The Shed’s Teenage Radio Party

Jules and Julia Show – BBC Radio York – LIVE broadcast 9 June 2005

Listen again to the Jules and Julia special celebrating 13 years of The Shed. Live music and chat from Ian McMillan, Snake Davis, Billy Jenkins, Hank Wangford, Richard Barnes, Simon Thackray, Joan King and Wendy Moorby. Learn about HAT – The Shed’s award-winning ‘words, music and knitting’ show and the first North Yorkshire Elvis Bus Tour. Wendy Moorby, World Champion Fastest Knitter, knits one our famous knitted Elvis wigs live on air. (Sirdar designed the knitted Elvis wig pattern from Simon’s original idea) and Ian McMillan talks about Simon, The Shed and the Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race.

LISTEN NOW (requires Real Player)

The Shed Party playlist:

Brendan Power – harmonica player, recording with Sting etc.
Chris Smither – New Orleans blues singer
Justin Vali Trio – from Madagasca – the most joyful music ever
Norma Waterson MBE – Queen of English Folk Music
Snake Davis – Eurythmics and M People sax player. See gigs:
Hank Wangford & the Lost Cowboys – Christmas Shows at The Shed for ever!
Billy Jenkins (playing live) – south London guitartist and Shed collaborator
Labi Siffre – first Shed gig in 1992 – wrote It Must Be Love
Mrs Boyes’ Bingo featuring Mark Sanders – Simon’s legendary happening…
Martin Simpson – great English guitarst and songwriter…
Bob Cobbing – sound poet and a wonder of the world. R.I.P.
Four Brothers – Zimbabwe’s finest, favourite of the late John Peel.
Kevin Coyne – one of the greatest performers of all time. R.I.P.
Helen Watson – first performed at The Shed in 1993. See gigs:

Ian talks about his first gig at The Shed alongside his heroes Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick and the first Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race. He explains how he met Snake Davis on the banks of Bob’s Pond and how the heavens opened, and about HAT, the performance of words, music and knitting that took the wool world by storm. Jules talks to Hank Wangford on the phone from southern Ireland about his annual Christmas visits to The Shed.

HAT: “…brilliant flashes of individual inspiration – for sheer originality you have to take your hat off to them.” Guardian

Billy tells Julia what it’s like to perform at The Shed and sings “I Like Rain’ from his solo album ‘When The Crowds Have Gone’ (recently played on the Mark Radcliffe Show) and ‘I Ain’t Gettin Married In The Mornin‘ – written for Simon and Jenny’s wedding. Eurythmics and M People’s Snake Davis joins in on sax.

Billy Jenkins ‘has managed to delight the critics and a lot of live audiences without ever remotely troubling the chart compilers. ‘When the Crowds Have Gone’ will doubtless maintain this proud cult status.’ The Times

Sirdar’s Chief Designer Sue Batley-Kyle explains the creation of the famous knitted Elvis wig (another brainchild of Simon) as Wendy Moorby (former world champion fastest knitter) casts on. Sparks fly from the needles as Wendy speeds through the black wool to knit a complete Elvis wig during the two hour show.

Billy Jenkins and Snake Davis are both members of the extended Shed family. Billy and Ian perform together in HAT and Snake and Ian work together for Radio 4. When they perform at The Shed it’s like a home-coming. You’ll hear Snake talking warmly and playing penny whistle like you won’t believe. Both Billy and Snake teach young people in Ryedale with Pied Piper – the young people’s music charity co-founded by Simon.

Snake Davis ‘He doesn’t mess about’ Guardian

Richard Barnes is at the back of the studio drawing furiously. Richard has been a long time collaborator at The Shed and was the first artist in residence at the Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race. He helped Simon build the stage in Kirby Misperton Church for the very first gig in 1992. There are two huge examples of Richard’s work on permanent display in York District Hospital (main corridor). These two light boxes depict the North Yorkshire coastline and York railway station and they look fantastic.

Joan is The Shed’s Chief Volunteer. She helps to run the bar with her husband Bob (of Bob’s Pond) and is also a mad keen knitter. Every Christmas she knits a new ‘object’ (knitted cowboy, tin of baked beans, Santa Claus etc) for Hank Wangford and each member of the Lost Cowboys. She also bakes a huge Christmas cake which she serves to the audience (free of charge) with mince pies and cheese at The Shed’s Christmas Party.

The Shed Party playlist:

LISTEN NOW (requires Real Player)

Brendan Power – harmonica player, recording with Sting etc.
Chris Smither – New Orleans blues singer
Justin Vali Trio – from Madagasca – the most joyful music ever
Norma Waterson MBE – Queen of English Folk Music
Snake Davis – Eurythmics and M People sax player. See gigs:
Hank Wangford & the Lost Cowboys – Christmas Shows at The Shed!
Billy Jenkins (live) – south London guitartist and Shed collaborator
Labi Siffre – first Shed gig in 1992 – wrote It Must Be Love
Mrs Boyes’ Bingo featuring Mark Sanders – Legendary improv gig:
Martin Simpson – great English guitarst and songwriter…
Bob Cobbing – sound poet and a wonder of the world. R.I.P.
Four Brothers – Zimbabwe’s finest, favourite of the late John Peel.
Kevin Coyne – one of the greatest performers of all time. R.I.P.
Helen Watson – first performed at The Shed in 1993. See gigs:

The Shed

Only two man-made things can be seen from space
The Great Wall of China, and this:
An old Shed door and a packed out place
Of community, cultural, artistic bliss…

If the world has a centre then this is it,
And I’m only exaggerating a tiny bit!

© Ian McMillan