Dave was 100% correct when he said that Elis and John were amongst the most important shows on Radio X. No one did it like them before. They completely turned X’s desired focus demographic of chavism on its head. They brought in a kind of patience and consideration, an empathy and ability to look out for and care for the people around you without getting laughed at. They were closer to the spirit of the pits at the shows the bands played on X embodied: if someone falls, you pick them up and then have fun. No one’s done it since, either. Ed Gamble has a certain style of comedy (one that I’d have to approximate as ‘bullying with a twinkle in the eye’) but Ed and Matthew’s shows aren’t anywhere near Elis and John’s. I kind of wish they were on a music station these days, I feel like they were the perfect foil for any extra-lightheadedness that 6 Music’s perfect world can pretend to bask in (or rather John’s sourness as a counter to the ‘everything’s great!’ 6 vibe, and Elis as the foil to John), but also again the way they would ground music listeners in the world of pointless egos that is the music business would’ve been much better used on 6 than on a podcast.
Anyway, yes Dave. One of the most important shows on Radio X.
