Sinister: Keith Watson

[Mark Casarotto]

Keith wrote:

"I don't care on the grounds that if XFM's idea of "Our Music" are bands
like 
Snowpatrol then frankly they can keep them. I'd rather Fleetwood Mac
than 
Jack at this juncture. Another "Indie failure" is a natural problem in
that 
99.9% of the music simply isn't good enough. It's definitely a good
thing 
having people broadcast new music - I mean, I for one am all for the
likes 
of John Peel playing anything and everything on his show. But frankly 
haven't been able to actually listen to his program since having to sit 
through a Terminal Cheesecake session in 1988. In any case, for the few 
years that XFM's been running, all I've really seen happening in the
music 
scene in Britain is a great big thing called britpop when loads of bands

from London copied loads of bands from the sixties... Grrreat. I haven't

seen any great improvement in the scene at all. I'm afraid though that
I'm 
just not of the opinion that if you get some bloke on the radio who'll
play 
absolutely anyone - that they're some sort of a hero. You say Radio 1
won't 
be playing these bands before midnight, well they've certainly played
plenty 
of Belle and Sebastian, and I can't say I really care about them not
playing 
the other bands. Anyway again I'm not having a go - I just can't say I
care 
about a radio station going down when it's a) shite (what I've heard of
it) 
b) I don't get it anyway (like 50 million others) and c) has had no 
noticable positive effect on the "scene" at all. 

Thanks, 
Keith"


I'm sorry, Keith, but writing such a negative piece and saying "I'm not
having a go" doesn't make it inoffensive.

Seb wrote a genuine and passionate letter about something that has been
an innovative and positive thing in his life and the lives of many
others - you, on the other hand, see fit to patronise us with a posting
based on nothing but petty parochialism and ignorance. Don't you think
that there might be some of us who have just a few more emotions about
XFM, both good and bad, than you?

Your letter also manages to contradict itself time and time again. "XFM
has had no noticeable effect on the scene" - and yet is responsible for
the proliferation of Britpop, a "great big thing", as you say? Your
letter says nothing of any positive worth; pretty much every statement
you make could be laughed out of town. "99.9% of the music...isn't good
enough"? Then the amount of decent swingbeat and handbag house that
we'll be getting on CapitalXFM is going to be less than negligible.
Perhaps it's ironic that a good proportion of the music that's made me
swoon over the last year or so has come from Scotland - but I wouldn't
have heard any of it if it hadn't been for Keith Cameron, John Kennedy
or Paul Anderson.

Fundamentally, Keith, we don't care that you don't care - it's important
to us because we DO. Drop us a line when you've thought of something
constructive to say. And you've missed a hell of a lot on John Peel over
the last decade.

Cheers,
Mark

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