is something that baffles me as well, what does it mean really? Country without the tunes? There's an entertaining rant about this 'genre' on David Hepworth's website, by the way.

......can't bear it - up there with "Imagine" as an instant turn over trigger. What annoys me most about it is how little thought goes into it - it is just a daily slop of religious dogma from one of the big 4. How about a few non-religious contributions which are nonetheless thought provoking?

Am I missing something or are you replying to a different blog Twang?

I have an aversion to singers who deliver from the dia..diaph...chest in a full-bodied manner. Examples: Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, much of U2...

...I like the stage set, I like the gig at the highest pub in the land, I like the name, I like the title of the first album. In fact, I like everything about British Sea Power except the music.

rhymes with dumb - put that in a folk song. How can you dismiss a whole genre so easily or are just trying to be provocative? Folk music encompasses such a wide range of styles, groups, periods of time,fashions, attitudes, countries of origin. Do you dislike Irish folk music? American folk music? gypsy folk music? The whole lot by the sounds of it which puts you in the category of cloth-eared to my mind.
Someone once told me that she didnt like the music being played on shuffle on my IPOD. 'what,all 4700 plus songs i asked?' - the point is if you are open minded there will always be something in any genre that you will like - unless of course you dont like music in the first place.
Am with you on Joy Division and New Order though - completely overrated.

Jazz Funk.
House.
Bungalow.
Dub Bungalow.
Garage.
Extension to the garage.
Balcony.
Anything that just goes on forever without any discernible tune or form and makes people with beads in their hair ( and who drive old lorries plastered with peace signs ) close their eyes, nod and go 'wow' basically.

That's it really. Just never got them. But then I remain probably the only person on the planet who has never listened to Dark Side of the Moon all the way through. And am therefore entirely qualified for this irrational prejudice...

Anyone whoe prefixes their music with this. Intelligent Techno/Drum and Bass etc.
Anyone who tries to intellectualize Dance Music. The movement that brought people together etc Dancing in a field is a religious experience.
people will dance to anything if you put enough drugs up yer nose or down yer neck. How about a connection to Gun crime ?
I really hate all this stuff.

... is that against country music?
As sweeping dismissals of huge genres go, this surely takes the biscuit. Curiously, it's often heard from people who claim to have wide-ranging tastes and an open mind.

Having played in a country band at one time, I came across a lot of this. I was once chatting with a colleague who claimed to be a devotee of "World Music". When I mentioned country, he made the sign of the cross at me and said "It's terrible". For "World Music" read "all the World, expect the southern US states Music".

Equally curiously, this prejudice is very easily challenged. Usually asking "So you don't like anything Johnny Cash did?" is enough to start them back-pedalling. If that's not sufficient, you can hit them with a Steve Earle, a (borderline) Eagles or, these days, a Dolly Parton, and they're in full reverse gear. Just to rub their face in it, you can ask "Have you heard much Dwight Yoakam?", and the "Who?" response is their last gasp.

I'm sure this won't stop them re-offending though.

The prejudice seems to stem from a small collection of artists and songs which truly are awful, but it's a tiny proportion of a vast genre.

...So that 50-something men will take a chance on their album. Hair do + pretty dress = boring music. Double points if they're holding a guitar.

... me and my equally sexist pig friends used to remark that if a song was sung by a hippy-ish accoustic guitar strumming woman and it had the word "You" anywhere in the title then it was to be avoided like the plague. The chances are you'd get a kooky female perspective on relationships which no hormone crazed youth wants. It was all the fault of Alanis Morrissette.

I guess if I was younger I'd feel the same way about Duffy, Adele, Laura Marling and all of the post Winehouse brigade. As it is I'm just indifferent now. Although the Coldplay soundalikes, as well as Coldplay themselves, no one will be able to persuade me that they have anything to offer ever.

Led Zepplin - the occasional good one, mixed in with a load of dross. So what if the drums have been sampled left-right-and-centre? Just shows the rest of it wasn't much good. A lot of it is close to musical self-abuse. And while we're at it The Rolling Stones during this period onwards - Mick sorry you are an ugly sexist middle-aged (make that old now) man. And virtually anything with Ritchie Blackmore. His mandolin stuff is something else though

...and it's rubbish as well

1. Tina Turner - purely from her performance in Mad Max 3 put me off for life. I cannot listen to her records now. Although Ike & Tina seem to be immune as I can and do enjoy them.

2. 50's Rock and Roll - I know that all the music I now listen to owes something to these originals (and Blues too) I still have no time for the Buddy Holly's and Elvis's et al.

3. The Clash, a complete mystery why I never liked them. Although sound-alikes and acolytes I don't mind.

4. The Smiths/Morrissey - Apart from How Soon Is Now? and Draize Train I just don't get the importance of them and always preferred the much underrated TheThe.

5. Modern R&B/Soul 1980 onwards, there is no soul, you can through as many Luthers/Freddies/Alexanders at me and I still think it sounds plastic and empty when compared to anything from the Stax label pre 1970.

I love "Afternoon Delight" and I'm not ashamed to admit it! I bought a water damaged copy in Paris for 50francs (a lot of money come to think of it) in 1976-ish. Played the album through once, hated it, apart from the aforementioned track. I even enjoyed the Ron Burgundy version.
Agree with Humph about Mac bands and daytime Radio 2. Led Zep? Did the odd good tune but mainly they sounded pretty dull to these ears.
At the end of the day, there is only good or bad music and it's completely subjective.

Should be "Manc" bands - I read it through twice befor posting (sigh).

will be inscribed on my gravestone.

Not my favourite Fabs album *but* it does contain my single favourite Fabs track - It's All Too Much

Speaking as a Yank who used to hate country music eventually came to appreciate talented example versus the rednect patriotic pap that gets played regularly by the likes of Toby Keith...Thing is, I've drifted towards a genre (and I hate using the term) known as AMERICANA. For decent examples of this, head on to BootLiquor.Com. Tales of hard-drinkin', sin, redemption, and crawlin' to the bottom of the bottle and back again.

Mainstream country tends to focus on beery good times in the local bar, blind American patriotism, and down-home God-fearing family life...which I occasionally cast an ear towards on the car-radio as it's the musical equivalent of comfort food for me.

who is not remotely patriotic, writes songs with titles like 'Trashville', 'Thrown out of the Bar' and 'Lovesick, Broke and Driftin'' and declares that he is going 'straight to hell'. Not for lovers of George Bush and Mom's apple pie, but brilliant.

It was broadly tongue in cheek, but also a dig at the equally sweeping assertion that the music of the southern states of the US amounts to country and barely anything else of merit.

The mainstays of many a decent record collection are notable only by their (near) total absence from mine.

Am I the only man alive who found The Band duller than ditchwater? I watched The Last Waltz 4 or 5 times...still dull. I listened to Before The Flood as many times as I could bear, but by jiminy, they country rocked the life out of Dylan there.
In fact, I even listened to Robbie Robertson's first solo album more times than I care to admit. When the guests (mainly U2 if I recall correctly) are quiet, it was/is dull.

In fact, with the exception of The Beatles, most of the stuff I irrationally dislike is dull. Van Morrison is almost extraordinarily dull; if not for the stories, there'd be no point in his existence at all.

Yes, Robbie Robertson's first solo album is dull. So are his third, fourth and fifth. Before The Flood is ok, but one should really start with the first two or three albums and Rock Of Ages. Do you think this is dull?

If so, as you were.

Sorry, Elvis lovers, but I just don't get him. Never saw what the fuss was about. Saying that, pretty much all rock'n'roll leaves me cold. Dylan, too, he's another one. John Lennon as well. Oh, and most soul music. And most of the stuff that's in the charts. Don't forget dance music. And don't get me started on jazz...