Ben Jones
Saturdays from 6pm.
It is very simple, I live, breathe, sleep and dream of the 80s! This is when I look back at my life with nothing but wonderful, wonderful memories. We all know music can bring back memories better than anything else.
For me the 80s can really be summed up by one song. ‘The Power of Love’…no not Jennifer Rush and that awful power ballad, I’m talking Huey Lewis and the News. It was brash, camp, fun, easy to sing along to, and of course it featured in the greatest 80s film ever, Back To The Future! God knows how many times I grazed my knees trying to learn to skateboard like Marty McFly, even now as I type this out on my computer I am sat in my room staring at a BTTF poster hung proudly on my wall.
I was born in 1977, into a house that despite no one being able to play a musical instrument, was always full of tunes. I remember hearing the Stones, Paige and Plant, Leonard Cohen, Ian Dury, Springsteen and so many more that it is no real surprise that I have to play music to earn a living! I pretended to be a DJ on my parents hi-fi unit, just ask my dad about how many times I used to play Bad Love from Eric Clapton’s Journeyman album!
The Old Grey Whistle Test, and of course Top of the Pops were compulsive viewing round our place. First time I ever saw U2 was on OTGW, Bob Harris introducing quiet the most peculiar set of hairstyles I’d ever seen!
Who can forget Howard Jones performing on TOTP with his Roland Keyboards, Fergal Sharkey will that floppy fringe, that soulful motown style voice emanating from this pasty 18 year old Lancashire kid called Rick Astley. I can instantly be transformed back to the 80s without the use of a flux capacitor just by the blast of some of the timeless music that decade gave us.
That is why when they asked me to do a show on Absolute 80s I jumped at the chance, mainly because I know my folks would be listening at home and I just wanted to remind them what a great time we all had growing up.
So tune in on Saturdays from 1pm and let's see what great memories you recall.