Who are we?

Norman Jones

aka Norman Jay

“Music is my passion. I have been a professional singer for over 40 years. I studied music (performance/studio recording and live sound), I have performed live all over Europe, been interviewed many times and had several TV appearances. I came to Catalonia and believe I became the first English-language radio presenter on Radio Mora FM and la Cala RTV, and produced radio for the federation of radio stations in Catalonia.

I relocated to Catalonia in 2008, and five years ago set up Catalonia Radio – because I was disillusioned by local radio here. At that time I was writing in the Catalonia Today magazine too about radio. The internet was not so good then and my listeners seemed to be everywhere except Catalonia.

My programmes are now well accepted in Catalonia on Epic Radio, but that is based in Canada. So I have decided, to launch once again an English-language station dedicated to Catalonia’s people and songwriters. Welcome to TopCat.”

shows

Rolling Back The Years

Icons of Music

The Impromptu Sessions

Paul Taylor

aka pault aka elmussol

Olive farmer, techie, proofreader/typesetter and life-long music geek. Born in the mid-1960s in north-east Lancashire.

Paul also lives in southern Catalonia on an off-grid olive finca. He does the tech and online stuff for TopCat – runs the radio server and website (more details at the foot of the page). Provides online services under the elsmussols.net banner. Passionate about music generally and Free & Open Source Software.

Meet our presenters

Robbie Cassels – Live and Kickin’

Having commenced a technical apprenticeship in engineering, I was, to quote my lovely Dad, “hijacked by music”. Largely due to the influence of Radio Luxembourg and later, the so called “Pirates” I felt compelled to follow the dream and began to DJ everywhere I could. I worked in Denmark and Spain and virtually every venue in Coventry and surrounding areas. I have continued to follow my passion whenever possible.

I have a discotheque road show called The Memphis Train and more recently I also make internet radio contributions from ”The Strawberry Studio” a purpose-built studio at my home in Warwickshire.

Ron Knox – Ronnie Rocks

I’ve been listening to rock music all my life, right from childhood! I love all genres of rock, there’s such diversity. I’m a big fan of ’50s/’60s rock n roll where it all started, and my favourites were Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley. I like my music heavy, be it hard rock, metal and all the variations that took place, even Punk, Grunge, Glam and Nu Rock.

I started my music career as a gigging DJ, but now love being a radio presenter on internet radio. I’ve worked on stations in the USA and UK but love the potential of Topcat Radio and glad to be part of it. I have a wealth of stories, thoughts and observations about the many concerts, festivals and shows I’ve been to and the people I’ve met. So come and say hi on our Facebook Page, let me know your views on the tracks I’ve played, and request some of your favourite songs.

Facebook • Mixcloud

Christopher Garton – From the Donkey Bunker Studio

I have been a DJ since aged 16 where I cut my teeth at the only nightclubs in Saudi Arabia. Having caught the bug I went on to start my own mobile disco company, playing at everything from bahmitzvahs to funerals. I later went onto DJing at my local hospital radio station. A rewarding experience, that made me really excited about becoming a radio DJ. Now I am here on Topcat Radio, and am looking forward to entertaining you all!

Josie Garton – Josie’s Happy Mondays

I started as a club DJ in the late 1970s through the ’80s in both Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire. I like learning trivia particularly about the songs I love to play.

I guess my favourite era for music has to be the ’80s and ’90s – but I have to admit this includes a bit of donk such as trance, house and club – honestly, there’s some really good tunes out there in amongst these styles.

Thanks to TopCat Radio I have been given the opportunity to bring you tunes you may recognise but also some you won’t and that, my friends is really exciting.

Susie and Peter – Words and Music

Susie says: “I’m the writer of The Tales from the Tombstone books, a bit of a jack of all trades; I love a good joke, enjoy listening to music of various genres and am a life-long lover of books and reading. I have never worked in radio before and just wing it must of the time – ha ha.”

Peter says: “I’m a keen photographer and co-author of The Tales from the Tombstone series. I have a dark sense of humour, love horror films amd all music (apart from rap and punk). I have been a landscape gardener, computer shop worker and lots of other things. I love technology and playing around with my car, fixing problems. This is my first time as a radio DJ and am loving being on Topcat.”

Peter Coombes – Pete’s Progress

Peter also takes us on his weekly journey through ProgRock.

Joint Chief – Joint Chief In The Mix

Joint Chief (Daniel O’Reilly) has been collecting and playing drum & bass, jungle and reggae music since 2001, DJing at warehouse parties in Hackney, London on a socially-owned rig, as well as house parties, clubs, internet radio and recently, livestreaming for Music Connects People. From long, musical mixes to explosive double drops, nostalgic jungle interludes and contemporary bangers, Joint Chief is fanatical about the musical range, positivity and energy of drum & bass culture. Moving from London to Catalonia in 2016, he has recently been digging into the musical diversity of his record collection, whilst exploring the energetic jungle music scene and its collectives centred in Barcelona.

Facebook • Mixcloud

Roy Crank – Crankin’ Up’

Hi! I’m Roy and live in Ukraine. Learning music, art and composing in different genres and performing them, sometimes for records, are important parts of my musical progression. They take a huge piece of my life.

I am extremely thankful for TopCat for giving me this opportunity.

website • Facebook • YouTube • Bandcamp

Marc Muñoz – Ho Sento Molt

Marc Muñoz (aka MarcJamDJ) is a singer, DJ, and radio show host. In the 80s he began his career as a DJ in legendary venues in Barcelona and its surroundings such as Studio Ono or Studio 54. In the ’90s he worked in venues and halls such as Inercia, Xanadú, Pachà, La Tierra, Luz De Gas, Sala B, Croqits, Jam Session Rosebud or Partycular among others. He currently directs the Radio Joventut radio music show Ho Sento Molt in Terres de l’Ebre and is the frontman of the emerging band Natural Killers.

Malcolm Poole – Soul Pool

My first spot behind the decks was at the “Tree Tops Club”, a former cinema (and now a Gurdwara) when the DJ at our local pub let me have a go behind the decks in return for getting him trade prices at the record shop where I worked. I took two copies of James Brown’s “Sex Machine” single, and mixed Part One into Part Two, and kept the dancers on the floor a little bit longer than they were expecting.

So playing music was in my blood from an early age, but I didn’t get the chance to do much more until the Northern Soul scene became big again, and promoters wanted more DJs for their one-hour slots. And they wanted DJs who were not playing the “same-old same-old” that you could hear on any number of “Best of Northern Soul” CDs.

I started looking for tunes on vinyl that were very dancable, and instantly “hit a groove”, even if you had not heard the track before. Even if it meant getting into trouble from some of the so-called “purists” who thought that Northern Soul stopped being produced in the mid 70s.

If you like to hear something different, then listen into my show each week. It’s not all “northern” by the way, it’s a completely mixed bag; you might hear brand new releases, the originals of songs that were more famous as the cover version, or even hits from European stars that never made it big on the English side of “La Manche”.

Charly el Vagamundo – Always on the Road

Charly, a musician and producer, was born and raised in France, but his family hails from the beautiful village of Bogarra in southern Spain. Living between two cultures and exploring the world, he developed an early interest in music, seeing it as a universal language. He studied and immersed himself in the world of urban music during the hip-hop boom of the 2000s in France. As a student, he founded and promoted an independent production house, focusing on production, recording, and event organization.

Years later, weary of city life, he succumbed to the allure of travel and musical exploration. During a seven-year journey, mostly hitchhiking with little money, he carried his guitar and a desire to share music with people from all over the world. Now, as a content father of three children, he resides in southern Catalonia, where he is establishing a new production house called Vagamundos Production. This collective of artists aims to support musicians from around the world and advance the art of music.

In his new project, “El escaparate dels Vagamundos” located in Terres de l’Ebre, he provides a radio space for artists and people from diverse backgrounds to express themselves and share their music, always remembering that music is universal…

Lydia Lady Blue – The Lady Blue Project

Lydia Lady Blue has been a composer and singer for more than ten years. She has collaborated with another artists and has performed in concerts and shows over the length and breadth of Catalonia and the rest of Spain. She has also been interviewed on radio and television. Her music has a magical atmosphere to help humanity raise awareness.

YouTube

Neil Greaves – Guilty Pleasure 45s

My passion for music drew its first breath when Radio Rentals took our TV away. I was ten years old. Not being one who waits to be entertained, and being of a curious nature, I decided to explore my mother’s vast record collection, the bulk of which represented the genres of folk and country. But, hidden in its depths were some real sonic treasures. After a short search, I unearthed Bob Marley’s Burning and the Wailers albums, Donny Hathaway’s Extension Of a Man, and the complete works of Ray Charles and Millie Jackson. This was truly my Eureka moment!

Now I had a new passion, now I could see a path before me, one that I would follow from that day forth. Paper-round money was now being used to service a new addiction – a new hunger.

No longer would I be visiting the local toyshop to buy yet another Airfix Spitfire (1:72 scale) to cover in inappropriately-applied glue. No, from now on, it was now the racks of vinyl in my local record stores that beckoned me with their seductive contents. Aylesbury’s Record House, Earth Records and Our Price were my after-school haunts. Even now I can still recall, as if it were yesterday, the alluring scent of clean, fresh vinyl that permeated these (what were in my mind) palaces, these shrines dedicated to music, sanctuaries where I could escape from the world and be Me.

The Grundig radiogram, my then pride and joy, with the glow of its valves radiating evocatively through the louvered vents of the rear cover, would now be pumped to the max, and my my bedroom window would be wide open. This was the life, sharing the music I loved with the kids playing outside my house, while Mother would scream her own chorus of disapproval, “NEIL! TURN DOWN THE BASS!”. I knew it in my heart, my blood, my soul, I wanted to be a DJ.

So now you know a little more about me from my perspective. In the eyes of others I’ve been described as (amongst other things that I think I’ll keep to myself!) charmingly and uniquely amusing, but I will let you, my beautiful listeners, be my judge…

I look forward to playing my music for you. – Greavsie

Eddie Garrido – Dare to Listen

Eddie Garrido is from Mexico, his father was a musician, and has toured Spain and lived in Madrid. Eddie is also a fine composer and musician living in the United States. His new jazz show is exclusive to Topcat Radio.

Al “Bear” Galpin – The SecondHandSongs Radio Show

SecondHandSongs is a weekly show all about cover versions. Each week we bring you an hour’s worth of the best cover versions, from those which are hits in their own right to hidden gems, foreign language covers, songs you didn’t realize were covers and more cover versions. Each week we bring you an hour’s worth of the best cover versions, from those which are hits in their own right to hidden gems, foreign language covers, songs you didn’t realize were covers and more.

On each show, we will be focusing in on one or two songs to bring you the story of the song (The Cover Story), as well as creating a new “Cover Chain” each week, where we try to link different cover versions together. Then we end each week with an Obscure Original of a song you probably didn’t realize was a cover. The show is produced in association with SecondHandSongs.com the online database of cover versions.

Al is a podcaster and radio presenter. As well as SecondHandSongs, he also hosts The Bear Cave Radio Show and is co-host of the 3 Amigos podcast. He is also the founder of SuperPod: TheCharity Podcast Festival. He got his start in radio at Southampton Hospital Radio before studying Radio Production at university, helping to set up a new student radio station in north-west England.

Cover versions have long been a passion of Al’s, and he says that getting to bring you his favourites and discover new covers through this show is a real delight.

SecondHandSongs

Ken Michaels – Every Little Thing

Ken began his radio career at college radio station WNYT (New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY) in 1981, where as Disc Jockey he handled several of their music formats – oldies, rock, and his weekly Beatles show (later named Every Little Thing) in March 1982. While he’s enjoyed being on the air on other radio formats – adult contemporary, and album oriented rock, he’s best known for nearly 40 years of several different Beatles shows, including podcasts, and his own YouTube channel.

Creating a Beatles show unlike any other with Every Little Thing, the programme mixes the entire catalogue of the Fab’s group and solo recordings, plus features, cover versions of their material, side projects, tribute songs, novelty records, family members, artists on the Beatles’ Apple label, etc. Ken also includes Beatles trivia and a wide variety of games testing fans’ knowledge of the Beatles music and history. Many shows have original interviews with people in the Beatles world, and every show includes a unique thematic set, focusing on everything from the serious (John Lennon political songs) to the silly (song titles that rhyme). Anything is up for grabs in this show which caters to both the casual and hardcore fan.

Every Little Thing was heard first on WNYT (1982-83), then for ten years on New Jersey’s Album Rocker WDHA-FM (1983-93), followed by Long Island’s Oldies station B-103 during the Beatles Anthology craze, and later on XM Radio on their eclectic music channel, Fine Tuning (2003-09). His show was syndicated in 2011, and currently is heard on over 45 stations. Ken developed his own website which features much of what you’ll find on Every Little Thing – loads of interviews, weekly Beatles trivia, and more!

Ken also became co-host for several Beatles podcast, including Things We Said Today started in 2012, and Talk More Talk: A Solo-Beatles Videocast. Both shows are heard on many platforms, including iTunes and their own YouTube channel. As if that wasn’t enough, Ken’s new YouTube channel has him interviewing musicians, authors and fellow podcasters who have dedicated their time and livelihood to the Beatles.

Ken Michaels Radio • YouTube • email: everylittlething@att.net

Lee Everest – Dance Party Weekly

Dance Party Weekly is a show, played on stations worldwide. It’s two or three hours long, specialising in commercial dance and house music from the last 30 years.

Harley Buckner – Afternoon Adventure

I’m the one who has never been a DJ! A pub/club entertainer and host, gasbag and racounteur are as close as I ever got.

On a trip to Canada a few years ago I came across a radio show which combined the music I loved with interesting snippets, anecdotes and quiz questions and thought to myself, if I get the opportunity that’s what I’d like to do. TopCat has given me that opportunity – hits of the 70s through to the 00s – it’s quizzy, it’s quirky and distinctly odd (but so am I).

Chris ‘The Shirt’ Elliott – Reggae Vybe

Chris ‘The Shirt’ Elliott was brought up in SE London on a diet of Reggae, Soul and Jim Reeves (blame his Jamaican dad for that one). He started playing on internet radio a few years back on the original Sunrisefm and since then his stations have included the now defunct Vinyl Morpher Radio, and Platinum Grooves Radio, which he part owned. He has been known to hit the floors on various dance floors at soul nights, and of course the infamous Caister Soul Weekenders, but as he’s got older it’s more of a crawl rather than a spring. Shirty’s dress sense (loud shirts) and choice of football teams (Millwall) have had people questioning his sanity, but his choonz are good so we let him in.

Big People music – If You Know, You Know. – Shirty x

email: shirty1960@hotmail.com