Editorial: December. A Merry Christmas From Talk Audio

Hello and welcome to the month of Yule in the land of the automotive. A lot has changed since last Christmas and a lot has been la méme chose! The developments in the OEM sector look cool, with the Volvo XC90 getting loaned and checked out at B&W’s HQ for research in Steyning on the south coast. I was even able to write about a quasi-secret super OEM woofer device that Alpine are delighted to offer their Jaguar Land Rover colleagues-in-audio and are also used in the Volvo. Dubbed the ‘˜Fresh Air’ woofer, it is builded into the monocoque of the very car itself. And it drops and shifts bizarre amounts of air. It was good enough to keep up with the Bowers system and that’s a bit hectic.
This year, one of my videos went through two million hits and is at 2,036,000 right now! JVC have sponsored us with a camcorder and despite the fears of one soul who thinks my career is on offer for a £232 device, described in the very article below the one he commented upon, I promise to be dispassionate with the big old JVC double din flagship I have been sent to check out since.
US hardcore boom brand Kicker are resurgent in the UK and the future for a decent living to add to the hobbyist work for some dealers looks to be safety equipment. We have an SQ brand appeared from a designer who used to work for a company that sold tweeters priced at £700.
Each.
So that aughta be interesting. I have a Harley Davidson monster tourer to play with for Kicker and I did BBC national and local radio spots at a rate of two or three a month, sometimes a day. I enjoy radio and have a great face for it. ‘I love having Adam on the show. He does all the voices. It’s like having the entire cast of East Enders presenting Top Gear!’ – that was Tony Livesey of BBC Radio 5LIVE. I really must try to get on an agency. The best is Noel Gay, who have the likes of Jeremy Vine on their books.
Now the big news in cars right now, is of course the Grand Tour with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond and James May. I have seen the first episode and not pursued seeing the others. I was reminded of Tiff Needell being more-like-himself-than-himself for the director of a Volvo Trucks advert. Like a caricature. Despite protestations to the reverse about not being ‘˜Americanised’, Richard Hammond made a joke about the destruction of Clarkson’s house by explosive demolition, as part of a ‘˜if that’s a slower car than mine wager’. Hammond suggested that Clarkson would be homeless and live under a bridge with his possessions in a shopping trolley. This is an image of AMERICAN homelessness as we don’t LET the no-fixed-abode keep and use a trolley. No, the trollies go in the canal or get collected by a supermarket person.
And on top of the big thing a ‘˜gwan with that, the triumvirate have started a new social medium. Just for car people, it is an amalgam of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, with posts that have a character limit, pictures and videos are hosted by the social site and you follow, in ‘˜Tribes’
For a while it was all a bit hush-hush, unless you happened to hit upon it some time ago and sign up, like our own Samuel Ellis, you weren’t even aware. Then it was magical codes to be invited in a bit early (to make you feel kinda important) and I was sent one by a kind sweet soul, after the inestimable LEM at Oxford Car Audio told me about it, then poked me into action. On Monday the 28th November, it went live to the public.
And hilariously, I have FOR EVER talked of tribes. For in our world we have two main ones. This is for Tweaks: Link and this is for the Bassheads: Link I have used the hashtag #TwoTribesGoToWar, because I am an Eighties lad. #FrankieSay.
Come and have a look, join in and tell it like it is.
And of course, it is YULE, so have a fabulous indulgent time, mind the alcohol and don’t drive if that’s in yer belly but eat like me for a month! I look forward to seeing what toys you guys get for Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza or Pagan Revel.
Drive carefully, look out for ice, enjoy your tunes, don’t get nicked.
Adam Rayner On Line Editor.