It is a frequent saying of John Stewart (remember, Warwick’s favourite songwriter) that "people like what they know but they don’t know what they like.

I remember interviewing Mick Groves of The Spinners on BBC Radio Manchester and I asked him how the group had lasted forty years and more and he said, "We sing the same songs, every time. We sing the songs people love and want to join in with, that they have heard us sing for years."

Just Poets were privileged to sit in the studio and watch Norman Prince present his BBC Radio Lancashire Sunday morning show for half an hour prior to commencing this interview. We were amazed at the sophistication of the sound desk, the computerised play-list, and the timed "intros and outros" and were delighted by Norman’s ability to carry on running the show whilst giving us a guided and informed tour of the console. As a "disc jockey" does he apply that same percentage breakdown of material for his radio audience?

I’ve worked with the BBC for a good many years now, having been at GMR for fourteen years before moving here to BBC Radio Lancashire. Both stations believed that the music played should reflect the personality of the presenter.

On local radio we see ourselves as presenters rather than as disc jockeys because we talk to people. We have a system here at BBC Radio Lancashire whereby we have compiled a core of music that surveys show us is acceptable to our audience demographic, but presenters are also encouraged to bring in their taste too. We have a folk programme on the station, called Lancashire Drift and presented by Nick Dow, and he brings in his own tracks obviously. I play the core music, of course, but also occasionally bring in my favourite albums from home, perhaps James Taylor or whatever.

Simon And Garfunkel were probably my introduction to my kind of acoustic music. Paul Simon on acoustic guitar was what I was familiar with before that first visit to The Two Brewers. The Sound Of Silence and songs like that before he went commercial. Oops, listen to me, pigeon-holing, falling into the old trap. If you’re successful, you’re commercial.

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