Lyndon Neil Cockburn (Lynnie) presents the Indie Zone on Sundays 3-5pm, Afternoons weekdays from 2pm (excluding Thursdays) and produces RHB Sport at the weekends.
Joined RHB: February 1999
Previous Shows: Graeme & Lyndon (1999-2005); Band Night (2003); The Random Show (2003-2005), Sunday Alternative (2002-2006), Sounds Of Summer (2009)
ORIGINS
I'd always wanted to be a dee-jay or be involved in music, since listening to David Jenson & John Peel on Radio 1 in the early 1980's. When I was a young lad I would sit in my bedroom, playing at being a DJ, muttering to myself as I counted down the Top 20 of my Group Chart, all my favourite bands and their latest releases, I had a tape lined up for each track. My mum could hear me talking to myself, I think she thought I was going mad!
On Saturday 20th September 2014 I had knots in my stomach before going live on the internet for the first time with my one-off show, The Music Mixture - One Man & A Mouse, as I knew friends, work colleagues and family would be listening for the first time ever. By the end of my Indie Zone Sampler I shared my "horror story" of my recent "home radio dream:"
"I was in my lounge presenting a radio show using just a battered stereo and faulty microphone. The cassette doors wouldn't close, the wonky turntable wouldn't rotate properly, the CD player jumped and skipped. I was so embarrassed, there was dead air and everything went wrong, all out of control."
Fortunately, the nightmare was nothing like the reality. Everything on the day went amazingly well and I hope it continues to do so and that you may enjoy many happy hours listening to RHB.
HISTORY OF THE INDIE ZONE
The Indie Zone celebrated its 10 year anniversary on 14th August 2016. It's a show that very nearly didn't happen!
Across the universe and back in the space of a couple of hours!
Following the demise of the Sunday Alternative, a mixture of classic and alternative rock on the 5th February 2006 emerged a new independent music dominated show called The Indie Zone, which originated on Higher Croft internet radio project Legion Radio in 2005.
My memories of the early Indie Zones are recording an hour long programme live at RHB onto a minidisc, then re-editing it for Legion Radio. The shows have a science fiction theme with the basic concept that they are continually bouncing around the universe in space and time for all eternity! I recall early editions of the programme featuring top bands of the time such as Maximo Park, The Subways, Ladytron, The Black Keys, The Others, Editors and the Bravery, along with classics by the likes of The Cult, Echo & The Bunnymen and The Jam.
On 13th August 2006, the first edition opened with Siouxsie & The Banshees' rip-roaring 'Love In A Void.' I won't say it was easy doing these early shows, the buses to the studio were terrible, often missing, and I had to walk up the steep hill to the hospital from town in the pouring rain, and made it with seconds to spare before I was live on air. It may have sounded edgy as I was still catching my breath!
Musically, the basic format of the show has remained to play Indie music dating back to mid-70's punk and new wave, 2-Tone and synth-pop, shoegazing, baggy and Britpop to the current bands of today, so anything from The Damned to Pins basically.
INDIE ZONE FEATURES
VITAL VINYL - An essential 7", 12" single, EP or LP track. It could be a rarity or something popular, as long as it's alternative. It has to be a record RHB has only on vinyl, the more scratched the better!
RARE PLAYS - Replaced Featured Album & Treasured Tape and, as the title suggests, features archive tracks (B-sides, album tracks, demos or obscure singles) which are seldom heard on mainstream radio.
MINDBENDERS - A spoken word anthology of twisted tales from the pen of your presenter, often with a paranormal or supernatural theme, one in each hour on the half hour, with titles such as Vintage Daydreams and The Secret Message Tree. Repeats of these can also be heard on Wednesday Afternoons.
STRANGE EVENT OF THE WEEK - Bizarre local news stories based on actual sightings and true events.
MIDWEEK MIXTURE
Join me on Wednesday at 2pm for the best classic rock, blues, dance and pop and much more. Party time around the wards and it isn't even the weekend!
THE ELECTRO HOUR
Fridays at 2pm I introduce non-stop 80's synth-pop and New Romantic music including some rarely heard gems. Bands featured include Duran Duran, Ultravox, Blancmange, China Crisis, Eurythmics, Yazoo, OMD & Tears For Fears amongst many others.
If you are in a band and want to be interviewed on the programme, or for more information about the Indie Zone or Afternoons please email me:- lyndon.neil@rhbonline.org.uk, I'd love to hear from you.
Listen Live
