Product Description

John Osborne has long been a fan of radio - from late night sessions of John Peel to Test Match Special at dawn, he has always enjoyed tuning in to the riches of our best broadcasts. When his dull temporary job became drearier than ever, John decided to remain attached to his headphones all day to listen to some of Britain's more unknown stations as well as revisiting the mainstream to fully experience the breadth of our radio output. The result is a funny, disarming ride through aspects of Britain that are uplifting, informative and sometimes plain bizarre. Throughout his month of intensive radio listening, John flits through talk radio, sports shows, dips into the mainstream and the minority, exalts in specialist music shows, comedy and local radio before expanding his mind with an experimental arts channel. It seems there is something for everyone at the turn of a dial, whether that is the ranting of the permanently enraged, the gentle tinkle of a string quartet, West Indian stomp or the sound of frozen peas being thrown around Elephant and Castle underground station.John also gets under the skin of the radio business by interviewing presenters such as Mark Radcliffe and Nicholas Parsons as well as industry insiders. John's daily life is directly affected by his radio habit as he finds himself organising a poker night during exposure to The Jazz, and Zane Lowe's energy on Radio One goads him into cooking his stir fry at the same speed as Morecambe and Wise prepared their breakfast. Finally, John decides to turn his life around and radio becomes his saviour.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38150 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

About the Author
John Osborne graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2004. He has taught English in Austria and Germany, and has had poetry published in the Guardian and the Spectator. Radio Head is his first book.

Customer Reviews

'Fever Pitch' For Radio Buffs
John Osborne's warm, witty debut is at once a guided tour round the dizzying range of radio programmes being broadcast for free 24 hours a day, and an affectionate state of the nation piece that celebrates Britain's contradictory mix of parochialism and diversity. Packed with funny anecdotes, interesting facts and interviews with the great and good of modern British radio, it also tells the story of how radio, in its own small way, slowly changed the author's life. Following his gradual transformation through the book is great fun, and makes this already cosy and entertaining title a real page-turner too.

radio head reviewer
This is gently compelling comedy in which the writer takes you on his adventure with radio. Trapped in a boring inconsequential job he uses his time positively to explore the unfamiliar as well as the familiar parts of British radio entertainment. Through listening to the radio the central character changes and improves. It's a lovely read and is to be highly recommended as an antidote for stress. If you're a fan of radio, even if you listen on the Internet, you will enjoy this book. It's lively, entertaining, and a comfortable read on front of a winter fire or on a hot summer's day in the garden. It would make an excellent present for anyone.
The author is a graduate of the University of East Anglia and has taught in schools in Austria and Germany and is currently working on a second book
Thank You for the Days: A Boys' Own Adventures in Radio and BeyondAdventures on the High Teas: In Search of Middle EnglandPies and Prejudice: In Search of the NorthCider with Roadies.

A wasted opportunity
Being a lover of radio I thought that this book, about John Osborne's trawl through the airwaves listening to a different station each day, would be right down my street. What a disappointment it turns out to be though.

The UK has a wealth of radio stations, digital or otherwise, but they are often overlooked and neglected by the other forms of media - TV, the press and in books. I had hoped that Radio Head would be a light-hearted look at some of these stations, explaining their history, broadcasting goals and the listenership that their output is aimed at.

Instead John Osborne simply writes about what he listens to as he goes about his daily life.

Unfortunately being informed what records were being played or what was being discussed on a talk show makes particularly interesting reading. Maybe it could have worked if the author's life at the time had been interesting or eventful but it wasn't; his average day seemed to consist of getting up in the morning, working at an unrewarding job, walking around Comet in his lunch break, going home, having a simple meal and a watch of the TV before rounding the day off by making his sandwiches for work next day.

Granted, the author does try to delve a bit deeper into the subject of radio by interviewing people such as the editor of Radio Times and broadcasters like Mark Radcliffe, Stuart Maconie and Tommy Boyd but this too isn't always too successful. For example, his attempt to find out about the legendary John Peel, which he goes about by interviewing members of a practically unknown indy band who Peel championed, is bizarre & pointless.

There will be an excellent humourous but informant book written about radio one day, unfortunately this isn't it.