The Decline of Western Civilisation? (Part Two)

I've been thinking about that last post over this Easter weekend (a period of contemplation and over-indulgence in beer and chocolate for even those of us not of a religious bent). Whilst suffering from what appeared to be an allergic reaction to the tortilla chips I'd been eating with my beer (cheese flavoured - always a bad idea - normally I stick to plain salted), it occurred to me that the Guardian writer's nostalgia for the Radio One DJs of yestertear, whilst expressing contempt for the current line-up, might actually be another example of the class prejudice displayed by the press these days (as I mentioned in an earlier post).

There's no doubt that, to a man, the DJs of the 1070s and 80s were middle class through and through. Certainly, I doubt that any of them went to Secondary Modern school. At the very least they were Grammar School boys (probably prefects as well), with a significant number (including, let's not forget, the hallowed John Peel) products of that bastion of privilege, the private school system. Interestingly, when you did get anybody vaguely working class - Andy Kershaw, for example - they were labelled 'specialist music ' DJs and shunted off into the ghetto that was (in those days) 'world music'. Now, by contrast, the current Radio One line-up looks distinctly Comprehensive School - and that's no bad thing, in my opinion. They're far more representative of the core target audience for the station. Of course, not only are they nasty working class oiks, but they seem to be proud of it too! Whilst Chris Moyles, for instance, might be accused of misogyny, homophobia, laddishness and anything else the tabloids can spell, he could never be accused of being ashamed of his working class background. Again, I'm left wondering if a lot of the bile directed at him by the press is really down to that fact. Like Premiership footballers, he's earning a lot of money and, damn it, he's lower class! He should know his place!

Interestingly, the one Radio One DJ we know to be thoroughly middle class is Tim Westwood, a white middle-aged Bishop's son from Bristol, who tries to talk like some kind of black gangsta rapper from the ghettos of Detroit. Is he taking the piss? Another middle class ponce who thinks it is amusing to mimic the lower classes (albeit those of another country)? Or is he just a twat? Watch this space...