A RADIO DJ has been slapped on the butt after offering prizes to drivers who cause road rage.  Colin does the 6pm to 9:30pm show at West FM daily.

West FM host Colin McArdle had asked listeners to stop their car at traffic lights on green and call him on their mobiles.  Then he gave them £5 if another driver beeped at them.

But angry listeners complained to the Ayr-based station and watchdog Ofcom, who launched an investigation.  One listener said: "I'm outraged. This is irresponsible, dangerous, encourages road rage and is also illegal."  It did not help that since the broadcast there has been several road rage incidents.  One with a police officer who was run over after shooting a perp, a soldier who was stabbed and a woman whose car was flipped over by a tailgater.

West Fm - The first independent local radio station in the British Isles began broadcasting in 1973.  This was the London Broadcasting Company, or LBC as it is better known, and was largely speech orientated.  West Fm gave McArdle - who ran the competition without permission - a written warning. 

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DJ, Kanye square off over unreleased songs

FORGET that DJ you were going to hire for your next party - wannabe rock star Russell Crowe is at your service.

In his latest bid to be taken seriously as a singer, Crowe is hiring himself out for private parties, including corporate Christmas parties as Confidential reported earlier this month.

Party planners will have to fork out $1.2 million for the privilege.  And that's not covering flight and accommodation costs. The man with the not-so rock star middle name of Ira is available to perform over the festive season but a spokesperson warns "his diary is a moving beast".

Meanwhile, Ira, who has picked up a regular gig at The Vanguard in Sydney's Newtown during December, is looking likely to sing at the AFI Awards Dinner later this month.  I just have to check out this hot act for myself.  I will be on call for a report Dj Ira, so let me know when I can fly in to hear that beat master blend home skillet.  Aiiiight, now back to reality, had to mention this because on the off chance he knows what a beat is.

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reprint of story on Oxford student paper

The feminist's tale

By Kate Shea-Baird

The shrill Radio One DJ Sara Cox wrote in The Guardian recently that she was dismayed at the lack of whistles and catcalls she was receiving in the street after having her first child. Apparently a mother pushing a pram just doesn’t do it for the man in the street these days. Poor Sara, you’ve got to feel sorry for a woman whose confidence crumbles without the validation of total strangers, and sweaty, hairy ones at that.

But what is so frustrating about comments like this from Cox and many other women who voice similar opinions, is that they conjure up the image of the cheeky wink and hello from your neighborhood builder on a warm summers day. Who could object to that, after all? Only those repressed feminist harpies no doubt.

Unfortunately such ‘flattery’ is more likely to come on a cold winter’s night, from a hairy, toothless guy, asking my sixteen year old sister if she’d like to suck his cock, or a gang of teenagers taking it in turns to grab your bum when you get off a night bus. God forbid any young woman who wants to be able to go out at night (maybe even wearing a skirt), and get home without being harassed. Reclaim the night indeed.

When women say they like unsought for approaches by strangers in the street, they should get outside their own fragile egos and think about the message they are sending to the men out there who may not be able to see the line between flattery and intimidation. It is irresponsible to encourage this behavior, however much you may enjoy some of its fluffier incarnations.

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reprint of story in www.Vheadline.com 

NYC judge sets bail at US$250,000; Cadena in death of Venezuelan-born DJ

NorthJersey.com staffer Eman Varoqua: A Superior Court judge has denied a plea from Paterson boxer Freddie Cadena to lower his $1 million cash bail to $250,000. Cadena is charged with fatally punching a Venezuelan-born DJ.

Judge Marilyn C. Clark, seated in Paterson, said, "I think there is an enormous risk of flight. I'll leave the bail where it is."

Cadena, 29, of Clifton, will remain at the Passaic County Jail, where he has been since he turned himself in to police on Oct. 27. The former junior welterweight prospect stands accused of throwing a fatal blow on Oct. 16, knocking out Rafael "Ralphi" Falcon, 27, a popular nightclub disc jockey.

Falcon's family and friends, who filled one side of the courtroom, erupted in applause as the judge spoke. They carried signs of remembrance, and many sobbed when Cadena first entered the courtroom. As Cadena left with sheriff's officers, one member of the group yelled out to him in Spanish that he was "garbage" and a "dog."

Falcon, of Paterson, had been in a relationship with Cadena's ex-girlfriend -- the mother of one of Cadena's children -- and the two men exchanged words over the course of the night at the Rio Grande, a Paterson nightclub on Union Boulevard, authorities said.

"It appeared Cadena was looking for trouble," Passaic County Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Latoracca said in court. A bouncer threw Cadena and his friends out, Latoracca said, but Falcon went outside to tell the bouncer that it was OK, they had settled the dispute.

Later, when Falcon was walking around the corner of the club, Cadena was allegedly still outside, and authorities believe he threw a punch that knocked Falcon to the ground. Falcon lost consciousness, but was able to recover for a brief while at the hospital, Latoracca said. He told family members and others that it was Cadena who punched him, Latoracca said.

Falcon then lapsed into a coma, and was pronounced dead nine days later.

• Curtis J. La Forge, Cadena's attorney, had argued that because his client turned himself in to police there was no flight risk. La Forge maintained his client's not guilty plea.

Cadena's criminal background is beset with violence, Latoracca said. In 1996, he was charged with aggravated assault and given two years of probation. In 2002, he served time in jail and was put on additional probation for simple assault. On September 16, he pleaded guilty to terroristic threats and contempt of court for a domestic violence dispute. He had served 179 days in jail, and was back on probation. A month later, he encountered Falcon outside the Rio Grande. "Given the fact that this defendant is a professional boxer, we're dealing with something more than normal," Latoracca said. "He knows the damage he can do."

• The last time Cadena boxed professionally was in a televised fight in 2003. Cadena suffered seizures after being punched in the sixth round.

La Forge asked the court to perform a neurological evaluation on his client because of those seizures. The attorney said they may have caused permanent damage.

Carmen Escarraga, Falcon's mother, hugged family members in the hallway outside the courtroom. "I'm tranquil," she said in Spanish. "I feel at peace with what the judge did." Escarraga carried a sign that read, "In the sky there is an angel. On the Earth there is a sentence for him, a long sentence."

• Falcon was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and moved to Paterson when he was 12 to live with his mother. He is survived by a 4-year-old son.

Cadena said he has four children, ages 9, 4, 3 and 1, who live in Paterson, and his mother lives in Puerto Rico.

Clark remanded the matter to the grand jury, which could indict him on murder, aggravated manslaughter or a lesser crime. Murder carries a prison term of up to life in prison, and aggravated manslaughter carries up to 30 years.

Eman Varoqua
varoqua@northjersey.com

Enough of the doom and gloom though, the advice that I’d give is always to have a scathing comeback for those situations where your suitor oversteps the mark. If he’s an older specimen out with friends, congratulate them on their charity in taking granddad out of his home for some fresh air. Insulting the size of his manhood, meanwhile, can be done in an infinite number of ways, and is certain to crush an ego.

If all else fails, start dialing the police, and see how quickly his bravado dissolves before your eyes.

10th Nov 2005

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Ravi Sagoo, a DJ of Indian origin, will host a weekly radio show on the BBC Asian Network after he won its talent search contest.  Twenty-four-year-old Sagoo, from Bearsden near Glasgow, Scotland, was one of 700 people across Britain who entered the competition, which sought to introduce young talents into the corporation. He was chosen out of a shortlist of three by producers who praised his "warm Scottish lilt" and the ability to connect with the station's audience.

Sagoo, who honed his broadcasting talents on a community radio station in Glasgow, will present the two-hour Album Chart Show every Saturday at 1 p.m., starting Nov 19.
He said: "British Asian music is on the up. It's a great time for the whole scene."

The Asian Network station has won a growing audience among British Asians, playing a blend of bhangra, soundtracks from Indian films and Indipop.

Sagoo, who graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University where he studied communications and media studies, is currently working on a nine-month radio and television production course run by the BBC and Community Service Volunteers.

       "People always wanna accuse me of payola – taking money for records," Flex told SOHH.com. "What do people pay for records? People have thrown around the figure of $2,500... $5,000. I work for Ford, Turtle Wax, Yahoo.com, Castro Oil. I do marketing, they sponsor my tours. I'm a face for Castro Oil, the first African American to do that. Ford, I customize vehicles for them, they sponsor my tours. I do marketing for them. They sponsor my tour shows, my racing dates. Yahoo.com plays my videos, my TV shows. I get $100,000 to customize cars for people like Castro. What am I doing with $2,500? I don't jeopardize what I do to do stuff like that."

       As previously reported, The Source has quoted a witness claiming to have spotted Flex accepting large sums of money ranging from $500,000 to $1 million to play certain records. 

       “None of these record companies or rappers even have half of $100,000, let alone to give it to me," said Flex. "Incredible! What I do isn't worth that. I'm on the radio in New York City at night time. I can't make other DJ's across the country play a record. I play a record and people hear it. It's up to the individual that hears the song to say whether he likes it or not.”  So what it comes down to young ones is, that if you are not hot, you don't get played. 

If you want to get your stuff on the radio, go to the record pools, give them the product, all radio dj's, club dj's and mobile dj's that are real are in record pools.  Members  of record pools, play product and check out new trends and look for hot new stuff to play.  So if you think you have the stuff, bring it to your local record pool or to NY, Cali, Florida or down South pools Atl and such.  They will help you to decide whether or not you got what it takes, and can help you to make it hot.  Remember if the dj's already have your record, they will play it because they like it.  A record pool is a group of Dj's dedicated to hearing the newest music, report whether the record is one they would play, and let the reporting agency know what they think.  Loads of records get sent to them each week, and it is where they find the next artist, not by who gives them the new record at a party.  Most times they have to have the record reviewed and if there is no corroboration on the records stability-a notice by record pools that they should back the record and it is thought by the dj's to be behind the record, it wont get played.  Even though some records get play anyway because individual dj loves it.  The underground dj's are members of record pool and love some records that they play in clubs wherever they play.  So there it is, don't moan and groan, get the music to the record pools nearest you.  In New York: (Sure Record Group, SOS, RPBC, VIP, Flex's Pool, and Reel Record pool are some of the oldest in the city and most known).  Most radio dj's are members of several pools and love to listen to new music.