Cerys Matthews: The fur and the spitting feathers

Can you tell what the story is from this Sun headline?

Yes, it's 'idiots complain because they can't tell the difference between a fake fur hat and a real one'.

Although The Sun might give the impression that it's 'Cerys Matthews wears rabbit hat for piece on Watership Down'.

To be fair, if you scroll far enough down through the online Sun's new layout, you do get to the truth of the story:

Last night a BBC spokeswoman insisted the hat was not real fur.

She said: “We have just spoken to Cerys to double check and it 100 per cent was not a real fur hat.”

She added: “Cerys has confirmed she would not be seen wearing real fur.”

I say "to be fair", what I actually mean is "although the Sun ends its piece with a paragraph that proves the complaints to be spurious, it still dresses the story in a great big furry implication that they aren't."

Wales versus the humanitarian crisis

Want to help the growing numbers of refugees, and - at the same time - grab some rare Welsh music?

Good news; you really can do both - lob a tenner in the hat, pick up (or rather download) the Welsh Rock For Refugees album, and do some good.

It's for download on Bandcamp, and it's a remarkable collection of Welsh musicians - Mike Peters via Charlotte Church to the Joy Formidable. If you can't find a couple of favourites on the collection, you SHOULD BUY IT ANYWAY OR JUST GIVE A TENNER. Because it's a good cause.

Bookmarks: Cerys Matthews & Wham!

In a second slice of regional press/80s nostalgia for the morning, the South Wales Echo has been making Cerys Matthews relive the trauma of her first gig. Wham!, as it turns out:

“My sister was a bit older than me and I remember her saying, ‘You’ve got to come with me to the Top Rank in town or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life,” says the 46-year-old mum-of-three from Pembrokeshire, who's co-presenting the coverage of next weekend's Glastonbury festival for BBC6Music.

“It was in the early ’80s and I must have been about 12 or 13 at the time - it was during Wham’s first proper tour and they’d made a name for themselves by wearing tight white shorts and doing unconventional things with shuttlecocks.”

A letter to The Guardian, illustrated

Catatonia, 1999:

Storm the palace

You can stick you obe
I'll sort out your bad Feng Shui
'Cos tourism is congestion
Tourism is congestion

Cerys Matthews, 2014:

"Sorry, did I say stick you OBE? I meant stick your MBE on my lapel. And I literally meant I'd sort out your bad feng shui - I've moved your animal statues into the money corners of the palace. Which is all of them. And now we can talk about a ticketing system to ease the congestion of tourism..."

Inspired by this letter from yesterday's Guardian:

Lovely photo of Cerys Matthews receiving her award at Buckingham Palace (Medal citizen, 22 November.) Would this be the same palace which we were urged to storm in the song on Catatonia’s album Equally Cursed and Blessed, the lyrics of which included the line “You can stick your OBE”?
Jim Naylon
Stonesfield, Oxfordshire

What the queen likes

We live in a strange age, where people have many different careers, but I think I'm right in saying that Cerys Matthews must be the first person to do the specific double of an FHM cover spread and an MBE.

(Although, presumably, that's trumped by Angelina Jolie's French FHM cover and an honorary damehood.)

Other musicians who will have to worry about hiring a posh includes Talvinder Singh Matharoo, who's got an OBE.

Darcus Beese, the president of Island Records, also gets an OBE for services to music, although giving an award to a major label exec for services to music is akin to giving Ronald McDonald a prize for services to cows.

Not for the first time, Cerys Matthews is right

Stirring news in the battle for our BBC from the new Radio Times:

The BBC has a new champion in the form of a glamorous full-throated female lead singer of a majorly successful Welsh rock band from the 1990s.

I'm presuming this is Ann from Ectogram we're talking about here? Oh, hang on, no:

Cerys Matthews, solo artist and former lead singer of the band Catatonia today told RadioTimes.com that the British public needs to stand up for the BBC – or risk losing it.

“We all need to defend the BBC,” she said at today’s launch of a raft of new arts programmes.

“We should all see it as our BBC. We need to remind everybody that we all own it.”

Obviously, being employed by 6Music means she's not totally unbiased, but Cerys Matthews is right.

Sony Radio Awards 2013: The winners in full

I think this is the first time Wickes has ever won a Sony Award, isn't it - for a sponsorship thingy with Absolute Radio.

And great to see Cerys Matthews getting recognition for her radio work.

Here's all the winners:

Breakfast Show of the Year (10 million plus) – Today Programme (BBC News for BBC Radio 4)

Breakfast Show of the Year (under 10 million) – Sam & Amy (Gem 106)

Best Music Programme – The Dermot O'Leary Show (Ora Et Labora for BBC Radio 2)

Best Entertainment Programme – The Danny Baker Show (Campbell Davison Media for BBC Radio 5 Live)

Best Speech Programme – Witness (BBC News for BBC World Service)

Best Sports Programme – 5 Live Olympics with Peter Allen and Colin Murray (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Best News & Current Affairs Programme – BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat (BBC News for BBC Radio 1)

Best Coverage of a Live Event – London 2012: The Olympic and Paralympic Games (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Best Community Programming – Ciaran's Cause (Real Radio North West)

Music Radio Personality of the Year – Christian O'Connell (Absolute Radio)

Music Radio Broadcaster of the Year – Cerys on 6 (BBC 6 Music)

Speech Radio Broadcaster of the Year – Eddie Mair (BBC Radio 4)

Radio Journalism of the Year – John Humphrys (BBC News for BBC Radio 4)

Best Use of Branded Content – The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show with Wickes (Absolute Radio)

Best Promotional/Advertising Campaign – The Gothic Imagination (BBC Radio 4 & 4 Extra Presentation for BBC Radio 4)

Best Competition – Coca-Cola Fan Reporter (TalkSport)

Best Station Imaging – BBC Radio 2

Best Music Feature or Documentary – The Story of Ed Sheeran (BBC Radio 1)

Best News Feature or Documentary – The Bombardment of Homs (BBC Radio Current Affairs for BBC World Service)

Best Feature or Documentary – Bruising Silence (Just Radio for BBC Radio 1)

Best Comedy – Isy Suttie: Pearl and Dave (BBC Radio Comedy for BBC Radio 4)

Best Drama – The Resistance of Mrs Brown (BBC Radio Drama London for BBC Radio 4)

Best Use of Multi-platform – Radio 1's Review Show (Somethin' Else for BBC Radio 1)

Station of the Year (under 300,000) – KL.FM 96.7

Station of the Year (300,000 to 1 million) – BBC Radio Humberside

Station of the Year (1 million plus) – Metro Radio

UK Station of the Year – BBC Radio 5 live

UK Radio Brand of the Year – Classic FM

The Special Award – Steve Lamacq

The Gold Award – Richard Park

The Sony Golden Headphones Award – Dan & Phil (Radio 1)

Catatonia, Kenickie & Pulp lead Sony Music Awards shortlist

Just time for a quick look at the Sony nominations - congratulations to Lauren Laverne, Jarvis Cocker and Cerys Matthews for their recognition. Seeing those names together makes the awards list look like the cover of Select magazine.

Also nice to see Danny Baker getting better treatment here than he got at Radio London.

Breakfast show of the year (10 million plus)

Breakfast – BBC Radio 3

Chris Evans – BBC Radio 2

The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show – Absolute Radio

KISS Breakfast with Rickie, Melvin & Charlie – KISS

Today Programme – BBC News for BBC Radio 4

Breakfast show of the year (under 10 million)

The Andrew Peach Show – BBC Radio Berkshire

BBC Tees Breakfast – BBC Tees

Sam & Amy – Gem 106

Steve & Karen's Breakfast Show – Metro Radio

Xfm Manchester Breakfast Show with Tim Cocker – Xfm Manchester

Best music programme

The Dermot O'Leary Show – Ora Et Labora for BBC Radio 2

Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service – BBC 6 Music

Lauren Laverne – BBC 6 Music

The Ronnie Wood Show – Somethin' Else for Absolute Radio & Absolute Classic Rock

Zane Lowe – BBC Radio 1

Best entertainment programme

Charlie Sloth – BBC Radio 1Xtra

The Danny Baker Show – Campbell Davison Media for BBC Radio 5 live

Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show – Absolute Radio

Greg James – BBC Radio 1

Kate Lawler – Kerrang! Radio

Best speech programme

Alan Robson's Nightowls – Metro Radio

Iain Dale – LBC 97.3

The JVS Show – BBC Three Counties Radio

The Listening Project – BBC Radio Documentaries with BBC English Regions & BBC Nations for BBC Radio 4

Witness – BBC News for BBC World Service

Best sports programme

5 live Olympics with Peter Allen and Colin Murray – BBC Radio 5 live

Keys & Gray – talkSPORT

Mary and the Minstermen – BBC Radio York

Not Just Cricket – TBI Media for BBC Radio 5 live

Rugby Nation - Town and Country Broadcasting for Nation Radio, Radio Pembrokeshire, Radio Carmarthenshire, Bridge FM and Nation Hits!

Best news & current affairs programme

BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat – BBC News for BBC Radio 1

File on 4 – BBC Radio Current Affairs for BBC Radio 4

Newshour – BBC World Service News for Current Affairs for BBC World Service

Nick Ferrari at Breakfast – LBC 97.3

The Nolan Show – BBC Radio Ulster

Best coverage of a live event

Hillsborough: Truth and Justice – BBC Radio Merseyside

Judgement Sunday – Final Day of Premier League (Matchday Live) – talkSPORT

London 2012 : The Olympic & Paralympic Games - BBC Radio 5 live

Paralympic Sportsworld – BBC Sport for BBC World Service

Radio 1's Hackney Weekend – BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra

Best community programming

Ciaran's Cause – Real Radio North West

Crossroads – PRA Productions for BBC Radio 1Xtra

Make a Clean Break – Prison Radio Association for National Prison Radio

Walk for Harry – Free Radio (Birmingham)

Word Up – Prison Radio Association for National Prison Radio

Music radio personality of the year

Charlie Sloth – BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra

Christian O'Connell – Absolute Radio

John Suchet – Classic FM

Ken Bruce – BBC Radio 2

Lauren Laverne – BBC 6 Music

Music radio broadcaster of the year

Cerys on 6 – BBC 6 Music

Jamie Cullum – Folded Wing for BBC Radio 2

Johnnie Walker – Wise Buddah Creative for BBC Radio 2

Mark Radcliffe & Stuart Maconie – Smooth Operations for BBC 6 Music

Suzy Klein – BBC Radio 3 & BBC Radio 4

Speech radio broadcaster of the year

Danny Baker – Campbell Davison Media for BBC Radio 5 live

Eddie Mair – BBC Radio 4

Nicky Campbell – BBC Radio 5 live

Stephen Sackur – BBC News for BBC World Service

Victoria Derbyshire – BBC Radio 5 live

Radio journalism of the year

Becky Milligan – BBC Radio 4

Capital East Midlands News Team – Capital FM East Midlands

John Humphrys – BBC News for BBC Radio 4

Jon Donnison – BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service

Michelle Livesey – Key 103

Best use of branded content

Classic FM's Tasting Notes paired with Laithwaite's Wine – Classic FM

The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show with Wickes – Absolute Radio

Kerrang! Radio The Darkest Hour – Kerrang! Radio

Sky Bond - Absolute Radio – Absolute Radio

The World's Largest Pub Quiz with Bells – LBC 1152

Best promotional/advertising campaign

BBC Radio 6 Music Celebrates Kraftwerk – BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 2 & BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 6 Music Celebrates Punk Britannia - BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 2 & BBC Radio 4

Classic FM's More Music Breakfast Campaign – Classic FM

The Gothic Imagination – BBC Radio 4 & 4 Extra Presentation for BBC Radio 4

The Olympics – BBC Radio Xtrails, 5 live Station Sound, Fresh Air Production, BBC A&M, BBC Nations and Regions for BBC Radio

Best competition

500 Words – BBC Radio 2

Coca-Cola Fan Reporter – talkSPORT

Round Our Way on Xfm Manchester – Xfm Manchester

Talk To The Animals – Geoff Lloyd – Absolute Radio

Two Strangers Risk It For A Biscuit – Real Radio Scotland

Best station imaging

106 JACK fm (South Coast)

BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 6 Music

Capital FM Network

Classic FM

Best music feature or documentary

6 Music Celebrates: 50 Years of the Cassette – BBC 6 Music

Black is a Country – Brook Lapping Productions for BBC Radio 4

Titanic: Minute by Minute – TBI Media (with BBC Drama) for BBC Radio 2

The Art of Garfunkel – BBC Radio 2

The Story of Ed Sheeran – BBC Radio 1

Best news feature or documentary

Adventures of a Blue Badger – Alfi Media Ltd for BBC Radio 5 live

Assignment/Crossing Continents: Uzbekistan – BBC Radio Current Affairs for BBC Radio 4 & BBC World Service

Lawrence of Arabia – Man and Myth – Just Radio for BBC Radio 4

The Bombardment of Homs – BBC Radio Current Affairs for BBC World Service

The Left to Die Boat – BBC World Service

Best feature or documentary

Belongings – TBI Media for BBC Radio 3

Bon Voyage – Julia Scott Productions for BBC World Service

Bruising Silence – Just Radio for BBC Radio 1

Dying Inside – Unique The Production Company for BBC Radio 4

Titanic: Minute by Minute – TBI Media (with BBC Drama) for BBC Radio 2

Best comedy

Isy Suttie: Pearl and Dave – BBC Radio Comedy for BBC Radio 4

John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme – BBC Radio Comedy for BBC Radio 4

Meera Syal's Asian Comedy Night - BBC Asian Network & Tonic Productions for BBC Asian Network

My Teenage Diary – Talkback (part of Freemantle Media UK) for BBC Radio 4

Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast - Fuzz Productions Ltd & Sky Potato Productions for British Comedy Guide

Best drama

Beryl: A Love Story on Two Wheels – Savvy for BBC Radio 4

Easter & Christmas Diaries – BBC Radio 4 & 4 Extra Presentation for BBC Radio 4 Extra

The Grapes of Wrath – BBC Radio Scotland

My Boy – Somethin' Else for BBC Radio 4

The Resistance of Mrs Brown – BBC Radio Drama London for BBC Radio 4

Best use of multiplatform

InStream from Absolute Radio – Absolute Radio

Letter From America - BBC Radio 4/Audio and Music Interactive for BBC Radio 4 & BBC World Service

The Listening Project – BBC Radio 4 and BBC Nations & Regions

The Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw – BBC Radio 1

Radio 1's Review Show – Somethin' Else for BBC Radio 1

Station of the year (under 300,000)

KL.FM 96.7

National Prison Radio

Touch FM

Station of the year (300,000 to 1 million)

BBC Radio Humberside

BBC Tees

JACKfm Oxfordshire

Station of the year (1 million plus)

BBC Newcastle

Fun Kids

Metro Radio

UK station of the Year

BBC Asian Network

BBC Radio 5 live

Classic FM

UK radio brand of the year

Classic FM

KISS

Smooth Radio UK

6Music cuts Freakzone again

If you were trying to annoy the campaigners keen to keep 6Music on the air, you could do worse than chopping another half-hour off the Freakzone and giving it to, erm, Huey Morgan.

Huey - who also presents pet programmes for Channel Five - is being rewarded for... uh, um... something. He's being described as "award-winning", after coming third in a category at the Sonys earlier this year.

It's part of a not entirely disastrous reworking of Sundays - Cerys is back, Jarvis is still there, and there's a potentially self-indulgent two-hour Adam Buxton themed music chat show.

The new Sundays:

7.00-10.00am: George Lamb
10.00-12.00pm: Cerys Matthews
12.00pm -2.00pm: Adam Buxton's Big Mix Tape
2.00-4.00pm: Huey Morgan
4.00-6.00pm: Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service
6.00-8.00pm: Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone
8.00-10.00pm: 6 Mix
10.00pm-12.00midnight: Guy Garvey's Finest Hour
12.00midnight-1.00am: Don Letts' Culture Clash Radio

Dave Pearce has been shoved off to Saturday nights.

Cerys returns at Easter

The good news: Cerys Matthews will be returning to 6Music at Easter.

The bad news: She's going to be doing a single Sunday show. Which makes it look like Nemone will still be on daily lunchtime duty for the foreseeable future.

Congratulations...

To Cerys Matthews, mother to a new-born baby.

Chris Hawkins is sitting in for Cerys now - which is kind of ironic, given that Cerys was officially covering Nemone's maternity leave. You suspect that Nemone might not be expected back.

Embed and breakfast man: Cerys Matthews

It's been a little overlooked in the grand scheme of things, so here is a reminder of just how good Cerys Matthews' new, high-polish, swooshy sound is:



[You can own this single by buying it]

Cerys Matthews new release

There was a time when a new single from Cerys Matthews would have got a lot more attention than a polite mention on her MySpace blog.

Buy from Amazon

Glastonbury 2009: View from the sofa - Saturday night

The simplicity of Esser vocals don't really stand up to not being able to hear the music properly, like being perpetually in the position of a busy room falling quiet just as you say "... and so I had to hit him with the shovel", but, oh, you could eat Esser with a spoon. Of course, it was all shoved away in a corner of Press Red, but it makes it all feel a bit more special.

Florence And The Machine used to be hidden away, too, but look at this, this year - a 6Music pick, no less. Pity the set sounded a bit ropey and overwhelmed, and only really came alive with a Candi Staton cover at the end.

It's turned out to be impossible to avoid both Reggie Yates and Kasabian, so I finally wound up having to watch Reggie get Cerys Matthews in to keep him company in the hovering sky-studio. Matthews put her shoes on the table, which can cause bad luck, but I guess she figured that being interviewed by Reggie is probably one of those situations from which there is no down. Matthews, somewhat oddly, appeared to be wearing exactly the same blazer-and-no-trousers outfit that Edith Bowman was wearing on Friday evening. One presenter at a time is frugal, BBC, but making them share clothes is just going too far. Will Mark Radcliffe be waiting for Zane Lowe to finish with the trousers before he can go on to BBC2?

If, by the way, Mark Radcliffe seemed genuinely bemused by the idea of going on to do a programme without any Neil Young in, tonight he's going to be totally Jack Wooleyed, as it appears the BBC won't be able to show any of Bruce Springsteen's headline set at all.

George Lamb will hand off to Cerys

After some well-received guest slots on the channel over the last few months, Cerys Matthews has been signed up as maternity leave cover on 6Music. Nemone's off to have a baby, and - apparently by law - the lunchtime show must have a female presenter just as surely as none of the other daytime slots may:

Bob Shennan, Radio 2 and 6 Music controller, said: "Cerys' amazing passion for music delivered in a charmingly engaging way is a welcome addition to 6 Music and will provide the perfect lunchtime cover whilst Nemone is away."

It's funny: "charmingly engaging" doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement of her on-air style, although a lot of daytime on 6Music could do with a massive injection of charm. And engagement.

ITV own your brains

Some somewhat alarming news for the celebrities - and David Van Day and Timmy Mallet - down in the wilds of ITV. Cerys Matthews is suggesting they check their contracts:

"Anything written in the jungle belongs to ITV. It's in the contract," she told ITV2's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here Now. "David and Timmy think it could be a Christmas Number One but the money will go to ITV."

Presumably this is a little snare that ITV added in after Insania; but it makes you wonder who would be so foolish as to sign a contract which would strip away their rights like that? I'm A Celebrity With A Rotten Agent Get Me Out Of Here...

Well, she was conceived after Cerys did her News Of The World bra and panties shoot, so...

Cerys Matthews is being credited - in part - for a resurgence in more traditional names for children in Wales. This is apparently a trend away from 'celebrity' names, although quite how naming your kid off the woman on I'm A Celebrity fits with that isn't explained.

I won't sail this ship alone

Tantalising co-headline tour in the offing for October/November, as Cerys Matthews and Paul Heaton team-up. Oh, let's hope there's at least one duet per night:

Glasgow ABC (October 25)
Newcastle University (26)
Norwich Waterfront (29)
Leeds Met University (30)
Sheffield Academy (31)
Liverpool Academy (November 1)
Cardiff University Solus (4)
London ULU (5)
Wolverhampton Wulfrun (6)
Manchester Ritz (7)
Hull University (9)

Cerys Matthews naked cheeks

No, no, her face cheeks - Cerys is heading a campaign to encourage women (and, presumably, men) to go a day without make-up:

“We’re so used to all these images of perfection that we’re at the point where we don’t go out without make-up, which is ridiculous,” she says.

“I’ve got a daughter who’s four and she’s make-up mad. She’s into Shakira in a big way. It’s spooky how quickly she’s jumped aboard the ‘sexy painted lady’ look. I want her to grow up knowing she’s absolutely perfect just as she is.

“I like Tilda Swinton not wearing make-up on the red carpet and I hate it when people make fun of that. I think we forget how beautiful we can be without make-up, when you’ve been for a walk in the country and you’re glowing naturally.”

It's somehow - although the Wales On Sunday doesn't quite explain how - meant to raise money for the British Skin Foundation and, somewhat less nobly, to sell bottles of mineral water.

Catatonia Bank Holiday: I Am The Mob

More Catatonia; more festival footage - this is I Am The Mob from the 1999 Reading Festival:



[Part of Catatonia Bank Holiday]