We decided to give another spin to the recordings I made on the Western Isles in 2006 for the radio series On the Bike. I know this will sound very self serving, but it's been absolute therapy for me hearing the folk I met all over again. It would be hard to decide who were the biggest comedians of the series, but Calum Clelland from Barra has got to be a contender. Teased about the current clamour for a mobile phone mast he responded with mock seriousness, "We may be a Catholic island, but we have no problem with the colour Orange". What a wag. We'll post a programme a week – Barra's first – right through to Stornoway itself just before Christmas. And there'll be a few new programmes – one updating what's happened in some of the main stories during the intervening years.
Because of the endless impasse with the Performing Rights Society, we can't use the music that linked the voices in these programmes – so if you want to get the full effect, buy a copy of Saltfishforty's Orkney Twister and play it in the background as you listen (yes Orcadians!) And let me know what you think. Honestly.
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