Obligatory Xmas Charity Single

Waaaaay back in the mid-90s I worked for B97, a commercial radio station in Bedford.  We were asked to support the local Anglia TV Kid’s Xmas charity, and so we did, with lots of on-air activity and THIS wee song, written and performed by Paul Garner (now a famous comedy writer) and me with some help from a lot of other lovely people.  We made cash for the kids, so it was a good thing.  Whether the single is a good thing or not I’ll leave up to you!

Written by Paul Garner & Neil Gardner

Performed by Paul Garner, Neil Gardner, Neil Bentley, Tim Page, B97 Crew, Yamaha Crew

Recorded at The Bunkers, Bedford

Thanks to B97/Chiltern Radio & all who helped make it possible.

Audiobook for Japan 2011

The recent devastation in Japan caused by the earthquake and tsunami has shocked the world. We at Spokenworld Audio, alongside our friends and partners at Ladbroke Productions (Radio) Ltd are unashamed Japon-ophiles…we just love the place, the people and the culture. We have some great friends in Japan, and we felt it was important that we do what we could to help out.

JAPANESE FAIRY WORLD, STORIES FROM THE WONDER-LORE OF JAPAN has been produced by Neil Gardner at Ladbroke Productions in just a few days, with the incredible kind help and talents of many of the UK and US’s finest Voice Over artists. With beautiful music donated by Jon Nicholls and Seb & Kayvan at SNK Music (and additional music from AKM Music). Within you will find 25 short-stories from the rich heritage of Japanese folk-tales. From demons and gods, to the creation of the Earth and the naming of mountains.

 

Over 3.5 hours of fabulous audiobook readings!

 

100% of the money raised from the sale of this unique audiobook will be donated by Spokenworld Audio and Ladbroke Productions to the RED CROSS JAPAN TSUNAMI/EARTHQUAKE APPEAL. We will even donate the VAT as well!

We encourage you to purchase the complete audiobook, but if you would prefer to, you can also buy each story individually (a slightly more expensive option!). The complete set comes as a zipped folder containing the 25 stories plus an introduction and end credits…all as high quality stereo 192kbps mp3 files…ready for importing into iTunes or on to an mp3 player of your choice!

Before we get to the list of stories, let us tell you the incredibly generous readers who gave their time, talent (and studios!) to make this project a reality. If you are a producer/director, please take it from us, these people are fantastic and well worth hiring:

 

RAMON TIKARAM (yes, Ferdie from This Life…ace!)

NATALIE COOPER (who also helped organise the voices…what an angel)

PETER DICKSON (the voice of X-Factor and so much more, buy his app at www.myruddyvoice.com)

PATRICK LUNT (legendary voice over!)

MARIAN KEMMER

CHRISTOPHER KENT

CLAIRE LACEY

MARTY PERRETT (check out his superb podcast ‘The Boxroom’ – subscribe in iTunes)

HELEN QUIGLEY

MARK TAYLOR

KATY MAW

TAFF (he promises us he has a surname, but it is on a ‘need to know’ basis apparently!)

RACHEL ASHLEY

GEORGE WASHINGTON III

FRAN McCLELLEN

JUSTIN BARRETT

JULIE BERRY

PHILIP BANKS

NEIL GARDNER

 

The cover art was created by Tanja Glittenberg.

 

How To Buy Audiobook for Japan 2011

 

OK…so let’s get to the audiobook stories…click HERE to visit the Spokenworld Audio site and purchase either the entire collection or individual stories.

Please Note: VAT is added automatically for those purchasing from the UK or EU countries. Spokenworld Audio and Ladbroke Productions will match the sum total of VAT as an additional donation to the appeal.

Many thanks for your support and please spread the news. We’d love to sell hundreds, if not thousands of copies and raise as much money as we can for the appeal.

 

The Big Pair Podcast – Ep 8 – Toot Talking Time

The Big Pair goes on a sunny daytrip to glorious Brighton on the south coast of the UK to visit the inner-sanctum of master of words, king of the running gag, father of far fetched fiction, Mr Robert Rankin Esq.  They talk about The Bumper Book of FICTS, the Japanese Devil Fish Girl, conventioneering, artwork, bluebottles, auctions for charity, future books and how much the complete works of Shakespeare weigh as downloads!