Blog: It Was 20 Years Ago Today... When We Were On Radio One!

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It seems impossible, but I have been informed by Mr F A Machine that our live session on Radio One was TWENTY YEARS AGO to this very day!

Twenty years!! That can't be right can it? It seems like only... well, maybe a couple of years ago, but not two whole decades. CRIKEY.

The whole thing came about because Steve Lamacq was coming to the end of his time on The Evening Session and decided that, as nobody else was likely to give us a session, then HE flipping well would. Some have suggested that this was an act of REVENGE against Radio One for ending the show, but I personally cannot see how that would make sense? Surely putting US on, rather than one of those bands people actually like, was REITHIAN in its public service?

As you can tell from my blog about the day it felt HUGE at the time, and to be honest it still does - I got nervous all over again just reading about it! There's several bits about the day I don't remember (Mark Lammar?) but also some I DO recall that I didn't mention back then, notably the fact that the lovely studio team asked if we'd like to come for a drink with them (which was apparently A Thing) but we said no because we had to go and see our pals in the pub. Is there an alternate universe where we DID go, and now we're on tour with SONIC YOUTH?

I do distinctly remember doing the interview bit with Steve, him asking me to introduce the next song, and me suddenly realising that I was now broadcasting LIVE, on my own, with nobody to tell me what to do, to at least a MILLION people! As the original blog says, I'd been doing this sort of thing in my head my whole life, so actually doing it in reality felt sort of natural... until it was all over, at which point the ENORMITY of it all hit me.

There may be a few other alternate universes where we properly CAPITALISED on it, but actually having typed that I can't think of what we could actually have DONE. As it was we went on tour the following week and at most gigs there were approx TWO additional people who'd heard us on the radio and come to see what we were like, but that was about it in terms of audience. The main thing was having GRATE fun being able to SWAN AROUND for the rest of the year saying "Oh yes, when we were on Radio One" at any opportunity, and it did FEEL like we were slightly more likely to be asked to do gigs for a while, but two decades on it's become something ASTONISHING (like Hey Hey 16K going viral, or us getting into Rolling Stone) that doesn't seem like the sort of thing that SHOULD happen to a band like us, but totally DID.

It was a fab day and a LOVELY thing for Mr Lamacq to do for us - he could have got somebody on that would make him look cool (or cooler), but instead gave us a leg up that we didn't necessarily take advantage of, but certainly enjoyed. I don't think the session's online anywhere anymore, and ASTOUNDINGLY nobody has tried to licence it for re-release, but you can always enjoy the photo gallery of our time there. It was brilliant, I just can't believe it was so long ago!

posted 17/7/2026 by MJ Hibbett

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