ALICE NOT JOHN Episode 6: A Fictional Radio Transmission Guest: Peter Braatz (S.Y.P.H.)
ALICE NOT JOHN
Episode 6: A Fictional Radio Transmission
Guest: Peter Braatz (S.Y.P.H.)
Host: Joeri Bruyninckx
A conversation I overheard in a record store:
Customer: “Do you have Coltrane?”
Record shop owner: “In the jazz section.”
Customer: “I mean Alice, not John.”
Record shop owner: “In the jazz section.”
ALICE NOT JOHN is the name of a fictional radio show. The idea is this: for every episode, I ask a musician the same 12 questions. The answers I receive are the “playlist” of my fictional radio show. The questions are these:
1) Which song always brings you back to your childhood?
Peter Braatz: ‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’ by Middle Of The Road
2) Which is your favorite shower sing-along song?
Aah-uuuh-aah-jamjamjaaaahuuuuhufffftiohhuuuooohhhhh
3) What was your favorite song as a teenager?
‘Coz I Luv You’ by Slade
4) What is your favorite air-guitar song?
‘Love Is In The Air’
5) Which song do you associate with your 20s?
‘Gangsters’ by The Specials
6) From which song do you know the lyrics by heart?
‘Donna Donna’ by Donovan
7) Which song gives you consolation when you feel sad?
‘Leave A Light On’ by Cockney Rebel
8) Tell me about a song you think people wouldn’t expect you to like.
‘Yesterday Once More’ by The Carpenters is probably the biggest example of kitsch, yet at the same time the highest art form in pop songwriting. It’s perfectly built, with a voice that warms my heart.
9) Which song do you recommend to people if you think they don’t know it?
‘Ritz’ by Cockney Rebel
10) ‘Wonderful Tonight’ by Eric Clapton is a break-up song (about a couple who decide not to tell their friends they just broke up because they don’t want to spoil a party they’re planning to go to). Strangely enough, this song often gets played as the opening song at weddings. Tell me about a song you misunderstood when you first heard it.
Basically, I misunderstand most songs, because I don’t usually follow the lyrics. It’s the singer, not the song! The big exception, though, is The Kinks. I mostly get their lyrics; they touch me and make me cry — cry because of their beauty and simplicity. Songs like ‘Too Much On My Mind,’ ‘Two Sisters,’ ‘Celluloid Heroes,’ and many more. Actually, there’s one song I totally misunderstood: in the very beginning, I used to shout “white night, white night…” to ‘White Riot’ by The Clash.
11) Which song always makes you do silly dance moves?
‘Robots’ by Kraftwerk
12) Which song do you quote most often? Which line?
The Rolling Stones’ ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ and The Beatles’ ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ — these are the two phrases I usually say when someone asks me, “How are you?”
