My name is Simon Minney and I’m a lover of music, it doesn’t matter what genre it is, if it floats my boat I’ll buy it and play it.
I was brought up in a home where music was always played. My earliest memories are of my dad cleaning the windows to Trini Lopez.
My dad loved the big band sounds of Ted Heath, Duke Ellington and Count Basie along with the Latin sounds of Edmundo Ros. This was saddled with the greatest hits of Max Bygraves which is probably where my love of wordy songs comes from. This explains my love of Ian Dury, John Cooper Clarke and Frank Zappa. There is really only one thing that gets my goat about music and that’s singers who do not annunciate correctly. I wanna hear the words.
Some of my early attendance of live gigs were at Vincent Square in the Westminster College where I saw the likes of an early Thin Lizzy and Blackfoot Sue not to mention hanging around and watching the local bands rehearse and play from Pimlico.
My mum and dad were members of the 100 club and would go regularly to see the trad jazz bands and it wasn’t long before I was tagging along. Watching the likes of the wonderful George Melly and his feetwarmers, Ken Collier and a host of American guests.
Around about the age of 16 I bought my first guitar, which later in life led to me playing bass and Kazoo with the best bunch of lunatics in ‘The West End Comb and Kazoo Company’ which also led to me playing on stage at the 100 club along with the Roadhouse Dogs. I was asked to play in the Dogs by Donnie Burke and Terry Hamid, both stalwarts of music in the Pimlico area. I think they thought I was better than I actually was which led to some serious catching up. My love of blues and folk is cared for by playing bass for Doc Bowling and his Blues Professors. I’m also currently playing bass for an exciting new band by the name of Scientist Tigers.
My choice of music played on the radio will be eclectic, ranging from Zappa to Charlie Penrose. Hopefully it will entertain and amuse you.