All Time Low arrive and Chris offers Rita Ora his socks
All Time Low joined Scott in the studio after illness had forced them to cancel a signing during their UK tour. Alex Gaskarth explained that he seemed to become ill whenever the band visited Britain in winter, although the timing had at least been unusually cooperative: the worst of it had fallen on a scheduled day off rather than forcing them to cancel a concert. He had still faced criticism online and joked that he had reached the point of feeling sorry for himself and wanting everybody to leave him alone.
The band introduced “Somewhere in Neverland”, a song which had emerged as a natural single after receiving an immediate response from fans. They had begun opening their shows with it, a position which depended upon the audience reacting strongly from the first moment. The members watched themselves on Radio 1’s studio cameras and visibly enjoyed hearing the track played, before admitting that songs always sounded slightly different when they came through the radio.
Bras, fans and life on tour
All Time Low estimated that a particularly good concert could bring 50 to 100 bras on to the stage. After one American tour, they had collected thousands and donated them through a scheme which supported breast-cancer charities. It was, they acknowledged, a surprisingly un-rock-and-roll answer to Scott’s question about what happened to everything thrown at them.
The band answered questions sent by fans listening around the world, including people in Brazil, New Zealand and Australia. Asked for the cleverest words they knew, they offered “epitome” and “microcosm”. They discussed their affection for Biffy Clyro and Young Guns, their family connection to The Wanted through a former manager and the possibility of touring with an artist from a completely different genre. Macklemore was the most serious suggestion, while Beyoncé was dismissed as too clingy.
Jack Barakat described walking directly into the crowd and being mauled by fans, then regularly returning to the drum riser to ask whether he was bleeding. He was also challenged about a bruise on his backside supposedly caused by a listener. Before leaving, the band looked ahead to Slam Dunk Festival and supporting Green Day at the Emirates Stadium, while Chris prepared to attend their show with enough bras to help improve its unofficial rating.
A phrase for Iceland
A travel writer working on a guide to Reykjavík offered to include a phrase suggested by the programme in its Icelandic language section. Scott and Chris had previously found baffling lines in genuine phrase books, including requests for a urine specimen and horseshoes, and wanted to add something equally unnecessary.
Listeners proposed phrases including “There is vomit in your hair”, “Do I have milk in my moustache?”, “My pony has a puncture” and “Do you sell Terry’s Chocolate Orange?”. Other suggestions drew on the show itself, from “Where can I buy nudie pens?” to “Do you have a hairdryer for my wet Grazia magazine?”. The invitation followed another small moment of recognition for the programme: “Go on pigs”, taken from an Innuendo Bingo clip, had acquired its own Urban Dictionary entry.
Dinner in complete darkness
Scott had eaten at a restaurant where the customers could not see anything at all. He had initially enjoyed the idea that taste and conversation would become more important without sight, but the experience became increasingly stressful when he needed the toilet and could not find his server, Takeshi.
The people at the next table heard Scott repeatedly calling for help and began referring to him as “toilet boy”. When Takeshi finally returned, he wanted to serve another table before guiding Scott out, prompting a desperate refusal. Scott also knocked over two bottles of water and later hit himself near the eye after mistaking a glass bottle for an ordinary glass, although he resisted Chris’s suggestion that he should have moved to another table and stolen its food.
Chris gives Rita Ora his socks
An urgent request moved through the Radio 1 office for a pair of socks for Rita Ora. She had arrived in high heels, wanted to perform more comfortably and had nothing to wear on her feet. Chris immediately removed his own matching socks and carried them to the Live Lounge.
Rita accepted the socks, sniffed them and said they did not smell too bad, although she found them slightly clammy. She eventually performed barefoot, leaving both Rita in the Live Lounge and Chris in the office without anything on their feet. The encounter was filmed for Radio 1’s Facebook page.
Scott realised the gesture threatened his carefully maintained impartiality in the listener vote for the Brit Awards’ British Breakthrough category. If Rita won, the other nominees could argue that she had received special treatment. Chris would now have to offer socks to Alt-J, Ben Howard, Jessie Ware and Jake Bugg before voting closed to make the arrangement fair.
Radio 1 Real or No Real
The week’s presenter edition of Real or No Real ended with several more pieces of Radio 1 history. Sara Cox really had fronted a sexual-health campaign involving Lindsay Lohan and a member of So Solid Crew, while Scott really had driven a sponsored car bearing his own name during his earlier time at a Bristol radio station.
Greg James had arrived breathless for the beginning of his show after shopping for champagne flutes, but Chris had never adopted the DJ name Chris Spoon. Gemma Cairney’s long run of invented avant-garde outfits finally produced a genuine story: she had worn a fluorescent shell suit while blowing bubbles in a supermarket. Gemma then confirmed that she planned to change outfits during every song of her Saturday programme, creating roughly 20 looks in one show.
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