Welcome to In-Depth Interviews with your host, Steve Redrick. Steve talks to the stars and wizards behind the scenes that make it all happen of that mysterious yet fascinating world we know as show business. Our first hour of the program is brought to you by Chanel, tantalizing perfumes, colognes, and fragrances to heighten your scent and awareness. Now without further ado, your host for In-Depth Interviews, Steve Redrick.
Hello everyone, I'm Steve Redrick with another In-Depth Interview. I hope everyone is doing great. Today's guest, a gentleman we've had on the show before a few months, almost a year ago, he was born and raised in Great Britain, education from Oxford, received a master's degree in communications, and was involved in some radio stations in and around London. A few years later, he moved to Australia, helped start up a couple of radio networks in Melbourne, finally decided to come to the US and was formally employed by the People's Radio Network as producer for the talk shows.
He's an author, just got a book published by Hopper in Row, is going to be available to the general public in just a couple of weeks, entitled Getting from Point A to Point B, as The Cross Flies, I have wonderful biography about radio personality Michael Croes. We're honored to have him back, ladies and gentlemen, Nigel Brentworth. Thanks for being here, Nigel, it's great to see you again. Well, thank you, Steve, it's wonderful to be here, and thank you for having me.
Congratulations on the book, it's good stuff, I enjoyed it. Well, thank you so much, it was a lot of fun, a lot of work, but still a lot of fun. How have things been going with you? What made you want to write a book about Michael Croes?
I mean, how did that come about? Well, everything's just been going great, I've got a few side projects in the works, and I decided some time back that my departure, or rather the demise of people's radio network, could be perceived as actually a blessing in disguise. I wanted to write about my experiences at the network for quite a while, and I just never had the time, so I pitched the idea to my publicist, and she thought I'd make a great book full of wonderful stories. I used to tell her about all the going ons there, and I showed her some rough draft ideas about a year ago, and she gave me the go-ahead, so I decided to put it all together, and the end result is, if I might, quite remarkable.
I agree, it was definitely a good read. And it also, in my opinion, it gives the reader some insight on what it was like to actually be there, or work there, and that they might not get from just listening to the show. Right, right, that's exactly what I was trying to convey. It was quite a different perception, an inside look of typical days at the studio.
Okay, okay, I don't want to waste any time. I want to get to the nitty-gritty of this. Now, some of our listeners, I'm sure, are familiar with Michael Croes and the Home and God show, and will be pleased to know there's a detailed chapter in the book about the last day in the people's radio network. Now, I don't want to give too much away here, but for our listeners, take us back to that day, that fateful morning, and we know that you were running late.
Go ahead, please. I should know my day was going to be a total disaster when my car wouldn't start. You know, I mean, you've spent $40,000 on an automobile, you expect a bloody thing to work. Anyway, I knew I wasn't going to make it to the studio in time, so I was arranging, you know, for AAA to come and turn my car to the BMW dealership, and I called Michael's house, you know, that's where the studio was, and his daughter, Cassie, answered the phone, and I'll remember thinking at the time that that in itself was strangely odd, as Michael had a separate line to the studio, but I believe he'd had it rigged, you know, to ring in the living quarters and the event he wasn't there, but I asked for Michael, and she said she didn't know where he was, and I couldn't believe it.
I mean, I was shocked. I very surprised, but anyway, by this time, I was just so frustrated, very angry. So, at this point, you're thinking, well, what the hell is going on here, right? Right, right, because this had never happened before.
I mean, Michael used to test my patience and rattle my cage a bit, but he was always very prompt about the show, and also very good about calling in, you know, to let me know if he was running late. And anyway, I was so confused and very flustered, and let's see. Oh, then Cassie suggested that I called him on his cell. Well, I'd already tried that several times, and it kept ringing, and that was it, so I didn't know what was going on, and I found out that he had a new number, and I don't know, I guess his own number, the service wasn't cancelled or something.
I don't know, but I finally convinced Cassie to give me the new one. Yeah, now he had cancelled his service and went with some other company without telling you, right? That's correct. This was another thing that was totally out of character for Michael.
I mean, for all intent and purposes, I thought we had a good working report and a great friendship. So, you finally got a hold of Michael, and then what? Well, the bloody burger was getting drunk. I could not believe it.
I mean, for a moment, I thought I had entered, what was that show? We were on Twilight Zone? Right, right. It was crazy.
I thought Michael had gone totally mad, quite insane. Oh, I can imagine. Okay, I hear the music, which means we're going to have to take a short break. You're listening to In-Depth Interviews on WCYA.
I'm Steve Rendrick. We've got Nigel Brent with us, I guess. Don't you dare touch that nail. We'll be right back.
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We have producer and author Nigel Brinworth. Before the break, we were talking about the last day of the People's Radio Network and all that craziness that was unfolding. Nigel, you were saying that Michael was getting drunk. Right, it turns out he was a few blocks from his flat.
Oh, I'm sorry, house. And he was getting absolutely smashed at this little pub right up the street. And, you know, at this point, I had no idea whatsoever that this was the last day of the network. Otherwise, I may have been a bit more forgiving to Michael.
I was livid by this time, as you could tell in the broadcast. Oh, oh, and that's the other thing. Michael had, quote, inadvertently, unquote, left a microphone on which, how to this day, don't believe. And our conversation was recorded and was being simultaneously broadcast.
I mean, we were on the bloody air. And I just know he knew that he wasn't coming in and, you know, he'd set up the microphone in my studio probably the day before. But anyway, so it turns out, you know, the show starts in after the intro, instead of Michael, the listeners are hearing me ranting and raving like a lunatic or something. And the icing on the bloody cake was that I was the only one they heard.
You know, everyone's listening to this one-sided conversation of this seemingly deranged person. And, you know, Michael insists that he had nothing to do with it. And he even had a nerve to implicate me and blame me for it later on during the show. Yeah, I actually remember him accusing you of broadcasting the conversation.
You know, maybe it was the alcohol. Who knows? You know, I got to admit, though, Nigel, strictly from a listeners' point of view, you know, it was comedy. It was drama.
It was the epitome of great radio. Well, I'm sure it was. All I remember at the time was my only concern was what was on the air. And, you know, what I was going to do to Michael once I saw him.
You know, he used to use me much like a porn on a chessboard, you know, to fulfill his warp sense of humor. Yeah, and he made you say that he had charisma and ponage. Oh, that was so embarrassing not to mention demoralizing. I'm sorry.
I don't mean to laugh, Nigel. Well, I can laugh at it now, of course. Are you saying earlier that Michael used to rattle your cage? Now, was that part of his warp sense of humor?
Well, I don't think many people know this, but Marco is a bit of a prankster. You know, little jokes, practical jokes, you know. And that's why I'm so sure he pulled off that live microphone to sign on the last day. And I even remember the very first time I was exposed to Michael's crude sense of humor.
When I first came to the People's Radio Network, I wasn't sure what to think of Michael. And I was still feeling people out and, you know, what made him tick and so forth. And being in a new environment, there's always this, you know, underlying tension. And he asked me maybe a week after I had started working there, if I had any nude pictures of my wife.
And I said, absolutely not. And then he said, would you like to see some? And that really broke the ice. Anyway, on occasion, he would already be in the studio before I would arrive.
And he would, you know, tweak the knobs and faders on the mixing board. Or shuffle my papers and things around. And I met a couple of times. It would literally be 20, maybe 30 seconds before the program.
And I would be telling Michael to stand by, you know, to get ready. And he wouldn't acknowledge me, like he didn't hear me. You know, no thumbs up or a nod or anything. And I'd be there saying, Michael, Michael, can you hear me?
And I could see him right through the double bulletproof glass. And I'd be waving my arms, you know, trying to get his attention. And I was in the sound room, you know, and he's in the studio. And the door to get to him was usually locked.
And, you know, meanwhile, I'm frantically fumbling with all the controls and trying to see where the problem is, you know, loose connections and so forth. And, you know, I've been a total panic in five seconds before he's supposed to be on. Hey, look up at me with this big smile and this expression of angelic innocence. And I say, I'm sorry.
No, you're talking to me. And that's it. Nothing else. I would be so angry with him.
And, of course, there's nothing I could do. He's going on the air. And by the time he's taking a break, you know, I cool down. So he just really knew how to get to me.
That's just a producer's worst nightmare when the equipment or technology misbehaves. Sounds like he was tweaking your knobs and pushing your buttons. But seriously, these jokes, they didn't affect your friendship, did they? Oh, no, no, no, absolutely not.
The little games he played were fairly harmless. I'm not going to hold a grudge or anything. Okay, fair enough. For the listeners who may not be familiar with Michael in the show, what was Michael like on the air?
You know, wait, before you answer, let me just say this, because I think I speak for a lot of people that Michael came across as a very intelligent guy. He was very witty, sarcastic at times. But definitely a real pleasure to listen to. You know, I catch a show whenever I could.
And it was fun, you know, when he was talking about whether, you know, it was about planting things or what he and his family were going to do that weekend. Bravo, Steve. You could not put it more eloquently. That was Michael to a tee.
Well, perhaps an oversimplification. But if you had to describe Michael in the show and 50 words or less, that would be it. And to elaborate, there were so many times when Michael would be talking with a caller or just describing some planting technique or protocol. And I could keep you so captivated.
He was absolutely extraordinary. You know, his stories were absolutely classic. Riveting. Riveting, I think is the best word to describe it.
And, you know, the incredible thing was that whatever he was talking about may not have been that interesting or funny, but, you know, he made it that way. In other words, and you probably had this happen to you, if someone were telling a joke and then someone else later on told the same joke, well, the second person might make you laugh, but the first person may actually ruin the joke, not possessing a good sense of comedy or how to really tell a joke, you know. And I always thought Michael could be a fantastic writer. I had excellent comedic timing and often told him his sense of comedy was brilliant.
And if he ever wanted to leave, you know, the radio business or that genre, if you will, I would do all I could to pull some strings and, you know, get him an interview with some of my close and fluent friends in the business and get him a wonderful position for his own show and possibly even television work. Wow, pretty high praises. So what was his reaction to that? Well, he didn't exactly say yes or no, but did say that he would have to think about it.
It was quite a bit too dropping his lap at the time. Alright, I want to start this next bit for discussion by just saying two words. Chapter five. Oh, yes, the infamous chapter five, which I think offsets the tone of the rest of the book a bit.
What do you think? That is a major understatement. You said some pretty intense things about the network execs there, and even to the point of almost mind you almost, exposing fraudulent business practices and embezzlement. Oh, yes, Steve, that's true.
It wasn't my intent at the time, you know, or now to disparage anyone. But there was some, in my opinion, dirty politics going on there, and I felt it necessary to speak out. I, you know, I couldn't say anything at the time. Obviously, I would have been terminated.
And I didn't want to go through this, you know, long drawn out litigation battle. Yeah, that could get pretty expensive for not knowing, you know, how long it could go on. Well, actually, money was never an issue. My father was a lawyer for almost 30 years before becoming a member of parliament, and he told me he would represent if I changed a file of lawsuit, and, you know, if they challenged it, you know, they would go to court as well.
So, yeah, sometimes you have to bite the bullet, so to speak. You also said in a book that you felt that they weren't seeing your point of view. Right, that's correct. I had in many occasions tried to get proper fans allocated towards the production of the shows, and, you know, they always had some excuse or some reason why they couldn't do it.
And I don't think they had a very high opinion of me. Actually, I thought I was a bit of a wanker. Oh, wanker, why do you see that? I'd heard rumours occasionally that I was a perfectionist, and I guess my expectations greatly exceeded their abilities.
That's, you know, that's just my opinion. And, you know, not wanting to seem self-involved or egotistical, I think of myself as an artist or visionary. And, you know, the show was very, very good, Steve, but it could have been great. You know, and I know it would have taken a lot of money and time and effort, but always willing to go all the way.
I do what it took to, you know, to achieve that pinnacle of greatness. And I was going to get with Michael and the production team, and we were going to sit around and throw our ideas back and forth, and he went to the point of totally giving the show a new sound and theme and all. And, you know, I just took my job very seriously, and it was absolutely paramount that I put a hundred percent of my efforts into it. Ah, the suits and number crunches never could understand the vision of the artist.
He seems, anyway you go, you know, you have to deal with the proverbial red tape, huh? Exactly, that's exactly what it was, a lot of the government in Washington. Uh-oh, Nigel puts in his political two cents. No, no, no, no, that's all I want to say on the matter.
Well, Nigel, we are out of time. I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us. Oh, oh, tell us when the book is available. Oh, yes, on the 24th of this month, it's all major bookstores.
Oh, by the way, I'll be able to book signing in New York on the 24th at B. Dalton Booksellers at, I believe it's 2nd Avenue at 33rd, and I hope to have a good turnout. The book, Getting From Point A to Point B, as the Cross Flies by Nigel Brickworth. Nigel, always a pleasure to thank you for being here, and hope to have you back soon.
Thank you so much, Stephen's pleasure. It's all mine. You have a great day. Thank you, Nigel.
Bye, everyone.