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This Pax-a-Punch!

A fully interactive show for all the family, featuring music, special guests and listeners on the phone.

2 hours, 59 minutes

Music Played

  • ABC

    Poison Arrow

    • Abc - The Lexicon Of Love.
    • Mercury.
  • Bryan Adams

    Everything I Do (I Do It For You)

    • (CD Single).
    • A&M.
  • America

    Ventura Highway

    • Country Roads (Various Artists).
    • Polygram Tv.
  • Bee Gees

    Run To Me

    • Bee Gees - Their Greatest Hits.
    • Polydor.
  • Belle and Sebastian

    I'm a Cuckoo

    • (CD Single).
    • Virgin.
  • Bernhoft

    Come Around

    • (CD Single).
    • Abbey Records.
    • 001.
  • Michael Bolton & Leona Lewis

    Ain't No Mountain High Enough

    • (CD Single).
    • Sony Music.
    • 001.
  • The Cardigans

    My Favourite Game

    • Q The Album (Various Artists).
    • Virgin.
  • Carpenters

    (They Long To Be) Close To You

    • The Carpenters - Yesterday Once More.
    • A&M.
  • Paul Carrack

    I'm Losing You

    • (CD Single).
    • Carrack-UK.
    • 001.
  • Bob Dylan

    Like A Rolling Stone

    • Bob Dylan - Greatest Hits.
    • Columbia.
  • Eagles

    One of These Nights

    • The Best Of Eagles.
    • Asylum.
  • Paloma Faith

    Only Love Can Hurt Like This

    • (CD Single).
    • RCA.
    • 004.
  • Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott

    D.I.Y.

    • What Have We Become.
    • Virgin EMI.
    • 001.
  • Eddie Hodges

    I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door

    • Oldies But Goldies.
    • Janus.
  • Buddy Holly

    Heartbeat

    • B.Holly & The Crickets -20 Golden Gre.
    • MCA.
  • Billy Joel

    Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)

    • The Stranger.
    • Columbia.
    • 1.
  • Tom Jones

    You Can Leave Your Hat On

    • The Full Monty Ost - Various Artists.
    • Rca Victor.
  • Jean Knight

    Mr Big Stuff

    • Stax Greatest Hits (Various Artists).
    • Stax.
  • Lenny Kravitz

    Are You Gonna Go My Way

    • (CD Single).
    • Virgin.
  • Led Zeppelin

    Whole Lotta Love

    • Early Days.
    • Atlantic.
    • 13.
  • Noah and the Whale

    Tonight's The Kind Of Night

    • (CD Single).
    • Mercury.
    • 1.
  • Rodriguez

    I Think of You

  • Todd Rundgren

    I Saw The Light

    • My Girl (Original 1992 Film S/Track).
    • Epic.
  • Molly Smitten-Downes

    Children Of The Universe

    • (CD Single).
    • EastWest.
  • T. Rex

    Jeepster

    • Electric Warrior (Deluxe Edition).
    • A&M.
    • 3.
  • Talk Talk

    It's My Life

    • More Greatest Hits Of 80's (Various).
    • Disky.
  • R. Dean Taylor

    There's A Ghost In My House

    • And They Danced The Night Away.
    • Debutante.

Pause for Thought

Pause for Thought

With journalist and broadcaster Abdul-Rehman Malik

Ìý

While Britons wait till the weekend to begin their May Day festivities, hundreds of millions the world over are marking it today. A celebration of Spring for some, May Day has always meant something else to me: a day to celebrate the sacrifices and struggles of working people everywhere.

Ìý

I've marched in my fair share of May Day rallies, chanting about workers' rights and revolution, but in some ways I'm a poser. My claim to be a member of the working classes is that I once had a summer job at a factory making parts for big electrical generators. I lasted about a month.

Ìý

My maternal grandfather - Nana as we called him - on the other hand was the real deal. A tall, barrel chested man with a deep voice and decisive demeanour, Nana's confidence hid the story of a difficult, remarkable life.

Ìý

Born in rural Punjab to a poor farming family, my Nana attended village schools but managed to get to university where he studied Mathematics and mastered Persian, Urdu and English.

Ìý

By the time he migrated to newly created Pakistan, he had already worked inÌý neighbouring Iran, served as a clerk in the finance ministry of the Raj, lost his first wife to tragic illness and married again.

Ìý

But Nana wasn't content with a life noting numbers in ledgers.Ìý He wanted to make things. So he swapped his desk job for the factory floor, apprenticing at a foundry.

Ìý

The employees of the factory he eventually built, recalled how Nana rarely missed a lunch with them in the canteen and how he preferred the shop floor to the front office.

Ìý

"Kindness", the Prophet Muhammad said, "is a mark of faith; and whoever does not show kindness, does not have faith."

Ìý

After his death, we learned Nana had quietly been supporting dozens of widows, helping put their children through school. I am sure for him these silent acts of charity were revolutionary. A way to pay forward the opportunities he had been given.

Ìý

On this May Day I remember those who are struggling for dignity and justice. I also remember my Nana, who taught me that I need not wait for revolution to undertake deliberate acts of kindness. Acts which if done in multitude by many, can indeed change the world.Ìý

Ìý

Ìý

Ìý

Broadcast

  • Thu 1 May 2014 06:30

Farewell Chris Evans: The best bits from his last shows at Radio 2

After eight years of hosting the Breakfast Show, Chris Evans leaves Radio 2.

500 Words

Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 2's story-writing competition for kids.