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Holly Johnson, Fireworks and Giant Cabbages!

Holly Johnson tells Chris tales from his hometown of Liverpool. How to create a firework display with pyrotechnician Steve Harriott and an attempt to grow the heaviest cabbage!

Frankie Goes To Hollywood's fabulous front man Holly Johnson tells Chris tales from his hometown of Liverpool ahead of A Long Walk With... on Radio 2. British Fireworks Championship competitor Steve Harriott teaches us how to put together a dazzling display on Great Job Wednesday. Giant vegetable grower David Thomas shares his love of record breaking parsnips and cucumbers and updates us on his attempt for the heaviest green cabbage, inspiring today's Top Tenuous. Plus Chris pays tribute to country superstar Glen Campbell, Vassos speaks to hockey's Hollie Webb and Vicar Dave Tomlinson provides the daily Pause for Thought.

2 hours, 59 minutes

Last on

Wed 9 Aug 2017 06:30

Music Played

  • Robert Palmer

    Addicted To Love

    • Sounds Of The 80s - Like A Record Baby (1984-1986) (Various Artists).
    • UMC.
  • Calvin Harris

    Feels (feat. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean)

    • (CD Single).
    • Columbia.
  • The Kingsmen

    Louie Louie

    • The Sound Of The 60's, Part 7 (Var).
    • Old Gold.
  • John Newman

    Come And Get It

    • (CD Single).
    • Island.
    • 001.
  • Heavy D. & the Boyz

    Now That We鈥檝e Found Love

    • Radio Rap (Various Artists).
    • Global Television.
  • Blur

    Song 2

    • Music Of The Millennium (Various).
    • Universal Music Tv.
  • The Script

    Rain

    • (CD Single).
    • Sony Music Entertainment.
  • Little Mix

    Black Magic

    • (CD Single).
    • Syco Music.
  • Scissor Sisters

    Take Your Mama

    • (CD Single).
    • Parlophone.
  • Marvin Gaye

    Little Darlin'

    • The Master 1961-1984.
    • Universal-Island Records Limited.
    • 23.
  • Arcade Fire

    Everything Now

    • (CD Single).
    • Columbia.
  • Glen Campbell

    Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

    • Meet Glen Campbell.
    • EMI.
    • 1.
  • The Monkees

    Daydream Believer

    • The Definitive Monkees.
    • Warner Strategic Marketing.
    • 5.
  • Glen Campbell

    Country Boy (You Got Your Feet In L.A.)

    • The Very Best Of.
    • Capitol.
  • Glen Campbell

    Rhinestone Cowboy

    • Ultimate Country (Various Artists).
    • Telstar.
  • Bryan Adams

    You Belong To Me

    • (CD Single).
    • Polydor.
    • 001.
  • Jess Glynne

    Hold My Hand

    • (CD Single).
    • Atlantic.
  • Jamiroquai

    Superfresh

    • (CD Single).
    • Virgin.
    • 004.
  • Frankie Goes to Hollywood

    Two Tribes

    • Fantastic 80's Disc 2 (Various Artis.
    • Gut.
  • The Beatles

    Penny Lane

    • The Beatles - 1.
    • Apple.
    • 017.
  • Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

    Souvenir

    • The Best Of O.M.D..
    • Virgin.
    • 4.
  • The Communards

    Don't Leave Me This Way (feat. Sarah Jane Morris)

    • Now 1986 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
  • Katy Perry

    Firework

    • (CD Single).
    • Virgin.
    • 1.
  • Rag鈥檔鈥橞one Man

    As You Are

    • (CD Single).
    • Columbia.
    • 002.
  • Take That

    Shine

    • (CD Single).
    • Polydor.
  • Candi Staton

    Young Hearts Run Free

    • Disco Fever (Various Artists).
    • Global Television.
  • Adventures of Stevie V

    Dirty Cash (Money Talks)

    • Now 18 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
  • Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie

    Feel About You

    • Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie.
    • EastWest.
  • Rita Ora

    Your Song

    • (CD Single).
    • Atlantic.
  • George Michael

    Faith

    • George Michael - Ladies & Gentlemen.
    • Epic.

Pause for Thought

Pause for Thought

From Dave Tomlinson, writer and Vicar of St Luke鈥檚 Holloway in London:

In our kitchen, we have a fridge magnet that says, 鈥業鈥橵E FOUND JESUS! 鈥 HE WAS BEHIND THE SOFA THE WHOLE TIME!鈥 It鈥檚 a joke not everyone will appreciate, but beyond the gag, it reminds me that God is always closer than we think 鈥 in the ordinariness of life, mostly overlooked.

听I once set my congregation the task of drawing a picture of God in 2 minutes. Most people looked horrified, but the children dived in before I鈥檇 finished speaking. One child drew a grinning cat, another an intriguing genie popping out of a bottle with two faces, one male the other female. A grown-up made a picture of a dog with the words, 鈥楾he only thing that got me through the suffering.鈥 Seven-year-old Daniel brilliantly handed me a blank sheet and said, 鈥業t鈥檚 air, Dave. God is air.鈥

听Daniel鈥檚 idea is close to mine. I think of God, not as a human-like figure in the heavens, far away, but like the atmosphere 鈥 an all-encompassing presence sustaining and animating all life, religious and non-religious. When an atheist friend told me, 鈥業 find the idea of 鈥渘ot-God鈥 energising鈥, I replied, 鈥楤ut you see, I think your 鈥渘ot-God鈥 is the same as what I call 鈥淕od鈥 鈥 the life-giving Spirit at the heart of everything.

听Some of the people I admire most aren鈥檛 particularly religious. I recently visited Brian at the request of his son. He only had a few days left on this mortal coil but we had a magnificent conversation about life and death. He said he wasn鈥檛 religious, yet he embodied the very essence of religion. Despite a severe disability he had worked tirelessly for the good of others, and exuded compassion and a warm, gritty wisdom.

听I asked Brian what he had learned from his seventy-odd years. He told me two things I won鈥檛 forget: that love is what makes a person great, and that bad things will pass so just keep doing good. It was a short-lived friendship but one I treasure.听

Between Brian and our fridge magnet, I learn not to look for God or the meaning of life in some lofty spiritual experience or profound truth, but in the ordinariness of a life well-lived.

听Morning prayers behind the sofa from now on!

Broadcast

  • Wed 9 Aug 2017 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

麻豆约拍 Radio 2's story-writing competition for kids.