** Cardiff Gp Music / Presentation **

[rodneyparade]

Maybe they should have played Status Quo's 'Down, Down' for Nicki Pedersen

 

 

[paulr]

Maybe they should have played Status Quo's 'Down, Down' for Nicki Pedersen

 

What was thet Elvis Costello song ??? - "I cant stand up for falling down" - were the lyrics

[Lioness]

In all I enjoyed the spectacle that is Cardiff - music and presentation was excellent.

 

Have to agree that the music drowned out the roar of the bikes as the green light came on and I was in L2 front row near tapes - maybe I'm a purist but 4 bikes at full revs signals the start of the race not the music.

 

I've called you many things BTL but I can safely state 'pure' was never one of them!

 

[KenB1]

Ok every one has different taste, to be honest it was tacky to put it mildly. Speedway is trying to be professional, but there was nothing professional about the blaring music and corny jingles.

That of course is only my (well actually not just mine, many others too) opinion.

Whether the mentioned song was aimed at the referee or Nicki Pedersen, it was well out of order and I hope the person in charge of the music is made aware of this.

I went to see speedway, hear the bikes, get the smell and enjoy the racing, if I wanted to go to a disco, I would have gone to town.

If you want sponsors to put their money in our sport then this must not be allowed to happen again.

[Zetters]

Good music during the meeting BUT a disgrace to play Bad Boys when Nicki hit the podium:(

[Bobbin' Along]

Not sure if the FIM will give us feedback? I really enjoyed it, I've taken on board a few changes, I really thought the Bomber incident got great coverage on SKY they used the stadium footage with no talking for about 60 secs so it must have been impressive!

 

The idea is to be tacky with some of the music and jingles and our style is to choose a song for a rider and then constantly go with it. I know we will never please everyone but I'm very much into hearing peoples opinions and then making an educated decision on what to run with.

 

The Easy Chants in the Rock n Roll weren't liked by some at Brandon, especially visitors but we listened spoke to the powers that be and decided to still run with it. And the team members took the easy easy onboard in a big way as they still use it to date when they have a great meeting or something impressive happens.

 

Some changes were made yesterday throughout the meeting on the Event Managers requests, they were the people paying us at the end of the day. We continue to learn with stuff each time we do a meeting, this was the biggest thing I've ever worked at.

 

The Land of Hope and Glory was one little part of the day that whether you watched on Sky or were in the Stadium that I'm sure people will fondly remember for a long time and that was down to me

At the end of the day we run with the policy that there's a lot of time to fill in a speedway meeting and we want to entertain people to keep the sport growing from strength to strength. It'd be far more profitable to just do disco's in pubs and singing gigs but speedway's in our blood and I guess that's why we make it our priority to put on the best show we possibly can

So - will you actually be taking on any of the critical comments, or just basking inthe ones you like?

 

The majority complaining on here (and there are only a few) are the usual suspects who do nothing but whinge on every topic.

Absolute rubbish. I made constructive comments. Superbart asked our opinions, I gave mine. You don't like it? That's your problem not mine.

 

I think I must be like a 4 year old as well 'cos I never even heard any "offensive" words. I presume it must be a more recent song because I've lost track of the Top Twenty these days.

How about telling me exactly when it was played so I can listen out for it on my recording and be offended.

Hardly a new song - been out since about the 80's. Sung by a bloke called Ivor Biggun, who was a character called Doc Cox on That's Life. I could quote you the words,but this is a family forum.

 

Cracked me up and although I agree that's it's borderline for a family audience SCB is right. No young ears would have clocked it. And if they did then you wonder how they know what it means. Younger teenagers may well have heard and understood, but I would suggest that they hear much worse on the street and at school every day of the week.

 

Doesn't make it right though.

[pscutts]

Just registered as i had to reply to this topic.

 

I have to agree with bobbin along and chris and feel that the music was awful, cheesy and naff are the words that spring to mind and to be honest it nearly, but not quite, spoilt the night for me and my party. I accept that you have music to fill in the gaps between races but does it have to be so loud that you cant talk to the person next to you without shouting down their ear. As for playing music over the riders at the start, give me strength!! After a 300 mile drive to Cardiff i want to hear the bikes at the start not Star Wars or whatever other strange tune you thought would be better than the sound of 4 speedway bikes waiting to start the race. Its a speedway meeting first and foremost, not a circus where sound effects are needed and dont get me started on the flame thrower things lol.

 

The songs for each rider were an embarressment and that stupid game show noise when the the red lights came on for whatever reason was equally as bad, what if somebody had seriously hurt themselves falling of and you were making fun of it,wouldnt have been quite so clever then would it.

 

To sum up for me, obviously you need music but turn it down so we can talk to each other.

No music at all at the start or once the riders reach the tapes.

 

Its the best speedway riders in the world, it doesnt need messing about with!!

 

Before anybody tells me im a boring old git, im not that old and i love music and im still a regular gig goer, in fact im taking my oldest daughter to Twickenham Saturday to see Iron Maiden (not my cup of tea but id rather listen to that than aga doo). Im a fan of all things indie, punk etc so its not that i dont like music or loud music its just a matter of the time and the place.

 

Btw hi everyone

[Gemini]

Hardly a new song - been out since about the 80's. Sung by a bloke called Ivor Biggun, who was a character called Doc Cox on That's Life. I could quote you the words,but this is a family forum.

 

Ah! A few words I recognise now - Doc Cox and That's Life. I remember him. Still never heard of the song though but that doesn't say a lot because I'd never heard of Belinda Carlisle either.

 

[shortoi]

Ah! A few words I recognise now - Doc Cox and That's Life. I remember him. Still never heard of the song though but that doesn't say a lot because I'd never heard of Belinda Carlisle either.

 

Heaven Is A Place On Earth - c'mon Gem. If you were THAT much of an oldie wouldn't you be tucked up in bed with a mug of Ovaltine by now?

[Mr Ore]

Ah! A few words I recognise now - Doc Cox and That's Life. I remember him. Still never heard of the song though but that doesn't say a lot because I'd never heard of Belinda Carlisle either.

 

Seems that following the anticipated "bon homi” the initial question sought, the more sceptical forum member is now having a voice. Taking it one more step beyond I thought it was all total pants. Speedway and music go so very well together but this seemed to be a rehash of a very tired concept tried, unsuccessfully, at a previous Bradford GP. The simple fact is there are not sufficient recognisable decent tracks to accurately reflect the individual riders so to attempt the thing was bold move but doomed. The result was it became on a par with the appalling Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines at Rye House and the yodelling at Foxhall Heath. As has already been said to actually have an anti USA track played for Greg was not really very good planning, unless George Bush was in the crowd in which case a top call. To have all the forum chums speaking positively is actually doing a disservice and reminded me of the appalling pre GP ad last year, which was ultimately pulled by Sky despite getting incestuous rave reviews on this site.

 

As for the flag waving to the Tory Party battle hymn I commented at the time it must have been like Nuremberg in the 1930s, apart from the different flags. It wouldn't have been a surprise if there had been a goose-stepping invasion of Barry Island after the meeting. (Pedants please note that was a joke). Pavlov's dogs’ scenario in my opinion. Go to any wedding and as soon as the medley from Grease starts everyone minces around and finishes on one knee, with arms in the style of Cliff Richard. They all then sit down and say how crap the whole thing was.

 

As for people reporting how great the hokey cokey was, well non-swear words fail me. We may as well go back to the "Is there anybody here from Mildenhall?" nonsense, which we had forced down our throats at big meetings in the not so distant past.

 

The Lonigo GP in 2005 showed exactly what could be done merging speedway and music. The place was rocking from gates open to well beyond midnight with real adrenalin thrusting rock with none of your Daft Old Dave’s Loony Tunes (Wimbledon 1990) rubbish, which we get over in the good old UK. Topped off with Pavarotti and fireworks at the close, the whole town was echoing to the event and loving it. It was also well choreographed with the bikes and enhanced not dominated them.

 

There are twelve months before the next Cardiff round so plenty of time to arrange a sensational event, if you start now.

 

And finally, "Is there anybody here from Mildenhall?"

 

[pscutts]

Fantastic post Mr Ore, it did seem like the "Mc's" friends had taken over the thread.

 

Like the "is there anybody from Mildenhall" quote as it puts me in the mind of those "fantastic" party nights at Butlins and come to think of it thats all this music was fit for.

 

Agadoo doo doo ffs

 

[T.N.T.]

Spoke to Chris (Superbart) last night and I was now glad Fredrik Lindgren never won a heat with the choice of music he had lined up

 

Abba - Gimme Gimme Gimme .... A man after midnight

 

Think Wham - Young Guns would have been more apt being the youngest in the line up, even a song from the Swedish Chef offf the muppets would have been better and expected from a Coventry / Nicki fan .... Good choice overall.

 

 

Chris - I know it was probably never going to get used (for some listed), but what music did you have ready if any of these won a race ...

 

Ed Kennett

Tomasz Gollob

Leigh Adams

Lukas Dryml

Krzysztof Kasprzak

Tai Woffinden

[crazysue]

Seems that following the anticipated "bon homi” the initial question sought, the more sceptical forum member is now having a voice. Taking it one more step beyond I thought it was all total pants. Speedway and music go so very well together but this seemed to be a rehash of a very tired concept tried, unsuccessfully, at a previous Bradford GP. The simple fact is there are not sufficient recognisable decent tracks to accurately reflect the individual riders so to attempt the thing was bold move but doomed. The result was it became on a par with the appalling Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines at Rye House and the yodelling at Foxhall Heath. As has already been said to actually have an anti USA track played for Greg was not really very good planning, unless George Bush was in the crowd in which case a top call. To have all the forum chums speaking positively is actually doing a disservice and reminded me of the appalling pre GP ad last year, which was ultimately pulled by Sky despite getting incestuous rave reviews on this site.

 

As for the flag waving to the Tory Party battle hymn I commented at the time it must have been like Nuremberg in the 1930s, apart from the different flags. It wouldn't have been a surprise if there had been a goose-stepping invasion of Barry Island after the meeting. (Pedants please note that was a joke). Pavlov's dogs’ scenario in my opinion. Go to any wedding and as soon as the medley from Grease starts everyone minces around and finishes on one knee, with arms in the style of Cliff Richard. They all then sit down and say how crap the whole thing was.

 

As for people reporting how great the hokey cokey was, well non-swear words fail me. We may as well go back to the "Is there anybody here from Mildenhall?" nonsense, which we had forced down our throats at big meetings in the not so distant past.

 

The Lonigo GP in 2005 showed exactly what could be done merging speedway and music. The place was rocking from gates open to well beyond midnight with real adrenalin thrusting rock with none of your Daft Old Dave’s Loony Tunes (Wimbledon 1990) rubbish, which we get over in the good old UK. Topped off with Pavarotti and fireworks at the close, the whole town was echoing to the event and loving it. It was also well choreographed with the bikes and enhanced not dominated them.

 

There are twelve months before the next Cardiff round so plenty of time to arrange a sensational event, if you start now.

 

And finally, "Is there anybody here from Mildenhall?"

 

Firstly, I have posted in the positive and as far as I know, I am not one of the 'forum chums'.

 

I enjoyed the so called 'Tory Party battle hymn' which gave me a lump in the throat when I saw all the flags and made me feel very patriotic.

 

Lonigo 2005? I was there and yes the crowd and atmosphere was good but the music didn't even register with me as being part of the entertainment so it can't have been that memorable!

 

Yes there were some parts of the music Saturday night that had me cringing but on the whole it was a very enjoyable experience, especially for those of us who did not have the advantage of a big screen showing interviews or race re-runs in the time between heats.

 

 

One final thing, what is more likely to get everyone up and dancing at a wedding? Hokey Cokey or Bring your Daughter to the Slaughter? The answer is Hokey Cokey (even though I would love it to be the Iron Maiden number), seems people respond more to cheese than to hard rock as it is more mainstream.

[Sir Jasper]

Good stuff Super B, some of it cheesy and not to my tastes but other people loved it and I am sensible enough to realise that all of your work is not directly aimed at me. I have said before ( and also contacted Brandon) to state you are missed. Best of luck with securing more gp's.

[wjm]

I thought the music was very good

 

 

The sound at the place isn't the best IMO, but hey they played Baywatch at the start of race cant ask for much more.

[Matt Davis]

Lonigo 2005? I was there

Was that the year I went too?

[crazysue]

Yes Matt

[paulr]

Well we seem to be getting in the realms of personal taste and with music (as with every other art form) this becomes futile - you like what you like for whatever reason and no degree of debate from anyone will change your personal likes.

 

If there were 45,000 people at Cardiff then the ability to please all of them all the time was an impossibility. I personally have an obscure taste in music (dont know how this happened but thats how it is) and dislike pop, heavy rock and tripe such as aga flippin doo - but I accept that my tastes are very much in the minority and that the types of music I just mentioned are more popular and that music selection to entertain 45,000 people of various ages from a wide cross-section of the British and European communities would have to be based on the more popular tunes.

 

I didnt go to Cardiff to expect to hear my fave music (and I wasnt dissapointed ) but I did observe that lots of people near me were enjoying it (Block U19 at the top seemed to be having a mass party and having a great time) even a couple of notable forum members were cutting loose - so on the whole I would say it worked. If it worked for most people around me then I assume it was a success.

 

I didnt know 'Born in the USA' was anti-american cos I cant stand it and only understand the words on the chorus (the rest sounds like the slo-mo soundtrack of a cat being strangled - IMHO), but the bit that was used was the chorus which was relevant to the rider who was born in the USA, maybe not everyone reads politics into it either.

 

As for Hope & Glory - a masterstroke IMHO - is it a Tory anthem ?, is it British or English ? - who cares, it got the crowd going (and maybe even helped Bomber a bit too) and was a memorable site to witness - and Im not a Union flag waving type at all - far from it !!!

 

If I were to sum up what most criticisms on here seem to be about :

 

1) The use of music as the riders were at the tapes (and sometimes after the start)

2) The use of snippets of music that were attempted to be relevant to the winning rider

3) The volume and general PA quality

4) 'Party' music - hokey cokey etc

 

Im not one of the forum chums - I know Superbarts presentations (but not him personally) from his days at Brandon (including the IMHO cringeworthy version of '500 miles') and he does try to do something different.... for that I say well done !!

 

Maybe we can use this topic for suggestions as what to play for a mass audience (ie not your personals faves) when a couple of tractors are going round the track in the opposite direction taking all the shale off (oops I said no politics didnt I ??)

Edited July 1, 2008 by paulr

[SCB]

Btw hi everyone

Hi to you too you "boring old git" You're going to fit in well around here

 

 

Tomasz Gollob

If your Polish and your proud is where my £1 is going Cringeworthy song that was always played at Brandon for a Polish winner and at Brum this season for Stojanowski.

 

Well we seem to be getting in the realms of personal taste and with music (as with every other art form) this becomes futile - you like what you like for whatever reason and no degree of debate from anyone will change your personal likes.

Thats why you'll never win with this kind of thing. That said, I have the weirdest, most amazing taste in music and I'd play very little of what I like at a speedway meeting as it just doesn't fit. To me, Cardiff weekend is a big party with a spedway meeting in the middle so a bit of agadoo is just fine

 

I still don't like the songs for the rider on the whole though.

 

As for Hope & Glory - a masterstroke IMHO - is it a Tory anthem ?, is it British or English ? - who cares, it got the crowd going (and maybe even helped Bomber a bit too) and was a memorable site to witness - and Im not a Union flag waving type at all - far from it !!!

Having seen this on Sky last night during the EL meeting, there's Skys/IMGs advert for '09. Bomber, walking back to the pits, the whole back straight apearing to go back and waving flags to Land of Hope and Glory. Amazing. If thats not used for the advert I'll be amazed.

[Hansfan]

We all thought the music was great, wasn't overkeen on the individual rider choices though, but loved all the Queen stuff (I think a Queen tribute band would be fantastic!!) We went to see one last week it was the guy called Gary Mullen (I think the show is called one night of Queen) he is fantastic if you close your eyes it is Freddie, he dresses and moves like him the wholw show is fab, I think that would get the crowd going!!!!!!!

 

But yes on the whole loved the music etc.... and the flames thought that was ace!!!!

 

Booked our tickets for next year last night!!!! 361 more sleeps