The Theme Academy

When, in August last year, the legendary Radio 1 DJ Mike Read kindly asked me to do a weekly show on his Heritage Chart Radio, I jumped at the opportunity. Having already cut my teeth on the airwaves by recording eight shows with music and readings based on my latest pop memoir Whatever Happened to the Teenage Dream? (Postcards from the edge of 80s pop), I then suggested to him a series of weekly shows during which I might play some of my favourite artists while sticking closely to everyday themes such as Work, The Night, Shopping and Nature.

Well, I thought, if the great Bob Dylan could do it with his Theme Time Radio Hour which brilliantly fused his unique thoughts and observations with eclectic music genres such as blues, country soul and rockabilly (the series ran from 2006 to 2009), I should have a go myself.

Deciding to name the show, This Is Not A Love Song after the unlikely 1984 hit by Public Image Limited, my intention was to explore through music particular themes or ideas, topical or otherwise, but with the promise of no slushy love songs!

Dylan of course is a hard act to follow, but the good news was that the people at Heritage Chart Radio said yes, and I have recently finished my final episode in the series, one about the Days of the Week. Luckily, I managed to find a song that I liked sufficiently enough to play on the radio for each day of the week. Artists on the show ranged from Tori Amos and David Bowie through to Stevie Wonder, Wilco and Steely Dan. You can imagine just how many songs there were to choose from for ‘Saturday’ and in this case, they weren’t ones by Elton John or Whigfield! This and the other nine episodes are now available to listen back on my Mixcloud page.

No slushy love songs! The Days of the Week episode

So, if you enjoy a highly focused style of programming as well as listening to artists as diverse as say Frank Sinatra, Martha Wainwright, Tom Petty, Prince and Weyes Blood, this show just might just be for you.

I’m having a break from This Is Not A Love Song for now but hope to be back with more themed radio later this year. Enjoy the episodes at your leisure!

This Is Not A Love Song episodes

1 Radio

2 Winter

3 Work

4 House & Home

5 The Night

6 Shopping

7 Food & Drink

8 New Starts

9 The Natural World

10 Days of the Week

https://www.mixcloud.com/syngedan/

Whatever Happened to the Teenage Dream? (Postcards from the edge of 80s pop) by Dan Synge

is available on Amazon and in all good bookshops

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1068530812