Happy Birthday Sweet 6

With Covid-19 becoming a distant memory – unless you catch it and possibly die of it, that is – I’m preparing to go to some live music again and, frankly, I can’t wait. Despite tinnitus and increasing deafness – both, I suspect, as a result of a combination of impending old age and too much live music – you just can’t beat the sight and sound of an artist and a band standing right in front of you.

So far, I’ve got tickets to see BC Camplight, Jordan Rakei, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and Courtney Barnett and if I’d been quick enough off the mark, I’d have been going to see Curtis Harding too. Somewhat thoughtlessly, Leon Bridges arranged his Bristol show for when I am in Greece. Still, be grateful for what you’ve got, eh?

I’m pretty sure I would have heard of none of these artists without BBC 6 Music, which today turns 20. Far too old for Radio 1, too adventurous for Radio 2 and not interested in a single commercial station, 6 Music is a life saver, almost literally during lockdown. As Russia murders pregnant women and babies in Ukraine, God knows I need some relief from the relentless heartbreak. Great music can only help.

My weekday mornings always start with Lauren Laverne’s breakfast show. She always delivers. As I write, the music so far has come from artists like Phoenix, Grizzly Bear, Bombay Bicycle Club, Daft Punk and Chaka Khan, plus Hot 8 Brass Band’s bonkers Sexual Healing. You never know what’s coming next and it’s often something you have never heard before. I confess that I once listened to the now defunct Radio 2 and consumed a diet of oldies music, almost wincing when something new came along. No more. I’d far rather hear something new, even if it does cost me a fortune.

Granted, today’s output isn’t of the recently released variety. After all, it’s a celebration of 20 years of great music, a station which was almost killed off by the BBC in 2010 but is now the most listened to digital only station in the UK.

Admittedly, the station has its faults. I switch off between 10.30 and 13.00 in order to avoid the sickly sound of Mary Ann Hobbs and I fear that station original Steve Lamacq is well past his sell by date. But I still have Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie at the weekends – I’d happily have three hours of them every day – and Fun Lovin’ Criminal Huey Morgan on Saturdays. But I so miss Shaun Keaveny.

Anyway, happy birthday BBC 6 Music. Not just the most popular digital station in the land but the best station full stop.