From the archives #6: Tommy & Bob Staunton’s on-air punch-up!


A classic clip from BBC Southern Counties, 2006. Bob Staunton first appeared in the slot preceding  TB shortly after our man lamented that none of his colleagues were game for a fued. Staunton was gross. Reactionary, sleazy and cheesy: a caricature of the worst you can get on radio.  A great many older listeners found Staunton preferable to  Tommy.  Like the lady who dials in.

Selected & edited by Mark B. Thanks for Jason at The Shrine, Percy Clapham (where more of the cantankerous Bob Staunton can be found) & AudioClick et al, for hosting original clips.

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21 Responses to “From the archives #6: Tommy & Bob Staunton’s on-air punch-up!”

  1. Joe Gibbs Says:

    I suspect a great number of listeners guessed the true nature of Staunton quite early on in his SCR career. Mind you, those listeners weren’t the ones he was designed to bait…!

  2. Tommy Boyd Says:

    I think you could detect my voice and accent easily enough. He ran for a year though.
    I once considered him applying for a slot with TalkSport.

    • Bob Says:

      I only recently heard the bob Staunton and was fooled by the fight,I think Alison played it really well to pull it off.when I found out I could here the tommy in the first few shows but the character was tight after that in fact I think the e4 voice over man has nicked the voice! Gotta say it is genius radio and sundeep is the ultimate character(hello bob) and Alison does a superb job there too-what with this and the time you tricked the haters with the famous silent trick you are a genius and bit of a social anarchist-legend!

  3. Monique Says:

    Ha, ha, ha…

    Well staged Tommy! You sounded like you were spitting teeth! If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was a pantomime!!!

    Was the elderly lady for real or was she part of the act?

    Bob Staunton and you should be an act on “Live at the Apollo!”

    Very entertaining…

  4. Tommy Boyd Says:

    Yes, just to be clear, only 3 of the 4 voices you hear are real.

  5. Monique Says:

    Tommy, just out of interest, I listened to your audio for the second time and I started to think that there was a bit of clever editing going on with the elderly lady, which was a recording from a previous show of yours!!

    Am I correct?

  6. Mark (blog mod) Says:

    Monique – nope, that cantankerous lady did call in that evening, as far as I know, but she was actually the aforementioned travel girl affecting a more mature, raspy, voice ; )

    Ok, maybe not.

    -Mark

    • Monique Says:

      So Mark, I’m intrigued to know which one of the four voices was fake?

      Have a Merry Christmas to you and yours :)

      Monique

      • Tommy Boyd Says:

        Aw c’mon Monique, you must know which one is a fiction?

      • Monique Says:

        Am I missing something here cause I haven’t got a clue? As a guess, is it when you come into the studio demanding Bob to get off your chair?

        I’ve only bothered with your blog – never been on others. I am, after-all, a follower of you! Anyhow, I haven’t got time for other blogs – as it is, you’re already a distraction, but an interesting one or else I wouldn’t be here!! It would be a shame if you should remove your blog, but if you did, I would get more art work done…

        I think both you & Bob should definitely send out an audition tape to a few BBC stations…you never know until you try…!!

        Good luck with that. 

        Monique

  7. Spike Nesmith Says:

    Staunton is/was a legend. There was always one really big guffaw, several titters and at least one sharp intake of breath in the Play Radio shows. Top-shelf entertainment.

  8. philhaymes Says:

    thanks for sharing, that is one beautiful piece of radio right there ^_^

    • Tommy Boyd Says:

      Funny, when I do these things I always feel it could have been a lot better, but listening back the first time for years I was pleased. Then I listened again and heard all the things I could have done a bit better. Is it the same for everyone with their work?

      • Grant Easton Says:

        Yes, I always seem to have a narrower view when in the creative process…..focus? It’s only when you come back to something with an open mind and a fresh ear that you see it from other perspectives.

        However I think there is something charming about the small flaws we make or in this case being able to tell it’s not real….you laugh along with it / feel part of it more than you can with something done with clinical execution.

        For me it’s knowing how someone did something that makes you appreciate how good it is…

      • Monique Says:

        Tommy – we’re all our own worst critic! I’d like to meet someone who isn’t… it’s how we progress and go forward!

        I asked Mark which one of the voices was fake and still haven’t had an answer?

    • philhaymes Says:

      I find that all the time, especially when applied to something creative or artistic. I’ve spent so much time re-writing music that I’m recording, constantly going back and changing the mix or recording new parts.

      I’d say that being self-critical or revisiting past work for lessons learned can be one of the best ways to be inspired. Great ideas can be found by looking at the things you didn’t do, or the things you could have done in a different way.

      I think that it’s one of the key defining things about being a better human being though, the need to improve and change. On a micro and macro level it’s the best way to evolve the species.

  9. Christopher Painter Says:

    They can’t get enough of archive Boyd on the LBC Audio Advent Calender, here you are again on day 19: http://www.lbc.co.uk/19th-december—tommy-boyds-nightline-jingle-16904

  10. Bob Says:

    Hi tommy,not having worked for a long time I find it hard to comment,I’ve mostly had rubbish jobs that I cared little for working for bosses who I cared even less about(you may have come across this particular breed of man, a product of promotion on the grounds of most coffees bought for the boss and for want of a better phrase ass kissing!)
    yet still I have always found times when would get stuck right in and set and break targets,push myself to the limit and be the top man just to prove I could do it.it must be an unbuilt pride thing but I do wonder what I could achieve if I was working for and with people who had maybe read a book in their lives,travelled or didn’t have extra fingers( an east Anglian thing)
    in conclusion”gis a job”!

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