Jo Whiley sprang a genuine surprise on rising star Chloe Slater during her sofa session, playing her a clip of former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr praising her track Tiny Screens as "a dead cool sort of 45". Slater, visibly stunned, admitted she'd once "butchered" This Charming Man on guitar as a teenager and said: "Sorry, Johnny Marr, God of guitar."
The praise kept coming later in the hour when Mark Radcliffe, about to take over with his Folk Show, messaged Jo mid-broadcast to say Slater's cover of New Radicals' You Get What You Give was "the greatest record ever made". Jo relayed the compliment live on air, delighted at the reaction from a fellow Radio 2 host.
Slater, whose debut album Riot Youth lands on Friday, talked Jo through the vinyl's throwback artwork, joking about a poster of herself "in Lycra" with leg warmers and a fluffy crown. She also revealed her mum Lucy took her to her first ever gig, Royal Blood, aged 14, and that her acoustic guitar is affectionately named Mary. Among the session highlights were live performances of Southern Youth, Mother Nature's Killing Spree and a cover of You Get What You Give, before she closed the show with her choice of Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, a song she said she used to "lie on my bedroom floor" listening to on her grandparents' old record player.
Earlier in the Shiny Happy Playlist half-hour, Jo read out a steady stream of listener messages, including a shout-out to Ava from Newbury who'd just passed her driving test, and Rachel, a care worker whose car clutch had broken down on a tough shift.
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